<p>uprightCathedral Peak, with Eichorn Pinnacle in the foreground.</p><br>
<p>Cathedral Peak is part of the Cathedral Range, a mountain range in the south-central portion of Yosemite National Park in eastern Mariposa and Tuolumne Counties. The range is an offshoot of the Sierra Nevada. The peak which lends its name to the range derives its name from its cathedral-shaped peak, which was formed by glacial activity: the peak remained uneroded above the glaciers in the Pleistocene.</p><br>
<h2>Geography</h2><br>
<p>Cathedral Peak has a subsidiary summit to the west called Eichorn Pinnacle, for Jules Eichorn, who first ascended a class 5.4 route to its summit on July 24, 1931 with Glen Dawson.</p><br>
<p>In 1869, John Muir wrote in My first summer in the Sierra:</p><br>
<h2>Geology</h2><br>
<p>The Cathedral Peak Granodiorite of Cathedral Peak is an intrusion into an area of older intrusive (or plutonic) and metamorphic rock in the Sierra Nevada Batholith. It is part of a grouping of intrusions called the Tuolumne Intrusive Suite. Cathedral Peak is the youngest of the rock formations in the Suite, dating to the Cretaceous Period at 83 million years ago. Its composition is mainly granodiorite with phenocrysts of microcline.</p><br>
<p>Cathedral Peak is a nunatak: during the Tioga glaciation of the last ice age, the peak projected above the glaciers, which carved and sharpened the peak&#39;s base while plucking away at its sides.</p><br>
<p>Snæfellsjökull  is a 700,000-year-old glacier-capped stratovolcano in western Iceland. The name of the mountain is actually Snæfell, but it is normally called "Snæfellsjökull" to distinguish it from two other mountains with this name. It is situated on the most western part of the Snæfellsnes peninsula in Iceland. Sometimes it may be seen from the city of Reykjavík over Faxa Bay, at a distance of 120 km.</p><br>
<p>The mountain is one of the most famous sites of Iceland, primarily due to the novel Journey to the Center of the Earth (1864) by Jules Verne, in which the protagonists find the entrance to a passage leading to the center of the earth on Snæfellsjökull.</p><br>
<p>The mountain is included in the Snæfellsjökull National Park (Icelandic: Þjóðgarðurinn Snæfellsjökull).</p><br>
<p>In August 2012 the summit was ice-free for the first time in recorded history.</p><br>
<h2>Geology</h2><br>
<p>The stratovolcano, which is the only large central volcano in its part of Iceland, has many pyroclastic cones on its flanks. Upper-flank craters produced intermediate to felsic materials, while lower-flank craters produced basaltic lava flows. Several holocene eruptions have originated from the summit crater and have produced felsic material.</p><br>
<p>Snæfellsjökull National Park is Iceland’s only National Park to extend to the seashore. The park covers an area of 170 km² (65 sq. miles). The Park’s southern boundary reaches to Háahraun in the region of Dagverðará while the northern part reaches to Gufuskálar. The coast is varied and alive with birdlife during the breeding season. The coastal plain is mostly covered by lava that flowed from the glacier or nearby craters. The lava is covered with moss but sheltered hollows can be found in many places, filled with a sizable variety of thriving, verdant plants. Snæfellsjökull has trails of lava and signs of volcanic activity clearly visible on its flanks. On its north side the Eysteinsdalur valley cuts a path up from the plain encircled by alluring steep mountains.</p><br>
<p>The geology of Snæfellsnes Peninsula is diverse with formations from almost every era of Iceland’s past. The more prominent formations in and around the National Park mainly date from geologically “modern” times back to the last ice age. The hills to the north of the glacier, around Bárðarkista, are of volcanic palagonite tuff, formed during eruptions under the glacier or below the surface of the sea. Svalþúfa is most likely the eastern section of a crater that erupted under the sea, while Lóndrangar is a volcanic plug.</p><br>
<p>Lava is prominent on the landscape of this National Park with two types present – rough, jagged lava (ʻAʻā) and smooth, ropy lava (Pāhoehoe). Most of the lava emanated from the glacier, from the summit crater or from subsidiary craters on the flanks of the mountain. These lava formations are varied and fascinating, and there is a wealth of caves in the area. Visitors are advised not to enter caves unless accompanied by an experienced guide. Smaller volcanoes – Purkhólar, Hólahólar, Saxhólar and Öndverðarneshólar – are in the Park’s lowlands, surrounded by lava.</p><br>
<h2>History and fishing</h2><br>
<p>The adventurous Bárðar saga Snæfellsáss is the best known of the Icelandic Sagas that take place in this area. There are archaeological remains from the period of Iceland’s settlement around 1100 years ago – examples of which are the Forni-Saxhóll farm, Berutóftir and Írskubúðir. Near Gufuskálar there are a large number of dome-like structures of unknown origin, thought to be between 500 and 700 years old. They are probably the oldest known relics of the fishing industry in Scandinavia. A few people believe that these structures served instead as places of prayer or meditation for Irish monks who may have once lived in the area.</p><br>
<p>Fishing flourished in the 13th century and the human population grew in the areas around the glacier. A church had been built on Ingjaldshóll hill before 1200 AD. The size of the church bears witness to the sizeable population of nearby towns and villages, at least during fishing season. Rich fishing grounds were nearby and the fishing stations were constructed where there was good access to the open sea. Dritvík is one of the best-known examples. It was one of the largest fishing stations in Iceland for a time, with 40–60 boats and 200–600 people employed there. Fishing declined on Snæfellsnes Peninsula during the 19th century because of changes in fishing techniques.</p><br>
<p>Villages close to the National Park include Hellissandur, Rif and Ólafsvík. They were all fishing and commercial centres. Today, they are still flourishing fishing ports with lively communities.</p><br>
<h2>Climbing</h2><br>
<p>In summer, the saddle near the summit can be reached easily by walking, although the glacier&#39;s crevasses must be avoided. Several tour companies run regular guided walks during the season. To reach the true summit requires technical ice climbing.</p><br>
<h2>In culture</h2><br>
<h3>Literature</h3><br>
<p>As mentioned above, Snæfellsjökull serves as the entrance to the subterranean journey in Jules Verne&#39;s classic science fiction novel, Journey to the Center of the Earth (1864).</p><br>
<p>Snæfellsjökull is featured in the 1960s Blind Birds trilogy by Czech SF writer Ludvík Souček, loosely inspired by Verne&#39;s work. While trying to discern whether Jules Verne actually visited Iceland, a Czechoslovak-Icelandic science party discovers an ancient alien outpost in the cave system under Snæfellsjökull.</p><br>
<p>It also figures prominently in the novel Under the Glacier (1968) by Icelandic Nobel laureate Halldór Laxness.</p><br>
<h3>Radio and podcasting</h3><br>
<p>Snaefellsjokull is the setting and subject of "Lava and Ice" (episode 2) of Wireless Nights, Jarvis Cocker&#39;s BBC Radio 4 and podcast series.</p><br>
<p>The mountain Baula, with its reddish or orange colour caused by its rhyolite rock composition, is situated in the west of Iceland next to Route 1 . Bifröst University and the picturesque craters of Grábrók are located nearby.</p><br>
<p>Geologically, the mountain is classified as an "intrusion" (or, in geologist&#39;s terms, a "batholith," which is a mass of rock that has been thrust upwards from deep within the earth, to the surface).</p><br>
<p>Baula is characterized by its almost perfect cone and by its little sister nearby, the Litla-Baula, where rare columnar strands of rhyolite are found. Together, Baula and Litla-Baula have often been described as Iceland&#39;s most beautiful pair of mountains.</p><br>
<p>Some other good examples of similar "intrusions" in Iceland include the mountains Mælifell in the Snæfellsnes Peninsula and the Hlíðarfjall, near lake Mývatn in the north of the country.</p><br>
<p>Hengill  volcano is situated in the southwest of Iceland, to the south of Þingvellir. The volcano covers an area of about 100 km².</p><br>
<p>The volcano is still active, evidenced by its numerous hot springs and fumaroles, but the last eruption occurred approximately 2,000 years ago.</p><br>
<p>The volcano is an important source of energy for the south of the country, which is captured at the Nesjavellir power station (near the western shore of the lake Þingvallavatn) and the Hellisheiði power station (approximately 11 km southwest of Nesjavellir). Both stations are operated by Orkuveita Reykjavíkur (Reykjavik Energy).</p><br>
<p>The area with its mountains and hot springs is well suited for hiking and there are a lot of hiking trails.</p><br>
<p>The small town of Hveragerði with its multitude of hot springs is also part of the Hengill area.</p><br>
<p>Some folk tales and sagas are connected to the region. For example, a young farmer is said to have killed the sleeping troll woman Jóra while she lay in wait for innocent wanderers or horsemen on the trail over Dyrafjöll.</p><br>
<p>Fingals Cave is a sea cave on the uninhabited island of Staffa, in the Inner Hebrides of Scotland, known for its natural acoustics. The National Trust for Scotland owns the cave as part of a National Nature Reserve. It became known as Fingals Cave after the eponymous hero of an epic poem by 18th-century Scots poet-historian James Macpherson.</p><br>
<h2>Formation</h2><br>
<p>Fingals Cave is formed entirely from hexagonally jointed basalt columns within a Paleocene lava flow, similar in structure to the Giants Causeway in Northern Ireland and those of nearby Ulva.</p><br>
<p>In all these cases, cooling on the upper and lower surfaces of the solidified lava resulted in contraction and fracturing, starting in a blocky tetragonal pattern and transitioning to a regular hexagonal fracture pattern with fractures perpendicular to the cooling surfaces. As cooling continued these cracks gradually extended toward the centre of the flow, forming the long hexagonal columns we see in the wave-eroded cross-section today. Similar hexagonal fracture patterns are found in desiccation cracks in mud where contraction is due to loss of water instead of cooling.</p><br>
<h2>History</h2><br>
<p>Little is known of the early history of Staffa, although the Swiss town of Stäfa on Lake Zurich was named after the island by a monk from nearby Iona. the cave was brought to the attention of the English-speaking world by 18th-century naturalist Sir Joseph Banks in 1772.</p><br>
<p>It became known as Fingals Cave after the eponymous hero of an epic poem by 18th century Scots poet-historian James Macpherson. It formed part of his Ossian cycle of poems claimed to have been based on old Scottish Gaelic poems. In Irish mythology, the hero Fingal is known as Fionn mac Cumhaill, and it is suggested that Macpherson rendered the name as Fingal (meaning "white stranger") through a misapprehension of the name which in old Gaelic would appear as Finn. The legend of the Giants Causeway has Fionn or Finn building the causeway between Ireland and Scotland.</p><br>
<h2>Sightseeing</h2><br>
<p>The cave has a large arched entrance and is filled by the sea. Several sightseeing cruises organised from April to September by local companies pass the entrance to the cave. In calm conditions, one can land at the island&#39;s landing place (as some of these cruises permit) and walk the short distance to the cave, where a row of fractured columns forms a walkway just above high-water level permitting exploration on foot. From the inside, the entrance seems to frame the island of Iona across the water.</p><br>
