Here it is!

My Tour! 

Final Stop: Convergent Collision, The Himalayas!

I had such a great time in the studying the Red Sea, that I decided to stop one more place before I go home: The Himalayas. These mountains were created because India ran into Eurasia and the collision created the mountains.  This is because the shallow seabed folded in a built up to the mountains. Every year, the Himalayas get higher because of this.
Here is a picture of Convergent Collision:

Sadly, this is my last stop on this magnificent trip, but I do have something else to share with you! It's a google earth tour of the places that I went, it's a lot better to look at than a bunch of text. Also, don't forget to watch the videos that I posted.
Another thing: Since we all know what happened in Japan, we can all help out! text  REDCROSS to 90999 to donate 10 dollars (which will be added to your phone bill)

Unfortunately..

I will not have web access for my next stop, my sincere apologies. I am staying at a pretty desolate place with just my guide who will make sure I don't die in the desert.

Where do I need to go next?

For my next stop, I decided that it would be a good idea to go to a divergent boundary. The most worldly known divergent boundary would be the Red Sea. Did you know that over time the Red Sea is getting bigger?
This is because it is a divergent boundary. Here is a picture of what that would look like:

And here is a resource to help you understand a little better:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Red_Sea_Rift

As you can see, the two plates are moving away from each other and creating a larger sea, instead of mountains or volcanoes.

Travel Plans: PDXS to PUJ

Flight 1

JetBlue Airways, Flight 864

Depart: 12:27 PM

Punta Cana, Dominican Republic (PUJ)

Arrive: 4:31 PM

New York, NY (JFK)

Airbus A320-100/200

On Time 85%

Connection Time: 3 hrs 29 mins in New York, NY (JFK)

Flight 2

JetBlue Airways, Flight 165

Depart: 8:00 PM

New York, NY (JFK)

Arrive: 11:10 PM

Portland, OR (PDX)

Airbus A320-100/200

On Time 44%

Total Travel Time: 13 hrs 43 mins 

Here is a very complicated travel plan, BUT I will make it. 

When I get off of the plane I will rent a car and drive to Cape Kiwanda for three hours, and this is where I will be staying:
http://www.yourlittlebeachtown.com/inn/about/gallery
it's not exactly where I had been staying previously but it's adorable. 

Next stop: THE RING OF FIRE!

For my next stop, I decided to take a little trip to the Ring of Fire! So, I went to my most favorite place in the whole entire world: Cape Kiwanda. It's amazing there. I get on the plane in an hour so I have a lot to catch you up on. Punta Cana was a transform boundary where the Carribean plate is running alongside the North American plate and created these islands.
Here are a few pictures to help you understand a little better:

As you can see, a transform boundary is when two plates go next to each other instead of going over or under. This movement is found near the Dominican Republic and Haiti.

So now that you understand Transform boundaries, let's move on to my next place.

SUBDUCTION!

What is subduction? If you look above you can see that Subduction is when one plate goes under the other and it gets so hot that the plate starts to melt and becomes magma which then rises to the top and creates volcanoes. The place where I am now going, The Ring of Fire is all subduction.
I need to work on my itinerary, but I'll get back to you guys later!

NEXT STOP: THE DOMINCAN REPUBLIC!

Today, sadly, is my last day here in the beautiful Maldives. Fortunately, I haven't gotten a sunburn yet but you never know. I talked to the travel agent here at the four seasons and they recommended I go to the Dominican republic. I've been wanting to head that direction for a while...
I wasn't surprized to see that the flight schedule to get there is extremely complicated...

