Norwegian artist Anneli Drecker playing inside the natural cave Kirkhelleren on Træna, in the cave traces of human activity dating 9000 years ago has been found (wikipedia)
see Tsunami section below for the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake and tsunami
2011 Virginia earthquake
click EXPAND for details & video from top of the Washington Monument
this 5.8 magnitude earthquake, centered in Louisa County, Virginia, was felt as far as New England, Canada, Michigan and Alabama and Florida
the reason the tremors were so widely felt is that the U.S. East Coast has extensive bedrock that transmits shock waves across extensive distances, whereas less geologically stable areas do not transmit shock waves as far.
This map shows that East Coast earthquakes travel much farther than West Coast earthquakes of similar magnitude (wiki)
Geysers
Yellowstone, Wyoming is the largest geyser field in the world
has 1,283 geysers that have erupted with 465 active per year
Old Faithful geyser
"Old Faithful" erupts regularly between 44 minutes and two hours
Steamboat geyser, Yellowstone
currently the tallest geyser in the world, reaching over 300ft
Steamboat does not erupt regularly, with intermittences of 3 days to 50 years
Dolina Geizerov or "Valley of Geysers"
second largest geyser field in the world
located on Kamchatka Peninsula, Russia
has about 90 geysers
it is very remote, reachable only by helicopter
El Tatio, Chile
"El Tatio" means "grandfather" or "oven"
located on a volcanic belt that spans across the Chilean and Bolivian border
it is the third largest in the world
at 14,170 ft in altitude it is likely the highest large geyser field in the world
Waimangu Geyser, New Zealand (extinct)
was the most powerful geyser in the world between 1900 and 1904, its 1st and last observations of major eruptions
its plume reached 1500 ft
now extinct due to a landslide that changed the water table
it went fully extinct in 1908
Geysers gallery
OldFaithful1948 at Yellowstone National Park (1948)
Steamboat geyser at Yellowstone, the worlds tallest active geyser
Dead trees at Mammoth Hot Springs, Yellowstone
Valley of the Geysers, Kampchucka, Russia, the 2nd largest geyser field in the world
"Géiseres del Tatio," Atacama, Chile, the third largest geyser field in the world
The Andes rise behind El Tatio
Waimangu geyser, New Zealand, erupting in 1903. It went fully extinct in 1908.
Glaciers
Receding glacier-en
glacier = accumulated and compacted ice
glaciers accumulate when winter snowfall does not melt during the other seasons
because they accumulate from precipitation (snowfall), glaciers are made of "fresh" or non-salt water
glaciers hold about 2.1% of the earth's water
10% of the earth is covered by glacial ice
69% of the earth's fresh water is held in glaciers
Hubbard Glacier
located across U.S. Canada border in southeast Alaska
a long glacier with two sources in mountains 11,000 and 18,300 feet high
ice starting at the furthest source takes 400 years to reach the end point feeding into the Gulf of Alaska
Hubbard Glacier at the mouth, which is very dangerous for boats due to possibility of monster-sized chunks falling into the water
With 7,253 known glaciers, Pakistan contains more glacial ice than any other country on earth outside the polar regions.[1] At 62 kilometres (39 mi) in length, its Baltoro Glacier is one of the world's longest alpine glaciers.
Islands
"island" from old English igland or iegland + French isle
ieg is from PIE *akwa, thus "island" means, literally "water land"
Mono Lake's "South Tufa" area.17 27 022 mono lake
Mono Lake, California
An ancient desert lake on the eastern slope of the Sierra Nevadas that has no outflow and thus is highly salinated
limestone columns, called "tufa towers," rise above the lake surface
Mono Lake has two prominent islands, Negit Island, notable for its dark, lava origin, and Paoha Island, which was formed only in the 17th century by a series of volcanic eruptions.
View of Islands, Lake Cobbosseecontee, Me (67039) Cobbosseecontee is a natural lake in the Winthrop Lakes Region, which has natural and man-made lakes along the Androscoggin River watershed regionTexTech Industries manufacturers tennis ball felt in North Monmouth, Maine, using power from a dam that turned Wilson Stream into [Wilson Pond (1940 Maine government survey]
Mill ponds
When small lakes or ponds are formed by dams built on a stream or river and used to power mills, the highest land points will become no longer hills above the stream but islands, as the water rises around them.
