Mount Asgard is the most famous and most beautiful peak in Baffin Island, the 6th largest island in the World. There are few mountains in the World with so striking a profile as that of the North Tower seen from the Turner Glacier. It is a sight that has inspired big-wall climbers for more than 30 years.
By the Inuit, Mount Asgard is known as "Sivanitirutinguak," and is located in Auyuittuq ("the land that never melts") National Park, on the Cumberland Peninsula on Baffin Island, in the territory of Nunavut.
Nunavut is close to the size of Mexico yet has a population of around 35,000, which are most Inuit.
The park straddles the boundary of the Arctic Circle, the Penny Ice Cap flows through much of the park and is in places over 300 meters deep.
In Norse mythology, Asgard was the ancestral home and fortress of the Norse gods, and the home of slain heroes fallen in war. Located in the heavens, Asgard was only accessible over the rainbow bridge, known as Bifrost. Asgard had places of gold and silver, the most beautiful of which was Valhalla. Valhalla was the residence of Odin, the chief god. Norse myths held that Asgard would be destroyed at a battle called "Twilight of the Gods" (Ragnarok), the final confrontation at which demons and giants would overcome the gods.
Asgard is located in the Penny Highlands along the side of the Akshayuk Pass which is the 100 km long pass, that crosses the Cumberland peninsula between Cumberland Sound and David Strait, and one hikes from one end to the other where you usually arrange for transportation back to Pangnirtung, the nearest Inuit settlement, approximately 60 miles from there.
Mount Asgard towers 2,015 m, making it the 5th highest peak in the park and one of the highest peaks in Eastern Canada and Eastern North America. The peak is composed of twin cylindrical, flat-topped summits separated by a narrow, 150-metre-deep notch, 1,000 meter high. The cylindrical granitic towers along with the awesome faces on Breidablik and Mount Thor have caused many to compare the region to the area around Fitz Roy Mountain in Argentina.
The North Tower was first climbed by the Swiss team in 1953. This was one of the first technical routes done in Baffin. The South Summit, the more cylindrical of the two with the daunting sheer face, was first reached in 1971. On Asgard's West Face (North Peak) there are several grade VI routes which have been established for the rock climber eager for a very serious challenge. In terms of big-wall climbing, Asgard is most famous for the North face of the North Tower, home to what is the greatest concentration of wilderness bug walls on the planet.
In 1976, stuntman Rick Sylvester performed a base jump, skiing off the mountain with an Union Flag parachute for the opening sequence of the James Bond film "the Spy Who Loved Me," although the fictional setting was the Austrian Alps. The stunt team and film crew reached the summit by helicopter.
Monday, December 26, 2016
THE INUIT PEOPLE
The Inuit who make their homes across the vastness of Canada's Arctic belong to a much larger family that extends from the Bearing Sea through Alaska and Northern Canada to Greenland.
These imaginative, hardy and resourceful peoples are linked not only linguistically, but by a distinctly similar culture and way of life, as seen through Inuit art, song, dance, myth and legend. Their songs and story forms of myths and legends, linguistically as well as stylistically, relate most closely to Siberian. Thus, language and legend can give clues to ancient routes of migration.
The Inuit myths and legends designated the powers of good and evil to deities living in the spirit world closely entwined with the beautiful Northern landscape. Ancient oral traditions were employed as the most important method of conveying and preserving ideas, augmented by a small carvings that served as illustrations for events. Song and dances also enhanced the meaning of myths and legends. These tales were intrinsically linked to Inuit shamanism.
An Inuit shaman is a religious and mystical expert who functions as a healer, prophet and custodian of cultural tradition.
Inuit myths abound with behavioral codes that may only be fully understood by those living within that society. The stories reinforce a close relationship with all of nature, as well as the belief that animals have a way to hear and understand human words. For this reason, hunters in their camps, when singing or speaking of walrus or seal, may carefully refer to them as maggots or lice, or call caribou lemmings, thus confusing the animals that are necessary for their survival.
A fundamental tenet of Inuit mythology is the belief in other Worlds beneath the Sea, inside the Earth and in the sky where some gifted shamans (angakoks) have the power to journey in trances and in dreams, visiting places that ordinary mortals would only experience in the afterlife.
Dreams have always played an important part in their lives, serving as the basis for some myth forms, and are interpreted with care.
Among the most famous Inuit myths is the legend of the Sea goddess, known by various names: Sedna, Nuliayuk, Taluliyuk, Taleelayuk. In the myth, a young girl is cast into the ocean, where she becomes the keeper of all the Sea mammals.
The legend of Lumiuk (Lumak, Lumaag) tells of an abused blind boy who finds refuge in the Sea, where he recovers his sight and ends his abuse.
The legend of Kiviuk (Kiviok, Kiviuq), a major mythological figure in the same sphere as Sedna, explains the abundance of fish and the absence of trees in the Artic tundra; while the legend of Tikta'Liktak tells the story of a young hunter's journey home after becoming lost on an ice floe.
Supernatural beings accompany many Inuit myths, including: Mahaha, a demon that terrorizes the Artic and tickles its victims to death; Ijiraat, shapeshifter that may change into any artic animal but may not disguise their red eyes; Taqriaqsuit, shadow people who are rarely seen but often heard; Qallupilluk, scaly, human-like creatures that snatch children into the sea; Inupasugjuk, giants who capture humans; and Tuniit, who are seen as simple-minded but extremely strong ancestors of the Inuit.
The Inuit mythology is a repository of Inuit culture, passed down by elders through generations to enrich and enlighten.
These imaginative, hardy and resourceful peoples are linked not only linguistically, but by a distinctly similar culture and way of life, as seen through Inuit art, song, dance, myth and legend. Their songs and story forms of myths and legends, linguistically as well as stylistically, relate most closely to Siberian. Thus, language and legend can give clues to ancient routes of migration.
The Inuit myths and legends designated the powers of good and evil to deities living in the spirit world closely entwined with the beautiful Northern landscape. Ancient oral traditions were employed as the most important method of conveying and preserving ideas, augmented by a small carvings that served as illustrations for events. Song and dances also enhanced the meaning of myths and legends. These tales were intrinsically linked to Inuit shamanism.
An Inuit shaman is a religious and mystical expert who functions as a healer, prophet and custodian of cultural tradition.
Inuit myths abound with behavioral codes that may only be fully understood by those living within that society. The stories reinforce a close relationship with all of nature, as well as the belief that animals have a way to hear and understand human words. For this reason, hunters in their camps, when singing or speaking of walrus or seal, may carefully refer to them as maggots or lice, or call caribou lemmings, thus confusing the animals that are necessary for their survival.
A fundamental tenet of Inuit mythology is the belief in other Worlds beneath the Sea, inside the Earth and in the sky where some gifted shamans (angakoks) have the power to journey in trances and in dreams, visiting places that ordinary mortals would only experience in the afterlife.
Dreams have always played an important part in their lives, serving as the basis for some myth forms, and are interpreted with care.
Among the most famous Inuit myths is the legend of the Sea goddess, known by various names: Sedna, Nuliayuk, Taluliyuk, Taleelayuk. In the myth, a young girl is cast into the ocean, where she becomes the keeper of all the Sea mammals.
The legend of Lumiuk (Lumak, Lumaag) tells of an abused blind boy who finds refuge in the Sea, where he recovers his sight and ends his abuse.
The legend of Kiviuk (Kiviok, Kiviuq), a major mythological figure in the same sphere as Sedna, explains the abundance of fish and the absence of trees in the Artic tundra; while the legend of Tikta'Liktak tells the story of a young hunter's journey home after becoming lost on an ice floe.
Supernatural beings accompany many Inuit myths, including: Mahaha, a demon that terrorizes the Artic and tickles its victims to death; Ijiraat, shapeshifter that may change into any artic animal but may not disguise their red eyes; Taqriaqsuit, shadow people who are rarely seen but often heard; Qallupilluk, scaly, human-like creatures that snatch children into the sea; Inupasugjuk, giants who capture humans; and Tuniit, who are seen as simple-minded but extremely strong ancestors of the Inuit.
The Inuit mythology is a repository of Inuit culture, passed down by elders through generations to enrich and enlighten.
THE BAFFIN ISLAND INUIT.
The Baffin Island is the largest island in the Artic Archipelago and in the territory of Nunavut.
Baffin Island is home to a number of Inuit communities, including Iqaluit, Pangnirtung, Pond Inlet, Clyde River, Arctic Bay, Kimmirut, and Nanisivik. They live on Baffin Island as part of the Qikiqtaaluk Region of Nunavut, the most Eastern and administrative region and also the most populated. Iqaluit is near a traditional South Baffin Inuit fishing camp.
The Baffin Island has been inhabited by the Inuit for thousands of years. Inuit from Baffin Island are descendants of the Thule, who expanded Eastward across Canada from Alaska. The Baffin Island Inuit share biological and cultural links with their ancestors.
The Baffin Island Inuit display considerable regional diversity in both dialect and culture. Those in the far North belong to the Igloolik, who also live on the mainland. The remaining groups, often collectively referred to as the South Baffin Inuit, are concentrated along the rugged East Coast, including Cumberland Sound and Frobisher Bay, and along the North Shore of Hudson Strait. The latter share many cultural traits with Labrador Inuit on the other side of Hudson Strait, which was frequently crossed for trading purposes.
Archeological remains of carved masks, yarn, and European rats indicate European contact with the Baffin Island as early as 1000 CE. Also the presence of alloys used by the Vikings in whetstones on the area suggest a trade network between the Baffin Island Inuits and the Vikings.
In 1576, the Inuit of Baffin Island made contact with English venturers, when Martin Frobisher traded with the Inuit and kidnapped one or three of them in the bay that now bears his name. More conflict ensued on his 1577 visit, when hostilities with the Inuit were renewed, prompting Frobisher to return to England. This time he brought with him four Inuit captives, who did not survive more than two months.
Throughout the 18th and early 19th centuries, Inuit along the South Coast had occasional trade contacts with European venturers and supply vessels that stopped briefly on their way to Hudson Bay. Further North, the Inuit of Davis Strait did not encounter outsiders in any numbers until after 1820, when Scottish and American killers of whales started making annual visits to Baffin Island through the heavy drift ice of Western Baffin Bay.
Inuit material culture was greatly modified by the increased flow of trade goods, including firearms, and by the large supply of wood provided by frequent shipwrecks. Contact with Westerners increased during the late 19th century when the killers of whales started to establish permanent shore stations.
Although the Inuit welcomed regular trade and occasional employment, their population declined rapidly because of the dietary changes and exposure to Western diseases. After the decline of commercial whaling in the 20th century, the Inuit of Baffin turned increasingly to fox trapping in order to satisfy their dependence on Western manufacturers.
After relocation projects in the 1950s that forcibly removed Inuit from their traditional habitat, the Baffin Island Inuit now live in homes in Iqaluit (Frobisher Bay), making it the largest and forcible settlement on the island.
In June 2014, the National Energy Board approved plans from a consortium led by Multi-Client Invest AS (MCI) to begin 5 years of "seismic" testing around the island, mapping the sea floor and under sea geology using high-intensity sounds. Many Inuit opposed the program, arguing that the testing harm and disturb local food sources, including seals, whales, and walruses. Also Inuit people fought against offshore and oil and gas extraction. After the protests, the Federal government placed a "moratorium" on offshore development near Coral Harbour in 1971. Seven years later, the Canadian government placed another "moratorium" on oil development in Lancaster Sound after Inuit groups successfully expressed their opposition to the program. The only way in which these projects can go on is by having the Inuit population reduced in numbers and in the forcible way of life they live now away from their former habitats, it is not going to last long the life of the new generation of Inuits. In this way, not only the Baffin Island will pay the consequences of human greed, it will be paid off by the lack of resources in natural life around the whole World.
Baffin Island is home to a number of Inuit communities, including Iqaluit, Pangnirtung, Pond Inlet, Clyde River, Arctic Bay, Kimmirut, and Nanisivik. They live on Baffin Island as part of the Qikiqtaaluk Region of Nunavut, the most Eastern and administrative region and also the most populated. Iqaluit is near a traditional South Baffin Inuit fishing camp.
The Baffin Island has been inhabited by the Inuit for thousands of years. Inuit from Baffin Island are descendants of the Thule, who expanded Eastward across Canada from Alaska. The Baffin Island Inuit share biological and cultural links with their ancestors.
The Baffin Island Inuit display considerable regional diversity in both dialect and culture. Those in the far North belong to the Igloolik, who also live on the mainland. The remaining groups, often collectively referred to as the South Baffin Inuit, are concentrated along the rugged East Coast, including Cumberland Sound and Frobisher Bay, and along the North Shore of Hudson Strait. The latter share many cultural traits with Labrador Inuit on the other side of Hudson Strait, which was frequently crossed for trading purposes.
Archeological remains of carved masks, yarn, and European rats indicate European contact with the Baffin Island as early as 1000 CE. Also the presence of alloys used by the Vikings in whetstones on the area suggest a trade network between the Baffin Island Inuits and the Vikings.
In 1576, the Inuit of Baffin Island made contact with English venturers, when Martin Frobisher traded with the Inuit and kidnapped one or three of them in the bay that now bears his name. More conflict ensued on his 1577 visit, when hostilities with the Inuit were renewed, prompting Frobisher to return to England. This time he brought with him four Inuit captives, who did not survive more than two months.
Throughout the 18th and early 19th centuries, Inuit along the South Coast had occasional trade contacts with European venturers and supply vessels that stopped briefly on their way to Hudson Bay. Further North, the Inuit of Davis Strait did not encounter outsiders in any numbers until after 1820, when Scottish and American killers of whales started making annual visits to Baffin Island through the heavy drift ice of Western Baffin Bay.
Inuit material culture was greatly modified by the increased flow of trade goods, including firearms, and by the large supply of wood provided by frequent shipwrecks. Contact with Westerners increased during the late 19th century when the killers of whales started to establish permanent shore stations.
Although the Inuit welcomed regular trade and occasional employment, their population declined rapidly because of the dietary changes and exposure to Western diseases. After the decline of commercial whaling in the 20th century, the Inuit of Baffin turned increasingly to fox trapping in order to satisfy their dependence on Western manufacturers.
After relocation projects in the 1950s that forcibly removed Inuit from their traditional habitat, the Baffin Island Inuit now live in homes in Iqaluit (Frobisher Bay), making it the largest and forcible settlement on the island.
In June 2014, the National Energy Board approved plans from a consortium led by Multi-Client Invest AS (MCI) to begin 5 years of "seismic" testing around the island, mapping the sea floor and under sea geology using high-intensity sounds. Many Inuit opposed the program, arguing that the testing harm and disturb local food sources, including seals, whales, and walruses. Also Inuit people fought against offshore and oil and gas extraction. After the protests, the Federal government placed a "moratorium" on offshore development near Coral Harbour in 1971. Seven years later, the Canadian government placed another "moratorium" on oil development in Lancaster Sound after Inuit groups successfully expressed their opposition to the program. The only way in which these projects can go on is by having the Inuit population reduced in numbers and in the forcible way of life they live now away from their former habitats, it is not going to last long the life of the new generation of Inuits. In this way, not only the Baffin Island will pay the consequences of human greed, it will be paid off by the lack of resources in natural life around the whole World.
Sunday, August 21, 2016
THE INTELLIGENCE OF THE RAVEN.
Ravens, despite their small brains, belongs to the most intelligent and the smartest of all the birds, gaining a reputation for solving ever more complicated problems invented by ever more creative scientists. These birds understand the social hierarchy of other groups simply through observation.
To give some idea of its intelligence, if the average IQ for a human being is measured at the 100 mark, then the average IQ of a raven in 138. This indicates that rather than the size of a brain, the neuronal density and the structure of the bird's brain play a very important role in terms of its intelligence.
The raven's linguistic skills are legendary, and it can understand as well as imitate human words. The bird also have an incredible memory which allows its recognition of human faces. This is bad news for the people that are not well liked by the bird, because the circumstances in which the bird will dive and attack faces are obvious.
The entire Corvidae family of birds, like crows and ravens, have been known for their intelligence long before many research was given to the subject. In addition to being one of the few family of birds capable of using tools to find food and solve problems, they have complex social structures.
Ravens are able to work out the social dynamics of other raven groups, something which only humans had shown the ability to do.
Ravens within a community squabble over their ranking in the group, as higher ranked ravens have better access to food and other resources. Males always outrank females and confrontations occur between members of the same sex. The dominant raven ensures that its social position is maintained. When a lower-ranking bird does not respond in a submissive way to a dominance call, the situation often results in confrontation and can provoke changes in the social structure. The stress that the situation brings to the community is expressed by the raven either running around or pecking at its own feathers.
Ravens are able to create a mental representation of relationship dynamics from groups they have never interacted with before, just like us when we watch television.
