Mount Sakurajima
By Joseph Hemingway
Location: Kyushu, Japan
Height: 3,665ft
Type: Stratovolcano - also called a composite volcano, is a tall, composed of many layers of hardened , , and .
Last Eruption: 2007
1914
- The 1914 eruption has been the most powerful in the Japanese twentieth century.
- During the eruption lava flows filled in the narrow strait between the island and the mainland, converting it into a peninsula.
- Before 1914, the volcano had been dormant for over a century.
- The eruption began on 11 January 1914.
- Almost all residents had left the island in the previous days, in response to several large earthquakes which warned them that an eruption was imminent.
- Initially, the eruption had been very explosive, generating eruption columns and pyroclastic flows, but after a very large earthquake on 13 January 1914 which killed 35 people, it became effusive, generating a large lava flow.
- Lava flows are rare in Japan-the high but the lava flows at Sakurajima continued for months.
- The island grew, engulfing several smaller islands nearby, and eventually becoming connected to the mainland by a narrow isthmus.
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Peer Reviews
Here's what a star student thought of this essay
Quality of writing
The cover page layout is quite glaring, and the candidate should avoid the use of wordart in the title as this looks unprofessional. Minor grammatical errors in places, but overall the punctuation, grammar and spelling are to a good standard. Rather than using a solid wall of facts for the 1914 eruption I would have split it into sections to expand on certain points and make it easier to read. For example sections on consequences (economical, social etc), what happened etc.
Level of analysis
The candidate uses limited sources, and to expand on their information and get valid data the candidate should use wider sources where you can trust where the information came from. The candidate provides a good range of factual data focusing on dates, casualties and some of the potential consequences of the event. I think the candidate should have included further information on the impact of the 1914 eruption and how this impacted on the surrounding people and town. Recent activity is recorded accurately and some of the prevention strategies, which is good, but again the candidate should expand on impacts and other detail to gain higher marks.
Response to question
A good leaflet construction. The candidate examines a series of facts about the volcano and surrounding events to a good level, but the synthesis of resources are limited, and the candidate seems to merely copy facts from wikipedia rather than look around for consequences and links. The candidate does select information and present it in a concise way well.