Porthmadog, Wales, United Kingdom
Recovered lowland from an estuary that was blocked off from the sea
Porthmadog presents an inverted lake, whereby the islands, which formerly protruded above the water surface became hills when the lake was drained.
its 7 colored strips consist variously of red and white clay, quartzose, sandstone, calcium carbonate and iron ore, among others
it was covered by an ice cap until the 1990s
as the ice melted, its unique, colored stripes were revealed
Mountains gallery
The Kirkjufell mountain in Iceland.
The Colored stripes of Mt. Vinicunca, Peru, known in English as the "Rainbow Mountain"
Rocks
Famous U.S. rocks
Devil's Tower
a butte formation in Wyoming that abruptly juts out of the landscape 1,267 ft high
the name comes from an English misinterpretation of the Native American name for it
the native name is "bear's house" (among others) and was understood in English by a US Army expedition leader as "Bad God's Tower," thus "Devil's Tower"
a Native American legend of its origin is that young girls where chased by bears, and their prayers for salvation were answered by the "Great Spirit" by lifting the rock they sat upon into the air, out of reach from the bears, whose claws scratched marks into the sides of the rock while trying to reach them.
famous for unique formation and 19th century graffiti
a 130 ft high granite rock in Wyoming that sticks up out of the prairie
located at the southeast end of the Granite Mountains
served as a landmark for 19th century western settlers, some of whom carved their names on the rock and some of which are still visible
Pompy's Tower" (Pompey's Pillar National Monument)
famous for inscription by William Clark from 1806
rock formation rising from the Montana plain
150 ft tall, located near the Yellowstone River
one of the smallest National Monuments in the US (21 acre site)
famous for its graffiti,
including an inscription by William ** William Clark, of the Lewis & Clark Expedition (1803-06) inscribed his name on the rock on July 25, 1806
click EXPAND for Clark's journal entry of that day regarding the rock:
“This rock which I shall Call Pompy's Tower is 200 feet high and 400 paces in secumphrance… The nativs have ingraved on the face of this rock the figures of animals &c. near which I marked my name and the day of the month & year.”
* he named it "Pompy's Tower" after his nickname for the son of his translators, Sacagawea and Toussaint Charbonneau
three rocky islands in the Potomac River in Washington, DC
three Native American sisters who died crossing the river there while trying to rescue their brothers who had been kidnapped by another tribe
three Native American sisters who were banished to the islands after refusing the husbands selected for them by their father; the sisters cursed the spot, which is said to make an eerie sound whenever the River is about to take a life
a 1925 novel included a story about three nuns who drowned at the spot
The Madison Boulder, Madison, NH, the largest glacial erratic rock in North America
Glacial erratics from Norway on Schokland in the Netherlands.
Multiple erratics on the terminal moraine of the Okanogan Lobe. Cascade mountains in the background.
Doane Rock, at Cape Cod National Seashore
Yeager Rock, a 400-metric-ton (440-short-ton) boulder on the Waterville Plateau, Washington. Although transported by a glacier, this boulder is not a true erratic because it is of the same lithology of the underlying, till-blanketed, bedrock. Note the glacial till below the rock.
Angular glacial erratic on Lembert Dome.
Bubble Rock, Acadia National Park, Maine
Sailing Stones
Sailing stone in Racetrack Playa, Death Valley, California (wikipedia)also called "sliding rocks" or "walking rocks"
the phenomenon usually occurs in dry lake beds
"sailing stones" move locations when water around them freezes, then starts melting, leaving mud and ice fragments that allow for the rock to slides on the slippery ground when propelled by the wind or gravity.
sliding rocks leave a trail, so when they stop their transit, they leave a trail that makes it look as if the rock had moved itself along the desert floor.
A sailing stone in Racetrack Playa (wikipedia)
Racetrack Playa
probably the most famous sailing stones are found at "Racetrack Playa" in Death Valley, California.
the ground there is dried clay and while limited, there is enough precipitation, 3-inches per year, for water to collect in the basin and freeze, creating the conditions for the rocks to seemingly move by themselves, leavning a track behind them.