<h2>In art and literature</h2><br>
<p>Romantic composer Felix Mendelssohn visited in 1829 and wrote an overture, The Hebrides, Op. 26, (also known as Fingals Cave overture), inspired by the weird echoes in the cave. Mendelssohns overture popularized the cave as a tourist destination. Other famous 19th-century visitors included author Jules Verne, who used it in his book Le Rayon Vert (The Green Ray), and mentions it in the novels Journey to the Center of the Earth and The Mysterious Island; poets William Wordsworth, John Keats, and Alfred, Lord Tennyson; and Romantic artist J. M. W. Turner, who painted "Staffa, Fingal&#39;s Cave" in 1832. Queen Victoria also made the trip.</p><br>
<p>The playwright August Strindberg also set scenes from his play A Dream Play in a place called "Fingals Grotto". Scots novelist Sir Walter Scott described Fingals Cave as "one of the most extraordinary places I ever beheld. It exceeded, in my mind, every description I had heard of it... composed entirely of basaltic pillars as high as the roof of a cathedral, and running deep into the rock, eternally swept by a deep and swelling sea, and paved, as it were, with ruddy marble, baffles all description."</p><br>
<p>Artist Matthew Barney used the cave along with the Giants Causeway for the opening and closing scenes of his art film, Cremaster 3. In 2008, the video artist Richard Ashrowan spent several days recording the interior of Fingals Cave for an exhibition at the Foksal Gallery in Poland.</p><br>
<p>One of Pink Floyds early songs bears this locations name. This instrumental was written for the film Zabriskie Point but not used.</p><br>
<p>Lloyd House at Caltech has a mural representing Fingal&#39;s Cave. The hallway that features this mural also houses a wooden statue named Fingal, which is among the oldest heirlooms at the institute.</p><br>
<p>Scottish Celtic rock band Wolfstone recorded an instrumental titled "Fingal&#39;s Cave" on their 1999 album Seven.</p><br>
<p>The Alistair MacLean novel-based movie, When Eight Bells Toll starring Anthony Hopkins was filmed there.</p><br>
<h2>Dimensions</h2><br>
<p>Wood-Nuttall Encyclopaedia, 1907: 69 m (227 ft) deep, 20 m (66 ft) high.</p><br>
<p>National Public Radio: 45 m (150 ft) deep; 22 m (72 ft) high.</p><br>
<p>Show Caves of the World: 85 m (279 ft) deep; 23 m (75 ft) high.</p><br>
<p>Saravali  is a village and a community in the municipal unit of Messatida, Achaea, Greece. The community is located at the southeastern edge of the agglomeration of Patras. The community consists of the villages Saravali, Agios Stefanos, Demenika , Kefalovryso and Bakari. Saravali is 6 km south of Patras city centre. Adjacent communities are Petroto to the east, Patras to the north, Ovrya to the west and Krini to the south. The Greek National Road 9  runs through the community.</p><br>
<h2>Population</h2><br>
<h2>History</h2><br>
<p>The castle of Saravali was built by the Franks in the 13th century. An important battle of the Greek War of Independence took place at Saravali in 1822 between the Ottomans, who held the fortified city Patras, and the Greek independence fighters led by Theodoros Kolokotronis. Every year, the commemoration of the battle is celebrated.</p><br>
<p>In classical Greece, Lerna  was a region of springs and a former lake near the east coast of the Peloponnesus, south of Argos. Even though much of the area is marshy, Lerna is located on a geographically narrow point along an ancient route from the Argolid to the southern Peloponnese; this location could have potentially resulted in the importance of the settlement.</p><br>
<p>Its site near the village Mili at the Argolic Gulf is most famous as the lair of the Lernaean Hydra, the chthonic many-headed water snake, a creature of great antiquity when Heracles killed it, as the second of his labors. The strong Karstic springs remained; the lake, diminished to a silt lagoon by the 19th century, has vanished.</p><br>
<p>Lerna is notable for several archaeological sites, including an Early Bronze Age structure known as House of the Tiles, dating to the Early Helladic period II (2500–2300 BC).</p><br>
<h2>Mythos</h2><br>
<p>The secret of the Lernaean spring was the gift of Poseidon when he lay with the "blameless" daughter of Danaus, Amymone. The geographer Strabo attests that the Lernaean waters were considered healing:</p><br>
<p>Lake Lerna, the scene of the story of the Hydra, lies in Argeia and the Mycenaean territory; and on account of the cleansings that take place in it there arose a proverb, A Lerna of ills. Now writers agree that the county has plenty of water, and that, although the city itself lies in a waterless district, it has an abundance of wells. These wells they ascribe to the daughters of Danaus, believing that they discovered them... but they add that four of the wells not only were designated as sacred but are especially revered, thus introducing the false notion that there is a lack of water where there is an abundance of it.</p><br>
<p>Lerna was one of the entrances to the Underworld, and the ancient Lernaean Mysteries, sacred to Demeter, were celebrated there. Pausanias (2.37.1) says that the mysteries were initiated by Philammon, the twin "other" of Autolycus. Heroes could gain entry to the netherworld via the Alcyonian Lake. Prosymnus aided Dionysus in his search for his mother Semele by guiding him to this entrance. For mortals the lake was perilous; Pausanias writes:</p><br>
<p>There is no limit to the depth of the Alcyonian Lake, and I know of nobody who by any contrivance has been able to reach the bottom of it since not even Nero, who had ropes made several stades long and fastened them together, tying lead to them, and omitting nothing that might help his experiment, was able to discover any limit to its depth. This, too, I heard. The water of the lake is, to all appearance, calm and quiet but, although it is such to look at, every swimmer who ventures to cross it is dragged down, sucked into the depths, and swept away.</p><br>
<p>At Lerna, Plutarch knew (Isis and Osiris), Dionysus was summoned as "Bugenes", "son of the Bull" with a strange archaic trumpet called a salpinx, while a lamb was cast into the waters as an offering for the "Keeper of the Gate." The keeper of the gate to the Underworld that lay in the waters of Lerna was the Hydra.</p><br>
<h2>Archaeology</h2><br>
<p>Excavations at the site were initiated under John L. Caskey in 1952, whose efforts initiated the series of publications of Bronze Age Lerna, Lerna I-V, inspiring many other publications.</p><br>
<p>Lerna was occupied in Neolithic times, as early as the fifth millennium BCE, then was abandoned for a time before the sequence of occupation from the Early Bronze Age (Helladic period through the Mycenaean). On-site techniques of flint-knapping with imported obsidian and chert attest to cultural continuity over this long stretch of time, with reduction in the supply of obsidian from Melos testifying to reduced long-distance trade at the end of Early Helladic III, corresponding to Lerna IV.</p><br>
<p>Lerna has one of the largest prehistoric tumuli of Greece, accumulated during a long Neolithic occupation; then its crest was levelled and extended — as at Early Helladic Eutresis and Orchomenus— in a new settlement: this stratum, called Lerna III in the site&#39;s stratigraphy, corresponds with Early Helladic II at other sites. Lerna III lacks signs of continuity with the previous occupation; it is the site of a two-storey palace or administrative center that is referred to as House of the Tiles, for the terracotta tiles that sheathed its roof (an early example of tile roofing). This strongly fortified power center dates to the Early Bronze Age culture called Early Helladic, ca 2500 - 2200 BCE. Though five stages of occupation at Lerna have been identified, the site of "House of the Tiles", after it had been destroyed by fire, was not rebuilt upon, whether through respect or fear, until, at the end of the Middle Helladic period, shaft graves were cut into the tumulus of the House of Tiles, indicating that the significance of that monument had been forgotten. Lerna was used as a cemetery during the Mycenaean age, but was abandoned about 1250 BCE.</p><br>
<p>Ceramics of Lerna III include the hallmark spouted vessels that archaeologists name "sauceboats", with rims that sweep upwards into a curved spout, as well as bowls with incurving rims, both flat-bottomed and with ring bases, and wide saucers, sometimes with glazed rims, more pleasant for the drinker&#39;s lips. Jars and hydria have swelling curves. Painted decoration is sparse; stamped sealing form decorative patterns on some pieces, or rolled scribed cylinders have been used to make banded patterns. Remarkably, banded patterns made with the self-same seal have been found at Lerna, Tiryns and Zygouries. The burning of the House of Tiles brought the Third Period at Lerna to a decisive close; a low round tumulus marked its undisturbed, apparently sacrosanct site.</p><br>
<p>Lerna IV (Early Helladic III) marked a fresh start, not as a fortified seat of central authority this time, but as a small town, with houses of two and three rooms with walls of crude brick set upon stone foundations; several had central circular hearths. Narrow lanes separated houses. A great profusion of unlined pits (bothroi) was characteristic of this phase: eventually they became filled with waste matter, bones, potsherds, even whole pots. The pottery, markedly discontinuous with Lerna III, shows a range of new forms, and the first signs— regular spiral grooves in bases and parallel incised lines— marking the increasing use of the potter&#39;s wheel. Painted linear decoration in dark glaze on the pale body is characteristic of Lerna IV. Caskey identified early examples of the ware that in Middle Helladic contexts would be recognized as Minyan ware, and, among the few examples of imported pottery, a winged jar characteristic of Troy, perhaps Troy IV.</p><br>
<p>Lerna V is continuous with the preceding phase, distinguished largely by new styles in pottery with the sudden, peaceful introduction of matte-painted ware, the thick-slipped Argive version of gray Minyan ware, and a vigorous increase in the kinds of imported wares, coming from the Cyclades and Crete (Middle Minoan IA). A new custom of burying the dead in excavations within the houses or between them is universal at the period.</p><br>
<p>Modern geological techniques such as core drilling have identified the site of the vanished sacred Lake Lerna, which was a freshwater lagoon, separated by barrier dunes from the Aegean. In the Early Bronze Age Lake Lerna had an estimated diameter of 4.7 km. Deforestation increased the rate of silt deposits and the lake became a malarial marsh, of which the last remnants were drained in the nineteenth century.</p><br>
<h2>Etymology</h2><br>
<p>The name Lerna is suggested to be connected with the Hattic plural prefix le- plus arinna, arna spring, pool, well, source.</p><br>
<p>Spuyten Duyvil Creek is a short tidal estuary in New York City connecting the Hudson River to the Harlem River Ship Canal and then on to the Harlem River. The confluence of the three water bodies separate the island of Manhattan from the Bronx and the rest of the mainland. Once a distinct, turbulent waterway between the Hudson and Harlem rivers, the creek has been subsumed by the modern ship canal.</p><br>
<p>The Bronx neighborhood of Spuyten Duyvil lies to the north of the creek, neighboring Marble Hill lies to the north of the Ship Canal.</p><br>
<h2>Etymology</h2><br>
