~ Mother Earth ~
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Vogelsberg Mountains
The Vogelsberg Mountains are a group of low mountains in central Germany, located in the middle of the state of Hessen. They are the product of ancient volcanic activity and are separated from the Rhön Mountains by the Fulda River and its valley.
Vogelsberg Mountains
Arising approximately 19 million years ago, the Vogelsberg, Germany's only shield volcano, is also Central Europe's largest basalt formation, consisting of a multitude of layers which, having flowed over each other, fall downward from their peak in ring-shaped terraces to the base.
The main peaks of the Vogelsberg are Taufstein, 773 m (2,536 ft), and Hoherodskopf, 763 m (2,503 ft), both now enclosed in a national park, the Hoher Vogelsberg Nature Reserve.
Issue #362 -
Storegga Slide
The three Storegga Slides count among the largest recorded landslides. They occurred under water on the edge of Norway's continental shelf (Storegga is Norwegian for "the Great Edge") in the Norwegian Sea, 100 km north west of the Møre coast, where an area the size of Iceland slid, causing a megatsunami in the North Atlantic Ocean. The latest incident occurred around 6100 BC. In Scotland, traces of this tsunami have been recorded.
Location of the Storegga Slide
As part of the activities to prepare the Ormen Lange natural gas field, the incident has been thoroughly investigated. One conclusion is that the slide was caused by material built up during the previous ice age, and that a reoccurrence would only be possible after a new ice age. This conclusion is supported by numerous exhaustive published scientific studies.
Facts and arguments supporting such conclusion were made public in 2004. Earlier it was concluded that the development of the Ormen Lange gas field would not significantly increase the risk of triggering a new slide. A new slide, potentially larger than Denmark in area, and 400 m to 800 m high, would trigger mega tsunamis that would be devastating for the coast areas around the North Sea and the Norwegian Sea.
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Menara Kuala Lumpur
The Menara Kuala Lumpur (or Kuala Lumpur Tower in English) is a tall tower in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia built in 1995. It is used for communication purposes and features an antenna that reaches 421 m (1,381 ft), which currently makes it the fifth tallest tower in the world. The roof of the pod is at 335 m (1,099 ft). The rest of the tower below has a stairwell and an elevator to reach the upper area, which also contains a rotating restaurant, providing diners a beautiful view of the city. Races are organised yearly where participants race up the stairs to the top.
Menara Kuala Lumpur
Construction
The construction of Menara Kuala Lumpur which began on October 1991, was a 3-phase process. The first phase was the widening of Jalan Punchak and the excavation of soil from the construction site. This phase went on until August 15, 1992.
On July 6, 1992, the second phase began with the construction of the foundation and basement of the tower. Approximately 50,000 cubic meters of concrete were continuously poured for 31 hours thus setting a record in the Malaysian construction industry. The foundation work, requiring no piling, was completed by April 15, 1993.
The third phase was the construction of the 'superstructure' which began in May 1993. The tedious construction of the tower started with the erection of the tower shaft, then the tower head. As the finishing touches to the tower head were being done, the construction of the touristic building began.
The touristic building is adomed with designs that reflect the Malaysian Islamic culture. The main lobby of the upper ground floor is decorated with exquisite glass-clad domes that sparkle like giant diamonds. These domes were designed and arranged in the form of the Muqarnas by Iranian craftsmen from Isfahan.
On September 13, 1994, Prime Minister, YAB Dato Seri Dr. Mahathir bin Mohamad performed the Topping-up Ceremony where the antenna mast was installed, thus marking the final height of the tower, 421 meters above the ground. Lastly installation of the facilities and amenties was executed to ensure comfort and safety.
Menara Kuala Lumpur was officially opened by the Prime Minister on October 1, 1996. Among the distinguished guests to the Tower were the Yang di-Pertuan Agong Tuanku Jaafar, Raja Pemaisuri Agong Tuanku Najihah, the wives of the Sultan of Brunei, DYMM Paduka Seri Baginda Raja Isteri Pengiran Anak Hajah Saleha and DYTM Pengiran Isteri Hajah Mariam.
Facts
Menara Kuala Lumpur is the fifth tallest telecommunication tower in the world (after the CN Tower Canada, Ostankino Tower Russia, Oriental Pearl Tower China, Borj-e Milad Iran). Built to enhance the quality of telecommunication services and the clarity of broadcasting, Menara Kuala Lumpur represents the symbol of Kuala Lumpur, the Garden City of Wondrous Lights.
The structure is divided into 5 basic sections:
1. The foundation base houses 3 basement floors for safety purposes, storage and maintenance work.
2. The touristic building bears the administration office, souvenir shops and the 146 meters pedestrian mall with cascading pools.