Being intelligent helps the raven play the politics of their social group, and gain dominance. Understanding the rank and nature of members of their group help ravens know which birds to pick on, which ones to team up with, and which ones to steer clear of during their quest for an organized dominance.
To give some idea of its intelligence, if the average IQ for a human being is measured at the 100 mark, then the average IQ of a raven in 138. This indicates that rather than the size of a brain, the neuronal density and the structure of the bird's brain play a very important role in terms of its intelligence.
The raven's linguistic skills are legendary, and it can understand as well as imitate human words. The bird also have an incredible memory which allows its recognition of human faces. This is bad news for the people that are not well liked by the bird, because the circumstances in which the bird will dive and attack faces are obvious.
The entire Corvidae family of birds, like crows and ravens, have been known for their intelligence long before many research was given to the subject. In addition to being one of the few family of birds capable of using tools to find food and solve problems, they have complex social structures.
Ravens are able to work out the social dynamics of other raven groups, something which only humans had shown the ability to do.
Ravens within a community squabble over their ranking in the group, as higher ranked ravens have better access to food and other resources. Males always outrank females and confrontations occur between members of the same sex. The dominant raven ensures that its social position is maintained. When a lower-ranking bird does not respond in a submissive way to a dominance call, the situation often results in confrontation and can provoke changes in the social structure. The stress that the situation brings to the community is expressed by the raven either running around or pecking at its own feathers.
Ravens are able to create a mental representation of relationship dynamics from groups they have never interacted with before, just like us when we watch television.
Being intelligent helps the raven play the politics of their social group, and gain dominance. Understanding the rank and nature of members of their group help ravens know which birds to pick on, which ones to team up with, and which ones to steer clear of during their quest for an organized dominance.
Thursday, August 18, 2016
THE VITAL CYCLE OF THE PERIODICAL CICADA.
The cicadas are a super family, the Cicada-Idea, of insects in the Order of True Bugs (Hemipt-Era).
They are placed in the sub-Order Au-Chenor-Rhyncha, the word is from the Greek 'Auxnv' meaning 'neck, throat' and 'puyxoc' meaning 'snout,' which contains most of the familiar members of the Order of Tree Bugs. Along with them are the smaller jumping bugs such as leafhoppers, tree-hoppers, plant-hoppers, and frog-hoppers.
They produce either audible sounds or substrate vibrations as a form of communication. Such calls range from vibrations inaudible to humans, to the calls of many species of cicadas that can be heard for hundreds of meters at least.
Cicadas have prominent eyes set wide apart, short antennae, and membranous front wings. They have an exceptionally loud song, produced not by the act of rubbing together certain body parts, like most insects, a number of species of fish, snakes, and spiders, do. They produce the loud song by vibrating drum-like paired timbal membranes, located on the sides of the abdominal base, rapidly.
The timbals are regions of the external skeleton that support and protect the body that were modified to form a complex membrane with thin, membranous portions and thickened 'ribs.' These membranes vibrate rapidly, and enlarged chambers derived from the tracheae make the cicada's body serve as a resonance chamber, greatly amplifying the sound. They modulate their song by positioning their abdomens toward or away from the substrate.
Most of the cicadas has the ability to avoid observation or detection by other animals. Methods include camouflage, nocturnal behavior, subterranean life style, and mimicry. The ability involves visual, olfactory (disguising its own odor), or auditory concealment.
They typically live in trees, feeding on sap, and laying their eggs in a slit in the bark.
The periodical cicada or the 17 year locust, is native to Canada and the United States. The insect's eyes and wing veins are reddish and its dorsal thorax is black, and distinguished by broad orange stripes on its abdomen. Recurrences of enormous numbers of noisy emergent cicadas appear in these fantastic numbers every 13 or 17 years.
The periodical cicada remains underground during this cycle of time (13 /17 years) as worms feeding themselves by absorbing fluids from trees' roots and shrubs. Then they emerge from the underground in large swarms (great locusts) after they have reached their maturity level during the spring season and only for a few weeks.
During that short period of time they enjoy the sun rays, the clean air, singing in a very loud way, change their skin like chameleons since their nature belong to the cold blooded type they need to maintain their heat in order to be able to reproduce themselves forming from 400 to 600 eggs in the interior of trees' branches. After that mating period of time they die. Then the eggs mature and the worms fall to the ground finding their way to the underground just right under the trees' roots and the cycle goes all over again every 13 or 17 years.
They are placed in the sub-Order Au-Chenor-Rhyncha, the word is from the Greek 'Auxnv' meaning 'neck, throat' and 'puyxoc' meaning 'snout,' which contains most of the familiar members of the Order of Tree Bugs. Along with them are the smaller jumping bugs such as leafhoppers, tree-hoppers, plant-hoppers, and frog-hoppers.
They produce either audible sounds or substrate vibrations as a form of communication. Such calls range from vibrations inaudible to humans, to the calls of many species of cicadas that can be heard for hundreds of meters at least.
Cicadas have prominent eyes set wide apart, short antennae, and membranous front wings. They have an exceptionally loud song, produced not by the act of rubbing together certain body parts, like most insects, a number of species of fish, snakes, and spiders, do. They produce the loud song by vibrating drum-like paired timbal membranes, located on the sides of the abdominal base, rapidly.
The timbals are regions of the external skeleton that support and protect the body that were modified to form a complex membrane with thin, membranous portions and thickened 'ribs.' These membranes vibrate rapidly, and enlarged chambers derived from the tracheae make the cicada's body serve as a resonance chamber, greatly amplifying the sound. They modulate their song by positioning their abdomens toward or away from the substrate.
Most of the cicadas has the ability to avoid observation or detection by other animals. Methods include camouflage, nocturnal behavior, subterranean life style, and mimicry. The ability involves visual, olfactory (disguising its own odor), or auditory concealment.
They typically live in trees, feeding on sap, and laying their eggs in a slit in the bark.
The periodical cicada or the 17 year locust, is native to Canada and the United States. The insect's eyes and wing veins are reddish and its dorsal thorax is black, and distinguished by broad orange stripes on its abdomen. Recurrences of enormous numbers of noisy emergent cicadas appear in these fantastic numbers every 13 or 17 years.
The periodical cicada remains underground during this cycle of time (13 /17 years) as worms feeding themselves by absorbing fluids from trees' roots and shrubs. Then they emerge from the underground in large swarms (great locusts) after they have reached their maturity level during the spring season and only for a few weeks.
During that short period of time they enjoy the sun rays, the clean air, singing in a very loud way, change their skin like chameleons since their nature belong to the cold blooded type they need to maintain their heat in order to be able to reproduce themselves forming from 400 to 600 eggs in the interior of trees' branches. After that mating period of time they die. Then the eggs mature and the worms fall to the ground finding their way to the underground just right under the trees' roots and the cycle goes all over again every 13 or 17 years.
Tuesday, August 16, 2016
THE REPTILIAN MIND.
It is important for people to know the basics about the reptilian mind because it reveals the character, attitudes and reason of its disguised and manipulative behavior.
Snakes, for example, are able to smell warm-blooded animals and respond to it, as humans respond to the smell of warm and tasty food.
The reptilian has the most ancient of the brains. It has two hemispheres, and they relate functionally to the left and to the right.
The brain consists of the upper part of the spinal cord and the basal ganglia, the di-encephalon, and parts of the mid-brain -all of which sits atop the spinal column like a knob in the middle of the head.
It represents a fundamental core of the nervous system and derives from a form of mammal-like reptile that once ranged widely over the world but disappeared during the Tri-Assic period having provided the link between dinosaurs and mammals. It was the fusing of reptilian DNA to mammal DNA.
First and foremost of its described nature is the drive to establish the boundaries of its territory and the extremely potent will to dominate it. Then the assertiveness and aggressiveness of its elaborated plan for the defense of it, giving way to violent combats. If they are defeated in combat, they lose their majesty and lapse into a kind of depression and die.
The language of the reptilian mind is visual imagery. All communications transferred by the mind of a reptile are done by visual symbolic representations, each having specific meaning. Reptiles do not dream because their waking state function like dreams do to us.
The movie and television industry of today is based in the same process of reptilian communication. It stimulates the brain hormones that function when we are in dreaming-state, however, we are fully awake. Human subconscious is able to process the endless symbolisms and visual codes that now comes to our brain through the television, computers, cell phones, etc, and occupies up to 16-18 of our time per day.
Since all reptiles, insects, arachnids, amphibians, and fish are cold-blooded, they do things very differently than warm-blooded mammals.
Reptiles cannot expend energy chasing prey for hours, instead they spend a lot of time in a hunting 'sit and wait' mood or basking in the sun, because they can't regulate their own body temperature as warm-blooded mammals do.
Reptiles depend on ambient conditions to reach operational body temperatures. They have lower metabolic rates than warm-blooded type, at a given body mass, and, as a consequence, they generally rely on higher food consumption.
When cold-blooded animals emerge from shelter, many diurnal ones need to heat up in the early sunlight before they begin their daily activities. In cold climates most cannot survive at all.
Snakes, for example, are able to smell warm-blooded animals and respond to it, as humans respond to the smell of warm and tasty food.
The reptilian has the most ancient of the brains. It has two hemispheres, and they relate functionally to the left and to the right.
The brain consists of the upper part of the spinal cord and the basal ganglia, the di-encephalon, and parts of the mid-brain -all of which sits atop the spinal column like a knob in the middle of the head.
It represents a fundamental core of the nervous system and derives from a form of mammal-like reptile that once ranged widely over the world but disappeared during the Tri-Assic period having provided the link between dinosaurs and mammals. It was the fusing of reptilian DNA to mammal DNA.
First and foremost of its described nature is the drive to establish the boundaries of its territory and the extremely potent will to dominate it. Then the assertiveness and aggressiveness of its elaborated plan for the defense of it, giving way to violent combats. If they are defeated in combat, they lose their majesty and lapse into a kind of depression and die.
The language of the reptilian mind is visual imagery. All communications transferred by the mind of a reptile are done by visual symbolic representations, each having specific meaning. Reptiles do not dream because their waking state function like dreams do to us.
The movie and television industry of today is based in the same process of reptilian communication. It stimulates the brain hormones that function when we are in dreaming-state, however, we are fully awake. Human subconscious is able to process the endless symbolisms and visual codes that now comes to our brain through the television, computers, cell phones, etc, and occupies up to 16-18 of our time per day.
Since all reptiles, insects, arachnids, amphibians, and fish are cold-blooded, they do things very differently than warm-blooded mammals.
Reptiles cannot expend energy chasing prey for hours, instead they spend a lot of time in a hunting 'sit and wait' mood or basking in the sun, because they can't regulate their own body temperature as warm-blooded mammals do.
Reptiles depend on ambient conditions to reach operational body temperatures. They have lower metabolic rates than warm-blooded type, at a given body mass, and, as a consequence, they generally rely on higher food consumption.
When cold-blooded animals emerge from shelter, many diurnal ones need to heat up in the early sunlight before they begin their daily activities. In cold climates most cannot survive at all.
Friday, August 12, 2016
THE 4 GARMENTS THAT MYTHS WEAR.
The word "Myth"itself has multiple definitions. In general, myth is the traditional way in which stories of ostensibly historical events unfold part of the world view of the people or explain a practical belief or natural phenomenon. Myth is compared to a garment that covers many stories. Here are four garments that myth may take.
- Metaphysical Myths help explain the origins of existence. They tell of the world's beginning or the start of man. They mention gods and mystical beings personifications, such as night and day personified, talking animals, and living dreams. Supernatural action in many forms appear, including natural phenomena, magical arts, alchemy, witchcraft and so on.
- Cosmological Myths emphasize that all components of the universe are part of a single picture. They tell of journeys of enlightenment, of discovery and reaching final goals. They join the pieces together in a meaningful whole. They mention all-powerful entities or mysterious forces that envelop and create unity.
- Sociological Myths maintain social order by authorizing a social code for a culture to follow. They mention those individuals who stray from the straight and narrow path of social conformance and the terrible woes that befall them. They also mention tales of conquest and rebellion, of uprising and how people working together can move mountains.
- Psychological Myths provides models for personal conduct. Their heroes embody social rules, seeking always to do good. They have clear personal values that align with ideal social norms. In contrast to the good heroes, there are bad villains who have no values and embody all that is wrong.
Aristotle (384-322 BC) speaks very appreciatively about the Myths: "Lovers of stories that were in a way lovers of wisdom, since stories were composed of such wonders that make man start to philosophize. Those wonders were mainly astronomical and cosmological ones."
Aristotle describes the birth of mythology in closer detail and in connection to his discussion on "how many primal movers and movements there can be, related to the personification of a multitude of gods."
Aristotle said that 'tradition' needs to be considered in this way: "From old -and indeed extremely ancient- times there has been handed down to our later age intimations of a mythical character to the effect that the stars are gods and that the divine embraces the whole of nature." "Further details were added in the manner of myths with the sole purpose of 'persuasion of the masses' and general legislative and political expediency"
Aristotle suggests to discard the embroidered details, but to recognize that in mythical perspectives the primary substances were beings identified as gods -a claim he calls 'inspired,' pointing out also that though many other arts and doctrines may have perished through time, "these ancient cosmologies have been preserved, like holy relics, right up to the present day."
- Metaphysical Myths help explain the origins of existence. They tell of the world's beginning or the start of man. They mention gods and mystical beings personifications, such as night and day personified, talking animals, and living dreams. Supernatural action in many forms appear, including natural phenomena, magical arts, alchemy, witchcraft and so on.
- Cosmological Myths emphasize that all components of the universe are part of a single picture. They tell of journeys of enlightenment, of discovery and reaching final goals. They join the pieces together in a meaningful whole. They mention all-powerful entities or mysterious forces that envelop and create unity.
- Sociological Myths maintain social order by authorizing a social code for a culture to follow. They mention those individuals who stray from the straight and narrow path of social conformance and the terrible woes that befall them. They also mention tales of conquest and rebellion, of uprising and how people working together can move mountains.
- Psychological Myths provides models for personal conduct. Their heroes embody social rules, seeking always to do good. They have clear personal values that align with ideal social norms. In contrast to the good heroes, there are bad villains who have no values and embody all that is wrong.
Aristotle (384-322 BC) speaks very appreciatively about the Myths: "Lovers of stories that were in a way lovers of wisdom, since stories were composed of such wonders that make man start to philosophize. Those wonders were mainly astronomical and cosmological ones."
Aristotle describes the birth of mythology in closer detail and in connection to his discussion on "how many primal movers and movements there can be, related to the personification of a multitude of gods."
Aristotle said that 'tradition' needs to be considered in this way: "From old -and indeed extremely ancient- times there has been handed down to our later age intimations of a mythical character to the effect that the stars are gods and that the divine embraces the whole of nature." "Further details were added in the manner of myths with the sole purpose of 'persuasion of the masses' and general legislative and political expediency"
Aristotle suggests to discard the embroidered details, but to recognize that in mythical perspectives the primary substances were beings identified as gods -a claim he calls 'inspired,' pointing out also that though many other arts and doctrines may have perished through time, "these ancient cosmologies have been preserved, like holy relics, right up to the present day."
Thursday, August 4, 2016
THE ATLAS MOUNTAINS.
The Atlas Mountains are a mountain range in the Maghreb (Sunset), that is usually defined as much or most of the region of North West Africa, West of Egypt. The basement rock of most Africa was formed during the largest span of time in Earth's history about 4.6 billion yeas ago, and is much older than the Atlas Mountains lying on the continent The Atlas was formed during three subsequent phases of Earth's history.
The Atlas Mountains stretches around 2,500 km / 1,600 mi through Algeria, Morocco, and Tunisia.
The range highest peak is Jebel Toubkal, with an elevation of 4,167 m / 13,671 ft in South Western Morocco. It separates the Mediterranean and Atlantic coastlines from the Sahara Desert.
The mountains are home to a number of plant and animal species unique in Africa. Many of them are endangered and some have already gone extinct. Examples include:
-The Barbary Macaque best known as the Old World Monkey species. The Monkey is of particular interest because males play an atypical role in rearing the young. Because of uncertain paternity, males are integral to raising all infants. Generally, Barbary Macaque of all ages and sexes contribute in the system of parenting in which individuals other than the parents act in a parental role. Males live to a maximum of 25 years while females may live up to 30 years. The monkey is yellowish- brown to grey with a lighter under side. It has a body length of around 556 mm in females and 634 mm in males and mean body weight is reported to be 1 kg. Males often have a more prominent tail. The front limbs are longer than its hind limbs. Females are smaller than the males. Their diet consists of a mixture of plants and insect prey. The can occupy a variety of habitats, such as cedar, fir, and oak forests, or grassland, scrub, rocky ridges full of vegetation. Currently in the Atlas Mountains they inhabit cedar forests. Beside humans, they are the only free-living primates in Europe. Its name refers to the Barbary Coast of North West Africa.