<p>The earliest use of the name "Spuyten Duyvil" was in 1653, in a document from Dutch landowner Adriaen van der Donck to the Dutch West India Company. Historian Reginald Pelham Bolton, however, argues that the phrase means "sprouting meadow", referring to a fresh-water spring. A folk etymology, "to spite the Devil" or "in spite of the devil", was popularized by a story in Washington Irving&#39;s A Knickerbocker&#39;s History of New York published in 1809. Set in the 17th Century, the story tells of trumpeter Anthony Van Corlaer summoned by Dutch colonial governor Peter Stuyvesant to warn settlers of a British invasion attempt, with Corlaer attempting to swim across the creek in treacherous conditions.</p><br>
<p>The local Lenape Native Americans referred to the creek by several names. A third name, Muscoota, was also used.</p><br>
<h2>History</h2><br>
<p>Spuyten Duyvil Creek runs northeast into the Hudson. When the Dutch settlers arrived they found its tidal waters turbulent and difficult to handle. Though its tides raced there was no navigable watercourse joining it with the headwaters of the Harlem River, which flowed in an "S"-shaped course southwest and then north into the East River.</p><br>
<p>During the 17th Century, the only mode of transportation across the Harlem River was by ferry from the east end of 125th Street. The ferry was established in 1667 and operated by Johannes Verveelen, a local landowner. Many settlers circumvented the toll for the ferry by crossing the creek from northern Marble Hill to modern Kingsbridge, Bronx, a point where it was feasible to wade or swim through the waters. Originally a merchant in New Amsterdam, Philipse had purchased vast landholdings in what was then Westchester County. Stagecoach service was later established across the span. The new bridge proceeded to take much of the traffic away from the King&#39;s Bridge. The Free Bridge was destroyed during the American Revolution. Following the war, Philipse Manor was forfeited to the state legislature, after which the King&#39;s Bridge was free.</p><br>
<h3>Harlem River Ship Canal</h3><br>
<p>Over time the channels of the Spuyten Duyvil and Harlem River were joined and widened and additional bridges were constructed,</p><br>
<p>With the completion of the Erie Canal in 1825, A second company also failed to complete the project. In 1876, the New York State Legislature issued a decree for the construction of the canal. The first section of the canal, the cut at Marble Hill, was completed in 1895 and opened on June 17 of that year. At this time, Tibbets Brook was diverted into sewer pipes underneath Broadway, with the old right-of-way becoming Tibbett Avenue.</p><br>
<p>The effect of channeling through what had been West 222nd and 223rd streets was to physically isolate Marble Hill on the Bronx side of the new strait. In 1914 the original creekbed was filled in with rock from the excavation for the foundation of Grand Central Terminal; and the temporary island, comprising present-day Marble Hill, became physically attached to the Bronx, though it remained politically part of the borough of Manhattan, as it is today.</p><br>
<p>In 1919, New York State passed a bill in order to straighten the western end of the creek feeding into the Hudson. The work severed a 13.5-acre peninsula of land from the Bronx, which had housed the Johnson Iron Works foundry. This land was absorbed into Manhattan&#39;s Inwood Hill Park, home now to its Nature Center.</p><br>
<p>Today, Spuyten Duyvil Creek, the Harlem River Ship Canal, and the Harlem River form a continuous channel, referred to collectively as the Harlem River. Broadway Bridge, a combination road and rail lift span, continues to link Marble Hill with Manhattan. There is little evidence that the building of the Ship Canal enhanced commerce in the city.</p><br>
<h2>Bridges</h2><br>
<p>Three bridges cross the Spuyten Duyvil Creek; from west to east, they are:</p><br>
<p>*The Spuyten Duyvil Bridge, a railroad swing bridge that carries Amtrak&#39;s Empire Corridor line between Penn Station and Albany</p><br>
<p>*The Henry Hudson Bridge, a steel arch toll bridge that carries the Henry Hudson Parkway (New York State Route 9A)</p><br>
<p>*Broadway Bridge, a vertical lift bridge carrying vehicular and pedestrian traffic on one level, and the subway on the upper level.</p><br>
<p>Virgin Gorda is the third-largest  and second most populous of the British Virgin Islands . Located at about 18 degrees, 48 minutes North, and 64 degrees, 30 minutes West, it covers an area of about 8 square miles. Christopher Columbus is said to have named the island "The Fat Virgin", because the island&#39;s profile on the horizon looks like a fat woman lying on her side.</p><br>
<p>The main commercial and residential area is Spanish Town on the southwestern part of the island.</p><br>
<p>An unusual geologic formation known as "The Baths" located on the southern end of the island makes Virgin Gorda one of the BVIs major tourist destinations. At The Baths, in spite of evidence of the islands largely volcanic origins, huge granite boulders lie in piles on the beach, forming scenic grottoes that are open to the sea. Granite is an intrusive igneous rock, thus not volcanic. It did form from magma, however, at great depth. Granite becomes exposed at surface only after geologic ages of erosion removes the overburden. Further erosion broke the granite into large boulders and rounded their surfaces. North of the Baths is the Virgin Gorda Yacht Harbor, formerly owned by Little Dix Bay. The most notable ruin on Virgin Gorda is the old Copper Mine.</p><br>
<p>One of the great harbors of the world, North Sound, and historically Gorda Sound, lies at the northeast end of the island. It is bordered by four islands and connecting reef systems that keep the sound calm, creating one of the worlds great watersports meccas, with over 3,000 acres of protected waters. At the eastern end of the sound is the premier anchorage, in the lee of Biras Hill (el. 435). The village, resort, and marina at this point (JonOPoint) is called the Bitter End Yacht Club, and runs for approximately one mile of coastline.</p><br>
<p>The sound is a famous destination for charter yachts and contains over 130 moorings. Nearly all of the 200+ megayachts of the world have anchored or tied up at the docks of the megayacht-equipped marinas in this harbor. Norman Rockwell, Brigitte Bardot and John Waynes signatures are in the hotel guest book from Bitter End circa 1969.</p><br>
<p>Historically renowned as well, the anchorage off Bitter End was the site of Sir Francis Drake and Sir John Hawkins 1595 fleet rendezvous, two Elizabethan British admirals who led Britains ascendance into naval supremacy. Twenty-six ships anchored in the sound and used the large hill at Bitter End to practice for their attack on San Juan, to wrest Puerto Rico from Spain. With both admirals dying on the 1595/1596 voyage, the land at Bitter End may be the last place that these legendary mariners set foot on British soil.</p><br>
<h2>Transportation</h2><br>
<p>Ferry services from Virgin Gorda, Tortola, St. Thomas, and St. John as well as small airlines serve the island. In January 2010, Virgin Gorda Airport was restricted to a very small list of airlines by Air Safety Support International, the territory&#39;s aviation regulatory agency, which demanded that the airport be brought in line with international safety standards. The airport reopened in December 2010.</p><br>
<p>Tourists come from neighbouring islands such as Tortola and St. Thomas by boat and return to these islands for air transportation.</p><br>
<h2>Education</h2><br>
<p>The British Virgin Islands operates several government schools. Virgin Gorda residents are served by Robinson O&#39;Neal Memorial Primary School and Bregado Flax Educational Centre, a combined primary and secondary school which opened in 1982. In 2000 the government created plans to create a primary school on the island.</p><br>
<p>The Kamchatka Peninsula  is a 1,250-kilometre-long  peninsula in the Russian Far East, with an area of about 270,000 km . It lies between the Pacific Ocean to the east and the Sea of Okhotsk to the west.</p><br>
<p>Immediately offshore along the Pacific coast of the peninsula runs the 10,500-metre (34,400-ft) deep Kuril–Kamchatka Trench.</p><br>
<p>The Kamchatka Peninsula, the Commander Islands, and Karaginsky Island constitute the Kamchatka Krai of the Russian Federation. The vast majority of the 322,079 inhabitants are ethnic Russians, but there are also about 13,000 Koryaks (2014). More than half of the population lives in Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky (179,526 people in 2010) and nearby Yelizovo (38,980).</p><br>
<p>The Kamchatka peninsula contains the volcanoes of Kamchatka, a UNESCO World Heritage Site.</p><br>
<p>Kamchatka receives up to 2,700 mm of precipitation per year. The summers are moderately cool, and the winters tend to be rather stormy though rarely producing lightning.</p><br>
<h2>Geography</h2><br>
<p>Politically, the peninsula forms part of Kamchatka Krai. The southern tip is called Cape Lopatka. The circular bay to the north of this on the Pacific side is Avacha Bay with the capital, Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky. Northward up the Pacific side, the four peninsulas are called Shipunsky Point, Kronotsky Point, Kamchatsky Point and Ozernoy Point. North of Ozernoy is the large Karaginsky Bay, which features Karaginsky Island. Northeast of this (off the displayed map) lies Korfa Bay with the town of Tilichiki. On the opposite side is the Shelikhov Gulf.</p><br>
<p>The Kamchatka or Central (Sredinny) Range forms the spine of the peninsula. Along the southeast coast runs the Vostochny Range or Eastern Range. Between these lies the central valley. The Kamchatka River rises northwest of Avacha and flows north down the central valley, turning east near Klyuchi to enter the Pacific south of Kamchatsky Point at Ust-Kamchatsk. In the nineteenth century a trail led west from near Klychi over the mountains to the Tegil river and town which was the main trading post on the west coast. North of Tegil is Koryak Okrug. South of the Tegil is the Icha River. Just south of the headwaters of the Kamchatka, the Bistraya River curves southwest to enter the Sea of Okhotsk at Bolsheretsk, which once served as a port connecting the peninsula to Okhotsk. South of the Bistraya flows the Golygina River.</p><br>
<p>Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky and the settlements in the central part of the peninsula are connected with highway leading to Ust-Kamchatsk, covered with asphalt in its southern part and near habitations, and changing into a gravel road about halfway north. Another highway connects local capital with Bolsheretsk. Bus service is available on both roads. Most other roads are gravel-covered or coverless ground, requiring off-road capable vehicles. There is semi-regular passenger transportation with aircraft.</p><br>
<p>The obvious circular area in the central valley is the Klyuchevskaya Sopka, an isolated volcanic group southeast of the curve of the Kamchatka River. West of Kronotsky Point is the Kronotsky Biosphere Reserve with the Valley of Geysers. At the southern tip is the Southern Kamchatka Wildlife Refuge with Kurile Lake. There are several other protected areas: Palana is located in the Koryak area on the northwest coast.</p><br>
<h3>Climate</h3><br>
<p>Although Kamchatka lies at similar latitudes to Great Britain, cold arctic winds from Siberia combined with the cold Oyashio sea current see the peninsula covered in snow from October to late May. Under the Köppen climate classification Kamchatka generally has a subarctic climate (Dfc) but higher and more northerly areas have a polar climate (ET). Kamchatka is much wetter and milder than eastern Siberia, and is essentially transitional from the hypercontinental climate of Siberia and northeast China to the rain-drenched subpolar oceanic climate of the Aleutian Islands.</p><br>