3. The tower shaft comprises 22 levels with 4 elevators and flights of stairs with a total of 2,058 steps.
4. The tower head holds the public observation platform (276 m) and revolving restaurant as well as the telecommunication and broadcasting stations.
5. The antenna mast crowns the tower and is specially utilized for telecommunication and broadcasting transmissions.
When constructing Menara Kuala Lumpur, the builders took special care to construct a retaining wall around a 100 year old Jelutong tree (Dyera Costulata).
To conserve the tree's position, the tower was moved at a cost of RM430,000 to avoid felling the monumental tree, which is found near the pedestrian mall.
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Acadia National Park
Acadia National Park preserves much of Mount Desert Island, and associated smaller islands, off the Atlantic coast of Maine. The area includes mountains, an ocean shoreline, woodlands, and lakes. In addition to Mount Desert Island, the park comprises much of the Isle au Haut, a small island to the southwest of Mount Desert Island. A portion of Schoodic Peninsula on the mainland is also part of the park. In total, Acadia National Park consists of 30,300 acres (123 km²) on Mount Desert Island, 2,728 acres (11 km²) on Isle au Haut and 2,266 acres (9.2 km²) on the Schoodic Peninsula.
Acadia National Park, located near Bangor and Bar Harbor, Maine.
History
The park was created as Sieur de Monts National Monument on July 8, 1916, administered by the National Park Service. On February 26, 1919, it became a national park, with the name Lafayette National Park in honor of the Marquis de Lafayette, an influential French supporter of the American Revolution. The park's name was changed to Acadia National Park on January 19, 1929.
Bass Harbor Head Light, in the park.
The town of Bar Harbor is located on the northeast corner of the island. Cadillac Mountain on the eastern side of the island is a famous tourist destination because it is one of the first places in the United States to see the sunrise. Miles of scenic carriage roads were originally built by John D. Rockefeller, Jr. with great sensitivity to the trees and contours of the land.
Issue #365 -
Bay of Green Bay
The Bay of Green Bay is an arm of Lake Michigan. It is located on the south-west coast of Michigan's Upper Peninsula and the east coast of Wisconsin. It is separated from the rest of the lake by the Door Peninsula in Wisconsin, the Garden Peninsula in Michigan, and the chain of islands between them. The Bay of Green Bay is some 120 miles long, with a width ranging from about 10 to 20 miles. At the head of the bay is the city of Green Bay, Wisconsin, where the Fox River enters the bay. The Leo Frigo Memorial Bridge (formerly known as the Tower Drive bridge) spans the point where the bay ends and the Fox River begins. The bay is navigable by large ships.
Bay of Green Bay
Unlike many other bays, the bay is officially named after the city, not vice-versa; hence the name Bay of Green Bay.
The bay was named Baie des Puants (literally, "Stinky Bay") during the French regime as attested by many French maps of the 17th and 18th centuries.
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Mayon Volcano
Mayon Volcano is a volcano in the Philippines. It is found in the province of Albay in the Bicol Region. Its almost perfectly-shaped cone is considered by many people to be more beautiful than Mt. Fuji in Japan. A few kilometres to the south of the volcano is Legazpi City.
Mayon Volcano
Elevation: 2,462 metres (8,077 feet)
Location: Albay, Philippines
Coordinates: 13°15'24"N, 123°41'6"E
Type: Stratovolcano
Last eruption: 2004
Mayon is classified by volcanologists as a stratovolcano (composite volcano). Its symmetric cone was formed through alternate pyroclastic and lava flows. Mayon is the most active volcano in the country, having erupted around 50 times for the past 400 years.
The most destructive eruption of Mayon occurred on February 1, 1814. Lava flows buried the town of Cagsawa and 1,200 people perished. Only the belltower of the town church remained. It is located between the Eurasian and the Philippine Plate and is a destructive plate boundary. Where a continetal plate meets an oceanic plate it forces the denser oceanic plate down, pushing magma up.
Issue #367 -
Barbary Coast
The Barbary Coast, or Barbary, was the term used by Europeans until the 19th century to refer to the coastal regions of what is now Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, and Libya. The name is derived from the Berber people of north Africa. In the West, the name commonly evokes the Arab slave traders based on that coast, who captured and traded slaves from Europe and sub-Saharan Africa. It also evokes the Barbary pirates, based on the North African coast, who attacked shipping in the Mediterranean and North Atlantic.
