<p>Surigao Strait  is a strait in the southern Philippines, between the Bohol Sea and the Leyte Gulf of the Philippine Sea.</p><br>
<h2>Geography</h2><br>
<p>It is located between the regions of Visayas and Mindanao. It lies between northern Mindanao Island and Panaon Island, and between the Dinagat Islands and Leyte island.</p><br>
<p>The strait is deep but has a strong current, up to 8 knots. The northern entrance of the Surigao Strait is marked by a navigation light on Suluan Island.</p><br>
<p>The Hibuson island lies at the north end of the Surigao Strait.</p><br>
<h2>Transport</h2><br>
<p>It is regularly crossed by numerous ferries that transport goods and people between Visayas and Mindanao. The ferries stop at Liloan, Southern Leyte and Surigao City in Surigao del Norte.</p><br>
<h2>Etymology</h2><br>
<p>According to legend, the strait was named after Solibao, a Negrito chieftain, who lived at the outlet of the Surigao River. Migrating Visayan fishermen gradually formed a settlement there, and when Spanish explorers visited the place, they probably misheard the name as Surigao instead of Solibao. A different theory explains that Surigao may be derived from the Spanish word surgir, meaning "swift water" or "current".</p><br>
<h2>History</h2><br>
<p>In March 1521 during the first circumnavigation of the Earth, Ferdinand Magellan and his crew were the first Europeans to sail through the strait.</p><br>
<p>The Battle of Surigao Strait took place here on October 25, 1944, when the "cross the T" incident took place as American battleships fired their guns over Vice Admiral Shoji Nishimuras Southern Force; nearly all of which, including the battleships Yamashiro and Fusō and others were sunk. Admiral Nishimura was killed in action when his flagship Yamashiro sank following actions against Jesse B. Oldendorfs battleships, all but one of which had been at Pearl Harbor.</p><br>
<p>Shiroka Polyana  is a reservoir lake situated in the Western Rhodopes mountains in Bulgaria.</p><br>
<p>The lake is situated 30 km south of Batak, on the road to Dospat. It is located 1500 meters above sea level amidst a forest of old pine trees. Different legends are told about the lake.</p><br>
<p>The shape of Shiroka Poliana reservoir is unique. Viewed from the ring-road it seems that the lake is composed of numerous small lakes with separate walls. This illusion is due to the indented relief of the lake bed that consists of several mountain gullies.</p><br>
<p>Although the banks of the lake are far from the road and comparatively hard to access, it attracts many visitors and sports fishermen because of the abundance of fish, including grey mullet, European perch, and trout.</p><br>
<p>The Studen Kladenets Reservoir  is the third largest reservoir by volume in Bulgaria after Iskar Dam and Kardzhali Dam. It is situated on the river Arda, and is created behind the Studen Kladenets dam, 30 km south-east of the town of Kardzhali. There are another two dams of the Arda - Kardzhali Dam to the west  and Ivaylovgrad Dam to the east .</p><br>
<p>The reservoir has a total volume of 388 million m and a drainage basin of 3,706 km² and is 29 km long. It is situated at an average 227 m above sea level, its dam being 338 m long and 67.5 m high. The top of the dam consists of nine spillways, each one being 10.5 by 5 m.</p><br>
<p>"Studen Kladenets" Hydroelectric Power Plant is situated appr. 1 km downstream of the dam. Initially the HPP had four Francis-type turbines, 15 MW each. А project for reconstruction and upgrading the HPP with another 16 MW turbine and a smaller eco-turbine underwent and after the completion, the total output reached 85 MW with annual production of 165 GWh of electricity.</p><br>
<p>Studen Kladenets reservoir is an attractive place for fishermen, where rudd is caught in great numbers. "Studen Kladenets" stands for "a cold well" in Bulgarian.</p><br>
<h2>History</h2><br>
<p>The initial plans for the construction of a dam on the Arda date to as early as 1948. Construction began in 1955 and was completed in 1957. The HPP started electricity production in 1958.</p><br>
<p>Tsonevo Reservoir is a reservoir located in the valley of the Luda Kamchia River, 1 km from the village of Tsonevo.</p><br>
<p>The reservoir ranks third in size in Bulgaria with water service of 17300 decameters. Its old name was Georgi Traikov. It has warm waters, and is used for water supply and irrigation.</p><br>
<p>The reservoir is rich in fish such as bream, perch, rudd, and catfish. There are opportunities for fishing. The picturesque bed of the reservoir and the forested hills around it attract many tourists and offer great recreation possibilities. At Tsonevo reservoir there are bungalows, and private lodgings are offered in the adjacent villages of Tsonevo and Asparuhovo. At the latter, an ethnographical complex, Ovchaga, opened in 2006.</p><br>
<p>The Rhodopes  are a mountain range in Southeastern Europe, with over 83% of its area in southern Bulgaria and the remainder in Greece. Its highest peak, Golyam Perelik , is the seventh highest Bulgarian mountain. The mountain range gives its name to the terrestrial ecoregion Rodope montane mixed forests that belongs in the Temperate broadleaf and mixed forests Biome and the Palearctic ecozone. The region is particularly notable for its karst areas with their deep river gorges, large caves and specific sculptured forms, such as the Trigrad Gorge.</p><br>
<p>A significant part of Bulgaria&#39;s hydropower resources is located in the western areas of the range. There are a number of hydro-cascades and dams used for electricity production, irrigation and as tourist destinations. In Greece there are also the HPPs of Thisavros and Platanovrysi. The Rhodopes have a rich cultural heritage including ancient Thracian sites such as Perperikon, Tatul and Belintash, and medieval castles, churches, monasteries and picturesque villages with traditional Bulgarian architecture from the 18th and 19th centuries.</p><br>
<h2>Name and mythology</h2><br>
<p>The name of the Rhodope mountains has a Thracian provenance. Rhod-ope (Род-oпа) is interpreted as the first name of a river, meaning "rusty/reddish river", where Rhod- has the same Indo-European root as the Bulgarian "руда" (ore, "ruda"), "ръжда" (rust, "rǎžda"), "риж" (red-haired, "riž"), Latin "rufus" (red) and German "rot" (red).</p><br>
<p>In Greek mythology, Queen Rhodope of Thrace offended the gods, the wife of King Haemus of Thrace, and was changed into a mountain by Zeus and Hera as a punishment along with her husband.</p><br>
<p>The mountains are associated with the mythic figure of Orpheus.</p><br>
<h2>Geography</h2><br>
<p>In geomorphological terms, the Rhodopes are part of the Rilo-Rhodope massif, which is the oldest landmass on the Balkan peninsula. The Rhodopes are spread over 14,735 km&sup2, of which 12,233 km&sup2; are on Bulgarian territory. They have the greatest extent of any single mountain range in Bulgaria. The mountains are about 240 km long and about 100 to 120 km wide, with an average altitude of 785 m. To the north the mountain slopes descend steeply towards the Upper Thracian Plain. To the west, the Rhodopes reach the Avram saddle, Yundola and the valley of the Mesta River. To the south and east they extend to the coastal plains of Greek Thrace. The Rhodopes are a complex system of ridges and deep river valleys.</p><br>
<p>Fifteen reserves have been established in the region, some of which are under UNESCO protection. The mountains are famous for the largest coniferous woods in the Balkans, their mild relief and the lush vegetation in the western parts as well as the abundance of birds of prey in the eastern areas.</p><br>
<h3>Climate</h3><br>
<p>The location of the Rhodopes in the southeastern part of the Balkan Peninsula determines the climate in the region to a great extent. It is influenced both by the colder air coming from the north and by the warmer breeze from the Mediterranean.</p><br>
<p>The average annual temperature in the Eastern Rhodopes is 13 &deg;C, the maximum precipitation is in December, the minimum in August. In the Western Rhodopes, the temperature varies from 5 to 9 °C and in the summer rainfalls prevail.</p><br>
<p>The mild climate, combined with some other factors, works in favour of the development of recreation and tourist activities. The Pamporovo resort, where the microclimate permits a heavy snow cover to be preserved for a long time, is an excellent example.</p><br>
<p>Temperatures as low as -15 &deg;C are common in winter, and due to this the Rhodopes are the southernmost place in the Balkans where tree species such as the Norway Spruce and the Silver Birch can be found.</p><br>
<h3>Waters</h3><br>
<p>The mountains have abundant water reserves with a dense network of mountain springs and rivers. Nearly 80% of the mountain&#39;s territory falls within the drainage of the river Maritsa. The natural lakes are few, the most renown of these being the Smolyan lakes situated at several kilometers from the town of the same name. Some of the largest dams in the country are located in the Rhodopes including the Dospat Dam, Batak Dam, Golyam Beglik, Kardzhali Dam, Studen Kladenets, Vacha Dam, Shiroka Polyana and many others, while in Greece there are the dams of Thisavros and Platanovrysi. They are used mainly for hydro-electric power generation and for irrigation. There are many mineral water springs, the most famous being in Velingrad, Narechen, Devin, Beden, Mihalkovo and others. In Greece there are mineral water springs in Thermes, 40 km. north of (Xanthi) and in Thermia, 60 km. north of Drama, at 620 m.</p><br>
<h3>Subdivision</h3><br>
<h4>Western Rhodopes</h4><br>
<p>The Western Rhodopes are the larger (66% of the area of the Rhodopes in Bulgaria), higher, most infrastructurally developed and most visited part of the mountains. The highest and best known peaks are located in the region (more than 10 are over 2,000 m high) including the highest one, Golyam Perelik (2,191 m). Among the other popular peaks are Shirokolashki Snezhnik (2,188 m), Golyam Persenk (2,091 m), Batashki Snezhnik (2,082 m), Turla (1,800 m).</p><br>
<p>Some of the deepest river gorges in the Rhodopes are located in the western parts, as well as the rock phenomenon Wonderful Bridges. Significant bodies of water include the Chaira lakes and the Dospat, Batak, Shiroka Polyana, Golyam Beglik and Tsigov Chark dams.</p><br>
<p>The town of Batak is also located in this part of the mountains, as well as the popular tourist centres Smolyan, Velingrad, Devin, Chepelare, the winter resort Pamporovo, the Eastern Orthodox Bachkovo Monastery, the ruins of the Asen dynastys fortress, and the Devils Throat, Yagodinska, and Uhlovitsa caves. The highest village in Bulgaria, Manastir (over 1,500 m), is crouched in the northern foot of Prespa Peak. A number of architectural reserves, such as Shiroka Laka, Kovachevitsa, Momchilovtsi, Kosovo, are also located in the area.</p><br>
<h4>Eastern Rhodopes</h4><br>
<p>The Eastern Rhodopes are spread over a territory of about 34% of the mountains&#39; area in Bulgaria, constituting a much lower part.</p><br>
<p>The large artificial dams Kardzhali and Studen Kladenets are located in this part of the mountains. The region is rich in thermal mineral springs. The waters around Dzhebel have national reputation for healing various diseases. Belite Brezi is an important healing centre for respiratory and other ailments.</p><br>
<p>Major cities in the area are Haskovo and Kardzhali, as well as the smaller Momchilgrad, Krumovgrad, Zlatograd and Kirkovo. The Eastern Rhodopes, being significantly lower, are also more populated than the western part.</p><br>
<p>Almost every species of the European birds of prey nest in the rocks and forests of the Eastern Rhodopes including the rare Black vulture and Egyptian vulture.</p><br>
<h4>Southern (Greek) Rhodopes</h4><br>
<p>The Southern Rhodopes are the part of the mountain range that is located in Greece. The Rhodope regional unit in the northern part of the country is named after the region. This area includes the Rodopi Mountain Range National Park.</p><br>
<p>The Southern Rhodopes are characterized by numerous peaks of relatively low altitude. Their highest peak is Delimposka (1.953) in the mountain of Frakto, near the Greek-Bulgarian border. Nowadays the Southern Rhodopes is an area almost deserted. After World War II and Greek Civil War most villages depopulated permanently and their inhabitants never returned. Even the Sarakatsani stockbreeders abandoned the difficult life of Rhodopes. The depopulation of the region, that has not been grazed fore more than 50 years, combined with high rainfall and its geographical location has contributed to the creation and maintenance of a biological paradise. There grow coniferous trees, such as the Norway Spruce and the Silver Birch, that cannot be found elsewhere in Greece.</p><br>
<p>In the forest of Frakto there are 300-year-old trees, more than 50 metres high, and the endangered Wild goat.</p><br>
<p>In the eastern part of the region there is the well known nature reserve of the forests of Dadia, an ideal habitat for living of birds of prey, where live 36 of the 38 species of birds of prey of Europe, like the rare Eastern imperial eagle and Lesser spotted eagle.</p><br>
<h2>History</h2><br>
<p>The Rhodopes were inhabited since the Prehistoric age. There have been found many archaeological finds of ancient tools in some of the caves.</p><br>
<p>The first known people who inhabited the mountain were the Thracians. They built many temples, cities and fortresses. The most famous town in the area is the sacred city of Perperikon located 15 km northeast of Kardzhali. One of the most important Thracian temples was Tatul near the village of the same name. Additionally, there are archeological sites throughout the region related to the cult of Dionysus, such as the ancient Thracian city of Perperikon.</p><br>
<p>The frequent mention of the Rhodope in Ancient Greek and Latin sources indicates that the mountain had played an important role in the political and religious life of the Thracian tribes that lived on it. On the tops of the mountain there was a famous oracle, which they had visited to consult Alexander the Great and later the father of Octavian Augustus. On the mountain were also sanctuaries of various other deities, as was Apollo, Zeus, Thracian Horseman, Mithras etc. Finally, Rhodope served as a true bastion of freedom of the Thracians and last refuge of resistance against the Romans. This explains the fact that Thrace became a Roman province about 200 years after Macedonia.</p><br>
<p>In 2005, German scholars from the University of Heidelberg confirmed that the two rather small fragments discovered by archaeologist Nikolay Ovcharov in the Eastern Rhodopes mountains are written in the Minoan Linear A script from about 15th century BC.</p><br>
<p>In the Middle Ages the mountain was part of the Bulgarian and Byzantine Empires and often changed hands between the two countries. There was a dense network of castles which guarded the trade routes and the strategic heights. The largest and most important castles include Lyutitsa, Ustra, Tsepina, Mezek, Asenova krepost and many others. Between 1371 and 1375 the Rhodopes fell under Ottoman occupation in the course of the Bulgarian-Ottoman Wars</p><br>
<p>During the 16th and 17th centuries the Ottoman authorities began a process of forcible Islamisation of the region to compensate for the losses against the Christian powers in the Mediterranean. As a result, many Bulgarians adopted Islam; those who refused were killed. Many churches and monasteries were completely reduced to ruins. The towns and the villages in the Western Rhodopes took active part in the April Uprising in 1876. When the uprising was crushed the Ottomans slaughtered around 5,000 people in Batak alone. Thousands more perished in Bratsigovo, Perushtitsa and other rebel villages which were also burnt and looted.</p><br>
<p>The northern Rhodopes were liberated in 1878 but remained in the autonomous state Eastern Rumelia until its unification with the Principality of Bulgaria. The other part of the Rhodopes was annexed as a result of the First Balkan War (1912–1913) but after the Second Balkan War (1913) and the First World War (1914–1918) the southern slopes of the mountain was occupied by Greece and the Bulgarian population of the area was forced to flee to Bulgaria.</p><br>
<h2>People</h2><br>
<p>The sparsely populated area of the Rhodopes has been a place of ethnic and religious diversity for hundreds of years. Apart from the Eastern Orthodox Bulgarians and Greeks, the mountains are also home to a number of Muslim communities, including the Pomaks, that predominate in the western parts and a large concentration of Bulgarian Turks, particularly in the Eastern Rhodopes. The mountains are also one of the regions associated with the Sarakatsani, a nomadic Greek people who traditionally roamed between Northern Thrace and the Aegean coast.</p><br>
<h2>Economy</h2><br>
<p>The economy of the Rhodopes region is dominated by services, tourism, industry and agriculture.</p><br>
<p>Livestock breeding, forestry and tobacco are the most important agricultural activities. Due to the large Muslim population the number of pigs is relatively low but there are many sheep which are traditional for the Rhodopes. Tobacco is grown in the Eastern Rhodopes and forms a large part of the total national production.</p><br>
<p>The industrial sector is well-developed. One of the largest industries in the area is mining. There are around 80 mines for lead and zinc whose reserves are among the largest in Europe. They are situated mainly in central parts of the mountain and along the border with Greece as well as to the east. Kardzhali Province is rich in non-metalliferous minerals and gold. There are also small reserves of chromite and iron ore as well as significant impurities of rare metals in the lead and zinc ores. There are several flotation factories which enrich the ores before it is sent to the large lead and zinc refineries in Kardzhali and Plovdiv. Machine-building industry is developed in Smolyan, Kardzhali, Devin, Bratsigovo, Ivailovgrad and others; there is a pharmaceutical plant in Pestera. Some of the centers of textile industry include Zlatograd, Smolyan, Madan, Laki. Timber industry is developed mainly in the western parts where there are some of the most important forest massifs in the Balkan Peninsula. The Rhodopes are one of the main hydro-power generation regions of Bulgaria with a number of major HPPs such as Batak, Peshtera, Aleko, Studen Kladenets, Kardzhali, Vacha and Thisavros and Platanovrysi in Greece.</p><br>
<p>Tourism is an important industry with growing significance. Pamporovo and Chepelare are major winter resorts and during summer there is a number of resorts, camp sites and refuges on the shores of the dams or in the green valleys. The caves along the Greek border such as Yagodinska, Uhlovitsa, Devil&#39;s Throat Cave, Snezhanka (near Peshtera) and others are popular among speleologists with their spectacular forms and underground lakes and rivers. The ruins of castles, Thracian sites such as Perperikon and Tatul, the villages in National Revival style and the monasteries are also visited by many Bulgarian and foreign tourists.</p><br>
<h2>Honour</h2><br>
<p>Rodopi Peak on Livingston Island in the South Shetland Islands, Antarctica is named after the Rhodope Mountains.</p><br>
<p>Fårö is a Baltic Sea island just off north of the island of Gotland, itself off mainland Sweden&#39;s southeastern coast. It is the second-largest island in the province and it is a popular summer resort. It has its own dialect . Formerly a socken which includes the Gotska Sandön island, on 1January 2016, it was reconstituted into the administrative area Fårö District.</p><br>
<h2>Geography</h2><br>
<p>The island is separated from Gotland by the narrow Fårö-strait, and connected by two car ferries, operated by the Swedish Transport Administration. It has a total area of 111.35 km&sup2, of which 9.7 km&sup2; are water areas or islets.</p><br>
<p>On the islands of Fårö and Gotland are rock formations called "Rauk". They are a result of erosion during the Ice age and are unique to Gotland and Fårö.</p><br>
<p>The medieval Fårö Church is on Fårö.</p><br>
<p>One of the asteroids in the Asteroid belt, 9358 Fårö, is named after the island.</p><br>
<h2>Etymology</h2><br>
<p>The name "Fårö" (in Gutnish "Faroy") is derived from the words "ö", meaning island, and probably "far-", which is a word stem associated with travel like in the Swedish verb "fara" (to travel). The word Fårö probably means the island you have to travel to or the traveler&#39;s island. Mainland Swedes might misinterpret the name Fårö to be derived from får, the (standard) Swedish word for sheep, due to the many sheep on the island. That word is absent from Modern Gutnish, which uses the word "lamm" (which in Swedish means "lamb").</p><br>
<h2>Military past</h2><br>
<p>Until the 1990s, Fårö and the North of Gotland were off-limits to foreigners because of a government military installation there. There were large, multilingual signs at the side of the roads informing visitors of this and the prohibition was strictly enforced. After the Cold War ended, the installation (Swedish coastal artillery division KA3) was mostly shut down. A relic of the islands military past is a 203 m tall radio mast at Holmudden at 57°5733" N and 19°20&#39;46" E.</p><br>
<h2>Cinematic heritage</h2><br>
<p>Swedish filmmaker Ingmar Bergman lived and died on Fårö and several of his films were filmed there, among them Through a Glass Darkly (1961), Persona (1966), Hour of the Wolf (1968), Shame (1968), The Passion of Anna (1969), and Scenes from a Marriage (1972),</p><br>
<p>Andrei Tarkovsky wanted to film The Sacrifice on Fårö but was denied access by the military. The Sacrifice was filmed further south on Gotland at När.</p><br>
<h2>Tourism</h2><br>
<p>An annual event on Fårö is "Fårönatta" (Fårö Night), held in September, during which restaurants and bars stay open all night, craft stands are set up and the church holds a midnight Mass.</p><br>
<h2>Fårö districts</h2><br>
<h3>Digerhuvud</h3><br>
<p>The Digerhuvud coast with Bjärge nature reserve is the largest stack area in Sweden, with hundreds of stacks along a 3.5 km part of the coast. Close by is the Helgumannen fishing village. The coast is not suited for swimming due to its depth (up to 80 m close to the shore), and its strong currents.</p><br>
<p>An asteroid in the Asteroid belt, 10102 Digerhuvud, is named after the area.</p><br>
<h3>Fårö Fyr (Fårö Lighthouse)</h3><br>
<p>The Fårö Lighthouse lies on the island&#39;s northeastern point. It is 30 m high and was built between 1846 and 1847.</p><br>
<h3>Langhammars</h3><br>
<p>The Langhammars peninsula and the Langhammars nature reserve on north-western Fårö are rocky beaches with Ice age stone monoliths known as rauks. Langhammars was the setting for Ingmar Bergman&#39;s film Through a Glass Darkly.</p><br>
<h3>Sudersand</h3><br>
<p>The long, sandy Sudersand beach on north-eastern Fårö lies next to Sudersands Semesterby which rents cabins to tourists.</p><br>
<p>The Missouri Botanical Garden is a botanical garden located at 4344 Shaw Boulevard in St. Louis, Missouri. It is also known informally as Shaw&#39;s Garden for founder and philanthropist Henry Shaw. Its herbarium, with more than 6.6 million specimens, is the second largest in North America, behind only that of the New York Botanical Garden.</p><br>
<h2>History</h2><br>
<p>Founded in 1859, the Missouri Botanical Garden is one of the oldest botanical institutions in the United States and a National Historic Landmark, and is listed in the National Register of Historic Places. The Garden is a center for botanical research and science education of international repute, as well as an oasis in the city of St. Louis, with 79 acre of horticultural display. It includes a 14 acre Japanese strolling garden named Seiwa-en; the Climatron geodesic dome conservatory; a children&#39;s garden, including a pioneer village; a playground; a fountain area and a water locking system, somewhat similar to the locking system at the Panama Canal; an Osage camp; and Henry Shaw’s original 1850 estate home. It is adjacent to Tower Grove Park, another of Shaw’s legacies.</p><br>
<p>In 1983, the Botanical Garden was added as the fourth subdistrict of the Metropolitan Zoological Park and Museum District.</p><br>
<p>For part of 2006, the Missouri Botanical Garden featured "Glass in the Garden", with glass sculptures by Dale Chihuly placed throughout the garden. Four pieces were purchased to remain at the gardens. In 2008 sculptures of the French artist Niki de Saint Phalle were placed throughout the garden. In 2009, the 150th anniversary of the Garden was celebrated, including a floral clock display.</p><br>
<p>After 40 years of service to the Garden, Dr. Peter Raven retired from his presidential post on September 1, 2010. Dr. Peter Wyse Jackson replaced him as President.</p><br>
<h2>Cultural festivals</h2><br>
<p>The Garden is a place for many annual cultural festivals, including the Japanese Festival and the Chinese Culture Days by the St. Louis Chinese Culture Days Committee. During this time, there are showcases of the culture&#39;s botanics as well as cultural arts, crafts, music and food. The Japanese Festival features sumo wrestling, taiko drumming, koma-mawashi top spinning, and kimono fashion shows. The Garden is known for its bonsai growing, which can be seen all year round, but is highlighted during the multiple Asian festivals.</p><br>
<p>Major garden features include:</p><br>
<h2>The Gardens</h2><br>
<p>Tower Grove House (1849) and Herb Garden - Shaw&#39;s Victorian country house designed by prominent local architect George I. Barnett in the Italianate style.</p><br>
<p>Victory of Science Over Ignorance - Marble statue by Carlo Nicoli; a copy of the original (1859) by Vincenzo Consani in the Pitti Palace, Florence.</p><br>
<p>Linnean House (1882) - Said to be the oldest continually operated greenhouse west of the Mississippi River. Originally Shaw&#39;s orangery, in the late 1930s it was converted to house mostly camellias.</p><br>
<p>Gladney Rose Garden (1915) - Circular rose garden with arbors.</p><br>
<p>Climatron (1960) and Reflecting Pools - the world&#39;s first geodesic dome greenhouse designed by architect and engineer Thomas C. Howard of Synergetics, Inc; lowland rain forest with approximately 1500 plants.</p><br>
<p>English Woodland Garden (1976) - aconite, azaleas, bluebells, dogwoods, hosta, trillium, and others beneath the tree canopy.</p><br>
<p>Seiwa-en Japanese Garden (1977) - is a 14 acre chisen kaiyu-shiki (wet strolling garden) with lawns and path set around a 4 acre central lake. It was designed by Koichi Kawana and is the largest Japanese Garden in North America.</p><br>
<p>Grigg Nanjing Friendship Chinese Garden (1995) - Designed by architect Yong Pan; major features were gifts from sister city Nanjing, and include a moon gate, lotus gate, pavilion, and Chinese scholar&#39;s rocks from Lake Tai.</p><br>
<p>Blanke Boxwood Garden (1996) - walled parterre with a fine boxwood collection.</p><br>
<p>Strassenfest German Garden (2000) - flora native to Germany and Central Europe; bust of botanist and Henry Shaw&#39;s scientific advisor George Engelmann (sculpted by Paul Granlund)</p><br>
<p>Biblical garden featuring Date palm, pomegranate, fig and olive trees, caper, mint, citron and other plants mentioned in the Bible.</p><br>
<p>Ottoman garden with water features and xeriscape.</p><br>
<h3>Popular culture</h3><br>
<p>Douglas Trumbull, director of the 1972 science fiction classic film Silent Running, stated that the geodesic domes on the spaceship Valley Forge were based on the Missouri Botanical Garden&#39;s Climatron dome.</p><br>
<h2>Butterfly House</h2><br>
<p>Missouri Botanical Garden also operates the Sophia M. Sachs Butterfly House in Chesterfield. The Butterfly House includes an 8,000 ft2 indoor butterfly conservatory as well as an outdoor butterfly garden.</p><br>
<h2>Earthways Center</h2><br>
<p>The EarthWays Center is a group at the Missouri Botanical Garden that provides resources on and educates the public about green practices, renewable energy, energy efficiency, and other sustainability matters.</p><br>
<h2>Shaw Nature Reserve</h2><br>
<p>The Shaw Nature Reserve was started by the Missouri Botanical Garden in 1925 as a place to store plants away from the pollution of the city. The air in St. Louis later cleared up, and the reserve has continued to be open to the public for enjoyment, research, and education ever since. The 2,400 acre reserve is located in Gray Summit, Missouri, 35 mi away from the city.</p><br>
<h2>The Plant List</h2><br>
<p>The Plant List is an Internet encyclopedia project to compile a comprehensive list of botanical nomenclature, created by the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, and the Missouri Botanical Garden. The Plant List has 1,040,426 scientific plant names of species rank, of which 298,900 are accepted species names. In addition, the list has 620 plant families and 16,167 plant genera.</p><br>
<h2>Sponsorship</h2><br>
<p>Monsanto has donated $10 million to the Missouri Botanical Garden since the 1970s, which named its 1998 plant science facility the Monsanto Center.</p><br>
<p>The Moray Firth  is a roughly triangular inlet  of the North Sea, north and east of Inverness, which is in the Highland council area of north of Scotland. It is the largest firth in Scotland, stretching from Duncansby Head  in the north, in the Highland council area, and Fraserburgh in the east, in the Aberdeenshire council area, to Inverness and the Beauly Firth in the west. Therefore, three council areas have Moray Firth coastline: Highland to the west and north of the Moray Firth and Highland, Moray and Aberdeenshire to the south. The firth has more than 800 kilometres  of coastline, much of which is cliff.</p><br>
<h2>Geography</h2><br>
<p>A number of rivers flow into the Moray Firth, including the River Ness, the River Findhorn and the River Spey. Various smaller firths and bays are inlets of the firth, including the Cromarty Firth and the Dornoch Firth. The Pentland Firth has its eastern mouth at the Moray Firth&#39;s northern boundary.</p><br>
<p>The Moray Firth is effectively two firths, the Inner Moray Firth 57&deg;33&prime;N latitude, 04&deg;09&prime;W longitude, which was traditionally known as the Firth of Inverness, and the Outer Moray Firth which is more open North Sea water. The name "Firth of Inverness" is rarely found on modern maps, but extended from the Beauly Firth in the west, to Chanonry Point in the east.</p><br>
<p>The Moray Firth is visible for considerable distances, including a long range view from as far to the east as Longman Hill. From Buckie, on a clear day it is possible to see Wick in the far north of Scotland more than 50 mi away. From Lossiemouth it is possible to see the hills of Caithness and the hills are easily identified, one being Morven and the other being Scaraben. From Burghead, the white mass of Dunrobin Castle can just be made out in the distance on a very clear day; from Nairn, the two red bands on the Tarbat Ness Lighthouse around 20 mi away, can be seen with binoculars.</p><br>
<p>The Great Channel in the Inner Moray Firth, was dredged by engineers in 1917 for the safe passage of ships that wanted to avoid the long and dangerous passage around the north of Scotland, by transiting the Caledonian Canal. The Channel went from the entrance of Munlochy Bay to the Meikle Mee Starboard Hand Mark, but was not maintained and filled in very quickly.</p><br>
<h2>Geology</h2><br>
<p>Basically, the Moray Firth is of tectonic origin, related to the Great Glen Fault. For some time during the glaciation, the whole of nowaday&#39;s Moray firth was a huge glacier. Nevertheless, the inner Part and its side-inlets, Cromarty Firth and Dornoch Firth, are true fjords themselves. Though there is a reasonable tide with mean tide ranges of about three metres (ten feet), only part of the rivers draining into the bay have estuaries. Masses of sediment from the adjacent mountains have formed spits around several mouths. Those of River Ness and River Carron have significantly narrowed the fjords they enter.</p><br>
<h2>Conservation and economy</h2><br>
<p>The Moray Firth is one of the most important places on the British coast for observing dolphins and whales. The most common species are the bottlenose dolphin and the harbour porpoise. With occasional sightings of Common dolphin and Minke Whale. The popular wildlife viewing area located at Chanonry Point host some spectacular displays of dolphins within the inner Moray Firth. There are also visitor centres at Spey Bay and North Kessock run by the Whale and Dolphin Conservation Society where dolphins and other wildlife can often be seen. The old jetty at the Fort George Point is the location of the Dolphin Research Centre, with leading marine biologist Prof. Greame Taylor working part-time studying hunting and breeding habits and part-time working with the Community Council giving tours and teaching the ways of the dolphin.</p><br>
<p>It is also an important oil field and fishing grounds. The Beatrice oil field in the Outer Moray Firth is the closest of the North Sea oil fields; it is also the planned home for a 200-turbine deep-water wind farm. Much of the fishing industry focuses on scallops and Norway lobsters.</p><br>
<p>The Inner Moray Firth is designated as a Special Protection Area for wildlife conservation purposes.</p><br>
<p>The Moray Firth contains a Special Area of Conservation (SAC) designated under the EU Habitats Directive, which is one of the largest Marine Protection Areas in Europe. The SAC protects the inner waters of the Moray Firth, from a line between Lossiemouth (on the south coast) and Helmsdale (on the north coast) westwards.</p><br>
<h2>Map references</h2><br>
<h2>Line notes</h2><br>
<p>Owens Valley is the arid valley of the Owens River in eastern California in the United States, to the east of the Sierra Nevada and west of the White Mountains and Inyo Mountains on the west edge of the Great Basin section. The mountain peaks on either side  reach above 14,000 ft in elevation, while the floor of the Owens Valley is about 4,000 ft, making the valley one of the deepest in the United States. The Sierra Nevada casts the valley in a rain shadow, which makes Owens Valley "the Land of Little Rain." The bed of Owens Lake, now a predominantly dry endorheic alkali flat, sits on the southern end of the valley.</p><br>
<p>The valley provides water to the Los Angeles Aqueduct, the source of half of the water for Los Angeles, and is infamous as the scene of one of the fiercest and longest running episodes of the California Water Wars. These episodes inspired aspects of the film Chinatown.</p><br>
<p>Towns in the Owens Valley include Bishop, Lone Pine, Independence and Big Pine. The major road in the valley is USA Route 395.</p><br>
<h2>Geology</h2><br>
<p>About three million years ago, the Sierra Nevada Fault and the White Mountains Fault systems became active with repeated episodes of slip earthquakes gradually producing the impressive relief of the eastern Sierra Nevada and White Mountain escarpments that bound the northern Owens Valley-Mono Basin region.</p><br>
<p>Owens Valley is a graben—a downdropped block of land between two vertical faults. Owens Valley is the westernmost graben in the Basin and Range Province. It is also part of a trough which extends from Oregon to Death Valley called the Walker Lane.</p><br>
<p>The western flank of much of the valley has large moraines coming off the Sierra Nevada. These unsorted piles of rock, boulders, and dust were pushed to where they are by glaciers during the last ice age. An excellent example of a moraine is on State Route 168 as it climbs into Buttermilk Country.</p><br>
<p>This graben was formed by a long series of earthquakes, such as the 1872 Lone Pine earthquake, that have moved the graben down and helped move the Sierra Nevada up. The graben is much larger than the depth of the valley suggests; gravity studies suggest that 10,000 ft of sedimentary rock mostly fills the graben and that a very steep escarpment is buried under the western length of the valley. The topmost part of this escarpment is exposed at Alabama Hills.</p><br>
<p>The Owens Valley has many mini-volcanoes, such as Crater Mountain. Smaller versions of the Devils Postpile, can be found, for example, by Little Lake.</p><br>
<h2>Ecology</h2><br>
<p>The valley contains plants adapted to alkali flat habitat. One of these, the Owens Valley checkerbloom (Sidalcea covillei), is endemic to Owens Valley.</p><br>
<h2>History</h2><br>
<p>The valley was inhabited in late prehistoric times by the Timbisha (also called Panamint or Koso) in the extreme south end around Owens Lake and by the Mono tribe (also called Owens Valley Paiute) in the central and northern portions of the valley. The Timbisha speak the Timbisha language, classified in the Numic branch of Uto-Aztecan language family. The closest related languages are Shoshoni and Comanche. The Eastern Mono speak a dialect of the Mono language which is also Numic, but is more closely related to Northern Paiute. The Timbisha presently live in Death Valley at Furnace Creek although most families also have summer homes in the Lone Pine colony. The Eastern Mono live in several colonies from Lone Pine to Bishop. Trade between Native Americans of the Owens Valley between coastal tribes such as the Chumash has been indicated by the archaeological record.</p><br>
<p>On May 1, 1834, Joseph R. Walker entered Owens Valley at the mouth of Walker Pass. Walker and his group of 52 men traveled up the valley on their way back to the Humboldt Sink, and back up the Humboldt River to the Rocky Mountains.</p><br>
<p>In 1845, John C. Fremont named the Owens valley, river and lake for Richard Owens, one of his guides. Camp Independence was established on Oak Creek nearby modern Independence, California, on July 4, 1862, during the Owens Valley Indian War.</p><br>
<p>From 1942 to 1945 during World War II, the first Japanese American Internment camp operated in the valley at Manzanar near Independence, California.</p><br>
<h3>California Water Wars</h3><br>
<p>In the early 20th century, the valley became the scene of a struggle between local residents and the city of Los Angeles over water rights. William Mulholland, superintendent of the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power (LADWP) planned the 223 mi Los Angeles Aqueduct, completed in 1913, which diverted water from the Owens River. The water rights were acquired in a deceitful manner, often splitting water cooperatives and pitting neighbors against one another. In 1924, local farmers were fed up with the purchases and erupted in violence, sabotaging parts of the water system.</p><br>
<p>Eventually Los Angeles acquired a large portion of the water rights to over 300,000 acres of land in the valley, almost completely diverting the inflows of water away from Owens Lake. This acquisition was made following negotiations in which Los Angeles and the Owens Valley farmers were engaged in a bilateral monopoly. By modern estimates, Los Angeles would have been willing to pay up to $8.70 per acre-foot ($7.05/thousand cubic meters) of water. Eventually the average actual transaction price was near $4.00 per acre-foot ($3.25/thousand cubic meters). The next best option was continuing to use the land for agricultural uses, which fetched a much lower price. Although this price was lower than Los Angeles willingness to pay, the farmers of Owens Valley received a premium for their land compared to land values in neighboring counties. Moreover, the farmers who resisted the longest during the Owens Valley Transfers were able to sell their land for even higher prices than the average farmer received due to Los Angeles willingness to settle. As a result of these acquisitions, the lake subsequently dried up completely, leaving the present alkali flat which plagues the southern valley with alkali dust storms.</p><br>
<p>In 1970, LADWP completed a second aqueduct from Owens Valley. More surface water was diverted and groundwater was pumped to feed the aqueduct. Owens Valley springs and seeps dried and disappeared, and groundwater-dependent vegetation began to die.</p><br>
<p>Years of litigation followed. In 1997, Inyo County, Los Angeles, the Owens Valley Committee, the Sierra Club, and other concerned parties signed a Memorandum of Understanding that specified terms by which the lower Owens River would be rewatered by June 2003. LADWP missed this deadline and was sued again. Under another settlement, this time including the state of California, Los Angeles promised to rewater the lower Owens River by September 2005. As of February 2005, LADWP announced it was unlikely to meet this extended deadline. Finally, in 2008, Los Angeles fulfilled its promise and rewatered the lower Owens River.</p><br>
<p>In July 2004, Los Angeles mayor James Hahn proposed barring all future development on its Owens Valley holdings, by proposing a conservation easement for all LADWP land. As of October 2004, Inyo County officials seemed to be resisting the offer of the easement, perhaps due to the prior history of mistrust over LADWP actions. Los Angeles began using a new, organic method of suppressing airborne dust from the dry bed of Owens Lake in 2014 per an agreement between the city and Great Basin Unified Air Pollution Control District, the Owens Valley air quality regulators, ending a bitter decades-long dispute over the water and dust.</p><br>
<h2>Radio observatory</h2><br>
<p>The Owens Valley Radio Observatory located near Westgard Pass is one of ten dishes making up the Very Long Baseline Array (VLBA).</p><br>
<p>Olympia , a sanctuary of ancient Greece in Elis on the Peloponnese peninsula, is known for having been the site of the Olympic Games in classical times.</p><br>
<p>The Olympic Games were held every four years throughout Classical antiquity, from the 8th century BC to the 4th century AD.</p><br>
<h2>Ancient site</h2><br>
<p>The sanctuary, known as the Altis, consists of an unordered arrangement of various buildings. Enclosed within the temenos (sacred enclosure) are the Temple of Hera (or Heraion/Heraeum), the Temple of Zeus, the Pelopion, and the area of the altar, where the sacrifices were made.</p><br>
<p>To the north of the sanctuary can be found the Prytaneion and the Philippeion, as well as the array of treasuries representing the various city-states. The Metroon lies to the south of these treasuries, with the Echo Stoa to the east. The hippodrome and later stadium were located east of the Echo Stoa. To the south of the sanctuary is the South Stoa and the Bouleuterion, whereas the Palaestra, the workshop of Pheidias, the Gymnasion, and the Leonidaion lie to the west.</p><br>