Sinkholes
sinkholes are holes or caves in the ground caused by erosion or a collapse of a lower, below-ground surface, usually because of water drainage
sinkholes may also be caused by a drainage of water, such as a water table decline
sinkholes are most common where limestone, sandstone, salt beds, or gypsum are prevalent
Thor's Well
a sinkhole on the coast of Cape Perpetua, Oregon, that drains at high tides
Golly Hole in Alabama is considered the largest sinkhole in the US.
also known as the "December Giant," it formed in 1972 after water drainage at a nearby quarry,
9.1 magnitude earthquake caused a 900-mile fault line between the Indian and Burnma tectonic plates
as a result of the shift, the ocean floor rose upwards 10 feet, trigging up to 100-foot high tsunamis that spread across the entire Indian Ocean
occurred on Dec 26, 2004, so is also known as the "Christmas" or "Boxing Day" earthquake and tsunami
click on EXPAND for more on the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake and tsunami
2004 Indonesia Tsunami editEpicenter and associated aftershocks
the earthquake was the 3rd-largest and single longest (8-10 minutes) ever recorded
it triggered other earthquakes around the world
the epicenter of the quake was 100 miles off the coast of Sumatra (the largest island of Indonesia)
the Indian Ocean floor rise was permanent and consequently the world's entire ocean surface rose by 0.004 inches
227,898 people were killed by the tsunami
the Indonesian cities of Banda Aceh and Lhoknga, at the northwest corner of Sumatra, were completely destroyed
167,000 people were killed in Banda Aceh and over 7,000 people in Lhoknga
the largest waves to hit Lhoknga were 98 ft high
Apung 1, a 2,600-ton vessel, was flung some 2 km (1.2 mi) to 3 km (1.9 mi) inland. In the years following the disaster, it became a local tourist attraction and has remained where it came to rest.
a large ship was carried almost 2 miles inland (and remains there as a memorial)
Countries affected
tsunami waves reached Sri Lanka, 1,100 miles away, two hours after the quake, killing approx. 35,000 people
almost 8,000 people were killed in Thailand, 500 miles away
the waves extended across the Indian Ocean, hitting India, Madagascar and the African mainland
Mt.Mayon, Philippines, with a "perfect" cone (wikipedia)
MSH80 eruption mount st helens 05-18-80 (wikipedia)
Mount St. Helens pictured the day before the 1980 eruption (wikipedia)
Mount St. Helens four months after the eruption (wikipedia)
Physical geography extremes
Highest, lowest extremes
the deepest spot on earth is 7,169.3 ft lower than Mt. Everest is high
Lowest spot on surface of the earth
underwater:
Mariana Trench
Location of the Mariana Trench (wiki)
located in the South Pacific Ocean, deepest landform on earth
1,580 mi long, 43 mi wide, max. depth 36,201 ft
click EXPAND for more on the Mariana Trench and other trenches
the lowest point is called "Challenger Deep"
it has been reached by humans six times
the 2nd deepest trench is the Tonga Trench in the Pacific with has max. depth of 35702 ft
other trenches in the Pacific Ocean are nearly as deep, including the Philippine Trench and the Kuril-Kamchatka Trench
Atlantic-trench (wiki)
the deepest trench in the Atlantic Ocean is the Puerto Rico Trench, which is 28,900 ft at its max. deep point
lowest point on the land surface:
the Dead Sea (Israel, Palestine & Jordan), 1419 ft below sea level
2nd lowest point on earth: Turfan Depression (China), 505 ft. below sea level
this 2nd lowest point excludes other areas in the Dead Sea
3rd lowest point on earth: Lake Assal (Djibouti, part of the Afar Depression), 502 ft below sea level
lowest point in US: Death Valley, 282 ft below sea level
2nd lowest point in US: Bombay Beach (California, along the Salton Sea, 226 ft below sea level
click EXPAND for more on the Salton Sea
the Salton Sea is a salt-water lake in Southern California at the Mexico border
the Salton Sea has been fed by the Colorado River, which currently flows to the east of the lake, but in its modern form was created by diverter water from the river in 1900, which created the lake on dry lake bed.