Barbary Coast
"Barbary" was almost never a unified political entity; from the sixteenth century onwards, it was divided into the familiar political entities of Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, and the no longer extant Tripolitania, and before that it was usually divided between Ifriqiya, Morocco, and a west-central Algerian state centered on Tlemcen or Tiaret, although powerful dynasties such as the Almohads, and briefly the Hafsids, occasionally unified it for short periods. However, from a European perspective its "capital" or chief city was often considered to be Tripoli, in modern-day Libya, although Algiers, in Algeria, and Tangiers, in Morocco, were also sometimes seen as its "capital" by Europeans of the era.
The first United States military action overseas, executed by the U.S. Marines and Navy, was the storming of Derna, Tripoli in 1805 in an effort to bolster diplomatic efforts in securing both the freedom of American prisoners and an end to piracy on the part of the Barbary state.
Issue #368 -
Oil field
An oil field is an area with an abundance of oil wells extracting petroleum (oil) from below ground. Because the oil reservoirs typically extend over a large area, possibly several hundred kilometres across, full exploitation entails multiple wells scattered across the area. In addition, there may be exploratory wells probing the edges, pipelines to transport the oil elsewhere, and support facilities.
Drilling rig in a small oil field near Sarnia, Ontario in 2001
Because an oil field may be remote from civilization, establishing a field is often an extremely complicated exercise in logistics. For instance, workers have to work there for months or years and require housing. In turn, housing and equipment require electricity and water. Pipelines in cold areas may need to be heated. Excess natural gas needs to be burned off if there is no way to make use of it, requiring a furnace and stacks, and pipes to carry it from well to furnace.
Thus, the typical oil field resembles a small self-contained city in the midst of a landscape dotted with drilling rigs and/or the pump jacks known as "nodding donkeys" because of their bobbing arm. Several companies, such as Bechtel, Esso, Schlumberger Limited, Baker-Hughes and Halliburton, have organizations that specialize in the large-scale construction of the infrastructure and providing specialized services required to operate a field profitably.
More than 40,000 oil fields are scattered around the globe, on land and offshore. The largest are the Ghawar Field in Saudi Arabia and the Burgan Field in Kuwait, with more than 60 billion barrels (10 km³) estimated in each. Most oil fields are much smaller. According to the US Department of Energy (Energy Information Administration), as of 2003 the US alone had over 30,000 oil fields.
In the modern age, the location of oil fields with proven oil reserves is a key underlying factor in many geopolitical conflicts.
Issue #369 -
Transylvanian Plateau
Transylvanian Plateau is a plateau in central Romania almost entirely surrounded by the Eastern, Southern and Romanian Western branches of the Carpathian Mountains.
Transylvanian Plateau
The Transylvanian Plateau, the Carpathian Mountains, and the lowlands in Western Romania are characterized by continental climate. Temperature varies a great deal in the course of a year, warm summers are contrasted by very cold winters. These flatlands have the country's best farmland and most of its cities and towns. Vast forests cover parts of the Transylvanian Plateau and the mountains. The mountains (3,000 to 6,000 ft) are all part of the Carpathian Mountain System.
Issue #370 -
John Cabot
Giovanni Caboto (c. 1450 – c.1499), known in English as John Cabot, was an Italian navigator and explorer. He is commonly credited as the first early modern European to discover the North American mainland, in 1497.
John Cabot gazes across Bristol Harbour.
Cabot's date and place of birth are uncertain. The date is projected to be around 1450, and his place of birth is variously stated to be Genoa, Gaeta, or sometimes Chioggia. It is known at any rate that in his youth he moved to Venice, a few miles from the last mentioned town, and became a Venetian citizen.
Like other Italian explorers of the era, such as Christopher Columbus (Cristoforo Colombo), Cabot made another country his base of operations. For Cabot it was England, so his explorations were made under the English flag. The voyage that saw him and his crew discover the North American mainland – the first Europeans known to do so since the Vikings – took place in 1497, five years after Columbus' discovery of the Caribbean. Again, like Columbus, Cabot's intention had been to find a westerly sea route to Asia.
It was probably on hearing of Columbus's discovery of 'the Indies' that he decided to find a route to the west for himself. He went with his plans to England, because he incorrectly thought spices were coming from northern Asia; and a degree of longitude is shorter the further one is from the equator, so the voyage from western Europe to eastern Asia would be shorter at higher latitudes.
King Henry VII of England gave him a grant to go on "full and free authoritie, leave, and power, to sayle to all partes, countreys, a see as, of the East, of the West, and of the North, under our banners and ensignes, with five ships ... and as many mariners or men as they will have in saide ships, upon their own proper costes and charges, to seeke out, discover, and finde, whatsoever iles, countreyes, regions or provinces of the heathen and infidelles, whatsoever they bee, and in what part of the world soever they be, whiche before this time have beene unknowen to all Christians."