<p>Olympia was also known for the gigantic ivory and gold statue of Zeus that used to stand there, sculpted by Pheidias, which was named one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World by Antipater of Sidon. Very close to the Temple of Zeus which housed this statue, the studio of Pheidias was excavated in the 1950s. Evidence found there, such as sculptor&#39;s tools, corroborates this opinion. The ancient ruins sit north of the Alpheios River and south of Mount Kronos (named after the Greek deity Kronos). The Kladeos, a tributary of the Alpheios, flows around the area.</p><br>
<h3>Site plan</h3><br>
<p>1. Northwest Propylon,</p><br>
<p>2. Prytaneion,</p><br>
<p>3. Philippeion,</p><br>
<p>4. Temple of Hera,</p><br>
<p>5. Pelopion,</p><br>
<p>6. Nymphaeum of Herodes Atticus,</p><br>
<p>7. Metroon,</p><br>
<p>8. Treasuries,</p><br>
<p>9. Crypt (arched way to the stadium),</p><br>
<p>10. Stadium,</p><br>
<p>11. Echo Stoa,</p><br>
<p>12. Building of Ptolemy II and Arsinoe II,</p><br>
<p>13. Hestia stoa,</p><br>
<p>14. Hellenistic building,</p><br>
<p>15. Temple of Zeus,</p><br>
<p>16. Altar of Zeus,</p><br>
<p>17. Ex-voto of Achaeans,</p><br>
<p>18. Ex-voto of Mikythos,</p><br>
<p>19. Nike of Paeonius,</p><br>
<p>20. Gymnasion,</p><br>
<p>21. Palaestra,</p><br>
<p>22. Theokoleon,</p><br>
<p>23. Heroon,</p><br>
<p>24. Pheidias&#39; workshop and paleochristian basilica,</p><br>
<p>25. Baths of Kladeos,</p><br>
<p>26. Greek baths,</p><br>
<p>27. and 28. Hostels,</p><br>
<p>29. Leonidaion,</p><br>
<p>30. South baths,</p><br>
<p>31. Bouleuterion,</p><br>
<p>32. South stoa,</p><br>
<p>33. Villa of Nero.</p><br>
<p>Treasuries.</p><br>
<p>I. Sicyon,</p><br>
<p>II. Syracuse,</p><br>
<p>III. Epidamnus(?),</p><br>
<p>IV. Byzantium(?),</p><br>
<p>V. Sybaris(?),</p><br>
<p>VI. Cyrene(?),</p><br>
<p>VII. Unidentified,</p><br>
<p>VIII. Altar(?),</p><br>
<p>IX. Selinunte,</p><br>
<p>X. Metapontum,</p><br>
<p>XI. Megara,</p><br>
<p>XII. Gela.</p><br>
<h2>History</h2><br>
<h3>Prehistory</h3><br>
<p>Remains of food and burnt offerings dating back to the 10th century BC give evidence of a long history of religious activity at the site. No buildings have survived from this earliest period of use.</p><br>
<h3>Geometric and Archaic periods</h3><br>
<p>The first Olympic festival was organized on the site by the authorities of Elis in the 8th century BC – with tradition dating the first games at 776 BC. Major changes were made to the site around 700 BC, including levelling land and digging new wells. Elis&#39; power diminished and the sanctuary fell into the hands of the Pisatans in 676 BC. The Pisatans organized the games until the late 7th century BC.</p><br>
<p>The earliest evidence of building activity on the site dates from around 600 BC. At this time the Skiloudians, allies of the Pistans, built the Temple of Hera. The Treasuries and the Pelopion were built during the course of the 6th century BC. The secular structures and athletic arenas were also under construction during this period including the Bouleuterion. The first stadium was constructed around 560 BC, it consisted of just a simple track. The stadium was remodelled around 500 BC with sloping sides for spectators and shifted slightly to the east. Over the course of the 6th century BC a range of sports were added to the Olympic festival. In 580 BC, Elis, in alliance with Sparta, occupied Pisa and regained the control over the sanctuary.</p><br>
<h3>Classical period</h3><br>
<p>The classical period, between the 5th and 4th centuries BC, was the golden age of the site at Olympia. A wide range of new religious and secular buildings and structures were constructed.</p><br>
<p>The Temple of Zeus was built in the middle of the 5th century BC. Its size, scale and ornamentation was beyond anything previously constructed on the site. Further sporting facilities, including the final iteration of the stadium, and the hippodrome (for chariot-racing) were constructed. The Prytaneion was built at the northwest side of the site in 470 BC. Also, the Greek Baths were constructed in the middle of the 5th century BC.</p><br>
<p>In the late classical period, further structures were added to the site. The Metroon was constructed near the Treasuries c.400 BC. The erection of the Echo Stoa, around 350 BC, separated off the sanctuary from the area of the games and stadium. The South Stoa was built at the southern edge of the sanctuary at approximately the same time.</p><br>
<h3>Hellenistic period</h3><br>
<p>The late 4th century BC saw the erection of the Philippeion. Around 300 BC the largest building on the site, the Leonidaion, was constructed to house important visitors. Due to the increasing importance of the games, further athletic buildings were constructed including the Palaestra (3rd century BC), Gymnasion (2nd century BC) and bath houses (c.300 BC). Finally, in 200 BC, a vaulted archway was erected linking the entrance of the stadium to the sanctuary.</p><br>
<h3>Roman period</h3><br>
<p>During the Roman period, the games were opened up to all citizens of the Roman Empire. A programme of new buildings and extensive repairs, including to the Temple of Zeus, took place. In 150 AD, the Nympheum (or Exedra) was built. New baths replaced the older Greek examples in 100 AD and an aqueduct constructed in 160 AD.</p><br>
<p>The 3rd century saw the site suffer heavy damage from a series of earthquakes. Invading tribes in 267 AD led to the centre of the site being fortified with material robbed from its monuments. Despite the destruction, the Olympic festival continued to be held at the site until the last Olympiad in 393 AD, after which the Christian emperor Theodosius I implemented a ban. The Temple of Zeus was apparently destroyed around 426 AD following an edict by Theodosius II enforcing the ban on pagan festivals. The workshop of Pheidias was turned into a Basilica and the site was inhabited by a Christian community. Archaeological evidence suggests that small scale Olympic events (possibly in Christian guise) were still being held secretly until Justinian&#39;s plague and two earthquakes devastated it by the mid-6th century. Repeated floods ensured that the settlement was finally abandoned altogether in the early 7th Century.</p><br>
<h3>Discovery and early excavations</h3><br>
<p>Over time the site was buried under alluvial deposits, up to 8 metres deep, long thought to be the result of river flooding. Modern research hypothesizes instead—based on the presence of mollusc and gastropod shells and foraminifera— that the site was buried by ocean waters resulting from repeated tsunamis.</p><br>
<p>The exact site was re-discovered in 1766 by the English antiquarian Richard Chandler. The first excavation of the sanctuary at Olympia was not carried out until 1829, by the French "Expedition Scientifique de Moree".</p><br>
<h3>1875–1881</h3><br>
<p>Since the 1870s, the excavation and preservation of Ancient Olympia has been the responsibility of the German Archaeological Institute at Athens. The first major excavation of Olympia began in 1875, funded by the German government after negotiation of exclusive access by Ernst Curtius. Other archaeologists responsible for the dig were Gustav Hirschfeld, George Treu, Adolf Furtwängler (who worked alongside architects), A. Boetticher, Wilhelm Dörpfeld, and Richard Borrmann. They excavated the central part of the sanctuary including the Temple of Zeus, Temple of Hera, Metroon, Bouleuterion, Philipeion, Echo Stoa, Treasuries and Palaestra. Important finds included sculptures from the Temple of Zeus, the Nike of Paeonius, the Hermes of Praxiteles and many bronzes. In total 14,000 objects were recorded. The finds were displayed in a museum on the site.</p><br>
<h3>1900–1950</h3><br>
<p>Excavation was continued in a more limited way by Dörpfeld between 1908 and 1929 but a new systematic excavation was begun in 1936 on the occasion of the 1936 Summer Olympics in Berlin under Emil Kunze and Hans Schleif. Their excavation focus was on the area to the south of the stadium, the South Stoa, bath complex and gymnasion.</p><br>
<h3>1950 to present</h3><br>
<p>Between 1952 and 1966, Kunze and Schleil continued the excavation joined by architect Alfred Mallwitz. They excavated Pheidias&#39; workshop, the Leonidaion and the north wall of the stadium. They also excavated the southeast section of the sanctuary and out of approximately 140 debris pits found many bronze and ceramic objects along with terracotta roof tiles.</p><br>
<p>Mallwitz took charge of the excavations between 1972 and 1984 revealing important dating evidence for the stadium, graves, and the location of the Prytaneion. From 1984 to 1996, Helmut Kyrieleis took over the site and the focus shifted to the earlier history of the sanctuary with excavation of the Prytaneion and Pelopion.</p><br>
<h2>Modern Olympia</h2><br>
<p>The Olympic flame of the modern-day Olympic Games is lit by reflection of sunlight in a parabolic mirror in front of the Temple of Hera and then transported by a torch to the place where the games are held. When the modern Olympics came to Athens in 2004, the mens and womens shot put competition was held at the restored Olympia stadium.</p><br>
<p>The town has a train station and is the easternmost terminus of the line of Olympia-Pyrgos (Ilia). The train station with the freight yard to its west is located about 300 m east of the town centre. It is linked by GR-74, and the new road was opened in the 1980s; the next stretch N and NE of Olympia opened in 2005. The distance from Pyrgos is 20 km, about 50 km SW of Lampeia, W of Tripoli and Arcadia and 4 km north of Krestena and N of Kyparissia and Messenia. The highway passes north of the ancient ruins. A reservoir is located 2 km southwest, damming up the Alfeios River. The area is hilly and mountainous; most of the area within Olympia is forested.</p><br>
<p>Panagiotis Kondylis, one of the most prominent modern Greek thinkers and philosophers, was born and raised in Olympia. When Pierre de Coubertin, the founder of the International Olympic Committee, died in 1937, a monument to him was erected at ancient Olympia. Emulating Evangelis Zappas, whose head is buried under a statue in front of the Zappeion, his heart was buried at the monument.</p><br>
<p>The site and town of Olympia were severely threatened and nearly damaged by the 2007 forest fires.</p><br>
<h2>Municipality</h2><br>
<p>The municipality Archaia Olympia ("Ancient Olympia") was formed at the 2011 local government reform by the merger of the following 4 former municipalities, that became municipal units:</p><br>
<p>Archaia Olympia</p><br>
<p>Foloi</p><br>
<p>Lampeia</p><br>
<p>Lasiona</p><br>
<p>The municipality has an area of 545.121 km, the municipal unit 178.944 km.</p><br>
<h3>Subdivisions</h3><br>
<p>The municipal unit of Archaia Olympia is divided into the following communities (villages within the communities given in brackets):</p><br>
<h3>Historical population</h3><br>
<h2>International relations</h2><br>
<p>Olympia, Greece is twinned with:</p><br>
<p>Castelvetrano, Italy</p><br>
<p>Pulau Tekong, also known colloquially as Tekong, is the largest of Singapore&#39;s outlying islands, with an area of 24.43 km. The island is still expanding due to land reclamation works on its southern and northwestern coasts which will eventually subsume many of its surrounding small islets, including Pulau Tekong Kechil.</p><br>
<p>Pulau Tekong is found off Singapore&#39;s northeastern coast, east of Pulau Ubin. Geographically, it is nearer to Johor, Malaysia than the Singapore main island itself. The Pulau Tekong Reservoir is also on the island.</p><br>
<h2>Etymology</h2><br>
<p>Pulau Tekong appears in the Franklin and Jackson&#39;s 1828 map as Po. Tukang. The early name could have arisen because the island served as a trading station for both residents of Pulau Ubin and the state of Johor. Tukang means merchant in this case.</p><br>
<p>Tekong means "an obstacle", so called because the island blocks the mouth of the Sungai Johor. Pulo Tekong Besar came under the Changi district, and the island had a sizeable population, being the largest island off Singapore and two miles from Fairy Point. Ferries plied from the pier at that point and the island daily. After 1920, it was mostly known for its rubber plantations.</p><br>
<h2>History</h2><br>
<p>The island was once home to 5000 inhabitants, the last of which moved out in 1987. 60 percent of the inhabitants were Chinese, out of which 70 percent were Hakkas and 30 percent were Teochews, and 40 percent were Malays. There were a few Indians as well. The reason for Hakka being the majority of the Chinese population is that most of the Hokkien and Teochew businessmen already had flourishing businesses on the mainland. When the Hakkas arrived, they decided to eke out a living on an island less inhabited. Most were farmers, fishermen and shop owners selling sundry goods.</p><br>
<p>Wild pigs and deer were once plentiful on Pulau Tekong, and attracted hunters from Singapore. Pulo Tekong Besar had undergone so much development after World War II, with vegetable, fruit and poultry farms, that the wildlife has mostly disappeared.</p><br>
<p>Today, Pulau Tekong is used exclusively as a training base for various Singapore Army Units. Home to the Basic Military Training Centre (BMTC), this is also where young Singaporean males are conscripted into National Service. The School of Infantry Specialists (SISPEC), which was situated two kilometres from BMTC, relocated to a new campus at Pasir Laba Camp in December 2005. A new training area, called Sanyongkong Field Camp, has been completed on the reclaimed land south of Dogra Bridge. Built by the Combat Engineers, this field camp will be used to train Infantry and Guards battalions. It also provides habitat to some wild animals that are rarely seen in main island Singapore such as the leopard cat, Sunda slow loris and Sunda pangolin. The extended Pulau Tekong will massively replace all training grounds, like Mandai, Marsiling, Seletar, Nee Soon, Lower Seletar, Upper Thomson and Simpang.</p><br>
<h3>Runaway elephants</h3><br>
<p>On May 29, 1990, national servicemen spotted a family of three Indian elephants which had swum 1.5 km across the Straits of Johor. The Singapore Zoo worked with the Malaysian Wildlife Department&#39;s Elephant Capture and Translocation Unit to help in its plan to recapture the runaway elephants.</p><br>
<p>On June 10, all three elephants were captured and relocated back to the jungles of Johor.</p><br>
<h3>Land reclamation issues</h3><br>
<p>Land reclamation work is currently undergoing off the southern part of the island. Malaysia has referred the reclamation issue to International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea under the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea on July 2003. Subsequently, the tribunal ordered a year-long joint study on the issue. The conflict was resolved on April 2005 following a signing of agreement between the two countries. The agreement includes modifications of the island in "Area D". The signed agreement was sent to the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea for final judgment.</p><br>
<h3>Armed robbery incident</h3><br>
<p>In March 2004 Pulau Tekong was the hiding place for a group of armed robbers comprising two Indonesians and a Malaysian. The robbers had fled from Malaysia, sparking off a massive coordinated manhunt involving Air Force helicopters, commandos, ground surveillance radar, troops from the 2nd Singapore Infantry Regiment, troops from the 40th Singapore Armoured Regiment and the Singapore Police Force. All three were caught by police officers; two by members of the Gurkha Contingent and one by the Police Coast Guard&#39;s Special Task Squadron. They were later charged with illegal entry and possession of firearms.</p><br>
<h2>Coastal protection</h2><br>
<p>The National Biodiversity Centre and National Parks Board (NParks) will be conducting coastal protection and restoration works at the north-eastern coastline of Pulau Tekong which suffers from coastal erosion. The National Biodiversity Centre stated that the erosion resulted from the movements of ships and strong waves in the area. A study NParks commissioned in 2006 found that 1.65 km of the north-eastern shore is most severely affected. The coastal erosion poses a threat to the 92 hectares of mangroves in Pulau Tekong which is one of the largest remaining mangrove areas in Singapore with a mature and undisturbed habitat.</p><br>
<h2>In popular culture</h2><br>
<p>In Singaporean folklore, the island is deemed to be extremely haunted. It is unclear if these beliefs actually date back to the days when Tekong was inhabited by civilians or if they sprang up after the island was taken over as military territory. The lives of the inhabitants of Pulau Tekong before it was turned into a training area for the Singaporean military was portrayed in the Singapore Broadcasting Corporation (now MediaCorp) Channel 8 drama "Son of Pulau Tekong".</p><br>
<p>Buachaille Etive Mòr , generally known to climbers simply as The Buachaille, is a mountain at the head of Glen Etive in the Highlands of Scotland. Its pyramidal form, as seen from the A82 road when travelling towards Glen Coe, makes it one of the most recognisable mountains in Scotland, and one of the most depicted on postcards and calendars.</p><br>
<p>Buachaille Etive Mòr takes the form of a ridge nearly five miles (8 km) in length, almost entirely encircled by the River Etive and its tributaries. The ridge contains four principal tops: from north-east to south-west these are Stob Dearg (1022 m), Stob na Doire (1011 m), Stob Coire Altruim (941 m) and Stob na Bròige (956 m). Stob Dearg and Stob na Bròige are both Munros; the latter was promoted to Munro status by the Scottish Mountaineering Club in 1997.</p><br>
<h2>Ascent</h2><br>
<p>The steep, craggy north-eastern face of Stob Dearg forms the classic aspect of the mountain as seen from the Kings House Hotel, and constitutes the most direct route of ascent for climbers and scramblers. Crowberry Ridge, a classic rock climb graded severe, was first climbed direct &ndash; and photographed &ndash; in 1900 by the Abraham brothers with Messrs Puttrell and Baker. Immediately to the left is Curved Ridge, one of the most famous scrambling routes.</p><br>
<p>Alternatively there is a somewhat eroded path leading steeply up the Coire na Tulaich which, in summer conditions, allows walkers to ascend the peaks, reaching the ridge about half a kilometre west of Stob Dearg.</p><br>
<p>Buachaille Etive Mòr is separated from its sister mountain of Buachaille Etive Beag to the west by the valley of Lairig Gartain. To the east lies Glen Etive, which provides an alternative route of ascent, heading up steep grassy slopes to the summit of Stob na Bròige. Another route follows the Allt Coire Altruim from the Lairig Gartain, reaching the ridge about two thirds of the way along from the north. This route is often used as descent route in conjunction with an ascent via Coire na Tulaich, forming a circular route with a walk out along the Lairig Gartain.</p><br>
<p>On 24 January 2009, three mountain climbers were killed and one was seriously injured in an avalanche disaster.</p><br>
<h2>Lagangarbh Hut</h2><br>
<p>The only building in the vicinity of Buachaille Etive Mòr is Lagangarbh Hut, popularly referred to as a cottage on account of its appearance. It sits at the foot of Buachaille Etive Mòr, adjacent to the River Coupall, and near the A82. It is owned by the National Trust, and managed by the Scottish Mountaineering Club, who make it available to hire as accommodation; up to 30 people can be accommodated.</p><br>
<h2>In popular culture</h2><br>
<p>Buachaille Etive Mòr appears in the background during a song sequence in the 1998 Bollywood film Kuch Kuch Hota Hai. Together with Beinn a&#39;Chrulaiste it can also be seen in the film Skyfall, where James Bond transports M away from the villain Raoul Silva.</p><br>
<p>The Coral Sea is a marginal sea of the South Pacific off the northeast coast of Australia, and classified as an interim Australian bioregion. The Coral Sea extends 2,000 km down the Australian northeast coast.</p><br>
<p>It is bounded in the west by the east coast of Queensland, thereby including the Great Barrier Reef, in the east by Vanuatu (formerly the New Hebrides) and by New Caledonia, and in the northeast approximately by the southern extremity of the Solomon Islands. In the northwest, it reaches to the south coast of eastern New Guinea, thereby including the Gulf of Papua. It merges with the Tasman Sea in the south, with the Solomon Sea in the north and with the Pacific Ocean in the east. On the west, it is bounded by the mainland coast of Queensland, and in the northwest, it connects with the Arafura Sea through the Torres Strait.</p><br>
<p>The sea is characterised by its warm and stable climate, with frequent rains and tropical cyclones. It contains numerous islands and reefs, as well as the world&#39;s largest reef system, the Great Barrier Reef (GBR), which was declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 1981. All previous oil exploration projects were terminated at the GBR in 1975, and fishing is restricted in many areas. The reefs and islands of the Coral Sea are particularly rich in birds and aquatic life and are a popular tourist destination, both nationally and internationally.</p><br>
<h2>Extent</h2><br>
<p>While the Great Barrier Reef with its islands and cays belong to Queensland, most reefs and islets east of it are part of the Coral Sea Islands Territory. In addition, some islands west of and belonging to New Caledonia are also part of the Coral Sea Islands in a geographical sense, such as the Chesterfield Islands and Bellona Reefs.</p><br>
<p>The International Hydrographic Organization defines the limits of the Coral Sea as follows:</p><br>
<p>On the North. The South coast of New Guinea from the entrance to the Bensbach River (141°01&#39;E) to Gadogadoa Island near its Southeastern extreme ({{coord|10|38|S|150|34|E|display=inline}}), down this meridian to the 100 fathom line and thence along the Southern edges of Uluma Reef and those extending to the Eastward as far as the Southeast point of Lawik Reef ({{coord|11|43.5|S|153|56.5|E|display=inline}}) off Tagula Island, thence a line to the Southern extreme of Rennell Island (Solomon Islands) and from its Eastern point to Cape Surville, the Eastern extreme of San Cristobal Island Makira, Solomons; thence through Nupani Island, the Northwestern of the Santa Cruz Islands ({{coord|10|04.5|S|165|40.5|E|display=inline}}) to the Northernmost Island of the Duff Islands ({{coord|9|48.5|S|167|06|E|display=inline}}).</p><br>
<p>On the Northeast. From the Northernmost island of the Duff Islands, through these islands to their Southeastern extreme, thence a line to Méré Lava, Vanuatu Islands({{coord|14|25|S|163|03|E|display=inline}}) and down the Eastern coasts of the islands of this Group to Anatom Island ({{coord|20|11|S|169|51|E|display=inline}}) in such a way that all the islands of these Groups, and the straits separating them, are included in the Coral Sea.</p><br>
<p>On the Southeast. A line from the Southeastern extreme of Anatom Island to Nokanhoui (reefs) ({{coord|22|46|S|167|34|E|display=inline}}) off the Southeast extreme of New Caledonia, thence through the East point of Middleton Reef to the Eastern extreme of Elizabeth Reef ({{coord|29|55|S|159|02|E|display=inline}}) and down this meridian to Latitude 30° South.</p><br>
<p>On the South. The parallel of 30° South to the Australian coast.</p><br>
<p>On the West. The Eastern limit of the Arafura Sea The entrance to the Bensbak River (141°01&#39;E), and thence a line to the Northwest extreme of York Peninsula, Australia ({{coord|11|05|S|142|03|E|display=inline}}) and the East Coast of Australia as far south as Latitude 30° South.</p><br>
<h2>Geology</h2><br>
<p>The Coral Sea basin was formed between 58 million and 48 million years ago when the Queensland continental shelf was uplifted, forming the Great Dividing Range, and continental blocks subsided at the same time. The sea has been an important source of coral for the Great Barrier Reef, both during its formation and after sea level lowering.</p><br>
<p>The geological formation processes are still proceeding, as partly evidenced by the seismic activity. Several hundred earthquakes with the magnitude between 2 and 6 were recorded in the period 1866–2000 along the Queensland coast and in the Coral Sea. On 2 April 2007, the Solomon Islands were struck by a major earthquake followed by a several metres tall tsunami. The epicentre of this magnitude 8.1 earthquake was 349 km northwest of Honiara, at a depth of 10 km. It was followed by more than 44 aftershocks of a magnitude 5.0 or greater. The resulting tsunami killed at least 52 people and destroyed more than 900 homes.</p><br>
<p>The sea received its name because of its numerous coral formations. They include the GBR, which extends about 2,000 km along the northeast coast of Australia and includes approximately 2,900 individual reefs and 1000 islands. The Chesterfield Islands and Lihou Reef are the largest atolls of the Coral Sea.</p><br>
<h2>Hydrology</h2><br>
<p>Major Coral Sea currents form a counter-clockwise gyro which includes the East Australian Current. It brings warm nutrient-poor waters from the Coral Sea down the east coast of Australia to the cool waters of the Tasman Sea. This current is the strongest along the Australian coasts and transforms 30 million m/s of water within a flow band of about 100 kilometres wide and 500 metres deep. The current is strongest around February and weakest around August.</p><br>
<p>The major river flowing into the sea is the Burdekin River, which has its delta southeast of Townsville. Owing to the seasonal and annual variations in occurrence of cyclones and in precipitation (typically between 200 and 1600 mm/year), its annual discharge can vary more than 10 times between the two succeeding years. In particular, in the period 1920–1999, the average flow rate near the delta was below 1000 m/s in 1923, 1931, 1939, 1969, 1982, 1985, 1987, 1993 and 1995; it was above 25,000 m/s in 1927, 1940, 1946, 1950, 1951, 1959, 1968, 1972, 1974 and 1991, and reached about 40,000 m/s in 1946. This irregularity results in concomitant fluctuations of the sea water composition near the river delta.</p><br>
<p>The surface water temperature varies on the south of the sea from 19 °C in August to 24 °C in February. It is rather warm and stable at 27–28 °С in the north all through the year. Water salinity is 34.5–35.5‰ (parts per thousand). The water is mostly very clear, with the visibility of about 30 metres (100 ft) near the reefs.</p><br>
<h2>Climate</h2><br>
<p>The sea has a subtropical climate and is frequently hit by tropical cyclones, especially between January and April.</p><br>
<p>Annual rainfall typically ranges between 1,000 and 3,000 mm depending on the area. Most rains fall between December and March, in bursts of 30–60 days.</p><br>
<p>Climate change made it 175 times more likely that the surface waters of the Coral Sea would reach the record-breaking temperatures March 2016 that bleached reefs, modeling analysis showed.</p><br>
<h3>Winds</h3><br>
<p>Winds in the Coral Sea can be classified by season, longitude and latitude. Southeasterly trade winds dominate through all sea areas and all seasons, especially between 20°S and 25°S, west of the meridian of 155°E. However, between September and December they change to northerly and northwesterly winds in this region, and the direction is mostly southwestern in May–August. West of 155°E, gales are common between January and August and are less frequent in September–December.</p><br>
<p>In January, the northwest monsoon may occur between the parallels of 15°S and 20°S, west of the 150°E meridian. Gales are rare in this region most of the year except for June–August, when strong southeasterly winds occur a few days per month.</p><br>
<p>The southeasterly trades are also strong north of 15°S between March and November. They weaken and often change to westerly winds in December and to northerly and northwesterly winds in January</p><br>
<p>and February.</p><br>
<h2>Flora</h2><br>
<p>The Australian shore of the Coral Sea is mostly composed of sand. The GBR is too far away to provide significant coral deposits, but it effectively screens the coast from the ocean waves. As a result, most land vegetation spreads down to the sea, and the coastal waters are rich in underwater vegetation, such as green algae. The most common genera of seagrasses are Halophila and Halodule.</p><br>
<p>The islands of the GBR contain more than 2,000 plant species, and three of these are endemic. The northern islands have 300–350 plant species which tend to be woody, whereas the southern islands have 200 which are more herbaceous; the Whitsunday region is the most diverse, supporting 1,141 species. The plants are spread by birds.</p><br>
<h2>Fauna</h2><br>
<p>The sea hosts numerous species of anemones, sponges, worms (e.g. Spirobranchus giganteus shown in the photograph), gastropods, lobsters, crayfish, prawns and crabs. Red algae Lithothamnion and Porolithon colour many coral reefs purple-red and the green alga Halimeda is found throughout the sea. The coastal plants consisting of only about 30–40 species, and mangroves occur in the northern part of the sea. Four hundred coral species, both hard corals and soft corals inhabit the reefs. The majority of these spawn gametes, breeding in mass spawning events that are triggered by the rising sea temperatures of spring and summer, the lunar cycle, and the diurnal cycle. Reefs in the inner GBR spawn during the week after the full moon in October, while the outer reefs spawn in November and December. Its common soft corals belong to 36 genera. There are more than 1500 fish species in the reef systems. Five hundred species of marine algae or seaweed live on the reef, including thirteen species of the Halimeda genus, which deposit calcareous mounds up to 100 m wide, creating mini-ecosystems on their surface which have been compared to rainforest cover.</p><br>
<p>Crown-of-thorns starfish (Acanthaster planci) is the major predator of the reefs, as it preys upon coral polyps by climbing onto them, extruding its stomach over them, and releasing digestive enzymes to absorb the liquefied tissue. An individual adult can eat up to 6 m of reef per year. In 2000, an outbreak of crown-of-thorns starfish contributed to a loss of 66% of live coral cover on sampled reefs. Changes in water quality and overfishing of natural predators, such as the Giant Triton, may have contributed to an increase in the number of crown-of-thorns starfish.</p><br>
<p>There are at least 30 species of whales, dolphins, and porpoises, including the dwarf minke whale, Indo-Pacific humpback dolphin, humpback whale and dugongs. Six species of sea turtles breed on the GBR – the green sea turtle, leatherback sea turtle, hawksbill turtle, loggerhead sea turtle, flatback turtle and the Olive Ridley.</p><br>
<p>More than 200 species of birds (including 22 species of seabirds and 32 species of shorebirds) visit, nest or roost on the islands and reefs, including the white-bellied sea eagle and roseate tern. Most nesting sites are on islands in the northern and southern regions of the GBR, with 1.4–1.7 million birds using the sites to breed.</p><br>
<p>Seventeen species of sea snake, including Laticauda colubrina (pictured), live on the GBR in warm waters up to 50 m deep and are more common in the southern than in the northern section; none of them are endemic or endangered. The venom of many of these snakes is highly toxic; for example, Aipysurus duboisii is regarded as the world&#39;s most venomous sea snake.</p><br>
<p>There are more than 1,500 fish species, including the clownfish (Amphiprioninae), red bass (Lutjanus bohar), red-throat emperor (Lethrinus miniatus), coral trout (Plectropomus leopardus) and several species of snapper (Lutjanidae). Forty-nine species mass spawn and eighty-four other species spawn elsewhere in their range. With a maximum total length of 0.84 cm (0.33 in), Schindleria brevipinguis, which is native to the GBR and Osprey Reef, is one of the smallest known fish and vertebrate. There are at least 330 species of ascidians on the reef system with the diameter of 1 -. Between 300 and 500 species of bryozoans live on the reef.</p><br>
<p>Saltwater crocodiles live in mangrove and salt marshes on the coast. Around 125 species of shark, stingray, skates or chimaera live on the GBR, in addition to about 5,000 species of mollusc. The latter include the giant clam and various nudibranchs and cone snails.</p><br>
<p>One study of 443 individual sharks gives the following distribution of their species on the Australian side of the Coral Sea: grey reef shark (Carcharhinus amblyrhynchos, 69%), whitetip reef shark (Triaenodon obesus, 21%), silvertip shark (Carcharhinus albimarginatus, 10%), tiger shark (Galeocerdo cuvier, &lt;1%) and great hammerhead (Sphyrna mokarran, &lt;1%). The interaction rate (free diving) at the Coral Sea reefs ranged from a few to 26 sharks per</p><br>
<p>hour. The rare Etmopterus dislineatus shark species is endemic to the central part of the Coral Sea. It has been observed at depths of 590–700 m on or near the continental slope.</p><br>
<h2>Human activities</h2><br>
<p>The coastal areas of the Coral Sea were populated at least 40,000 years ago by prehistoric people descending through the northern islands. Those Aboriginal tribes have been dispersed and nowadays only about 70 groups live in the area around the GBR.</p><br>
<p>The sea was the location for the Battle of the Coral Sea, a major confrontation during World War II between the navies of the Empire of Japan, and the United States and Australia.</p><br>
<p>Navigation has long been a traditional human activity on the Coral Sea and there are 10 major ports on the Queensland coast alone. More than 3,500 ships operated in this area in 2007, making over 9,700 voyages that transported coal, sugar, iron ore, timber, oil, chemicals, cattle and other goods. The abundance of coral reefs hinders shipping traffic, and about 50–60 accidents per year were reported between 1990 and 2007 in the GBR alone.</p><br>
<p>Other economic activities in the sea include fishing and exploration of petroleum deposits in the Gulf of Papua. The sea is also a popular tourism destination. In 2006–2007, tourism on the GBR contributed A$5.1 billion to the Australian economy. The tourism is mostly foreign or from remote parts of Australia, with a local contribution of about A$153 million. In particular, about 14.6 million visits were made to the Coral Sea reefs by the Queensland residents over 12 months in 2008. Growing concerns over the environmental effects of tourism resulted in establishment in 1975 of the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park. There are also smaller state and national parks. In 1981, the Great Barrier Reef was declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO. From the middle of 2004, approximately one-third of the GBR Marine Park is protected from species removal of any kind, including fishing, without written permission.</p><br>
<p>It was suggested in 1923 that the Great Barrier Reef contains a major oil reservoir. After the Commonwealth Petroleum Search Subsidies Act of 1957, hydrocarbon exploration increased in Queensland, including a well drilled at Wreck Island in the southern Great Barrier Reef in 1959. In the 1960s, drilling for oil and gas was investigated throughout the Great Barrier Reef, in the Torres Strait, along "the eastern seaboard of Cape York to Princess Charlotte Bay" and along the coast from Cooktown to Fraser Island. In the late 1960s, more exploratory oil wells were drilled near Wreck Island in the Capricorn Channel, and near Darnley Island in the Torres Strait, but with no results. Yet oil spills due to shipping accidents are still a threat to environment, with a total of 282 spills between 1987 and 2002.</p><br>
<p>Queensland has several major urban centres on the coast including Cairns, Townsville, Mackay, Rockhampton, Bundaberg, Sunshine Coast and the industrial city of Gladstone, which inevitably contaminate the sea. About thirty rivers and hundreds of small streams add continental water, which contains sediments, pesticides and industrial waste. Runoff is especially concerning in the region south of Cairns, as it may receive up to 4200 mm of rain per year. The area is continuously urbanising, so that the population is expected to increase by 40% by 2026. As a result, 70–90% of the coastal wetlands has been lost over the past decades, and many remaining flora species are endangered.</p><br>
<p>On 3 April 2010, the Chinese ship Shen Neng 1 carrying 950 tonnes of oil, ran aground east of Rockhampton in Central Queensland, Australia, causing the 2010 Great Barrier Reef oil spill and inflicting the largest damage to the GBR and the Coral Sea so far. The scarred area was roughly 3 km long and 250 m wide, and some parts of it have become completely devoid of marine life. There are concerns that there could be considerable long-term damage and it will take 10 to 20 years for the reef to recover. By 13 April 2010, oil tar balls were washing up on the beaches of North West Island, a significant bird rookery and turtle nesting colony.</p><br>
<p>A group of 10 environment NGOs have come together as a coalition called the Protect our Coral Sea campaign, asking the government to create a very large highly protected Coral Sea Marine Park. In November 2011 the Australian government announced that a 989,842 km&sup2; protected area was planned and pending approval.</p><br>
<p>Enoshima is a small offshore island, about 4 km in circumference, at the mouth of the Katase River which flows into the Sagami Bay of Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan. Administratively, Enoshima is part of the mainland city of Fujisawa, and is linked to the eponymous Katase section of that city by a 600 m bridge. Home to some of the closest sandy beaches to Tokyo and Yokohama, the island and adjacent coastline are the hub of a local resort area.</p><br>
<h2>History</h2><br>
<p>Benzaiten, the goddess of music and entertainment, is enshrined on the island. The island in its entirety is dedicated to the goddess, who is said to have caused it to rise from the bottom of the sea in the sixth century. The island is the scene of the Enoshima Engi, a history of shrines on Enoshima written by the Japanese Buddhist monk Kōkei in 1047 AD.</p><br>
<p>In 1880, after the Shinto and Buddhism separation order of the new Meiji government had made the land available, much of the uplands was purchased by Samuel Cocking, a British merchant, in his Japanese wife&#39;s name. He developed a power plant and extensive botanical gardens including a very large greenhouse. Although the original greenhouse was destroyed in the 1923 Great Kantō earthquake, the botanical garden (now the Samuel Cocking Garden) remains an attraction with over half a million visitors a year.</p><br>
<p>Enoshima is now the center of Shōnan, a resort area along the coast of Sagami Bay.</p><br>
<h2>Transportation</h2><br>
<p>Enoshima is served by three nearby railway stations: Katase-Enoshima Terminus on the Odakyū Enoshima Line, Enoshima Station on the Enoshima Electric Railway ("Enoden"), and Shōnan-Enoshima Station on the Shonan Monorail.</p><br>
<h2>Sport</h2><br>
<p>Enoshima was the Olympic harbor for the 1964 Summer Olympics. Enoshima will also be the sailing and surfing venue for the 2020 Summer Olympics.</p><br>
<p>Sagami Bay lies south of Kanagawa Prefecture in Honshu, central Japan, contained within the scope of the Miura Peninsula, in Kanagawa, to the east, the Izu Peninsula, in Shizuoka Prefecture, to the west, and the Shōnan coastline to the north, while the island of Izu Ōshima marks the southern extent of the bay. It lies approximately 40 km southwest of the capital, Tokyo. Cities on the bay include Odawara, Chigasaki, Fujisawa, Hiratsuka, Itō, and Kamakura.</p><br>
<h2>History</h2><br>
<p>The epicenter of the Great Kantō earthquake in 1923 was deep beneath Izu Ōshima Island in Sagami Bay. It devastated Tokyo, the port city of Yokohama, and the surrounding prefectures of Chiba, Kanagawa, and Shizuoka, and caused widespread damage throughout the Kantō region. The shallow nature of the seabed on the north of the bay, and the funnelling effect of tsunami and typhoon wave energy, contributed to certain parts of the Shonan coast having suffered considerable damage, including the destruction of the Kōtoku-in temple housing the Great Buddha, or Daibutsu during the massive tsunami of 1498.</p><br>
<h2>Natural environment</h2><br>
<p>A branch of the warm Kuroshio Current warms the bay, allowing it to host marine organisms typical of more southerly regions and giving a mild climate to the land bordering it. The maximum depth of Sagami Bay is about 1500 meters.</p><br>
<p>Organisms from sub-arctic regions are advected into the bay by intrusions of the Oyashio Current resulting in very high biodiversity. It is the major study site for research programs at the University of Tokyo (ORI) and the Japan Agency for Marine-Earth Science and Technology (JAMSTEC).</p><br>
<p>In 2004, soil samples from Sagami Bay were found to contain radioactive contamination from the Bikini Atoll nuclear tests that took place from 1946 to 1958.</p><br>
<p>Paxi or Paxoi  is the smallest island group within the Ionian Islands . In Greek it is a plural form. The largest islands are Paxos and nearby Antipaxos. Antipaxos is famous for its wine and two of the finest sand beaches in the Ionian Sea. The main town of Paxoi, and the seat of the municipality, is Gaios. The municipality has an area of 30.121 km. In Greek mythology, Poseidon created the island by striking Corfu with his trident, so that he and his wife Amphitrite could have some peace and quiet.</p><br>
<h2>History</h2><br>
<p>Although it was possibly inhabited from prehistoric times, the Phoenicians are traditionally held to have been the first settlers on Paxos. The name is believed to be derived from Pax, which meant trapezoidal in their language.</p><br>
<p>This island is noted for the Battle of Paxos, fought between the ancient Greek and Illyrian fleets during the First Illyrian War in 229 BC. The battle is recorded by the ancient historian Polybius (The Histories, book 2, chapter 2).</p><br>
<p>The Romans ruled the island from the 2nd century BC, and during the Byzantine period and Middle Ages it was constantly attacked by pirates. After various rulers and Crusaders had passed through, the island was taken by the Venetians at the end of the 14th century.</p><br>
