Within the small town of La Fortuna, Costa Rica has a variaty of natural beauties. Different proccess took care of producing this natural sites over long periods of times. Arenal volcano was created by its dormant neighbor, El Chato volcano in one of its biggest and last eruption. La Fortuna waterfall also was created by a lava flow of El chato volcano and feed by the River Celeste. The volcanos geothermal activity helps heat underwater creating hot springs. Venado caves once underwater and due to tectonic plate movement they move to the surface, having a perennial river and flooding on rainy season. Due to moisturous, humidity and amount of solar energy received, vegetation in prevalant in any landscape of La Fortuna.
Arenal Volcano
La Fortuna 1,000 years from now
In 1,000 years from now not much can happen since geography processes talks about geological time thousand, million or more years for a change.
Arenal volcano: is currently dormant but it can have an eruption any time, specially if there is a movement in the tectonic plates.
Waterfall: The main goal in fluvial landscapes is to reach base level meaning sea level. Weathering is a continuos process, occuring from being expose to organic acids with mosses and lichens. Water velocity is carving the floor when it falls making it deeper and also weathering were water passes.
Drainage: Change in drainage pattern due to erosion of rivers, and waterfall having a lower or higher amount of water.
Caves: Chemical weathering in caves from dissolution produces the formation of karst. Karst is form from dissolution due to the amount of water and organic acids available in tropical climates. During the wet season the cave gets flooded and during the dry season a stream continues to pass making the floor deeper applying the goal of every fluvial landscape and reach base level. Limestone is more prone to karst because when rainwater and carbonic acid interact with limestone it dissolves creating karst.
Tectonic plates: Cocos plate (Oceanic plate) located in the South Pacific ocean and caribbean plate (continental plate) interact as converge plates. The movement of this plates causes earthquakes causing faults. The material that goes under the caribbean plate is recycle feeding volcanos or creating more active volcanos.
Hot Springs will continue to exist as long as there is the movement, pressure and friction between the Cocos plate and Caribbean plate producing geothemal friction.
La Fortuna 10,000 years from now
Arenal Volcano: Tectonic plates are constantly shifting and moving above the volcanic hot spot.
Caves: Karst produces swallow holes, grykes and clints.
Waterfall: Knickpoints is where the change in slope of a waterfall can be found, also knickpoints are temporal because it continues moving as erosion continues above and below the waterfall.
La Fortuna 1,000,000 years from now
Arenal Volcano: As the tectonic plates continue moving until the hot spot reaches the surface it creates new volcanos and mamga
finds a chamber to feed the new volcano. The older volcano stops eruption
and the new active volcano takes the resources that feed the older
volcano. This can be predicted because this procces has occur in the past.
Caves: Due to the amount of dissolution with water through out the years, venado caves may breakdown and collapse the roof of the cave. Other caves can also be form following the same process in which the venado caves were form, as the tectonic plates continue moving and pushing land upward.
Waterfall: Reach sea level and become a graded stream such as it is predicted for the niagara falls.
In order for the landscape to change long periods of time have to passed as geological time. These changes can happen in our life time or maybe in thousands of years where not even our dust exists. Many of my predictions were base on past events that occur in La Fortuna and also what is currently happening with each landscape.
Sources
Dormant Volcanos
Volcanos
Karst
Geology
Dissolution