Cabot went to Bristol to make the preparations for his voyage. Bristol by then was the second-largest seaport in England, and during the years from 1480 onwards several expeditions had been sent out to look for Hy-Brazil, an island that would lie somewhere in the Atlantic Ocean according to Celtic legends. Some people think Newfoundland may have been found on (one of) these voyages.
In 1496 Cabot started a voyage with one ship from Bristol. But, he got no further than Iceland and was forced to return because of disputes with the crew. On second voyage Cabot left again with only one vessel, the Matthew, a small ship (50 tons), but fast and able. The crew consisted of only 18 people. He departed either May 2 or May 20, 1497. He sailed to Dursey Head, Ireland, from where he sailed due west to Asia - or so he thought. He landed on the coast of Newfoundland on June 24, 1497. His precise landing-place is a matter of much controversy, either Bonavista or St. John's. He went ashore to take possession of the land, and explored the coast for some time, probably departing on July 20. On the homeward voyage his sailors thought they were going too far north, so Cabot sailed a more southerly course, reaching Brittany instead of England. On August 6 he arrived back in Bristol.
The exact location of Cabot's first landfall is still unknown, because of lack of evidence. Many experts think it was on Cape Bonavista, Newfoundland, but others look for it in Cape Breton Island, Nova Scotia, Labrador or Maine. We might never know the truth. His men may have been the first Europeans on either American continent since the Vikings: Christopher Columbus did not find the mainland until his third voyage, in 1498, and letters referring to a voyage by Amerigo Vespucci in 1497 are generally believed to have been forgeries or fabrications.
Back in England, Cabot was rewarded with £10, and a patent was written for a new voyage. Later, a pension of £20 a year was granted him. The next year, 1498, he departed again, with 5 ships this time. The expedition made for an Irish port, because of distress. Except for one ship, John Cabot and his expedition were never heard from again.
John's son Sebastian Cabot later made a voyage to North America, looking for the Northwest Passage (1508), and one to repeat Magellan's voyage around the world, which ended up looking for silver along the RÃo de la Plata (1525-8).
The Cabot Tower in the centre of Bristol, England.
In 1498-1500 a few Portuguese travelers, Miguel and Gaspar Corte-Real being the most famous participants, visited Greenland, Labrador and Newfoundland. In 1501-1505 an English syndicate, consisting of 3 Azoreans and 2 English traders, made voyages to Newfoundland. From 1504, if not before, Breton, Basque, Portuguese and English fishermen crossed the ocean to catch fish on the Newfoundland banks.
Cabot is remembered in Bristol by the Cabot Tower, a 30m tall red sandstone tower of 1897 (the 400th anniversary of the landing) on Brandon Hill near the city centre, by a replica of the Matthew built in the city and by a statue of the explorer on the harbourside.
Issue #371 -
Lake Nasser
Lake Nasser (transliterated: Buhayrat Nasir) is a vast reservoir in southern Egypt and northern Sudan. Strictly, "Lake Nasser" refers only to the much larger portion of the lake that is in Egyptian territory (83% of the total), with the Sudanese preferring to call their smaller body of water Lake Nubia.
View of Lake Nasser from Abu Simbel
It was created as a result of the construction of the Aswan High Dam across the waters of the Nile between 1958 and 1970.
The lake is some 550 km long and 35 km across at its widest point, which is near the Tropic of Cancer. It covers a total surface area of 5,250 km² and has a storage capacity of some 157 km³ of water.
The rising waters of the dam required major relocation projects that were carried out during the 1960s.
Several important Nubian archaeological sites were dismantled block by block and moved to higher ground, most notably Abu Simbel. The Sudanese river-port and railway terminal of Wadi Halfa was lost beneath the waters and a new town was built in its place; and Egypt's entire Nubian community from the upper reaches of the Nile – numbering several hundred thousand people – saw their villages disappear and were forced to relocate.
The Egyptian name is in honor of President Gamal Abdel Nasser, who was the mastermind behind the controversial High Dam project.
Rising lake levels through the 1990s resulted in spilling over of waters into the Western Desert, forming the Toshka Lakes beginning in 1998.
Issue #372 -
Gulf of Khambhat
The Gulf of Khambhat (formerly known as the Gulf of Cambay) is an inlet of the Arabian Sea along the west coast of India, in the state of Gujarat. It is about 80 miles in length, and divides the Kathiawar peninsula to the west from the eastern part of Gujarat state on the east. The Narmada and Tapti rivers empty into the Gulf. The Gulf is shallow and abounds in shoals and sandbanks. The Gulf is known for its extreme tides, which vary greatly in height and run into it with amazing speed. At low tide the bottom is left nearly dry for some distance below the town of Khambhat.
