Post 4: Cambodian Landscapes

The curviness of the Mekong River shows its meandering nature

Image from huongviettravel.com

Fluvial formations can greatly affect the landscape and the people who live nearby. The Mekong River is no exception and it is a perennial stream that flows year round and meanders, meaning that it flows wherever it wants to. This allows for relative stability of the river, especially when compared with intermittent rivers that flow only during the rainy season or ephemeral rivers that flow immediately after it rains. Its stability has made it a key method for survival for 60 million people. The river is endangered, however, as both the Chinese and the Thai are competing to be able to build dams along the river and produce hydroelectric power to fuel their growing cities.  People fear that with increased damming, the migration patterns of fish will be altered and the water flow downstream will be slower, which affects the types of load the river can carry.

Tropical karsts in the jungles of Thailand, which has a similar topography as Cambodia

Image from http://www.luxury-thailand-travel.com

Cambodia borders the Gulf of Thailand, which has a combination of a tropical environment with lots of water and limestone in the soil. Together, they allow for the formation of tropical karst landscape, which has the unique features of steep towers composed of limestone.

The Koh Kong Beach in Cambodia

Image from allcambodia.com/

The Gulf of Thailand also features a beautiful coastal landscape.  There are beaches, which are a depositional landform that catches sediment washed up by the tides. Beaches are influenced by a wide variety of things, including wind, sea levels, and weather, so they can change dramatically throughout the years.

Sources:

http://www.africanwater.org/mekong_river.htm

Blog 3: Cambodian Weather and Climate

Areas in red show the world's tropical zone.

Cambodia is circled in Dark red.

Image from canbypublications.com/

            Located in Southeast Asia, Cambodia lies close to the equator with a latitude/longitude of 13° 0' 0" N / 105° 0' 0" E.  Being located in the tropical zone of the world, there are two seasons: the wet and the dry.  The rainy season, giving 75% of the annual rainfall, runs from May until October while the dry season goes from October until April.  Using the Köppen Climate Classification scale, Cambodia has a Tropical Monsoon climate (Am), based on the country’s major climate group and climate precipitation.

 A rainy day in Phnom Penh; typical during the monsoon season

Image from Andy Brouwer at cambolightning.com/

            Thunderstorms, created by unstable air and moisture, and lightning, which frequently occurs during thunderstorms as the result of positive and negative charges colliding,  are common during Cambodia’s wet season.  The lightning is especially dangerous, as 95 people in Cambodia died from being struck in 2008.  Many Cambodians are superstitious and believe that the country’s high number of lightning deaths each year are the result of people who have broken promises, have bad luck, or have moles on their calves. Many also believe that they can revive those struck by lightning by covering them with white blankets, jumping over them three times, or placing them in bed and lighting a fire underneath them.  The more scientific theories regarding the high numbers of deaths are that there is increased rainfall in the area due to global climate change. Since it rains nearly every day during the wet season, it is also possible that many Cambodians do not take thunderstorms very seriously and continue on with their daily activities instead of seeking shelter.

 Lightning off the southern coast of Kampot

Image from ki-media.blogspot.com/

Sources:  

http://www.canbypublications.com/cambodia/climate.htm

http://www.terradaily.com/reports/As_lightning_deaths_soar_Cambodians_look_to_superstition_999.html

Blog 2: The Water in Cambodia

Flash flooding in Kampot. 

 Image from afitzgerald on current.com

Cambodia has two seasons: monsoon and dry season. Since many areas of Cambodia contain high drainage densities and low permeability, meaning fewer places for the intense rainwater to absorb into the soil or drain nicely into rivers or streams, flash flooding presents a common problem.


Map of the Tonle Sap and Mekong river
Image from Wikipedia

Most of Cambodia’s rivers and streams empty into the Mekong River, the largest river in Southeast Asia, or the Tonle Sap Basin. Water from nearby streams feed into collective areas called drainage basins. The drainage pattern of the Tonle Sap’s adjoining rivers is shaped like tree branches, indicating that it is a dendritic basin.

E.coli rope test sampling.
Image by Andrew Shantz on andrewincambodia.blogspot.com

Most Cambodians lack plumbing and draw their water from wells, which pump water from permeable formations called aquifers. During the dry season, droughts present limitations on the water supplies available. The threat of drawdown, or the depletion of water from wells faster than it is produced, is a also a major concern along with worries of contamination due to pollution, drainage, and bacteria. Technology provides some relief from all of that, however, as ceramic filters that trap bacteria and E. coli rope tests are being introduced to save lives.

Sources:
Andrew Shantz (andrewincambodia.blogspot.com)
http://www.africanwater.org/mekong_river.htm

Post 1: The Cardamom Mountains

The Cardamom Mountains are mostly undisturbed tropical rain forests that are home to a wide variety of plants and animals.  They lie close to the Taiwanese border and while the Cambodian side is mostly intact, the Taiwanese side of the mountain ranges has been badly affected by illegal logging, poaching, and fires.

These beautiful ranges weren’t created overnight as mountains are formed from a combination of the convergence of two continental plates colliding and the resulting compression.

Photograph by Barney Long / Fauna & Flora International, worldwildlife.org

These mountain ranges are composed primarily of sandstone but also have areas of volcanic rock and limestone.  Sandstone and limestone are both sedimentary rocks, which are formed from deposits of sediments due to erosion.  Sandstone is considered a clastic sedimentary rock because it’s formed from fragments of other rocks, which in this case is sand.  Limestone is a chemical sedimentary rock because it is formed from sediments that are precipitated from lake or ocean water (Boonratana 3).

Cardamom Mountain Stream, near Dei Krorhorm Village

Photo by Asahel Bush at panoramio.com

The volcanic rocks found in the Cardamom Mountains are considered igneous rocks because they are the result of the cooling and crystallization of magma.

Due to the rocky and heavily forested nature of the Cardamom Mountains, very few people populate the area because the topography makes building and agriculture difficult (Milne 3).

Sources:

Boonratana, Ramesh. “Cardamom Mountains Rainforests (IM0106).” World Wildlife Fund, 2001.  Web. 10 Feb. 2010.

Milne, Sarah. “Conservation and Care in Cambodia’s Cardamom Mountains.” Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars, 9 May 2009. Web. 10 Feb. 2010.

Introduction

My name is Jessica Dinkel and this is my blog about the geography of Cambodia.  I chose this place not only because of its rich culture and history, but also because I've become interested in Cambodia due to the stories I've heard about the Cambodian genocide of the 1970's.

 

Angkor wat

Image by Garion88 of http://www.images-photography-pictures.net/

I'm looking forward to this blog because I haven't seen many pictures of Cambodia's beautiful landscape even though I've spent a lot of time researching the Cambodian people.  It will be nice to be able to put a picture to everything I've read.