Final

Tectonics                     

            Italy is located on the Eurasian plate but other plates help make Italy’s geography what it is today. The mountains in Italy were made in part by the Adriatic (African Plate) and the Eurasian plate colliding. The first mountains to form were the Alps in the North then the Apennine mountains that stretch along Italy from north so south. They were formed by compression and by subduction of the Adriatic plate. On the western side of the mountains a number of volcanoes formed, including Mt. Etna, an active volcano in Sicily. The formation of the mountains on the west side is caused by a fault block system, which makes faults which then makes divergence of the crust and uplift of the crust. 

The Adriatic plate is the one between Italy and the Balkans in the Adriatic Sea. It is sub-ducting under the Eurasian plate (blue). The African plate below Italy (orange) is moving north. Shows an earthquake that occurred as a result of the plate movements and even more earthquakes can happen if the plates keep moving.

 With this information a hypothesis of Italy’s future geography can be made. In a thousand years Italy will probably see an increase in volcanic activity. It already has two active volcanoes and in the past volcanoes, like Mt. Vesuvius, have erupted. As the Eurasian plate keeps hitting the Adriatic plate and as long as that plate keeps subducting underneath, the mountains of Italy will get taller. Most of the Adriatic plate subduction is being directed at the Apennine mountings (about 3mm a year). As the plate diverges earthquakes will occur along the fault lines as they did recently.

The graph shows the interaction between the two plates and shows were the mountains form.

 

The mountains formed as the result of the plates compression and subduction.

In ten thousand years Italy will have even taller mountains and land mass will be added due to volcanic activity on the western coast. As the Eurasian plate moves and gets thinner and the Adriatic plate gets subducted volcanoes will create more land as magma cools. Italy will be closer to the Balkans as the Adriatic plate subducts. Also the African plate will move further north and the distance between northern African countries and southern Italy will shrink. Currently the African plate is moving north toward the Eurasian plate at about 1 centimeter a year.

The map shows the location of volcanoes that can keep adding land mass to the west if Italy moves toward the east

In a million years Italy will be a lot closer to the Balkans then it is today and the Adriatic plate and the Adriatic Sea will be smaller. The Adriatic plate is loosing its size at about 3mm a year which adds up to about 3000 meters in a million years. Italy will have more earthquakes and more volcanic eruptions. Africa will also be a lot closer to Italy. Italy will be pushed in the northeast direction by the subducting Adriatic plate and African plate.

Climate

Italy’s climate can be categorized into two different regions. Northern Italy is known for a cooler climate, snow covers the land in the winter and is colder than the southern region. Southern Italy is known more for its beaches and the hotter sunnier climate it has. 

In a thousand years Italy might experience loss of land mass and a loss of costal cities. If current trends continue the melting of ice caps will cause a rise in sea levels, which will affect cities like Venice, which has experienced flooding because they are lower than the sea level. The melting of the ice caps will be increased as the CFC’s increase depleting the ozone and allowing the reflective rays to get trapped in earth’s atmosphere. 

The city of Venice flooded

In ten thousand years there is a possibility that Italy will gain land mass. Depending on when the ice age begins Italy will gain land as much of the water forms into ice. It is difficult to predict when the ice age will happen but if it does Italy’s northern region will get even cooler while the southern region will experience a cooler temperature but might be a more hospitable place to live.                    

In a million years Italy will either be covered by ice, water, or remain relatively the same. Depending on human actions and other geological factors, Italy can be experiencing an Ice age or hotter temperature. Global climate change will affect Italy but the extent of that affect is hard to determine and Italy’s climate is hard to predict due to other factors that play a role in climate.

Information 

http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2011/04/110419-europe-africa-mediterranean-earthquake-risk-increasing-earth-science/http://www.ehow.com/info_8522352_plates-formed-apennines.htmlhttp://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/29434/Apennine-Range

http://geology.com/sea-level-rise/venice.shtml

Images

http://www.npr.org/news/graphics/2009/apr/italy-earthquake/

http://www.earth.columbia.edu/news/2003/storyItaly1.html

http://www.awesomestories.com/assets/apennine-mountains-location-in-italy

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Volcanology_of_Italy

http://www.the-travel-italy-grapevine.com/southern-italy-travel-reviews.html

http://www.colourbox.com/image/aerial-view-on-small-town-houses-and-roofs-covered-with-image-5062079

http://macedoniaonline.eu/content/view/22185/2/