Gulf of Khambhat on the right. Image NASA Earth Observatory
The Alang Ship Recycling Yard takes advantage of the extreme high tides of the gulf. Large ships are beached during the twice-monthly highest tides, and are dismantled when the tide recedes.
The Gulf of Khambhat has been an important center of trade since ancient times; its ports connect central India to the maritime trade routes of the Indian Ocean. Bharuch (Broach), Surat, Khambhat, Bhavnagar, and Daman are historically important seaports. Bharuch has been important since ancient times; Khambhat was the gulf's chief port in the Middle Ages, but after the silting of its harbor, Surat rose to prominence as the most important harbor of the Mughal empire.
Traces of a neolithic culture have been found submerged in the Gulf in 2002. A piece of carbonized wood recovered from the area has been radiocarbon dated to a calibrated age of some 9,500 years. The finds pre-date the Harappan civilization by at least 4,000 years.
Issue #373 -
Mountain pass
In a range of hills, or especially of mountains, a pass (also gap, notch, col, saddle, bwlch or bealach) is a lower point that allows easier access through the range. On the route through the range, it is locally the highest point on the route. Since many of the world's mountain ranges have always presented formidable barriers to travel, passes have been important since before recorded history, and have played a key role in trade, war and migration.
The Great St. Bernard Pass, still snowy even in June, has long been a major route through the Alps.
Topographically, a pass has the general form of a saddle between two mountains (the elevation as a function of two position coordinates is mathematically a saddle point). They are often found just above the source of a river, constituting a sort of "bridge" over to the headwaters of a different river. Passes may be very short, consisting of steep slopes to the top of the pass, or valleys of many kilometers, whose highest point is only identifiable by surveying.
Roads have long been been built through passes, and more recently railways. Some high and rugged passes may have tunnels bored underneath, so as allow faster traffic flow year-round.
The top of a pass is frequently the only flat ground in the area, a high vantage point, so it is often a preferred site for buildings. For countries whose borders are delimited by a mountain range, the pass is typically part of the border, and the facilities likely include a border control or customs station, and possibly a military post as well. For passes with roads, it is also customary to have a small roadside sign giving the name of the pass and its elevation above mean sea level.
There are thousands of named passes around the world; some are familiar names, such as the Great St. Bernard Pass (2,473 m) in the Alps, the Khyber Pass (1,027 m) between Afghanistan and Pakistan, and the Khardungla Pass (5,359 m) in Jammu and Kashmir, India. The world's highest motorable pass may be the little known Semo La (5,565 m) in Tibet.
The word gap is more commonly used in the southern Appalachians, while notch is more common in New England.
In the Scottish Highlands, the Gaelic term bealach is used.
Issue #374 -
Harlech Castle
Harlech Castle, located in Harlech, Wales, was constructed atop a cliff close to the sea (which has since receded). Begun in 1283 as part of Edward I's second campaign in North Wales, the castle was part of Edward's "iron ring" of castles around coastal Snowdonia. Like many of the castles in the area, Harlech, which took seven years to build, was designed by James of St. George.
The main gatehouse of Harlech Castle.
Once constructed, the castle formed a concentric circle, with one line of defenses enclosed by another. The surrounding cliffs made it impossible to attack the castle except from the east, which had a powerfully-defended gatehouse. Scholars also remarked that Harlech defended "way from the sea", with a fortified stairway that runs almost 200 feet down to the foot of the rock where the castle is perched atop. This allowed the castle to have direct access to ships' supplies, however the tide has since receded so that this is no longer possible. When the castle was besieged during Madoc ap Llywelyn's campaign in 1294-1295, this stairway was used to supply the castle.
In 1404, the castle fell to Owain Glyndŵr, becoming his residence and headquarters. Four years later, after another long siege, Harlech Castle was retaken by Prince Henry (later Henry V).
In the Wars of the Roses Harlech was held by Sir Richard Tunstall as a hold-out Lancastrian stronghold in the first part of Edward IV of England's reign (1461-1470). It was the last Lancastrian fortress to surrender when it did so in 1468; it was able to withstand the seven-year siege through its being provisioned from the sea. This siege partially inspired the song "Men of Harlech".
Issue #375 -
Tidal island
A tidal island is a piece of land that is connected to the mainland by a natural or man-made causeway that is exposed at low tide and submerged at high tide. Because of the mystique surrounding tidal islands the majority of them have been sites of religious worship, such as Mont Saint Michel with its Benedictine Abbey. Tidal islands are also commonly the sites of fortresses, due to their natural fortifications.