<p>During the Napoleonic wars, the Ionian Islands were taken by the French and the Russo-Turkish alliance. On 13 February 1814, the island of Paxos surrendered to the Royal Navy frigate HMS Apollo and 160 troops from the 2nd Greek Light Infantry from Cephalonia and the 35th Regiment of the Royal Corsican Rangers. In 1815, United Kingdom established the Ionian Union. In 1864, together with the rest of the Heptanese, Paxos was ceded to Greece.</p><br>
<h2>Geography</h2><br>
<p>The island is approximately eight miles (8 mi) in length and tipped up towards the west. The west coast is dominated by steep white, chalky cliffs that are greatly eroded at sea level, and harbour many blue caves, which can be explored on launches departing from Gaios. Much of the attractive landscape is still covered in olive groves. These stretch from Lakka, the harbour community in the north, through Magazia to Gaios, the capital. Olive oil making, soap manufacture and fishing were supplanted by tourism as the main industry in the mid sixties, resulting in a construction boom, which has greatly altered the coastline around Gaios, the capital of the Paxiot demos (community). There are ferry and jetfoil connections daily with Kerkyra (Corfu) and with the mainland at Igoumenitsa. Excursions via Corfu to Albania (the resort of Saranda and the magnificent Greco-Roman settlement of Butrint) can also be arranged with the local jetfoil operators.</p><br>
<h2>Province</h2><br>
<p>The province of Paxoi (Επαρχία Παξών) was one of the provinces of the Corfu Prefecture. Its territory corresponded with that of the current municipality Paxoi. It was abolished in 2006.</p><br>
<h2>Foreign residents</h2><br>
<p>Among well known semi-permanent British inhabitants were Audrey Good, former commander of the UN refugee bases in Epirus following the Greek Civil War, the late actor Peter Bull (author of It isnt all Greek to me) and actress Susannah York. Some members of the Agnelli family (of FIAT fame) have built a palatial holiday home—complete with faux medieval tower—on a small island (Kaltonisi) situated near the southernmost tip (the heel) of Paxos, close to the popular beach of Mongonissi. The presence of such residents, and the development of the coastal area (mostly by Italian nationals) explains why Paxos has now become one of the most expensive pieces of real estate in Greece. One of Loggoss landmarks, the so-called Manor House was put on sale for 1.6M€ in 2006.</p><br>
<p>Paxos is part of a European network called Cultural Village of Europe. It hosts a yearly classical music festival (founded by John Gough, and now organised by the Guildhall), which attracts some of Europe&#39;s finest young performers. This festival usually takes place in late August/early September, however the 2010 festival is in doubt as sponsorship cannot be determined. Concerts are usually held in the now-disused school of Longos, Paxoi.</p><br>
<h2>Communities and settlements</h2><br>
<p>Antipaxos (nearby island)</p><br>
<p>Mogonisi (nearby island)</p><br>
<p>Nisaki or Panagia (nearby island)</p><br>
<p>Katsonisi (nearby island)</p><br>
<p>Apergatika</p><br>
<p>Argyratika</p><br>
<p>Arvanitakeika</p><br>
<p>Aronatika</p><br>
<p>Dalietatika</p><br>
<p>Gaios (seat)</p><br>
<p>Gramatikeika</p><br>
<p>Lakka (second biggest settlement)</p><br>
<p>Longos (third biggest settlement)(also called Loggos)</p><br>
<p>Magazia</p><br>
<p>Makratika</p><br>
<p>Ozias</p><br>
<p>Platanos (or Fontana / Fountana)</p><br>
<p>Porto Longos</p><br>
<p>Velianitatika (or Veliantatika)</p><br>
<p>Vlachopoulatika</p><br>
<p>Zenebissatika</p><br>
<h2>Transport</h2><br>
<p>The island is serviced by ferry boats from the mainland Greece port of Igoumenitsa (1.5 hours), hydrofoils and ferry boats from Corfu (1-2 hours) and from Bari and Brindisi (4 hours). There is no airport but there was a privately owned seaplane service (7 minutes from Corfu town) operated by AirSea Lines. As of late 2009, this service is no-longer operational.</p><br>
<h2>Dialect</h2><br>
<p>A dialect is spoken resembling that of Corfu and having a similar prosody. It is heavily influenced by Italian. There is a.</p><br>
<h2>Trivia</h2><br>
<p>In his scientific article The Part-Time Parliament, Leslie Lamport created his Paxos algorithm for distributed voting, inventing a Greek society on the Aegean island Paxos as a whimsical illustration of an otherwise dry subject. He later admitted that the allegory was a dismal failure, in that it failed to pique readers&#39; interest in the underlying material.</p><br>
<p>The Paxos Animal Welfare Society (PAWS) is a small Anglo-Greek charity, dating from 2005 and registered in the UK, whose purpose is to improve the plight of animals on this beautiful Greek island. It has succeeded in making a substantial difference. Working closely with the municipality, it has established a new permanent surgery at Magazia, which was opened by the mayor in September 2013.</p><br>
<p>Kythira  is an island in Greece lying opposite the south-eastern tip of the Peloponnese peninsula. It is traditionally listed as one of the seven main Ionian Islands, although it is distant from the main group. Administratively, it belongs to the Islands regional unit, which is part of the Attica region .</p><br>
<p>The island is strategically located between the Greek mainland and Crete, and from ancient times until the mid 19th century was a crossroads of merchants, sailors, and conquerors. As such, it has had a long and varied history and has been influenced by many civilisations and cultures. This is reflected in its architecture (a blend of traditional, Aegean and Venetian elements), as well as the traditions and customs, influenced by centuries of coexistence of the Greek, Venetian, and Ottoman cultures.</p><br>
<h2>Administration</h2><br>
<p>Kythira and the nearby island of Antikythira were separate municipalities until they were merged at the 2011 local government reform; the two islands are now municipal units. The municipality has an area of 300.023 km, the municipal unit 279.593 km. The province of Kythira (Επαρχία Κυθήρων) was one of the provinces of the Piraeus Prefecture. It had the same territory as the present municipality Kythira. It was abolished in 2006.</p><br>
<h2>History</h2><br>
<h3>Pre-classical and ancient</h3><br>
<p>There are archaeological remains from the Helladic period, contemporary with the Minoans. There is archaeological evidence of Kythiran trade as far as Egypt and Mesopotamia.</p><br>
<p>Kythira had a Phoenician colony in the early archaic age; the sea-snail which produces Tyrian purple is native to the island. Xenophon refers to a Phoenician Bay in Kythira (Hellenica 4.8.7, probably Avlemonas Bay on the eastern side of the island). The archaic Greek city of Kythira was at Scandea on Avlemonas; its ruins have been excavated. Its acropolis, now Palicastro (Palaeocastron, "Old Fort"), has the temple of Aphrodite Ourania, who may well represent a Phoenician cult of Astarte.</p><br>
<p>In classical times, Kythira was part of the territory of several larger city-states. Sparta took the island from Argos early in the sixth century, and ruled it under a kytherodíkes (kυθηροδίκης, "judge on Kythira"), in Thucydides&#39; time; Athens occupied it three times when at war with Sparta (in 456 during her first war with Sparta and the Peloponnesians; from 426 to 410, through most of the great Peloponnesian War; and from 393 to 387/386, during the Corinthian War against Spartan dominance) and used it both to support her trade and to raid Laconia.</p><br>
<p>Kythira was independent, and issued her own coins, in 195, after the Achaean defeat of Sparta. In Augustus&#39; time, it was again subject to Sparta, being the property of Gaius Julius Eurycles, who was both a Spartan magnate and a Roman citizen.</p><br>
<p>By this time, the Greek cities were in practice subject to the Roman Empire. Kythira continued to exist under the Roman Empire and its Byzantine successor state for centuries. Christianity is attested from the fourth century AD, the time of Constantine; according to her legend, Saint Elessa came from Laconia to convert the island.</p><br>
<h3>Medieval and modern</h3><br>
<p>Kythira is not mentioned in the literary sources for centuries after its conversion; in the period of Byzantine weakness at the end of the seventh century, it might have been exposed to attacks from both the Slavic tribes who raided the mainland and from Arab pirates from the sea. Archaeological evidence suggests the island was abandoned about 700 AD.</p><br>
<p>When Saint Theodore of Cythera led a resettlement after the Byzantine reconquest of Crete in 962, he found the island occupied only by wandering bands of hunters. He established a great monastery at Paliochora; a town grew up around it, largely populated from Laconia.</p><br>
<p>When the Byzantine Empire was divided among the conquerors of the Fourth Crusade, the Republic of Venice took her share, three eighths of the whole, as the Greek islands, Kythira among them. She established a coast patrol on Kythira and Antikythera to protect her trade route to Constantinople; Kythira was one of the islands Venice continued to hold despite the Greek reconquest of Constantinople and the Turkish presence all over the Near East. During the Venetian domination the island was known as Cerigo. Ottomans called this island Chuha Island (tr: Çuha Adası).</p><br>
<p>Kythirans still talk about the destruction and looting of Paliochora by Barbarossa; it has become an intrinsic part of the Kytherian folklore. One can easily accept the stories of locals by noticing the number of monasteries embedded in the rocky hillsides to avoid destruction by the pirates.</p><br>
<p>Barbary pirates ranged across the Mediterranean waters, raiding ships, coasts and islands, taking booty and slaves for the Barbary slave trade. Kythira was at the mercy of Barbary pirates due to its strategic location in the Mediterrean. In order to intercept merchant vessels, islands along the trade routes were of course more interesting for pirates. In the 17th century the small islands like Sapientza (Kalamatas) south of Messinia (district in south-western part of the Peloponnese), Cergio (Kythira) south of the south-eastern tip of the Peloponnese, and along the coast of Asia minor, the then deserted islands of Fourni southwest of Samos, and the island of Psara, west of Chios, all functioned as pirates nests.</p><br>
<p>When Napoleon put an end to the Venetian Republic in 1797, Kythira was among the islands incorporated in that most distant départment of France, called Mer-Égée. Kythira shared a common destiny with the other Ionian islands during the turbulent Napoleonic era, and is still regarded as one of them; it was counted as one of the Cyclades in antiquity.</p><br>
<p>In 1799, the Ionian islands became the Septinsular Republic, nominally under Ottoman suzerainty, but in practice dominated by Russia. In 1807, France took them back only to have the British seize the islands in 1809 and set up one of their first protectorates, the United States of the Ionian Islands. The British held them for nearly half a century; under the British, they were governed by a High Commissioner who could act with both legislative and executive powers. After a long history of turbulence, never settled even by such eminent Commissioners as William Ewart Gladstone, the British discussion whether they were a waste of money or a vital Imperial possession ended with the cession of the Ionian Islands, including Kythira, to the new King George I of Greece, who was brother-in-law to the Prince of Wales. Under the British, Kythira was known as Carigo or Cerigo, as was its chief town, the name it had under the Venetian Republic.</p><br>
<p>The chief town of the island, Kythira (or Chora, "village") has the Historical Archives of Kythira, the second largest in the Ionian islands, after Corfu.</p><br>
<h2>Geography</h2><br>
<p>Kythira has a land area of 279.593 km²; it is located at the southwestern exit from the Aegean Sea, behind Cape Malea. The rugged terrain is a result of prevailing winds from the surrounding seas which have shaped its shores into steep rocky cliffs with deep bays. The island has many beaches, of various composition and size; only half of them can be reached by road through the mountainous terrain of the island.</p><br>
<p>The Kythirian Straits are nearby.</p><br>
<p>Kythira is close to the Hellenic arc plate boundary zone, and thus highly prone to earthquakes. Many earthquakes in recorded history have had their epicentres near or on the island. Probably the largest in recent times is the 1903 earthquake near at the village of Mitata, that caused significant damage as well as limited loss of life. It has had two major earthquakes in the 21st century: that of November 5, 2004, measuring between 5.6 and 5.8 on the Richter scale and the earthquake of January 8, 2006, measuring 6.9 on the Richter scale. The epicenter of the latter was in the sea about 20 km to the east of Kythira, with a focus at a depth of approximately 70 km. Many buildings were damaged, particularly old ones, mostly in the village of Mitata, but with no loss of life. It was felt as far as Italy, Egypt, Malta and Jordan.</p><br>
<h3>Climate</h3><br>
<p>Kythira has a Mediterranean climate (Köppen climate classification Csa) with mild, rainy winters and warm to hot dry summers.</p><br>
<h2>Mythology</h2><br>
<p>In Ancient Greek mythology, Kythira was considered to be the island of celestial Aphrodite, the Goddess of love (cf. Cyprus, another island devoted to the Goddess of Love).</p><br>
<h2>Demographics</h2><br>
<p>Like many of the smaller Aegean islands, Kythira&#39;s population is decreasing. While the island had reached a peak population of about 14,500 in 1864, that has steadily declined mostly due to emigration, both internal (to major urban centres of Greece) and external (to Australia, the United States, Germany) in the first half of the 20th century. Today its population hovers around 3,354 people (2001 census).</p><br>
<h3>Villages of Kythira</h3><br>
<p>The largest villages (2001 Greek census) are Potamós (pop. 396), Agía Pelagía (281), Chóra/Kýthira (267), Áno Livádi (175), Kálamos (157), and Livádi (126).</p><br>
<p>Agia Pelagia Kythira, Port</p><br>
<p>Agios Ilias</p><br>
<p>Alexandrades</p><br>
<p>Ano Livadi</p><br>
<p>Aroniadika</p><br>
<p>Avlemonas</p><br>
<p>Chora, (also Kythira) Kytherian Capital</p><br>
<p>Christoforianika</p><br>
<p>Diakofti, Port</p><br>
<p>Fratsia</p><br>
<p>Friligianika</p><br>
<p>Gerakaria</p><br>
<p>Kalamos</p><br>
<p>Kapsali</p><br>
<p>Karavas</p><br>
<p>Karvounades</p><br>
<p>Kastrisianika</p><br>
<p>Keramoto</p><br>
<p>Kontolianika</p><br>
<p>Livadi, which is becoming the business center of the island</p><br>
<p>Katouni</p><br>
<p>Logothetianika</p><br>
<p>Louriantianika</p><br>
<p>Mitata</p><br>
<p>Mylopotamos</p><br>
<p>Pitsinianika</p><br>
<p>Platia Amos</p><br>
<p>Potamos, largest village</p><br>
<p>Stathianika</p><br>
<p>Viaradika</p><br>
<p>Vouno</p><br>
<h2>Economy</h2><br>
<p>Since the late 20th century, the Kythirean economy has largely focused and, in the process, has become dependent on tourism, which provides the majority of the islands income, despite the fact that Kythira is not one of the most popular tourist destinations in Greece. The popular season usually begins with the Greek holiday of Pentecost at the end of May, and lasts until the middle of September. During this time, primarily during August, the islands population will often triple due to the tourists and natives returning for vacation. Dependence on tourism has resulted in increased building activity in many of the island&#39;s villages, mostly for commercial purposes (hotels and hospitality facilities, shops etc.), but also secondary homes; prominent examples are Agia Pelagia and Livadi, both of which having witnessed significant growth in their size since the early 1990s.</p><br>
<p>Minor sources of revenue are thyme honey, famous within Greece for its rich flavor, as well as some small-scale cultivation of vegetables and fruit and animal husbandry that is, nevertheless, increasingly restricted to local consumption.</p><br>
<p>Only five of the islands villages are on the coast (Platia Amos, Agia Pelagia, Diakofti, Avlemonas, & Kapsali). During July and August, several traditional dances will be held in various villages. These dances usually attract the majority of the islands population, the biggest of which are the festival of Panagia in Potamos on 15 August, and the wine festival in Mitata on the first Friday and Saturday of August.</p><br>
<h2>Kythira (town)</h2><br>
<p>The capital, Chora, is located on the southern part of the island having no ports connected to the southern Peloponnese or Vatika. Kythira&#39;s port for Vatika was previously situated at Agia Pelagia, although in recent years this port has been decommissioned and has been replaced by a new port at the coastal town of Diakofti, Kythira.</p><br>
<p>Most of the over 60 village names end with "-anika" and a few end with -athika, -iana and -ades. This is due to the villages being named after influential families that settled first in that region. For Example, Logothetianika is derived from the Greek last name of Logothetis.</p><br>
<p>Officially, Greek is Kythiras main language. Despite popular belief, most places such as public services and local administrations, will be able to oblige to an individuals needs in English as well. In specific areas, some of Kythira&#39;s population is fluent in Italian.</p><br>
<h2>Transportation</h2><br>
<p>The island in the past has been plagued by a poor infrastructure, exacerbated by the effect of weather on transportation during the winter months. However the construction of the new port in Diakofti along with the renovation of the islands airport have significantly reduced these effects. A new road from the islands most populated town of Potamos in the north to the island&#39;s capital of Chora in the south is currently in the planning and development stage.</p><br>
<h3>Port</h3><br>
<p>Despite the fact that the island has been a trade route for centuries, construction of a modern port was postponed several times until the latter half of the 20th century. In 1933, efforts were made to construct a port in the village of Agia Pelagia, yet financial and governmental problems meant that it was only decades later that one was built. That small port of Agia Pelagia (currently being renovated from a ferry dock to a tourist/recreational boat dock) was the islands main port until the mid-1990s. Around that time the new port of Diakofti, the site originally chosen by the islands British rulers in the 19th century, was constructed along with a modern wider road, aiming to support larger cargo and passenger vessels. The port of Diakofti currently serves scheduled routes to/from Gythion, Kalamata, Antikythera, Piraeus, Crete & Neapolis - Vatika. Proposals have been made to attach a Marina to the south side of the port, however no plans or timetables have been produced. Additionally, the harbour of Agia Patrikia (north of Agia Pelagia) is the primary fishing boat harbour, housing two wide boatramps and a boat repair facility.</p><br>
<h3>Airport</h3><br>
<p>The island&#39;s primary airport is the Alexander S. Onassis Airport also known as Kithira Island National Airport, located in the region between the village of Friligiannika and Diakofti, about 8 km from the capital. The airport was revamped and extended at the turn of the 21st century, largely by private funds provided by the local population. The island is served by Olympic Air flights.</p><br>
<h2>Notable people</h2><br>
<p>Philoxenus (435-380 BC), dithyrambic poet</p><br>
<p>Marco Venier, Lord of Cerigo (– 1311) was a Lord of Cerigo</p><br>
<p>Valerios Stais (1857–1923), archaeologist</p><br>
<p>Yianis Vilaras (1771–1823), poet and author</p><br>
<p>Juliette de Bairacli Levy (1912–2009), herbalist and author</p><br>
<p>George Miller, Academy Award-winning Australian director and producer, Mad Max, Babe, Happy Feet</p><br>
<p>Alex Freeleagus, Australian lawyer and former Consul-General to Greece in Queensland</p><br>
<p>Tess Mallos, food and cooking writer, journalist, author and commentator</p><br>
<p>Manuel Aroney, organic chemistry</p><br>
<p>Georgia Cassimatis, journalist, Australian Cosmopolitan magazine</p><br>
<p>Nick Politis, car retailer and chairman of the Sydney Roosters rugby league club</p><br>
<h2>In popular culture</h2><br>
<p>Named as a destination of the galley carrying Judah Ben-Hur in Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ by Lew Wallace.</p><br>
<p>Botticelli&#39;s The Birth of Venus and other similarly themed paintings show the goddess Venus arriving either at the shore of Kythira or Cyprus, as classical mythology identifies both islands as her birthplace.</p><br>
<p>In the 1499 text Hypnerotomachia Polifili the protagonists Polia and Polifilo travel to Cythera to explore their love and find the fountain of Venus.</p><br>
<p>The island&#39;s status as the birthplace of the goddess is also referenced in the title and subject of the Antoine Watteau painting Embarkation for Cythera.</p><br>
<p>Couperin wrote Le Carillon de Cythere for harpsichord.</p><br>
<p>Charles Baudelaire, in the poem A Voyage to Cythera, called the island a "banal Eldorado".</p><br>
<p>The Baudelaire poem is quoted and the island is referenced in Anthony Powell&#39;s The Kindly Ones (1962), part of A Dance to the Music of Time.</p><br>
<p>A stanza from the Baudelaire poem is quoted as an allusion to Haiti by young Philippot in Graham Greene&#39;s The Comedians.</p><br>
<p>A Voyage to Cythera is the title of a short shory (1967) by Margaret Drabble.</p><br>
<p>Taxidi sta Kythira (Voyage to Cythera) is the title of a movie (1984) directed by Theo Angelopoulos.</p><br>
<p>The song "In Cythera" was released by alternative rock group Killing Joke on their 2012 album MMXII.</p><br>
<p>Mount Pulag  is Luzon’s highest peak at 2,926 m above sea level. The borders between the provinces of Benguet, Ifugao, and Nueva Vizcaya meet at the mountain&#39;s peak.</p><br>
<p>It is the third highest mountain in the Philippines, next to Mount Apo and Mount Dulang-dulang.</p><br>
<p>Mount Pulag is famous for its "sea of clouds" and the view of the Milky Way Galaxy at dawn, which has attracted many tourists who wish to see the "other-worldly" scenery.</p><br>
<h2>History</h2><br>
<p>The Ibaloi people of Benguet mummify their dead and house them in caverns in the mountain. The Kabayan mummy burial caves, one of the main attraction of the site, are considered Philippine national cultural treasures under Presidential Decree No. 432.</p><br>
<p>Mt. Pulag was proclaimed a National Park through Pres. Proclamation No. 75 on February 20, 1987 covering an area of 11,550 hectare. It is part of the Cordillera Biogeographic Zone and is a National Integrated Protected Areas Programme (NIPAP) site.</p><br>
<p>The National Park is inhabited by different ethnic groups such as the Ibalois, Kalanguya, Kankana-eys, Karao, Ifugaos and the Ilocanos.</p><br>
<h2>Geography</h2><br>
<p>Mount Pulag stands at 2,922 m high. The peak of the mountain meets the borders of Benguet, Ifugao, and Nueva Vizcaya.</p><br>
<h3>Climate</h3><br>
<p>Because of its high elevation, the climate on Mount Pulag is temperate with rains predominating the whole year. Rainfall on the mountain averages 4,489 mm yearly with August being the wettest month with an average rainfall of 1,135 mm. Snow has not fallen on its top in at least the past 100 years; however, there have been mild flurries on the mountain, especially during December, January and February. Frost is more common on the mountain due to the low temperature during those months. During the amihan season, the temperature at the highest point of the mountain is known to dip into sub-freezing temperatures, making it the coldest place in the country. The only recorded incidence of snow was in the late 1800s.</p><br>
<h3>Fauna and Flora</h3><br>
<p>Mount Pulag hosts 528 documented plant species. It is the natural habitat of the endemic Dwarf Bamboo, (Yushania niitakayamensis) and the Benguet pine (Pinus insularis) which dominates the areas of Luzon tropical pine forests found on the mountainsides. Among its native wildlife are 33 bird species and several threatened mammals such as the Philippine Deer, Giant Bushy-Tailed Cloud Rat (bowet) and the Long-Haired Fruit Bat. Mount Pulag is the only place that hosts the four cloud rat species. It is one of the most biodiverse locations in the Philippines, with the newly found (since 1896) 185-grams Dwarf cloud rat, Carpomys melanurus, a rare breed (endemic to the Cordillera) and the Koch pitta bird among its endangered denizens.</p><br>
<h2>Hiking activity</h2><br>
<p>As the highest mountain in Luzon, Mount Pulag attracts a lot of mountain climbers. Highlights of the climb include the montane forests and the grassland summit with its "sea of clouds" phenomenon. There are four major trails up the summit: the Ambangeg, Akiki, and Tawangan trails from Benguet and the Ambaguio trail from Nueva Vizcaya. These trails are managed by the Mount Pulag National Park, under the Department of Environment and Natural Resources.</p><br>
<h2>Presidential helicopter crash</h2><br>
<p>On 7 April 2009 a Philippine Air Force (PAF) Bell 412 of the 250th Presidential Airlift Wing crashed at 6,900 ft above sea level in the Kabayan-Pulag pass between Mount Mangingihi and Mount Pulag in thick low cloud and fog. The aircraft pilots and their passengers, who were presidential appointees, died in the crash.</p><br>
<p>The Nure  is a small river in northern Italy . It has its source on the northern slopes of Mt. Nero, elevation 1,754 m above sea level, and after a course of about 75 km&mdash;the second longest of the province&mdash;flows into the Po River 10 km east of Piacenza, in the vicinity of Roncarolo, a frazione of the commune of Caorso, on the border with the Lombard commune of Caselle Landi.</p><br>
<p>The upper valley is somewhat influenced by the sea air, keeping it free of fog and strong winds, and therefore relatively pleasant even during the winter months.</p><br>
<p>In this valley there are 79 fortifications (castles, fortified towers and dwellings, etc.)</p><br>
<p>The main villages along this river are: Ferriere, Bosconure, Cantoniera, Farini dOlmo, Bettola, Ponte dellOlio, Vigolzone, Grazzano Visconti, Podenzano.</p><br>
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<p>The Sakai River  is a Class B river in Tokyo and Kanagawa Prefecture which flows into the Bay of Sagami of the Pacific Ocean.</p><br>
<h2>The Sakai River</h2><br>
<p>The Sakai River has with the length of 52.1 km and the basin size of 210.7 square km. It starts from Aihara-machi (Japanese: 相原町), Machida, Tokyo, to Katase, Fujisawa, Kanagawa, near Enoshima Island, It is called "Sakai", meaning "border", because it flows on the border of the former provinces of Musashi and Sagami.</p><br>
<p>As the Sakai River and its tributaries are prone to flooding (especially in spring and during the typhoon season), as a protection they were encased in concrete during the postwar period. The rivers continue to flood, but do not overflow their banks as frequently as in the past.</p><br>
<h2>Aliases</h2><br>
<p>The river often used to be called the Takakura River (高座川) because it flowed through Kōza District, Kanagawa (Japanese: 高座郡), the Kun&#39;yomi reading of the two "Kōza" Kanji characters being Takakura. Also, the short section of the river from the point where it is joined by the Kashio River to the mouth of the river is sometimes called the Katase River.</p><br>
<h2>Recreation</h2><br>
<p>There are walking and bicycle routes along the banks of the Sakai River, from Machida, Tokyo, to the river mouth in Fujisawa, Kanagawa.</p><br>
<p>Mooring of pleasure boats in the river is now prohibited.</p><br>
<h2>Katase River</h2><br>
<p>The Katase River is a segment of the Sakai River in Shonan, central Japan, about 50 kilometers southwest of Tokyo. The Katase is an approximately 3-kilometer-long segment of the Sakai River from (川名), Fujisawa, where the Sakai River and Kashio River join, to a point at Enoshima Island, where the river flows into Sagami Bay. The river&#39;s name comes from Fujisawa City&#39;s Katase area through which it flows, at the foot of the Katase hills (片瀬山), and goes under the Katase Bridge of Route 134, before it meets Sagami Bay beside Katase Fisheries Port.</p><br>
<p>Mount Galunggung  is an active stratovolcano in West Java, Indonesia, around 80 km southeast of the West Java provincial capital, Bandung . Mount Galunggung is part of the Sunda Arc extending through Sumatra, Java and Bali, which has resulted from the subduction of the Australian plate beneath the Eurasian plate.</p><br>
<p>For the first time since 1982 after eruptions finished and conditions seemed normal, on February 12, 2012, the status was upgraded to Alert based on changes in conditions.</p><br>
<p>On 28 May 2012, it was lowered from 2 back to 1 (On a scale of 1-4)</p><br>
<h2>Hazardous eruption of 1982</h2><br>
<p>The last major eruption on Galunggung was in 1982, which had a Volcanic Explosivity Index of 4 and indirectly killed 18 people in traffic accidents and by starvation. This eruption also brought the dangers of volcanic ash to aviation to worldwide attention, after two Boeing 747 passenger jets flying downwind of the eruption suffered temporary engine failures and damage to exterior surfaces, both planes being forced to make emergency landings at Jakarta airport.</p><br>
<p>One, a British Airways aircraft traveling from Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia to Perth, Australia carrying 240 passengers, accidentally entered the ash cloud during night in June 1982 150 km downwind of the volcano. All four engines failed due to the buildup of volcanic ash, and the aircraft descended for 16 minutes, losing 7,500 m of its 11,500 m altitude, until the crew managed to restart the engines and land in Jakarta.</p><br>
<p>The following month, a Singapore Airlines aeroplane with approximately 230 passengers aboard also inadvertently entered the cloud at night, and three of its four engines stopped. The crew succeeded in restarting one of the engines after descending 2,400 m. Both aircraft suffered serious damage to their engines and exterior surfaces.</p><br>
<h2>Historical avalanche deposits</h2><br>
<p>composed of rocks and boulders dumped there after being cleared from paddy fields.</p><br>
<p>However, in the light of the Mount St. Helens eruption of 1980 and from examination of the Mount Shasta deposits, it has become clear that the hummocks are a debris-avalanche deposit. Like these mountains, Galunggung has a horseshoe-shaped crater indicating a massive landslide, and examination of shattered lava blocks revealed them to be similar to deposits on the other two volcanoes. According to radiocarbon dating of samples taken from a lava flow, the landslide happened within the last 23,000 years.</p><br>
<p>Lake Neuchâtel  is a lake primarily in Romandy, Switzerland . The lake lies mainly in the canton of Neuchâtel, but is also shared by the cantons of Vaud, of Fribourg, and of Bern.</p><br>
<p>With a surface of 218.3 km&sup2, it is the largest lake entirely in Switzerland and the 59th largest lake in Europe. Lake Neuchâtel lies approximately at coordinates 46&deg;54&prime;N latitude, 6&deg;51&prime;E longitude. It is 38.3 km long and no more than 8.2 km wide. Its surface is 429 m above sea level, with a maximum depth of 152 m. The total water volume is 14.0 km3. The lake&#39;s drainage area is approximately 2,670 km&sup2; and its culminating point is Le Chasseron at 1,607 m.</p><br>
<p>The lake receives the Orbe River (called Thielle or Thièle from the city of Orbe onwards), the Arnon, the Areuse (which traverses the Val de Travers), Seyon (flowing through the Val de Ruz), the canal de la Sauge (which drains Lake Murten and receives the Broye River), and the Mentue (at Yvonand). The canal of Thielle (or Zihlkanal in German) drains the lake into Lake Biel-Bienne and is part of regulation system for the lakes and the rivers of the Seeland region.</p><br>
<p>Lake Neuchâtel was the home of the now extinct species of deepwater trout Salvelinus neocomensis.</p><br>
<h2>List of settlements on the lake</h2><br>
<h3>Northwestern shore</h3><br>
<p>From Yverdon to Marin (Southwest to Northeast):</p><br>
<p>Yverdon-les-Bains, Vaud</p><br>
<p>Grandson, Vaud</p><br>
<p>Concise, Vaud</p><br>
<p>Vaumarcus, Neuchâtel</p><br>
<p>Saint-Aubin-Sauges</p><br>
<p>Bevaix</p><br>
<p>Cortaillod</p><br>
<p>Colombier</p><br>
<p>Auvernier</p><br>
<p>Serrières</p><br>
<p>Neuchâtel</p><br>
<p>Hauterive</p><br>
<p>St-Blaise</p><br>
<p>La Tène</p><br>
<h3>Southeastern shore</h3><br>
<p>From Yverdon.</p><br>
<p>Yvonand, Vaud</p><br>
<p>Châbles, Fribourg</p><br>
<p>Cheyres, Fribourg</p><br>
<p>Estavayer-le-Lac, Fribourg</p><br>
<p>Forel, Fribourg</p><br>
<p>Chevroux, Vaud</p><br>
<p>Portalban, Fribourg</p><br>
<p>Champmartin, Vaud</p><br>
<p>Cudrefin, Vaud</p><br>
<p>Witzwil, Bern</p><br>
<p>The Dinaric Alps or Dinarides is a mountain chain which spans from Italy in the northwest, over Slovenia, Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Serbia, Montenegro, to Albania in the southeast.</p><br>
<p>They extend for 645 km along the coast of the Adriatic Sea (northwest-southeast), from the Julian Alps in the northwest down to the Šar-Korab massif, where the mountain direction changes to north-south. The highest mountain of the Dinaric Alps are Prokletije, a mountain extending from Albania to Kosovo and eastern Montenegro. Its highest peak, Maja Jezercë is located in Albania, standing at 2,694 m.</p><br>
<p>The Dinaric Alps are one of the most rugged and extensively mountainous areas of Europe, alongside the Caucasus Mountains, Alps, Pyrenees and Scandinavian Mountains. They are formed largely of Mesozoic and Cenozoic sedimentary rocks of dolomite, limestone, sand and conglomerates formed by seas and lakes that had once covered the area. During the Alpine earth movements that occurred 50–100 million years ago, immense lateral pressures folded and overthrust the rocks in a great arc around the old rigid block of the northeast. The Dinaric Alps were thrown up in more or less parallel ranges, stretching like necklaces from the Julian Alps as far as northern Albania and Kosovo, where the mountainous terrain subsides to make way for the waters of the Drin River and the plains of Kosovo.</p><br>
<h2>Name</h2><br>
<p>The Dinarides are named after Mount Dinara (1,913 m), a prominent peak in the center of the mountain range on the border of Croatia and Bosnia. The chain is called Alpet Dinaride or Alpet Dinarike in Albanian, Dinarsko gorje or Dinaridi in Bosnian and Croatian, Dinarske planine or Динариди in Serbian, Dinarsko gorstvo in Slovene and Alpi Dinariche in Italian.</p><br>
<h2>Geology</h2><br>
<p>The Mesozoic limestone forms a very distinctive region of the Balkans, notable for features such as the Karst, which has given its name to all such terrains of limestone eroded by groundwater. The Quaternary ice ages had relatively little direct geologic influence on the Balkans. No permanent ice caps existed, and there is little evidence of extensive glaciation. Only the highest summits of Durmitor, Orjen and Prenj have glacial valleys and moraines as low as 600 m. However, in the Prokletije, a range on the northern Albanian border that runs east to west (thus breaking the general geographic trend of the Dinaric system), there is evidence of major glaciation. One geological feature of great importance to the present-day landscape of the Dinarides must be considered in more detail: that of the limestone mountains, often with their attendant faulting. They are hard and slow to erode, and often persist as steep jagged escarpments, through which steep-sided gorges and canyons are cleft by the rivers draining the higher slopes.</p><br>
<p>The partially submerged western Dinaric Alps form the numerous islands and harbors along the Croatian coast.</p><br>
<h3>Rivers in Dinaric karst</h3><br>
<p>The most extensive example of limestone mountains in Europe are those of the Karst of the Dinaric Alps. Here, all the characteristic features are encountered again and again as one travels through this wild and underpopulated country. Limestone is a very porous rock, yet very hard and resistant to erosion. Water is the most important corrosive force, dissolving the limestone by chemical action of its natural acidity. As it percolates down through cracks in the limestone it opens up fissures and channels, often of considerable depth, so that whole systems of underground drainage develop. During subsequent millennia these work deeper, leaving in their wake enormous waterless caverns, sinkholes and grottoes and forming underground labyrinths of channels and shafts. The roofs of some of these caverns may eventually fall in, to produce great perpendicular-sided gorges, exposing the water to the surface once more.</p><br>
<p>The Dinaric rivers carved many canyons characteristic for Dinaric Alps, and in particular karst. Among largest and most well known are the Neretva, the Rakitnica, the Prača (river), the Drina, the Sutjeska, the Vrbas, Ugar, the Piva, the Tara, the Komarnica, the Morača, the Cem/Ciijevna, the Lim, and the Drin.</p><br>
<p>Only along the Dinaric gorges is communication possible across the Karst, and roads and railways tunnel through precipitous cliffs and traverse narrow ledges above roaring torrents. A number of springs and rivers rise in the Dinaric range, including Jadro Spring noted for having been the source of water for Diocletian&#39;s Palace at Split. At the same time, the purity of these rocks is such that the rivers are crystal clear, and there is little soil-making residue. Water quality testing of the Jadro River, for example, indicates the low pollutant levels present. Rock faces are often bare of vegetation and glaring white, but what little soil there is may collect in the hollows and support lush lime-tolerant vegetation, or yield narrow strips of cultivation.</p><br>
<h2>Human activity</h2><br>
<p>Ruins of fortresses dot the mountainous landscape, evidence of centuries of war and the refuge the Dinaric Alps have provided to various armed forces. During the Roman period, the Dinarides provided shelter to the Illyrians resisting Roman conquest of the Balkans, which began with the conquest of the eastern Adriatic coast in the 3rd century BC. Rome conquered the whole of Illyria in 168 BC, but these mountains sheltered Illyrian resistance forces for many years until the area&#39;s complete subjugation by 14 AD. More recently, the Ottoman Empire failed to fully subjugate the mountainous areas of Montenegro. In the 20th century, too, the mountains provided favourable terrain for guerrilla warfare, with Yugoslav Partisans organising one of the most successful Allied resistance movements of World War II.</p><br>
<p>The area remains underpopulated, and forestry and mining remain the chief economic activities in the Dinaric Alps. The people of the Dinaric Alps are on record as being the tallest in the world, with a male average height of 185.6 cm and a female average height of 171.0 cm. The people of Bosnia and Herzegovina have the highest recorded average of any single country, with 183.9 cm average for men and 172.72 cm for women.</p><br>
<h2>Mountain passes</h2><br>
<p>The main mountain passes of the Dinaric Alps are:</p><br>
<p>Postojna Gate (Postojnska vrata), Slovenia (606 m),</p><br>
<p>Vratnik pass, Croatia (850 m)</p><br>
<p>Debelo brdo, Serbia (1,094 m)</p><br>
<p>Knin Gate (Kninska vrata), Croatia (about 700 m)</p><br>
<p>Vaganj, Croatia/Bosnia-Herzegovina (1,137 m)</p><br>
<p>Ivan-Saddle (Ivan-sedlo), Bosnia-Herzegovina (967 m)</p><br>
<p>Kupres Gate (Kupreška vrata), Bosnia-Herzegovina (1,384 m)</p><br>
<p>Čemerno, Bosnia-Herzegovina (1,329 m)</p><br>
<p>Crkvine, Montenegro (1,045 m)</p><br>
<p>Čakor, Montenegro (1,849 m)</p><br>
<h2>Tunnels</h2><br>
<p>Major tunnels transversing the Dinaric Alps include:</p><br>
<p>Tuhobić Tunnel, Croatia</p><br>
<p>Sveti Rok Tunnel, Croatia</p><br>
<p>Mala Kapela Tunnel, Croatia</p><br>
<h2>Mountains and plateaus</h2><br>
<p>The mountains and plateaus within the Dinarides are found in the following regions:</p><br>
<h3>Albania</h3><br>
<h3>Bosnia and Herzegovina</h3><br>
<h3>Croatia</h3><br>
<h3>Italy</h3><br>
<h3>Kosovo</h3><br>
<p>Đeravica/Gjeravica</p><br>
<p>Gusan/Maja Gusanit</p><br>
<p>Marijaš/Marijash</p><br>
<h3>Montenegro</h3><br>
<p>Bijela gora</p><br>
<p>Durmitor</p><br>
<p>Hajla</p><br>
<p>Lovćen</p><br>
<p>Maganik</p><br>
<p>Njegoš</p><br>
<p>Orjen</p><br>
<p>Prokletije</p><br>
<p>Rumija</p><br>
<p>Sinjajevina</p><br>
<h3>Serbia</h3><br>
<h3>Slovenia</h3><br>
<p>Cape Hatteras is a thin, broken strand of islands that arch out into the Atlantic Ocean away from the US mainland, then back toward the mainland, creating a series of sheltered islands between the Outer Banks and the mainland. For thousands of years these barrier islands have survived onslaughts of wind and sea. Long stretches of beach, sand dunes, marshes, and maritime forests create a unique environment where wind and waves shape the topography. A large area of the Outer Banks is part of a National Park, called the Cape Hatteras National Seashore. It is also the nearest landmass on the US mainland to Bermuda, which is about 563 nmi to the east-southeast</p><br>
<p>The treacherous waters off the coast of the Outer Banks is known as the Graveyard of the Atlantic, Over 600 ships wrecked here as victims of shallow shoals, storms, and war. Diamond Shoals, a bank of shifting sand ridges hidden beneath the turbulent sea off Cape Hatteras, has never promised safe passage for ships. In the past 400 years the graveyard has claimed many lives, but island villagers saved many. As early as the 1870s, villagers served in the US Life-Saving Service. Others staffed lighthouses built to guide mariners. Few ships wreck today, but storms still uncover the ruins of the old wrecks that lie along the beaches of the Outer Banks.</p><br>
<p>Cape Hatteras National Seashore protects parts of three barrier islands: Bodie Island, Hatteras Island, and Ocracoke Island. Beach and sound access ramps, campgrounds, nature trails, and lighthouses can be found and explored on all three islands.</p><br>
<p>The community of Buxton lies on the inland side of the Cape itself, at the widest part of Hatteras Island. It is the largest community on the island, and is home to the governmental offices and schools for the Island.</p><br>
<h2>Geography</h2><br>
<p>Cape Hatteras is a bend in Hatteras Island, one of the long thin barrier islands that make up the Outer Banks. It is the site where the two great basins of the East Coast meet. The cape&#39;s shoals are known as Diamond Shoals.</p><br>
<h3>Climate</h3><br>
