Parker GEOG 4031

    The Colonial Cities of Latin America were an urban paradise at their initial establishment. Large city centers were constructed according to the Laws of the Indies which laid out specific organizational steps for city planning in colonies. This specific organizational approach allowed early colonial cities in Latin America to make great advances in urbanization and development. These cities were often constructed throughout existing indigenous settlements and cities in order to provide the population base for the rural areas along with workers for undesirable jobs throughout the city. These populations also served as a trophy for early explorers that established the cities as they had inherited a rulable class of people. The goal of conquering and ruling over subjects was what had initially driven the quick urbanization throughout Latin America as these explorers and conquerors traveled to the new world to bask in riches derived from their feats, such a...

    The 2010 Earthquakes in Haiti, specifically Port-au-Prince and surrounding towns were characterizable fatal and destructive. The reason the earthquakes in and around Port-au-Prince are so frequent and dangerous is because of the tectonic movements. While the Caribbean Plate lies just above Haiti and the Dominican Republic and results in a transform boundary, causing earthquakes. However, the  Gonâve Microplate is the cause of the Port-au-Prince earthquakes as there is a fault line running through the mountain range of Massif de la Selle, which is just south of Port-au-Prince. This fault line is known as the Enriquillo-Plantain Garden fault zone as it runs from Lake Enriquillo in the Dominican Republic to Plantain Garden River in Jamaica. This fault line is the cause of many earthquakes in the Port-au-Prince region, as well as the 2010 Earthquakes which caused the deaths of over 150,000 people according to a study performed by the University of Michigan in 2010.  ...

     The landscapes from Brasilia, Brazil to Lima, Peru display a great amount of diversity in temperature, precipitation levels, physical landforms, and altitudes. In the graph below is the elevation chart of the 1,981 mile journey from Brasilia to Lima.       It starts off in the Brazilian highlands, going into a level of almost 4,000 ft, then drops off into tropical savannah lowlands. Eventually this crosses into the lowest point of the entire journey, the Amazon Basin. The tropical rain forest has a very low altitude due to the large rivers running through the area. Then the Andes Mountains tower over the rest of the journey, going up to a staggering 17,000 ft, the Andes Mountains turns into a glacial layer with sheets of ice topping the peaks. Then is drops very quickly to the coast of Peru a rain shadow desert on the leeward side of one of the tallest mountain ranges in the world.      The geo map below displays a series of images ...

Hernán Cortés arrived at the mouth of the Antigua River in 1521, with his sights set on conquering the Aztec empire for God, Gold, and Glory. His initial journey into the Central-Southern region of modern-day Mexico started after leaving Cuba in search of riches. Landing in the Gulf coastal plains of Mexico resulted in the drudging of 500 men through the mangrove swamps and marshes in the heat and humidity of the low-lying, tierra caliente. Cortés and his band of conquistadors then ended up at the indigenous city of Zempoala. Following the mountain ranges of the Sierra Nevada, a volcanic range that crossed from the Gulf coast to Pacific coast of Mexico, Cortés then ended up at another city, Xalapa, or Jalapa. After leaving this Xalapa, Cortés crossed from the natural region of tropical savannah to the temperate savannah in the tierra templada. Quickly ascending from the low-lying plains of the Gulf coast, through the temperate savannah, into the highland steppe of Mexico. Venturing mor...