St. Michael's Mount at high tide in 1900.
The former Bennelong Island in Sydney, Australia was developed into Bennelong Point and is now the location of the Sydney Opera House.
Issue #376 -
Lava dome
In volcanology, a lava dome is mound-shaped growth resulting from the eruption of high-silica lava (usually rhyolite and/or dacite) from a volcano. It is also known as a plug dome, although that term is rarely used.
A forested lava dome in the midst of the Valle Grande, the largest meadow in the Valles Caldera National Preserve.
The high silica content makes the lava very viscous, so that it cannot flow very far from its vent before solidifying. Lava domes are one of the principal building materials of many stratovolcanoes worldwide. Domes may reach heights of several hundred metres, and can grow slowly and steadily for months or years. Because high-silica lava can build more highly and steeply than low-silica lava (such as basalt), lava domes can be unstable and prone to collapse. When part of a lava dome collapses while it still contains molten rock and gases, it produces a pyroclastic flow, one of the most lethal forms of volcanic event. Ultimately, many volcanic domes are destroyed by large explosive eruptions.
Some of the world's most famous active lava domes include those at Mount Merapi in central Java of Indonesia, Soufriere Hills volcano in Montserrat, and Mt. St. Helens in the U.S. state of Washington. Lassen Peak in the northern part of the U.S. state of California is one of the largest single lava domes in the world and has the distinction of being the only other Cascade volcano besides Mount St. Helens to have erupted (1914-1921) in the 20th Century.
Issue #377 -
International Stadium Yokohama
The International Stadium of Yokohama (Japanese: Yokohama Kokusai Sougou Kyougijou) has 73,237 seats, and was inaugurated in March 1998. It is the home stadium of Yokohama F. Marinos of the J. League.
International Stadium Yokohama
It hosted three first-round games during the Football World Cup 2002, and the final game between Germany and Brazil was played there on June 30, 2002 (the game was won by Brazil, 2–0).
From March 1, 2005, its name was changed to Nissan Stadium (Japanese: Nissan Sutajiamu) to reflect the sponsorship of the Nissan Motor Co.
It hosted some matches of the 2005 FIFA Club World Championship, including the finals. During the tournament, its name was temporarily reverted to the original due to FIFA requirements (FIFA does not recognise sponsorship of stadia at official FIFA events).
Issue #378 -
Marlborough Sounds
The Marlborough Sounds is an extensive network of sea-drowned valleys at the north of the South Island of New Zealand.
Sea kayakers in the Marlborough Sounds.
Geography
Covering some 4,000 km² of sounds, islands, and peninsulas, the Marlborough Sounds lie at the South Island's north-easternmost point, between Tasman Bay in the west and Cloudy Bay in the south-east.
The steep, wooded hills and small quiet bays of the sounds are sparsely populated, as access is difficult. Many of the small settlements and isolated houses are only accessible by boat. The main port is Picton on the mainland, at the head of Queen Charlotte Sound. It is at the northern terminus of the South Island's main railway and State Highway networks.
The main sounds, other than Queen Charlotte Sound, are Pelorus Sound and Kenepuru Sound. Tory Channel is a major arm of Queen Charlotte Sound, and between them they isolate the hills of Arapawa Island from the mainland. Other islands in the sounds include D'Urville Island.
Ferries and marine farms
The Marlborough Sounds are connected with Cook Strait at the north-east extreme. At this point, the North Island is at its closest to the South Island, and the inter-island road, rail, and passenger ferry service between Picton and Wellington travel through the sounds.
Marine farming is increasingly common, although the wake caused by fast catamaran vehicular ferry services to the North Island has been alleged to damage farms, and has resulted in a dispute heard in the environment court. The fast ferries (which only operate for the summer season) are restricted to a lower speed in the sounds, reducing their time advantage over the conventional ferries.
Dangerous waters
The main channels of the Marlborough Sounds have calm water and are popular for sailing. Cook Strait, however, is infamous for its strong currents and rough waters, especially when the wind is from the south or north. Because of this, some of the narrow channels closer to the Strait are notoriously dangerous. Notable amongst these is French Pass at the southern end of D'Urville Island, which has several vortices.
The most notable shipwreck in the sounds is that of the Russian cruise liner Mikhail Lermontov, which sank in 1986 in Port Gore, close to the mouth of Queen Charlotte Sound, after striking rocks. One life was lost in the incident.
Issue #379 -
Stratocumulus cloud
A stratocumulus cloud is a cloud belonging to a class characterized by large dark, rounded masses, usually in groups, lines, or waves, the individual elements being larger than those in altocumulus and the whole being at a lower altitude, usually below 2,400 m (8,000 ft).