when the Spanish arrived there, they asked the local Maya then name of the place and when the Maya replied that they didn't understand them, the Spanish thought that was the name of the place
click EXPAND for more details
the Maya replied either "Ma'anaatik ka t'ann" which means "I do not understand you" or "uh yu ka t'ann," which means "hear how they talk!"
the Spanish thought they said "Yucatan," so called it that
the other theory is that the Maya extensively cultivated "yucca" plants (or "cassava," a tuber, similar to sweet potatoes) and so named the region for that practice
it is possible, but the yucca plant and its name was common across all Maya regions
also, Yucatan is the location of the " Chicxulub" asteroid that created the "Chicxulub crater"
Lake Chargoggagoggmanchauggagoggchaubunagungamaugg
located in Webster MA, anglicized spelling of original Native American name
Telluride, Co
named for the mineral "tellurium"
located amidst the largest concentration of 14,000 ft mountains in the U.S.
the apocryphal origin is that, due to the treacherous mountains, miners warned those who wanted to strike gold there, "To Hell You Ride!"
Political geography fun facts
countries that have no capital
Nauru
an island nation in the Pacific Ocean, second smallest nation in the world
Switzerland
Bern is considered a "de facto" (in fact) capital, as it is the primary location for the national government, including the legislature and national courts
however, the Swiss constitution does not stipulate (name) a capital, so de jure (in law) there is no capital
the Swiss call Bern the "federal city"
Bern is the 5th most populous city in Switzerland
countries with multiple capitals and/or official seats of government
some countries have official capitals
others have an official capital and another city that serves as a prominent "seat" of the government
click EXPAND for a few countries with multiple capitals:
Bolivia
constitutional capital and seat judicial seat Sucre
executive and legislative seat: La Paz
Chile
the official capital is Santiago
the legislature is in Valparaiso
Honduras
official capital: Comayagüela
seat of government is in Tegucigalpa
Netherlands
the legal capital is Amsterdam, but the Hague is considered "the seat" of the government
national administrative offices and the official workplace of the Dutch king, Noordeinde Palace, are located there
South Africa
three official capitals: Cape Town (legislative branch), Bloemfontein (judicial branch), and Pretoria (executive branch)
enclave = a country or territory that is entirely surrounded by another country or territory
"enclave" is derived from the Latin inclavare for "to close with a key," meaning one property that is entirely surrounded by another property
nation state enclaves:
Vatican City (within Italy)
San Marino (within Italy)
Losotho (within South Africa)
note: these nations are not exclaves since they are not separated from a mainland territory
semi-enclave states
are surrounded by another state by land but also have a water border, such as:
Monaco (surrounded by France and the Mediterranean Sea)
The Gambia (surrounded by Senegal and the Atlantic Ocean)
Brunei (surrounded by the Malaysian state, Sarawak and the South China Sea)
Singapore (surrounded by Malaysia and the Strait of Singapore
Peñón de Vélez de la Gomera, Spain (a disputed semi-exclave that is on a rocky isthmus/ island in Morrocco and whose residents are all Spanish military personnel)
several other enclave states exist politically independent but are not recognized officially as independent nations
exclave
= a territory or part of a country that is separated from the main country or territory and surrounded by one other country
Madha (or "Wadi Madha"), territory of Oman, is located entirely within by Nahwa, part of the United Arab Emirates (UAE)
Nahwa, territory of the Emirate of Sharjah (part of UAE), is itself an enclave within Oman
Musandam is an associated exclave of Oman with Madha
Llívia is territory of Spain that is within France.
Campione d'Italia, territory of Italy is within Switzerland.
Büsingen am Hochrhein, territory of Germany is within Switzerland.