<p>There is considerable variation, however, between the rain-drenched and heavily glaciated east coast and the drier and more continental interior valley. In the heavily glaciated Kronotsky Peninsula, where maritime influences are most pronounced, annual precipitation can reach as high as 2,500 mm, whilst the southeast coast south of Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky generally receives around 1,166 mm of rainfall equivalent per year. Considerable local variations exist: southern parts of the Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky metropolitan area can receive as much as 430 mm more than the northern part of the city. Temperatures here are very mild, with summer maxima around 16 &deg;C and winter lows around −8 &deg;C, whilst diurnal temperature ranges seldom exceed 5˚C (9˚F) due to persistent fog on exposed parts of the coast. South of 57˚N there is no permafrost due to the relatively mild winters and heavy snow cover, whilst northward discontinuous permafrost prevails. The west coastal plain has colder and drier climate with precipitation ranging from 880 mm in the south to as little as 430 mm in the north, where winter temperatures become considerably colder at around -20 &deg;C.</p><br>
<p>The interior valley of the Kamchatka River, represented by Klyuchi, has much lower precipitation (at around 450 to 650 mm) and significantly more continental temperatures, reaching 19 &deg;C on a typical summer day and during extreme cold winter spells falling as low as -41 &deg;C. Sporadic permafrost prevails over the lower part of this valley, but it becomes more widespread at higher altitudes and glaciers, and continuous permafrost prevails north of 55˚N.</p><br>
<p>The summer months, when maximum temperatures range from 15 to 20 C, are popular with tourists, but a growing trend in winter sports keeps tourism pulsing year-round. The volcanoes and glaciers play a role in forming Kamchatka&#39;s climate, and hot springs have kept alive dozens of species decimated during the last ice-age.</p><br>
<h3>Geology, earthquakes and volcanoes</h3><br>
<p>The Kamchatka River and the surrounding central side valley are flanked by large volcanic belts containing around 160 volcanoes, 29 of them still active. The peninsula has a high density of volcanoes and associated volcanic phenomena, with 19 active volcanoes included in the six UNESCO World Heritage List sites in the Volcanoes of Kamchatka group, most of them on the Kamchatka Peninsula, the most volcanic area of the Eurasian continent, with many active cones. The Kamchatka Peninsula is also known as the "land of fire and ice".</p><br>
<p>The highest volcano is Klyuchevskaya Sopka (4,750 m or 15,584 ft), the largest active volcano in the Northern Hemisphere, while the most striking is Kronotsky: volcanologists Robert and Barbara Decker regard its perfect cone as a prime candidate for the worlds most beautiful volcano. Somewhat more accessible are the three volcanoes visible from Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky: Koryaksky, Avachinsky, and Kozelsky. In the center of Kamchatka is Eurasias world-famous Geyser Valley</p><br>
<p>which was partly destroyed by a massive mudslide in June 2007.</p><br>
<p>Owing to the Kuril-Kamchatka Trench, deep-focus seismic events and tsunamis occur fairly commonly. A pair of megathrust earthquakes occurred off the coast on October 16, 1737, and on November 4, 1952, with magnitudes of ~9.3 and 8.2 respectively.</p><br>
<p>A chain of more shallow earthquakes were recorded as recently as April 2006.</p><br>
<p>A significant 7.8 magnitude earthquake with a shallow depth of 6 kilometers occurred on July 18, 2017.</p><br>
<p>These volcanic features are the site of occurrence of certain extremophile micro-organisms that can survive in extremely hot environments.</p><br>
<p>C.Michael Hogan. 2010.. eds. E.Monosson and C.Cleveland. Encyclopedia of Earth. National Council for Science and the Environment, Washington DC</p><br>
<h2>History and exploration</h2><br>
<p>When the Russian explorer Ivan Moskvitin reached the Sea of Okhotsk in 1639, further exploration was impeded by the lack of skills and equipment to build seagoing ships and by the harsh land to the northeast inhabited by the warlike Koryak people. Consequently, Russians entered Kamchatka from the north. In 1651, after having assisted in the foundation of the Anadyrsk ostrog, the explorer Mikhail Stadukhin went south and followed the coast of the Sea of Okhotsk from Penzhina Bay to Okhotsk. From about 1667 there were reports of a Kamchatka River to the south. Some time before 1700 a group of Russians were stranded and died on Kamchatka.</p><br>
<p>In 1695 explorer Vladimir Atlasov became commander of Anadyrsk. In 1696 he sent the Cossack Luka Morozko south. Morozko got as far as the Tigil River and returned with reports and some mysterious writings, probably Japanese. In 1697–1699 Atlasov explored nearly the whole of the peninsula. He built an ostrog at Verkhny-Kamchatsk, rescued or captured a Japanese castaway, and went to Moscow to report. In 1699 the Russians at Verkhny-Kamchatsk were killed on their way back to Anadyrsk by the Koryaks. In 1700 a punitive expedition destroyed a Koryak village and founded Nizhne-Kamchatsk on the lower river. Bolskeretsk was founded in 1703. From about 1705 there was a breakdown of order. There were numerous mutinies and native wars all over the peninsula and north to the Koryak country of the Penzhina River and Olyutorsky Gulf. Several people were sent out to restore order, including Atlasov, who was murdered in 1711. Vasily Merlin restored some degree of order between 1733 and 1739. There was no significant resistance after 1756. A major smallpox epidemic that hit in 1768–1769 quickly decimated the native population; the roughly 2,500 Itelmens present in 1773 were reduced to 1,900 in 1820, from an original population of 12,000–25,000. Those who survived adopted Russian customs, and there was a great deal of intermarriage, such that "Kamchadal" (the original Russian name for the Itelmens) came to mean any Russian or part-Russian born on the peninsula.</p><br>
<p>In 1713 Peter the Great sent shipbuilders to Okhotsk. A fifty-four-foot boat was built and sailed to the Tegil River in June 1716. This one-week journey, later redirected to Okhotsk-Bolseretsk, became the standard route to Kamchatka. In 1720 Ivan Yevreinov mapped Kamchatka and the Kurils. The Danish-born explorer Vitus Bering left Nezhe-Kamchatsk for his first voyage in 1728 and, as part of his second voyage, founded Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky in 1740.</p><br>
<p>Vitus Bering&#39;s Second Kamchatka Expedition (ca 1733–1743), in the service of the Russian Navy, began the final "opening" of Kamchatka, helped by the fact that the government began to use the area to exile people, famously the Slovak explorer and rebel the Count de Benyovszky in 1770. In 1755 Stepan Krasheninnikov published the first detailed description of the peninsula, An Account of the Land of Kamchatka. The Russian government encouraged the commercial activities of the Russian-American Company by granting land to newcomers on the peninsula. By 1812 the indigenous population had fallen to less than 3,200 while the Russian population had risen to 2,500.</p><br>
<p>In 1854 the French and British, who were battling Russian forces in the course of the Crimean War, attacked Petropavlovsk. During the Siege of Petropavlovsk, 988 men with a mere 68 guns managed to defend the outpost against 6 ships with 206 guns and 2,540 French and British soldiers. Despite the heroic defense, the Russians abandoned Petropavlovsk as a strategic liability after the French and British forces withdrew. The next year, when a second enemy force came to attack the port, they found it deserted. Frustrated, the ships bombarded the city and withdrew.</p><br>
<p>On 24 May 1861, the ship Polar Star (475 tons), of New Bedford, wrecked on the west coast of Kamchatka during a dense fog and gale. The chief officer and a boat&#39;s crew perished while attempting to reach the shore. The rest of the crew were saved by the barque Alice, of Cold Spring, and the ship Oliver Crocker, also from New Bedford.</p><br>
<p>On May 21, 1865, the American Civil War came to the area: the Confederate States Navy steamer Shenandoah sailed past the southern end of the Kamchatka Peninsula on its way to hunt United States whaling ships in the Sea of Okhotsk. As a commerce raider, the CSS Shenandoah aimed to destroy Yankee merchant shipping and thus draw off United States Navy ships in pursuit and thereby loosen the US Navy blockade of Confederate coasts. The ship spent almost three weeks in the Sea, destroying only one ship because of the dangerous ice, before moving on to the North Pacific where it virtually captured or bonded 24 whalers and sinking most of them.</p><br>
<p>The next fifty years were lean ones for Kamchatka. The naval port moved to Ust-Amur, and in 1867 Russia sold Alaska to the United States, making Petropavlovsk obsolete as a transit point for traders and explorers on their way to the American territories. In 1860, a Primorsky (Maritime) Region was established and Kamchatka was placed under its jurisdiction. In 1875 Russia ceded the Kuril Islands to Japan in return for Russian sovereignty over Sakhalin island. The Russian population of Kamchatka stayed at around 2,500 until the turn of the century, while the native population increased to 5,000. During the 19th century, scientific exploration of the peninsula continued, with Karl von Ditmar making an important journey there in 1851–1854.</p><br>
<p>World War II (1939–1945) hardly affected Kamchatka except for its role as a launch site for the invasion of the Kurils in August 1945. After the war the Soviet authorities declared Kamchatka a military zone: it remained closed to Soviet citizens until 1989 and to foreigners until 1990.</p><br>
<h2>Terrestrial flora</h2><br>
<p>Kamchatka boasts abundant flora. The variable climate promotes different flora zones where tundra and muskeg are dominant succeeded by grasses, flowering shrubs and forests of pine, birch, alder and willow. The wide variety of plant forms spread throughout the Peninsula promotes just as wide a variation in animal species that feed off them. Although Kamchatka is mostly tundra, deciduous and coniferous trees are abundant and forests can be found throughout the peninsula.</p><br>
<h2>Terrestrial and aquatic fauna</h2><br>
<p>Kamchatka boasts diverse and abundant wildlife. This is due to climates ranging from temperate to subarctic, diverse topography and geography, many free-flowing rivers, proximity to highly productive waters from the northwestern Pacific Ocean and the Bering and Okhotsk Seas, and to the low human density and minimal development. It also boasts the southernmost expanse of Arctic tundra in the world. Commercial exploitation of marine resources and a history of fur trapping has taken its toll on several species.</p><br>
<p>Kamchatka is famous for the abundance and size of its brown bears. In the Kronotsky Nature Reserve there are estimated to be three to four bears per 100 square kilometres.</p><br>
<p>Other fauna of note include carnivores such as tundra wolf (Canis lupus albus), Arctic fox (Vulpes lagopus) Anadyr fox (Vulpes vulpes beringiana), East Siberian lynx (Lynx lynx wrangeli), wolverine (Gulo gulo), sable (Martes zibellina), Eurasian otter (Lutra lutra), East Siberian stoat (Mustela ermine kaneii) and Siberian least weasel (Mustela nivalis pygmaea). The peninsula hosts habitat for several large ungulates including the Kamchatka snow sheep, reindeer (Rangifer tarandus), and Chukotka moose (Alces alces burulini) one of the largest moose in the world and the largest in Eurasia; and rodents/leporids, including mountain hare (Lepus timidus), marmot, and several species of lemming and squirrel.</p><br>