A group of stratocumulus clouds hanging low over the mountain valley seen from the summit of Mount Kinabalu.
Issue #380 -
Muir Glacier
Muir Glacier is a tidewater glacier in Glacier Bay National Park and Preserve in the U.S. state of Alaska. It is located at 58.917°N, 136.117°W, and is about 3 km (2 miles) wide and about 80 m (265 feet) tall. It calves or sheds icebergs.
Muir Glacier
The glacier is named after John Muir, the naturalist, who visited the area and wrote about it, generating interest in the area and in its preservation. His first two visits were in 1878 and 1880, at age 41. During the visits, he sent an account of his visits in installments to the San Francisco Bulletin. Later, he collected and edited these installments in a book, Travels in Alaska, published in 1915, the year he died.
Issue #381 -
1999 Izmit, Turkey Earthquake
The Izmit earthquake with a magnitude of 7.4 which lasted for 45 seconds killed over 17,000 in northwestern Turkey on August 17, 1999.
The epicentre of the Izmit earthquake in 1999.
The earthquake had a rupture length of 150 kilometers (93 miles) from the city of Düzce to all the way into the Sea of Marmara along the Gulf of �zmit. Movement along the rupture was as large as 5.7 meters (18.7 ft). (Reilinger, et al., 2000)
This earthquake occurred in the North Anatolian Fault Zone (NAFZ). The Anatolian Plate which consists primarily of Turkey is being pushed west about 2-2.5 cm/yr (0.8-1.0 in), as it is squeezed between the Eurasian Plate on the north, and both the African Plate and the Arabian Plate on the south. Most of the large earthquakes result as slip occurs along the NAFZ or Eastern Anatolian Fault.
The official number of casualties is about 17,000 although real numbers are thought to be above 35,000. The rupture passed through major cities that are among the most industrialized and urban areas of the country, including oil refineries, several car companies and navy headquarters and arsenal in Golcuk thus increasing the severity of the life and property loss.
This quake was predicted using the new discovery Earthquake storms.
Issue #382 -
Drakensberg
The Drakensberg ("Dragon Mountains" in Afrikaans) mountains are the highest in South Africa, rising up at Thabana Ntlenyana to 3,482 m (11,422 ft) in height. In isiZulu, the language of the Zulu People, they are uKhahlamba, the "barrier of spears". In Sesotho they are referred to as Maluti.
The Drakensberg
They are located in the eastern part of South Africa, running for some 1,000 km (600 mi) generally southwest to northeast, with a northwesterly bend forming the northeastern border of Lesotho with South Africa. They are drained on the west by the Orange and Vaal rivers, and on the east and south by a number of smaller rivers, the Tugela being the largest. The range thus separates KwaZulu-Natal Province from Free State Province, looming over the nearby coast of Natal.
The highest peak is Thabana Ntlenyana at 3,482 m (11,422 ft). Other notable peaks include Mafadi at 3,450 m, Makoaneng at 3,416 m, Champagne Castle at 3,377 m, Giant's Castle at 3,315 m, and Ben Macdhui at 3,001 m. All of these are in the area bordering on Lesotho; north of Lesotho the range gradually becomes lower and less rugged.
Geologically, the Drakensberg is a remnant of the original African plateau. The mountains are capped by a layer of basalt up to 1,500 m thick, with sandstone lower down, resulting in a combination of steep-sided blocks and pinnacles. Caves are frequent in the sandstone, and many have rock paintings by the San peoples.
Snow falls regularly in the winter, while rains and mists can occur year-round.
Many of the Drakensberg peaks offer challenging mountaineering. While the major summits have all been conquered, a number of minor pinnacles have yet to be ascended. Hiking is also a popular activity. Navigation on long hikes is often aided by GPS receivers, and current maps distributed by KZN (KwaZulu-Natal) Wildlife uses the Cape datum as the geodesic reference. GPS users should be careful to use the correct datum as WGS 84 is not always the default.
Tourism in the Drakensberg is developing, with a variety of hotels and resorts appearing on the slopes. Most of the higher South African parts of the range have been designated as game reserves or wilderness areas. The uKhahlamba or Drakensberg National Park, located in KwaZulu-Natal, near the border with Lesotho, was listed by UNESCO in 2000 as a World Heritage site. The park is also in the List of Wetlands of International Importance (under the RAMSAR convention).
The most well known national park in the Drakensberg is the Royal Natal National Park. It contains the source of the Tugela river, and includes the 912 m high Tugela Falls, the second highest waterfall on earth. But it is the Central Drakensberg that offers tourists the best access to bushman rock art Kamberg and the largest range of hiking trails.
