Camp Schwab and Okinawa, Japan is located on the Eurasian Plate and on  west side of the Philippine Plate and on the border of the a convergent plate boundary.  The geographic location of the island of Okinawa cause many geographic and geologic phenomena to occur.  The island being located close to a tectonic plate boundary cause formation of land, as well as, earthquakes and being at about 27°N Latitude, the island is susceptible to typhoons.  The island's location is directly in the "line of fire" for typhoons, which will cause mass wasting, and weathering to the island over time.  I will hypothesis what the islands physical geography might look like in the next 1,000, 10,000, and 1,000,000 years in the future. 

      In 1,000 years, Okinawa will look relatively the same as it does today. The typhoons and heavy monsoons that occur on Okinawa will most likely cause continuous mass wasting of the loose soil and the surface of the island. The island receiving an average of 87.5 inches of rain per year according to www.naha.climatemps.com, after 1000 years that rain equals to 87500 inches of rain. So, after 1000 years, the island may not have the top soil it has today and more rock may be exposed.  Weathering such as Basal Weathering will decay the rock cliff on the sides of the island, creating notches at the bottom and could cause cliffs to succeed into the ocean, decreasing the amount of land mass on the island.  The cliffs shown above-left, provided by http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Okinawa_cliff.jpg, demonstrate the Basal Weathering as well as Cavernous Weathering that will weaken the rock over time by causing alveoli and tafoni due to salt weathering. 

 

     In 10,000 years, Okinawa, Japan the rock that will portray due to the mass wasting of the previous years will continue to decay and the island may become flatter. With continued rainfall over 10,000 years, the top soil will wash away leaving only rock exposed. With the continued rainfall and the island consisting of Basalt and Coral, both of which, are susceptible to weathering due to high levels of rain. The picture above shows rock protruding from the surface due to weathering and removal of the top soil, provided by http://www.japan-guide.com/e/e7113.html.

      In 1,000,000 years, Okinawa Japan may be much larger than it is today. The island is located just west of a larger trench on the sea surface floor. The trench is caused by a convergence tectonic plate boundary between the Philippine Plate and the Eurasian plate, where the Philippine Plate is subducting under the Eurasian Plate. The convergence boundary could cause the melting of the oceanic plate (the Philippine Plate) under the continental plate (the Eurasian Plate) and may cause more islands to arise around the island or even build onto the island. Another phenomenon that could occur is that the island of Okinawa could move further into the Philippine Sea and end up being located even further from the Asian Continent, this could happen because the Eurasian Plate is moving southeast.  This classic textbook picture provided by http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Active_Margin.svg.demonstrates the process of how island can be formed.

3rd Post: Okinawa's Typhoons

Okinawa, Japan is in the line of fire for typhoons.  Okinawa is located at about 27°N Latitude, it is the first ingredient to a typhoon, with a strong Coriolis Effect, which deflects the storm to the right, over Okinawa.  Below is an image of a typhoon deflected to the right due to the Coriolis Effect, provided by http://theextinctionprotocol.wordpress.com.

The second ingredient to typhoon building is high sea surface temperatures, which is south of Okinawa, Japan around the Philippines. The diagram to the left, provided by www.abc.net.au, shows the average sea surface temperature globally, the average sea surface temperature around the Philippines is about 26°C to 28°C, perfect for typhoon construction.



The third ingredient is few changes of wind speed, the map below, provided by courseware.e-education.psu.edu show average wind speeds in southeast Asia, red is strong winds and blue/green is lower wind speeds.  Okinawa is in the yellow section of the map, with few changes in wind speed.

The forth ingredient to a typhoon is lots of water vapor, which is provided by the warm water around the Philippines as well as low water levels around the Indochina Islands.  And the final ingredient is some convergence as a trigger, with winds colliding with the storm in a different direction cause the typhoon to form and move over Okinawa.   

Because of the typhoons that hit Okinawa, the sea levels rise, forcing the closure of local businesses.  Due to high winds, extreme rain, and mass wasting, the island comes screeching to a halt.  The local Okinawans have adapted to the typhoons by constructing their buildings and houses out of concrete or bricks as seen below, in this picture provided by www.okistyle.com/realestate/.

As Marines on the island of Okinawa, when a typhoon approaches the island, we are forced to stay inside the barracks.  Marines, from the chow hall deliver food in a Humvee while wearing a bullet proof vest and helmet, ensuring there is no injury from a flying object.  Typhoons give a great reason for Marines to video record the weather, as shown in this video by a U.S. Marine during a typhoon, source: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CaQBqH9TYGg.

 

 

2nd Blog Post: Tearing Down Okinawa’s Landscape

          Okinawa being surrounded by water on all sides, the island is constantly being weathered or decayed.  “Okinawa receives on average 2223 mm (87.5 in) of precipitation annually or 185 mm (7.3 in) per month” according to www.naha.climatemps.com.  Okinawa is constantly hit by typhoons from May to September, with wind speeds up to 80 miles per hour and rain will fall upwards of 3 inches during a typhoon, which by experience, lasts about 48-72 hours.  This video, courtesy of a United States Marine, is a demonstration of the rain storms that hit the island.  Source: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KesHucq9jfY&feature=related

 

         The heavy rainfall, due to the typhoons, on Okinawa causes landslides, a form of mass wasting, frequently on the island of Okinawa.   The heavy rainfall falls on the sub-tropical island with a permeable surface, the rain soaks into the soil and surface moving the surface down the slopes due to gravity. The picture below demonstrates a landslide on Okinawa.  Source: http://www.japantimes.co.jp/text/nn20060617b2.html.  This mass wasting slide is most likely an example of a translation slide due to a weakness in the slope.  Landslides and mudslides are common on the island and it is not uncommon for the debris to flow onto the roads, taking hours to clean up the debris. 

       Mass wasting, as an example of breaking down Okinawa's landscape, affects the people on the island of Okinawa.  During the rainy months of May to September, businesses are constantly shut down due to owners not being able to get to work, except the United States Marines, who work no matter rain or shine.  Below is a picture of a restaurant right outside of Camp Schwab where we would go for a quick bite to eat, usually Taco Rice, one time we couldn't make it there due to a rock slide.  And the only thing more violent than a Marine is a hungry Marine. 

Photo source: http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=278023222315020&set=a.252891318161544.57049.245388688911807&type=1&theater