-The Atlas Bear was Africa's only native bear that survived into modern times. Once inhabiting the Atlas Mountains and neighboring areas, from Morocco to Libya, the animal is now thought to be extinct. The decline of the Atlas bear is attributed to the Romans. As their empire expanded into Northern Africa, they intensely hunted and captured the bears and used them as sport for many games. This went for centuries, during which time thousands of bears had been used in the arenas to fight in games against gladiators, lions, tigers, and other animals. They were cruelly treated, often starved and malnourished to increase their desperation and hence their aggression within the arena. The bear become extinct shortly after modern firearms were developed. The bear was brownish black and lacked a white mark on the muzzle, and the muzzle and claws were shorter than those of the American Black Bear, though it was stouter and thicker in body. The fur on the under parts was reddish orange and 4-5 in /100-130mm long. It was 9 ft long and weighed 450 kg/1,000lb. It fed on roots, acorns and nuts.
Where the Atlas bear actually originated is unknown. One genetic study was unable to link it to any brown bear, but it had weak but significant genetic links to the polar bear. Polar bears appeared 2.6 million years ago and the drawing of them appeared in cave paintings in Anda-Lucia, Spain, which is a very short swim to the Atlas Mountains for a polar bear.
-Barbary Leopard or North African Leopard is grouped with the African Leopard after following genetic analysis. Leopards are rare in Northern Africa. Only small populations persist in the Atlas Mountains of Morocco and Algeria in cedar forest and mountain steep in elevations of 300 to 2,500 m /980 to 8,200 ft where the climate is temperate to cold.
The Barbary lion (Panthera Leo Leo) also known as the Atlas Lion is now considered extinct in the wild. Small groups may have survived in Algeria and Morocco following the introduction of firearms and bounties for shooting them. Results of a long-term study of lions indicate that various factors such as ambient temperature, nutrition, and level of testosterone influence the color and size of lion manes.
Sub-Saharan lions kept in a cool environment usually develop bigger manes. Atlas Lions may have developed long-haired manes because of the temperatures in the Atlas Mountains that are much lower than in any other African regions, particularly in winter. The Atlas Lion was long considered one of the biggest subspecies, or even the largest of lions. The male was described as having very dark and long-haired mane that extended over the shoulder and to the belly. Head-to-tail length varied from 2.35 to 2.8 m / 7ft 9in to 9ft 2in, and females around 2.5 m / 8ft 2in. In some historic accounts the weight of the males reached 270 to 300 kb / 600 to 660 lb. Also it was described as being much superior to the black-maned lions of South Africa in bulk, strength and bravery.
-The Atlas Elephant, a separate elephant species that existed North of the Sahara until becoming extinct in Ancient Roman times. these were the famous war elephants used by Carthage in the Punic Wars, during their conflict with the Roman Republic. Carthaginian frescoes and coins minted by the power of whoever controlled North Africa at various times show small elephants, perhaps 2.5m / 8ft 2in at the shoulder, with the large ears and concave back typical of modern African elephants. It is also possible that it was more docile and plainer allowing the Punics to tame it as a war elephant. After the Romans conquered Sicily in 242 BC, they wanted to capture some specimens that had been left behind in the middle of the island by the Carthaginians, but failed in their endeavor. The elephants with which Hannibal crossed the Pyrenees and the Alps in order to invade Italy during the 2nd Punic War (218-201 BC) belonged to this group, with the exception of Hannibal's personal animal, Surus, meaning 'the Syrian' or 'One Tusker,' which became extinct shortly after Hannibal invaded Italy but before the extinction of the Atlas Elephant. The Atlas elephant was also trained and used by the Ptolemaic Dynasty of Egypt. The taming of the animal was inferior and the results in battle also inferior against the larger Indian elephants used by the Seleucid kings, after the break up of the Macedonian Empire. A surviving Ptolemaic inscription enumerates 3 types of War Elephants: the Troglodytic (Libyan), the Ethiopian, and the Indian. The Ptolemaic king prides himself with being the 1st to tame the Ethiopian elephants, a stock which could be identical to one of the two extant African species. During the reighn of Augustus, Roman circus games resulted in the killing of 3,500 elephants.
-The Atlas Urus is a extinct type of large wild cattle. It is the ancestor of domestic cattle. The species survived until the last recorded Urus that died in Poland in 1627. During the Agricultural Revolution, a wide-scale transition of many human cultures from a lifestyle of hunting and gathering to one of agriculture and settlement, there were at least two Uros domestication events. One related to the Indian subspecies, leading to Zebu cattle. The other related to the Eurasian sibspecies, leading to Taurine cattle. Other species of wild bovines were also domesticated. the oldest Uros remains have been dated to about 2 million years ago, in India. The Indian subspecies were the first to appear. The species migrated West into the Middle East (Western Asia) as well as to the East. They reached Europe about 270,000 years ago. The South Asian domestic Zebu descended from India Uros at the edge of the Thar Desert, also known as the Great Indian Desert in the North Western part of Indian subcontinent that forms a natural boundary between India and Pakistan, and is the world's 17th largest desert, and the world's 9th largest subtropical desert. The Zebu is resistant to drought. Domestic Yak, Gayal, and Banteng do not descend from Uros. The Uros was one of the largest herbivores in post-glacial Eurasia.
The size appears to have varied by region. Also the body mass appeared to have shown variability. The ones from the late-middle Pleistocene are estimated to have weighed up to 1,500 kg /3,300lb. The Uros populations in Hungary, Denmark, and germany had an average weight reaching around 700 kg / 1,500 lb. The cows were significantly shorter than their males counterparts.
Because of the massive horns, the frontal bones of Uros were elongated and broad. The horns were characterized in size, curvature and orientation. They were curved in 3 directions: Upwards and outwards at the base, Swinging forwards and inwards, the Inwards and upwards. they reached 80cm/31in in length and between 10 to 20 cm/3,9 and 7.0in in diameter. The male horns were stronger and larger that the female. the Uros were swift and fast and very aggressive when teased or hunted. they had a food selection very similar to domestic cattle.
The Atlas Mountains stretches around 2,500 km / 1,600 mi through Algeria, Morocco, and Tunisia.
The range highest peak is Jebel Toubkal, with an elevation of 4,167 m / 13,671 ft in South Western Morocco. It separates the Mediterranean and Atlantic coastlines from the Sahara Desert.
The mountains are home to a number of plant and animal species unique in Africa. Many of them are endangered and some have already gone extinct. Examples include:
-The Barbary Macaque best known as the Old World Monkey species. The Monkey is of particular interest because males play an atypical role in rearing the young. Because of uncertain paternity, males are integral to raising all infants. Generally, Barbary Macaque of all ages and sexes contribute in the system of parenting in which individuals other than the parents act in a parental role. Males live to a maximum of 25 years while females may live up to 30 years. The monkey is yellowish- brown to grey with a lighter under side. It has a body length of around 556 mm in females and 634 mm in males and mean body weight is reported to be 1 kg. Males often have a more prominent tail. The front limbs are longer than its hind limbs. Females are smaller than the males. Their diet consists of a mixture of plants and insect prey. The can occupy a variety of habitats, such as cedar, fir, and oak forests, or grassland, scrub, rocky ridges full of vegetation. Currently in the Atlas Mountains they inhabit cedar forests. Beside humans, they are the only free-living primates in Europe. Its name refers to the Barbary Coast of North West Africa.
-The Atlas Bear was Africa's only native bear that survived into modern times. Once inhabiting the Atlas Mountains and neighboring areas, from Morocco to Libya, the animal is now thought to be extinct. The decline of the Atlas bear is attributed to the Romans. As their empire expanded into Northern Africa, they intensely hunted and captured the bears and used them as sport for many games. This went for centuries, during which time thousands of bears had been used in the arenas to fight in games against gladiators, lions, tigers, and other animals. They were cruelly treated, often starved and malnourished to increase their desperation and hence their aggression within the arena. The bear become extinct shortly after modern firearms were developed. The bear was brownish black and lacked a white mark on the muzzle, and the muzzle and claws were shorter than those of the American Black Bear, though it was stouter and thicker in body. The fur on the under parts was reddish orange and 4-5 in /100-130mm long. It was 9 ft long and weighed 450 kg/1,000lb. It fed on roots, acorns and nuts.
Where the Atlas bear actually originated is unknown. One genetic study was unable to link it to any brown bear, but it had weak but significant genetic links to the polar bear. Polar bears appeared 2.6 million years ago and the drawing of them appeared in cave paintings in Anda-Lucia, Spain, which is a very short swim to the Atlas Mountains for a polar bear.
-Barbary Leopard or North African Leopard is grouped with the African Leopard after following genetic analysis. Leopards are rare in Northern Africa. Only small populations persist in the Atlas Mountains of Morocco and Algeria in cedar forest and mountain steep in elevations of 300 to 2,500 m /980 to 8,200 ft where the climate is temperate to cold.
The Barbary lion (Panthera Leo Leo) also known as the Atlas Lion is now considered extinct in the wild. Small groups may have survived in Algeria and Morocco following the introduction of firearms and bounties for shooting them. Results of a long-term study of lions indicate that various factors such as ambient temperature, nutrition, and level of testosterone influence the color and size of lion manes.
Sub-Saharan lions kept in a cool environment usually develop bigger manes. Atlas Lions may have developed long-haired manes because of the temperatures in the Atlas Mountains that are much lower than in any other African regions, particularly in winter. The Atlas Lion was long considered one of the biggest subspecies, or even the largest of lions. The male was described as having very dark and long-haired mane that extended over the shoulder and to the belly. Head-to-tail length varied from 2.35 to 2.8 m / 7ft 9in to 9ft 2in, and females around 2.5 m / 8ft 2in. In some historic accounts the weight of the males reached 270 to 300 kb / 600 to 660 lb. Also it was described as being much superior to the black-maned lions of South Africa in bulk, strength and bravery.
-The Atlas Elephant, a separate elephant species that existed North of the Sahara until becoming extinct in Ancient Roman times. these were the famous war elephants used by Carthage in the Punic Wars, during their conflict with the Roman Republic. Carthaginian frescoes and coins minted by the power of whoever controlled North Africa at various times show small elephants, perhaps 2.5m / 8ft 2in at the shoulder, with the large ears and concave back typical of modern African elephants. It is also possible that it was more docile and plainer allowing the Punics to tame it as a war elephant. After the Romans conquered Sicily in 242 BC, they wanted to capture some specimens that had been left behind in the middle of the island by the Carthaginians, but failed in their endeavor. The elephants with which Hannibal crossed the Pyrenees and the Alps in order to invade Italy during the 2nd Punic War (218-201 BC) belonged to this group, with the exception of Hannibal's personal animal, Surus, meaning 'the Syrian' or 'One Tusker,' which became extinct shortly after Hannibal invaded Italy but before the extinction of the Atlas Elephant. The Atlas elephant was also trained and used by the Ptolemaic Dynasty of Egypt. The taming of the animal was inferior and the results in battle also inferior against the larger Indian elephants used by the Seleucid kings, after the break up of the Macedonian Empire. A surviving Ptolemaic inscription enumerates 3 types of War Elephants: the Troglodytic (Libyan), the Ethiopian, and the Indian. The Ptolemaic king prides himself with being the 1st to tame the Ethiopian elephants, a stock which could be identical to one of the two extant African species. During the reighn of Augustus, Roman circus games resulted in the killing of 3,500 elephants.
-The Atlas Urus is a extinct type of large wild cattle. It is the ancestor of domestic cattle. The species survived until the last recorded Urus that died in Poland in 1627. During the Agricultural Revolution, a wide-scale transition of many human cultures from a lifestyle of hunting and gathering to one of agriculture and settlement, there were at least two Uros domestication events. One related to the Indian subspecies, leading to Zebu cattle. The other related to the Eurasian sibspecies, leading to Taurine cattle. Other species of wild bovines were also domesticated. the oldest Uros remains have been dated to about 2 million years ago, in India. The Indian subspecies were the first to appear. The species migrated West into the Middle East (Western Asia) as well as to the East. They reached Europe about 270,000 years ago. The South Asian domestic Zebu descended from India Uros at the edge of the Thar Desert, also known as the Great Indian Desert in the North Western part of Indian subcontinent that forms a natural boundary between India and Pakistan, and is the world's 17th largest desert, and the world's 9th largest subtropical desert. The Zebu is resistant to drought. Domestic Yak, Gayal, and Banteng do not descend from Uros. The Uros was one of the largest herbivores in post-glacial Eurasia.
The size appears to have varied by region. Also the body mass appeared to have shown variability. The ones from the late-middle Pleistocene are estimated to have weighed up to 1,500 kg /3,300lb. The Uros populations in Hungary, Denmark, and germany had an average weight reaching around 700 kg / 1,500 lb. The cows were significantly shorter than their males counterparts.
Because of the massive horns, the frontal bones of Uros were elongated and broad. The horns were characterized in size, curvature and orientation. They were curved in 3 directions: Upwards and outwards at the base, Swinging forwards and inwards, the Inwards and upwards. they reached 80cm/31in in length and between 10 to 20 cm/3,9 and 7.0in in diameter. The male horns were stronger and larger that the female. the Uros were swift and fast and very aggressive when teased or hunted. they had a food selection very similar to domestic cattle.
THE LOTUS EATERS.
The Lotus Eaters were a race of people living on an island dominated by lotus plants. The lotus fruits and flowers were the primary food of the island and were narcotic, causing the people to sleep in peaceful apathy.
An apathetic individual has an absence of interest in or concern about emotional, social, spiritual, philosophical and/or physical life and the world, lacking a sense of purpose and meaning in their life. The challenge was irrelevant to them. It is a way to forget negative feelings.
The Lotus Tree is mentioned in Homer's Odyssey chapter IX, as bearing a fruit that caused a pleasant drowsiness, and which was said to be the only food of an island people called the Lotus Eaters. When they ate of the Lotus Tree they forgot their friends and homes and the desire to return to their native lands was lost in favor lo living in idleness.
Odysseus tells how adverse North Winds blew him and his men off course as they were rounding Cape Malea, a peninsula known for its treacherous weather, in the Southern most tip of the Peloponnesus in Greece, headed Westward for Ithaca: "I was driven by Foul Winds for a space of 9 days upon the sea, but on the 10th day we reached the Land of the Lotus-Eaters, who live on a food that comes from a kind of flower. Here we landed to take in fresh water, and our crew got their mid-day meal on the shore near the ships. When they had eaten and drunk I sent two of my company to see what manner of men the people of the place might be, and they had a third man under them. They started at once, and went about among the Lotus-Eaters, who did them no hurt, but gave them to eat of the Lotus, which was so delicious that those who ate it left off caring about home, and did not even want to go back and say what happened to them. Nevertheless, though they wept bitterly i forced them back to the ships and made them fast under the benches. Then I told the rest to go on board at once, so they took their places and smote the grey sea with their oars."
Herodotus, in the 5th century BC, was sure that the Lotus-Eaters still existed in his day in coastal Libya, the region West of the Nile. Its people were the ancestors of the modern Berbers, known in the Hellenistic period as Libyans.
The name Libya also appeared in the Hebrew language, written in the Bible as Lebahim and Lubim, indicating the ethnic population and the geographic territory as well.
Homer also names Libya, in Odyssey chapter IX. Menelaus had travelled there on his way home from Troy. It was a land of wonderful richness, where the lambs have horns as soon as they were born, where ewes lamb three times a year and no shepherd ever went short of milk, meat or cheese. Homer used the name in a geographical sense, while he also called its inhabitants "Lotus-Eaters."
In the narrative poem 'The Metamorphoses' by the Roman poet Ovid, chronicling the history of the world from its creation to the deification of Julius Caesar, mention the beautiful daughter of Neptune, the god of water and the sea. In order to flee the violent and lustful attention of the sexual impotent Pri-Apus, a rustic fertility god, protector of livestock, fruit plants, gardens and male genitalia, she invoked the assistance of the gods, who answered her prayers by turning her into a lotus tree.
Pri-Apus is described as the son of Aphrodite by Dionysus, or father or son of Hermes, or the son of Zeus or Pan, depending on the source. According to the legend, Hera cursed him with impotence, ugliness and foul-mindedness while he was still in Aphrodite's womb, in revenge for the hero Paris having the temerity to judge Aphrodite more beautiful than Hera. The other gods refused to allow him to live on Mount Olympus and threw him to Earth, leaving him on a hillside. Then he joined Pan and the satyrs as a spirit of fertility and growth, though he was perennially frustrated by his impotence.