<p>The peninsula is the breeding ground for Steller&#39;s sea eagle,</p><br>
<p>one of the largest eagle species, along with the golden eagle and gyr falcon.</p><br>
<p>Kamchatka contains probably the world&#39;s greatest diversity of salmonid fish, including all six species of anadromous Pacific salmon (chinook, chum, coho, seema, pink, and sockeye). Due to its uniquely suitable environment, biologists estimate that a fifth of all Pacific salmon originates in Kamchatka. Kuril Lake is recognized as the biggest spawning-ground for sockeye in Eurasia.</p><br>
<p>In response to pressure from poaching and to worldwide decreases in salmon stocks, some 24,000 km&sup2; along nine of the more productive salmon rivers are in the process of being set aside as a nature preserve. Stickleback species, particularly Gasterosteus aculeatus and Pungitius pungitius, also occur in many coastal drainages, and are likely present in freshwater as well.</p><br>
<p>Cetaceans that frequent the highly productive waters of the northwestern Pacific and the Okhotsk Sea include: orcas, Dalls and harbour porpoises, humpback whales, sperm whales and fin whales. Less frequently, grey whales (from the eastern population), the critically endangered North Pacific right whale and bowhead whale, beaked whales and minke whales are encountered. Blue whale are known to feed off of the southeastern shelf in summer. Among pinnipeds, Stellers sea lions, northern fur seals, spotted seals and harbor seals are abundant along much of the peninsula. Further north, walruses and bearded seals can be encountered on the Pacific side, and ribbon seals reproduce on the ice of Karaginsky Bay. Sea otters are concentrated primarily on the southern end of the peninsula.</p><br>
<p>Seabirds include Murrelets, northern fulmars, thick and thin-billed murres, kittiwakes, tufted and horned puffins, red-faced, pelagic and other cormorants, and many other species. Typical of the northern seas, the marine fauna is likewise rich. Of commercial importance are Kamchatka crab (king crab), scallop, squid, pollock, cod, herring, halibut and several species of flatfish.</p><br>
<p>Matsushima is a group of islands in Miyagi Prefecture, Japan. There are some 260 tiny islands  covered in pines  – hence the name – and is ranked as one of the Three Views of Japan.</p><br>
<p>Nearby cultural properties include Zuigan-ji, Entsū-in, Kanrantei, and the Satohama shell mound.</p><br>
<h2>Views</h2><br>
<h3>Four views of Matsushima</h3><br>
<p>There are four well-known spots to view the Matsushima, known as the Magnificent View, Beautiful View, Enchanting View, and Grand View.</p><br>
<h3>Cruise</h3><br>
<p>Tourists can view the islands from up close on cruise boats.</p><br>
<h2>Transportation</h2><br>
<p>The town is only a short distance (thirty minutes, about 14 km) from prefectural capital Sendai and is easily accessible by train. Matsushima-Kaigan Station is near the attractions such as Zuiganji and the waterfront. Matsushima Station, on a separate line is on the opposite side of the town.</p><br>
<h2>2011 Tōhoku earthquake</h2><br>
<p>Despite the proximity of Matsushima to the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami, the area was protected by the islands and suffered relatively little damage.</p><br>
<p>The initial tsunami was 3.2 meters (10.5 feet) with the second 3.8 meters (12.5 feet). Electricity was restored by March 18, water fully restored by April 16th and the Senseki Train Line between Takagimachi Station and Sendai by May 28. Nevertheless, 3 people were confirmed killed in Matsushima (including by aftershocks) with 18 killed while out of town.</p><br>
<h2>Activities</h2><br>
<p>Around the island travelers can go on a cruise and view the islands upclose an around the Matsushima shore travelers can rent bikes.</p><br>
<p>Draycote Water is a reservoir and country park near the village of Dunchurch, 3.75 mi south of Rugby in Warwickshire, England, owned and operated by Severn Trent Water. It supplies drinking water to Rugby, via Barby Storage Reservoir, and is named after the nearby hamlet of Draycote.</p><br>
<p>The reservoir was created in the 1960s and was opened in January 1969 and is by far the largest expanse of water in Warwickshire. It covers more than 600 acres (240 hectares) and holds up to 5 billion gallons (23 million m³) of water.The water is extracted by a tower</p><br>
<p>on the north west side of the reservoir.</p><br>
<p>The reservoir is filled by water that is pumped uphill from the river Leam at Eathorpe village</p><br>
<p>and also from a supply at Stanford reservoir north of Rugby.</p><br>
<p>It is renowned as a site for Birdwatching and has a bird hide, with a feeding station sponsored by the West Midland Bird Club. Severn-Trent also manage an adjacent 20 acre (81,000 m²) country park.</p><br>
<p>Draycote Water is now home to a herd of over 200 alpacas. Toft Alpacas is based on the banks of the reservoir and the animals can be seen from the road surrounding Draycote. Public footpath walks can be taken off the water to get a closer look at the farm and these unusual inhabitants of rural Warwickshire.</p><br>
<p>Draycote is particularly popular with boaters, windsurfers and fly fishers. Fly fishing is for brown trout and rainbow trout from the banks or from boats which can be hired from the fishing lodge.</p><br>
<p>It is also popular with cyclists and walkers.</p><br>
<p>Draycote Water is on the A426 road at.</p><br>
<p>Faxa Bay , is a bay in southwest Iceland, between the peninsulas of Snæfellsnes and Reykjanes.</p><br>
<p>The capital of the island, Reykjavík, is situated on its southern shore. From Reykjavik it is possible to see the peninsula of Akranes in the northeast and even the Snæfellsjökull at a distance of about 120 km (75 mi).</p><br>
<p>Faxa Bay has always been a source of nourishment of the people living on its shore. In former times, fishermen went out in small boats to fish near the shore. Today the ships are much bigger, but have to go farther out to sea if they wish to catch fish.</p><br>
<p>Just north of Reykjavík in Kollafjörður is the small island Viðey. In modern times, it has been uninhabited since 1943 but a former settlement has been proven from the 10th century onwards. During the 12th century a chapel was constructed, and a monastery was founded in 1225, existing until the Protestant Reformation at the end of the 16th century. The island and the remains of the settlement can be visited by taking a ferry from Reykjavík harbour.</p><br>
<p>Hvalfjörður  is situated in the west of Iceland between Mosfellsbær and Akranes. The fjord is approximately 30 km long and 5 km wide.</p><br>
<p>The origin of the name Hvalfjörður is uncertain. Certainly today there is no presence of whales in the fjord; while there is a whaling station in the fjord, whaling is conducted in the open ocean outside the fjord; likewise, it is modern and postdates the naming of the fjord. One theory as to the naming of the fjord is that early settlers encountered a pod of whales trapped in the fjord who ended up beached; the stranding of whales was in early Iceland a godsend in the meat that it provided, to the point that the word "hvalreki" means both "whale beaching" and "windfall/godsend". However, there is no direct evidence to support this theory. Another theory is that the fjord is named after Hvalfjall ("Whale Mountain", a mountain at the bottom of the fjord), which would have been in turn named after its visual appearance. A common folk story of unknown age also is sometimes presented as the origin of the name, involving an elf woman who transformed her human lover into an angry red-headed whale ("Rauðhöfði"), who subsequently lived in the fjord wrecking ships, as revenge for him refusing to acknowledge their child.</p><br>
<p>The only whaling stations in Iceland is still located in this fjord. In the past the fjord also contained a large number of herring fisheries.</p><br>
<p>During World War II, a naval base of the British and American navies could be found in this fjord. One of the piers built by the United States Navy is today used by the Hvalur whaling company for the processing of fin whales, partially for the domestic market, and mostly for export to Japan.</p><br>
<p>Until the late 1990s, those travelling by car had to make a long detour of 62 km around the fjord on the hringvegur (road no.1), in order to get from the city of Reykjavík to the town of Borgarnes. In 1998, the tunnel Hvalfjarðargöngin, which shortens the trip considerably, was opened to public traffic. The tunnel is approximately 5,762 m in length, and cuts travel by car around the fjord by about an hour. The tunnel runs to a depth of 165 m below sea level.</p><br>
<p>The south side of the fjord runs through the municipality of Kjós. Two different rivers named Fossá (Waterfall River) cross the road, each having a number of cascades, although the western one is easy to miss from the road, as its main fall tumbles from beneath the road into a lower forest. The sizeable Laxá (Salmon River) crosses the road near the heart of Kjós; south of it lies the lake Meðalfellsvatn, home to a large number of summer houses. The large sandbar Hvalfjarðareyri is a popular place to see birds.</p><br>
<p>The innermost part of the fjord shows an interesting mixture of volcanic mountains and green vegetation in summertime. At Botnsá, Nootka lupine is common, along with other flowers and moss, as well as small forests of birch and conifers. The area displays a good example of the planting of forests, a project that has been going on in Iceland for some years.</p><br>
<p>A hiking trail to the formerly-highest waterfall in Iceland, Glymur, has its origin at the innermost end of the fjord. The somewhat steep trail up the rim of the deep river gorge is called Leggjabrjótur, meaning "Broken Leg". Before the ascent it passes through a short cave and across a thin improvised bridge. While it is possible to reach the bottom of the falls, it is not recommended; one has to wade through the cold river into the canyon, which is dim and at constant risk of falling rocks.</p><br>
<p>In the northwestern part of the fjord lies a tiny steep-sided island called Geirshólmi, which was for a time during the Age of the Sturlungs home to a band of outlaws led by Svarthöfði Dufgusson who regularly raided the farms on the mainland.</p><br>
<p>In the northwestern side of the fjord is Grundartangi, where a large aluminum smelter and silicon plant are located.</p><br>
<p>Hvalfjörður is also referenced in the novella, The Odd Saga of the American and a Curious Icelandic Flock</p><br>
<p>as they pull to a stop at the toll before Hvalfjörður Tunnel, Alex begins to draw an important secret from an intoxicated Snorri.</p><br>
<p>Breiðafjörður  is a large shallow bay, about 50 km wide and 125 km long, in the west of Iceland. It separates the region of the Westfjords  from the south of the country. Breiðafjörður is encircled by mountains, including the glacier Snæfellsjökull on the Snæfellsnes peninsula to the south and the West Fjord peninsula to the north. An interesting feature of the bay is that the northern tip was formed about 15 million years ago, whereas the southern end at Snæfellsnes was formed less than half that time ago.</p><br>
<h2>Nature</h2><br>
