Earth Science 7-Medan, Indonesia
Medan, Indonesia Earth Science 7- Cities
Longitude/Latitude 3°55N 98°40E [1]
Elevation 26 meters [2]
Major Bodies of Water Indonesia is situated in between the Indian Ocean and the Pacific Ocean, and next to the Straight of Malacca [3]
Contents
Climate
Climate Zone
Medan is Af, or tropical wet, on the Koppen Climate Chart.
Cities with similar climate include: Fortaleza, Brazil Earth Science 7-Fortaleza, Brazil,Panama City, Panama Earth Science 7-Panama City, Panama, and Lagos, Nigeria Lagos,Nigeria. Cities with very different climates include Petropavlovsk Kamchatskiy, Russia and Vancouver, Canada.
Average Temperatures
| Temps | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Ann |
| Max | 30.6 | 31.6 | 32.1 | 32.5 | 32.7 | 32.7 | 32.5 | 32.3 | 31.6 | 31.1 | 30.6 | 30.5 | 31.7 |
| Min | 21.3 | 21.4 | 21.7 | 22 | 22.5 | 22 | 21.6 | 21.9 | 22.1 | 22.3 | 22 | 21.7 | 21.9 |
Average Precipitation
| Rainfall | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Ann Total |
| Average | 137.5 mm | 85.4 | 104.1 | 146.1 | 181 | 137.1 | 146.9 | 184.5 | 222.3 | 272.2 | 244.3 | 203.5 | 2068.6 |
Climate Controls
Medan is 3°N 98°E, which makes it very rainy. Also, since it is near the equator, it receives a great amount of insolation. Like most of Indonesia, Medan is mostly coastal lowlands, and has no areas of very high elevation. However, some mountains near Medan trap warm air to form clouds, and later, rain. Because Medan is on the coast of the Strait of Malacca, which has warm ocean currents, it is warmer than inland areas. Medan is also in the Intertropical Convergence Zone, which means that it has a very low pressure due to its high humidity and high temperatures.
Plates and Geology
Plate Boundaries
Medan, Indonesia lies on the Eurasian Plate, and is particularly close to the Australian Plate. The border between the two is a convergent boundary, specifically, ocean-ocean subduction, which results in the volcanic arch of islands itself. Also, a deep-sea trench was formed underneath the chain of volcanic islands. The stress from the two plates colliding together also resulted in high earthquake activity. However, the volcanic and earthquake activity occurs along the border where the plates meet- therefore, Medan is not affected. [7] Medan is located about 200 miles from the collision boundary. [8]
Geology
Medan is underlain igneous rock caused by the surplus of volcanoes on the island of Sumatra. Igneous rock is formed from the cooling and hardening of lava, which comes from the volcanoes on the island. The actual types of rock by which Medan is underlain include baslat and andesite. Andesite and basalte are both fine-grained, igneous rocks. Andesite forms from intermediate magma, while basalt forms from mafic lava, giving it its characteristic gray/black color. This is significant in that it shows that the volcanoes on the island of Sumatra spew intermediate and mafic lava, which has less silica, and more iron and magnesium. Also, the rocks beneath Medan are fine grained, showing that they cooled above ground, not giving the magma enough time to form big crystals. [9]
References
- ↑ "Medan, Indonesia." Google Earth. Google, n.d. Web. 1 Nov. 2010.
- ↑ "Medan, Indonesia." Google Earth. Google, n.d. Web. 1 Nov. 2010.
- ↑ http://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook.
- ↑ http://www.worldclimate.com/ cgi-bin/data.pl?ref=N03E098+1200+0002542G2.
- ↑ http://www.worldclimate.com/cgi-bin/data.pl?ref=N03E098+1204+0002542G2
- ↑ http://www.worldclimate.com/cgi-bin/data.pl?ref=N03E098+2100+96035W
- ↑ Spaulding, Nancy E. and Samuel N. Namowitz. Earth Science. Evanston IL: McDougal Littell Inc., 2005.
- ↑ http://maps.google.com/
- ↑ http://mappery.com/map-of/Indonesia-Geology-Map
