Home sweet Home ;)

Thank you so much for the surprise "Welcome Home" party! I had soo much fun, loved the mountain goat theme! (was that YOUR idea, Goaty?? :) I'm pretty sure my favorite part was the bouncy house shaped like a mountain. Actually, the Goat petting zoo was pretty great also! It was by far the best party anyone has ever thrown for me.

wow. It's so nice to be home. Sleeping my own bed, no more long airplane red eye flights, and my own fridge with my own food!

But I can't forget, my journey isn't quite over yet.

I'm still working hard on my article for my boss about Tectonic plates. Everyone keep your eyes open for the June addition of National Geographic! Look for my page :)

Because my adventure is over, I don't think I'll be making anymore posts for awhile.

Thanks so much for reading everybody!

Hope I inspired some of you to do your own research about Tectonic plates.

TTFN, tata for now! (Winnie the Pooh is my FAVORITE!)

Pre and Post pictures of Mt. St. Helens!

You have GOT to see these pictures, I just took the "after" one! (first one)

I found the first one online.

Here at Mount St. Helens :)

Wow. I almost feel at home! There sure is different weather in Washington then New Zealand :)

I'm here at mount st. Helens. Mount St. Helens was formed from a Convergent boundary, but not the same type as formed the Himalayas in India. It's called a Subduction Convergent Continental-Oceanic boundary. (It sounds complicated, but it's really not!) In more simple terms, when a continental plate and an oceanic plate meet (called a convergent boundary), the oceanic plate goes under. This is called subduction. When the oceanic plate goes underneath, it starts to melt. When it melts, the magma that's created is less dense then the rock above it, so it rises up. When it reaches the earth's surface, it cools and turns into rock. But more magma comes up through that, and it continues to build up and so on. In this case, the Pacific plate and the North-American plate are colliding, and the pacific plate is going underneath forming the volcano Mount St. Helens.

There are two different types of volcano's. One, has really runny lava which just slowly drips out of the top (like Hawaii!), and the other, more thick that explodes. Mount St. Helens is the second kind. It has gas trapped inside the thick lava, and pressure builds up and builds up as the gas tries to get out. Eventually, the whole thing will blow which is what happened in 1980.

Hope you all understand! To the left is a picture to help. Thanks :)

On my way home. Just one more stop: But don't worry! It's on the way!

Seattle, here I come! So excited to see everyone. (especially goaty! :)

But first, I must make one more stop. Mount St. Helens! I thought I should go there, as it's close to home and heart. But alas, this means more long flights.... I'll start working on my national geographic article.

Keep reading my blog!

Thanks everyone, almost home!

Research and Investigation= DONE.

Turns out, the mountains on South Island are from a transform boundary between the Pacific plate and the Indo-Australian plate. I knew it all along! A transform boundary is when two plates are moving in opposite directions, and rubbing against each other. One plate will probably end up going underneath the other, lifting the first plate up and forming mountains. With transform boundaries, mountains do not always form. Because the plates are moving side to side, one does not always end up going underneath the other. That's just what happened in New Zealand. Here's a picture of what a Transform boundary looks like!

I think I'll stay in New Zealand a while before my next stop, and do some site seeing. (or sheep seeing!)

TTFN, tata for now!

In New Zealand!

Wow, what a long flight. I'm so happy to finally be in a hotel, much as I do love camping.

Here I am, finally in New Zealand! So far, I've seen a lot of sheep! It's not an urban myth that those are common around here... ;)

Wow. It's so nice to be staying a hotel for once. The best part: such a comfy bed! PLUS a flatscreen TV right across from it! I think I'm gonna take a couple days off and do some research (or relaxation.. hehe) about the nearby plate boundaries before going to investigate myself.. more later!

Next stop: New Zealand!

After an amazing trip to Iceland, my next stop is New Zealand!

Kveðja my friends! (goodbye in icelandic :)

I'm so excited, this is the one place I've always wanted to go. I'm so exciting to spend more time with sheep! Sadly, this reminds me of my goat, named Goaty. (Name credit to Austin G!) I hope my neighbor is doing a good job taking care of him and feeding him lots of grass!

Maybe I'll find another pet sheep in New Zealand to be Goatys friend!

Love you goaty,

Here's a picture I drew of you :)

In New Zealand I will be traveling to the South Island, to a small mountain called Mount Sefton- part of a larger mountain range along the west side of the island. I will be staying at the Hermitage Hotel. (I decided to treat myself after camping and staying with strangers.)

Alas, it's time to say goodbye as I have to get on my long long flight!

Thanks for reading you guys, more to come later!

Back in iceland's mainland from visiting Eld Fell!

How exciting! There is really nothing like a good campout. After taking rock samples and seeing the volcano in action, I've concluded that Eld Fell is formed from a Divergent plate boundary. This occurs when two tectonic plates are moving apart, unlike my last visit when they were moving together. As they move apart, something has to fill the space, and that thing in this case is magma. The hot lava flows up and as it is cooled by water and air, it turns into rock. But magma still comes up and builds on top of that rock, working its way up and up to form a mountain. Still today, it is boiling up to the top which is the cause of a volcano. How interesting! Boy, Geology rocks. Here's a picture of how a Divergent plate boundary works!

SADLY leaving Nepal... But on my way to a new destination soon!

After many thanks and goodbye's, I left the small village and traveled back to Katmandu. I was so sad to leave! But I'll never forget the nice family that I stayed with. From there, I took a plane all the way to Iceland! I'm here staying in my hotel, and let me tell you Iceland isn't as cold as you might think! I'm enjoying myself while I still have time. I will take a small boat out to Heimaey Island, where I will study the old Eld Fell volcano and camp around the mountain. Eld Fell volcano had been around for millions of years, and is still active. The last time it erupted was in 1973, and it is 656 feet from sea level and growing! It can be dangerous as last time it erupted with no warning, but I'm still so excited! Here's a picture of the view of where I'll be camping.

Finally here!

After almost two whole days of traveling, I've finally reached Ranipauwa where I'm staying with a very welcome family. Everybody's so nice here, or at least I think they are, as I don't speak Nepali.

After many investigations, I found a fossil of an ancient water creature on one of the highest places on earth! This proves my theory that the Himalayas were formed from a convergent boundary between two plates. The Eurasian plate, and the Indian plate are moving together. They collide in the form of a collision convergent boundary, and when they meet they push upwards forming huge mountains. The evidence of the sea creature fossil shows that millions of years ago the Himalayas were under water.

Above: (bottom) how a Convergent Collision boundary works. (top) Here is a picture of the small village!

Upcoming "vacation"!

Hey Everybody!

I just found out from my boss that I'll be taking a trip to.. (drumroll...) NEPAL! I'm so excited to travel to a small town called Ranipauwa to study how the Hymalayas were formed. I leave in the next couple days! First, I will be flying to Katmandu and then taking a small plane to Pokhara, staying the night there, and then another small plane to Jomsom in the morning. Then I will rent a horse, and ride up the mountains to Muktinath which is a temple near Ranipauwa. This will which will take about 5-7 hours depending on how fast I go. What a commute!

So this is blogging!

Hi everybody!

I'm Cate, and I decided to make a blog!

Here's a little bit about me. I love geology! I'm absolutely obsessed with Tectonic plates and how they work. I'm a journalist for the National Geographic's geology section, and I get to travel all around the world to famous examples of Geology!

I'll be writing about them on this blog.

Please follow me or read my articles in National Geographic!

Thanks :)

Sincerely Cate