<p>Breiðafjörður has a spectacular land and seascape consisting of shallow seas, small fjords and bays and an inner part of intertidal areas dotted with about 3,000 islands, islets and skerries. The area contains about half of Iceland&#39;s intertidal area and tides can be six metres. The bedrock was formed during rift volcanism in the late Tertiary. The area consists mainly of pile of basaltic lava that was deeply eroded by glaciers during the quaternary age thus creating diverse landscape with several geothermal sites, some visible only at low tide.</p><br>
<h2>Plants and animals</h2><br>
<p>The big intertidal zone is high in biodiversity and productivity and has extensive algal forests and other important habitats for fish and invertebrates.</p><br>
<p>The area supports 230 species of vascular plants and around 50 breeding bird species including common shag, glaucous gull, white-tailed eagle, common eider, black guillemot and grey phalarope. The area is important staging area for brent goose and red knot. The common seal and the grey seal have their main haul-out on the islands and skerries.</p><br>
<p>Several species of cetaceans are commonly found including common porpoise, white-beaked dolphin, killer whale and minke whale.</p><br>
<h2>Islands</h2><br>
<p>The islands in Breiðafjörður have an unbroken history of human use but now only few islands are inhabited year-round. Many islands are used for summer residences and natural resources such as eiderdown harvesting is the main source of income for many farmers. Some of the islands are:</p><br>
<p>Flatey</p><br>
<p>Brokey</p><br>
<p>Skáleyjar</p><br>
<p>Hvallátur</p><br>
<p>Svefneyjar</p><br>
<p>Sviðnur</p><br>
<p>Hergilsey</p><br>
<p>Elliðaey</p><br>
<h2>Economy and Ecology</h2><br>
<p>Fisheries, tourism and algal harvesting are other major uses of the area.</p><br>
<p>Breiðafjörður is the spawning ground for some of Iceland&#39;s most important economic fish species.</p><br>
<h2>Transport</h2><br>
<p>If the weather is fine, it is possible to see the coast line of the West Fjords from the Snæfellsnes peninsula, at a distance of up to 40 km. From the little port of Stykkishólmur, there is a ferry to the West Fjords. But people can also travel overland by car, taking the road from the east of Snæfellsnes along the Hvammsfjörður, the narrowest part of the Breiðafjörður.</p><br>
<h2>Culture and history</h2><br>
<p>In the fjord, a big number of islands are situated which were inhabited in former times, on and off for several hundred years. The most important of these islands is Flatey. In the summertime, it can be reached by ferry. During the Middle Ages, especially in the 12th century, there was a monastery of Augustine monks which represented a centre of Icelandic culture. The most extensive medieval manuscript, the Flateyjarbók was written there. Afterwards, the island was an important trading post.</p><br>
<p>See also: Fjords of Iceland</p><br>
<p>Skjálfandi, , geologically more a bay than a fjord, is located in northern Iceland. The Icelandic word "Skjálfandi" literally translates as "trembling" which might refer to earthquakes in the area.</p><br>
<p>The bay, originally created by glacial activity, has two major streams flowing into it: Skjálfandafljót, which is a glacier river, and Laxá, which is a freshwater river. The river Laxá (English: "Salmon River") is famous for its salmon and part of the river is protected by the Ramsar Convention.</p><br>
<p>The only town in Skjálfandi Bay is Húsavík, facing the snow-covered Víknafjöll and Kinnarfjöll mountain ranges on the other side of the bay. The highest point reaches around 1200 metres.</p><br>
<p>The bay is known for its many different whale, dolphins and bird species.</p><br>
<p>There are two islands in Skjálfandi. The biggest is Flatey which name means flat island. It is situated close to the opposite side of the bay from Húsavík. There is a village on the island, nowadays not any more inhabited, composed of few houses, a school and a church. There is no ferry serving Flatey. Skjálfandi&#39;s minor island is called Lundey. Its name means island of the puffins because of the great colony of puffins living on its cliffs during the summer. Lundey is located close to Húsavík.</p><br>
<p>The Swede Garðar Svavarsson was one of the first Scandinavians to settle in Iceland around 860 CE. He built a house in Skjálfandi, but spent only the following winter months there before leaving Iceland.</p><br>
<p>Gaping Gill  is a natural cave in North Yorkshire, England. It is one of the unmistakable landmarks on the southern slopes of Ingleborough – a 98 m deep pothole with the stream Fell Beck flowing into it.</p><br>
<p>After falling through one of the largest known underground chambers in Britain, the water disappears into the bouldery floor and eventually resurges adjacent to Ingleborough Cave.</p><br>
<p>The shaft was the deepest known in Britain, until Titan in Derbyshire was discovered in 1999. Gaping Gill still retains the records for the highest unbroken waterfall in England and the largest underground chamber naturally open to the surface.</p><br>
<h2>Features</h2><br>
<p>Due to the number of entrances which connect into the cave, many different routes through and around the system are possible. Other entrances include Jib Tunnel, Disappointment Pot, Stream Passage Pot, Bar Pot, Henslers Pot, Corkys Pot, Rat Hole, and Flood Entrance Pot.</p><br>
<p>The Bradford Pothole Club around Whitsun May Bank Holiday, and the Craven Pothole Club around August Bank Holiday, each set up a winch above the shaft to provide a ride to the bottom and back out again for any member of the public who pays a fee.</p><br>
<p>A detailed 3D model of the chamber has been created using an industrial laser rangefinder which showed that its volume is comparable to the size of York Minster.</p><br>
<h2>History of exploration</h2><br>
<p>The first recorded attempted descent was by John Birkbeck in 1842 who reached a ledge approximately 55 m down the shaft which bears his name. The first complete descent was achieved by Édouard-Alfred Martel in 1895. In 1983 members of the Cave Diving Group made the underwater connection into Ingleborough Cave.</p><br>
<p>An extreme rock-climb (graded E3, 5c) is possible up the main shaft which requires very dry conditions. It was first pioneered in 1972 with ten points of aid. The first free ascent was made in 1988.</p><br>
<p>The Marrah Mountains or Marra Mountains  is a range of volcanic peaks in a massif that rises up to 3,042 m. It is the highest mountain in Sudan.</p><br>
<h2>Geography</h2><br>
<p>It is located in the center of the Darfur region of Sudan on the border of the states of South Darfur and Central Darfur, with a smaller part of the range in the state of North Darfur. The highest point is Deriba Caldera. The upper reaches of the massif is a small area of temperate climate with high rainfall and permanent springs of water amidst the dry savanna and scrub of the Sahel below.</p><br>
<p>Apart from the Aïr Mountains in Niger which are on the border of the Sahara proper, the Marrah Mountains are the only major mountain range in the otherwise flat Sahel, rising up to 2,600 m above the plain, but are owing to lack of development and political conflict exceedingly badly known.</p><br>
<p>The last eruption occurred around 1500 BC. The centre of activity was Deriba Caldera, and involved caldera collapse following the eruption of pumice and pyroclastic flows which travelled over 30 km from the volcano.</p><br>
<h2>Footnotes</h2><br>
<p>Red Clay Creek is a 13.6 mi tributary of White Clay Creek, running through southeastern Pennsylvania and northern Delaware in the United States. As of 2000, portions of the creek are under wildlife habitat protection.</p><br>
<h2>Course</h2><br>
<p>The East and West branches both rise in West Marlborough Township, Chester County, Pennsylvania, near the hamlet of Upland, and flow south through Kennett Square before uniting just north of the Delaware border. The stream enters Delaware near the town of Yorklyn and flows southward through New Castle County, passing through Marshallton. White Clay Creek empties into Red Clay Creek near Stanton, approximately 5 mi southwest of Wilmington. Ultimately, Red Clay Creek enters the Christina River, also near Stanton.</p><br>
<h2>Tributaries</h2><br>
<p>Calf Run, located in the southeast of Mill Creek Hundred</p><br>
<p>Pyle&#39;s Run, located in Christiana Hundred</p><br>
<h2>History</h2><br>
<p>The creek serves as a boundary between the Hundreds of Mill Creek and Christiana. The Wilmington and Western Railroad follows the creek south from Yorklyn as far as Greenbank.</p><br>
<p>In the late 19th Century, several factories were located along Red Clay Creek, including those for the manufacture of flour, wool and iron.</p><br>
<p>The creek suffered from severe flooding in 1999 due to Hurricane Floyd and in 2003 due to Tropical Storm Henri.</p><br>
<p>Since 2000, portions of the river, along with other tributaries of White Clay Creek, have been protected as part of the White Clay Creek Wild and Scenic River.</p><br>
<h2>Bridges</h2><br>
<p>Ashland Covered Bridge, in New Castle County, Delaware</p><br>
<p>Wooddale Bridge, in New Castle County, Delaware</p><br>
<p>Skógafoss  is a waterfall situated on the Skógá River in the south of Iceland at the cliffs of the former coastline. After the coastline had receded seaward , the former sea cliffs remained, parallel to the coast over hundreds of kilometres, creating together with some mountains a clear border between the coastal lowlands and the Highlands of Iceland.</p><br>
<h2>Geography</h2><br>
<p>The Skógafoss is one of the biggest waterfalls in the country with a width of 15 m and a drop of 60 m. Due to the amount of spray the waterfall consistently produces, a single or double rainbow is normally visible on sunny days. According to legend, the first Viking settler in the area, Þrasi Þórólfsson, buried a treasure in a cave behind the waterfall. The legend continues that locals found the chest years later, but were only able to grasp the ring on the side of the chest before it disappeared again. The ring was allegedly given to the local church. The old church door ring is now in the Skógar museum.</p><br>
<p>At the eastern side of the waterfall, a hiking and trekking trail leads up to the pass Fimmvörðuháls between the glaciers Eyjafjallajökull and Mýrdalsjökull. It goes down to Þórsmörk on the other side and continues as the Laugavegur trail to Landmannalaugar.</p><br>
<h2>In popular culture</h2><br>
<p>The waterfall was the setting for Sólstafir&#39;s 2012 music video Fjara off their album Svartir Sandar.</p><br>
<p>The waterfall was a location for the filming of the Marvel Studios film Thor: The Dark World, as well as The Secret Life of Walter Mitty. The waterfall has been used as one of the locations of song Gerua, in 2015 Bollywood movie Dilwale featuring Shahrukh Khan and Kajol.</p><br>
<p>The official music video of "I&#39;ll Show You" features glacial lagoons and rivers in South Iceland, including the waterfall Skógafoss.</p><br>
<p>In season 5 of The History Channel series, Vikings_(TV_series), the character Floki witnesses Skógafoss when he discovers Iceland.</p><br>
<p>Hraunfossar  is a series of waterfalls formed by rivulets streaming over a distance of about 900 metres out of the Hallmundarhraun, a lava field which flowed from an eruption of one of the volcanoes lying under the glacier Langjökull. The waterfalls pour into the Hvítá river from ledges of less porous rock in the lava. The name comes from the Icelandic word for lava  and the word for waterfalls . The Hraunfossar are situated near Húsafell and Reykholt and lava-tube cave Víðgelmir is close by.</p><br>
<p>Literally a stone&#39;s throw upstream from Hraunfossar, there is another waterfall called Barnafoss. Its name, the waterfall of the children, comes from an accident which is said to have taken place here in former times. There was a natural bridge over the waterfall and two children from a nearby farm fell to their deaths crossing the river on the bridge. Afterwards, the grief-struck mother had the bridge destroyed.</p><br>