In the Scriptures in the Book of Job, there are two lines in the chapter 40, with the Hebrew word meaning the 'Lotus Tree' which appears nowhere else in the Scriptures. The Book addresses the theme of God's justice in the face of human suffering, or more simply, 'Why do the righteous suffer?' When God finally speaks He neither explains the reason for Job's suffering nor defends His justice. The first speech focuses on his role in maintaining Order in the universe: the list of things that God does and Job cannot do demonstrates divine wisdom because Order is the Heart of Wisdom. Job confesses his lack of wisdom, meaning his lack of understanding of the workings of the cosmos and of the ability to maintain it. The second speech concerns God's role in controlling Behemoth and Leviathan, two powerful primeval cosmic forces or entities, in either case demonstrating God's wisdom and power. In the concluding part of the narrative God restores and increases his prosperity, indicating that the divine policy of retributive Justice remains unchanged.
The name Behemoth has come to be used for an extremely large and powerful entity created together with the human being. It represents the dust from which the divine body of the first man was made of.
Then the sea-monster Leviathan, representing another powerful entity that govern the cosmic mind.
God mention both to demonstrate Job the futility of questioning God, who alone has created these beings and who alone can capture them.
An apathetic individual has an absence of interest in or concern about emotional, social, spiritual, philosophical and/or physical life and the world, lacking a sense of purpose and meaning in their life. The challenge was irrelevant to them. It is a way to forget negative feelings.
The Lotus Tree is mentioned in Homer's Odyssey chapter IX, as bearing a fruit that caused a pleasant drowsiness, and which was said to be the only food of an island people called the Lotus Eaters. When they ate of the Lotus Tree they forgot their friends and homes and the desire to return to their native lands was lost in favor lo living in idleness.
Odysseus tells how adverse North Winds blew him and his men off course as they were rounding Cape Malea, a peninsula known for its treacherous weather, in the Southern most tip of the Peloponnesus in Greece, headed Westward for Ithaca: "I was driven by Foul Winds for a space of 9 days upon the sea, but on the 10th day we reached the Land of the Lotus-Eaters, who live on a food that comes from a kind of flower. Here we landed to take in fresh water, and our crew got their mid-day meal on the shore near the ships. When they had eaten and drunk I sent two of my company to see what manner of men the people of the place might be, and they had a third man under them. They started at once, and went about among the Lotus-Eaters, who did them no hurt, but gave them to eat of the Lotus, which was so delicious that those who ate it left off caring about home, and did not even want to go back and say what happened to them. Nevertheless, though they wept bitterly i forced them back to the ships and made them fast under the benches. Then I told the rest to go on board at once, so they took their places and smote the grey sea with their oars."
Herodotus, in the 5th century BC, was sure that the Lotus-Eaters still existed in his day in coastal Libya, the region West of the Nile. Its people were the ancestors of the modern Berbers, known in the Hellenistic period as Libyans.
The name Libya also appeared in the Hebrew language, written in the Bible as Lebahim and Lubim, indicating the ethnic population and the geographic territory as well.
Homer also names Libya, in Odyssey chapter IX. Menelaus had travelled there on his way home from Troy. It was a land of wonderful richness, where the lambs have horns as soon as they were born, where ewes lamb three times a year and no shepherd ever went short of milk, meat or cheese. Homer used the name in a geographical sense, while he also called its inhabitants "Lotus-Eaters."
In the narrative poem 'The Metamorphoses' by the Roman poet Ovid, chronicling the history of the world from its creation to the deification of Julius Caesar, mention the beautiful daughter of Neptune, the god of water and the sea. In order to flee the violent and lustful attention of the sexual impotent Pri-Apus, a rustic fertility god, protector of livestock, fruit plants, gardens and male genitalia, she invoked the assistance of the gods, who answered her prayers by turning her into a lotus tree.
Pri-Apus is described as the son of Aphrodite by Dionysus, or father or son of Hermes, or the son of Zeus or Pan, depending on the source. According to the legend, Hera cursed him with impotence, ugliness and foul-mindedness while he was still in Aphrodite's womb, in revenge for the hero Paris having the temerity to judge Aphrodite more beautiful than Hera. The other gods refused to allow him to live on Mount Olympus and threw him to Earth, leaving him on a hillside. Then he joined Pan and the satyrs as a spirit of fertility and growth, though he was perennially frustrated by his impotence.
In the Scriptures in the Book of Job, there are two lines in the chapter 40, with the Hebrew word meaning the 'Lotus Tree' which appears nowhere else in the Scriptures. The Book addresses the theme of God's justice in the face of human suffering, or more simply, 'Why do the righteous suffer?' When God finally speaks He neither explains the reason for Job's suffering nor defends His justice. The first speech focuses on his role in maintaining Order in the universe: the list of things that God does and Job cannot do demonstrates divine wisdom because Order is the Heart of Wisdom. Job confesses his lack of wisdom, meaning his lack of understanding of the workings of the cosmos and of the ability to maintain it. The second speech concerns God's role in controlling Behemoth and Leviathan, two powerful primeval cosmic forces or entities, in either case demonstrating God's wisdom and power. In the concluding part of the narrative God restores and increases his prosperity, indicating that the divine policy of retributive Justice remains unchanged.
The name Behemoth has come to be used for an extremely large and powerful entity created together with the human being. It represents the dust from which the divine body of the first man was made of.
Then the sea-monster Leviathan, representing another powerful entity that govern the cosmic mind.
God mention both to demonstrate Job the futility of questioning God, who alone has created these beings and who alone can capture them.
Wednesday, August 3, 2016
THE URAL AND CAUCASUS MOUNTAINS.
The Ural Mountains are a mountain range that runs from North to South through Western Russia, from the coast of the Arctic Ocean to the Ural River originating in the Southern Urals and flowing through Russia and North Western Kazakh-Stan and ending at the Caspian Sea. The Ural River (2,428km / 1,509mi) is the 3rd longest River in Europe after the Volga and the Danube and considered together with the mountain range, the Northern boundary between the continents of Europe and Asia. Its highest peak is Mount Narod-Naya, approximately 1,895m / 6,217 ft in elevation.
The Caucasus Mountains are a mountain system in the combined continental land-mass of Europe and Asia. They include the Greater Caucasus which extends from the Caucasian Natural Reserve on the North Eastern shore of the Black Sea to Mount Elbrus, then aligned West- North West to East-South East and reaching nearly to Baku on the Caspian Sea; and the Lesser Caucasus, which runs parallel to the greater range, at a distance averaging about 100 km / 62mi South. the highest peak in the Caucasus range is Mount El-Brus in the Greater Caucasus, which rises to a height of 5,642 m / 18,510 ft above the sea level.
The Caucasus Mountains formed largely as the result of a tectonic plate collision between the Arabian plate moving Northwards with respect to the Eurasian plate. As the Tethys Sea was closed (India, Pakistan, Indonesia, and the Indian Ocean now cover the area) and the Arabian plate collided with the Iranian plate and was pushed against it and with the clockwise movement of the Eurasian plate towards the Iranian plate and their final collision, the Iranian plate was pressed against the Eurasian plate. As this happened, the entire rocks that had been deposited in this basin from the Jurassic to the Miocene eras were folded to form the Greater Caucasus mountains. The entire region is regularly subjected to strong earthquakes from this activity. While the Greater Caucasus have a mainly folded sedimentary structure, the Lesser Caucasus are largely of volcanic origin.
The concepts of Europe and Asia as distinct continents date back to antiquity and their borders are geological arbitrary, with the Ural and Caucasus ranges being the main delimiters between the two.
Physiographically, Eurasia is a single continent and is connected to Africa at the Suez Canal, and sometimes is combined with Africa as the super continent Afro-Eurasia.
Eurasia has been the host of many civilizations, including those based in Mesopotamia, the Indus Valley and China. In the mid-1st millennium BC a continuous belt of civilizations stretched through the Eurasian subtropical zone from the Atlantic to the Pacific. This belt became the mainstream of world history for over two millennia.
The Caucasus Mountains are a mountain system in the combined continental land-mass of Europe and Asia. They include the Greater Caucasus which extends from the Caucasian Natural Reserve on the North Eastern shore of the Black Sea to Mount Elbrus, then aligned West- North West to East-South East and reaching nearly to Baku on the Caspian Sea; and the Lesser Caucasus, which runs parallel to the greater range, at a distance averaging about 100 km / 62mi South. the highest peak in the Caucasus range is Mount El-Brus in the Greater Caucasus, which rises to a height of 5,642 m / 18,510 ft above the sea level.
The Caucasus Mountains formed largely as the result of a tectonic plate collision between the Arabian plate moving Northwards with respect to the Eurasian plate. As the Tethys Sea was closed (India, Pakistan, Indonesia, and the Indian Ocean now cover the area) and the Arabian plate collided with the Iranian plate and was pushed against it and with the clockwise movement of the Eurasian plate towards the Iranian plate and their final collision, the Iranian plate was pressed against the Eurasian plate. As this happened, the entire rocks that had been deposited in this basin from the Jurassic to the Miocene eras were folded to form the Greater Caucasus mountains. The entire region is regularly subjected to strong earthquakes from this activity. While the Greater Caucasus have a mainly folded sedimentary structure, the Lesser Caucasus are largely of volcanic origin.
The concepts of Europe and Asia as distinct continents date back to antiquity and their borders are geological arbitrary, with the Ural and Caucasus ranges being the main delimiters between the two.
Physiographically, Eurasia is a single continent and is connected to Africa at the Suez Canal, and sometimes is combined with Africa as the super continent Afro-Eurasia.
Eurasia has been the host of many civilizations, including those based in Mesopotamia, the Indus Valley and China. In the mid-1st millennium BC a continuous belt of civilizations stretched through the Eurasian subtropical zone from the Atlantic to the Pacific. This belt became the mainstream of world history for over two millennia.
Tuesday, August 2, 2016
THE SPIRIT OF THE COLCA CANYON, PERU
The Colca Canyon is an amazing geological formation created by erosion from the Colca River over thousands of years in which the abrasive effect of the water that flows through the mountains carved the rock and gradually turned into one of the deepest (4,160m) natural canyons on the planet.
Peru is especially characterized by the presence of the Volcanic chain of the Western Mountain Range of the Andes which are made up by a spectacular views of the combination of impressive mountains and volcanoes such as Hualca Hualca, Ampato, and Sabancaya (still active), that reach over 6,000 m in heights, making the Colca Canyon part of it.
Ampato is known to be the final resting place of an Inca mummy, surprisingly conserved. Ampato means 'frog' in Quechua, the language of the Andean people, referring to the characteristic form of the Volcano seen from the surrounding areas. The ancient inhabitants worshiped this mountain with offerings because they considered it a divine spirit living in the form of the Volcano together with the Mountain Chain in which the Volcano rested. The spirits of the mountains helped them to improve their agricultural techniques and farm animal production.
The Canyon is located on the right side of the Chila Mountain Range formed by the glaciers Bomboya, Serpregina, Mismi, Queshihua, and on the other side by the Volcanoes that are part of the Ampato Mountain Range, in the North Eastern side of Arequipa, Peru, about 4 hours North of the city of Arequipa. At a distance you are able to observe two high mountains accompanying the deepest Canyon in the planet, the Coropuna (6,305m), the highest peak in Arequipa, and the Solimana (6,323 m).
The Coca Canyon reaches depths of 4,160 m in the region of Canco of the district of Huambo on the North side and 3,600 m on the South side. It is more than 120 km long.
Canco is a small Valley that is located between the crosses of the Colca and Huambo Rivers. Due to its high location (1820m) the weather is nice and a variety of subtropical fruits and crops grow there. Also you can see several condors flying around this area.
The Colca Valley that goes by the same name as the canyon is a colorful Andean valley with pre-Inca roots, still inhabited by people of the Collagua and the Cabana cultures, who moved to the area from the Lake Titicaca region. They maintain their ancestral traditions and continue to cultivate the pre-Inca stepped terraces. The Valley begins in the surroundings of Chivay, the main town of the area, continuing in a North West direction for more than 60 km towards the area known as the Condor Cross (la Cruz del Condor) in the Town of Cabana-Conde.
The Colca River originates in the Andes, in the high Condor-Ama Cruise and descends to the Town of Chivay located at 3,600m above sea level and it is the location where the Canyon starts. Then it pass through the Old River Town of Maca. From this point the flow of the River increases dramatically and spills into the depth of the Valley reaching a greater depth at the Condor Cross (la Cruz del Condor) viewpoint in the town of Cabana-Conde. It then flows down about 40 km and converges with the River Anda-Mayo, marking the end of the Canyon and the beginning of the Majes Valley and before flowing into the Pacific Ocean it becomes the Camana River. Thus the Colca River change its name as it passess through these different territories, Colca, in the hills; Majes, in the middle; and Camana, in the coastal desert.
Peru is especially characterized by the presence of the Volcanic chain of the Western Mountain Range of the Andes which are made up by a spectacular views of the combination of impressive mountains and volcanoes such as Hualca Hualca, Ampato, and Sabancaya (still active), that reach over 6,000 m in heights, making the Colca Canyon part of it.
Ampato is known to be the final resting place of an Inca mummy, surprisingly conserved. Ampato means 'frog' in Quechua, the language of the Andean people, referring to the characteristic form of the Volcano seen from the surrounding areas. The ancient inhabitants worshiped this mountain with offerings because they considered it a divine spirit living in the form of the Volcano together with the Mountain Chain in which the Volcano rested. The spirits of the mountains helped them to improve their agricultural techniques and farm animal production.
The Canyon is located on the right side of the Chila Mountain Range formed by the glaciers Bomboya, Serpregina, Mismi, Queshihua, and on the other side by the Volcanoes that are part of the Ampato Mountain Range, in the North Eastern side of Arequipa, Peru, about 4 hours North of the city of Arequipa. At a distance you are able to observe two high mountains accompanying the deepest Canyon in the planet, the Coropuna (6,305m), the highest peak in Arequipa, and the Solimana (6,323 m).
The Coca Canyon reaches depths of 4,160 m in the region of Canco of the district of Huambo on the North side and 3,600 m on the South side. It is more than 120 km long.
Canco is a small Valley that is located between the crosses of the Colca and Huambo Rivers. Due to its high location (1820m) the weather is nice and a variety of subtropical fruits and crops grow there. Also you can see several condors flying around this area.
The Colca Valley that goes by the same name as the canyon is a colorful Andean valley with pre-Inca roots, still inhabited by people of the Collagua and the Cabana cultures, who moved to the area from the Lake Titicaca region. They maintain their ancestral traditions and continue to cultivate the pre-Inca stepped terraces. The Valley begins in the surroundings of Chivay, the main town of the area, continuing in a North West direction for more than 60 km towards the area known as the Condor Cross (la Cruz del Condor) in the Town of Cabana-Conde.
The Colca River originates in the Andes, in the high Condor-Ama Cruise and descends to the Town of Chivay located at 3,600m above sea level and it is the location where the Canyon starts. Then it pass through the Old River Town of Maca. From this point the flow of the River increases dramatically and spills into the depth of the Valley reaching a greater depth at the Condor Cross (la Cruz del Condor) viewpoint in the town of Cabana-Conde. It then flows down about 40 km and converges with the River Anda-Mayo, marking the end of the Canyon and the beginning of the Majes Valley and before flowing into the Pacific Ocean it becomes the Camana River. Thus the Colca River change its name as it passess through these different territories, Colca, in the hills; Majes, in the middle; and Camana, in the coastal desert.
Monday, August 1, 2016
THE MYTH OF THE CASPIAN SEA.
The Caspian Sea is the largest enclosed inland body of water on Earth by area. It is a closed drainage basin that retains water and allows no outflow to other external bodies of water. It is located between Europe and Asia, to the East of the Caucasus Mountains and the the West of the vast steppe of Central Asia. Its Northern part, the Caspian Depression, is one of the lowest points on Earth.
The Caucasus Mountains are a mountain system in Eurasia between the Black Sea and the Caspian Sea in the Caucasus region at the border of Europe and Asia. The region was inhabited since the Paleolithic Era. In 1991, early human fossils of 1.8 million years of age were found in the Southern Caucasus.
The Caspian Sea has a surface area of 371,000 km2 /143,200 sq mi, not included its detach lagoon of Garabo-Gazkol Aylagy, and a volume of 78,200 km3 /18,800 cu mi. It has a salinity of approximately 1.2% (12g/l) about a third of the salinity of most sea water.
The Caspian is divided into 3 distinct physical regions: the Northen, the Middle, and Southern Caspian.
Differences between the regions are dramatic. The Northern Caspian only includes the Caspian shelf, and is very shallow; it accounts for less than 1% of the total water volume with an average depth of only 5-6 m /16-20 ft. The Sea noticeably drops off towards the Middle Caspian, where the average depth is 190 m/620 ft. The Southern Caspian is the deepest, with oceanic depths of over 1,000 m/3,300 ft, greatly exceeding the depth of other regional seas, such as the Persian Gulf.