<p>Cape Hatteras has a humid subtropical climate (Köppen Cfa), with long hot summers, and short cool winters. Most of the area falls into USDA Plant Hardiness Zone 9. Cape Hatteras is surrounded by water, with Pamlico Sound to the west and the Atlantic Ocean to the east. The proximity to water moderates conditions throughout the year, producing cooler summers and warmer winters than inland areas of North Carolina.</p><br>
<p>The cape is the northern limit of tropical fauna.</p><br>
<p>During the summer, average daily highs are in the 85 &deg;F range, and occasional intense (but brief) thundershowers occur. As a result of its proximity to water, temperatures above 90 &deg;F are rare, with an average of only 2.3 days annually above 90 &deg;F; one to three years out of each decade will not see any 90 °F readings. The coolest month, January, has a daily high of 52 &deg;F, with lows normally well above freezing (32 F). The average window for freezing temperatures is from December 12 to March 11 (allowing a growing season of 275 days), between which there is an average of 21 nights with lows at or below the freezing mark. Extremes in temperature range from 6 &deg;F on January 21, 1985 up to 97 &deg;F on June 27, 1952.</p><br>
<p>Snowfall is observed only occasionally, and usually very light. Precipitation, mostly in the form of rain, is over 58 in per year, making it the wettest coastal location in North Carolina. Precipitation is fairly evenly distributed throughout the year. However, April and May represent a slightly drier season, while August to October are the wettest months. On average, August is the wettest month, owing to high frequencies of both summer thunderstorms and tropical systems (hurricanes, tropical storms and tropical depressions) that affect the area, mostly from August to early October.</p><br>
<p>Due to its exposed position, Cape Hatteras is virtually the highest-risk area for hurricanes and tropical storms along the entire USA Eastern seaboard. Cape Hatteras can experience significant wind and/or water damage from tropical systems moving (usually northward or northeastward) near or over North Carolinas Outer Banks, while other areas (i.e. Wilmington, NC or Myrtle Beach and Charleston, SC to the south and Norfolk, VA and Marylands Eastern Shore to the north) experience much less, minimal or no damage. The Cape Hatteras area is infamous for being frequently struck by hurricanes that move up the East Coast of the United States. The strike of Hurricane Isabel in 2003 was particularly devastating for the area. Isabel devastated the entire Outer Banks and also split Hatteras Island between the two small towns of Frisco and Hatteras. NC 12, which provides a direct route from Nags Head to Hatteras Island, was washed out when the hurricane created a new inlet. Students had to use a ferry to get to school. The inlet was filled in with sand by the Army Corps of Engineers which took nearly two months to complete. The road, electrical and water lines were quickly rebuilt when the inlet was filled.</p><br>
<h2>History</h2><br>
<p>The name Hatteras is the sixth oldest surviving English place-name in the USA An inlet north of the cape was named "Hatrask" in 1585 by Sir Richard Grenville, the admiral leading the Roanoke Colony expedition sent by Sir Walter Raleigh. It was later applied to the island and cape as well, and modified to "Hatteras." Hatteras is the name of the Hatteras Indians.</p><br>
<p>Because mariners utilize ocean currents to speed their journey, many ships venture close to Cape Hatteras when traveling along the eastern seaboard, risking the perils of sailing close to the shoals amid turbulent water and the frequent storms occurring in the area. So many ships have been lost off Cape Hatteras that the area is known as the "Graveyard of the Atlantic." Cape Hatteras is also well known for surfing.</p><br>
<p>The first lighthouse at the cape was built in 1803; it was replaced by the current Cape Hatteras Lighthouse in 1870, which at 198.48 ft from the ground to the tip of its lightning rod is the tallest lighthouse in the United States and one of the tallest brick lighthouses in the world. In 1999, as the receding shoreline had come dangerously close to Cape Hatteras Lighthouse, the 4830-ton lighthouse was lifted and moved inland a distance of 2,900 ft. Its distance from the seashore is now 1,500 ft, about the same as when it was originally built.</p><br>
<p>The E.M. Clark (shipwreck and remains), Empire Gem (shipwreck and remains), and USS Monitor are listed on the National Register of Historic Places.</p><br>
<h2>Awards and recognition</h2><br>
<p>Cape Hatteras has received the following awards:</p><br>
<p>Top 10 USA Beaches, The Travel Channel</p><br>
<p>Top 10 USA Beaches for 2016, CNN</p><br>
<p>America’s Top 10 Beaches of 2015, Forbes</p><br>
<p>Mount Ararat  is a snow-capped and dormant compound volcano in the extreme east of Turkey. It consists of two major volcanic cones: Greater Ararat, the highest peak in Turkey and the Armenian plateau with an elevation of 5,137 m; and Little Ararat, with an elevation of 3,896 m. The Ararat massif is about 40 km in diameter.</p><br>
<p>Despite the scholarly consensus that the "mountains of Ararat" of the Book of Genesis do not refer to specifically Mt. Ararat, it has been widely accepted in Christianity as the resting place of Noahs Ark. It is the principal national symbol of Armenia and has been considered a sacred mountain by Armenians. It is featured prominently in Armenian literature and art and is an icon for Armenian irredentism. Along with Noahs Ark, it is depicted on the coat of arms of Armenia.</p><br>
<p>The first efforts to reach Ararat&#39;s summit were made in the Middle Ages. However, it was not until 1829 when Friedrich Parrot and Khachatur Abovian, accompanied by four others, made the first recorded ascent.</p><br>
<h2>Political borders</h2><br>
<p>Mount Ararat forms a near-quadripoint between Turkey, Armenia, Azerbaijan and Iran. Its summit is located some 16 km west of both the Iranian border and the border of the Nakhchivan exclave of Azerbaijan, and 32 km south of the Armenian border. The Turkish–Armenian–Azerbaijani and Turkish–Iranian–Azerbaijani tripoints are some 8 km apart, separated by a narrow strip of Turkish territory containing the E99 road which enters Nakhchivan at 39.6553&deg;N latitude, 44.8034&deg;E longitude.</p><br>
<p>From the 16th century until 1828 Great Ararat&#39;s summit and the northern slopes, along with the eastern slopes of Little Ararat were part of Persia, while the range was part of the Ottoman-Persian border. Following the 1826–28 Russo-Persian War and the Treaty of Turkmenchay, the Persian controlled territory was ceded to the Russian Empire. Little Ararat became the point where the Turkish, Persian, and Russian imperial frontiers converged. during which the Kurdish rebels used the area as a safe haven against the Turkish state. Iran eventually agreed to cede the area to Turkey in a territorial exchange. The Iran-Turkey boundary skirts east of Lesser Ararat, the lower peak of the Ararat massif.</p><br>
<h2>Names and etymology</h2><br>
<p>Ararat (אֲרָרָט; Արարատ, Ararat; Western Armenian: Ararad) is the Hebrew spelling of Urartu, a kingdom that existed in the Armenian plateau in the 9th–6th centuries BC. The mountain is known as Ararat in European languages. However, none of the native peoples have traditionally referred to the mountain by that name.</p><br>
<p>The traditional Armenian name is Masis (Մասիս; sometimes transliterated as Massis). However, nowadays, the terms Masis and Ararat are both widely, often interchangeably, used in Armenian.</p><br>
<p>The peaks are referred to in plural as Մասիսներ Masisner. Greater Ararat is known as simply Masis or Մեծ Մասիս (Mets Masis, "Great/Big Masis"). While Lesser Ararat is known as Sis (Սիս) or Փոքր Մասիս (P′ok′r Masis, "Little/Small Masis"). The folk etymology expressed in Movses Khorenatsi&#39;s History of Armenia derives the name from king Amasya, the great-grandson of the legendary Armenian patriarch Hayk, who is said to have called the mountain Masis after himself. While according to Sebeos it comes from the personal name Marseak. According to Russian orientalist Anatoly Novoseltsev the word Masis derives from Middle Persian masist, "the largest." According to Armenian historian Sargis Petrosyan the mas root in Masis means "mountain", cf. Proto-Indo-European *mņs-.</p><br>
<p>In classical antiquity, particularly in Strabo&#39;s Geographica, the peaks of Ararat were known in Greek as Ἄβος (Abos) and Νίβαρος (Nibaros).</p><br>
<p>The Turkish name is Ağrı Dağı, اغـر طﺎﻍ Ağır Dağ), i.e. "Mountain of Ağrı". Ağrı literally translates to "pain" or "sorrow". This name has been known since the late Middle Ages.</p><br>
<p>The traditional Persian name is کوه نوح,, literally the "mountain of Noah".</p><br>
<p>The Kurdish name of the mountain is çiyayê Agirî, which translates to "fiery mountain".</p><br>
<h2>Geography</h2><br>
<p>Mount Ararat is located in the Eastern Anatolia Region of Turkey between the provinces of Ağrı and Iğdır, near the border with Iran, Armenia and Nakhchivan exclave of Azerbaijan, between the Aras and Murat rivers. Its summit is located some 16 km west of the Turkey-Iran border and 32 km south of the Turco-Armenian border. The Ararat plain runs along its northwest to western side.</p><br>
<h3>Elevation</h3><br>
<p>An elevation of 5,165 m for Mount Ararat is given by some encyclopedias and reference works. However, a number of sources, such as the United States Geological Survey and numerous topographic maps indicate that the alternatively widespread figure of 5,137 m is probably more accurate. The current elevation may be even lower due to the melting of its snow-covered ice cap.</p><br>
<h3>Summit ice cap</h3><br>
<p>Mount Ararat has an ice cap on its summit. Since at least about 1957, it has been shrinking. In the late 1950s, Blumenthal observed that there existed 11 outlet glaciers emerging from a summit snow mass that covered about 10 km&sup2;. At that time, it was found that the present glaciers on the summit of Ararat to extend as low as an elevation of 3,900 m on the north-facing slope, and an elevation of</p><br>
<p>4,200 m on its south-facing slope. They discovered that this ice cap had shrunk to 8.0 km&sup2; by 1976 and to 5.7 km&sup2; by 2011. They calculated that between 1976 and 2011, the ice cap on top of Mount Ararat had lost 29% of its total area at an average rate of ice loss of 0.07 km&sup2; per year over 35 years. This rate is consistent with the general rates of retreat of other Turkish summit glaciers and ice caps that have been documented by other studies.</p><br>
<p>Blumenthal estimated that the snow line had been as low as 3,000 m in elevation during the Late Pleistocene. He also found two morainal deposits that were created by a Mount Ararat valley glacier of Pleistocene, possibly Wisconsinan (Last Glacial Maximum) age downvalley from Lake Balık. The higher moraine lies at an altitude of about 2,200 m and the lower moraine lies at an altitude of about 1,800 m. The lower moraine occurs about 15 km downstream from Lake Balık. Both moraines are about 30 m high. It is suspected that Lake Balık occupies a glacial basin.</p><br>
<h2>Geology</h2><br>
<p>Mount Ararat is a polygenic, compound stratovolcano. Covering an area of</p><br>
<p>1,100 km&sup2, it is the largest volcanic edifice within the region. Along its northwest–southeast trending long axis, Mount Ararat is about 45 km long and is about 30 km long along its short axis. It consists of about 1,150 km3 of dacitic and rhyolitic pyroclastic debris and dacitic, rhyolitic, and basaltic lavas.</p><br>
<p>Mount Ararat consists of two distinct volcanic cones, Greater Ararat and Lesser Ararat (Little Ararat). The western volcanic cone, Greater Ararat, is a steep-sided volcanic cone that is larger and higher than the eastern volcanic cone. Greater Ararat is about 25 km wide at the base and rises about 3 km above the adjacent floors of the Iğdir and Doğubeyazıt basins. The eastern volcanic cone, Lesser Ararat, is 3,896 m high and 15 km across. These volcanic cones, which lie 13 km apart, are separated by a wide north–south-trending crack. This crack is the surface expression of an extensional fault. Numerous parasitic cones and lava domes have been built by flank eruptions along this fault and on the flanks of both of the main volcanic cones.</p><br>
<p>Mount Ararat lies within a complex, sinistral pull-apart basin that originally was a single, continuous depression. The growth of Mount Ararat partitioned this depression into two smaller basins, the Iğdir and Doğubeyazıt basins. This pull-apart basin is the result of strike-slip movement along two en-echelon fault segments, the Doğubeyazıt–Gürbulak and Iğdir faults, of a sinistral strike–slip fault system. Tension between these faults, not only formed the original pull-apart basin, but created a system of faults, exhibiting a horsetail splay pattern, that control the position of the principal volcanic eruption centers of Mount Ararat and associated linear belt of parasitic volcanic cones. The strike-slip fault system within which Mount Ararat located is the result of north–south convergence and tectonic compression between the Arabian Platform and Laurasia that continued after the Tethys Ocean closed during the Eocene epoch along the Bitlis–Zagros suture.</p><br>
<h3>Geological history</h3><br>
<p>During the early Eocene and early Miocene, the collision of the Arabian platform with Laurasia closed and eliminated the Tethys Ocean from the area of what is now Anatolia. The closure of these masses of continental crust, collapsed this ocean basin by middle Eocene and resulted in a progressive shallowing of the remnant seas, until the end of the early Miocene. Post-collisional tectonic convergence within the collision zone resulted in the total elimination of the remaining seas from East Anatolia, at the end of early Miocene, crustal shortening and thickening across the collision zone, and uplift of the East Anatolian–Iranian plateau. Accompanying this uplift was extensive deformation by faulting and folding, which resulted in the creation of numerous local basins. The north–south compressional deformation continues today as evidenced by ongoing faulting, volcanism, and seismicity.</p><br>
<p>Within Anatolia, regional volcanism started middle-late Miocene. During the late Miocene–Pliocene period, widespread volcanism blanketed the entire East Anatolian–Iranian plateau under thick volcanic rocks. This volcanic activity has continued uninterrupted until historical times. Apparently, it reached a climax during the latest Miocene–Pliocene, 6 to 3 Ma. During the Quaternary, the volcanism became restricted to a few local volcanoes such as Mount Ararat. These volcanoes are typically associated with north–south tensional fractures formed by the continuing the north–south shortening deformation of Anatolia.</p><br>
<p>In their detailed study and summary of the Quaternary volcanism of Anatolia, Yilmaz et al. recognized four phases to the construction of Mount Ararat from volcanic rocks exposed in glacial valleys deeply carved into it flanks. Overall, radiometric ages obtained from the volcanic rocks erupted by Mount Ararat range from 1.5 to 0.02 Ma.</p><br>
<h3>Recent volcanic and seismic activity</h3><br>
<p>The chronology of Holocene volcanic activity associated with Mount Ararat is poorly documented. However, either archaeological excavations, oral history, historical records, or a combination of these data provide evidence that volcanic eruptions of Mount Ararat occurred in 2500–2400 BC, 550 BC, possibly in 1450 AD and 1783 AD, and definitely in 1840 AD. Archaeological evidence demonstrates that explosive eruptions and pyroclastic flows from the northwest flank of Mount Ararat destroyed and buried at least one Kura–Araxes culture settlement and caused numerous fatalities in 2500–2400 BC. Oral histories indicated that a significant eruption of uncertain magnitude occurred in 550 BC and minor eruptions of uncertain nature might have occurred in 1450 AD and 1783 AD. According to the interpretation of historical and archaeological data, strong earthquakes not associated with volcanic eruptions also occurred the area of Mount Ararat in 139, 368, 851–893, and 1319 AD. During the 139 AD earthquake, a large landslide that caused many casualties and was similar to the 1840 AD landslide originated from the summit of Mount Ararat.</p><br>
<h4>1840 eruption</h4><br>
<p>Historical records and oral history document a phreatic eruption on July 2, 1840 and pyroclastic flow from radial fissures on the upper north flank of Mount Ararat and a possibly associated earthquake of magnitude 7.4 that caused severe damage and numerous casualties. Up to 10,000 people in the Mount Ararat region died in the earthquake, including 1,900 villagers in the village of Akhuri (Armenian: Akori, modern Yenidoğan) who were killed by a gigantic landslide and subsequent debris flow. In addition, this combination of landslide and debris flow destroyed the Armenian monastery of St. Jacob near Akori, the town of Aralik, several villages, and Russian military barracks. It also temporarily dammed the Sevjur (Metsamor) River.</p><br>
<h2>Ascents</h2><br>
<p>The 13th century missionary William of Rubruck wrote that "Many have tried to climb it, but none has been able." 18th century English theologian Thomas Stackhouse noted that "All the Armenians are firmly persuaded that Noah&#39;s ark exists to the present day on the summit of Mount Ararat, and that in order to preserve it, no person is permitted to approach it." In response to its first ascent by Parrot and Abovian, one high-ranking Armenian Apostolic Church clergyman commented that to climb the sacred mountain was "to tie the womb of the mother of all mankind in a dragonish mode." By contrast, in the 21st century to climb Ararat is "the most highly valued goal of some of the patriotic pilgrimages that are organized in growing number from Armenia and the Armenian diaspora."</p><br>
<h3>First ascent</h3><br>
<p>The first recorded ascent of the mountain in the modern times took place on. The Baltic German naturalist Friedrich Parrot of the University of Dorpat arrived at Etchmiadzin in mid-September 1829, almost two years after Russian capture of Erivan, for the single purpose of exploring Ararat. The prominent Armenian writer Khachatur Abovian, then a deacon and translator at Etchmiadzin, was assigned by Catholicos Yeprem, the head of the Armenian Church, as interpreter and guide.</p><br>
<p>Parrot and Abovian crossed the Aras River into the district of Surmali and headed to the Armenian village of Akhuri situated on the northern slope of Ararat 1,220 m above sea level. They set up a base camp at the Armenian monastery of St. Hakob some 730 m higher, at an elevation of 1,943 m. After two failed attempts, they reached the summit on their third attempt at 3:15 p.m. on October 9, 1829. The group included Parrot, Abovian, two Russian soldiers—Aleksei Zdorovenko and Matvei Chalpanov, and two Armenian Akhuri villagers—Hovhannes Aivazian and Murad Poghosian. Parrot measured the elevation at 5,250 m using a mercury barometer. This was not only the first ascent of Ararat, but also the second highest elevation climbed by man up to that date outside of Mount Licancabur in the Chilean Andes. Abovian dug a hole in the ice and erected a wooden cross facing north. Abovian also picked up a chunk of ice from the summit and carried it down with him in a bottle, considering the water holy. On, Parrot and Abovian together with the Akhuri hunter Sahak’s brother Hako, acting as a guide climbed up Lesser Ararat.</p><br>
<h3>Later notable ascents</h3><br>
<p>Other early notable climbers of Ararat included Russian climatologist and meteorologist Kozma Spassky-Avtonomov (August 1834), Karl Behrens (1835), German mineralogist and geologist Otto Wilhelm Hermann von Abich (29 July 1845), British politician Henry Danby Seymour (1848). Later in the 19th century, two British scholars on Armenia—James Bryce (1876) and H. F. B. Lynch (1893)—climbed the mountain. The first winter climb was by Bozkurt Ergör, the former president of the Turkish Mountaineering Federation, who climbed the peak on 21 February 1970.</p><br>
<h2>Resting place of Noah's Ark</h2><br>
<h3>Origins of the tradition</h3><br>
<p>According to the fourth verse of the eighth chapter of the Book of Genesis (Genesis 8:4), following a flood, Noahs Ark landed on the "mountains of Ararat" (Biblical הָרֵי אֲרָרָט, hare ararat). Most historians and Bible scholars agree that "Ararat" is the Hebrew name of Urartu, the geographic predecessor of Armenia and referred to the wider region at the time and not the mountain today known as Ararat. Indeed, the phrase is translated as "mountains of Armenia" (montes Armeniae) in the Vulgate, the fourth century Latin translation of the Bible. Nevertheless, Mount Ararat is considered the traditional site of the resting place of Noahs Ark. It is therefore called a biblical mountain.</p><br>
<p>Mount Ararat has been associated with the Genesis flood story since the 11–12th centuries. The local Armenian population began to identify it as the arks landing place during those centuries. F. C. Conybeare wrote that the mountain was "a center and focus of pagan myths and cults and it was only in the eleventh century, after these had vanished from the popular mind, that the Armenian theologians ventured to locate on its eternal snows the resting-place of Noahs ark." The 13th century Franciscan missionary William of Rubruck is usually considered the earliest reference for the tradition of Mount Ararat as the landing place of the ark in European literature. The 14th century English traveler John Mandeville is another early author who mentioned Mount Ararat, "where Noah&#39;s ship rested, and it is still there."</p><br>
<h3>Prevalence of the legend</h3><br>
<p>Most Christians identify Mount Ararat with the biblical "mountains of Ararat," despite the fact that six other landing places have been proposed, "largely because it would have been the first peak to emerge from the receding flood waters." Ararat is where the European tradition and most of Western Christianity place the landing of Noahs Ark. According to Spencer and Lienard the tradition "seems to be well entrenched in the Christian world." American missionary H. G. O. Dwight wrote in 1856 that it is "the general opinion of the learned in Europe." During his visit to Armenia in 2001 Pope John Paul II declared in his homily in Yerevans St. Gregory the Illuminator Cathedral: "We are close to Mount Ararat, where tradition says that the Ark of Noah came to rest." Patriarch Kirill of Moscow, the head of the Russian Orthodox Church, also mentioned Mount Ararat as the resting place of Noah&#39;s Ark in his speech at the Etchmiadzin Cathedral during his visit to Armenia in 2010.</p><br>
<p>James Bryce, while admitting that the biblical passage implies that the ark rested upon a "mountain in the district which the Hebrews knew as Ararat, or Armenia", wrote in an 1878 article for the Royal Geographical Society that the biblical writer must have had Mt. Ararat in mind because it is so "very much higher, more conspicuous, and more majestic than any other summit in Armenia." Those critical of this view point out that Ararat was the name of the country, not the mountain, at the time when Genesis was written. Arnold wrote in his 2008 Genesis commentary, "The location on the mountains of Ararat indicates not a specific mountain by that name, but rather the mountainous region of the land of Ararat."</p><br>
<h3>Searches</h3><br>
<p>Ararat has traditionally been the main focus of the searches for Noahs Ark. Augustin Calmet wrote in his 1722 biblical dictionary, "It is affirmed, but without proof, that there are still remains of Noahs ark on the top of this mountain; but M. de Tournefort, who visited this spot, has assured us there was nothing like it; that the top of mount Ararat is inaccessible, both by reason of its great height, and of the snow which perpetually covers it." Archaeological expeditions, sometimes supported by evangelical and millenarian churches, have been conducted since the 19th century in search of the ark. According to a 1974 book around 200 people from more than 20 countries claimed to have seen the Ark on Ararat since 1856. A fragment from the ark supposedly found on Ararat is on display at the museum of Etchmiadzin Cathedral, the center of the Armenian Church. Despite numerous reports of ark sightings (e.g. Ararat anomaly) and rumors, "no scientific evidence of the ark has emerged."</p><br>
<p>Searches for Noah&#39;s Ark are considered by scholars an example of pseudoarchaeology. Kenneth Feder writes, "As the flood story itself is unsupported by any archaeological evidence, it is not surprising that there is no archaeological evidence for the existence of an impossibly large boat dating to 5,000 years ago."</p><br>
<h2>Significance among Armenians</h2><br>
<h3>Symbolism</h3><br>
<p>Despite lying outside the borders of the modern Republic of Armenia, Ararat has historically been associated with Armenia. It is widely considered the country&#39;s principal national symbol and brand. The image of Ararat, usually framed within a nationalizing discourse, is ubiquitous in everyday material culture in Armenia. According to ethnographer Tsypylma Darieva Armenians have "a sense of possession of Ararat in the sense of symbolic cultural property."</p><br>
<p>Ararat is known as the "holy mountain" of the Armenian people.</p><br>
<p>on Russian Wikisource It was principal to the pre-Christian Armenian mythology, where it was the home of the gods. With the rise of Christianity, the mythology associated with pagan worship of the mountain was lost. Ararat was the geographical center of ancient Armenian kingdoms. One scholar defined the historic Greater Armenia (Major Armenia) as "the area about 200 miles in every direction from Mount Ararat." In 19th-century era of romantic nationalism, when an Armenian state did not exist, Mt. Ararat symbolized the historical Armenian nation-state. The First Republic of Armenia, the first modern Armenian state that existed between 1918 and 1920, was sometimes called the Araratian Republic or the Republic of Ararat as it was centered in the Ararat plain.</p><br>
<h3>Myth of origin</h3><br>
<p>The Genesis flood narrative was linked to the Armenian myth of origin by the early medieval historian Movses Khorenatsi. In his History of Armenia, he wrote that Noah and his family first settled in Armenia and later moved to Babylon. Hayk, a descendant of Japheth, a son of Noah, revolted against Bel and returned to the area around Mount Ararat, where he established the roots of the Armenian nation. He is thus considered the legendary founding father and the name giver of the Armenian people. According to Razmik Panossian, this legend "makes Armenia the cradle of all civilisation since Noahs Ark landed on the Armenian&#39; mountain of Ararat. it connects Armenians to the biblical narrative of human development. it makes Mount Ararat the national symbol of all Armenians, and the territory around it the Armenian homeland from time immemorial."</p><br>
<h3>Coat of arms of Armenia</h3><br>
<p>Mount Ararat has been depicted on the coat of arms of Armenia consistently since 1918. The First Republic&#39;s coat of arms was designed by architect Alexander Tamanian and painter Hakob Kojoyan. This coat of arms was readopted by the legislature of the Republic of Armenia on April 19, 1992, after Armenia regained independence. Ararat is depicted along with the ark on its peak on the shield on an orange background.</p><br>
<p>The emblem of the Armenian Soviet Socialist Republic (Soviet Armenia) was created by the painters Martiros Saryan and Hakob Kojoyan in 1921. Mount Ararat is depicted in the center and makes up a large portion of it.</p><br>
<h3>Symbol of genocide and territorial claims</h3><br>
<p>In the aftermath of the Armenian Genocide of 1915, Ararat came to represent the destruction of the native Armenian population of eastern Turkey (Western Armenia) in the national consciousness of Armenians. Ari L. Goldman noted in 1988, "In most Armenian homes in the modern diaspora, there are pictures of Mount Ararat, a bittersweet reminder of the homeland and national aspirations."</p><br>
<p>Ararat has become a symbol of Armenian efforts to reclaim its "lost lands", i.e. the areas west of Ararat that are now part of Turkey that had significant Armenian population before the genocide. Adriaans noted that Ararat is featured as a sanctified territory for the Armenians in everyday banal irredentism. Stephanie Platz wrote, "Omnipresent, the vision of Ararat rising above Yerevan and its outskirts constantly reminds Armenians of their putative ethnogenesis … and of their exile from Eastern Anatolia after the Armenian genocide of 1915."</p><br>
<p>Turkish political scientist Bayram Balci argues that regular references to the Armenian Genocide and Mount Ararat "clearly indicate" that the border with Turkey is contested in Armenia. Since independence from the Soviet Union in 1991, the Armenian government has not made official claims to any Turkish territory, however the Armenian government has avoided "an explicit and formal recognition of the existing Turkish-Armenian border." In a 2010 interview with Der Spiegel, Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan was asked: "You can see Mount Ararat, Armenia&#39;s national symbol, from the windows of your residence. Today, the mountain is inaccessible, on the other side of the Turkish border. Turkey fears demands for land and compensation. Do you want Mount Ararat back?" Sargsyan, in response, said:</p><br>
<p>The most prominent party to lay claims to eastern Turkey is the nationalist Armenian Revolutionary Federation (Dashnaktsutyun). which claims it as part of what it considers United Armenia. In various settings, several notable individuals such as German historian Tessa Hofmann, Slovak conservative politician František Mikloško, Lithuanian political scientist and Soviet dissident Aleksandras Štromas have spoken in support of Armenian claims over Mt. Ararat.</p><br>
<h2>Cultural depictions</h2><br>
<p>Ethnographer Levon Abrahamian noted that Ararat is visually present for Armenians in reality (it can be seen from many houses in Yerevan and settlements in the Ararat plain), symbolically (through many visual representations, such as on Armenia&#39;s coats of arms), and culturally—in numerous and various nostalgic poetical, political, architectural representation. The first three postage stamps issued by Armenia in 1992 after achieving independence from the Soviet Union depicted Mt. Ararat.</p><br>
<p>Mount Ararat has been depicted on various Armenian dram banknotes issued in 1993–2001; on the reverse of the 10 dram banknotes issued in 1993, on the reverse of the 50 dram banknotes issued in 1998, on the obverse of the 100 and 500 dram banknotes issued in 1993, and on the reverse of the 50,000 dram banknotes issued in 2001. It was also depicted on the reverse of the Turkish 100 lira banknotes of 1972–1986.</p><br>
<p>Ararat is depicted on the logos of two of Armenias leading universities—the Yerevan State University and the American University of Armenia. It is depicted on the logos of Football Club Ararat Yerevan (since the Soviet times) and the Football Federation of Armenia. The logo of Armavia, Armenias now defunct flag carrier, also depicted Ararat. The publications of the Social Democrat Hunchakian Party in Lebanon (Ararad daily) and California, USA (Massis weekly) are both named for the mountain. The Ararat brandy, produced by the Yerevan Brandy Company since 1887, is considered the most prestigious Eastern European brandy.</p><br>
<h3>In visual art</h3><br>
<h4>European</h4><br>
<p>Ararat was depicted in the books of European, including many British, and American travelers in the 18th–19th centuries who visited Armenia.</p><br>
<h4>Armenian</h4><br>
<p>According to one source, the first Armenian artist to depict the mountain was Ivan Aivazovsky, who created a painting of Ararat during his visit to Armenia in 1868. Other major Armenians artists who painted Ararat include Yeghishe Tadevosyan, Gevorg Bashinjaghian, Martiros Saryan, and Panos Terlemezian.</p><br>
<h3>In literature</h3><br>
<p>Rouben Paul Adalian suggested that "there is probably more poetry written about Mount Ararat than any other mountain on earth." Travel writer Rick Antonson described Ararat as the "most fabled mountain in the world."</p><br>
<h4>Non-Armenian</h4><br>
<p>English Romantic poet William Wordsworth imagines seeing the ark in the poem "Sky-prospect — From the Plain of France":</p><br>
<p>cquote</p><br>
<p>In his Journey to Arzrum (Путешествие в Арзрум; 1835–36), the celebrated Russian poet Aleksandr Pushkin recounted his travels to the Caucasus and Armenia at the time of the Russo-Turkish War (1828–29). He wrote the following about his encounter with Mount Ararat:</p><br>
<p>Russian Symbolist poet Valery Bryusov often referred to Ararat in his poetry and dedicated two poems to the mountain, which were published in 1917. Bryusov saw Ararat as the embodiment of antiquity of the Armenian people and their culture.</p><br>
<p>Russian poet Osip Mandelstam wrote fondly of Ararat during his 1933 travels in Armenia. "I have cultivated in myself a sixth sense, an Ararat sense," the poet wrote, "the sense of an attraction to a mountain."</p><br>
<p>During his travels to Armenia, Soviet Russian writer Vasily Grossman observed Mount Ararat from Yerevan standing "high in the blue sky." He wrote that "with its gentle, tender contours, it seems to grow not out of the earth but out of the sky, as if it has condensed from its white clouds and its deep blue. It is this snowy mountain, this bluish-white sunlit mountain that shone in the eyes of those who wrote the Bible."</p><br>
<p>In The Maximus Poems American poet Charles Olson (1953), who grew up near the Armenian neighborhood in Worcester, Massachusetts, compares the Ararat Hill near his childhood home to the mountain and "imagines he can capture an Armenian&#39;s immigrant perspective: the view of Ararat Hill as Mount Ararat."</p><br>
<h4>Armenian</h4><br>
<p>Mt. Ararat is featured prominently in Armenian literature. According to Meliné Karakashian, Armenian poets "attribute to it symbolic meanings of unity, freedom, and independence." According to Kevork Bardakjian, in Armenian literature, Ararat "epitomizes Armenia and Armenian suffering and aspirations, especially the consequences of the 1915 genocide: almost total annihilation, loss of a unique culture and land and an implicit determination never to recognize the new political borders."</p><br>
<p>The last two lines of Yeghishe Charentss 1920 poem "I Love My Armenia" (Ես իմ անուշ Հայաստանի) read: "And in the entire world you will not find a mountaintop like Ararats. / Like an unreachable peak of glory I love my Mount Masis."</p><br>
<p>In a 1926 poem dedicated to the mountain Avetik Isahakyan wrote: "Ages as though in second came, / Touched the grey crest of Ararat, / And passed by...! It&#39;s now your turn; you too, now, / Stare at its high and lordly brow, / And pass by...!"</p><br>
<p>Mount Ararat is the most frequently cited symbol in the poetry of Hovhannes Shiraz. In collection of poems, Knar Hayastani (Lyre of Armenia) published in 1958, there are many poems "with very strong nationalist overtones, especially with respect to Mount Ararat (in Turkey) and the irredentism it entailed." In one such poem, "Ktak" (Bequest), Shiraz bequeaths his son Mt. Ararat to "keep it forever, / As the language of us Armenians, as the pillar of your father’s home."</p><br>
<p>The first lines of Paruyr Sevak&#39;s 1961 poem "We Are Few..." (Քիչ ենք, բայց հայ ենք) read: "We are few, but they say of us we are Armenians. / We do not think ourselves superior to anyone. / Clearly we shall have to accept / That we, and only we, have an Ararat"</p><br>
<p>In one short poem Silva Kaputikyan compares Armenia to an "ancient rock-carved fortress", the towers of which are Ararat and Aragats.</p><br>
<h3>In popular culture</h3><br>
<h4>In music</h4><br>
<p>"Holy Mountains", the 8th track of the album Hypnotize (2005) by System of a Down, an American rock band composed of four Armenian Americans, "references Mount Ararat and details that the souls lost to the Armenian Genocide have returned to rest here."</p><br>
<p>"Heres to You Ararat" is a song from the 2006 album How Much is Yours of Arto Tunçboyacıyan&#39;s Armenian Navy Band.</p><br>
<h4>In film</h4><br>
<p>The 2002 film Ararat by Armenian-Canadian filmmaker Atom Egoyan features Mt. Ararat prominently in its symbolism.</p><br>
<p>The 2011 documentary film Journey to Ararat on Parrot and Abovian&#39;s expedition to Ararat was produced in Estonia by filmmaker Riho Västrik. It was screened at the Golden Apricot International Film Festival in Yerevan in 2013.</p><br>
<h2>Places named for Ararat</h2><br>
<p>In Armenia, there is a province, two cities (Ararat, Masis), and two villages (Ararat, Masis) named Ararat or Masis.</p><br>
<p>The Turkish province of Ağrı was named for the mountain (its Turkish name) in 1927, while the city of Karaköse was renamed to Ağrı in 1946.</p><br>
<p>In the United States, an unincorporated community in North Carolina, a township and mountain in Pennsylvania, and a river in Virginia and North Carolina are named Ararat.</p><br>
<p>In the Australian state of Victoria, there is a city and a rural city named Ararat.</p><br>
<p>96205 Ararat is an asteroid named in the mountain&#39;s honor</p><br>
<p>Beaver Lake is a man-made reservoir in the Ozark Mountains of Northwest Arkansas and is formed by a dam across the White River. Beaver Lake has some 487 mi of shoreline. With towering limestone bluffs, natural caves, and a wide variety of trees and flowering shrubs, it is a popular tourist destination. Beaver Lake is the source of drinking water in Northwest Arkansas, which is managed, treated and sold by Beaver Water District.</p><br>
<h2>Beaver Dam</h2><br>
<p>Beaver Dam was authorized by the Flood Control Act of 1944 and other following acts. The United States Army Corps of Engineers constructed Beaver Dam during the years 1960-1966, impounding a major part of the White River and creating Beaver Lake and flooding much of the valley including the remains of the historic resort town Monte Ne. The dam is located 9 mi northwest of Eureka Springs, Arkansas. Construction of the powerhouse and switch yard began in 1963. Power generation began in May 1965 and continues today. The initial cost of the project was $60 million. The lake is approximately 50 mi in length and covers approximately 31,700 acre, with about 483 mi of shoreline and an elevation of 1,120 ft. This is also the first dam in the tailwater chain to provide cold water fishery along the White River.</p><br>
<h2>Recreation</h2><br>
<p>The Army Corps of Engineers has also constructed a variety of recreational facilities around the lake. Paved access roads wind through twelve developed parks. These parks have modern campsites offering electricity and fire rings with drinking water, showers, and restrooms nearby. Other facilities, such as picnic sites, swimming beaches, hiking trails, boat launching ramps, and sanitary dump stations are also available in the parks. There are 12 recreation areas with 677 campsites along with 7 full-service commercial marina concessions, which hold 1,750 rental slips. There are 9 limited motel / resort leases and 28 boat ramps licensed to County or State. There are 8 national bass tournaments per year and many other fishing tournaments. There are 3.1 million visitors annually.</p><br>
<p>The Hobbs State Park-Conservation Area (formerly known as the Beaver Lake State Park) is the only State Park in Benton County, Arkansas.</p><br>
<h2>Geography</h2><br>
<p>The majority of Beaver Lake is located in Benton County. The dam itself is located in west Carroll County. Parts of the lake extend into Washington County and Madison County.</p><br>
<p>USA Route 62 runs along the north and west sides of Beaver Lake. Highway 12 roughly follows Beaver Lake for much of its length.</p><br>
<h2>Hydropower</h2><br>
<p>The powerplant operates two main 56 MW turbines in one house unit. Total power generation capacity is 6,347,345 MWh. The revenue from power generation is returned to the US federal government to pay for the purchase price of the dam.</p><br>
<h2>Flood control</h2><br>
<p>Beaver Lake is the first of several flood control lakes on the White river watershed. Beaver Lakes holds back flood water from Table Rock Lake. The estimated flood damages prevented in 2007 are $1.3 million. Since its creation, the Beaver Lake is estimated to have prevented $52.5 billion in damage.</p><br>
<p>Steamboat Geyser, in Yellowstone National Parks Norris Geyser Basin, is the worlds tallest currently-active geyser. During major eruptions, water may be thrown more than 300 feet  into the air.</p><br>
<p>Steamboat&#39;s major eruptions last from 3 to 40 minutes, and are followed by powerful jets of steam. Steamboat does not erupt on a predictable schedule, with recorded intervals between major eruptions ranging from four days to fifty years. The geyser was dormant from 1911 to 1961. Minor eruptions of 10 to 15 feet (3–5 m) are much more frequent. After an eruption, the geyser often vents large amounts of steam for up to 48 hours. Cistern Spring, located nearby, will drain completely during a major eruption of the geyser; the spring refills within a few days.</p><br>
<p>Prior to 1904, Waimangu Geyser, in New Zealand, had some taller eruptions capable of reaching 1,600 ft, but in 1904, a landslide changed the local water table, and since then, Waimangu has not erupted. Excelsior Geyser in Yellowstone&#39;s Midway Geyser Basin likewise was taller, with eruptions reaching 300 ft. However, Excelsior has not erupted since 1985, and is now classified as a hot spring.</p><br>
<p>The last eruption of Steamboat Geyser occurred on 3 September 2014. The last ten major eruptions were on the following dates:</p><br>
<p>October 2, 1991</p><br>
<p>May 2, 2000</p><br>
<p>April 26, 2002</p><br>
<p>September 13, 2002</p><br>
<p>March 26, 2003</p><br>
<p>April 27, 2003</p><br>
<p>October 22, 2003</p><br>
<p>May 23, 2005</p><br>
<p>July 31, 2013</p><br>
<p>September 3, 2014</p><br>
<p>Steamboat Geyser has two vents, a northern and a southern, approximately five meters apart.</p><br>
<p>The Maggia is a river in the Swiss canton of Ticino.</p><br>
<p>The springs are near the Cristallina mountain and the river runs through the Val Sambuco, the Val Lavizzara, and the Valle Maggia, and enters Lago Maggiore between Ascona and Locarno. The village Maggia is situated on the river.</p><br>
<p>The river is used for hydroelectric power production, e.g. with the dams of Lago del Narèt and Lago del Sambuco near the sources.</p><br>
<p>The Maggia river is a popular scuba diving spot due to its crystal clear waters.</p><br>