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Virga
Virga is a meteorological term for precipitation that falls from a cloud but evaporates before reaching the ground. At high altitudes the precipitation falls mainly as ice crystals before melting and finally evaporating; this is usually due to compressional heating because the air pressure increases closer to the ground. It is very common in desert nations.
Nimbostratus virga
Virga can cause very interesting weather effects, because as rain changes from liquid to vapour form, it removes much heat from the air due to the high heat of vaporization of water. These small pockets of extremely cold air then descend rapidly, creating a microburst which can be extremely hazardous to aviation.
Virga also has a role in seeding storm cells, where light particles from one cloud are blown into neighbouring supersaturated air and act as nucleation particles for the next thunderhead cloud to begin forming.
Virga can produce dramatic and beautiful scenes, especially during a red sunset. The red light can be caught by the streamers of falling precipitation, while aloft winds push the bottom ends of the virga so it falls at an angle, making the clouds appear to have commas attached.
Virga is a Latin word for a branch or twig, and hence for objects made from it, as a broom, a staff, or a rod (hence the English word virge).
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Northeast Greenland National Park
Northeast Greenland National Park is the largest national park in the world, with an area of 972,000 square kilometres. It is also the only national park in Greenland and in Denmark. The park encompasses the entire coastline and interior sections of Greenland, which is the largest island on Earth. Originally created on May 22, 1974, the park was expanded in 1988 to its present size. In January 1977 it was designated an international biosphere reserve. It is overseen by the Greenland Department of Environment and Nature.
Location of Northeast Greenland National Park in Greenland
Population
The park has virtually no permanent human population. In 1986, the permanent population of the park was 40, living at Mesters Vig although 400 sites saw occasional summertime use. These 40 were involved in cleanup and closeout operations at mining exploration sites and soon left. Recently only 27 people and about 110 dogs over-winter in North East Greenland: 2 at Mestersvig, 12 at Daneborg, members of the Sirius Patrol, the park policing agency, as well as 8 at the civilian weather station Danmarkshavn and 5 at the military base Station North.
Fauna
An estimated 5,000 to 15,000 musk ox as well as numerous polar bears, walrus can be found near the coastal regions of the park. This is claimed to be 40% of the world population of musk ox. Other mammals include arctic fox, stoat, collared lemming and arctic hare. Reindeer left the park in 1900 and wolves in 1934, although wolves occasionally return. Other marine mammals include ringed seal, bearded seal, harp seal and hooded seal as well as narwhal and white whale.
Species of birds which breed in the park include great northern diver, barnacle goose, pink-footed goose, common eider, king eider, gyrfalcon, snowy owl, sanderling, ptarmigan and raven.
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Robert Bartlett
Captain Robert Abram Bartlett was a notable ice navigator and Arctic explorer of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Born in Brigus, Newfoundland on August 15, 1875, Bartlett was the eldest of 10 children and heir to a family tradition of seafaring men. By the age of 17, he mastered his first ship and began a life-long love affair with the Arctic. Bartlett spent over 50 years of his life mapping and exploring the waters of the Far North and led over 40 expeditions to the Arctic, more than anyone before or since.
Robert Abram Bartlett
Bartlett was captain of the Roosevelt and accompanied Commander Robert Peary on his attempts to reach the North Pole. Bartlett was awarded the Hubbard Medal of the National Geographic Society for breaking the trail through the frozen Arctic wastes to within 130 miles of the pole; yet he was excluded from the final exploring party possibly due to a rivalry between the two men. Bartlett had taken a ship further north than anyone before him and was the first person to sail north of 88° N lattitude.
In 1914, BartlettÂ’s leadership in the doomed Karluk Expedition helped save the lives of most of its stranded participants after leader Vilhjalmur Stefansson abandoned the expedition. After being stranded on Wrangel Island for several months, Captain Bartlett walked 700 miles over the ice from Wrangel Island to Siberia across the Bering Strait to Alaska to summon help; he received the highest award from the Royal Geographical Society for his outstanding heroism.
From 1925-1945, at the command of his own schooner, the Effie M. Morrissey, Bartlett led many important scientific expeditions to the Arctic, sponsored by American museums, the Explorers Club and the National Geographic Society, and also helped to survey the Arctic for the United States Government during World War II.
Robert Bartlett died on April 28, 1946 in a New York hospital. Bartlett was struck by pneumonia and could not recover. He is buried in Brigus, Newfoundland.
The Canadian Coast Guard vessel, CCGS Bartlett is named for Robert Bartlett. Hawthorne Cottage, Bartlett's place of residence located within Brigus, is a Canada National Historic Site.
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