Fight 1

Emirates, Flight 659

Depart: 10:00 AM

Male, Maldives (MLE)

Arrive: 1:00 PM

Dubai, United Arab Emirates (DXB)

Boeing 777-300

On Time 74%

Connection Time: 9 hrs 15 mins in Dubai, United Arab Emirates (DXB)

Flight 2

Delta Air Lines, Flight 7

Depart: 10:15 PM

Dubai, United Arab Emirates (DXB)

Arrive: 5:45 AM

Atlanta, GA (ATL)

Boeing 777-200LR

On Time 81%

Connection Time: 4 hrs in Atlanta, GA (ATL)

Next Day Arrival

Flight 3

Delta Air Lines, Flight 543

Depart: 9:45 AM

Atlanta, GA (ATL)

Arrive: 1:13 PM

Punta Cana, Dominican Republic (PUJ)

Boeing 757

On Time 80%

Next Day Arrival

Total Travel Time: 36 hrs 13 min

All for a whopping seven thousand dollars, good thing that I have unlimeted resources...




I also plan to stay in the most beautfiul place EVER, here is the link: http://www.puntacana.com/picture-gallery/tortuga-bay
This should be interesting....Too bad I speak zero spanish...

Fault lines in the Asian Pacific

http://www.reliefweb.int/rw/fullMaps_Oc.nsf/eca57e2740e7a919412569cf003180fa/b349ffc39385daed852571d4006742d9/$FILE/ocha_VO_asi070806.pdf

Above is the link to a great map of where I am in the world. If you look closely you can see that the Maldives are however in the middle of the Arabian Plate, but we can go just a little to the right and find the Somali plate. The Somali plate is being created as the African plate splits across the East African plate. I found that the Arabian plate is one of three plates that is moving northwards and has created the Zagros mountains of Iran. With some help of Wikipedia and free wifi in the middle of nowhere, I found this information as well.
The Arabian plate interacts with these other plates:

• "East, with the Indo-Australian Plate, 
• South, with the African Plate to the west and the Indo-Australian Plate to the east
• West, a left lateral fault boundary with the African Plate called the Dead Sea Transform  and a divergent boundary with the African Plate called theRed Sea Rift which runs the length of the Red Sea;
• North, complex convergent boundary with the Anatolian Plate and Eurasian Plate."
  -http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arabian_Plate

If you click the blue it will take you to a wikipedia site that will show you all about the plates listed above...

The interaction that interested me the most was the fact that to the west of the Arabian plate is a divergent boundary with the African plate which is essentially the Somali plate as well. 
I think that I'm going to just relax and do my research on my computer......... But I did find some interesting stuff! 

Unfortunately I have to leave this beautiful resort in two days :( I hope to come back someday.

I'll get back to you about that later!

The Maldives: Gan Island

For my first stop, traveled all the way to the Maldives in the middle of the Laccidive sea. It's beautiful here, and I couldn't imagine a better place to look for information. There is an area not too far from Gan in the middle of the sea where two plates touch.
Just in case you were wondering where the island is...
Latitude:   0°16'15.64"N
Longitude:  73°25'36.92"E

And the boundary is...
 lat=-4.42892371564
lon=73.9046680911

Once I got to Gan, I had to find somewhere to sleep. Since Gan is mostly a military base
(Picture below)

 

I had to look for somewhere with a hotel.
With a little help from a man with broken english, a sailor, and some kind women, I managed to get a pilot to fly me to Kuda Huraa where I could stay somewhere a little more civilized: The four seasons resort.

http://www.fourseasons.com/maldiveskh/photos_and_videos/

After a long couple days of travel all the way from my cozy home in Seattle, I fell asleep on the patio of my cabin. I plan to stay here a couple days and relax because this is my first stop of a very long trip and I plan to enjoy it. However, I will most likely have to move on with travels in a couple of days. I'm thinking of renting a yacht to sail all the way to my spot, to check it out. But we'll see....

How could you resist this? 

Missing home already!
(Not!)

Welcome!

Hey guys! This is now officially the place where I will show you where my path leads me. I am a tourist fascinated by the geography of the world studying the tectonic plates. I took on the task of going to beaches all along the edges of the plates to see what's in store. Hope you enjoy it!