<p>The name of the river derives from the name of the village Maggia.</p><br>
<p>In the 1990s the river had a European record: the river that grew fastest during rains. This characteristic led to many tragedies in the past. One involved a collapse of a bridge connecting the old Maggia to Aurigeno and Moghegno and killing a lot of people in the 1970s.</p><br>
<p>The Korea Strait is a sea passage between South Korea and Japan, connecting the East China Sea  and the Sea of Japan  in the northwest Pacific Ocean. The strait is split by the Tsushima Island into the western channel and the Tsushima Strait .</p><br>
<h2>Geography</h2><br>
<p>To the north it is bounded by the southern coast of the Korean Peninsula, and to the south by the southwestern Japanese islands of Kyūshū and Honshū. It is about 200 km wide and averages about 90 to 100 meters (300 ft) deep.</p><br>
<p>Tsushima Island divides the Korea Strait into the western channel and the Tsushima Strait. The western channel is deeper (up to 227 meters) and narrower than the Tsushima Strait.</p><br>
<h2>Currents</h2><br>
<p>A branch of the Kuroshio Current passes through the strait. Its warm branch is sometimes called the Tsushima Current. Originating along the Japanese islands this current passes through the Sea of Japan (East Sea) then divides along either shore of Sakhalin Island, eventually flowing into the northern Pacific Ocean via the strait north of Hokkaidō and into the Sea of Okhotsk north of Sakhalin Island near Vladivostok. The water-mass characteristics vary widely because of the low-salinity waters of the southeast coasts of Korea and China.</p><br>
<h2>Economic significance</h2><br>
<p>Numerous international shipping lanes pass through the strait, including those carrying much of the traffic bound for the ports of southern South Korea. Both South Korea and Japan have restricted their territorial claims in the strait to 3 nmi from shore, so as to permit free passage through it.</p><br>
<p>Passenger ferries travel numerous routes across the strait. Commercial ferries run from Busan, South Korea to Japanese ports including Fukuoka, Tsushima, Shimonoseki, and Hiroshima. Ferries also connect Tsushima Island with Fukuoka, and South Korea&#39;s Jeju Island with the Korean mainland. Ferries connecting Busan and Japanese cities with ports in China also traverse the strait.</p><br>
<p>Japans territorial waters extend to three nautical miles (5.6 km) into the strait instead of the usual twelve, reportedly to allow nuclear-armed United States Navy warships and submarines to transit the strait without violating Japans prohibition against nuclear weapons in its territory.</p><br>
<h2>Naming of the strait</h2><br>
<h2>Historic impact</h2><br>
<h3>Land bridge</h3><br>
<p>During the Pleistocene glacial cycles, the Korea and the Bering Straits, and the Yellow Sea were often narrowed and the Japanese islands may at times have been connected to the Eurasian Continent through the Korean Peninsula or Sakhalin. At times, the Sea of Japan (East Sea) was said to be a frozen inner lake due to the lack of warm Tsushima Current and various plants and large animals, such as the Palaeoloxodon naumanni are believed to have spread into Japan.</p><br>
<h3>Early history</h3><br>
<p>Historically, these narrows served as a highway for high risk voyages. The shortest distance between Busan, South Korea, and the Tsushima Island is about 50 km, as is the shortest distance from Tsushima to Iki Island, Japan.</p><br>
<p>Japans Yamatai periodically sent year-long embassies to Chinese dynasties, believed to have traveled through the Korean strait and the Korean peninsula, to obtain the latest culture and technologies. In the 6th century, Buddhism (Mahāyāna Buddhism) was transmitted by Baekje people to the easternmost Japan of the Emperor Kinmeis era over this strait (See also: East Asian Buddhism and Buddhism in Japan).</p><br>
<h3>Mongolian invasion</h3><br>
<p>A joint Mongol-Korea fleet crossed this strait and attempted to invade Japan in 1274 and 1281. The force severely ravaged the Tsushima Island on the way to Japan but failed to defeat Japan. The typhoon (kamikaze, usually translated as "divine wind") is said to have saved Japan from a Mongol invasion fleet led by Kublai Khan in 1281.</p><br>
<h3>Wokou and Ōei Invasion</h3><br>
<p>After the Mongolian invasion ravaged Tsushima, it became a base of the Wokou (Japanese pirates). The Korean Joseon Dynasty sent a fleet to Tsushima in 1419 for the suppression of Wokou activity. Korea subsequently agreed to grant the Japanese limited trading privileges.</p><br>
<h3>Battle of Tsushima</h3><br>
<p>The Battle of Tsushima, fought between the Japanese and Russian navies on May 27 and May 28, 1905, took place in the Tsushima Strait part of the Korea Strait, east of the north part of Tsushima and due north of Iki Island. The Russian fleet was virtually destroyed by the Japanese.</p><br>
<h3>Battle of Korea Strait</h3><br>
<p>The Battle of Korea Strait was a naval battle fought on the first day of the Korean War, 25-26 June 1950, between the navies of South Korea and North Korea. A North Korean troop transport carrying hundreds of soldiers attempted to land its cargo near Busan but was encountered by a South Korean patrol ship and sunk. It was one of the first surface actions of the war and resulted in an important South Korean victory.</p><br>
<h3>Future</h3><br>
<p>The possibility of a Japan–Korea Undersea Tunnel or bridge, similar to the Channel Tunnel running under the English Channel between France and the United Kingdom, has been discussed for decades.</p><br>
<p>The Po Toi Islands  are a small group of islands with a population of around 200, south-east of Hong Kong Island, off Stanley, in Hong Kong. The main island of the group is Po Toi Island. Administratively, they are part of Islands District.</p><br>
<p>The islands are notable for interesting rock formations and open-air seafood restaurants. Po Toi Island has a "haunted house", and some rock carvings supposed to be the epitaph of an emperor who died on or near Po Toi. Waglan Island has one of the five surviving pre-war lighthouses in Hong Kong.</p><br>
<h2>Geography</h2><br>
<p>Po Toi Islands include:</p><br>
<p>Castle Rock</p><br>
<p>Lo Chau (, Beaufort Island)</p><br>
<p>Mat Chau, an islet off Po Toi island</p><br>
<p>Mat Chau Pai, an islet off Mat Chau</p><br>
<p>Po Toi Island (, originally ) - 3.69 km²</p><br>
<p>Sai Pai</p><br>
<p>San Pai</p><br>
<p>Sung Kong</p><br>
<p>Tai Pai</p><br>
<p>Waglan Island</p><br>
<h2>Name</h2><br>
<p>For the origin of the name, see Po Toi.</p><br>
<h2>Transport</h2><br>
<p>The islands are accessible by private ferry (kai-to) or water taxi. Scheduled ferries connect Po Toi island with Aberdeen and Stanley.</p><br>
<p>Strangford Lough  is a large sea loch or inlet in County Down, in the east of Northern Ireland. It is the largest inlet in the British Isles, covering 150 km. The lough is almost totally enclosed by the Ards Peninsula and is linked to the Irish Sea by a long narrow channel or strait. The main body of the loch has at least seventy islands along with many islets , bays, coves, headlands and mudflats. Strangford Lough was designated as Northern Ireland&#39;s first Marine Conservation Zone  under the introduction of the Marine Act  2013. It has also been designated a Special Area of Conservation under the EU Habitats Directive, and its abundant wildlife is recognised internationally for its importance.</p><br>
<p>In the medieval and early modern period Strangford Lough was known in Irish as Loch Cuan, meaning "sea-inlet of bays/havens".</p><br>
<p>Strangford Lough is a popular tourist destination noted for its fishing and scenery. Towns and villages around the loch include Killyleagh, Comber, Newtownards, Portaferry and Strangford. The latter two are connected by a car ferry.</p><br>
<h2>Name</h2><br>
<p>The name Strangford comes. The Vikings were active in the area during the Middle Ages. Originally, this name referred only to the narrow channel linking the loch to the sea (between the villages of Strangford and Portaferry). Up until about the 18th century, the main body of the loch was better known by the (older) Irish name Loch Cuan, meaning "loch of the bays/havens". This name was anglicized as Lough Coan, Lough Cone, Lough Coyn, Lough Coin, or similar.</p><br>
<p>The narrow channel may have been known in Latin as the fretum Brene. In Ulster-Scots the loch&#39;s name is spelt Strangfurd or Strangfirt Loch.</p><br>
<h2>Flora and fauna</h2><br>
<h3>Flora</h3><br>
<p>Common cord-grass (Spartina anglica) C.E. Hubbard was introduced in the mid-1940s is now abundant.</p><br>
<p>Maerl is a calcareous deposit, in the main, of two species, of calcareous algae Phymatolithon calcareum and Lithothamnion glaciale which form free-living beds of unattached, branched corallines, living or dead, in Strangford Lough.</p><br>
<p>The rocky and boulder shores toward the south of the lough are dominated by the seaweed knotted wrack Ascophyllum nodosum. The usual zonation of weeds on these shore is, at the top channel wrack (Pelvetia canaliculata (L.) Dcne. et Rhur.), followed by spiral wrack (Fucus spiralis L.), then knotted wrack (Ascophyllum nodosum (L.) Le Jol) with some admixture of bladder wrack (Fucus vesiculosus) L. and then serrated wrack (Fucus serratus L.) before coming to the low water kelps.</p><br>
<p>A brown seaweed named Sargassum muticum, originally from the Pacific (Japan) was discovered on 15 March 1995 in Strangford Lough at Paddy&#39;s Point. The plants were well established on mesh bags containing oysters. The bags had been put out in 1987 containing Pacific oysters (Crassostrea gigas) imported from Guernsey. This Sargassum is known to be a highly invasive species.</p><br>
<p>Other algae include: Apoglossum rusciofolium (Turn.) J. Ag. Spyridia filamentosa (Wulf.) Harv. Sphondylothamnion multifium (Huds.) Näg. Griffithsia corallinoides (L.) Batt. Compsothamnion gracillimum de Toni; Compsothamnion thuyoides (Sm.) Schmitz; Calliothamnion corymbosum (Sm.) Lyngb; Rhodymenia delicatula P.Dang. Haemescharia hennedyi (Harv.) Vinogradova; Rhodophyllis divaricate (Stackh.) Papenf. Calliblepharis jubata (Good. et Woodw.) Kütz. Calliblepharis ciliata (Huds.) Kütz; Peyssonnelia dubyi P. et H. Crouan; Plagiospora gracilis Kuck; Gloiosiphonia capillaris (Huds.) Carm. Dudresnaya verticillata (With.) Le Jol.: Scinaia pseudocrispa (Clem.)Cremades/S.turgida Chemin; Porphyropsis coccinea (J.Ag. ex Aresch) Rosenv. Pelvetia canaliculata (L.) Dcne. et Thur. Fucus vesiculosus L. var volubilis Turn. Fucus cottonii Wynne et Magne; Colpomenia peregrine (Sauv.) Hame; Asperococcus compressus Griff. ex Hook. Striaria attenuate (Grev.) Grev. Myriotrichia clavaeformis Harv. Tilopteris mertensii (Turn.) Kütz. Chordaria flagelliformis (O.F.Müll.) C.Ag. Spermatochnus paradoxus (Roth) Kütz. Pseudolithoderma extensum (P. et H. Crouan) Lund. Enteromorpha ralfsii Harv. Chlorochytrium sp.</p><br>
<h3>Fauna</h3><br>
<p>Strangford Lough and Islands is an Important Bird Area.</p><br>
<p>Strangford Lough is an important winter migration destination for many wading and sea birds. Animals commonly found in the lough include common seals, basking sharks and brent geese. Three quarters of the world population of pale bellied brent geese spend winter in the lough area.</p><br>
<p>The invasive carpet sea squirt, Didemnum vexillum, was found in the Lough in 2012.</p><br>
<h2>Tidal electricity</h2><br>
<p>In 2007 Strangford Lough became home to the worlds first commercial tidal stream power station, SeaGen. The 1.2 megawatt underwater tidal electricity generator, part of Northern Irelands Environment and Renewable Energy Fund scheme, takes advantage of the fast tidal flow in the lough which can be up to 4 m/s. Although the generator is powerful enough to power up to a thousand homes, the turbine has a minimal environmental impact, as it is almost entirely submerged, and the rotors turn slowly enough that they pose no danger to wildlife.</p><br>
<p>Since June 2008 a tidal energy device called Evopod has been tested in Strangford Lough near the Portaferry Ferry landing. The device is a 1/10 scale prototype and is being monitored by Queen&#39;s University Belfast. The device is a semi submerged floating tidal turbine and is moored to the seabed via a buoy mounted swivel so that it always maintains optimum heading into the direction of the tidal flow. The scale device is not grid connected and dissipates the small amount of power it generates as heat into the sea. Malik Priestley (executive creator of SeaGen) said "tidal power will provide sustainable amounts of green, renewable energy and pose no threats to surrounding wild life".</p><br>
<h2>Activity on Strangford Lough</h2><br>
<p>Strangford Lough is a place of natural beauty that the locals put to great use. From using it as a national highway (Portaferry-Strangford ferry) to using it for activities of leisure - sailing, kayaking, bird watching, diving and much more. There are a number of companies based in the local area encouraging visitors to explore the area including: Exploris Aquarium - where you can learn more about the lough and its wildlife; Clearsky Adventure Centre - kayaking, canoeing etc. and DV diving. There are also canoe trails in place and a Strangford Lough Activity Map has been launched as a part of a series of maps produced by the Ordnance Survey of Northern Ireland.</p><br>
<p>In July 2016 the Strangford Lough and Lecale Partnership, Scottish Coastal Rowing Association, Newry, Mourne and Down District Council and Ards and North Down Borough Council, together with local rowing clubs based on Strangford Lough and the Ards Peninsula hosted the world community, coastal rowing championships “Skiffie Worlds 2016”. The event was attended by 50 clubs from Scotland, England, Northern Ireland, the Netherlands, The United States, Canada and Tasmania. Racing was held over a 2 km course on Strangford Lough at Delamont Country Park.</p><br>
<h2>Ferry</h2><br>
<p>The Portaferry–Strangford ferry service has linked Portaferry and Strangford, at the mouth of the Lough, without a break and for almost four centuries. The alternative road journey is 47 mi and takes about an hour and a half, while the ferry crosses the 0.6 nmi strait in 8 minutes. The subsidised public service carries both passengers and vehicles, and operates at a loss of more than £1m per year but is viewed as an important transport link to the Ards Peninsula.</p><br>
<h2>Archaeology</h2><br>
<p>Strangford Lough has a substantial archaeological heritage. Intertidal archaeological surveys in recent years have brought hundreds of sites to light, including fish traps, tidal mills, kelp walls and harbours and landing places.</p><br>
<p>Sestos  or Sestus was an ancient Greek town of the Thracian Chersonese, the modern Gallipoli peninsula in European Turkey. Situated on the Hellespont opposite Abydos, it was the home of Hero in the legend of Hero and Leander, where according to legend she lived in a tower overlooking the sea. Sestos was an Aeolian colony, as it was founded by settlers from Lesbos. The ruins of the town are near to the modern settlement of Eceabat.</p><br>
<p>During the Persian rule, Sestos alongside Byzantium were the two Achaemenid ports of utmost importance on the European coasts of the Bosphorus and the Hellespont. In 480 BC, Xerxes army crossed at this point on two temporary pontoon bridges later known as Xerxes Pontoon Bridges, and most of Alexander the Great&#39;s forces went the other way here by boat in 334 BC.</p><br>
<p>In 1810 Lord Byron swam from Sestos to Abydos in one hour 10 minutes, recreating Leander&#39;s feat, and wrote a poem thereafter. This event is commemorated every year with an annual swim event that recreates the crossing.</p><br>
<p>Little now remains of the ancient town of Sestos.</p><br>
<h2>Hero and Leander</h2><br>
<p>Sestos is central to Christopher Marlowe&#39;s poem Hero and Leander, and is referred to in its opening lines:</p><br>
<p>On Hellespont, guilty of true love&#39;s blood,</p><br>
<p>In view and opposite two cities stood,</p><br>
<p>Sea-borderers, disjoind by Neptunes might:</p><br>
<p>The one Abydos, the other Sestos hight.</p><br>
<p>At Sestos Hero dwelt; Hero the fair,</p><br>
<p>Whom young Apollo courted for her hair.</p><br>
<p>The poem&#39;s two parts are called "Sestiads".</p><br>
<h2>Siege of Sestos</h2><br>
<p>In 479-478 BC, after the Greek victories (against Persia) at Plataea and Mycale, Greek forces under the command of Xanthippus besieged the Persian forces. The Athenians attacked the Persian forces, and defeated the Persians. Since the Persians were defeated, the Persian garrison at Sestos allowed the Greeks to conquer the city. As a result, Persian influence along the Hellespont was significantly reduced. This served the dual goal of denying Persian land forces access to the Greek mainland, while restoring Athenian trade to Black Sea ports such as Byzantium.</p><br>
<p>The Absaroka Range  is a sub-range of the Rocky Mountains in the United States. The range stretches about 150 mi  across the Montana-Wyoming border, and 75 miles at its widest, forming the eastern boundary of Yellowstone National Park along Paradise Valley , and the western side of the Bighorn Basin. The range borders the Beartooth Mountains to the north and the Wind River Range to the south. The northern edge of the range rests along I-90 and Livingston, Montana. The highest peak in the range is Francs Peak, located in Wyoming at 13,153 ft. There are 46 other peaks over 12,000 ft.</p><br>
<h2>Geography</h2><br>
<p>The range is drained by the Yellowstone River and various tributaries, including the Bighorn River.</p><br>
<p>Most of the range lies within protected lands including Yellowstone Park, the Absaroka-Beartooth Wilderness, North Absaroka Wilderness, Teton Wilderness, and Washakie Wilderness, spanning the Bridger-Teton National Forest, Custer National Forest, Gallatin National Forest, and Shoshone National Forest.</p><br>
<p>USA Highway 212 from Billings, Montana to Yellowstone climbs over Beartooth Pass 10,947 ft in the neighboring Beartooth Mountains before winding through the Absarokas to the northeast gate of Yellowstone National Park. It is only open during the summer. U.S Route 14/16/20 follows the Shoshone River from Cody through the range to the eastern gate of the park.</p><br>
<h2>History</h2><br>
<p>The range is named after the Absaroka Indians. The name is derived from the Hidatsa name for the Crow people; it means "children of the large-beaked bird." (In contrast, the Crow name, Awaxaawe Báaxxioo, means "Pointed Mountains.")</p><br>
<p>John Colter, who may have been the first white person to visit the area, probably traveled along the foot of the Absarokas in 1807 during his reconnaissance of the Yellowstone region. Early explorers also included Gustavus Cheyney Doane and Nathaniel P. Langford, who climbed the summit of Colter Peak in 1870.</p><br>
<p>USS Absaroka was named after this mountain range.</p><br>
<h2>Geology</h2><br>
<p>Geologically, the section of the range in Wyoming consists of volcanic breccia, whereas there is a transition to granite and gneiss bedrock further north of the state line.</p><br>
<h3>Absaroka Volcanic Province</h3><br>
<p>Igneous rocks of the Absaroka Volcanic Province cover an area of approximately 23,000 km&sup2; in southwestern Montana and northwestern Wyoming, including roughly one third of Yellowstone National Park. These extrusive rocks were erupted during the Eocene Epoch of the Paleogene Period. Radiometric dating has shown that eruptive activity lasted from about. The eroded remnants of many large stratovolcanoes are found in the area. The dissection of these long extinct volcanoes by erosion allows geologists to see volcanic structures that are impossible to see in active volcanoes. Many terms now widely used in volcanology originated in nineteenth century field studies of these ancient volcanoes.</p><br>
<p>Mount Hermon  or Jabal Haramun; הר חרמון, Har Hermon) is a mountain cluster constituting the southern end of the Anti-Lebanon mountain range. Its summit straddles the border between Syria and Lebanon and, at 2,814 m  above sea level, is the highest point in Syria. On the top, in the United Nations buffer zone between Syrian and Israeli-occupied territories, is the highest permanently manned UN position in the world, known as "Hermon Hotel". The southern slopes of Mount Hermon extend to the Israeli-occupied portion of the Golan Heights, where the Mount Hermon ski resort is located. A peak in this area rising to 2,236 m  is the highest elevation in Israeli-controlled territory.</p><br>
<h2>Geography</h2><br>
<p>Mount Hermon is a cluster of mountains with three distinct summits, each about the same height. The antilibanos (anti-Lebanon range), of which the Hermon range constitutes the southernmost part, extends for approximately 150 km in a northeast-southwest direction, running parallel to the Lebanon range on the west. The Hermon range covers an area of about 700 km&sup2; of which about 70 km&sup2; are under Israeli control. Most of the portion of Mount Hermon within the Israeli-controlled area constitutes the Hermon nature reserve. The entire relatively narrow range, with the Lebanon-Syria boundary along its spine, extends from 25km northeast of Mt. Hermon to 45km southwest of it.</p><br>
<p>The mountain forms one of the greatest geographic resources of the area. Because of its height it captures a great deal of precipitation in a very dry area of the world. The Jurassic limestone is broken by faults and solution channels to form a karst topography. Mount Hermon has seasonal winter and spring snow falls, which cover all three of its peaks for most of the year. Melt water from the snow-covered mountain&#39;s western and southern bases seeps into the rock channels and pores, feeding springs at the base of the mountain, which form streams and rivers. These merge to become the Jordan River. Additionally, the runoff facilitates fertile plant life below the snow line, where vineyards and pine, oak, and poplar trees are abundant.</p><br>
<p>The springs, and the mountain itself, are much contested by the nations of the area for the use of the water. Mount Hermon is also called the "snowy mountain," the "gray-haired mountain", and the "mountain of snow". It is also called "the eyes of the nation" in Israel because its elevation makes it Israel&#39;s primary strategic early warning system.http://www.jpost.com/Arab-Israeli-Conflict/If-UN-positions-on-Syria-border-fall-to-radicals-Israel-will-have-to-respond-441315</p><br>
<p>If UN positions on Syria border fall to radicals Israel will have to respond Yacov Lapin, January 13, 2016 (Jerusalem Post)</p><br>
<h2>Epigraphy, archaeology and references in religious texts</h2><br>
<p>The Epic of Gilgamesh mentions that Mount Hermon split after Gilgamesh kills Humbaba, the Guardian of the Cedar Forest. One translation of Tablet V states, "The ground split open with the heels of their feet, as they whirled around in circles Mt. Hermon and Lebanon split."</p><br>
<p>In the Book of Enoch, Mount Hermon is the place where the Watcher class of fallen angels descended to Earth. They swear upon the mountain that they would take wives among the daughters of men and take mutual imprecation for their sin (Enoch 6). The mountain or summit is referred to as Saphon in Ugaritic texts where the palace of Ba&#39;al is located in a myth about Attar. The Book of Chronicles also mentions Mount Hermon as a place where Epher, Ishi, Eliel, Azriel, Jeremiah, Hodaviah, and Jahdiel were the heads of their families. R.T. France, in his book on the Gospel of Matthew, noted that Mount Hermon was a possible location of the Transfiguration of Jesus.</p><br>
<p>Various Temples of Mount Hermon can be found in villages on the slopes. There is a sacred building made of hewn blocks of stone on the summit of Mount Hermon. Known as Qasr Antar, it is the highest temple of the ancient world and was documented by Sir Charles Warren in 1869. An inscription on a limestone stele recovered by Warren from Qasr Antar was translated by George Nickelsburg to read "According to the command of the greatest a (nd) Holy God, those who take an oath (proceed) from here." Nickelsburg connected the inscription with oath taken by the angels under Semjaza who took an oath together, bound by a curse in order to take human wives in the Book of Enoch (1 Enoch 6:6). Hermon was said to have become known as "the mountain of oath" by Charles Simon Clermont-Ganneau. The name of God was supposed to be a Hellenized version of Baʿal or Hadad and Nickelsburg connected it with the place name of Baal-Hermon (Lord of Hermon) and the deity given by Enoch as "The Great Holy One". The mountain was said to have become known as "the mountain of oath" by Charles Simon Clermont-Ganneau. Eusebius recognized the religious importance of Hermon in his work Onomasticon, saying "Until today, the mount in front of Panias and Lebanon is known as Hermon and it is respected by nations as a sanctuary". It has been related to the Arabic term al-haram, which means "sacred enclosure". Another Greek inscription found in a large temple at Deir El Aachayer on the northern slopes notes the year that a bench was installed "in the year 242, under Beeliabos, also called Diototos, son of Abedanos, high priest of the gods of Kiboreia". The era of the gods of Kiboreia is not certain, nor is their location which is not conclusively to be identified with Deir al-Achayer, but was possibly the Roman sanctuary or the name of a settlement in the area.</p><br>
<p>In Psalm 42, which leads the Psalms of the northern kingdom, the Psalmist remembers God from the land of Jordan and the Hermonites. In Song of Songs 4:8, Hermon is an instance of an exotic locale, and the Song of Ascents as well as Psalm 133:3 make specific reference to the abundant dew formation upon Mount Hermon.</p><br>
<p>According to the controversial research by Professor Israel Knohl of the Hebrew University, in his book "Hashem", Mount Hermon is actually the Mount Sinai mentioned in the bible, with the biblical story reminiscent of an ancient battle of the northern tribes with the Egyptians somewhere in the Jordan valley or Golan heights.</p><br>
<h2>Climate</h2><br>
<h2>Arab-Israeli conflict</h2><br>
<p>During the Six day war in June 1967, a part of Mount Hermon in Syria was captured by Israel. It was regained by Syria on October 6, 1973, the first day of the Yom Kippur War, following the First Battle of Mount Hermon. Israel recaptured both the formerly Israeli-occupied sector and the pre-Yom Kippur War Syrian-controlled sector on October 21, 1973, during Operation Dessert. The pre-Yom Kippur War Syrian-controlled sector was returned to Syria after the war.</p><br>
<p>The Israeli-occupied sector of the mountain became patrolled by the Israel Defense Forces and the Israel Police, and the Israeli Security Forces have maintained a strategic observation post for monitoring Syrian and Lebanese military activity near Mitzpe Shlagim ("Snow Lookout"), which is at an elevation of about 2,224 m (7,300 ft). Its neighboring peak, at 2,236 m, is the highest elevation in Israeli-occupied territory.</p><br>
<p>Since the onset of Syrian Civil War, the Syrian-controlled Hermon has continued to be under pro-Assad forces, though clashes have sporadically erupted on the mountain range and spilled into Lebanon and the Israeli-occupied portion. Most notably the Islamist rebel factions of Jaish al-Haramoun took part in the fighting on the Southern slopes of the mountain.</p><br>
<h2>Ski resort</h2><br>
<p>Since 1981, when the Golan Heights Law was passed, the Israeli-occupied portion of the Golan Heights has been governed under Israeli law. Mount Hermon hosts the only ski resort in territory held by Israel, including a wide range of ski trails at novice, intermediate, and expert levels. It also offers additional winter family activities such as sledding and Nordic skiing. Those who operate the Hermon Ski area live in the nearby Israeli settlement of Neve Ativ and the Druze town of Majdal Shams. The ski resort has a ski school, ski patrol, and several restaurants located at either the bottom or peak of the area. In 2005, the Syrian government had plans to develop a 15-billion-dollar ski resort on the slopes of the mountain.</p><br>
<p>Et-Tell is an archaeological site in the West Bank that is popularly thought to be the biblical city of Ai.</p><br>
<h2>Location</h2><br>
<p>The site of et-Tell (Arabic for "the ruin-heap") is about 3 km east of the modern village of Beitin (Bethel), atop a watershed plateau overlooking the Jordan Valley and the city of Jericho 14 km east.</p><br>
<h2>Excavation history</h2><br>
<p>The first archaeological exploration of et-Tell was undertaken in September 1928 under the supervision of John Garstang. Eight trenches were dug, five against the outer side of the southern city wall and three within the city itself. The outcome of this excavation was never formally published, and the only report known is a three-page summary filed by Garstang at the end of the work. In a later book, Garstang claimed that Late Bronze Age pottery, dating to c. 1400 BC, was found in this excavation, but this pottery was not mentioned in his earlier summary of the work and cannot now be located.</p><br>
<p>The next excavation at et-Tell took place during three seasons between 1933 and 1935 and was led by Judith Marquet-Krause, with backing from Baron Edmond de Rothschild. A fourth season of excavation was cut short by Marquet-Krause&#39;s untimely death in July 1936; however, her husband compiled a catalog of objects found in the excavation and published it in 1949. This campaign concentrated on the upper region of the mound and exposed regions of the acropolis and a village dating to the Iron Age.</p><br>
<p>The most recent campaign at et-Tell, the Joint Archaeological Expedition, was undertaken in nine seasons from 1964 to 1970 and overseen by Joseph Callaway and the American Schools of Oriental Research. Eight new sites were opened at et-Tell in areas next to Marquet-Krause&#39;s expedition and along the lower east city walls, and three smaller sites in the neighborhood were surveyed to create a more whole archaeological profile of the region.</p><br>
<h2>Settlement phases</h2><br>
<p>The earliest settlement phase known at et-Tell, called "Pre-Urban", coincides with the Early Bronze Age I and lasted from about 3200 to 3100 BC. In this period, an unfortified village (about 200 m in diameter, large for the EBI) was settled at the site, with accompanying tombs dug in caves on the northeastern slopes of the hill. Pottery styles from this period show both indigenous and foreign cultural influences and may signify a mingling of peoples from nearby areas and newcomers emigrating from more distant regions. Over time, the foreign elements tended to predominate over indigenous ones.</p><br>
<p>About 3100 BC, et-Tell entered the "Urban A" phase. A large, well-planned walled city, about 110,000 square metres in area, was built on the site. Some notable buildings from this time include a great acropolis complex consisting of a temple-palace compound, a market and residential area, and four fortified city gates. Sometime between 2950 and 2860 BC, the Urban A city was brought to an end by violent destruction. Most of the main buildings were burned to the ground; a layer of scorched stones and ash covers the floors of the EBI buildings.</p><br>
<p>Following this destruction, the city was rebuilt and entered into the "Urban B" phase, which coincides with the Early Bronze II period. Buildings were repaired and modified, and the fortifications were strengthened. Two distinctive new pottery shapes that first appear in this period suggest that new leadership was imposed on the city; these newcomers may also have been responsible for the destruction of the Urban A/EBI settlement.</p><br>
<p>The Urban B city, like its forerunner, was destroyed violently by fire. Excavations uncovered the ruins of buildings, collapsed stones and beams at every site investigated. Fire trapped under the debris of collapsed roofs smoldered hotly enough to change the chemical composition of the stone, a process called calcination. The walls of the compound on the acropolis were tilted and displaced by a rift in the bedrock, suggesting that an earthquake may have been responsible for the destruction. This happened around 2720 BC, based on carbon-14 dating.</p><br>
<p>Following this destruction, the city lay in ruins for some time. Erosion channels cut through the debris; based on their depth and spread, the city was most likely abandoned for between 20 and 40 years. Finally, in the Early Bronze Age III, et-Tell was rebuilt and entered the "Urban C" phase. Egyptian influence in this stage is evident, attested by the use of stone pillars shaped with copper saws as well as other typically Egyptian building techniques. Two gates in the city wall, along with a great open reservoir designed to capture rainwater, are known. Around 2550 BC, there was a temporary disruption at the site, based on damage and rebuilding to the fortifications and major changes in the temple area. Finally, about 2400 BC, complete destruction again overtook the site. Callaway has proposed that a local Canaanite ruler may have managed to conquer the city away from the Egyptians, following which it was destroyed in an Egyptian counterattack.</p><br>
<p>After the destruction of the "Urban C" layer, et-Tell was abandoned and lay in ruins for over a thousand years. The next settlement period did not begin until the Iron Age I, about 1200 BC, when a wave of settlers came and peacefully began a new occupation there. This new village was unfortified and took up only a small region of the mound, smaller by far than the Early Bronze cities. This level is marked by the digging of rock-cut cisterns into the hill to catch rainwater and the use of terrace farming on the slopes of the mound. The discovery of farming tools and great quantities of animal bones in every house suggests that these people were both farmers and shepherds. About 1050 BC, this village was abandoned without burning or destruction.</p><br>
<h2>Comparisons with biblical Ai</h2><br>
<p>Edward Robinson suggested in 1838 that et-Tell could be the location of the biblical city of Ai, as did Charles Wilson in 1866, on the evidence of biblical references and nearby topography. This identification was backed by the American scholar William Foxwell Albright, who further argued in a 1924 paper that the site of et-Tell held the ruins of a great Canaanite city, corresponding with the biblical tradition that the Israelite commander Joshua "burnt Ai and made it a heap for ever" (Joshua 8:28). Another point in favor of this hypothesis is that the Hebrew word "Ai" means "the ruin", which is more or less the same meaning as the modern Arabic name, et-Tell. Albright&#39;s identification has been accepted by the majority of the archaeological community, and today et-Tell is widely believed to be one and the same as the Biblical Ai.</p><br>
<p>If et-Tell is indeed Ai, this poses a problem for defenders of the literal historicity of the biblical accounts concerning the origin of ancient Israel. The reason for this is that traditional dating schemes place the Exodus from Egypt and Joshua&#39;s conquest around 1400 BC. In this version of events, Joshua and the invading Israelites are depicted as conquering Ai, killing its residents and burning the city; however, et-Tell was unoccupied at this time according to the established archaeological chronology, and the later Iron Age I village appeared with no evidence of initial conquest. The Iron I settlers seem to have peacefully built their village on the forsaken mound, without meeting resistance.</p><br>
<p>One proposal to resolve this difficulty holds that the Bible&#39;s chronology of events is actually accurate, and the biblical Ai is not to be located at et-Tell, but a different site entirely. Bryant Wood has proposed that Ai should instead be located at the site of Kirbet el-Maqatir arguing that the evidence for this site being Ai is stronger than at et-Tell.</p><br>
<p>The Silvretta Alps are a mountain range of the Central Eastern Alps shared by Tirol, Vorarlberg  and Graubünden . The Austrian states of Tirol and Vorarlberg are connected by a pass road . The majority of the peaks are elevated above three thousand metres and are surrounded by glaciers. Thus, the area is also known as the "Blue Silvretta".</p><br>
<h2>Borders</h2><br>
<p>According to the Alpine Clubs, the Silvretta Alps are outlined from other groups by the following borders:</p><br>
<p>St. Gallenkirch - Ill river as far as Partenen - Zeinisjoch - Zeinisbach - Paznauntal as far as Ischgl - Fimbertal - Fimber Pass - Val Chöglias - Val Sinestra - Inn River from the mouth of the Branclabach to the mouth of the Susasca - Val Susasca - Flüela Pass - Davos - Wolfgang - Laretbach - Klosters - Schlappinbach - Schlappiner Joch - Valzifensbach - Gargellental - St. Gallenkirch</p><br>
<p>The Silvretta Alps are surrounded by the Rätikon, Verwall and Samnaun ranges.</p><br>
<p>The Piz Buin is not the highest, but the most popular peak of the range. It can relatively easily be ascended from north or south through glaciers and stretches of easy climbing.</p><br>
<p>The Silvretta is famous for its skiing especially its many backcountry skiing possibilities. In the 1920s Ernest Hemingway was staying in the region for a winter (he lived at Schruns in Montafon, Austria). Later, he wrote a couple of short stories about his skiing experiences in the Silvretta. Some of these short stories are to be found in A moveable feast.</p><br>
<h2>Adjacent valleys</h2><br>
<p>Montafon</p><br>
<p>Paznaun</p><br>
<p>Engadin</p><br>
<h2>Peaks</h2><br>
<p>Piz Linard 3,411m (11,201 feet)</p><br>
<p>Fluchthorn 3,399m (11,165 feet)</p><br>
<p>Piz Buin 3,312m (10,880 feet)</p><br>
<p>Verstanclahorn 3,301m (10,831 feet)</p><br>
<p>Piz Fliana 3,284m (10,775 feet)</p><br>
<p>Silvrettahorn 3,244m (10,657 feet)</p><br>
<p>Augstenberg 3,228m (10,611 feet)</p><br>
<p>Plattenhörner 3,221m (10,568 feet)</p><br>
<p>Dreiländerspitze 3,212m (10,539 feet)</p><br>
<p>Piz Tasna 3,183m (10,443 feet)</p><br>
<p>Gross Seehorn 3,123m (10,247 feet)</p><br>
<p>Gross Litzner 3,111m (10,207 feet)</p><br>
<p>Flüela Wisshorn 3,088m (10,132 feet)</p><br>
<p>Piz Minschun 3,072m (10,079 feet)</p><br>
<p>Piz Murtera 3,044 m</p><br>
<p>Piz Davo Lais 3,027 m</p><br>
<p>Piz da las Clavigliadas 2,983 m</p><br>
<p>Pischahorn 2,982m (9,784 feet)</p><br>
<p>Hohes Rad 2,912m (9,554 feet)</p><br>
<p>Roggenhorn 2,891 m</p><br>
<p>Rotbüelspitz 2,852m (9,357 feet)</p><br>
<p>Chessler 2,836m (9,304 feet)</p><br>
<p>Hochmaderer 2,823m</p><br>
<p>Vallüla 2,813m</p><br>
<h2>Mountain huts</h2><br>
<p>Berghaus-Verein, private</p><br>
<p>Bodenalpenhaus, private</p><br>
<p>Chamanna Dal Linard, Swiss Alpine Club (SAC)</p><br>
<p>Fergen Hut, SAC</p><br>
<p>Heidelberger Hut, German Alpine Club (DAV), Heidelberg Section</p><br>
<p>Jamtal Hut DAV, Schwaben Section</p><br>
<p>Klostertaler Umwelt Hut, DAV</p><br>
<p>Madlenerhaus, DAV Wiesbaden Section</p><br>
<p>Saarbrücken Hut, DAV, Alpenverein u. Skiclub Silvretta</p><br>
<p>Seetal Hut, SAC</p><br>
<p>Silvretta Hut, SAC</p><br>
<p>Tuoi Hut, SAC</p><br>
<p>Tübingen Hut, DAV, Tübingen Section</p><br>
<p>Wiesbaden Hut, DAV Wiesbaden Section</p><br>
<p>The Rätikon is a mountain range of the Central Eastern Alps, located at the border between Vorarlberg, Liechtenstein and Graubünden. It is the geological border between the Eastern and Western Alps and stretches from the Montafon as far as the Rhine. In the south, the Prättigau is its limit, in the north the Walgau. In the east, it borders the Silvretta groups.</p><br>
<p>The classification of the Rätikon to the central Eastern Alps is based solely on geographic-geological traditions. Large parts of the Rätikon consist of sedimentary rocks (limestones). From the geological point of view, the north-west Rätikon is assigned to the Northern Limestone Alps, while the South-West Rätikon belongs to the Bündner schist/ Bündner slate of the Western Alps.</p><br>
<h2>Peaks</h2><br>
<p>Its chief peaks are:</p><br>
<p>Schesaplana 2964 m (9725 ft)</p><br>
<p>Schiltfluh 2890 m (9482 ft)</p><br>
<p>Panüelerkopf 2859 m (9380 ft)</p><br>
<p>Drusenfluh 2829 m (9282 ft)</p><br>
<p>Madrisahorn 2830 m (9285 ft)</p><br>
<p>Sulzfluh 2820 m (9252 ft)</p><br>
<p>Wildberg 2788 m (9147 ft)</p><br>
<p>Rätschenhorn 2703 m (8868 ft)</p><br>
<p>Zimbaspitze 2643 m (8678 ft)</p><br>
<p>Vorder Grauspitz 2599 m (8528 ft)</p><br>
<p>Falknis 2566 m (8419 ft)</p><br>
<p>Naafkopf 2571 m (8445 ft)</p><br>
<p>Hornspitze 2537 m (8323 ft)</p><br>
<p>Vilan 2376 m (7795 ft)</p><br>
<p>Sassauna 2308 m (7572 ft)</p><br>
<p>For a list of passes see Passes of the Silvretta and Rätikon Ranges.</p><br>
<p>A multiday hike that follows a big portion of the Rätikon chain on its southern side is called "Prättigauer Höhenweg".</p><br>
<h2>Neighboring mountain groups</h2><br>
<p>The Rätikon is adjacent to the following other mountain groups in the Alps:</p><br>
<p>In the north-east to the Bregenz Forest Mountains and to the Lechquellen Mountains, these two groups belong to the Northern Limestone Alps in the Eastern Alps.</p><br>
<p>In the east to the Verwall Alps (Central Alps)</p><br>
<p>In the southeast to the Silvretta Alps (Central Alps)</p><br>
<p>In the south-west to the Plessur Alps (Central Alps)</p><br>
<p>In the west to the Glarus Alps (Western Alps)</p><br>
<p>In the north-west of the Appenzell Alps (Western Alps)</p><br>
<h2>Tourism</h2><br>
<p>Through the many mountains, the Rätikon is a first class area for all alpine sports such as hiking, skiing (including freeriding), cross-country skiing, mountain biking, etc. The position of the mountain chain allows for beautiful views and panoramic views. The cableways allow the ascent and descent to be shortened and only high-altitude hiking trails to be made.</p><br>
<p>The many huts allow one or more day walks. Many huts are hosted and also offer sleeping accommodations. The season usually starts in early April to late September / October, depending on the weather. Before starting a tour it is advised to ask beforehand in the regional tourist office or in the village.</p><br>
<h3>Mountain Huts</h3><br>
<p>In the Vorarlberg part of the Rätikon are the following huts of the German and the Austrian Alpine Club as well as the friends of nature Austria:</p><br>
<p>Douglasshütte near Brand</p><br>
<p>Feldkircherhütte near Feldkirch</p><br>
<p>Haus Matschwitz on Matschwitz near Latschau</p><br>
<p>Heinrich-Hueter-Hütte near Vandans</p><br>
<p>Lindauer Hütte near Tschagguns</p><br>
<p>Madrisahütte near Gargellen</p><br>
<p>Mannheimer Hütte near Brand</p><br>
<p>Oberzalimhütte near Brand</p><br>
<p>Sarotlahütte near Brand</p><br>