During warm and dry climatic periods, the landlock Sea almost dried up, depositing water-soluble mineral sediment like halite (common for homeowners in cold climates to melt the ice) that were covered by wind-blown deposits and were sealed off as an crystallized sediment when cool, and wet climates refilled the basin. Comparable crystallized beds underlie the Mediterranean Sea. Due to the current inflow of fresh water, the Caspian Sea is a freshwater lake in its Northern portions. It is more saline in its Iranian shore, where the catchment basin contributes little flow.
The Caspian Sea is bounded to the North East by Kazakh-Stan, to the North West by Russia, to the West by Azer-Baijan, to the South by Iran, and the South West by Turk-Meni-Stan.
The word Caspian is derived from the name of the Caspi, an ancient people who lived South West of the Sea in Trans-Caucasia. Strabo (64/63BC- 24 CE), a Greek geographer, philosopher, and historian, wrote that "to the country of the Albanians belongs also the territory called Casp-Iane, which was named after the Caspian Tribe, as was also the Sea; but the tribe has now disappeared." The Caspians have been generally regarded as a pre-Indo-European people. Ernst Emill Herzfeld (23July1879-20January1948), a German archaeologist and Iranian-logist, identified them with the Kassites, who spoke a language without an identified relationship to any other known language and whose origins have long been the subject of debate. However onomastic evidence bearing on this point has been discovered in Aramaic papyri from Egypt in which several of the Caspian names that are mentioned and identified as 'Kaspai' are in part, etymologically Iranic. The Caspians of the Egyptian papyri must therefore be considered either an Iranian people or strongly under Iranic cultural influence.
The Caspian Gates, a region in Iran's Tehran province, indicates that they migrated to the South of the Sea.
The name Caspian Gates applied to the narrow region at the Southern corner of the Caspian Sea, through which, during the time of Alexander the Great, he actually marched in the pursuit of Artaxexes V, a prominent Persian Satrap of Bactria in Persia, and self-proclaimed King of Kings of Persia.
According to classical sources, he killed his predecessor and relative, Darius III, after the Persian army had been defeated by Alexander. He was executed by the hand of Alexander in 329 BC.
Under Ashur-Banipal (669-627BC) the boundaries of the Assyrian Empire reached as far as the Caucasus Mountains
The Gates were a legendary barrier built by Alexander in the Caucasus to keep Gog and Magog, uncivilized barbarians of the North from invading the land of the South.
Gog and Magog appear in the Hebrew Scriptures as individual persons or entities, or as peoples, or as lands. The Book of Ezekiel, Gog is the name of an individual and Magog the name of his land paints them as the enemies of God at the end of time. In Genesis 10 Magog is an entity and no Gog is mentioned, and in Revelation both Gog and Magog appear together as the hostile nations of the world.
The Caspian Sea, like the Aral Sea, Black Sea, and Lake Urmia, is a remnant of the ancient Para-Tethys Sea. It became landlocked about 5.5 million years ago due to tectonic uplift and a fall of sea level.
The Caucasus Mountains are a mountain system in Eurasia between the Black Sea and the Caspian Sea in the Caucasus region at the border of Europe and Asia. The region was inhabited since the Paleolithic Era. In 1991, early human fossils of 1.8 million years of age were found in the Southern Caucasus.
The Caspian Sea has a surface area of 371,000 km2 /143,200 sq mi, not included its detach lagoon of Garabo-Gazkol Aylagy, and a volume of 78,200 km3 /18,800 cu mi. It has a salinity of approximately 1.2% (12g/l) about a third of the salinity of most sea water.
The Caspian is divided into 3 distinct physical regions: the Northen, the Middle, and Southern Caspian.
Differences between the regions are dramatic. The Northern Caspian only includes the Caspian shelf, and is very shallow; it accounts for less than 1% of the total water volume with an average depth of only 5-6 m /16-20 ft. The Sea noticeably drops off towards the Middle Caspian, where the average depth is 190 m/620 ft. The Southern Caspian is the deepest, with oceanic depths of over 1,000 m/3,300 ft, greatly exceeding the depth of other regional seas, such as the Persian Gulf.
During warm and dry climatic periods, the landlock Sea almost dried up, depositing water-soluble mineral sediment like halite (common for homeowners in cold climates to melt the ice) that were covered by wind-blown deposits and were sealed off as an crystallized sediment when cool, and wet climates refilled the basin. Comparable crystallized beds underlie the Mediterranean Sea. Due to the current inflow of fresh water, the Caspian Sea is a freshwater lake in its Northern portions. It is more saline in its Iranian shore, where the catchment basin contributes little flow.
The Caspian Sea is bounded to the North East by Kazakh-Stan, to the North West by Russia, to the West by Azer-Baijan, to the South by Iran, and the South West by Turk-Meni-Stan.
The word Caspian is derived from the name of the Caspi, an ancient people who lived South West of the Sea in Trans-Caucasia. Strabo (64/63BC- 24 CE), a Greek geographer, philosopher, and historian, wrote that "to the country of the Albanians belongs also the territory called Casp-Iane, which was named after the Caspian Tribe, as was also the Sea; but the tribe has now disappeared." The Caspians have been generally regarded as a pre-Indo-European people. Ernst Emill Herzfeld (23July1879-20January1948), a German archaeologist and Iranian-logist, identified them with the Kassites, who spoke a language without an identified relationship to any other known language and whose origins have long been the subject of debate. However onomastic evidence bearing on this point has been discovered in Aramaic papyri from Egypt in which several of the Caspian names that are mentioned and identified as 'Kaspai' are in part, etymologically Iranic. The Caspians of the Egyptian papyri must therefore be considered either an Iranian people or strongly under Iranic cultural influence.
The Caspian Gates, a region in Iran's Tehran province, indicates that they migrated to the South of the Sea.
The name Caspian Gates applied to the narrow region at the Southern corner of the Caspian Sea, through which, during the time of Alexander the Great, he actually marched in the pursuit of Artaxexes V, a prominent Persian Satrap of Bactria in Persia, and self-proclaimed King of Kings of Persia.
According to classical sources, he killed his predecessor and relative, Darius III, after the Persian army had been defeated by Alexander. He was executed by the hand of Alexander in 329 BC.
Under Ashur-Banipal (669-627BC) the boundaries of the Assyrian Empire reached as far as the Caucasus Mountains
The Gates were a legendary barrier built by Alexander in the Caucasus to keep Gog and Magog, uncivilized barbarians of the North from invading the land of the South.
Gog and Magog appear in the Hebrew Scriptures as individual persons or entities, or as peoples, or as lands. The Book of Ezekiel, Gog is the name of an individual and Magog the name of his land paints them as the enemies of God at the end of time. In Genesis 10 Magog is an entity and no Gog is mentioned, and in Revelation both Gog and Magog appear together as the hostile nations of the world.
The Caspian Sea, like the Aral Sea, Black Sea, and Lake Urmia, is a remnant of the ancient Para-Tethys Sea. It became landlocked about 5.5 million years ago due to tectonic uplift and a fall of sea level.
Friday, July 29, 2016
THE AURORA BOREALIS.
Aurora Borealis is a phenomenon made by nature that is vibrant and colorful. Researchers discovered that the auroral activity is cyclic, peaking roughly every 11 years. Nothing that man has created comes even close to these mind blowing lights that every person who is aware of it wants to see its magnificent at least once in their life time.
The bright dancing lights of the aurora are actually collisions between gaseous particles in the Earth's atmosphere with electrically charged particles released from the sun's atmosphere that enter and spark as a result of it. Variation in color are due to the type of gas particles that are colliding. The most common auroral color is a pale yellowish-green produced by high-altitude oxygen, at heights up to 200 miles. Nitrogen produces blue or purplish-red aurora.
The temperature above the surface of the sun is millions of degrees Celsius. At this temperature, collisions between gas molecules are frequent and explosive. Free electrons and protons are thrown from the sun's atmosphere by the rotation of the sun and escape through holes in the magnetic field. Being blown towards the earth by the solar wind, the charged particles are largely deflected by the earth's magnetic field. However, the earth's magnetic field is weaker at either pole and therefore many particles enter the earth's atmosphere through that points and collide with gas particles in it, emitting lights that we perceive as the dancing light of the aurora.
The lights are seen above the magnetic poles of the Northern and Southern hemispheres. They are known as Aurora Borealis in the North, meaning "dawn of the north," and Arora Australis in the South, meaning "dawn of the south." In Roman myths, Aurora was the goddess of the dawn and mother of winds, who announced the arrival of the sun each morning by racing her chariot across the sky. The people who live in the North of the Arctic Circle has its own explanation. They said that the lights were energies created by the soul of the departed and whoever disrespected them would experience bad fortune, such as sickness or even death. Also they said that the sparks had magical effects and by using shaman drums they could harness the effect of the spark's energy.
The lights appear in many forms from patches or scattered clouds of light to streamers, arcs, rippling curtains or shooting rays that light up the sky with an eerie glow, and generally extend from 80 km (50 mi) to as high as 640 km (400 mi) above the earth's surface in east-west direction.
Areas that are not subject to light pollution are the best places to watch the aurora. Winter in the North is generally a good season to view the lights. The long period of darkness an the frequency of clear nights provide many good opportunities to watch the auroral displays. Yukon, Northwest Territories and Alaska are the best spots in the North, while the southern auroras are concentrated in a ring around Antarctica and the southern Indian Ocean.
An historical significance had an event that occurred due to the great geomagnetism storm occurred on both August 28 and September 2nd of 1859. It was the most spectacular ever witnessed throughout that specific generation of people. It was the result of an exceptionally intense white light solar flare produced by an aurora so wide spread and extraordinary brilliant that they were seen and reported in published scientific measurements, ship's logs and newspapers throughout the United States, Europe, Japan and Australia. It was said in the New York Times' newspaper that "ordinary print could be read by the light of the aurora." The aurora is thought to have been produced by one of the most intense coronal mass ejections during that time, very near to the maximum intensity that the sun is thought to be capable of producing according to human mind estimation of its power. This was the first time that the people in power over the earth at that time got the first lesson of the connection where the phenomena of auroral activity and electricity were linked. The insight was made possible not only due to scientific magnetometer measurements of the era but also as a result of a significant portion of the 125,000 miles of telegraph lines then in service being significantly disrupted for so many hours throughout the storm.
Some telegraph lines however, seem to have been of the appropriate length and orientation which allowed a geo-magnetically induced current to be induced in them due to Earth's severely fluctuating magnetosphere and actually be used for communication. Two operators of the Telegraph Line were able to maintain a conversation for around two hours using no battery power at all and working solely with the current induced by the aurora, giving them, for the first time in their life, a lesson from Nature, many words were transmitted by the power of it and not by the human power.
The bright dancing lights of the aurora are actually collisions between gaseous particles in the Earth's atmosphere with electrically charged particles released from the sun's atmosphere that enter and spark as a result of it. Variation in color are due to the type of gas particles that are colliding. The most common auroral color is a pale yellowish-green produced by high-altitude oxygen, at heights up to 200 miles. Nitrogen produces blue or purplish-red aurora.
The temperature above the surface of the sun is millions of degrees Celsius. At this temperature, collisions between gas molecules are frequent and explosive. Free electrons and protons are thrown from the sun's atmosphere by the rotation of the sun and escape through holes in the magnetic field. Being blown towards the earth by the solar wind, the charged particles are largely deflected by the earth's magnetic field. However, the earth's magnetic field is weaker at either pole and therefore many particles enter the earth's atmosphere through that points and collide with gas particles in it, emitting lights that we perceive as the dancing light of the aurora.
The lights are seen above the magnetic poles of the Northern and Southern hemispheres. They are known as Aurora Borealis in the North, meaning "dawn of the north," and Arora Australis in the South, meaning "dawn of the south." In Roman myths, Aurora was the goddess of the dawn and mother of winds, who announced the arrival of the sun each morning by racing her chariot across the sky. The people who live in the North of the Arctic Circle has its own explanation. They said that the lights were energies created by the soul of the departed and whoever disrespected them would experience bad fortune, such as sickness or even death. Also they said that the sparks had magical effects and by using shaman drums they could harness the effect of the spark's energy.
The lights appear in many forms from patches or scattered clouds of light to streamers, arcs, rippling curtains or shooting rays that light up the sky with an eerie glow, and generally extend from 80 km (50 mi) to as high as 640 km (400 mi) above the earth's surface in east-west direction.
Areas that are not subject to light pollution are the best places to watch the aurora. Winter in the North is generally a good season to view the lights. The long period of darkness an the frequency of clear nights provide many good opportunities to watch the auroral displays. Yukon, Northwest Territories and Alaska are the best spots in the North, while the southern auroras are concentrated in a ring around Antarctica and the southern Indian Ocean.
An historical significance had an event that occurred due to the great geomagnetism storm occurred on both August 28 and September 2nd of 1859. It was the most spectacular ever witnessed throughout that specific generation of people. It was the result of an exceptionally intense white light solar flare produced by an aurora so wide spread and extraordinary brilliant that they were seen and reported in published scientific measurements, ship's logs and newspapers throughout the United States, Europe, Japan and Australia. It was said in the New York Times' newspaper that "ordinary print could be read by the light of the aurora." The aurora is thought to have been produced by one of the most intense coronal mass ejections during that time, very near to the maximum intensity that the sun is thought to be capable of producing according to human mind estimation of its power. This was the first time that the people in power over the earth at that time got the first lesson of the connection where the phenomena of auroral activity and electricity were linked. The insight was made possible not only due to scientific magnetometer measurements of the era but also as a result of a significant portion of the 125,000 miles of telegraph lines then in service being significantly disrupted for so many hours throughout the storm.
Some telegraph lines however, seem to have been of the appropriate length and orientation which allowed a geo-magnetically induced current to be induced in them due to Earth's severely fluctuating magnetosphere and actually be used for communication. Two operators of the Telegraph Line were able to maintain a conversation for around two hours using no battery power at all and working solely with the current induced by the aurora, giving them, for the first time in their life, a lesson from Nature, many words were transmitted by the power of it and not by the human power.
Wednesday, March 2, 2016
HUMAN PRESENCE EFFECT IN THE ATA-PUERCA MOUNTAINS
The Ata-Puerca Mountains is an ancient landscape Region of Spain, formed by the dissolution of Soluble Rocks such as Lime-Stone, Dolomite, and Gypsum. It is characterized by underground drainage system with Sink-holes, Dolines, and Caves. The Region belongs to the Province of Burgos, Castille and Leon and near Ata-Puerca and Ibeas de Juarros.
It contains several Caves, where fossils and stone tools of the earliest known Humans in Western Europe have been found. They have been dated as being up to 1.2 million and 600 thousand years old, respectively. The Caves are known collectively as the "Archaeological Site of Ata-Puerca."
Larger Brain cases with a cranial volume of 1100-1400 cm3 overlapping the 1350 cm3 average of modern humans, were found in the caves belonging to that specific Region.
Numerous fossil bones indicate that some of them were giants (2.13m/7ft tall). Recent findings in a pit in Ata-Puerca suggest they were the 1st species of humans who bury its dead. They acquired a pre-linguistic system of communication. No form of art have been uncovered, although red ochre (mineral used to mix red pigment useful as a paint) were found in other Caves of the Region.
The morphology of the outer and middle ear suggest they had an extraordinary auditory sensitivity. They were able to differentiate between many different sounds.
In antiquity, the Ebro was used as the dividing line between Roman (North) and Carthaginian (South) expansions after the 1st Punic War (264-241 BC). When Rome, fearful of Hannibal's growing influence in The Iberian Peninsula, made the City of Saguntum (South of Ebro) a Protectorate of Rome. Hannibal viewed it as a Treaty Violation and as an aggressive action by Rome and used the event as the catalyst to the Second Punic War.
The Ebro is the most important River in Spain in terms of length, 928 km (577mi). The flow decreased notably by about 29 per cent during the 20th century due to the construction of Dams, low rain fall, increasing demands for irrigation due to high sunshine and strong and dry winds, and the evaporation from reservoirs in the river basin. Dams and hydraulic canalization altered the dynamic of the River forever. This situation had a direct impact on the deltaic system at the mouth of the river because its hydrological dynamics are mainly controlled by the River discharge. The decrease in River discharge has meant introduction of the Salt Wedge. Fresh water floats on top of the sea-water in a layer that gradually thins as it moves Seaward. The denser Sea Water moves landward along the bottom of the estuary. As a velocity difference develops between the two layers, shear forces generate internal waves at the interface, mixing the Sea-Water upward with the Fresh-Water. The sediment load was reduced by more than 99 per cent during the last century. The drastic reduction in sediment transport implies a sediment deficit in the Delta, which is causing the erosion of the Coast-Line and lack of sediment replenish. Due to this changes almost entire forested area were cleared for crops or for pulp-wood forest plantation. Numerous plant and animal species have disappeared.
