Environmental Science, 10th Edition (Cunningham)

Chapter 20: Sustainable Energy

GE Exercise: Three Gorges Dam

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Take a virtual field trip with Google Earth!
Google Earth is a free, online application that uses satellite imagery to allow the user to zoom across the globe in a realistic, virtual environment. Downloading Google Earth is free at http://www.earth.google.com.

An overview manual is available by clicking here... Google Earth Overview (342.0K)

To continue:
- Make sure you have the Google Earth software installed and running.
- Copy the following latitude and longitude and paste into the "Fly to" field under the Search tab.
- Hit "Enter" for Google Earth to take you to the specified coordinates, then come back here and read the following overview.

Latitude/Longitude: 30.8243, 111.01

Overview: Three Gorges Dam, p. 467

This mammoth dam is one of the central structures of China's south to north water project. Currently the largest dam in the world, the dam towers 185 m (600 ft) above the river and is 2 k (1.25 mi) wide. It creates a reservoir 600 km (375 mi) long that displaced more than 1 million people and flooded thousands of historic sites as it was filled. Housing the world's largest hydroelectric station, the dam will be capable of generating 18,200 MW of power when the reservoir is completely filled in 2009. This is equivalent to 35 to 40 coal-burning power plants or nuclear plants. Building the dam cost at least $30 billion (U.S.). There are worries that, if the dam failed catastrophically (it's built on an active fault line), it could endanger many of 100 million who live downstream around Shanghai and Suzhou. Water drawn from the Three Gorges Reservoir will have to cross hundreds of kilometers of rugged mountains before it gets to the arid plain around Beijing. There are also concerns that the water, which is polluted by sewage and industrial effluent of the nearly 100 million people who live upstream, may make the water too polluted to use even if it reaches Beijing. (Depending on the date of the imagery available, the dam may not extend all the way across the river. On the north side of the river are locks, which will raise and lower ships past the dam's 150 m elevation change.)

1
Zoom out to an Eye alt. of 200 km. Use the ruler tool to trace a 600 km path upstream along the river. How many cities marked on the image along the river are flooded by the reservoir?
A)2 cities
B)4 cities
C)7 cities
D)11 cities
E)25 cities
2
Find the measuring tool (Tools > Measure). Roughly how far is the dam from Shanghai?
A)10 km
B)100 km
C)500 km
D)1,000 km
E)2,000 km
3
Follow the river upstream (west) to where it reaches the level landscape of the Sichuan Basin. This level area, surrounded by mountains, is an important cultural region in China, with prosperous, well-watered farmlands. The city of Chongqing stands on the river where the river enters the mountains. The Three Gorges dam will back up water as far as Chongqing. About how far is Chongqing from the dam?
A)Chongqing is approximately 100 km from the dam in a straight line.
B)Chongqing is approximately 200 km from the dam in a straight line.
C)Chongqing is approximately 400 km from the dam in a straight line.
D)Chongqing is approximately 800 km from the dam in a straight line.
E)Chongqing is approximately 1,000 km from the dam in a straight line.
4
What's the latitude of the dam?
A)The dam is 25 degrees N.
B)The dam is 30 degrees N.
C)The dam is 35 degrees N.
D)The dam is 39.5 degrees N.
5
What's the latitude of Beijing?
A)Beijing is 25 degrees N.
B)Beijing is 30 degrees N.
C)Beijing is 35 degrees N.
D)Beijing is 39.5 degrees N.
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