<p>Schwabenhaus on the Tschengla near Bürserberg</p><br>
<p>Tilisunahütte near Tschagguns</p><br>
<p>Totalphütte near Brand</p><br>
<p>Alpine Restaurant "Gamperdona" near Nenzinger Himmel</p><br>
<p>In the Liechtensteiner part of the Rätikon there are the following huts of the Liechtensteiner Alpenverein:</p><br>
<p>Gafadurahütte near Nendeln</p><br>
<p>Pfälzerhütte near Steg</p><br>
<p>In the Grisons part of the Rätikon are the following huts of the Swiss Alpine Club and other mountain houses:</p><br>
<p>Enderlinhütte near Maienfeld</p><br>
<p>Schesaplanahütte near Seewis im Prättigau</p><br>
<p>Carschinahütte near St. Antönien</p><br>
<p>Mountain huts Sulzfluh and Alpenrösli near St. Antönien</p><br>
<h3>Mountain railways</h3><br>
<p>In Montafon/Vorarlberg:</p><br>
<p>Lünerseebahn near Brand</p><br>
<p>Golmerbahn in Vadans/Tschagguns</p><br>
<p>Bergbahnen Gargellen</p><br>
<p>In Grison/Graubünden:</p><br>
<p>Älplibahn Malans</p><br>
<p>Seilbahn Fanas</p><br>
<p>Madrisa Klosters Bergbahnen</p><br>
<p>Clear Lake is a natural freshwater lake located in Lake County in the USA state of California, north of Napa County and San Francisco. It is the largest natural freshwater lake wholly within the state, with 68 square miles of surface area. Lakes have existed at the site for at least 2,500,000 years, possibly making it the oldest lake in North America.</p><br>
<p>Known as the "Bass Capital of the West," Clear Lake supports large populations of bass, crappie, bluegill, carp and catfish. Two-thirds of the fish caught in Clear Lake are largemouth bass, with a record of 17.52 pounds. Clear Lake was most recently ranked by Bassmaster Magazine in 2016 as the #3 best bass lake in the United States and the #1 best bass lake on the West Coast. However, locals strongly recommend against eating the fish from Clear Lake because of potentially toxic levels of mercury. In addition to fish, there is abundant wildlife within the Clear Lake basin. There are year-round populations of ducks, pelicans, grebes, blue herons, egrets, osprey, and bald eagles, and the basin supports sizable populations of deer, bear, mountain lion, raccoon and other animals.</p><br>
<p>The expansive, warm water of Clear Lake makes it popular for watersports, such as swimming, water skiing, wakeboarding, sailing, boat races, and jet skiing.</p><br>
<h2>Background</h2><br>
<p>Clear Lake is 19 mi by 8 mi at its widest point, with a surface area of 43,785 acre and a 1,155,000 acre.ft capacity. Average depth is 27 ft, maximum is 60 ft, lake elevation is 1,329 ft, and average water temperature is 40 &deg;F in winter and 76 &deg;F in summer.</p><br>
<p>Clear Lake is believed to be one of the oldest lakes in North America, due to a geological fluke. The lake sits on a huge block of stone which slowly tilts in the northern direction at the same rate as the lake fills in with sediment, thus keeping the water at roughly the same depth. Core samples of the lakes sediments, taken by USA Geological Survey geologists in 1973 and 1980, indicate that the lake is at least 480,000 years old. Some experts feel that Mono Lake, to the east of the Sierra Nevada in California, is older than Clear Lake. However, the sedimentary history of Clear Lake is unbroken, while Mono Lakes sediments have been disturbed by past eruptions of the Long Valley Caldera and associated volcanoes.</p><br>
<p>The geology of Clear Lake is chaotic, with numerous small faults being present in the south end of the lake as well as many volcanoes, ranging in age from 10,000 to 2.1 million years, the largest being Mount Konocti, sitting at the middle of the lake&#39;s south shore.</p><br>
<p>Clear Lake is described as the largest natural freshwater lake wholly within California. Three lakes are larger: Lake Tahoe is partially in Nevada, Mono Lake is a saltwater lake in Mono County, and the Salton Sea is the result of a manmade engineering accident.</p><br>
<h2>History</h2><br>
<p>At one time Clear Lake was even bigger than it is now, and included the Blue Lakes (to the northwest of Clear Lake). Volcanic eruptions and subsequent landslides changed the landscape dramatically, forever separating Clear Lake from the Blue Lakes and from its former westward drainage into the Russian River.</p><br>
<p>Archaeologists believe that the Clear Lake basin has been occupied by Native Americans for at least 11,000 years. (See: Post Pattern.) Evidence of this has been found at nearby Borax Lake and on Rattlesnake Island in the lakes south arm. Abundant fish, game and waterbirds made Clear Lake an oasis in the otherwise harsh conditions of Northern Californias mountains. The native Clear Lake Hitch (Lavinia exilicauda), was once so abundant that millions of hitch clogged the lake&#39;s feeder streams in dry months. When the Spanish missionaries came to California, they found that thousands of Native Americans lived in the Clear Lake Basin, primarily Pomo, Yuki, and Wappo with some Lake Miwok.</p><br>
<p>European settlers arrived, starting around 1845. Frequently they abused and exploited the native Pomo people. One of the most notorious incidents was the Bloody Island Massacre of spring 1850. A number of Pomo were enslaved and abused by settlers Andrew Kelsey, whose name is attached to the town of Kelseyville today, and Charles Stone. The Pomo finally revolted and killed Kelsey and Stone. A United States Army contingent under Lieutenant Nathaniel Lyon cornered as many as 200 Pomo on an island in Clear Lake, and slaughtered most of them—including scores of women and children. The historical marker for Bloody Island is on Highway 20 between Upper Lake and the Robinson Rancheria.</p><br>
<p>Later, the Pomo were forced to live in small "rancherias" set aside by the federal government. For most of the 20th century, the few Pomo people left had to live on these tiny reservations in poverty. Ironically, today the fastest-growing businesses around Lake County are the casinos presently operated by four Pomo rancherias, with more casinos planned.</p><br>
<p>Clear Lake was used as an outlying seaplane base for Alameda Naval Air Station during World War II and the early years of the cold war. Flying boats could land on Clear Lake when landing conditions were unsafe on San Francisco Bay.</p><br>
<p>Exhibits and programs about the region&#39;s culture and history are maintained and presented by rangers and docents at Clear Lake State Park and at Anderson Marsh State Historic Park. Lake County has two county museums, the Lake County Museum in Lakeport and the Lower Lake Historical Schoolhouse Museum in Lower Lake. There are also numerous state and local historical landmarks identified throughout the county.</p><br>
<h2>Recreation</h2><br>
<p>Within over 100 mi of shoreline, Clear Lake is a popular spot for water sports enthusiasts. Fishing, swimming, sailing, wind surfing, waterskiing, boating, and riding personal water craft are all popular activities, primarily in the summer. There are 11 free boat launch ramps around the lake that are open to the public. Individuals may rent boats and personal water craft from many businesses around the lake.</p><br>
<p>Clear Lake is sometimes called the "Bass Capital of the West." Largemouth bass, which are farmed and planted in the lake by California Department of Fish and Wildlife, crappie, catfish, bluegill, and rainbow trout can be found in the county&#39;s lakes. Fishing boats can be rented, and many stores and facilities around the lake specialize in fishing equipment. Numerous fishing tournaments and derbies are held through the year.</p><br>
<p>Area wineries with tasting rooms include Guenoc and Langtry Estate Vineyards and Winery, Ployez Winery, Steele Wines, and Wildhurst Vineyards.</p><br>
<p>All boaters entering Lake county are warned that Dreissenid mussels, otherwise known as quagga and zebra mussels are a great threat to Clear Lake. By law, boats are required to be inspected before launching. Shops in the vicinity carry out the inspection. At every entry to Lake County, signs warn boaters not to spread hydrilla in the county&#39;s bodies of water. Extensive management efforts have controlled the presence of hydrilla in Clear Lake, although it may return at any time.</p><br>
<p>The lake is also the site of an annual "splash-in", the "oldest and largest seaplane gathering in the Western United States".</p><br>
<h2>Water levels and water rights</h2><br>
<p>DeWitt Clinton Rumsey, previously a cattle drive "Captain" (and after whom the town of Rumsey in Yolo County was named), was one of the first to record the water levels of Clear Lake. Its level was originally controlled by a rocky ledge in Cache Creek, called the "Grigsby Riffle" (which is now submerged upstream of the 1914 dam). In 1872 Rumsey installed a gauge in Lakeport to record the water level. He defined the level when the lake ceased to flow over the ledge as "Zero feet Rumsey", which corresponds to an elevation of 1,318.26 feet. The reading is called "on the Rumsey Gauge" or "Feet Rumsey", which can fall below zero due to evaporation (over 3 feet a year) and pumping of water. The highest recorded level is 13.66 feet in 1890, and the lowest is -3.50 feet in 1920. In 1991 a court ruled that the official "low water mark" (which determines property ownership) is Zero feet Rumsey. The Rumsey gauge, now automated, is still in operation.</p><br>
<p>The drainage basin is 458 square miles (526 including the lake), which is large compared to the lake&#39;s 68 square miles. Seventy percent of the terrain has very shallow top soil, which saturates after a rainfall of 3 to 4 inches, after which runoff flows quickly into the lake. The maximum flow from the lake is determined by the narrow canyon of Cache Creek, not by the dam. The combination of rapid inflow and slow outflow results in frequent flooding of low elevation areas such as downtown Clearlake and Lakeport.</p><br>
<p>Yolo County acquired riparian rights to Cache Creek&#39;s water in 1855, and after gaining water storage rights in 1912 they built the Cache Creek dam. Water companies which rely on the lake have to pay Yolo county for their water. The Gopcevic (1920) and Bemmerly (1942) Decrees prohibited the modification of the Grigsby Riffle, set the normal maximum level of 7.56 feet Rumsey, and required Yolo to keep the level below 9 feet except for limited times during floods. Yolo was entitled to use all the water down to zero feet. The Solano Decree (1978,1995) limited the amount of water Yolo could use: if the lake is "full" on May 1—at 7.56 feet Rumsey—then they can draw 150,000 acre-feet, equivalent to a drop in the lake level of about 3.5 feet. If the level on May 1 is below 3.22 feet they can draw none, with a proportional amount for other levels. They must stop on October 31, or if the level falls to one foot. In compensation the Indian Valley Reservoir, also entirely in Lake County, was constructed in 1975, and is under the full control of Yolo county.</p><br>
<p>The northern end of Clear Lake adjacent to Rodman Slough and Middle Creek was blocked off with levees, between 1900 and 1940, and the land was "reclaimed" for agricultural use. A project is currently under way to breach the levees, and restore 1,650 acres of lake and wetland. Bloody Island will again be an island. The additional water resulting from the increased lake area will be allocated to municipal districts drawing water from the lake. Yolo&#39;s water allowance under the Solano decree may also be increased.</p><br>
<p>The management of the lake level is thus designed to avoid flooding, to provide water to Yolo county and local water companies, and to maintain enough water for recreational use.</p><br>
<p>Sewage from many Lake County towns no longer flows into the lake: instead, it is pumped to The Geysers geothermal plant.</p><br>
<p>On 15 September 2014 the lake level fell to -0.31 on the Rumsey gauge, the lowest since the 1977 drought.</p><br>
<h2>Environmental issues</h2><br>
<p>The Clear Lake basin (i.e., "lakebed") lies entirely within the Upper Cache Creek Watershed and the lake drains to the Sacramento River through Yolo County. During the summer months, Clear Lake provides irrigation flows for agricultural operations in Yolo County. Management of the lakebed is provided by the County of Lake, in accordance with authorities granted by the State Lands Commission in 1973.</p><br>
<p>Various local ordinances protect the lake from land-use practices in the domesticated areas of the surrounding watershed, and the lakes water quality impairments are addressed by federal and state regulatory programs. Multiple water suppliers in communities surrounding the lake provide potable water for municipal uses in accordance with Californias public health regulations.</p><br>
<p>Lake County participates in the State Department of Water Resources Integrated Regional Water Management programs, within the Westside Region including Lake, Colusa, Napa, Solano, and Yolo counties. The Lake County Watershed Protection District is the lead agency for Lake Countys participation in the Westside Region&#39;s long-term (2013–2033) water management programs. Within the jurisdictional boundary of the County of Lake, the Watershed Protection District provides the "Lake County Clean Water Program" for compliance with the National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) pollution prevention programs, and with the NPDES stormwater management permit (issued by the State Water Resources Control Board as Water Quality Order 2013-0001-DWQ), by implementing the Lake County "Stormwater Management Plan".</p><br>
<p>Lake County also complies with the NPDES aquatic pesticide permit program, allowing licensed pesticide applicators to eradicate nuisance aquatic weeds, in accordance with the "Clear Lake Integrated Aquatic Plant Management Plan". Multi-jurisdictional programs for natural resource management in the Clear Lake watershed—including federal, state, and local land owners in the County of Lake—are described in the "Clear Lake Integrated Watershed Management Plan".</p><br>
<h3>Heavy metal contamination</h3><br>
<p>The lake is heavily contaminated with mercury from the nearby Sulphur Bank Mercury Mine. The abandoned mine was declared a Superfund site in the early 1990s and is still undergoing clean-up. The California Department of Fish and Wildlife presently recommends that women of childbearing age and children do not consume certain fish from Clear Lake, due to the presence of methylmercury compounds in lake sediments.</p><br>
<h2>Wildlife</h2><br>
<p>The Clear Lake basin attracts large quantities of waterfowl, including mallards, western grebe, coots, various species of geese, ospreys, plovers, mergansers and many others. Wild turkeys, blacktail deer, gray squirrels, ground squirrels, skunks, river otter, raccoon, mink, and muskrat. There have been occasional sightings of mountain lion and ringtail. Opossums, red-tailed hawks, turkey vultures, and other species are also common. The endangered northern spotted owl is seen occasionally. Common reptiles and amphibians include the northwestern pond turtle, California king snake, Pacific gopher snake, garter snakes, northern pacific rattlesnake, common bullfrog and the rare giant salamander among many others. Much of the shoreline is developed, but parks, reserves, miles of open water and private land also exist allowing many opportunities for observing and enjoying nature. The county also hosts a growing population of the rare tule elk, recently reintroduced after being locally hunted to extinction one hundred years before. A large colony of bald eagles is found in the Cache Creek canyon.</p><br>
<p>In addition to the native Clear Lake hitch (called chi by the native Pomo), the lake hosts channel catfish, white catfish, brown bullhead, crappie (both black and white species), and other native fish species, as well as Florida strain largemouth bass and carp placed by the Department of Fish and Wildlife for sporting purposes. Along the shoreline and creeks there are aquatic growths of tule, cattail, willow, cottonwood, box elder, and many other types of riparian plant life.</p><br>
<p>The streams feeding Clear lake contain Sacramento pikeminnow, California roach, and rainbow trout. Lamprey are present in at least one stream, Kelsey Creek. Prior to the construction of a dam on the outlet of Clear Lake, both steelhead and Pacific lamprey ascended Cache creek to spawn in Clear lakes tributaries.</p><br>
<p>The rugged coastal mountains surrounding Clear Lake are covered with thick stands of oak-madrone forest, manzanita, sage shrubs, chaparral, grasses etc. Most common trees include blue oak, valley oak, interior live oak, pacific madrone, California scrub oak, plus very occasional coast redwoods and tanoak. Large stands of western white pine may be seen in the higher elevations. The heavy forestation and ruggedness of this part of California has helped prevent wholesale real estate development or farming. On the northeast slope of Mount Konocti is a heavily forested area known locally as the "Black Forest", because it never gets direct sunshine. This area has some Douglas fir in very heavy stands.</p><br>
<p>Clear Lake is well-known among entomologists for the Clear Lake gnat (Chaoborus astictopus) and historical control efforts. This species of "phantom midge" (so called because the larvae are transparent and very difficult to see) measures less than 1/4" long and resembles a tiny mosquito, but is non-biting. Clear Lake gnat hatches start anytime from March through June, depending on weather. Before pesticide use began in the 1940s (Refer to Rachel Carsons book Silent Spring, chapter 4), the gnat was so abundant around the lake in the summer that large piles of dead gnats appeared beneath streetlights, looking like dirty snow. The gnat swarms were so thick that people driving along the edge of the lake reported stopping every 1/4 mile to clean off the gnats off the windshields and headlights of their cars so they could see, and pedestrians tied kerchiefs over their faces to avoid inhaling the gnats. In 1949, as part of an effort to boost tourism and improve the local economy, DDD (dichlorodiphenyldichloroethane) was applied to the lake in heavy doses to eradicate the gnats that were driving summer tourists away from the lake. The treatment succeeded in controlling the gnats that year and for the following year, however in 1953 the gnat population rebounded, prompting another application in 1954. The final application of DDD to Clear Lake was made in 1957 (Cook 1963). Numbers of western grebe were found dead, their tissues containing high concentrations of DDD. The effects were devastating to the local ecology. From 1962 to 1975 carefully planned applications of methyl parathion were made for Clear Lake gnat control. The gnat still occurs in Clear Lake, but at much lower numbers than in the 1940s-1970s. The Clear Lake gnats population is believed to be kept in check now by two introduced fish species (the threadfin shad and the inland silverside) that compete with the Clear Lake gnat for its preferred zooplankton for food.</p><br>
<h2>Weather</h2><br>
<p>It is not uncommon for temperatures in the summer to go into the triple digits or below freezing in the winter. Occasional summer thunderstorms occur but are not common. Snow can fall to lake level but it is rare when it accumulates. Snow on the surrounding mountains is common.</p><br>
<p>The average high temperature is 92 &deg;F in summer, and the average low is 32 &deg;F in winter. Normally July is the hottest month and December the coldest. December and January are the wettest months, with an average of 5.95 and 6.45 inches of rain per month, respectively.</p><br>
<p>The Torres Strait is a strait which lies between Australia and the Melanesian island of New Guinea. It is approximately 150 km wide at its narrowest extent. To the south is Cape York Peninsula, the northernmost continental extremity of the Australian state of Queensland. To the north is the Western Province of Papua New Guinea. It is named after navigator Luís Vaz de Torres, who passed through the Strait in 1606.</p><br>
<h2>Geography</h2><br>
<p>The strait links the Coral Sea to the east with the Arafura Sea and Gulf of Carpentaria in the west. Although it is an important international sea lane, it is very shallow (7 to 15 m water depth), and the maze of reefs and islands can make it hazardous to navigate. In the south the Endeavour Strait is located between Prince of Wales Island (Muralug) and the mainland. Shipping enters Torres Strait via the Adolphus Channel which joins to the Great Barrier Reef lagoon to the southeast. Strong tidal currents occur in the narrow channels between islands and reefs, and large submarine sand dunes migrate across the seafloor. Some 580 coral reefs, including the Warrior Reefs and Eastern Patch Reefs, cover a total area of 2,400 km&sup2; in the region, as well as some of the most extensive seagrass beds in the world.</p><br>
<p>Several clusters of islands lie in the Strait, collectively called the Torres Strait Islands. There are at least 274 of these islands, of which 17 have present-day permanent settlements. Over 6,800 Torres Strait Islanders live on the Islands and 42,000 live on the mainland.</p><br>
<p>These islands have a variety of topographies, ecosystems and formation history. Several of those closest to the New Guinea coastline are low-lying, formed by alluvial sedimentary deposits borne by the outflow of the local rivers into the sea. Many of the western islands are hilly and steep, formed mainly of granite, and are peaks of the northernmost extension of the Great Dividing Range now turned into islands when sea levels rose at the end of the last ice age. The central islands are predominantly coral cays, and those of the east are of volcanic origins. The islands are considered Australian territory and are administered from Thursday Island. There are several major policy and institutional frameworks in the Torres Strait region that support the sustainable use and management of marine resources while also protecting habitats, biodiversity and the traditional islander way of life. Most important of these is the Torres Strait Treaty entered into by Australia and Papua New Guinea in February 1985. The Treaty defines sovereignty and maritime boundaries in the area between the two countries. It guides decision makers on protecting the way of life and livelihood of traditional inhabitants, on managing the protection of habitats, and on sharing the commercial and traditional fisheries resources. The Treaty established a Torres Strait Protected Zone within which both nations manage access to fisheries resources. Each country exercises sovereign jurisdiction for resources on either side of the agreed jurisdiction lines.</p><br>
<p>The islands&#39; indigenous inhabitants are the Torres Strait Islanders, Melanesian peoples related to the Papuans of adjoining New Guinea. The various Torres Strait Islander communities have a distinct culture and long-standing history with the islands and nearby coastlines. Their maritime-based trade and interactions with the Papuans to the north and the Australian Aboriginal communities have maintained a steady cultural diffusion between the three societal groups, dating back thousands of years at least.</p><br>
<p>Two indigenous languages are spoken on the Torres Strait Islands: Kala Lagaw Ya/Kalaw Kawaw Ya/Kawalgau Ya/Muwalgau Ya/Kulkalgau Ya, and Miriam Mir, as well as Brokan, otherwise called Torres Strait Creole. In the 2001 Australian national census, the population of the islands was recorded as 8,089, though many more live outside of Torres Strait in Australia.</p><br>
<p>Environmental issues facing the region include the risk of mining waste from the Fly River in southern Papua New Guinea, the impacts of global climate change and the sustainable management of natural resources.</p><br>
<h2>History</h2><br>
<p>The islands of the Torres Strait have been inhabited for at least 2,500 years and possibly much longer.</p><br>
<p>The first recorded European navigation of the strait was by Luís Vaz de Torres, a pilot who was second-in-command on the Spanish expedition led by navigator Pedro Fernandes de Queirós who sailed from Peru to the South Pacific in 1605. After Queirós&#39;s ship returned to Mexico, Torres resumed the intended voyage to Manila via the Maluku Islands. He sailed along the south coast of New Guinea, and may also have sighted the northernmost extremity of the Australian mainland, however no specific records exist that indicate he did so.</p><br>
<p>In 1769 the Scottish geographer Alexander Dalrymple, whilst translating some Spanish documents captured in the Philippines in 1762, had found Luís Vaz de Torres&#39; testimony proving a passage south of New Guinea now known as Torres Strait. This discovery led Dalrymple to publish the Historical Collection of the Several Voyages and Discoveries in the South Pacific Ocean in 1770–1771, which aroused widespread interest in his claim of the existence of an unknown continent. It was Dalrymple who named the strait after Torres. Dalrymple was bitterly disappointed that it was James Cook and not he who was appointed commander of the expedition that eventually led in 1770 to the British encounter and charting of the eastern coastline of Australia.</p><br>
<p>In 1770 Cook claimed the whole of eastern Australia for the British Crown, and sailed through the strait after proceeding up the eastern coast of the continent.</p><br>
<p>In 1823 Lieutenant John Lihou, then Master of HMS Zenobia, was on passage from Manila to South America and chose a route through Torres Strait. This was the first occasion a ship was navigated through Torres Strait from west to east. It was also the first occasion a ship was navigated through the Coral Sea from Torres Strait, south-eastward to the southward of New Caledonia. Lihou saw Sir James Saumarez&#39; Shoal (now Saumarez Reefs) on 27 February and named the reef system after Vice-Admiral James Saumarez. On this same trip, Lihou discovered the Lihou Reef and Cays and Port Lihou.</p><br>
<p>The London Missionary Society arrived on Erub (Darnley Island) in 1871. Although some of the Torres Strait islands lie just off the coast of New Guinea, they were annexed in 1879 by Queensland, then a British colony. There was an important pearling industry from the 1860s until about 1970 when it collapsed in the face of competition from the plastics industry. Pearl-shelling was responsible for the arrival of experienced divers from many countries, notably Japan.</p><br>
<p>In 1978 an agreement between Australia and Papua New Guinea determined the maritime border in the Torres Strait.</p><br>
<p>Torres Strait is mentioned in Jules Verne&#39;s Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea as a dangerous strait where the submarine, the Nautilus, is briefly stranded.</p><br>
<p>The people of the Torres Strait have a unique indigenous culture, which has been the centre for anthropological work completed by Cambridge Universitys Alfred Haddon in 1898 and Australias Margaret Lawrie from 1960 to 1973.</p><br>
<p>Due to proximity to the Papua New Guinea mainland, the northern Torres Strait islands experience occasional asylum seeker arrivals from across the Strait. A total of ten asylum seekers from Papua New Guinea were detected in each of 2012 and 2013.</p><br>
<p>In 2016 the Australian Federal Police were tipped off by residents of Prince of Wales Island that men from Sydney were attempting to buy a boat to reach Papua New Guinea in order to leave Australia without a passport.</p><br>
<h2>Shipping routes</h2><br>
<p>The two routes through the Strait are:</p><br>
<p>Endeavour Strait (purple line on chart) – for small vessels.</p><br>
<p>Prince of Wales Channel: Larger ships transiting Torres Strait enter the Prince of Wales Channel from the West just north of Booby Island by way of the Gannet or Varzin Passages. The minimum depths for deep draught shipping in the Great Barrier Reef pilotage area are found here (10.3m – Nov 2011). Shipping with a 12.2m static draught or less are permitted to transit the area.</p><br>
<p>Channels to the East of Prince of Wales Channel</p><br>
<p>*Great North East Channel: East of Prince of Wales Channel at Wednesday Island the Route becomes The Great North East Channel (green line on chart). The Great North East Channel (GNEC) links the Prince of Wales Channel to the northernmost entrance to the Great Barrier Reef, 120 NM away at Bligh Entrance. The GNEC route runs North or South of Alert Patches and East to under Twin Island then Northeast to Dalrymple Island (the end of Pilotage requirement) then on to Bramble Quay, Bligh Entrance and the open sea. This passage routes shipping to the Coral Sea, the Pacific Ocean and the outside of the Great Barrier Reef. Another channel (brown line on chart) runs down towards Cape York.</p><br>
<p>*Inner Route Pilotage Area: The Inner Route Pilotage Area runs from near Cape York to near Cairns. This channel, named the Inner Route runs between the Australian mainland and the Great Barrier Reef</p><br>
<p>Lake Marble Falls is a reservoir on the Colorado River in the Texas Hill Country in the United States. The reservoir was formed in 1951 by the construction of Max Starcke Dam by the Lower Colorado River Authority. Originally named Marble Falls Dam, the dam was renamed in 1962 for Max Starcke, the second general director of the LCRA. Located near the town of Marble Falls, the lake is used as a venue for aquatic recreation and for the purpose of generating hydroelectric power. It is the newest and smallest of the Texas Highland Lakes.</p><br>
<p>The other reservoirs on the Colorado River are Lake Buchanan, Inks Lake, Lake LBJ, Lake Travis, Lake Austin, and Lady Bird Lake.</p><br>
<h2>Fish and wildlife populations</h2><br>
<p>Unlike some of its immediate neighbors in the Texas Highland Lakes reservoir system, Lake Marble Falls is not infested with hydrilla, a non-native invasive plant from Asia thought to have been introduced to the USA via the tropical fish industry. Lake Marble Falls has been stocked with several species of native fish intended to improve the utility of the reservoir for recreational fishing. Fish present in Inks Lake include largemouth bass, catfish, and sunfish. Lake Marble Falls boasts being in the "top 50" as far as Record Stripers Striped Bass in the Texas freshwater fish records. l</p><br>
<h2>Recreational uses</h2><br>
<p>Most of the property bordering Lake Marble Falls is privately owned. Fishing and boating are popular recreational activities, including the annual drag boat races.</p><br>
<p>Lake Lyndon B. Johnson  is a reservoir on the Colorado River in the Texas Hill Country about 45 miles northwest of Austin. The reservoir was formed in 1950 by the construction of Granite Shoals Dam by the Lower Colorado River Authority . The Colorado River and the Llano River meet in the northern portion of the lake at Kingsland.</p><br>
<p>The towns of Granite Shoals, Kingsland, Horseshoe Bay, Highland Haven, and Sunrise Beach are located on the lake. The boundary line separating Burnet County and Llano County runs down the center of the lake.</p><br>
<p>The lake was originally called Lake Granite Shoals. The dam would be renamed Wirtz Dam in 1952 for Alvin J. Wirtz, the first general counsel of the LCRA, and the lake was renamed to Lake Lyndon B. Johnson in 1965 in honor of US President Lyndon Baines Johnson. In addition to his work to enact the Rural Electrification Act that formed the basis for building the Texas Highland Lakes, President Johnson owned a ranch on the lake (which was separate and apart from the LBJ Ranch in Stonewall, Texas). He and Mrs. Johnson entertained national and foreign dignitaries on the lake during his vice presidency and presidency.</p><br>
<p>The other reservoirs on the Colorado River are Lake Buchanan, Inks Lake, Lake Marble Falls, Lake Travis, Lake Austin, and Lady Bird Lake. Lake LBJ along with Inks Lake and Lake Marble Falls are pass-through lakes for Lake Buchanan and Lake Travis. There is no room in Lake LBJ for additional water storage, and water that comes in must go out. Therefore, Lake LBJ is at a near constant level, but the level can fluctuate, especially during a flood. The LCRA lowers the lake periodically for maintenance on Wirtz Dam and to allow landowners to remove sediment around their docks.</p><br>
<h2>Fish and wildlife populations</h2><br>
<p>Lake LBJ has been stocked with several species of fish intended to improve the utility of the reservoir for recreational fishing. Fish present in Lake LBJ include largemouth bass, white bass, catfish, and crappie. Lake LBJ is one of the Highland Lakes infested with hydrilla, a non-native aquatic plant species, and the LCRA is undergoing treatment to eradicate the hydrilla.</p><br>
<h2>Recreational uses</h2><br>
<p>Most of the property bordering Lake LBJ is privately owned. The Nightengale Archaeological Center at Kingsland is a unique educational park operated by the Lower Colorado River Authority that is adjacent to Lake LBJ. The popularity of Lake LBJ is largely due to its normally constant level water which provides ideal conditions for boating, water skiing, riding personal water craft and other water sports.</p><br>
<h2>Cooling water</h2><br>
<p>The lake provides cooling water for the Thomas C. Ferguson Power Plant that is located on its shores.</p><br>
<p>Inks Lake is a reservoir on the Colorado River in the Texas Hill Country in the United States. The reservoir was formed in 1938 by the construction of Inks Dam by the Lower Colorado River Authority. Located near Burnet, Texas, the lake serves to provide flood control in tandem with Lake Buchanan and features the smallest hydroelectric power plant on the Highland Lakes chain. Inks Lake was named for Roy B. Inks, one of the original board members of the Lower Colorado River Authority, and serves as a venue for outdoor recreation, including fishing, boating, swimming, camping, and picnicking.</p><br>
<p>The other reservoirs on the Colorado River are Lake Buchanan, Lake LBJ, Lake Marble Falls, Lake Travis, Lake Austin, and Lady Bird Lake.</p><br>
<h2>Fish and wildlife populations</h2><br>
<p>Inks Lake has been stocked with several species of fish intended to improve the utility of the reservoir for recreational fishing. Fish present in Inks Lake include largemouth bass, white bass, catfish, crappie, and sunfish. Inks Lake is a level-controlled reservoir with less than one foot (one third meter) variation in water level annually.</p><br>
<h2>Recreational uses</h2><br>
<p>Some of the property bordering Inks Lake is privately owned. Inks Lake State Park is adjacent to the lake and includes facilities for camping, backpacking, swimming, golf, and boat access. Cliff jumping is another water activity locals and visitors enjoy at "Devil&#39;s Water Hole" located within the confines of Inks Lake State Park on Inks Lake. In the 1990s and early 2000s, a fish restaurant was permanently moored adjacent to an RV park on a barge. The restaurant is closed, however the RV park remains. Camp Longhorn, a summer camp for boys and girls founded by Tex Robertson in 1939, is adjacent to the lake.</p><br>
<p>Lake Buchanan was formed by the construction of Buchanan Dam by the Lower Colorado River Authority to provide a water supply for the region and to provide hydroelectric power. Buchanan Dam, a structure over 2 mi  in length, was completed in 1939. Lake Buchanan was the first of the Texas Highland Lakes to be formed, and with 22,333 acre of surface water, it is also the largest. The surface of the lake includes area in both Burnet and Llano Counties. The lake is west of the city of Burnet, Texas.</p><br>
<p>The other reservoirs on the Colorado River are Inks Lake, Lake LBJ, Lake Marble Falls, Lake Travis, Lake Austin, and Lady Bird Lake.</p><br>
<p>The lake is named for Representative James P. Buchanan (1867–1937), who is credited with securing the funding to build the lake and dam.</p><br>
<h2>History</h2><br>
<p>Lake Buchanan was artificially created upon the completion of the adjacent Buchanan Dam in 1938. Work on the dam itself began in April 1931, but was suspended a year later. Work resumed in 1935, with the dam completed three years later. However, deliberate impounding of the reservoir began in May 1937. Initially, the dam and resulting reservoir project was known as Hamilton Dam and Reservoir, but its name was changed to honor Texas State Representative James P. Buchanan upon the completion of the project; Buchanan had been responsible for securing the funding for the project. The flooding of the lake forced the community of Bluffton to relocate 5 mi westward. The abandoned community was soon inundated; however, a drought in 2011 caused Lake Buchanan&#39;s water level to drop significantly, exposing the remains of the town.</p><br>
<h2>Fish and wildlife populations</h2><br>
<p>Lake Buchanan has been stocked with several species of fish intended to improve the utility of the reservoir for recreational fishing. Fish present in Lake Buchanan include largemouth bass, catfish, white bass, and striped bass. Lake Buchanan is a level-controlled reservoir, and will not be allowed to flood during periods of heavy rain. The lake level can, however, drop significantly during periods of drought.</p><br>
<h2>Recreational uses</h2><br>
<p>Much of the property bordering Lake Buchanan is privately owned. Many lakeside cottages and homes are rented out on a regular basis. The Lower Colorado River Authority maintains three parks on the lake: Cedar Point Recreation Area, Black Rock Park, and Canyon of the Eagles. County parks and private marinas offer boating access to the lake. Fall Creek Winery, the oldest winery in the Texas Hill Country, is located at the confluence of Fall Creek and Lake Buchanan.</p><br>
<p>Dirk Hartog Island is an island off the Gascoyne coast of Western Australia, within the Shark Bay World Heritage Area. It is about 80 km long and between 3 and wide and is Western Australia&#39;s largest and most western island. It covers an area of 620 km&sup2; and is approximately 850 km north of Perth. It was named after Dirk Hartog, a Dutch sea captain, who first encountered the Western Australian coastline close to the 26th parallel south latitude, which runs through the island. After leaving the island, Hartog continued his voyage north-east along the mainland coast. Hartog gave the Australian mainland one of its earliest known names, as Eendrachtsland, which he named after his ship Eendracht, meaning "Unity".</p><br>
<h2>History</h2><br>
<p>The island was discovered on 25 October 1616 by Hartog in the Dutch East India Company (VOC) ship Eendracht from Cape Town to Batavia (Jakarta). The names of senior people on board, including Hartog&#39;s were inscribed with the date on a pewter plate and nailed to a post.</p><br>
<p>In 1697 the Dutch captain Willem de Vlamingh landed on the island and discovered Hartogs plate. He replaced it with one of his own, which included a copy of Hartogs inscription, and took the original plate home to Amsterdam, where it is still kept in the Rijksmuseum Amsterdam.</p><br>
<p>On 28 March 1772, Breton navigator Louis Aleno de St Aloüarn landed on the island and became the first European to formally take possession of Western Australia in the name of French king Louis XV. This involved a ceremony (which took place on 30 March) during which one or more bottles were buried on the island. One bottle was recorded as containing an annexation document and a coin. In 1998 a bottle cap made of lead with an écu coin set in it, was first discovered at Turtle Bay by a team led by Philippe Godard and Max Cramer. This triggered a broader search by a team from the Western Australian Museum led by Myra Stanbury, with Bob Sheppard, Bob Creasy and Dr Michael McCarthy. On 1 April 1998, an intact bottle bearing a lead cap identical to the one recovered earlier, also with a coin set in it, was unearthed. No trace of an annexation document has yet been found.</p><br>
<p>In 1801 the island was visited by a French expedition aboard the Naturaliste led by Captain Emmanuel Hamelin. This expedition found de Vlaminghs plate almost buried in the sand, its post having rotted away. The Captain ordered that it be re-erected in its original position. In 1818 the Uranie with French explorer Louis de Freycinet, who had been an officer in Hamelins 1801 crew, sent a boat ashore to recover de Vlamingh&#39;s plate. It eventually arrived in Paris, only to be lost for over a century. It was found in 1940 and returned to Australia in 1947, where it can now be seen in the Western Australian Maritime Museum in Fremantle, Western Australia. The Baudin expedition left also a plaque at the island at 16 July 1801.</p><br>
<p>In 1869, Francis Louis von Bibra (son of Franz Ludwig von Bibra) was granted a lease on the island. Von Bibra established sheep on the island and traded guano from its bays.</p><br>
<p>The leasehold for the island was acquired by the Withnell brothers from Messrs Moore and Meade in 1907. The island was regarded as an ideal place for a sheep station as there was no danger of rabbit invasion. In 1909 it was carrying a flock of about 12,000 sheep and produced approximately 400 bales of wool. The property was still owned by John and James Withnell, the children of John and Emma Withnell who were early settlers in the Pilbara. The brothers had estimated the area of the island to be 156,000 acre and intended to increase the flock on the island to 25,000. By 1910 the flock size was 14,200.</p><br>
<p>By 1919 the pastoral lease was put up for auction by the owner James Nicholas who also owned Croydon and Peron Peninsula Stations. The station occupied an area of 153,000 acre and was stocked with approximately 19,000 sheep.</p><br>
<p>On 16 March 2008, Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd announced that the wreck of the World War II German raider Kormoran had been found on the seabed about 150 km west of the island.</p><br>
<h2>Description</h2><br>
<p>The northerly most point Cape Inscription is the location of the plates and the main lighthouse.</p><br>
<p>The bay facing north next to Cape Inscription 25&deg;28&prime;S latitude, 112&deg;58&prime;E longitude is known as Turtle Bay.</p><br>
<p>The most south westerly point — Surf Point 26&deg;07&prime;26&Prime;S latitude, 113&deg;10&prime;46&Prime;E longitude — is located at the channel known as South Passage 26&deg;07&prime;55&Prime;S latitude, 113&deg;09&prime;31&Prime;E longitude across from Steep Point on its south west side.</p><br>
<h3>Environment</h3><br>
<p>The island consists mostly of scrub-covered sand dunes. At times it has been used as a sheep station and supported 20,000 head of sheep at one stage. The island is now Dirk Hartog Island National Park and sheep have been removed. To the east it is bounded by the Shark Bay Marine Park, and it is part of Shark Bay World Heritage Area. A small area is leased to the Wardle family who run it as an tourism destination. The region is widely used for recreational fishing.</p><br>