The traditional local Administrative Division (Comarca) named La Bureva is located in the NorthEast of the Province of Burgos in the autonomous community of Castilla and Leon.
La Bureba Pass connects the Ebro River Valley leading to the Mediterranean Sea and the duero Valley leading to that River's outlet at the Atlantic Ocean. This conjunction results in a transition area between two Biomes that is a gradual blending of two communities rich in species derived from both ecosystems. The Pass was part of a Roman Cause-Way of the pilgrimage route known as Pilgrim Ways (Camino Frances) to the shrine of the Apostle James the Great in the catedral of Santiago de Compostela in Galicia in North-Western Spain, where tradition said that the remains of the Apostle are buried in there. Many take up this route as a form of Spiritual Path or retreat for their spiritual growth.
The location of the Archaeological Site of Ata-Puerca between 2 major Water-Sheds and its importance Mountain Pass explain the intensity and continuity of human habitation found there.
The Sites in this Region were found during the construction of Railway cuts through Grand Dolina, Galery, and Elephant, and the cut through the Cave of the "Bone Hill"(Sima de los Huesos).
Because of its importance, in 2000, the Archaeological Site of Ata-Puerca was added to the Unesco list of World Heritage Sites.
The World's largest Landscape made of Soluble Rocks is Australia's Nul-Arbor Plain. Slovenia has the World's highest risk of Sink-Holes, while the Western High-Land Rim in the Eastern United States is at the second-highest risk of Soluble Rocks Sink-Holes.
It contains several Caves, where fossils and stone tools of the earliest known Humans in Western Europe have been found. They have been dated as being up to 1.2 million and 600 thousand years old, respectively. The Caves are known collectively as the "Archaeological Site of Ata-Puerca."
Larger Brain cases with a cranial volume of 1100-1400 cm3 overlapping the 1350 cm3 average of modern humans, were found in the caves belonging to that specific Region.
Numerous fossil bones indicate that some of them were giants (2.13m/7ft tall). Recent findings in a pit in Ata-Puerca suggest they were the 1st species of humans who bury its dead. They acquired a pre-linguistic system of communication. No form of art have been uncovered, although red ochre (mineral used to mix red pigment useful as a paint) were found in other Caves of the Region.
The morphology of the outer and middle ear suggest they had an extraordinary auditory sensitivity. They were able to differentiate between many different sounds.
In antiquity, the Ebro was used as the dividing line between Roman (North) and Carthaginian (South) expansions after the 1st Punic War (264-241 BC). When Rome, fearful of Hannibal's growing influence in The Iberian Peninsula, made the City of Saguntum (South of Ebro) a Protectorate of Rome. Hannibal viewed it as a Treaty Violation and as an aggressive action by Rome and used the event as the catalyst to the Second Punic War.
The Ebro is the most important River in Spain in terms of length, 928 km (577mi). The flow decreased notably by about 29 per cent during the 20th century due to the construction of Dams, low rain fall, increasing demands for irrigation due to high sunshine and strong and dry winds, and the evaporation from reservoirs in the river basin. Dams and hydraulic canalization altered the dynamic of the River forever. This situation had a direct impact on the deltaic system at the mouth of the river because its hydrological dynamics are mainly controlled by the River discharge. The decrease in River discharge has meant introduction of the Salt Wedge. Fresh water floats on top of the sea-water in a layer that gradually thins as it moves Seaward. The denser Sea Water moves landward along the bottom of the estuary. As a velocity difference develops between the two layers, shear forces generate internal waves at the interface, mixing the Sea-Water upward with the Fresh-Water. The sediment load was reduced by more than 99 per cent during the last century. The drastic reduction in sediment transport implies a sediment deficit in the Delta, which is causing the erosion of the Coast-Line and lack of sediment replenish. Due to this changes almost entire forested area were cleared for crops or for pulp-wood forest plantation. Numerous plant and animal species have disappeared.
The traditional local Administrative Division (Comarca) named La Bureva is located in the NorthEast of the Province of Burgos in the autonomous community of Castilla and Leon.
La Bureba Pass connects the Ebro River Valley leading to the Mediterranean Sea and the duero Valley leading to that River's outlet at the Atlantic Ocean. This conjunction results in a transition area between two Biomes that is a gradual blending of two communities rich in species derived from both ecosystems. The Pass was part of a Roman Cause-Way of the pilgrimage route known as Pilgrim Ways (Camino Frances) to the shrine of the Apostle James the Great in the catedral of Santiago de Compostela in Galicia in North-Western Spain, where tradition said that the remains of the Apostle are buried in there. Many take up this route as a form of Spiritual Path or retreat for their spiritual growth.
The location of the Archaeological Site of Ata-Puerca between 2 major Water-Sheds and its importance Mountain Pass explain the intensity and continuity of human habitation found there.
The Sites in this Region were found during the construction of Railway cuts through Grand Dolina, Galery, and Elephant, and the cut through the Cave of the "Bone Hill"(Sima de los Huesos).
Because of its importance, in 2000, the Archaeological Site of Ata-Puerca was added to the Unesco list of World Heritage Sites.
The World's largest Landscape made of Soluble Rocks is Australia's Nul-Arbor Plain. Slovenia has the World's highest risk of Sink-Holes, while the Western High-Land Rim in the Eastern United States is at the second-highest risk of Soluble Rocks Sink-Holes.
WHY ASTEROIDS IMPACT THE EARTH?
For millennia people have wondered about the unpredictable behaviour of Comets, Meteors and Asteroids in the Sky. As far as we know, the German Mathematician and Geographer Peter Apian (Petrus Apianus) was the 1st to postulate, in 1540, that a Cometary Tail always point away from the Sun. In 1619 Kepler suggested that this is because the light of the Sun exerts a Repulsive Force on the particles of the Cometary Tail. Keppler was the first to speculate on this "light pressure."
The depression named Nord-Linger Ries is a large circular depression in Western Bavaria, Germany, located North of the Danube in the now District of Donau-Ries.
The depression is interpreted as a major Meteor Impact Crater formed about 14 million years ago. The original crater rim had an estimated diameter of 24 km (15mi). The present floor of the depression is about 100 to 150m (330 to 490ft) below the eroded remains of the rim. The key evidence was the presence of Coesite, which, in none metamorphosed rocks, can only be formed by the shock pressures associated with meteorite impact.
Another impact crater, the much smaller (3.8km diameter) crater, is located about 42km(26mi) West-Southwest from the centre of Ries. The two craters are believed to have formed nearly simultaneously by the impact of a binary asteroid.
A binary asteroid is a system of two asteroids orbiting their common center of mass or the point around which they both orbit. Recent work suggests that most of them have a significant macro-porosity (a "rubble-pile" interior), and may have formed by disruption of a parent body after an oblique impact or fission.
Recent computer modelling of the Impact Event indicated that the impactors had diameters of about 1.5km (4900ft) (Larger One) and 150m (490ft) (Smaller One). They had a pre-impact separation of some tens of kilometers, and impacted the targeting area at an angle around 30 to 50 degrees from the surface in a West-SouthWest to East-NorthEast direction. The impact velocity is thought to have been about 20km/s (45000mph). The resulting explosion had he power of 1.8 million Hiroshima Bombs, an energy of roughly 2.4x10(x21) Joules.
Ivan Osipo-Vich Yarkov-Sky (24 May 1844-22 January 1902) was a Polish civil engineer working in Russia. By day, he was employed by the Alexand-Rovsk Railway company Moscow-Brest. He was obscure in his own time. In his spare time, he went deeply into the Physical Sciences and searched for a "Grand Theory" of the Physical World. In1888 he described a subtle Thermal Effect that he believed would act on planets and smaller objects orbiting the Sun. Writing in a pamphlet around the year 1900, he noted that the Diurnal Heating of a Rotating Object in Space would cause it to experience a Force that, while tiny, could lead to large long-term effects in the Orbits of Small Bodies, especially meteoroids and asteroids. This effect fell into oblivion. In 1950, longer after his death, his work on the Effects of Thermal Radiation on small objects in the Solar System (Asteroids) was re-discovered and now is so-called Yarkov-Sky Effect in Planetary Astronomy.
The effect is a consequence of the Fact that change in the temperature of an object warmed by radiation (and therefore the intensity of Thermal Radiation from the Object) lags behind changes in the incoming radiation. The surface of the object takes time to become warm when first illuminated; and takes time to cool down when illumination stops.
The Diurnal Effect on a rotating body illuminated by the Sun (e.g. an asteroid or the Earth) is that the surface is warmed by Solar Radiation during the day, and cools at night. Due to the Thermal Properties of the Surface, there is a lag between the absorption of Radiation from the sun, and the Emission of that same Radiation as Heat, so the warmest point on a rotating body occurs around 2 PM site on the surface, or slightly at Noon. This results in a difference between the directions of Absorption and Re-emission of Radiation, which yield a Net Force along the Direction of Motion of the Orbit. If the Object is a pro-grade rotator, the Force is in the direction of motion of the orbit, and causes the Semi-Major Axis of the Orbit to increase steadily; the Object spirals away from the Sun. A retro-grade rotator spirals inward. The Diurnal Effect is the component for Bodies with diameter greater than about 100 m.
The Seasonal Effect is the easiest to understand for the case of a non-rotating orbiting the Sun, for which Each Year consists of exactly One Day. As it travels around its orbit, the "Dusk" Hemisphere which has been heated over a long preceding time period is invariable in the direction of Orbital Motion. The excess of Thermal Radiation in this direction causes a Breaking Force which always causes Spiraling Inward toward the Sun.
In practice, for Rotating Bodies, the Seasonal Effect increases along with the Axial Tilt. It dominates only if the Diurnal Effect is small enough. This may occur because of very rapid Rotation (no time to cool off on the Night Side, hence an almost uniform longitudinal temperature distribution), small size (the whole body is heated throughout) or an Axial Tilt close to 90 degrees.
The Seasonal Effect is more important for smaller Asteroid Fragments (from a few metres up to about 100m), provided their surfaces are not covered by an insulating layer of loose, heterogeneous superficial material, and they do not have exceedingly slow Rotations. Additionally, on very long time-scales over which the Spin Axis of the Body may be repeatedly changed due to collisions (and hence also the direction of the Diurnal Effect changes), the Seasonal Effect will also tend to dominate.
In general, the effect is size dependent, and will affect the semi-major Axis of smaller asteroids, while leaving large asteroids practically unaffected.
The depression named Nord-Linger Ries is a large circular depression in Western Bavaria, Germany, located North of the Danube in the now District of Donau-Ries.
The depression is interpreted as a major Meteor Impact Crater formed about 14 million years ago. The original crater rim had an estimated diameter of 24 km (15mi). The present floor of the depression is about 100 to 150m (330 to 490ft) below the eroded remains of the rim. The key evidence was the presence of Coesite, which, in none metamorphosed rocks, can only be formed by the shock pressures associated with meteorite impact.
Another impact crater, the much smaller (3.8km diameter) crater, is located about 42km(26mi) West-Southwest from the centre of Ries. The two craters are believed to have formed nearly simultaneously by the impact of a binary asteroid.
A binary asteroid is a system of two asteroids orbiting their common center of mass or the point around which they both orbit. Recent work suggests that most of them have a significant macro-porosity (a "rubble-pile" interior), and may have formed by disruption of a parent body after an oblique impact or fission.
Recent computer modelling of the Impact Event indicated that the impactors had diameters of about 1.5km (4900ft) (Larger One) and 150m (490ft) (Smaller One). They had a pre-impact separation of some tens of kilometers, and impacted the targeting area at an angle around 30 to 50 degrees from the surface in a West-SouthWest to East-NorthEast direction. The impact velocity is thought to have been about 20km/s (45000mph). The resulting explosion had he power of 1.8 million Hiroshima Bombs, an energy of roughly 2.4x10(x21) Joules.
Ivan Osipo-Vich Yarkov-Sky (24 May 1844-22 January 1902) was a Polish civil engineer working in Russia. By day, he was employed by the Alexand-Rovsk Railway company Moscow-Brest. He was obscure in his own time. In his spare time, he went deeply into the Physical Sciences and searched for a "Grand Theory" of the Physical World. In1888 he described a subtle Thermal Effect that he believed would act on planets and smaller objects orbiting the Sun. Writing in a pamphlet around the year 1900, he noted that the Diurnal Heating of a Rotating Object in Space would cause it to experience a Force that, while tiny, could lead to large long-term effects in the Orbits of Small Bodies, especially meteoroids and asteroids. This effect fell into oblivion. In 1950, longer after his death, his work on the Effects of Thermal Radiation on small objects in the Solar System (Asteroids) was re-discovered and now is so-called Yarkov-Sky Effect in Planetary Astronomy.
The effect is a consequence of the Fact that change in the temperature of an object warmed by radiation (and therefore the intensity of Thermal Radiation from the Object) lags behind changes in the incoming radiation. The surface of the object takes time to become warm when first illuminated; and takes time to cool down when illumination stops.
The Diurnal Effect on a rotating body illuminated by the Sun (e.g. an asteroid or the Earth) is that the surface is warmed by Solar Radiation during the day, and cools at night. Due to the Thermal Properties of the Surface, there is a lag between the absorption of Radiation from the sun, and the Emission of that same Radiation as Heat, so the warmest point on a rotating body occurs around 2 PM site on the surface, or slightly at Noon. This results in a difference between the directions of Absorption and Re-emission of Radiation, which yield a Net Force along the Direction of Motion of the Orbit. If the Object is a pro-grade rotator, the Force is in the direction of motion of the orbit, and causes the Semi-Major Axis of the Orbit to increase steadily; the Object spirals away from the Sun. A retro-grade rotator spirals inward. The Diurnal Effect is the component for Bodies with diameter greater than about 100 m.
The Seasonal Effect is the easiest to understand for the case of a non-rotating orbiting the Sun, for which Each Year consists of exactly One Day. As it travels around its orbit, the "Dusk" Hemisphere which has been heated over a long preceding time period is invariable in the direction of Orbital Motion. The excess of Thermal Radiation in this direction causes a Breaking Force which always causes Spiraling Inward toward the Sun.
In practice, for Rotating Bodies, the Seasonal Effect increases along with the Axial Tilt. It dominates only if the Diurnal Effect is small enough. This may occur because of very rapid Rotation (no time to cool off on the Night Side, hence an almost uniform longitudinal temperature distribution), small size (the whole body is heated throughout) or an Axial Tilt close to 90 degrees.
The Seasonal Effect is more important for smaller Asteroid Fragments (from a few metres up to about 100m), provided their surfaces are not covered by an insulating layer of loose, heterogeneous superficial material, and they do not have exceedingly slow Rotations. Additionally, on very long time-scales over which the Spin Axis of the Body may be repeatedly changed due to collisions (and hence also the direction of the Diurnal Effect changes), the Seasonal Effect will also tend to dominate.
In general, the effect is size dependent, and will affect the semi-major Axis of smaller asteroids, while leaving large asteroids practically unaffected.
Friday, February 12, 2016
THE ANDES' FACE ON THE AMERICAN CONTINENT.
The Andes are the longest and most remarkable continental mountain range that occurs on the Globe, which extends along the Whole Western Coast of America, parallel to, and at a short distance from, the Pacific Ocean.
This Chain seems quite unbroken from Cape Horn to Mount St. Elias, and even as far as Beering's Straits. In this regions, the Andes have a subterranean communication with the volcanoes of the area. There are more than 50 between Cape Horn and Mount St. Elias, that still emit flames.
The Andes have no glaciers, which is accounted for from the small quantity of snow that falls between the tropics; but on digging into the soil at Chimborazo, snow of great antiquity is found.
The internal structure of the mountains at the equator embraces almost every kind of rock discovered in the rest of the globe; and the arrangement of the strata is likewise perfectly similar. But a circumstance peculiar to these Andean Mountains is the vast height to which the rocks of subsequent formation to granite ascend in the South American soil.
In its whole course through Peru, this Range of High Land is well known to be of the most gigantic elevation. At the Isthmus of Panama the Chain is at its lowest elevation, not exceeding 6000 or 7000 ft. In Mexico it again rises into Volcanic Peaks, that almost rival Chimborazo, in the Andes.
The Rocky Mountains of North America are on a much lower scale, and do not exceed 500 or 6000 ft; but towards the NorthWestern extremity, Mount St. Elias again towers to a height second only to that of the loftiest Andes.
Another Chain on the opposite side of this American Continent runs parallel to the Atlantic. West of the United States it is called the Allegany and Apalachian Mountains. It forms the High Land of the West India Islands, and, in South America, runs along the Back Settlements of Brazil.