Likoma and Chizumulu Islands in Lake Malawi are Malawi territory surrounded by Mozambique territorial waters.
exclave within multiple nations
Nakhchivan, separated territory of Azerbaijan, is surrounded by Armenia, Turkey and Iran
is made up of seven "emirates," partly independent states that together form the nation of the UAE
of these, Dubai (exclave: Hatta), Ajman (exclaves: Masfout & Manama), Ras al-Khaimah and Sharjah have exclaves that are surrounded by another nation:
Ras al-Khaimah and Sharjah (and Nahwa which is also an enclave)
semi-exclave
= territory or part of a country that is separated from the main country or territory and surrounded by another country and a large body of water
Kaliningrad Oblast: Russian exclave territory 200 miles from mainland Russia that is surrounded by Poland and the Baltic Sea
Kaliningrad was allocated to the Soviet Union at the Potsdam Conference in 1945, which divided Europe between the allied powers at the end of World War II
Crimea: "de jure" (legally) Ukraine territory that is occupied by Russia and is therefore a de facto (in fact) Russian semi-exclave surrounded by Ukraine and the Black Sea.
U.S. state semi-exclaves
Alaska is a semi-exclave in that it is separated from the main country and surrounded by another country (Canada) and by a large body of water (Bering Sea and the Pacific and Arctic Oceans)
Alburgh, VT is on the Alburgh Tongue on the tip of a peninsula from Canada that extends into Lake Champlain
Hyder, AK is located
Hyder is Alaska's easternmost town and can only be reached by road by passing through Canada. Hyder is not technically an exclave, in that it is connected to Alaska, although it lies at the tip of a peninsula created by the Salmon River
Point Roberts, WA is located at the southern tip of the Tsawwassen peninsula, Vancouver, Canada and can only be reached by land from the U.S. by going through Canada
note: Hawaii is not technically an exclave, as it has no borders with another nation, although, as an island, it is separated from teh mainland U.S.
places that are both enclaves and exclaves
not independent countries, but part of one country that are surrounded by another
Artsvashen, territory of Armenia, is within Azerbaijan
Dahagram-Angarpota, territory of Bangladesh that is within India
Baarle-Hertog, small territories of Belgium that are within the Netherlands
Nahwa, territory of the Emirate of Sharjah (part of UAE), is itself an enclave within Oman
India & Bangladesh: enclaves and counter-enclaves =
Bangladesh contains:
102 enclaves of Indian territory
which have 21 counter-enclaves (enclaves within an enclave) of Bangladesh territory
and 1 counter-counter enclave of Indian territory
India contains:
71 enclaves of Bangladesh territory
which have 7 counter-enclaves
until 2015, Bangladesh contained world's only counter-counter-counter enclave
Dahala Khagrabari was Indian territory inside Bangladesh inside India inside Bangladesh
Dahala Khagrabari was extremely poor and lacked basic services due to the complicated territorial arrangements
click EXPAND for more on the India-Bangladesh enclaves
a story of the origin of this complicated border is that it resulted from a bet on a card or chess game between a Raja and a Maharaja
this is likely not historical; more likely the enclaves were the result of arrangements and settled disputes between local kings and lords over time
the first historical treaty defining this border was in 1713 during the Mughal Empire
the 1947 "partition of India" further complicated the border
easternmost point in continental U.S.: Sail Rock, Lubec, Maine
northernmost state in the continental U.S.: Minnesota
northernmost point in the continental U.S.: Northwest Angle, Minnesota, known as "The Angle"
Click EXPAND to read more about the Northwest Angle:
The Northwest Angle in Minnesota, bordering Manitoba, Ontario, and Lake of the Woods
when negotiating the US-Canadian border following the American Revolution (Treaty of Paris, 1783), negotiators used an inaccurate map of the border of present-day Minnesota and Canada, and thereby included the northwest portion of the Lake of the Woods as the border, while it actually lies within Canadian territory
thus The Angle is one of six "practical exclaves" of the U.S., as it is only accessible by land via Canada
![With 7,253 known glaciers, Pakistan contains more glacial ice than any other country on earth outside the polar regions.[1] At 62 kilometres (39 mi) in length, its Baltoro Glacier is one of the world's longest alpine glaciers.](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/9/91/Baltoro_glacier_from_air.jpg/330px-Baltoro_glacier_from_air.jpg)
![With 7,253 known glaciers, Pakistan contains more glacial ice than any other country on earth outside the polar regions.[1] At 62 kilometres (39 mi) in length, its Baltoro Glacier is one of the world's longest alpine glaciers.](/wiki/File:Baltoro_glacier_from_air.jpg)
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