<p>Dirk Hartog is an important nesting site for loggerhead sea turtle, with green turtles and loggerhead turtles both nesting on the beaches. It is also home for the endemic subspecies of the white-winged fairy-wren. Quoin Bluff, mid-way along the eastern side of the island, holds an important pied cormorant nesting colony which, along with Freycinet Island some 80 km to the south-east, forms the Quoin Bluff and Freycinet Island Important Bird Area, identified as such by BirdLife International.</p><br>
<p>The Chocolate Hills  are a geological formation in the Bohol province of the Philippines. There are at least 1,260 hills but there may be as many as 1,776 hills spread over an area of more than 50 km&sup2;. They are covered in green grass that turns brown  during the dry season, hence the name.</p><br>
<p>The Chocolate Hills is a famous tourist attraction of Bohol. They are featured in the provincial flag and seal to symbolize the abundance of natural attractions in the province. They are in the Philippine Tourism Authority&#39;s list of tourist destinations in the Philippines</p><br>
<h2>Description</h2><br>
<p>The Chocolate Hills form a rolling terrain of haycock hills – mounds of a generally conical and almost symmetrical shape. Estimated to be from 1,268 to about 1,776 individual mounds, these cone-shaped or dome-shaped hills are actually made of grass-covered limestone. The domes vary in sizes from 30 to 50 m high with the largest being 120 m in height. Bohol&#39;s "main attraction", these unique mound-shaped hills are scattered by the hundreds throughout the towns of Carmen, Batuan and Sagbayan in Bohol.</p><br>
<p>During the dry season, the grass-covered hills dry up and turn chocolate brown. This transforms the area into seemingly endless rows of "chocolate kisses". The branded confection is the inspiration behind the name, Chocolate Hills.</p><br>
<h3>Vegetation</h3><br>
<p>The vegetation of the Chocolate Hills is dominated by grass species such as Imperata cylindrica and Saccharum spontaneum. Several Compositae and ferns also grow on them. In between the hills, the flat lands are cultivated with rice and other cash crops. However, the natural vegetation on the Chocolate Hills is now threatened by quarrying activities.</p><br>
<h3>Origin</h3><br>
<p>The Chocolate Hills are conical karst hills similar to those seen in the limestone regions of Slovenia, Croatia, northern Puerto Rico, and Pinar del Río Province, Cuba. These hills consist of Late Pliocene to Early Pleistocene, thin to medium bedded, sandy to rubbly marine limestones. These limestones contain the abundant fossils of shallow marine foraminifera, coral, mollusks, and algae. These conical hills are geomorphological features called cockpit karst, which were created by a combination of the dissolution of limestone by rainfall, surface water, and groundwater, and their subaerial erosion by rivers and streams after they had been uplifted above sea level and fractured by tectonic processes. These hills are separated by well developed flat plains and contain numerous caves and springs. The Chocolate Hills are considered to be a remarkable example of conical karst topography.</p><br>
<p>The origin for the conical karst of the Chocolate Hills is described in popular terms on the bronze plaque at the viewing deck in Carmen, Bohol. This plaque states that they are eroded formations of a type of marine limestone that sits on top of hardened clay. The plaque reads:The unique land form known as the Chocolate Hills of Bohol was formed ages ago by the uplift of coral deposits and the action of rain water and erosion.The plaque also makes reference to a fanciful explanation of the origin of the Chocolate Hills that is unsupported by any published scientific research, i.e. either Hillmer or Travaglia and others, when it states:</p><br>
<p>Self-published, popular web pages present a variety of fanciful and less credible explanations about how these hills formed. They include sub-oceanic volcanism; limestone covered blocks created by the destruction of an active volcano in a cataclysmic eruption; www.tambuli.com. Retrieved 15 November 2006.</p><br>
<p>coral reefs that were raised from the sea as the result of a massive geologic shift; and tidal movements. The lack of any exposed or associated volcanic rocks anywhere in the Chocolate Hills refutes the popular theories involving volcanic eruptions. These theories involving either a sudden, massive geologic shift, coral reefs being erupted from the sea, or tidal movements lack any collaborating evidence and support among geologists.</p><br>
<h3>Legend</h3><br>
<p>Three legends explain the formation of the Chocolate Hills. The first tells the story of two feuding giants who hurled rocks, boulders, and sand at each other. The fighting lasted for days, and exhausted the two giants. In their exhaustion, they forgot about their feud and became friends, but when they left they forgot to clean up the mess they had made during their battle, hence the Chocolate Hills.</p><br>
<p>A more romantic legend tells of a giant named Arogo who was extremely powerful and youthful. Arogo fell in love with Aloya, who was a simple mortal. Aloya&#39;s death caused Arogo much pain and misery, and in his sorrow he could not stop crying. When his tears dried, the Chocolate Hills were formed.</p><br>
<p>The third legend tells of a town being plagued by a giant carabao, who ate all of their crops. Finally having had enough, the townsfolk took all of their spoiled food and placed it in such a way that the carabao would not miss it. Sure enough, the carabao ate it, but his stomach couldn&#39;t handle the spoiled food, so he defecated, leaving behind him a mound of feces, until he had emptied his stomach of the food. The feces then dried, forming the Chocolate Hills.</p><br>
<h2>Tourism</h2><br>
<p>Of the 1,247 hills, two have been developed into resorts for tourism as of 2006.</p><br>
<p>The original viewing station of the Chocolate Hills is a government-owned and operated resort called "Chocolate Hills Complex" located in Carmen, Bohol, about 55 km from Tagbilaran The other way to view the Chocolate Hills is at Sagbayan Peak, a mountain resort in Sagbayan town. It is 18 km away from the Chocolate Hills complex in neighboring Carmen.</p><br>
<h2>Protection</h2><br>
<h3>Legislation</h3><br>
<p>The National Committee on Geological Sciences declared the Chocolate Hills of Bohol a National Geological Monument on June 18, 1988, in recognition of its special characteristics, scientific importance, uniqueness, and high scenic value. As such, this included the Chocolate Hills among the country&#39;s protected areas. More protection was provided by Proclamation No. 1037 signed by then President Fidel V. Ramos upon the recommendation of the DENR on July 1, 1997 which establish the Chocolate Hills and the areas within, around, and surrounding them located in the Municipalities of Carmen, Batuan and Sagbayan, Bilar, Valencia and Sierra Bullones, Province of Bohol as a natural monument to protect and maintain its natural beauty and to provide restraining mechanisms for inappropriate exploitation. As such, they are covered under the National Integrated Protected Areas System (NIPAS) with the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) as the lead implementing agency for its protection.</p><br>
<p>Land use conflict prompted Philippine President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo to sign an amendment to Proclamation 468 dated September 26, 1994 declaring the land around or in between Chocolate Hills as no longer part of the national monument during the Bohol Sandugo Celebration on July 17, 2002. This amendment allowed the tracts of land surrounding and within the famous tourist spot to be developed by the provincial government and other entities that have control over the area. Further, the amended proclamation ensures that the areas that have to be preserved are preserved, while those that could be developed would be excluded from the national monument area and classified as alienable and disposable by the government. The President initially decided on the issue during the joint meeting of the Regional Development Council-Regional Peace and Order Council (RDC-RPOC) of Region VII which was conducted at the Bohol Tropics Resort.</p><br>
<p>On July 6, 2004, the Philippine House of Representatives introduced House Bill No. 01147 entitled "an act declaring the Chocolate Hills as national patrimony and geological monuments, penalizing their plunder, destruction or defacement, and for other purposes." The house bill is authored by Congressman Eladio "Boy" Jala and co-authored by Congressman Roilo Z. Golez and Edgar M. Chatto.</p><br>
<p>On May 16, 2006, the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) submitted the Chocolate Hills to the UNESCO World Heritage for inclusion in the list of Natural Monuments because of its outstanding universal value, falling under criteria vii – superlative natural phenomena or areas of exceptional natural beauty and aesthetic importance. The protection, management, authenticity and integrity of properties are also important considerations.</p><br>
<p>Amidst reports that quarrying has leveled off some of the mounds, Governor Erico Aumentado, the governor of Bohol, issued Administrative Order No. 3, series of 2006, which prohibits the issuance of quarry permits and favorable endorsements of mining permit applications in Carmen, Batuan and Sagbayan towns to forestall any degradation of the Chocolate Hills – no matter who applies for such.</p><br>
<p>The hills are already declared geological monuments and are covered under the National Integrated Protected Areas System (NIPAS) for which the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) is the lead implementing agency. Aumentado said:</p><br>
<p>As such, he ordered the prohibition of any quarrying and mining activities in the three towns. He tasked the Bohol Environment and Management Office (BEMO) to ensure that quarry permit applications or renewal thereof and requests for favorable endorsements of mining permit applications therein shall be denied due course, and to ensure compliance and enforcement of the order. He also enjoined the Mines and Geosciences Bureau (MGB) of DENR to refuse all mining permit applications or renewals in the named towns.</p><br>
<h3>Issues</h3><br>
<p>Balancing their protection, resource utilization and tourism are the challenges faced by the Chocolate Hills. Before they were designated national geological monuments, some of the hills (about 310,455 hectare) were classified as alienable and disposable or private lands such that they were titled to some locals. The declaration consequently caused some social unrest, resulting in almost simultaneous civil uprising, led by the long-established New Peoples Army (generally described as Maoist guerrillas) establishing a new front, known as the Chocolate Hills Command. To some farmers, the proclamation is a government scheme which suppresses their right to own lands. As such, conflicts between the New Peoples Army group and government military forces escalated, culminating in two major engagements.</p><br>
<p>Being alienable and disposable lands, the Chocolate Hills are seen as quarrying assets and source of income for small-scale miners, as well as quarry materials for the province&#39;s construction projects. The challenge is how the national and local officials can harmonize the current needs of small-scale miners, the construction sector and the tourism sector with the preservation of the Chocolate Hills.</p><br>
<p>Even with their protected status, mining permits continue to be granted by DENR and local government units or LGUs. Hence, mining and quarrying are still taking place. Because of this, the provincial government of Bohol has requested for the transfer of jurisdiction over the Chocolate Hills from the DENR to the provincial government of Bohol.</p><br>
<p>Meanwhile, the provincial government has itself suggested that the legislation defining the Natural Monument should be changed, which will require that the proclamation be redrafted and ratified by both the Philippine House and Senate. This is a cumbersome and costly process, on which no progress has been made to date.</p><br>
<p>There are also mounting complaints of mismanagement and poor service at the government-owned and operated Chocolate Hills complex and restaurant. Added to this is the increase in the number of tourists visiting the Chocolate Hills which has caused traffic problems and safety issues, particularly in the Chocolate Hills complex in Carmen, Bohol.</p><br>
<p>Future development and investment challenges within the Chocolate Hills area include: obtaining the national government&#39;s sanction for the project; persuading landowners to sell; convincing the Protected Areas Management Board or PAMB, which has jurisdiction over the hills, not to use its veto power over any investment requiring physical facilities.</p><br>
<p>Since the natural monument proclamation bans "activity of any kind which will alter, mutilate, deface or destroy the hills." A 2003 amendment regulates activity among the privately owned areas "in between hills"</p><br>
<p>Filipinos are sensitive to perceived desecrations of so-called heritage sites. In 2003, a public outcry forced a construction firm to stop quarrying at the Chocolate Hills, and it was required to restore one defaced hill to its original shape.</p><br>
<p>Investment challenges include speculators bidding up property prices in the area, raising the potential cost of a proposed project. Persuading investors to put their money into the poorer parts of Bohol is complicated by communist guerrillas who extort money from local officials. Following his refusal to pay the extortion, Mayor Torrefranca of Sagbayan, Bohol has survived two assassination attempts since 1998. In the 1998 elections, his car was torched due to his failure to pay the "permit to campaign fee".</p><br>
<p>Olduvai Gorge, or Oldupai Gorge, in Tanzania is one of the most important paleoanthropological sites in the world; it has proven invaluable in furthering understanding of early human evolution. A steep-sided ravine in the Great Rift Valley that stretches across East Africa, it is about 48 km long, and is located in the eastern Serengeti Plains in the Arusha Region not far, about 45 km, from Laetoli, another important archaeological site of early human occupation. The British/Kenyan paleoanthropologist-archeologist team Mary and Louis Leakey established and developed the excavation and research programs at Olduvai Gorge which achieved great advances of human knowledge and world-renowned status.</p><br>
<p>Homo habilis, probably the first early human species, occupied Olduvai Gorge approximately 1.9 million years ago (mya); then came a contemporary australopithecine, Paranthropus boisei, 1.8 mya, then Homo erectus, 1.2 mya. Homo sapiens is dated to have occupied the site 17,000 years ago.</p><br>
<p>The site is significant in showing the increasing developmental and social complexities in the earliest humans, or hominins, largely as revealed in the production and use of stone tools. And prior to tools, the evidence of scavenging and hunting—highlighted by the presence of gnaw marks that predate cut marks—and of the ratio of meat versus plant material in the early hominin diet. The collecting of tools and animal remains in a central area is evidence of developing social interaction and communal activity. All these factors indicate increase in cognitive capacities at the beginning of the period of hominids transitioning to hominin—that is, to human—form and behavior.</p><br>
<h2>History</h2><br>
<h3>Research</h3><br>
<p>German neurologist Wilhelm Kattwinkel traveled to Olduvai Gorge in 1911, where he observed many fossil bones of an extinct three-toed horse. Inspired by Kattwinkel&#39;s discovery, German geologist Hans Reck led a team to Olduvai in 1913. There, he found hominin remains, but the start of World War I halted his research. In 1929, Louis Leakey visited Reck and viewed the Olduvai fossils; he became convinced that Olduvai Gorge held critical information on human origins, and he proceeded to mount an expedition there.</p><br>
<p>Louis and Mary Leakey are responsible for most of the excavations and discoveries of the hominin fossils in Olduvai Gorge. Their finds and research in East Africa and the prior work of Raymond Dart and Robert Broom in South Africa eventually convinced most paleoanthropologists that humans did indeed evolve in Africa. In 1959, at the Frida Leakey Korongo (FLK) site (named after Louis first wife), Mary Leakey found remains of the robust australopithecine Zinjanthropus boisei (now known as Paranthropus boisei)—which she dubbed the "Nutcracker Man&quot its age, 1.75 million years, radically altered accepted ideas about the time scale of human evolution. In addition to an abundance of faunal remains the Leakeys found more than 2,000 stone tools and lithic flakes, most of which they classified as Oldowan (of Olduvai) tools. In 1960, the Leakeys son Jonathan found a jaw fragment that proved to be the first fossil specimen of Homo habilis.</p><br>
<p>Researchers have dated Olduvai Gorge layers with radiometric dating of the embedded artifacts, using potassium-argon and argon-argon methodology. Geologist Richard L. Hay studied the Olduvai Gorge and surrounding region between 1961 and 2002. His findings revealed that the site once contained a large lake, with shores covered by deposits of volcanic ash. Around 500,000 years ago, seismic activity diverted a nearby stream which proceeded to cut down through the sediments, revealing seven main layers in the walls of the gorge.</p><br>
<p>The name Olduvai is a misspelling of Oldupai Gorge, which was adopted as the official name in 2005. Oldupai is the Maasai word for the wild sisal plant Sansevieria ehrenbergii, which grows in the gorge.</p><br>
<h3>Occupation</h3><br>
<p>Homo habilis occupied Olduvai from 1.9 mya. The australopithecine Paranthropus boisei was found to occupy the site from approximately 1.8 until 1.2 mya. Remains of Homo erectus have been dated at the site from 1.2 mya until 700,000 years ago. Homo sapiens came to occupy the gorge some 17,000 years ago.</p><br>
<h2>Significance</h2><br>
<h3>Toolmaking</h3><br>
<p>In the 1930s, as Mary and Louis Leakey opted to search for stone tools in East Africa, many, if not most, scholars were skeptical that Africa was the place where humans evolved. The Leakeys soon turned the evidence that confirmed their intuition. They found stone tools in the lowest (oldest) geological beds (see below). These tools presented both shaped edges and sharp points; and lithic flakes—struck off the core stone in the intentional shaping of those points and edges—were found in copious amounts.</p><br>
<p>The Leakeys mapped locations where the tools were found and the sites where the unprocessed materials (stone cobbles) originated. They determined that some tools were found to have been transported up to nine miles from the place of origin, which suggested cognitive capacities to think and plan, and to execute, with abstract thought and purpose of mind. The Oldowan tools were found in the same stratum as the Australopithecus specimen, but the large number of other hominin fossils dating back to two mya complicated the discussion as to which species was, in fact, the toolmaker.</p><br>
<p>The first species found by the Leakeys, Zinjanthropus boisei or Australopithecus boisei (renamed and still debated as Paranthropus boisei), featured a sagittal crest and large molars, which attributes suggested the species engaged in heavy chewing, indicating a diet of tough plant material, including tubers, nuts, and seeds—and possibly large quantities of grasses and sedges.</p><br>
<p>Conversely, the Leakeys&#39; 1960s finds presented different characteristics. The skull lacked of a sagittal crest and the braincase was much more rounded, suggesting it was not australopithecine. The larger braincase suggested a larger brain capacity than that of Australopithecus boisei. These important differences indicated a different species, which eventually was named Homo habilis. Its larger brain capacity and decreased teeth size pointed to Homo as the probable toolmaker.</p><br>
<p>The oldest tools at Olduvai, found at the lowest layer and classified as Oldowan, consists of pebbles chipped on one edge. Above this layer, and later in time, are the true hand-axe industries, the Chellean and the Acheulean. Higher still (and later still) are located Levallois artifacts, and finally the Stillbay implements. Oldowan tools in general are called "pebble tools" because the blanks chosen by the stone knapper already resembled, in pebble form, the final product. Mary Leakey classified the Oldowan tools according to usage; she developed Oldowan A,B, and C categories, linking them to Modes 1, 2, and 3 assemblages classified according to mode of manufacture. Her work remains a foundation for assessing local, regional, and continental changes in stone tool-making during the early Pleistocene, and aids in assessing which hominins were responsible for the several changes in stone tool technology over time.</p><br>
<p>It is not known for sure which hominin species was first to create Oldowan tools. The emergence of tool culture has also been associated with the pre-Homo species Australopithecus garhi, and its flourishing is associated with the early species Homo habilis and Homo ergaster. Beginning 1.7 million years ago, early Homo erectus apparently inherited Oldowan technology and refined it into the Acheulean industry.</p><br>
<h4>Dating of beds</h4><br>
<p>Oldowan tools occur in Beds I–IV at Olduvai Gorge. Bed I, dated 1.85 to 1.7 mya, contains Oldowan tools and fossils of Paranthropus boisei and Homo habilis, as does Bed II, 1.7 to 1.2 mya. H. habilis gave way to Homo erectus at about 1.6 mya, but P. boisei persisted. Oldowan tools continue to Bed IV at 800,000 to 600,000 before present (BP). A significant change took place between Beds I and II at about 1.5 mya. Flake size increased, the length of bifacial edges (as opposed to single-face edges) occurred more frequently and their length increased, and signs of battering on other artifacts increased. Some likely implications of these factors, among others, are that after this pivotal time hominins used tools more frequently, became better at making tools, and transported tools more often.</p><br>
<h4>Unprocessed materials</h4><br>
<p>Lava and quartz were used to make tools in Olduvai Gorge. Only in the period 1.65 to 1.53 ma was chert used, and it presents a significant difference in appearance among the assemblages of Olduvai Gorge.</p><br>
<h3>Hunters or scavengers?</h3><br>
<p>Though substantial evidence of hunting and scavenging has been discovered at Olduvai Gorge, it is believed by archaeologists that hominins inhabiting the area between 1.9 and 1.7 mya spent the majority of their time gathering wild plant foods, such as berries, tubers and roots. The earliest hominins most likely did not rely on meat for the bulk of their nutrition. Speculation about the amount of meat in their diets is inferred from comparative studies with a close relative of early hominins: the modern chimpanzee. The chimpanzees diet in the wild consists of only about five percent as meat. And the diets of modern hunter-gatherers do not include a large amount of meat. That is, most of the calories in both groups diets came from plant sources. Thus, it can be assumed that early hominins had similar diet proportions, (see the middle-range theory or bridging arguments—bridging arguments are used by archaeologists to explain past behaviors, and they include an underlying assumption of uniformitarianism.)</p><br>
<p>Much of the information about early hominins comes from tools and debris piles of lithic flakes from such sites as FLK-Zinjanthropus in Olduvai Gorge. Early hominins selected specific types of rocks that would break in a predictable manner when "worked", and carried these rocks from deposits several miles away. Archaeologists such as Fiona Marshall fitted rock fragments back together like a puzzle. She states in her article "Life in Olduvai Gorge" that early hominins, "knew the right angle to hit the cobble, or core, in order to successfully produce sharp-edged flakes...". She noted that selected flakes then were used to cut meat from animal carcasses, and shaped cobbles (called choppers) were used to extract marrow and to chop tough plant material.</p><br>
<p>Bone fragments of birds, fish, amphibians, and large mammals were found at the FLK-Zinj site, many of which were scarred with marks. These likely were made by hominins breaking open the bones for marrow, using tools to strip the meat, or by carnivores having gnawed the bones. Since several kinds of marks are present together, some archaeologists including Lewis Binford think that hominins scavenged the meat or marrow left over from carnivore kills. Others like Henry Bunn believe the hominins hunted and killed these animals, and carnivores later chewed the bones. This issue is still debated today, but archaeologist Pat Shipman provided evidence that scavenging was probably the more common practice; she published that the majority of carnivore teeth marks came before the cut marks. Another finding by Shipman at FLK-Zinj is that many of the wildebeest bones found there are over-represented by adult and male bones; and this may indicate that hominins were systematically hunting these animals as well as scavenging them. The issue of hunting versus gathering at Olduvai Gorge is still a controversial one.</p><br>
<h2>Hominid fossils found at Olduvai Gorge</h2><br>
<p>Olduvai Hominid 5</p><br>
<p>Olduvai Hominid 7</p><br>
<p>Olduvai Hominid 8</p><br>
<p>Olduvai Hominid 9</p><br>
<p>Olduvai Hominid 24</p><br>
<p>Olduvai stone chopping tool.jpgThe oldest object in the British Museum</p><br>
<p>Plaque marking the discovery of Australopithecus in Tanzania.jpgThe spot where the first P. boisei was discovered in Tanzania</p><br>
<p>Olduwan Industry Chopper 2.jpegOldowan stone chopper</p><br>
<p>Olduvai Chopper.JPGAbout 1.8 million years old</p><br>
<p>Hetch Hetchy is the name of a valley, a reservoir and a water system in California in the United States. The glacial Hetch Hetchy Valley lies in the northwestern part of Yosemite National Park and is drained by the Tuolumne River. For thousands of years before the arrival of Europeans in the 1850s, the valley was inhabited by Native Americans who practiced subsistence hunting-gathering. During the late 19th century, the valley was renowned for its natural beauty – often compared to that of Yosemite Valley – but also targeted for the development of water supply for irrigation and municipal interests.</p><br>
<p>In 1923, the O&#39;Shaughnessy Dam was completed on the Tuolumne River, flooding the entire valley under the Hetch Hetchy Reservoir. The dam and reservoir are the centerpiece of the Hetch Hetchy Project, which in 1934 began to deliver water 167 mi west to San Francisco and its client municipalities in the greater San Francisco Bay Area.</p><br>
<h2>Geography</h2><br>
<p>Before damming, the high granite formations produced a valley with an average depth of 1,800 ft and a maximum depth of over 3,000 ft; the length of the valley was 3 mi with a width ranging from an eighth to a half of a mile (0.2 to 0.8 km). The valley floor consisted of roughly 1,200 acre of meadows fringed by pine forest, through which meandered the Tuolumne River and numerous tributary streams. Kolana Rock, at 5,772 ft, is a massive rock spire on the south side of the Hetch Hetchy Valley. Hetch Hetchy Dome, at 6,197 ft, lies directly north of it. The locations of these two formations roughly correspond with those of Cathedral Rocks and El Capitan seen from Tunnel View in Yosemite Valley. A broad, low rocky outcrop situated between Kolana Rock and Hetch Hetchy Dome divided the former meadow in two distinct sections.</p><br>
<p>The valley is fed by the Tuolumne River, Falls Creek, Tiltill Creek, Rancheria Creek and numerous smaller streams which collectively drain a watershed of 459 square miles. In its natural state, the valley floor was marshy and often flooded in the spring when snow melt in the high Sierra cascaded down the Tuolumne River and backed up behind the narrow gorge which is now spanned by O&#39;Shaughnessy Dam. The entire valley is now flooded under an average 300 ft of water behind the dam, although it occasionally reemerges in droughts, as it did in 1955, 1977 and 1991.</p><br>
<p>Upstream from the valley lies the Grand Canyon of the Tuolumne, while the smaller Poopenaut Valley is directly downstream from OShaughnessy Dam. The Hetch Hetchy Road drops into the valley at the dam, but all points east of there are roadless, and accessible only to hikers and equestrians. The OShaughnessy Dam is near Yosemite&#39;s western boundary, but the long, narrow, fingerlike reservoir stretches eastward for about 8 mi.</p><br>
<p>Wapama Falls, at 1,700 ft, and Tueeulala Falls, at 840 ft – both among the tallest waterfalls in North America – are both located in Hetch Hetchy Valley. Rancheria Falls is located farther southeast, on Rancheria Creek. Formerly, a "small but noisy" waterfall and natural pool existed on the Tuolumne River marked the upper entrance to Hetch Hetchy Valley, informally known as Tuolumne Fall (not to be confused with a similarly named waterfall several miles upriver near Tuolumne Meadows). The waterfall on the Tuolumne is now submerged under Hetch Hetchy Reservoir.</p><br>
<h3>Geology</h3><br>
<p>The Hetch Hetchy Valley began as a V-shaped river canyon cut out by the ancestral Tuolumne River. About one million years ago, the extensive Sherwin glaciation widened, deepened and straightened river valleys along the western slope of the Sierra Nevada, including Hetch Hetchy, Yosemite Valley, and Kings Canyon farther to the south. During the last glacial period, the Tioga Glacier formed from extensive icefields in the upper Tuolumne River watershed; between 110,000 and 10,000 years ago Hetch Hetchy Valley was sculpted into its present shape by repeated advance and retreat of the ice, which also removed extensive talus deposits that may have accumulated in the valley since the Sherwin period. At maximum extent, Tioga Glacier may have been 60 mi long and up to 4,000 ft thick, filling Hetch Hetchy Valley to the brim and spilling over the sides, carving out the present rugged plateau country to the north and southwest. When the glacier retreated for the final time, sediment-laden meltwater deposited thick layers of silt, forming the flat alluvial floodplain of the valley floor.</p><br>
<p>Compared with Yosemite Valley, the walls of Hetch Hetchy are smoother and rounder because it was glaciated to a greater extent. This is because the Tuolumne catchment basin above Hetch Hetchy is almost three times as large as the catchment area of the Merced River above Yosemite, allowing a greater volume of ice to form.</p><br>
<h2>Flora and fauna</h2><br>
<p>Hetch Hetchy is home to a diverse array of plants and animals. Gray pine, incense-cedar, and California black oak grow in abundance. Many examples of red-barked manzanita can be seen along the Hetch Hetchy Road. Spring and early summer bring wildflowers including lupine, wallflower, monkey flower, and buttercup. Seventeen species of bats inhabit the Hetch Hetchy area, including the largest North American bat, the western mastiff.</p><br>
<p>Before damming, the valley floor contained abundant stands of black oaks, live oak, Ponderosa pine, Douglas fir, and silver fir bordering the meadows, with alder, willow, poplar and dogwood in the riparian zone along the Tuolumne River. The valley&#39;s abundant plants provided nourishment for mule deer, black bears and bighorn sheep. Due to large cataracts on the Tuolumne River upstream, Hetch Hetchy Valley may have been in the uppermost range for native rainbow trout in the river.</p><br>
<p>Due to its abundant wetlands and stream pools, Hetch Hetchy was notorious among early travelers for becoming infested with mosquitoes in the summertime. Said San Francisco resident William Denman in 1918, "The first time I went into the Hetch Hetchy the mosquitoes were intolerable. They would light upon a man&#39;s blue shirt and turn it brown, and were voracious as mosquitoes would be."</p><br>
<h2>History</h2><br>
<h3>Indigenous peoples</h3><br>
<p>People have lived in Hetch Hetchy Valley for over 6,000 years. Native American cultures were prominent before the 1850s when the first Euro-Americans arrived in the Sierra Nevada. During summer, people of the Miwok and Paiute came to Hetch Hetchy from the Central Valley in the west and the Great Basin in the east, respectively. The valley provided an escape from the summer heat of the lowlands. They hunted, and gathered seeds and edible plants to furnish themselves winter food, trade items, and materials for art and ceremonial objects. Today, descendants of these people still use milkweed, deergrass, bracken fern, willow, and other plants for a variety of uses including baskets, medicines, and string.</p><br>
<p>Meadow plants unavailable in the lowlands were particularly valuable resources to these tribes. For thousands of years, Native Americans subjected the valley to controlled bushfires, which prevented forest from taking over the valley meadows. Periodic clearing of the valley provided ample space for the growth of the grasses and shrubs they relied on, as well as additional room for large game animals such as deer to browse. In the 19th century, the first white visitors to the valley did not realize that Hetch Hetchy&#39;s extensive meadows were the product of millennia of management by Native Americans; instead they believed "the valley was purely a product of ancient geological forces (or divine intervention)... this was fundamental to its allure as a destination and subject."</p><br>
<p>The valleys name may be derived from the Miwok word hatchhatchie, which means "edible grasses" or "magpie". It is likely that the edible grass was blue dicks. Chief Tenaya of the Yosemite Valleys Ahwaneechee tribe claimed that Hetch Hetchy was Miwok for "Valley of the Two Trees", referring to a pair of yellow pines that once stood at the head of Hetch Hetchy. Miwok names are still used for features, including Tueeulala Fall, Wapama Fall, and Kolana Rock.</p><br>
<p>While its cousin Yosemite Valley to the south had permanent Miwok settlements, Hetch Hetchy was only seasonally inhabited. This was likely because of Hetch Hetchy&#39;s narrow outlet, which in years of heavy snowmelt created a bottleneck in the Tuolumne River and the subsequent flooding of the valley floor.</p><br>
<h3>Exploration and early development</h3><br>
<p>In the early 1850s, mountain man Nathan Screech became the first non-Native American to enter the valley. Local legend attributes the modern name Hetch Hetchy to Screech&#39;s initial arrival in the valley, during which he observed the Native Americans "cooking a variety of grass covered with edible seeds", which they called "hatch hatchy" or "hatchhatchie". Screech reported that the valley was bitterly disputed between the "Pah Utah Indians" (Paiute) and "Big Creek Indians" (Miwok), and witnessed several fights in which the Paiute appeared to be the dominant tribe. Around 1853, his brother Joseph Screech (credited in some accounts for the original discovery of the valley) blazed the first trail from Big Oak Flat, a mining camp near present-day Lake Don Pedro, for 38 mi northeast to Hetch Hetchy Valley.</p><br>
<p>During this time, the upper Tuolumne River, including Hetch Hetchy Valley, was visited by prospectors attracted by the California Gold Rush. Miners did not stay in the area for long, however, as richer deposits occurred further south along the Merced River and in the Big Oak Flat area. After the valleys native inhabitants were driven out by European settlers, it was used by ranchers, many of whom were former miners, to graze livestock. Animals were principally driven along Joseph Screechs trail from Big Oak Flat to Hetch Hetchy. Its meadows provided abundant feed for "thousands of head of sheep and cattle that entered lean and lank in the spring, but left rolling fat and hardly able to negotiate the precipitous and difficult defiles out of the mountains in the fall."</p><br>
<p>In 1867, Charles F. Hoffman of the California Geological Survey conducted the first survey of the valley. Hoffman observed a meadow "well timbered and affording good grazing", and noted the valley had a milder climate than Yosemite Valley, hence the abundance of ponderosa pine and gray pine. The valley was slowly becoming known for its natural beauty, but it was never a popular tourist destination because of extremely poor access and the location of the famous Yosemite Valley just twenty miles to the south. Those who did visit it were enchanted by its scenery, but encountered difficulties with the primitive conditions and in summertime, swarms of mosquitoes. Albert Bierstadt, Charles Dorman Robinson and William Keith were known for their landscapes that drew tourists to the Hetch Hetchy Valley. Bierstadt described the valley as "smaller than the more famous valley... but it presents many of the same features in his scenery and is quite as beautiful."</p><br>
<p>When Yosemite Valley became part of a state park in 1864, Hetch Hetchy received no such designation. As the grazing of livestock damaged native plants in the Hetch Hetchy Valley, mountaineer and naturalist John Muir pressed for the protection of both valleys under a single national park. Muir, who himself had briefly worked as a shepherd in Hetch Hetchy, was known for calling sheep "hoofed locusts" because of their environmental impact. Muirs friend Robert Underwood Johnson of the politically influential Century Magazine and several other prominent figures were inspired by Muirs work and helped to get Yosemite National Park established by October 1, 1890. However, ranchers who had previously owned land in the new park continued their use of Hetch Hetchy Valley – a "sheep-grazing free-for-all threatened to denude the High Sierra meadows" – before disputes over state and private properties in respect to national park boundaries were finally settled in the early 1900s.</p><br>
<p>Interest in using the valley as a water source or reservoir dates back as far as the 1850s, when the Tuolumne Valley Water Company proposed developing water storage there for irrigation. By the 1880s, San Francisco was looking to Hetch Hetchy water as a fix for its outdated and unreliable water system. The city would try repeatedly to acquire water rights to Hetch Hetchy, including in 1901, 1903 and 1905, but was continually rebuffed because of conflicts with irrigation districts that had senior water rights on the Tuolumne River, and because of the valley&#39;s national park status.</p><br>
<h3>Damming</h3><br>
<p>In 1906, after a major earthquake and subsequent fire that devastated San Francisco, the inadequacy of the city&#39;s water system was made tragically clear.</p><br>
<p>San Francisco applied to the United States Department of the Interior to gain water rights to Hetch Hetchy, and in 1908 Secretary of the Interior James R. Garfield granted San Francisco the rights to development of the Tuolumne River. This provoked a seven-year environmental struggle with the environmental group Sierra Club, led by John Muir. Muir observed:</p><br>
<p>Proponents of the dam replied that out of multiple sites considered by San Francisco, Hetch Hetchy had the "perfect architecture for a reservoir", with pristine water, lack of development or private property, a steep-sided and flat-floored profile that would maximize the amount of water stored, and a narrow outlet ideal for placement of a dam. They claimed the valley was not unique and would be even more beautiful with a lake. Muir predicted that this lake would create an unsightly "bathtub ring" around its perimeter, caused by the water&#39;s destruction of lichen growth on the canyon walls, which would inevitably be visible at low lake levels.</p><br>
<p>Since the valley was within Yosemite National Park, an act of Congress was needed to authorize the project. The USA Congress passed and President Woodrow Wilson signed the Raker Act in 1913, which permitted the flooding of the valley under the conditions that power and water derived from the river could only be utilized for public interests. Ultimately, the city would fail to keep its promise, selling hydropower from the dam to Pacific Gas and Electric (PG&E), which would lead to decades of legal wrangling and controversy.</p><br>
<p>Work on the Hetch Hetchy Project began in 1914. The 68 mi Hetch Hetchy Railroad was constructed to link the Sierra Railway with Hetch Hetchy Valley, allowing for direct rail shipment of construction materials from San Francisco to the dam site. Construction of O&#39;Shaughnessy Dam began in 1919 and was finished in 1923, with the reservoir first filling in May of that year. The dam was then 227 ft high; its present height of 312 ft was achieved only later in 1938. On October 28, 1934 – twenty years after the beginning of construction on the Hetch Hetchy project – a crowd of 20,000 San Franciscans gathered to celebrate the arrival of the first Hetch Hetchy water in the city.</p><br>
<p>The Early Intake (Lower Cherry) Powerhouse began commercial operation five years before the O&#39;Shaughnessy Dam was completed. The first Moccasin Powerhouse in Moccasin, California began commercial operation in 1925 followed by the Holm Powerhouse in 1960 (the same month the Early Intake Powerhouse was taken out of service). In 1967 the Robert C. Kirkwood Powerhouse started commercial operation followed by a New Moccasin Powerhouse in 1969 when the Old Moccasin Powerhouse was taken out of service. Finally, in 1988, a third generator was added to the Kirkwood Powerhouse.</p><br>
<h2>Hetch Hetchy Project</h2><br>
<p>Hetch Hetchy Valley serves as the primary water source for the City and County of San Francisco and several surrounding municipalities in the greater San Francisco Bay Area. The dam and reservoir, combined with a series of aqueducts, tunnels, and hydroelectric plants as well as eight other storage dams, comprise a system known as the Hetch Hetchy Project, which provides 80% of the water supply for 2.6 million people. The project is operated by the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission. The city must pay a lease of $30,000 per year for the use of Hetch Hetchy, which sits on federal land. The aqueduct delivers an average of 265,000 acrefeet of water each year, or 31,900,000 cuft per day, to residents of San Francisco and San Mateo, Santa Clara and Alameda Counties.</p><br>