These 2 great lines of High Land divide America into 3 Low Lands, 2 of which are beneath the Mountain Chains and the Oceans, and are narrow, particularly that which borders the Pacific Ocean; the other, forming the interior, both of North and South America, is extensive, fertile, and watered by the noblest Rivers in the World.
The heights at which different animals are found in the South American Continent is a natural phenomena. The produce of the soil also follows the same pattern. Several communities on the Andes Mountains are situated at a considerable height. From the level of the sea to the height of about 2,000m, the plantain, maize, and chocolate nut are cultivated. This is also the region of the most delicious fruits. The sugar cane, indigo, and the coffee tree arrives at the greatest perfection in a high and strong soil. Wheat also grows in great abundance in Quito and Peru. The extensive plains of the Cordilleras are particular favorable to grain cultivation and the circumstance of the soil yielding a fantastic harvest is attributed to once they formed the bottoms of great lakes millions of years ago.
The most remarkable Mountains of the Andes are those of Cotopaxi, Chimborazo, and Pichincha.
This Chain seems quite unbroken from Cape Horn to Mount St. Elias, and even as far as Beering's Straits. In this regions, the Andes have a subterranean communication with the volcanoes of the area. There are more than 50 between Cape Horn and Mount St. Elias, that still emit flames.
The Andes have no glaciers, which is accounted for from the small quantity of snow that falls between the tropics; but on digging into the soil at Chimborazo, snow of great antiquity is found.
The internal structure of the mountains at the equator embraces almost every kind of rock discovered in the rest of the globe; and the arrangement of the strata is likewise perfectly similar. But a circumstance peculiar to these Andean Mountains is the vast height to which the rocks of subsequent formation to granite ascend in the South American soil.
In its whole course through Peru, this Range of High Land is well known to be of the most gigantic elevation. At the Isthmus of Panama the Chain is at its lowest elevation, not exceeding 6000 or 7000 ft. In Mexico it again rises into Volcanic Peaks, that almost rival Chimborazo, in the Andes.
The Rocky Mountains of North America are on a much lower scale, and do not exceed 500 or 6000 ft; but towards the NorthWestern extremity, Mount St. Elias again towers to a height second only to that of the loftiest Andes.
Another Chain on the opposite side of this American Continent runs parallel to the Atlantic. West of the United States it is called the Allegany and Apalachian Mountains. It forms the High Land of the West India Islands, and, in South America, runs along the Back Settlements of Brazil.
These 2 great lines of High Land divide America into 3 Low Lands, 2 of which are beneath the Mountain Chains and the Oceans, and are narrow, particularly that which borders the Pacific Ocean; the other, forming the interior, both of North and South America, is extensive, fertile, and watered by the noblest Rivers in the World.
The heights at which different animals are found in the South American Continent is a natural phenomena. The produce of the soil also follows the same pattern. Several communities on the Andes Mountains are situated at a considerable height. From the level of the sea to the height of about 2,000m, the plantain, maize, and chocolate nut are cultivated. This is also the region of the most delicious fruits. The sugar cane, indigo, and the coffee tree arrives at the greatest perfection in a high and strong soil. Wheat also grows in great abundance in Quito and Peru. The extensive plains of the Cordilleras are particular favorable to grain cultivation and the circumstance of the soil yielding a fantastic harvest is attributed to once they formed the bottoms of great lakes millions of years ago.
The most remarkable Mountains of the Andes are those of Cotopaxi, Chimborazo, and Pichincha.
THE ALPS
The Alps begin beyond the Var, near the Mediterranean; ascend North to Valais; to the East they form a buttress to Helvetia, stretch circularly in the Illyrian Provinces, and advance to the Adriatic near Trieste and Fiume.
Mont Blanc, West of Valais, is the prop of the chain, and also the most elevated Summit, being 14,800 ft above the sea level.
From its chain extend colossal needles, semi-circularly, like an immense Coliseum; to the West the Col du Geant, Mount Cenis, Rock Nelson, and Mount Viso.
East, are the Peaks of Argenterie and Midi, Great St.Bernard, Simplon, Mount Arvin, St,Gothard, the Pic de Tempeles, the Septimer in the Grison, the Ortelor in Tyrol, and the Terklow in Carniola.
The top of the Alps are covered with snows, and immense glaciers spread in intervals, sometimes continued from one Valley to another, on the declivity of the Summits, as in that of Gries, which separates tha Valais from PiedMont.
But on the glaciers of Grindelwald and Bois, in the Valley of Chamouni, from an insulated Summit, the eye plunges on a Sea of Ice, when arise crystalline blocks, transparent walls, prismatic needles confused intertwined, and resembling a storm arrested in fury.
The depth of the Glacier of Bois is 100 ft; bordered by a kind of parapet called Moraire, a heap of sand and fragments which fallen, and advance sometimes towards the middle of the Basin, by the annual retreat of the ice.
The Origin of these Glaciers is this: the Snow that covers the Summits of the Mountains, when detached, and drawn by the Avalanches, or Falling to the Bottom of the Valley, it accumulates. During the Summer the surface thaws; the cold returns and converts the whole into ice. Some increase, as that of Grindelwald, which has advanced beyond a bridge formerly frequented; but others decrease, yearly, as that of the Rhone.
These Glaciers feed numerous Rivers, whose course is determined by the divers branches from the mass; as the Apennines South, the Cevennes West; the Vosges North, and the Norie Alps East.
A Branch stretches North of Mont Blanc, by the Jura Mountains, connected with the Vosges, and terminated by Mont Tennere, near Mentz.
In the Alps, most rocks shoot several hundred feet above the Mountain, like Obelisks, and are called "Needles." In the Pyrenees, vast masses of rocks present abrupt slopes and steep though accessible fronts, resembling large Pyramids, and are called "Peaks." In the Vosges they are called "Balloons," because of their round sloping forms, without the rugged aspect of the other Chains.
Mont Blanc, West of Valais, is the prop of the chain, and also the most elevated Summit, being 14,800 ft above the sea level.
From its chain extend colossal needles, semi-circularly, like an immense Coliseum; to the West the Col du Geant, Mount Cenis, Rock Nelson, and Mount Viso.
East, are the Peaks of Argenterie and Midi, Great St.Bernard, Simplon, Mount Arvin, St,Gothard, the Pic de Tempeles, the Septimer in the Grison, the Ortelor in Tyrol, and the Terklow in Carniola.
The top of the Alps are covered with snows, and immense glaciers spread in intervals, sometimes continued from one Valley to another, on the declivity of the Summits, as in that of Gries, which separates tha Valais from PiedMont.
But on the glaciers of Grindelwald and Bois, in the Valley of Chamouni, from an insulated Summit, the eye plunges on a Sea of Ice, when arise crystalline blocks, transparent walls, prismatic needles confused intertwined, and resembling a storm arrested in fury.
The depth of the Glacier of Bois is 100 ft; bordered by a kind of parapet called Moraire, a heap of sand and fragments which fallen, and advance sometimes towards the middle of the Basin, by the annual retreat of the ice.
The Origin of these Glaciers is this: the Snow that covers the Summits of the Mountains, when detached, and drawn by the Avalanches, or Falling to the Bottom of the Valley, it accumulates. During the Summer the surface thaws; the cold returns and converts the whole into ice. Some increase, as that of Grindelwald, which has advanced beyond a bridge formerly frequented; but others decrease, yearly, as that of the Rhone.
These Glaciers feed numerous Rivers, whose course is determined by the divers branches from the mass; as the Apennines South, the Cevennes West; the Vosges North, and the Norie Alps East.
A Branch stretches North of Mont Blanc, by the Jura Mountains, connected with the Vosges, and terminated by Mont Tennere, near Mentz.
In the Alps, most rocks shoot several hundred feet above the Mountain, like Obelisks, and are called "Needles." In the Pyrenees, vast masses of rocks present abrupt slopes and steep though accessible fronts, resembling large Pyramids, and are called "Peaks." In the Vosges they are called "Balloons," because of their round sloping forms, without the rugged aspect of the other Chains.
Thursday, February 4, 2016
THE IGUAZU WATER FALLS OF SOUTH AMERICA.
The Iguazu Falls (Cataratas del Iguazu) are Falls of the Iguazu River on the Border of the Argentina Province of Misiones and the Brazilian State of Parana. The Falls are located where the Iguazu River tumbles over the edge of the Parana Plateau, 23 km (14 mi) UpRiver from the Iguazu confluence with the Parana River. The Falls divide the River into The Upper and Lower Iguazu creating many separate WaterFalls and Cataracts, varying between 60 to 82 m (197 to269 ft) High. The number of the smaller WaterFalls fluctuates from 150 to 300, depending on the Water Level.
Approximately half of the flow of the River falls into a long and narrow Chasm called the "Devil's Throat that is U-shaped, 82m (269ft) High, 150m(492ft) Wide, and 700m(2,297ft) Long. The Junction of the Water Flows mark the Border between Brazil, Argentina, and Paraguay.
The Iguazu River originates in the Mountains Ranges and Escarpments (Cliffs) in the SouthEastern Brazil (Serra do Mar) in the territory of the Brazilian State of Parana, near the City of Curutiba.
Curitiva is the Capital and largest City of the Brazilian State of Parana, and the 8th most populous City in the country, with a total population of over 1.9 million. The Curitiva Metropolitana comprises 26 Municipalities with a total population of over 3.2 million, making it the 7th most populous in the Country. The Mountains and Cliffs run parallel to the Atlantic Ocean. The main Cliff forms the Boundary between the Sea-Level Litoral and the InLand Plateau, which has a mean altitude of 500 to 1,300m (1,600 to 4,300ft). The Mountain Ranges are discontinuous in several places and are given individual names.
The name "Iguazu" comes from the Guarani or Tupi words "Y" meaning "Water" and "Uazu" meaning "Big." The legend about Fall tells that a deity planned to marry a beautiful woman named Naipi. She fell in love with a mortal named Taroba and decided to run away with him. They fled in a canoe. Ina rage, the deity sliced the River, creating the Falls and condemning the lovers to an eternal fall.
The Iguazu Falls are natural arranged in a way that resembles a reversed letter "J". The border between Brazil and Argentina runs through the Devil's Throat. On the Right Banks is the Brazilian Territory, which has just over 20% of the Jumps of These Falls, and the Left Side Jumps are Argentine, which make up almost 80% of the Falls.
The first European to record the existence of the Falls was the Spanish adventurer Alvar Nunez Cabeza de Vaca in 1541.
The Iguazu River, for 1,205 km (749 mi), to its confluence with the San Antonio River, flows West through the Parana State. DownRiver, from the confluence, the Iguazu River forms the Boundary between Brazil and Argentina's Misiones Province. Continuing West, the River drops off a Plateau, forming Iguazu Falls. It empties into the Parana River at the point where the Borders of Argentina, Brazil, and Paraguay, join together, an area known as the Triple Frontier, where the borders of all the 3 Nations may be seen. It is a popular Tourist Attraction.
Upon seeing the Iguazu Falls, the United States First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt exclaimed "Poor Niagara!" (which, at 50m(165ft), are a 3rd shorter. Often Iguazu Falls is compared with the African Falls in Southern Africa, which separates Zambia and Zimbabwe. Iguazu is wider, but because it is split into approximately 275 discrete Falls and large islands, the African Falls has the largest Curtain of Water in the World, at more than 1,600m(5,249ft) Wide and over 100m(328ft) in Height (in low flow the African Falls are split into 5 islands; in high flow it may be uninterrupted). The only Wider Falls that are extremely Large rapid-like Falls.
Iguazu currently has the Sixth-Greatest Average Annual Flow of any WaterFall in the World, following Niagara, with an average rate of 1,746 m3/s (61,660 cu ft/s). Iguazu's maximum recorded flow was 45,700 m3/s (1'614,000 cu ft/s) in June 9, 2014. The average flow of Niagara Falls is 2,400 m3/s (85,000 cu ft/s). The average flow at the African Falls is 1,088 m3/s (38,420 cu ft/s), with a maximum recorded flow of 7,100 m3/s (250,000 cu ft/s).
Mist rises between 30 and 150 m (100 and 490ft) from Iguazu's Devil's Throat. More than 300m (984 ft) above the African Falls.
Iguazu affords better views and walkways and its shape allows for spectacular vistas. At one point a person may stand and be surrounded by 260 degrees of WaterFalls. The Devil's Throat has Water pouring into it from 3 sides. In the African Falls is different, it is essentially one WaterFall that falls into a Canyon.
Approximately half of the flow of the River falls into a long and narrow Chasm called the "Devil's Throat that is U-shaped, 82m (269ft) High, 150m(492ft) Wide, and 700m(2,297ft) Long. The Junction of the Water Flows mark the Border between Brazil, Argentina, and Paraguay.
The Iguazu River originates in the Mountains Ranges and Escarpments (Cliffs) in the SouthEastern Brazil (Serra do Mar) in the territory of the Brazilian State of Parana, near the City of Curutiba.
Curitiva is the Capital and largest City of the Brazilian State of Parana, and the 8th most populous City in the country, with a total population of over 1.9 million. The Curitiva Metropolitana comprises 26 Municipalities with a total population of over 3.2 million, making it the 7th most populous in the Country. The Mountains and Cliffs run parallel to the Atlantic Ocean. The main Cliff forms the Boundary between the Sea-Level Litoral and the InLand Plateau, which has a mean altitude of 500 to 1,300m (1,600 to 4,300ft). The Mountain Ranges are discontinuous in several places and are given individual names.
The name "Iguazu" comes from the Guarani or Tupi words "Y" meaning "Water" and "Uazu" meaning "Big." The legend about Fall tells that a deity planned to marry a beautiful woman named Naipi. She fell in love with a mortal named Taroba and decided to run away with him. They fled in a canoe. Ina rage, the deity sliced the River, creating the Falls and condemning the lovers to an eternal fall.
The Iguazu Falls are natural arranged in a way that resembles a reversed letter "J". The border between Brazil and Argentina runs through the Devil's Throat. On the Right Banks is the Brazilian Territory, which has just over 20% of the Jumps of These Falls, and the Left Side Jumps are Argentine, which make up almost 80% of the Falls.
The first European to record the existence of the Falls was the Spanish adventurer Alvar Nunez Cabeza de Vaca in 1541.
The Iguazu River, for 1,205 km (749 mi), to its confluence with the San Antonio River, flows West through the Parana State. DownRiver, from the confluence, the Iguazu River forms the Boundary between Brazil and Argentina's Misiones Province. Continuing West, the River drops off a Plateau, forming Iguazu Falls. It empties into the Parana River at the point where the Borders of Argentina, Brazil, and Paraguay, join together, an area known as the Triple Frontier, where the borders of all the 3 Nations may be seen. It is a popular Tourist Attraction.
Upon seeing the Iguazu Falls, the United States First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt exclaimed "Poor Niagara!" (which, at 50m(165ft), are a 3rd shorter. Often Iguazu Falls is compared with the African Falls in Southern Africa, which separates Zambia and Zimbabwe. Iguazu is wider, but because it is split into approximately 275 discrete Falls and large islands, the African Falls has the largest Curtain of Water in the World, at more than 1,600m(5,249ft) Wide and over 100m(328ft) in Height (in low flow the African Falls are split into 5 islands; in high flow it may be uninterrupted). The only Wider Falls that are extremely Large rapid-like Falls.
Iguazu currently has the Sixth-Greatest Average Annual Flow of any WaterFall in the World, following Niagara, with an average rate of 1,746 m3/s (61,660 cu ft/s). Iguazu's maximum recorded flow was 45,700 m3/s (1'614,000 cu ft/s) in June 9, 2014. The average flow of Niagara Falls is 2,400 m3/s (85,000 cu ft/s). The average flow at the African Falls is 1,088 m3/s (38,420 cu ft/s), with a maximum recorded flow of 7,100 m3/s (250,000 cu ft/s).
Mist rises between 30 and 150 m (100 and 490ft) from Iguazu's Devil's Throat. More than 300m (984 ft) above the African Falls.
Iguazu affords better views and walkways and its shape allows for spectacular vistas. At one point a person may stand and be surrounded by 260 degrees of WaterFalls. The Devil's Throat has Water pouring into it from 3 sides. In the African Falls is different, it is essentially one WaterFall that falls into a Canyon.
Wednesday, February 3, 2016
THE NORTH AMERICAN FALLS.
Niagara Falls (Tgahnawehta in Northern Iroquoi Language) is the collective name for the 3 WaterFalls that straddle the International Border between Canada and the United States; more specifically, between the Province of Ontario and the State of New York. They form the Southern End of the Niagara Gorge.
The Niagara Gorge is an 11 km (6.8 mi) Gorge carved by the Niagara River along the US-Canadian border in New York and Ontario. While not exceptionally high, they are very wide. More than 6 million cubic feet (168,000 m3) of water falls over the crest line every minute in high flow, and almost 4 million cubic feet (110,000m3) on average.
