Today all of the students made their way to Springhill Marriott in New York. This way, we would not have to worry about getting to the airport in enough time for the flight tomorrow. In the hotel room I was staying in, I roomed with Moira, Maddi, and Taylor. Below is a picture of us all in the living room area of our room.
We had pizza and other dishes from Dominos as we gathered in Tait’s room for presentations. Greg, Maddi, and Lauren presented tonight. Greg talked about seismic activity and touched on seismic activity in Ecuador. His presentation was very informational to where he explained basic elements on his topic and slightly went into more detail for some of the topics within his presentation. He discussed Bowen's reaction series which is the classification of minerals that are associated with temperature and pressure. After this, he went into detail to explain that the chemical composition of rocks change when there is cooling magma present. Then, when even more of this rock crystallizes, the magma's composition will change. TA Greg also pointed out that there are two main plates which influence Ecuador which are the Nazca and the South American tectonic plate. Overall, I thought it was really interesting learning about the hanging wall and foot wall. These walls are also used to describe different types of faults. It was fascinating to know the history behind the names and how scientists can track the movement of the walls to see what type of fault there is at that location. I also found it interesting that the theory of Continental Drift was not widely accepted until the 1960s.
Maddi and Lauren’s presentation was about biodiversity in the Amazon and the Galápagos Islands, I thought that it was interesting to learn about all of these species that we will most likely encounter in the areas that we will travel to. The presenters also discussed the different zones which species can be found in which was fascinating. They also discussed different adaptations that were made in order for some of these species needed in order to exist in these zones (i.e mangroves adapting to filter out salt in water). Maddi and Lauren also talked about Darwin's finches and their 13 endemic species to Ecuador. They described that different finches can be found in different areas. For example, the mangrove finch can be found on Isabela Island.
I am excited that we are on our way to Ecuador. We are waking up pretty early tomorrow morning to get through a presentation and catch our shuttle to the airport. I'm excited to get caught up on some shows and podcasts on the plane since I downloaded a few, but I’m a little nervous to fly because I know that I’ll be cramped in a plane for many hours. On the bright side, it’ll be well worth it once we reach our destination!
We had pizza and other dishes from Dominos as we gathered in Tait’s room for presentations. Greg, Maddi, and Lauren presented tonight. Greg talked about seismic activity and touched on seismic activity in Ecuador. His presentation was very informational to where he explained basic elements on his topic and slightly went into more detail for some of the topics within his presentation. He discussed Bowen's reaction series which is the classification of minerals that are associated with temperature and pressure. After this, he went into detail to explain that the chemical composition of rocks change when there is cooling magma present. Then, when even more of this rock crystallizes, the magma's composition will change. TA Greg also pointed out that there are two main plates which influence Ecuador which are the Nazca and the South American tectonic plate. Overall, I thought it was really interesting learning about the hanging wall and foot wall. These walls are also used to describe different types of faults. It was fascinating to know the history behind the names and how scientists can track the movement of the walls to see what type of fault there is at that location. I also found it interesting that the theory of Continental Drift was not widely accepted until the 1960s.
Maddi and Lauren’s presentation was about biodiversity in the Amazon and the Galápagos Islands, I thought that it was interesting to learn about all of these species that we will most likely encounter in the areas that we will travel to. The presenters also discussed the different zones which species can be found in which was fascinating. They also discussed different adaptations that were made in order for some of these species needed in order to exist in these zones (i.e mangroves adapting to filter out salt in water). Maddi and Lauren also talked about Darwin's finches and their 13 endemic species to Ecuador. They described that different finches can be found in different areas. For example, the mangrove finch can be found on Isabela Island.
I am excited that we are on our way to Ecuador. We are waking up pretty early tomorrow morning to get through a presentation and catch our shuttle to the airport. I'm excited to get caught up on some shows and podcasts on the plane since I downloaded a few, but I’m a little nervous to fly because I know that I’ll be cramped in a plane for many hours. On the bright side, it’ll be well worth it once we reach our destination!
Image 1: an image of my roommates and I on the first day of the trip. From left to right: Moira, Maddi, Taylor, and I.
Extension of knowledge
Biodiversity of Ecuador
One of the main topics discussed on January 1st was the concept of biodiversity. To broaden my knowledge, I read the scientific paper, “Large expansion of oil industry in the Ecuadorian Amazon: biodiversity vulnerability and conservation alternatives.” Since oil extraction is a major problem for the ecosystem in Ecuador, it is imperative to conduct research in order to determine the impacts that the extraction has. On one hand, oil extraction is great for their economy. On the other hand, it harms the ecosystem. This research article goes into detail about how oil extraction impacts the biodiversity in the amazon. The authors of this paper had created a map to indicate the different regions of the Ecuadorian amazon in figure 1:
Figure 1: A map of the different amazonian sectors of Ecuador and their labels.
To measure biodiversity in the different regions of the Ecuadorian amazon, the researchers had analyzed the distribution maps of the ecosystems as well as the 745 different species that were present in those ecosystems. The authors had also highlighted areas that should be prioritized in conservation due to how many species were endangered or at risk for being endangered. This can be seen in figure 2.
The researchers had also outlined each oil block and its importance to biodiversity. The blocks with higher scores and darker coloring indicate that they play a larger role in the biodiversity of that area than the blocks of lower numbers and lighter colors.The main conclusion that the authors made was that preservation and conservation methods need to be more of a priority in order to maintain or improve levels of biodiversity.
The researchers had also outlined each oil block and its importance to biodiversity. The blocks with higher scores and darker coloring indicate that they play a larger role in the biodiversity of that area than the blocks of lower numbers and lighter colors.The main conclusion that the authors made was that preservation and conservation methods need to be more of a priority in order to maintain or improve levels of biodiversity.
Figure 2: A map of importance of each section on biodiversity.
Works cited
Lessmann, J., Fajardo, J., Muñoz, J., & Bonaccorso, E. (2016). Large expansion of oil industry in the Ecuadorian Amazon: biodiversity vulnerability and conservation alternatives. Ecology and Evolution, 6(14), 4997–5012. doi: 10.1002/ece3.2099