<p>Skeiðará  is a relatively short glacier river . It has its source on the glacier Skeiðarárjökull, one of the southern arms of the Vatnajökull in the south of Iceland.</p><br>
<p>In spite of its short length, this river has a bad reputation. It is especially feared because of the frequent glacier runs that can be fatal.</p><br>
<p>In front of Skaftafell and Skeiðarárjökull, Skeiðará has formed the Skeiðarár Sandur, a black plain of lava sand and ashes crossed by a lot of small rivulets which covers the whole area between the park and the sea (about 40 km long and 5 to 10 km wide). In 1996, the latest of these glacier runs took place. It destroyed parts of Route 1 (the Ring Road). The 880 m bridge was damaged by floating ice boulders the size of houses. At the peak of this glacier run, 45,000 m³/s of water were coming down. No one was harmed, scientists having very carefully monitored the volcano Grímsvötn on Vatnajökull which caused the glacier run by its eruption.</p><br>
<p>The Emme is a river in Switzerland. It rises in the Alps between the peaks of Hohgant and Augstmatthorn in the canton of Bern. The Emme is 80 km long and flows through the Emmental and into the Aare below Solothurn. The drainage area is 983 km². The average discharge at the mouth is approximately 20 cubic metres per second. The maximum discharge can be up to 500 cubic metres per second.</p><br>
<p>The Emme is known for its sudden variations in water discharge. The narration Die Wassernot im Emmental (The Water Crisis in the Emmen Valley) by Jeremias Gotthelf impressively describes a very large and destructive, and therefore well-known, flood which occurred August 13, 1837. This and other floods led to the building of numerous canals and dams in the 19th century.</p><br>
<p>The tributaries of the Emme are the Ilfis and the Limpach.</p><br>
<p>Mount Tsukuba  is an 877 m mountain located near Tsukuba, Japan. It is one of the most famous mountains in Japan, particularly well known for its double peaks, Nyotai-san 877 m and Nantai-san 871 m. Many people climb the so-called "purple mountain" every year for the panoramic view of the Kantō plain from the summit. On clear days the Tōkyō skyline, Lake Kasumigaura and even Mount Fuji are visible from the mountain top. Most mountains in Japan are volcanic, but Mount Tsukuba is composed of non-volcanic rocks such as granite and gabbro. The area surrounding the mountain is known to produce beautiful granite, and many rock quarries still mine it today.</p><br>
<h2>Etymology</h2><br>
<p>The Fudoki of Hitachi Province, a national geography completed in 721 AD, says Mount Tsukuba was named after a noble called Tsukuha no Mikoto. According to this account, the area around Mount Tsukuba was once called Ki no kuni. Under the reign of Mimaki no Sumeramikoto (Emperor Sujin), Tsukuha no Mikoto from the Uneme clan was appointed as its governor. He had a strong desire to leave his name in history, so he renamed the area "Tsukuha", which is now pronounced Tsukuba.</p><br>
<h2>History</h2><br>
<p>As legend has it, thousands of years ago, a deity descended from the heavens and asked two mountains for a place to spend the night. With its great summit and almost perfect cone, Mt. Fuji refused, believing with pride and arrogance that it does not need the deity&#39;s blessings. Mt. Tsukuba, on the other hand, humbly welcomed the honored guest, even offering food and water. Today, Mt. Fuji is a cold, lonely, and barren mountain, while Mt. Tsukuba bursts with vegetation and is filled with colors as the seasons change.</p><br>
<p>Ancient chronicles say that the sacred progenitors of the Japanese race are enshrined here, the male divinity, Izanagi-no-Mikoto, at Mt. Nantai, and the female divinity, Izanami-no-Mikoto, at Mt. Nyotai. Legends say that the two deities wed and gave birth to other deities, and even to Japan herself.</p><br>
<h2>Attractions</h2><br>
<p>Mt. Tsukuba is famous not only for the legends that have appeared in poetry anthologies since 710 A.D. Today, the mountain and its centuries-old Shinto shrine are both a source of blessing for the Japanese people and a must-see attraction to both local and foreign tourists. As the peaks (male and female) make a couple, they are worshipped as kami in the Shinto religion and are believed to bestow marital harmony and conjugal bliss. At the foot of the southern face lies the main shrine called “Tsukuba-san-jinja” (筑波山神社). This ancient shrine is a popular destination for tourists, festival (matsuri) attendees and the occasional Japanese-style wedding. It is from here where the main hiking trails up the mountain begin. One can choose to go straight up the mountain via the Miyukigahara course (御幸ヶ原コース), which parallels the Swiss-made funicular, to the notch between the peaks. Or one can follow the Shirakumobashi course (白雲橋コース) up to the east ridge, where it joins up with the Otatsuishi course, and then continues on up to Mt. Nyotai. In addition to the funicular there is also an aerial tramway which follows the east ridge up the mountain, paralleling the Otatsuishi course (おたつ石コース). At the top of the mountain there are many gift shops and food stalls in the area between the two peaks. Here one can purchase ramen, omiyage, beer and the local cure-all, toad oil (がま油). At both Mt. Nantai-san and Mt. Nyotai-san are small shrines devoted to their respective gods. shrine at the foot of Mount Tsukuba. The mountain is a popular starting point for parasailing.</p><br>
<h2>Fauna and flora</h2><br>
<p>Mount Tsukuba is blessed with an abundance of nature which covers the entire mountain. At lower elevations of the mountain are trees such as live oak (赤樫), mountain cherry (山桜), Japanese cedar (杉), Japanese red pine (赤松) and Hinoki cypress (檜). Higher in elevation, one can find species such as beech (ぶな), Japanese mountain maple (山紅葉) and a variety of conifers. Below these giants of the forest, the mountain is also home to hydrangea (紫陽花), rhododendron (つつじ), hosta, bush clover (ヤマハギ), five-leaf akebia (アケビ), fern, gold-banded lily (ヤマユリ) and the dog-tooth violet (片栗), to name a few. Amongst these exist a myriad of insects, including hairy caterpillars (毛虫), centipede, giant hornets (スズメバチ), stick insects, praying mantis (カマキリ), cicada (セミ), a number of amphibians and over 70 species of butterfly (蝶). Larger animals such as the Japanese hare, mamushi pit viper (蝮), sika deer (鹿), Japanese boar (猪), raccoon (洗熊), Eurasian badger (穴熊) and the Japanese red fox (狐) can be occasionally spotted. In addition, over 700 bird species are known to Mt. Tsukuba, these include the Japanese robin (駒鳥), Japanese pheasant, Japanese white-eye (目白), Japanese grosbeak, cinnamon sparrow (すずめ), Japanese quail and the Japanese green woodpecker.</p><br>
<p>The Canisteo River is a 61.0 mi tributary of the Tioga River in western New York in the United States. It drains a dissected plateau, a portion of the northern Allegheny Plateau southwest of the Finger Lakes region, in the far northwestern reaches of the watershed of the Susquehanna River.</p><br>
<p>It rises in the hills of northern Allegany County, approximately 15 mi southwest of Dansville. It flows east into northern Steuben County, then generally southeast past Hornell and Canisteo. It joins the Tioga from the west in southeastern Steuben County, approximately 10 mi north of the Pennsylvania state line and 5 mi southwest of Corning.</p><br>
<p>The name of the river comes from a Native American word meaning either "pickerel" or "head of water". In the 19th century the river valley was the site of an early timber industry. Logs were floated down the river after being cut. As on other rivers in the Susquehanna basin, transportation on the Canisteo before the middle 19th century was often accomplished by arks up to 75 ft long. The headwaters of the Canisteo were considered to be the farthest navigable headwaters of ark navigation in the Susquehanna watershed.</p><br>
<p>Necker Island  is a small island in the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands. It is located at {{coord|23|34|35|N|164|42|0|W|region:US-HI_type:isle|display=inline,title}} in the Pacific Ocean, 155 mi northwest of Nihoa and 8 mi north of the Tropic of Cancer. It contains important prehistoric archaeological sites of the Hawaiian culture and is part of the Hawaiian Islands National Wildlife Refuge within the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands National Monument.</p><br>
<p>The United States Census Bureau reports its land area as 45.193 acre. The island is rocky with steep sides and has very little soil. Its highest elevation is 277 ft. The island is named after Jacques Necker, a finance minister of Louis XVI.</p><br>
<h2>Description</h2><br>
<p>Few signs of long-term human habitation have been found. However, the island contains 33 stone shrines and stone artifacts much like those found in the main Hawaiian Islands. Because of this, many anthropologists believe that the island was a ceremonial and religious site. According to the myths and legends of the people of Kauai, which lies to the southeast, Necker Island was the last known refuge for a race of mythical "little people" called the Menehune. According to the legend, the Menehune settled on Necker after being chased off Kaua&#39;i by the stronger Polynesians and subsequently built the various stone structures there. Visits to the island are said to have started a few hundred years after the main Hawaiian Islands were inhabited, and ended a few hundred years before European contact. French explorer Jean-François de La Pérouse was the first European to visit the island, in 1786. The island is named after Jacques Necker. The islands were formally annexed in 1894 by the Provisional Government of Hawaii.</p><br>
<p>Because of the island&#39;s usage by Native Hawaiians as a ceremonial and religious site in Ancient Hawaii, the island was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1988.</p><br>
<p>Þjórsá is Iceland&#39;s longest river at 230 kilometers . It is in the south of the island.</p><br>
<p>Þjórsá is a glacier river and has its source on the glacier Hofsjökull. It flows out through narrow gorges in the highlands of Iceland. Further downstream, another river, the Tungnaá, flows into it (see also Háifoss), before it enters the lowlands. There it passes the valley of Þjórsárdalur (Thjorsardalur) where the historical farm of Stöng is located at 64&deg;7&prime;12&Prime;N latitude, 19&deg;49&prime;13&Prime;W longitude. In the lowlands it flows along the eastern border of the Great Þjórsá Lava.</p><br>
<p>In the middle of the now rather wide river, there is a big island called Árnes, where there used to be a Þing. The administrative unit of Árnessýsla was named after it.</p><br>
<p>The hringvegur (Road No.1) traverses the river via a bridge between Selfoss and Hella. Some kilometers to the southwest the river flows into the Atlantic Ocean.</p><br>
<p>Gastouni  is a town and a former municipality in Elis, West Greece, Greece. Since the 2011 local government reform it is part of the municipality Pineios, of which it is the seat and a municipal unit. The municipal unit has an area of 59.325 km. Gastouni is situated in a flat rural area, 5 km from the Ionian Sea. The river Pineios flows into the sea near Gastouni. The town is 6 km south of Andravida, 4 km east of Vartholomio, 11 km northwest of Amaliada and 26 km northwest of Pyrgos. The population of the town proper was 7,485 in 2011. The Greek National Road 9/E55  and the railway from Patras to Pyrgos pass east of Gastouni. There is a 12th-century Byzantine church in the southwestern quarter Katholiki.</p><br>