It begins at the base of Niagara Falls and ends at the Niagara Escarpment (Cliff) near Queenston, Ontario, where the Falls originated about 12,500 years ago when Glaciers receded at the end of the Wisconsin Glaciation (the last ice age), and water from the newly formed Great Lakes carved a path trough the Niagara Cliff en route to the Atlantic Ocean.
The Niagara Escarpment is a long Cliff, or Cuesta, in the USA and Canada that runs predominantly East/West from New York State, through Ontario, Michigan, Wisconsin, and Illinois. The Escarpment is most famous as the Cliff over which the Niagara River plunges at Niagara Falls, for which it is named. The Niagara Cliff is the most prominent of several cliffs formed in the bedrock of the Great Lakes basin. From its Easternmost Point near WaterTown, New York, the cliff shapes in part the individual basins and landforms of Lakes Ontario, Huron, and Michigan.
In Rochester, New York, there are 3 Water Falls over the cliff where the Genesee River flows through the City. The Cliff then runs WestWard to the Niagara River forming a Deep Gorge North of Niagara Falls, which itself cascades over the Cliff.
In Southern Ontario it spans the Niagara Peninsula, closely following the Lake Ontario shore through the Cities of St. Catherine, Hamilton, and Dundas, where it takes a sharp turn North in the Town of Milton toward Georgian Bay.
It then follows the Georgian Bay shore NorthWestWards to form the spine of the Bruce Peninsula and Manitoulin Island, as well as several islands located in Northern Lake Huron where it turns WestWards into the upper peninsula of Northern Michigan, South of Sault Ste. Marie.
It then extends SouthWards into Wisconsin following the Door Peninsula through the BayShore BluffLands and then more inland from the Western Coast of Lake michigan and Milwaukee, ending NorthWest of Chicago near the Wisconsin-Illinois Border.
The 3 Water Falls that straddle the International Border are, from largest to smallest: the HorseShoe Falls, the American Falls and the Bridal Veil Falls.
The Niagara Gorge is an 11 km (6.8 mi) Gorge carved by the Niagara River along the US-Canadian border in New York and Ontario. While not exceptionally high, they are very wide. More than 6 million cubic feet (168,000 m3) of water falls over the crest line every minute in high flow, and almost 4 million cubic feet (110,000m3) on average.
It begins at the base of Niagara Falls and ends at the Niagara Escarpment (Cliff) near Queenston, Ontario, where the Falls originated about 12,500 years ago when Glaciers receded at the end of the Wisconsin Glaciation (the last ice age), and water from the newly formed Great Lakes carved a path trough the Niagara Cliff en route to the Atlantic Ocean.
The Niagara Escarpment is a long Cliff, or Cuesta, in the USA and Canada that runs predominantly East/West from New York State, through Ontario, Michigan, Wisconsin, and Illinois. The Escarpment is most famous as the Cliff over which the Niagara River plunges at Niagara Falls, for which it is named. The Niagara Cliff is the most prominent of several cliffs formed in the bedrock of the Great Lakes basin. From its Easternmost Point near WaterTown, New York, the cliff shapes in part the individual basins and landforms of Lakes Ontario, Huron, and Michigan.
In Rochester, New York, there are 3 Water Falls over the cliff where the Genesee River flows through the City. The Cliff then runs WestWard to the Niagara River forming a Deep Gorge North of Niagara Falls, which itself cascades over the Cliff.
In Southern Ontario it spans the Niagara Peninsula, closely following the Lake Ontario shore through the Cities of St. Catherine, Hamilton, and Dundas, where it takes a sharp turn North in the Town of Milton toward Georgian Bay.
It then follows the Georgian Bay shore NorthWestWards to form the spine of the Bruce Peninsula and Manitoulin Island, as well as several islands located in Northern Lake Huron where it turns WestWards into the upper peninsula of Northern Michigan, South of Sault Ste. Marie.
It then extends SouthWards into Wisconsin following the Door Peninsula through the BayShore BluffLands and then more inland from the Western Coast of Lake michigan and Milwaukee, ending NorthWest of Chicago near the Wisconsin-Illinois Border.
The 3 Water Falls that straddle the International Border are, from largest to smallest: the HorseShoe Falls, the American Falls and the Bridal Veil Falls.
THE AFRICAN WATERFALLS.
Lake Mak-gadik-gadi is an ancient Lake in the Kala-Hari Dessert in Bots-Wana, South Africa. It once covered as much as 80,000 km2 and was 30 m deep.
It was born approximately 3 million years ago, when strong Easterly Winds formed the elongated Dunes running from East to West across the Middle of the Kala-Hari Dessert. During wetter times, these Dunes channeled the flow of the 3 great Rivers of the area, the Okavango, Zambezi, and Kuando, once all emptied into the Lake.
Then 2 millions years ago, the Fault known as the Kala-Hari-Zimbabwe Axis formed, running from the Zimbabwe Capital Harare through its 2nd largest City Bulawayo and ends in the Eastern Side of the Kala-Hari, creating an enormous Basin and forced these Rivers to flow into and fill up the Basin. Lake Mak-gadik-gadi was thus born.
As the millennia passed, the Lake was filled beyond capacity and began to overflow. Then, about 20,000 years ago, as a result, it began to drain NorthWards and then EastWards. This caused the Middle and Lower Zambezi Rivers to connect, resulting in the formation of Victoria Falls (Mosi-oa-Tunya, the real name in the language of the locals) at the border of Zambia and Zimbabwe. It is believed that the first European that arrived to the scene was a Scottish missionary and explorer named David LivingStone on 1855. One of the 2 Land Masses in the middle of the River, immediately upstream from the Falls is now known LivingStone Island. The explorer also named the Falls in honor to Queen Victoria, Victoria Falls, but the use of the ancient name, Mosi-oa-Tunya -"The Smoke that Thunders"- continues in common usage to the inhabitants of the area.
In 2013, the government of Zimbabwe declared its intention to officially rename the Falls "Mosi-oa-Tunya," citing continuity with other re-names such Harare (from Salisbury), and Zimbabwe (from Rhodesia).
While it is neither the highest nor the widest in the World, i the Fall is classified as the Largest, based on its Width of 1,708 m (5,604 ft) and Hight of 108 m (354 ft), resulting in the World's Largest Sheet of Falling Water. Mosi-oa-Tunya (Victoria Falls) is roughly twice the Height of North America's Niagara Falls and well over twice the Width of its HorseShoe Falls. In height and width the African Falls is rivaled only by Argentina and Brazil's Iguazu Falls.
It was born approximately 3 million years ago, when strong Easterly Winds formed the elongated Dunes running from East to West across the Middle of the Kala-Hari Dessert. During wetter times, these Dunes channeled the flow of the 3 great Rivers of the area, the Okavango, Zambezi, and Kuando, once all emptied into the Lake.
Then 2 millions years ago, the Fault known as the Kala-Hari-Zimbabwe Axis formed, running from the Zimbabwe Capital Harare through its 2nd largest City Bulawayo and ends in the Eastern Side of the Kala-Hari, creating an enormous Basin and forced these Rivers to flow into and fill up the Basin. Lake Mak-gadik-gadi was thus born.
As the millennia passed, the Lake was filled beyond capacity and began to overflow. Then, about 20,000 years ago, as a result, it began to drain NorthWards and then EastWards. This caused the Middle and Lower Zambezi Rivers to connect, resulting in the formation of Victoria Falls (Mosi-oa-Tunya, the real name in the language of the locals) at the border of Zambia and Zimbabwe. It is believed that the first European that arrived to the scene was a Scottish missionary and explorer named David LivingStone on 1855. One of the 2 Land Masses in the middle of the River, immediately upstream from the Falls is now known LivingStone Island. The explorer also named the Falls in honor to Queen Victoria, Victoria Falls, but the use of the ancient name, Mosi-oa-Tunya -"The Smoke that Thunders"- continues in common usage to the inhabitants of the area.
In 2013, the government of Zimbabwe declared its intention to officially rename the Falls "Mosi-oa-Tunya," citing continuity with other re-names such Harare (from Salisbury), and Zimbabwe (from Rhodesia).
While it is neither the highest nor the widest in the World, i the Fall is classified as the Largest, based on its Width of 1,708 m (5,604 ft) and Hight of 108 m (354 ft), resulting in the World's Largest Sheet of Falling Water. Mosi-oa-Tunya (Victoria Falls) is roughly twice the Height of North America's Niagara Falls and well over twice the Width of its HorseShoe Falls. In height and width the African Falls is rivaled only by Argentina and Brazil's Iguazu Falls.
A HOLE IN THE GROUND (SINK-HOLE).
A Sink-hole is a Depression or hole in the ground caused by some form of Collapse of the surface layer. They vary in size from 1 to 600 m (3.3 to 2,000 ft) both in diameter and depth. They may form gradually or suddenly, and are found Worldwide.
The Sink-Holes near the Dead Sea, are formed when underground salt is dissolved by fresh water intrusion, due to continuing Sea-Level drop.
Otjikoto Lake is the smaller of only two permanent natural lakes in Namibia. The diameter of the Lake is 102 m (335 ft); its depth is undetermined. The Lake tapers into a lateral Cave System making it impossible to determine its exact depth estimated in 142 meters.
The Sink-Holes near the Dead Sea, are formed when underground salt is dissolved by fresh water intrusion, due to continuing Sea-Level drop.
Otjikoto Lake is the smaller of only two permanent natural lakes in Namibia. The diameter of the Lake is 102 m (335 ft); its depth is undetermined. The Lake tapers into a lateral Cave System making it impossible to determine its exact depth estimated in 142 meters.
Tuesday, February 2, 2016
THE GROUNDHOG.
The Groundhog (Marmota Monax), also knowns as Woodchuck, or Whistlepig, is a Rodent of the Family Sciuridae (Squirrel), indigenous to the Americas, Eurasia, and Africa.
Squirrels breed once or twice a year and give birth to a varying number of young after 3 to 6 weeks, depending on species. The young are born naked, toothless, and blind. In most species, only the Female looks after the young, which are weaned at around 6 to 10 weeks of age and become sexually mature at the end of their first year.
Ground-dwelling species are social, often living in well-developed colonies, but the tree-dwelling species are more solitary. Ground and tree squirrels are typically Diurnal or Crepuscular, while Flying Squirrels tend to be Nocturnal -except for lactating Flying Squirrels and their offspring, which have a Diurnal Period during Summer.
Squirrels cannot digest Cellulose, that is an important structural component of the primary Cell Wall of green plants. They rely on foods rich in Protein, Carbohydrates, and Fats.
Squirrels breed once or twice a year and give birth to a varying number of young after 3 to 6 weeks, depending on species. The young are born naked, toothless, and blind. In most species, only the Female looks after the young, which are weaned at around 6 to 10 weeks of age and become sexually mature at the end of their first year.
Ground-dwelling species are social, often living in well-developed colonies, but the tree-dwelling species are more solitary. Ground and tree squirrels are typically Diurnal or Crepuscular, while Flying Squirrels tend to be Nocturnal -except for lactating Flying Squirrels and their offspring, which have a Diurnal Period during Summer.
Squirrels cannot digest Cellulose, that is an important structural component of the primary Cell Wall of green plants. They rely on foods rich in Protein, Carbohydrates, and Fats.
Sunday, January 3, 2016
THE GRAVITY AND SURFACE ON PLANET VENUS.
Venus is the second planet from the sun, also the only planet in the Solar System that is named after a female figure, and the virtual twin of our planet Earth in many ways. Similar in size (its diameter is only 400mi/644km smaller than Earth), mass and density, it is relatively close to Earth (24 million miles/38million km as its closest point to Earth). Apart from the moon Venus is the brightest object in the night sky.
The planet orbits the sun at an average distance of 67 million miles/38 million km) away, every 225 days but rotates on its own axis in the opposite direction to the other planets, slower than any other in the solar system, taking 243 days compared to 24 hours on Earth, meaning a day on Venus is longer than its year.
The force of surface gravity on Venus is almost the same as the surface gravity on Earth. It is about 91% (or 12% less) of the surface gravity on our planet, so if you weight 100 pounds on Earth, you would weigh 91 pounds on Venus. But the extreme weight of atmospheric pressure would crush a human, and a spacecraft needs to shield it in order to survive. The Soviet probe "Venera" that ventured to land on the surface two decades ago did not last more than two hours before it melted down.
Venus is extremely hot, the surface temperature is a baking 465C/870F (9 times the temperatures in the hottest deserts on Earth), the hottest surface of any planet in the solar system, however, the atmospheric pressure and temperature 50 km above the surface are similar to those at Earth's surface (the temperature at the uppermost clouds of the planet average about 13C/55F).
Venus is actually a hot house planet with a runaway greenhouse effect, making it inhospitable to life. Science has not been able to develop a spacesuit that could survive more than a few minutes in its harsh environment.
Venus is surrounded by an extremely thick and reflective cloud. The reflective nature of the sulfuric acid in the atmosphere has made it impossible to see the surface from orbit without radar or radio equipment. It is so thick that most meteors could not penetrate it, burning up before impact. The atmosphere is 96% carbon dioxide and full of sulfuric acid clouds and droplets and ash from the volcanoes that dot the surface.
While there have been many large volcanoes on Earth, there is no real comparison to the number, size, and extent of the volcanic activity on Venus. Most of the surface of the planet is covered by flat plains but it also has mountains, canyons and valleys. The surface is dominated by more thousands of volcanoes, some up to 150 mi/240 km in diameter. Volcanic activity is still ongoing on the planet. Lava flows are thought to have completely resurfaced the planet between 300 and 500 millions years ago, forming huge ring-like structures dotted across its surface. These are lava domes that have flattened out over time.
The planet is named after the Roman goddess of love and beauty. The astronomical symbol for Venus is the same as that used in biology for the female sex: a circle with a small cross beneath.
Due to extremely hostile conditions, a surface colony on Venus is not possible with current technology. The atmospheric pressure approximately 50 km above the surface is similar to those at Earth's surface. In Venus's mostly carbon dioxide atmosphere, Earth's air (nitrogen and oxygen) would act as a lifting gas. This had led to proposals for "floating cities" in the planet's atmosphere. Among the many challenges are the dangerous amounts of sulfuric acid at these heights.
The planet orbits the sun at an average distance of 67 million miles/38 million km) away, every 225 days but rotates on its own axis in the opposite direction to the other planets, slower than any other in the solar system, taking 243 days compared to 24 hours on Earth, meaning a day on Venus is longer than its year.
The force of surface gravity on Venus is almost the same as the surface gravity on Earth. It is about 91% (or 12% less) of the surface gravity on our planet, so if you weight 100 pounds on Earth, you would weigh 91 pounds on Venus. But the extreme weight of atmospheric pressure would crush a human, and a spacecraft needs to shield it in order to survive. The Soviet probe "Venera" that ventured to land on the surface two decades ago did not last more than two hours before it melted down.
Venus is extremely hot, the surface temperature is a baking 465C/870F (9 times the temperatures in the hottest deserts on Earth), the hottest surface of any planet in the solar system, however, the atmospheric pressure and temperature 50 km above the surface are similar to those at Earth's surface (the temperature at the uppermost clouds of the planet average about 13C/55F).
Venus is actually a hot house planet with a runaway greenhouse effect, making it inhospitable to life. Science has not been able to develop a spacesuit that could survive more than a few minutes in its harsh environment.
Venus is surrounded by an extremely thick and reflective cloud. The reflective nature of the sulfuric acid in the atmosphere has made it impossible to see the surface from orbit without radar or radio equipment. It is so thick that most meteors could not penetrate it, burning up before impact. The atmosphere is 96% carbon dioxide and full of sulfuric acid clouds and droplets and ash from the volcanoes that dot the surface.
While there have been many large volcanoes on Earth, there is no real comparison to the number, size, and extent of the volcanic activity on Venus. Most of the surface of the planet is covered by flat plains but it also has mountains, canyons and valleys. The surface is dominated by more thousands of volcanoes, some up to 150 mi/240 km in diameter. Volcanic activity is still ongoing on the planet. Lava flows are thought to have completely resurfaced the planet between 300 and 500 millions years ago, forming huge ring-like structures dotted across its surface. These are lava domes that have flattened out over time.
The planet is named after the Roman goddess of love and beauty. The astronomical symbol for Venus is the same as that used in biology for the female sex: a circle with a small cross beneath.
Due to extremely hostile conditions, a surface colony on Venus is not possible with current technology. The atmospheric pressure approximately 50 km above the surface is similar to those at Earth's surface. In Venus's mostly carbon dioxide atmosphere, Earth's air (nitrogen and oxygen) would act as a lifting gas. This had led to proposals for "floating cities" in the planet's atmosphere. Among the many challenges are the dangerous amounts of sulfuric acid at these heights.
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