<p>As completed, O&#39;Shaughnessy Dam is 910 ft long, spanning the valley at its narrow outlet. An additional hydroelectric system comprising Cherry Lake, Lake Eleanor and the Holm Powerhouse is also part of the Hetch Hetchy Project, adding another 169 megawatts of generating capacity.</p><br>
<p>After passing through the powerhouses, Hetch Hetchy water flows into the 167 mi Hetch Hetchy Aqueduct which travels across the Central Valley. Upon reaching the Bay Area near the city of Fremont, the aqueduct splits into four pipelines. These are called Bay Division Pipelines (BDPL) 1, 2, 3, and 4, with nominal pipeline diameters of 60, 66, 78, and 96 inches (1.5, 1.7, 2.0 and 2.4 m, respectively). All four pipelines cross the Hayward fault. Pipelines 1 and 2 cross the San Francisco Bay to the south of the Dumbarton Bridge, while pipelines 3 and 4 run to the south of the bay. In the Bay Area, Hetch Hetchy water is stored in local facilities including Calaveras Reservoir, Crystal Springs Reservoir, and San Antonio Reservoir. Pipelines 3 and 4 end at the Pulgas Water Temple, a small park that contains classical architectural elements which celebrate the water delivery.</p><br>
<p>Water from Hetch Hetchy is some of the cleanest municipal water in the United States; San Francisco is one of six USA cities not required by law to filter its tap water, although the water is disinfected by ozonation and, since 2011, exposure to UV. The water quality is high because of the unique geology of the upper Tuolumne River drainage basin, which consists mostly of bare granite; as a result, the rivers feeding Hetch Hetchy Reservoir have extremely low loads of sediments and nutrients. The watershed is also strictly protected, so swimming and boating are prohibited at the reservoir (although fishing is permitted at the reservoir and in the rivers which feed it).</p><br>
<h2>Proposed restoration</h2><br>
<h3>Arguments for</h3><br>
<p>The battle over Hetch Hetchy Valley continues today between those who wish to retain the dam and reservoir, and those who wish to drain the reservoir and return Hetch Hetchy Valley to its former state. Those in favor of dam removal have pointed out that many actions by San Francisco since 1913 have been in violation of the Raker Act, which explicitly stated that power and water from Hetch Hetchy could not be sold to private interests. Hydroelectricity generated from the Hetch Hetchy project is largely sold to Bay Area customers through a private power company, Pacific Gas & Electric (PG&E). San Francisco was able to accomplish this in 1925 by claiming it had run out of funds to extend the Hetch Hetchy transmission line all the way to the city. The terminus of the incomplete line was "conveniently located next to a PG&E substation", which connected to PG&E&#39;s private line which in turn bridged the gap to San Francisco. The city justified this as a temporary measure, but no attempt to follow through with completing the municipal grid was ever made. Peter Byrne of SF Weekly has stated that "the plain language of the Raker Act itself and experts who are familiar with the act (and have no stake in city politics) all agree: The city of San Francisco is not in violation of the Raker Act." Harold L. Ickes, Secretary of the Interior in the late 1930s, said there was a violation of the Raker Act, but he and the city reached an agreement in 1945.</p><br>
<p>Preservation groups including the Sierra Club and Restore Hetch Hetchy state that draining Hetch Hetchy would open the valley back up to recreation, a right that should be provided to the American people because the reservoir is within the legal boundaries of a national park. They acknowledge that a concerted effort would have to be made to control the introduction of wildlife and tourism back into the valley in order to prevent destabilization of the ecosystem, and that it might be decades or even centuries before the valley could be returned to natural conditions.</p><br>
<p>In 1987, the idea of razing the O&#39;Shaughnessy Dam gained an adherent in Don Hodel, then Secretary of the Department of the Interior under President Ronald Reagan. Hodel called for a study of the effect of tearing down the dam. The National Park Service concluded that two years after draining the valley, grasses would cover most of its floor and within 10 years, clumps of cone-bearing trees and some oaks would take root. Within 50 years, vegetative cover would be complete except for exposed rocky areas. In this unmanaged scenario, where nature is left to take hold in the valley, eventually a forest would grow, rather than the meadow being restored. However, the same NPS study also finds that with intensive management, an outcome in which "the entire valley would appear much as it did before construction of the reservoir" is feasible.</p><br>
<p>The dam would not have to be completely removed; rather, it would only be necessary to cut a hole through the base in order to drain the water and restore natural flows of the Tuolumne River. Most of the dam would remain in place, both to avoid the enormous costs of demolition and removal, and to serve as a monument for the workers who built it. The water storage provided at Hetch Hetchy could be transferred into Lake Don Pedro lower on the Tuolumne River by raising the New Don Pedro Dam 30 ft. Water could be diverted into the Kirkwood and Moccasin Powerhouses using lower-impact diversion dams, providing power generation on a seasonal basis, and the enlarged height at Don Pedro would also increase power generation there. Furthermore, the removal of O&#39;Shaughnessy Dam would not require costly sediment control measures, as would be typical on most dam removal projects, because of the high quality of the Tuolumne River water – in the 90 years since its construction, only 2 in of sediment has been deposited in Hetch Hetchy Reservoir, a mere dusting in comparison with other reservoirs of similar size and vintage around the world.</p><br>
<h3>Arguments against</h3><br>
<p>Those in opposition of dam removal state that demolishing O&#39;Shaughnessy Dam would take away a valuable source of clean, renewable hydroelectric power in the Kirkwood and Moccasin powerhouses; even if measures such as seasonal water diversion into the powerhouses were employed, it would only make up for a fraction of the original power production. The remaining deficit would likely have to be replaced by polluting fossil fuel generation. The removal of the dam would be extremely costly, at least $3–10 billion, and the transport of the demolished material away from the dam site along the narrow, winding Hetch Hetchy Road would be a logistical nightmare with possible environmental impacts. Most importantly, San Francisco would lose its source of high-quality mountain water, and would have to depend on lower-quality water from other reservoirs – which would require costly filtration and re-engineering of the aqueduct system – to meet its needs.</p><br>
<p>The economic wisdom of removing the dam has been frequently questioned. Some observers, such as Carl Pope (Director of the Sierra Club), stated that Hodel had political motives in proposing the study. The imputed motive was to divide the environmental movement: to see residents of the strongly Democratic city of San Francisco coming out against an environmental issue. Dianne Feinstein, the mayor of San Francisco at the time, said in a Los Angeles Times story in 1987: "All this is for an expanded campground?... Its dumb, dumb, dumb." Hodel, now retired, is still a strong proponent of restoring Hetch Hetchy Valley and now-Senator Feinstein is still strongly against restoration. The George W. Bush administration proposed allocating $7 million to studying the removal of the dam in the 2007 National Park Service budget. Dianne Feinstein opposed this allocation, saying, "I will do all I can to make sure it isnt included in the final bill. We&#39;re not going to remove this dam, and the funding is unnecessary."</p><br>
<p>Opponents of dam removal have pointed out that the flooding of the Hetch Hetchy Valley has also deterred the crowds that overrun other areas of Yosemite National Park. Indeed, Hetch Hetchy today remains the least visited area of the park. Karin Klein has described Yosemite Valley as "so crammed... that it looks more like a ripstop ghetto than the site of a nature experience." However, she does support breaching the dam once it has reached the end of its lifespan, and not replacing it.</p><br>
<p>In November 2012, San Francisco voters soundly rejected Proposition F, which would have required the City to conduct an $8 million study on how the flooded valley could be drained and restored to its former state. The proposed study would also have been required to identify potential replacements for the water storage capacity and hydroelectric power production.</p><br>
<p>Camp Floyd was a short-lived USA Army post in the Cedar Valley , Utah, United States. The Stagecoach Inn was a nearby hotel which also served as a stagecoach stop and, during 1860-1861, a Pony Express stop. Both were listed on the National Register of Historic Places in the 1970s, and now are included in a Utah state park known as Camp Floyd / Stagecoach Inn State Park and Museum.</p><br>
<h2>Camp Floyd</h2><br>
<p>Established in July 1858 by a USA Army detachment under the command of Brevet Brig. Gen. Albert Sidney Johnston, Camp Floyd was named for then Secretary of War John B. Floyd. The detachment consisted of more than 3,500 military and civilian employees, including cavalry, artillery, infantry and support units. This unit, the largest single troop concentration then in the United States, was sent by President James Buchanan to stop a perceived Mormon rebellion, which came to be known as the Utah War.</p><br>
<p>From Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, the army marched to Fort Bridger, Wyoming where it spent the winter of 1857. Troops arrived in Salt Lake City, Utah in June 1858. Soon after their arrival, troops settled in the Cedar Valley area and eventually Fairfield, where 400 buildings were constructed by November 1858. A series of photographs of Camp Floyd, taken by Samuel C. Mills in January 1859, show the post as a cluster of adobe buildings including barracks, officers quarters, warehouses and other sundry structures. Enough civilians soon followed to increase the town size to 7000, almost half that of Salt Lake City. The rebellion never took place, leaving the army with routine garrison duty that included protecting the stagecoach and Pony Express routes, preventing Indian marauding, and mapping and surveying responsibilities.</p><br>
<p>Supplying the large garrison, 1,100 mi from Fort Leavenworth, was costly. It was rumored to be an attempt by Secretary of War Floyd (a known southern sympathizer) to drain the federal treasury. A contract with the firm of Russell, Majors and Waddell for delivery of 16 e6lb of freight required 3,500 wagons, 40,000 oxen, 1,000 mules and more than 4,000 men. This same company formed the Pony Express, which had a station in Fairfield.</p><br>
<p>After Secretary of War Floyd resigned on Dec. 29, 1860 (becoming a Confederate), Camp Floyd was renamed Fort Crittenden, after Kentuckys Senator John J Crittenden, who worked to prevent Kentuckys secession from the Union. Camp Floyd/Crittenden was abandoned in July 1861 with the military being called east for the American Civil War. Equipment and buildings were sold, destroyed or transported. All that remain today are the military cemetery and one commissary building. Two months after the army&#39;s departure, only 18 families remained in Fairfield.</p><br>
<p>A 40 acre area was listed on the National Register of Historic Places as Camp Floyd Site in 1974. The only vestige of the post in 1974 was a cemetery.</p><br>
<h2>Stagecoach Inn</h2><br>
<p>The Stagecoach Inn has also been known as Carson House. It served as a hotel</p><br>
<h2>State Park</h2><br>
<p>The Camp Floyd/Stagecoach Inn State Park Museum is located 25 mi southwest of Lehi, Utah, on State Route 73. The park is open Monday through Saturday from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.</p><br>
<p>This heritage park reflects the settlement of Utah and its resolution of ongoing conflicts with the federal government.</p><br>
<p>The Vercors Massif is a range in France consisting of rugged plateaux and mountains straddling the départements of Isère and Drôme in the French Prealps. It lies west of the Dauphiné Alps, from which it is separated by the rivers Drac and Isère. The cliffs at the massif&#39;s eastern limit face the city of Grenoble.</p><br>
<h2>Background</h2><br>
<p>Over time, various features of the complex geography have been recognised including, the Quatre Montagnes (four mountains), the Coulmes (gorges), the Vercors Drômois (Drome Vercors), the Hauts-Plateaux (high plateau) and, in the foothills, Royans, Gervanne, Diois, and Trièves.</p><br>
<p>The massif is sometimes called the fortress. The movement of people tends to be between the massif and the surrounding plains rather than between the various parts of the massif itself.</p><br>
<p>Until the mid twentieth century, the name, Vercors was used to describe only the township of La Chapelle-en-Vercors (with Royans), and the northern area around Lans-en-Vercors, Villard-de-Lans, Autrans, and Méaudre (with Grenoble) and was known as the Four Mountains area.</p><br>
<p>In June and July 1944, the massif became important in World War II with the establishment of the Free Republic of Vercors, led by the Maquis du Vercors, a base for the French Resistance against German occupation.</p><br>
<p>In the massif&#39;s karstic area is the Vercors Cave System and the Gouffre Berger.</p><br>
<p>The Vercors has several resorts for cross-country skiing and for down-hill skiing. Villard-de-Lans is the biggest down-hill ski resort.</p><br>
<p>This sporting area is environmentally protected, and although the natural environment has been drastically altered throughout history for the purposes of agriculture and forestry, plans for afforestation will make it one of the major forests of Metropolitan France and a reserve for species such as the southern tulip and black grouse, two symbols of the park, as well as the re-introduced griffon vulture and the alpine ibex. The differences in climate and altitude across the Vercors are reflected in the high level of diversity in the fauna and flora.</p><br>
<h2>Etymology</h2><br>
<p>The name Massif du Vercors is derived from the name of a local tribe who lived in the area at the time of the Roman conquest of Gaul, who were known as the Vertamocorii (also spelled Vertamocori, Vertacomicorii, or Vertacomocorii), meaning excellent troops or troops of the summit. Modern inhabitants are referred to as Vertacomiriens.</p><br>
<p>Prior to the 1900s, the name Vercors referred to the upper valleys of the Vernaison near the township of La Chapelle-en-Vercors. At the beginning of the 20th century, Henri Ferrand explored the massif, taking numerous photographs, publishing books, and describing the geology of the mountains. Ferrand was the first to use the term Vercors in its contemporary sense. The geographers Raoul Blanchard and Jules Blache, popularised the term in the late 1920s and early 1930s. By the 1950s, the term was ubiquitous.</p><br>
<h2>Geography</h2><br>
<h3>Location</h3><br>
<p>The Vercors Massif lies in the Prealps, in the south-east France, straddling the departments of Drôme and Isère, both of which are part of the Rhône-Alpes region, about 100 km south-east of Lyon. The massif covers 135,000 hectare with a north-south length of 60 km and an east-west width of 40 km.</p><br>
<p>The massif is surrounded by the Chartreuse Mountains to the north, the Matheysine area of the Dauphiné Alps to the east, and the Diois Massif to the south. In the far south-east, the massif joins with the 1,457 m col de Menée.</p><br>
<p>The massif is drained in the north-east and the north-west by the Isère river, in the east by the Drac, and in the south by the Drôme. The western side overlooks the Rhône Valley.</p><br>
<h3>Topography</h3><br>
<h4>Geomorphology</h4><br>
<p>The Vercors Massif is known as the fortress or as the French dolomites because of its geomorphology. The massif is likened to a plateau: the fall from the massif to its inner valleys is a few hundred metres, while the fall to the surrounding areas is between 800 m and 1,200 m.</p><br>
<p>The crest of the eastern edge has several summits over 2,000 m. The interior varies between 800 m and 1,500 m. The massif also has wide valleys including the valley of Lans-en-Vercors, the regions around Autrans, and La Chapelle-en-Vercors, and plateaus including forêt des Coulmes, forêt de Lente, and the high plateau. There are deep chasms including the Bourne and Furon gorges. The chasms have imposing cliffs often exceeding 400 m and include the Combe Laval and the Cirque d&#39;Archiane.</p><br>
<p>Mont Aiguille stands apart from the rest of the massif as the result of erosion. Other parts are isolated from the rest of the massif due to its relief. For example, to reach Gresse-en-Vercors in the south, one must travel 100 km via the col de Rousset or journey 70 km via Saint-Nizier-du-Moucherotte in the north. The villages at the far northern end were isolated by a landslide near the Mortier tunnel. Another example is the Peuil plateau in the east. During the Ice Age, the Grésivaudan glacier reached the Peuil plateau leaving a marsh.</p><br>
<h4>Sub-divisions</h4><br>
<p>The central part of the Vercors Massif is divided into several regions.</p><br>
<p>The coulmes, in the north-west, are heavily covered in forest. Folds of urgonian limestone are rounded, making the area appear mountainous.</p><br>
<p>The four mountains area has been developed for tourism and skiing but is also known for its traditional activities such as the breeding of dairy cows and cheese making. The main villages, Autrans, Méaudre, Lans-en-Vercors, and Villard-de-Lans, are spread over two plateaux covered by wooded hills.</p><br>
<p>The Drômois Vercors is an area made up of a number of smaller plateaux. In the north of the Drômois Vercors there are several gorges which are traversed by roads cut into the cliffs. Grassy areas are used as pastures in the summer months, and the biannual migration (transhumance) of animals is a period of celebration for the people of Die.</p><br>
<p>The Haut-Plateaux (high plateaux) are the highest wilderness areas of the massif. The area is managed and the pastures are used for grazing in the summer.</p><br>
<p>At the fringes of the massif, the Vercors regional park has four geographical areas. The Royans, the north-west foothills are the location of walnuts growing. Three valleys descend to the edge of the Royans: the Gorges de la Bourne, the cirque of the Combe Laval, and the Échevis valley, including the Grands and the Petits Goulets.</p><br>
<p>The Gervanne, in the south-west, is a rugged area of hills at the foot of the plateau, with picturesque villages. It looks towards Crest.</p><br>
<p>The Diois is a part of the Drôme valley around Die. This region has a Mediterranean character, with vineyards and fields of lavender. It acts as a buffer between Gervanne and the interior of the massif.</p><br>
<p>The Trièves, in the east, is a low hilly plateau, which lies between the highest summits of the Vercors and the gorge carved out by the Drac river.</p><br>
<h4>Principal summits</h4><br>
<p>From north to south:</p><br>
<p>Le Moucherotte, 1,901 m, the summit which dominates Grenoble, most northerly of the massif</p><br>
<p>Le Pic Saint-Michel, 1,966 m</p><br>
<p>Roc Cornafion, 2,049 m</p><br>
<p>Les Arêtes du Gerbier, 2,109 m</p><br>
<p>La Grande Moucherolle, 2,284 m</p><br>
<p>La Petite Moucherolle, 2,156 m</p><br>
<p>La Tête des Chaudières, 2,029 m</p><br>
<p>Les Rochers de la Balme, 2,063 m</p><br>
<p>Le Sommet de Malaval, 2,097 m</p><br>
<p>Le Grand Veymont, 2,341 m, highest point of the massif</p><br>
<p>Le Mont Aiguille, 2,086 m, with its characteristic silhouette, its first ascent in 1492 was the birth of alpinism</p><br>
<p>Le Dôme ou Pié Ferré, 2,041 m, to the east of Die, in the Glandasse uplands.</p><br>
<h4>Principal road cols</h4><br>
<p>By descending altitude:</p><br>
<p>Col du Mont Noir, 1,421 m, between Malleval-en-Vercors and Rencurel</p><br>
<p>Col de l&#39;Allimas, 1,352 m, between Gresse-en-Vercors and Saint-Michel-les-Portes</p><br>
<p>Col de la Chau, 1,337 m, between Vassieux-en-Vercors and Bouvante</p><br>
<p>Col de la Bataille, 1,313 m, between Léoncel and Bouvante</p><br>
<p>Col de Rousset, 1,254 m (tunnel altitude), between Die and Saint-Agnan-en-Vercors</p><br>
<p>Col de Saint-Alexis, 1,222 m, between Vassieux-en-Vercors and Saint-Agnan-en-Vercors</p><br>
<p>Col de la Croix-Perrin, 1,218 m, between Lans-en-Vercors and Autrans - Méaudre</p><br>
<p>Col de Carri, 1,202 m, between La Chapelle-en-Vercors and Bouvante</p><br>
<p>Col de la Portette, 1,175 m, in Bouvante</p><br>
<p>Col de l&#39;Arzelier, 1,154 m, between Château-Bernard and Le Gua</p><br>
<p>Col de Tourniol, 1,145 m, between Léoncel and Barbières</p><br>
<p>Col de Proncel, 1,100 m, between Vassieux-en-Vercors and La Chapelle-en-Vercors</p><br>
<p>Col des Limouches, 1,086 m, between Léoncel and Peyrus</p><br>
<p>Col de Romeyère, 1,069 m, between Rencurel and Saint-Gervais</p><br>
<p>Col de la Machine, 1,011 m, between Saint-Jean-en-Royans and Bouvante.</p><br>
<p>The Tunnel du Mortier links Montaud with Autrans, at an altitude of 1,391 m. It was closed on 20 April 1992 after a landslide of 20,000 m of rock which involved part of the slope to the north of the route. The instability of the slopes have proved an impediment for the realisation of further work below the site, particularly work on the gorges d&#39;Engins to Sassenage road, the D531.</p><br>
<h3>Geology</h3><br>
<p>The constituent rocks of the Vercors were formed by sedimentation about 165 million years ago, in the middle Jurassic period, at the bottom of the Piemont-Liguria Ocean. The deposition of animal material formed limestone, with detritus rocks, formed primarily from the erosion of marl from the Variscan orogeny formed the massif in a period marked by changing climactic conditions and ocean depth. At Diois and Trièves is a layer of the massif, formed in the Tithonian era.</p><br>
<p>Then, about 130 million years ago, in the Cretaceous era, a rise in temperatures combined with shallow waters led to the development of coral reefs, which abounded with molluscs, particularly rudists. These were the origin of the urgonian limestone which forms the upper part of the massif, more prominently in the northern half. This primitive fauna left numerous fossils, some of which have been found at a site near Rencurel in the coulmes.</p><br>
<p>In the Paleogene era, the Tethys ocean closed up and at the start of the Miocene, the raising of the alps resulted in a nappe (thrust shift) to the west and rocks of sedimentary origin were raised 2,000 m above the current location of the Massif des Écrins. The folding of these rocks resulted in the Vercors having local synclines and anticlines successively and, due to the hardness of the rock, there are faults.</p><br>
<p>Subsequent marine transgressions were responsible for secondary sedimentation in the basins. There was widening of the gorges and erosion of the cliffs from runoff, leading to the formation of the Molasses in the Royans and also in the valleys of Lans, Autrans, and Rencurel. At the close of the Miocene, a new period of uplifting brought about the final receding of the sea.</p><br>
<p>Once formed, the massif underwent severe erosion, which accentuated the relief. The different synclines grew larger, eventually forming valleys including those of Autrans, Méaudre and Lans, Villard, Corrençon, the Col de Romeyère and the Col de Rousset. The water hollowed out the cirque of Archiane, the Steephead valley of Bournillon, and the combe Laval.</p><br>
<h2>Vercors in popular culture</h2><br>
<p>The Vercors have appeared in many films, including</p><br>
<p>La Bride sur le cou (1961)</p><br>
<p>Wish Me Luck (1987) Season 3</p><br>
<p>Une hirondelle a fait le printemps (2001)</p><br>
<p>The Butterfly (2002)</p><br>
<p>"To Paint or Make Love" (2006)</p><br>
<p>Stone Mountain is a quartz monzonite dome monadnock and the site of Stone Mountain Park near Stone Mountain, Georgia. At its summit, the elevation is 1,686 ft MSL and 825 ft above the surrounding area. Stone Mountain is well-known for not only its geology, but also the enormous rock relief on its north face, the largest bas-relief in the world. The carving depicts three Confederate figures during the Civil War: Jefferson Davis, Robert E. Lee and Stonewall Jackson.</p><br>
<p>Stone Mountain was once owned by the Venable Brothers and was the site of the founding of the second Ku Klux Klan in 1915. It was purchased by the State of Georgia in 1958.</p><br>
<p>Stone Mountain is more than 5 miles in circumference at its base. The summit of the mountain can be reached by a walk-up trail on the west side of the mountain or by the Skyride aerial tram.</p><br>
<h2>Geology</h2><br>
<p>Stone Mountain is a pluton, a type of igneous intrusion. Primarily composed of quartz monzonite, the dome of Stone Mountain was formed during the formation of the Blue Ridge Mountains around 300–350 million years ago (during the Carboniferous period), part of the Appalachian Mountains. It formed as a result of the upwelling of magma from within the Earth&#39;s crust. This magma solidified to form granite within the crust five to ten miles below the surface.</p><br>
<p>The Stone Mountain pluton continues underground 9 mi at its longest point into Gwinnett County. Numerous reference books and Georgia literature have dubbed Stone Mountain as “the largest exposed piece of granite in the world". This misconception is most likely a result of misrepresentation by granite companies and early park administration. Stone Mountain, though often called a pink granite dome, actually ranges in composition from quartz monzonite to granite and granodiorite.</p><br>
<p>The minerals within the rock include quartz, plagioclase feldspar, microcline and muscovite, with smaller amounts of biotite and tourmaline. The tourmaline is mostly black in color, and the majority of it exists as optically continuous skeletal crystals, but much larger, euhedral pegmatitic tourmaline crystals can also be found in the mountain&#39;s numerous, cross-cutting felsic dikes.</p><br>
<p>Embedded in the granite are xenoliths or pieces of foreign rocks entrained in the magma.</p><br>
<p>The granite intruded into the metamorphic rocks of the Piedmont region during the last stages of the Alleghenian Orogeny, which was the time when North America and North Africa collided. Over time, erosion eventually exposed the present mountain of more resistant igneous rock. This intrusion of granite also gave rise to Panola Mountain and Arabia Mountain, both in DeKalb County, smaller outcroppings farther south of Stone Mountain.</p><br>
<h2>Natural history</h2><br>
<p>The top of the mountain is a landscape of bare rock and rock pools, and it provides views of the surrounding area including the skyline of downtown Atlanta, often Kennesaw Mountain, and on very clear days even the Appalachian Mountains. On some days, the top of the mountain is shrouded in a heavy fog, and visibility may be limited to only a few feet. The clear freshwater pools on the summit form by rainwater gathering in eroded depressions, and are home to unusual clam shrimp and fairy shrimp. The tiny shrimp appear only during the rainy season. Through the process of cryptobiosis, the tiny shrimp eggs (or cysts) can remain dormant for years in the dried out depressions, awaiting favorable conditions.</p><br>
<p>The mountain&#39;s lower slopes are wooded. The rare Georgia oak was first discovered at the summit, and several specimens can easily be found along the walk-up trail and in the woods around the base of the mountain. In the fall, the extremely rare Confederate yellow daisy (Helianthus porteri) flowers appear on the mountain, growing in rock crevices and in the large wooded areas.</p><br>
<h2>Confederate Memorial</h2><br>
<p>The largest bas-relief sculpture in the world, the Confederate Memorial Carving depicts three Confederate leaders of the Civil War: President Jefferson Davis and Generals Robert E. Lee and Thomas J. "Stonewall" Jackson (and their favorite horses, "Blackjack", "Traveller", and "Little Sorrel", respectively). The entire carved surface measures 1.57 acre. The carving of the three men towers 400 ft above the ground, measures 76 by, and is recessed 42 ft into the mountain. The deepest point of the carving is at Lees right elbow, which is 12 ft to the mountains surface.</p><br>
<p>The carving was conceived by Mrs. C. Helen Plane, a charter member of the United Daughters of the Confederacy (UDC). The Venable Brothers, owners of the mountain, deeded the north face of the mountain to the UDC in 1916. The UDC was given 12 years to complete a sizable Civil War monument. Gutzon Borglum was commissioned to do the carving. Borglum abandoned the project in 1925 (and later went on to begin Mount Rushmore). The US Mint issued a 1925 Commemorative silver US half dollar, along with the words "Stone Mountain" as part of a fundraiser for the monument. American sculptor Augustus Lukeman continued until 1928, when further work stopped for thirty years. In 1958, at the urging of Governor Marvin Griffin, the Georgia legislature approved a measure to purchase Stone Mountain for $1,125,000. In 1963, Walker Hancock was selected to complete the carving, and work began in 1964. The carving was completed by Roy Faulkner, who later operated a museum (now closed) on nearby Memorial Drive commemorating the carvings history. The carving was completed on March 3, 1972. An extensive archival collection related to the project is now at Emory University, with the bulk of the materials dating from 1915 to 1930; the finding aid&#39; provides a history of the project, and an index of the papers contained in the collection.</p><br>
<h3>Carving and the Ku Klux Klan</h3><br>
<p>The revival of the Ku Klux Klan was emboldened by the release of D. W. Griffith&#39;s Klan-glorifying film The Birth of a Nation, and coincided with the August 1915 lynching of Leo Frank. On November 25 of the same year, a small group, including fifteen robed and hooded "charter members" of the new organization, met at Stone Mountain to create a new iteration of the Klan. They were led by William J. Simmons, and included two elderly members of the original Klan. As part of their ceremony, they burned a crude cross.</p><br>
<p>Fundraising for the monument resumed in 1923. In October of that year, Venable granted the Klan easement with perpetual right to hold celebrations as they desired. The influence of the UDC continued, in support of Mrs. Planes vision of a carving explicitly for the purpose of creating a Confederate memorial. The UDC established the Stone Mountain Confederate Memorial Association (SMCMA) for fundraising and on-site supervision of the project. Venable and Gutzon Borglum, who were both closely associated with the Klan, arranged to pack the SMCMA with Klan members. The SMCMA, along with the United Daughters of the Confederacy, continued fundraising efforts. Of the $250,000 raised, part came from the federal government, which in 1925 issued special fifty-cent coins with the soldiers Robert E. Lee and Stonewall Jackson on them. The image on the verso of the coin was based upon The Last Meeting of Lee and Jackson executed in 1869 by Everett B. D. Fabrino Julio (American, b. St Helena 1843 – 1879, emigrated to US 1860) itself an icon of Lost Cause mythology, now Museum of the Confederacy, Richmond VA. When the state completed the purchase in 1960, it condemned the property to remove Venables agreement to allow the Klan perpetual right to hold meetings on the premises.</p><br>
<h3>Confederate Memorial controversy</h3><br>
<p>After the Charleston church shooting in the summer of 2015, Stone Mountain was the subject of a political debate related to the removal of symbols of the Confederacy. This controversy was stimulated by a movement in other states to remove the Confederate battle flag from public areas.</p><br>
<p>A proposal was made to remove the Confederate carving from Stone Mountain Park. However, according to Georgia state law, no one is allowed to alter the figures carved upon the stone face. Any changes within the state park would require approval by the state legislature.</p><br>
<p>On October 11, 2015, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported the park is considering a proposal of a permanent "Freedom Bell" honoring Martin Luther King, Jr. and the line "Let freedom ring from Stone Mountain of Georgia" as part of Kings "I Have A Dream" speech of 1963. The proposed monument is inspired by a bell-ringing ceremony held in 2013 honoring the 50th anniversary of Kings speech.</p><br>
<p>In August 2017, after the Unite the Right rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, (a white supremacist protest against the removal of a Confederate monument) turned violent, people across the country demanded the removal of Confederate monuments and memorials. Georgia State Representative Stacey Abrams called for the removal of Stone Mountain&#39;s carving.</p><br>
<h2>History</h2><br>
<p>Human habitation of Stone Mountain and its surroundings date back into prehistory. When the mountain was first encountered by European explorers, its summit was encircled by a rock wall, similar to that still to be found on Georgia&#39;s Fort Mountain. The wall is believed to have been built by early Native American inhabitants of the area, although its purpose remains unclear. By the beginning of the 20th century, the wall had disappeared, the rocks having been taken away by early visitors as souvenirs, rolled down the rockface, or removed by the commercial quarrying operation. The mountain was as well the eastern end of the Campbellton Trail, a Native American path that ran through what is now the Atlanta area.</p><br>
<p>Europeans first learned of the mountain in 1597, when Spanish explorers were told of a mountain farther inland which was "very high, shining when the sun set like a fire." By this time, the Stone Mountain area was inhabited by the Creek and (to a lesser extent) Cherokee peoples.</p><br>
<p>In the early 19th century, the area was known as Rock Mountain. After the founding of DeKalb County and the county seat of Decatur in 1822, Stone Mountain was a natural recreation area; it was common for young couples on dates to ride to the mountain on horseback.</p><br>
<p>Entrepreneur Aaron Cloud built a 165 ft wooden observation tower at the summit of the mountain in 1838, but it was destroyed by a storm and replaced by a much smaller tower in 1851. Visitors to the mountain would travel to the area by rail and road, and then walk up the 1.1 mi mountaintop trail to the top, where Cloud also had a restaurant and club.</p><br>
<p>Granite quarrying started at Stone Mountain in the 1830s, but became a major industry following the completion of a railroad spur to the quarry site in 1847. This line was rebuilt by the Georgia Railroad in 1869. Over the years, Stone Mountain granite was used in many buildings and structures, including the locks of the Panama Canal, the steps to the East Wing of the United States Capitol and the Imperial Hotel in Tokyo. In recent years, granite suppliers in Georgia sent stone samples cut from Stone Mountain to the Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial Foundation to be considered for use in a planned monument in Kings honor; the Foundation later chose to use granite imported from China. Unfortunately, quarrying during earlier periods also destroyed several spectacular geological features on Stone Mountain, such as the Devils Crossroads, which was located on top of the mountain.</p><br>
<p>In 1887 Stone Mountain was purchased for $45,000 by the Venable Brothers of Atlanta, who quarried the mountain for 24 more years, and descendents of the Venable family would retain ownership of the mountain until it was purchased by the State of Georgia in the 1950s.</p><br>
<p>Martin Luther King, Jr. mentioned the monument in his 1963 "I Have a Dream" speech in Washington, D.C., when he said "let freedom ring from Stone Mountain of Georgia!"</p><br>
<p>During the 1996 Summer Olympics, Stone Mountain Park provided venues for Olympic events in tennis, archery and track cycling. The venues for archery and cycling were temporary and are now part of the songbird and habitat trail.</p><br>
<p>Some of the outdoor scenes for the Netflix&#39;s Stranger Things were filmed in the park in late 2015 and early 2016.</p><br>
<h3>Aviation incidents</h3><br>
<p>According to George Weiblen&#39;s annotated calendar for Monday, May 7, 1928: "Mail plane crashed on mountain at 8:00 P.M." The pilot, Johnny S. Kytle (1905–1931), not only survived the crash, but managed to grab the mail and walk down the mountain.</p><br>
<p>Around dusk on September 16, 2003, in clear weather, a small airplane circled the mountain five times, then crashed headlong into the south side, burst into flames and killed the pilot. A witness testifying at the NTSB investigation stated that the pilot, a 69-year-old accountant, had threatened on multiple occasions to commit suicide by flying into the mountain. The official NTSB accident report lists the probable cause as "The pilot&#39;s intentional flight into the ground for the purpose of suicide while impaired by alcohol."</p><br>
<h3>Governance</h3><br>
<p>Stone Mountain Park, which surrounds the Confederate Memorial, is owned by the state of Georgia and managed by the Stone Mountain Memorial Association, a Georgia state authority. The Herschend Family Entertainment Corporation currently has a long-term contract to operate park attractions while the Stone Mountain Memorial Association retains ownership and the right to reject any project deemed unfit.</p><br>
<h2>Places of interest</h2><br>
<p>Confederate Hall, operated directly by the Stone Mountain Memorial Association or SMMA, is a museum that educates students and park guests on the geology and ecology of Stone Mountain as well as historical aspects of the area. A small theater shows a historical documentary about the Civil War in Georgia called "The Battle for Georgia".</p><br>
<p>The education department is host to thousands of students each school year, teaching the subjects of geology, ecology, and history. Classes are designed to meet the Georgia Performance Standards and the North American Association for Environmental Education guidelines.</p><br>
<p>The Antebellum Plantation and Farmyard is an open-air museum composed of 19 historic buildings, built between 1790 and 1875, which have been re-erected on the site to represent a pre-Civil War Georgia plantation. The historic houses have been furnished with an extensive collection of period furniture and decorations. The farm features live animals that guests can pet.</p><br>
<p>A 732-bell carillon that originated at the 1964 New York World&#39;s Fair provides a daily concert.</p><br>
<p>A covered bridge, dating from 1892, which originally spanned the Oconee River in Athens, Georgia.</p><br>
<p>A grist mill, dating from 1869 and moved to the park in 1965.</p><br>
<h3>Broadcast tower</h3><br>
<p>The short broadcast tower on the top of the mountain transmits two non-commercial stations: television station WGTV TV 8, and weather radio station KEC80 on 162.55 MHz. FM radio station WABE FM 90.1 was located on this tower from 1984 until 2005, when it was required to relocate to accommodate WGTV&#39;s digital conversion. W266BW FM 101.1 now has a permit as well. Atop the tower also sits the W4BOC Amateur Radio repeater which operates on a frequency on 146.760.</p><br>
<p>The tower is also used for the park&#39;s Project 25 two-way radio systems.</p><br>
<h3>Scenic Railroad</h3><br>
<h3>Stone Mountain trails</h3><br>
<p>Walk Up Trail: A 1.3 mi trail to the top of Stone Mountain ascending 786 ft in elevation to a height of 1,686 ft. The trail is steep, but spectacular panoramic views and cool winds await hikers at the top.</p><br>
<p>Cherokee Trail: A 5 mi National Recreation Trail, the Cherokee Trail loops around the mountain base, with a mile section going up and over the west side of the mountain (crosses Walk Up Trail). It passes primarily through an oak-hickory forest, but views of the lakes, streams, and mountain are common.</p><br>
<p>Nature Garden Trail: A scenic 3/4 mi loop trail through a mature oak-hickory forest community, it is excellent for viewing shade-loving native plants. A small garden with interpretive native plant signs is at the entrance to the trail.</p><br>
<p>Songbird Habitat Trails: Comprising two loop trails each running 1 mi, the field trail is an excellent birding spot and the woodland trail provides shade and numerous native plants. Dogs are not allowed.</p><br>
<h3>Attractions</h3><br>
<p>The Park features several attractions that are operated by Herschend Family Entertainment Corporation.</p><br>
<p>On summer evenings the mountain hosts the Stone Mountain Laser Show Spectacular, a fireworks and laser light display. The laser lightshow projects moving images of the Deep South as well as Georgia history onto the Confederate Memorial carving on the side of the mountain. During Memorial Day Weekend of 2011, Stone Mountain unveiled its overhaul of the laser show, dubbed Mountainvision. This incorporates digital projectors, lasers, special effects, and pyrotechnics.</p><br>
<p>The Skyride, a Swiss-built cable car to the summit of the mountain, passes by the carving on the way up.</p><br>
<p>The Riverboat offered a scenic cruise aboard a reproduction of a Mississippi riverboat on 363-acre (147 ha) Stone Mountain Lake. It has been retired.</p><br>
<p>The Antebellum Plantation is a collection of historic buildings relocated from around the state of Georgia, including three plantation manor-houses dating from 1794, 1850, and 1845; two slave cabins; a barn; and other outbuildings. The Plantation Farmyard features historic breeds of sheep, goats, and pigs that guests can pet.</p><br>
<p>Crossroads is a recreation of an 1872 southern town with several attractions that include a modern 4-D movie theater, an adventure mini-golf course, a duck tour ride, stores and restaurants. Craft demonstrators include glass blowing and candy-making. Among other attractions in this area:</p><br>
<p>The Great Barn is a children&#39;s activity area that features 65 interactive games, climbing structures, trampoline floors, slides and more.</p><br>
<p>Sky Hike is a family ropes adventure course. Guests can choose their own path and level of challenge.</p><br>
<p>Geyser Towers is a playground featuring a large fountain at the entrance, so guests have the option of climbing through the course or getting wet.</p><br>