<h2>Subdivisions</h2><br>
<p>The municipal unit Gastouni is subdivided into the following communities:</p><br>
<p>Gastouni</p><br>
<p>Kardiakafti</p><br>
<p>Kavasila</p><br>
<p>Koroivos</p><br>
<p>Lefkochori</p><br>
<p>Palaiochori</p><br>
<p>Roupaki</p><br>
<h2>Population history</h2><br>
<h2>People</h2><br>
<p>Nikos Kachtitis, writer</p><br>
<p>The Sisinis family</p><br>
<p>Chrysanthos Sisinis</p><br>
<p>Georgios Sisinis, one of the famous Greek revolutionary leaders of the area</p><br>
<p>Pasargadae  was the capital of the Achaemenid Empire under Cyrus the Great who had issued its construction ; it was also the location of his tomb. It was a city in ancient Persia, located near the city of Shiraz , and is today an archaeological site and one of Iran&#39;s UNESCO World Heritage Sites.</p><br>
<h2>History</h2><br>
<p>Cyrus the Great began building the capital in 546 BC or later; it was unfinished when he died in battle, in 530 or 529 BC. The remains of the tomb of Cyrus&#39; son and successor Cambyses II have been found in Pasargadae, near the fortress of Toll-e Takht, and identified in 2006.</p><br>
<p>Pasargadae remained the capital of the Achaemenid empire until Cambyses II moved it to Susa; later, Darius founded another in Persepolis. The archaeological site covers 1.6 square kilometres and includes a structure commonly believed to be the mausoleum of Cyrus, the fortress of Toll-e Takht sitting on top of a nearby hill, and the remains of two royal palaces and gardens. Pasargadae Persian Gardens provide the earliest known example of the Persian chahar bagh, or fourfold garden design (see Persian Gardens).</p><br>
<p>The Gate R, located at the eastern edge of the palace area, is the oldest known freestanding propylaeum. It may have been the architectural predecessor of the Gate of All Nations at Persepolis.</p><br>
<h3>Tomb of Cyrus the Great</h3><br>
<p>The most important monument in Pasargadae is the tomb of Cyrus the Great. It has six broad steps leading to the sepulchre, the chamber of which measures 3.17 m long by 2.11 m wide by 2.11 m high and has a low and narrow entrance. Though there is no firm evidence identifying the tomb as that of Cyrus, Greek historians tell that Alexander believed it was. When Alexander looted and destroyed Persepolis, he paid a visit to the tomb of Cyrus. Arrian, writing in the second century AD, recorded that Alexander commanded Aristobulus, one of his warriors, to enter the monument. Inside he found a golden bed, a table set with drinking vessels, a gold coffin, some ornaments studded with precious stones and an inscription on the tomb. No trace of any such inscription survives, and there is considerable disagreement to the exact wording of the text. Strabo reports that it read:</p><br>
<p>Another variation, as documented in Persia: The Immortal Kingdom, is:</p><br>
<p>The design of Cyrus tomb is credited to Mesopotamian or Elamite ziggurats, but the cella is usually attributed to Urartu tombs of an earlier period. In particular, the tomb at Pasargadae has almost exactly the same dimensions as the tomb of Alyattes II, father of the Lydian King Croesus; however, some have refused the claim (according to Herodotus, Croesus was spared by Cyrus during the conquest of Lydia, and became a member of Cyrus court). The main decoration on the tomb is a rosette design over the door within the gable. In general, the art and architecture found at Pasargadae exemplified the Persian synthesis of various traditions, drawing on precedents from Elam, Babylon, Assyria, and ancient Egypt, with the addition of some Anatolian influences.</p><br>
<h2>Archaeology</h2><br>
<p>The first capital of the Achaemenid Empire, Pasargadae lies in ruins 40&#39;40 kilometers from Persepolis, in present-day Fars province of Iran.</p><br>
<p>Pasargadae was first archaeologically explored by the German archaeologist Ernst Herzfeld in 1905, and in one excavation season in 1928, together with his assistant. Since 1946, the original documents, notebooks, photographs, fragments of wall paintings and pottery from the early excavations are preserved in the Freer Gallery of Art, Smithsonian Institution, in Washington, DC. After Herzfeld, Sir Aurel Stein completed a site plan for Pasargadae in 1934. In 1935, Erich F. Schmidt produced a series of aerial photographs of the entire complex.</p><br>
<p>From 1949 to 1955, an Iranian team led by Ali Sami worked there. A British Institute of Persian Studies team led by David Stronach resumed excavation from 1961 to 1963. It was during the 1960s that a pot-hoard known as the Pasargadae Treasure was excavated near the foundations of Pavilion B at the site. Dating to the 5th-4th centuries BC, the treasure consists of ornate Achaemenid jewellery made from gold and precious gems and is now housed in the National Museum of Iran and the British Museum. It has been suggested that the treasure was buried as a subsequent action once Alexander the Great approached with his army, then remained buried, hinting at violence.</p><br>
<p>After a gap, work was resumed by the Iranian Cultural Heritage Organization and the Maison de l&#39;Orient et de la Méditerranée of the University of Lyon in 2000. The complex is the one of the key cultural heritage sites for tourism in Iran.</p><br>
<h2>Sivand Dam controversy</h2><br>
<p>There has been growing concern regarding the proposed Sivand Dam, named after the nearby town of Sivand. Despite planning that has stretched over 10 years, Iran&#39;s own Iranian Cultural Heritage Organization was not aware of the broader areas of flooding during much of this time.</p><br>
<p>Its placement between both the ruins of Pasargadae and Persepolis has many archaeologists and Iranians worried that the dam will flood these UNESCO World Heritage sites, although scientists involved with the construction say this is not obvious because the sites sit above the planned waterline. Of the two sites, Pasargadae is the one considered to be more threatened. Experts agree that the planning of future dam projects in Iran will merit an earlier examination of the risks to cultural resource properties.</p><br>
<p>Of broadly shared concern to archaeologists is the effect of the increase in humidity caused by the lake. All agree that the humidity created by it will speed up the destruction of Pasargadae, yet experts from the Ministry of Energy believe it could be partially compensated for by controlling the water level of the reservoir.</p><br>
<p>Construction of the dam began April 19, 2007.</p><br>
<h2>In popular culture</h2><br>
<p>In 1930, the Brazilian poet Manuel Bandeira published a poem called "Vou-me embora pra Pasárgada" ("Im off to Pasargadae" in Portuguese), in a book entitled Libertinagem. It tells the story of a man who wants to go to Pasargadae, described in the poem as a utopian city. This poem has become one of the Portuguese languages classics.</p><br>
<p>The following is an extract, in the original then in a translation:</p><br>
<h3>Vou‐me embora pra Pasárgada</h3><br>
<p>Vou-me embora pra Pasárgada</p><br>
<p>Lá sou amigo do rei</p><br>
<p>Lá tenho a mulher que eu quero</p><br>
<p>Na cama que escolherei</p><br>
<p>E quando eu estiver mais triste</p><br>
<p>Mas triste de não ter jeito</p><br>
<p>Quando de noite me der</p><br>
<p>Vontade de me matar</p><br>
<p>— Lá sou amigo do rei —</p><br>
<p>Terei a mulher que eu quero</p><br>
<p>Na cama que escolherei</p><br>
<p>Vou-me embora pra Pasárgada.</p><br>
<h3>I'm off to Pasargadae</h3><br>
<p>I&#39;m off to Pasargadae</p><br>
<p>There I am friends with the king</p><br>
<p>There I can have any woman I want</p><br>
<p>On the bed of my choice</p><br>
<p>And when I am</p><br>
<p>But so sad there&#39;s nothing left</p><br>
<p>When at night I feel</p><br>
<p>A wish to kill myself</p><br>
<p>— There I am a friends with the king —</p><br>
<p>I shall have the woman I want</p><br>
<p>On the bed of my choice</p><br>
<p>I&#39;m off to Pasargadae.</p><br>
<p>Bassenthwaite Lake is one of the largest water bodies in the English Lake District. It is long and narrow, approximately 4 mi long and 3/4 mi wide, but is also extremely shallow, with a maximum depth of about 70 ft.</p><br>
<p>It is the only body of water in the Lake District to use the word "lake" in its name, all the others being "waters" (for example, Derwentwater), "meres" (for example, Windermere) or "tarns" (for example, Dock Tarn). It is fed by, and drains into, the River Derwent. The lake lies at the foot of Skiddaw, near the town of Keswick. Some maps dating from the 18th century do in fact mark this lake with the name Bassenwater, and the use of the name Broadwater for this lake is also attested.</p><br>
<p>The A66 dual carriageway runs roughly north/south along the western side of the lake. The lay-bys are popular spots for photographers and bird watchers looking for osprey. The section running south towards Keswick was built along the course of the former Cockermouth, Keswick and Penrith railway line.</p><br>
<h2>Origin</h2><br>
<p>Like the other Lake District lakes, Bassenthwaite Lake lies in a glacially eroded valley, left after the last glaciation. Bassenthwaite Lake is linked to Derwent Water by the River Derwent, which crosses the 3 mi alluvial plain between the two lakes. There has been speculation that Derwent Water and Bassenthwaite Lake were once one larger lake with the alluvial flats now separating them formed from partial infill of the original basin.</p><br>
<h2>Etymology</h2><br>
<p>Bassenthwaite is "Bastuns clearing, pers. n. plus þveit clearing, also common, lake. The 1st el is usually taken to be the Anglo-French nickname or surname Bastun, originally meaning stick, while the 2nd is ON þveit clearing. The lake, in early times known as Bastuns water, takes its name from the village." (ON=Old Norse).</p><br>
<h2>Biodiversity</h2><br>
<p>The lake&#39;s catchment is the largest of any lake in the Lake District. This, along with a large percentage of cultivable land within this drainage area, makes Bassenthwaite Lake a fertile habitat.</p><br>
<p>The lake contains salmon, trout, pike, perch, minnow, dace, ruffe and eel, though the predominant species is roach, which is believed to have been introduced in the form of discarded live-baits by visiting pike anglers. Also present was the vendace, until it was declared extinct within the lake in 2001.</p><br>
<h3>Birdlife</h3><br>
<p>Cormorants have been known to fish the lake and herons can also be seen; at the turn of the 19th century there was a report of 60 nests in a heronry in nearby Wythop Woods.</p><br>
<h4>Lake District Osprey Project</h4><br>
<p>In 2001, ospreys returned to nest in the Lake District after more than a hundred years. They nested by the lake, and have done so regularly since. The osprey family can be watched from viewpoints at Dodd Wood and by CTV from Whinlatter Forest Visitor Centre.</p><br>
<h2>Threats</h2><br>
<p>Water quality is adversely affected by high sediment deposition, and there are other problems such as phosphate pollution. These issues are being addressed via the Bassenthwaite Lake Restoration Programme.</p><br>
<p>To reduce the sediment entering the lake more trees have been planted alongside watercourses, and clear felling of existing tree cover has been discouraged with the cooperation of the Forestry Commission.</p><br>
<p>Phosphates encourage algae formation.</p><br>
<p>The Environment Agency attributed unacceptable levels of phosphate in the catchment to Keswick wastewater treatment works, Greta Grove pumping station and the associated overflow.</p><br>
<p>Water company United Utilities was fined £27,000 in 2011 for allowing raw sewage to pollute nearby Pow Beck watercourse. The company&#39;s £20 million sewer improvement scheme, begun in 2011, aims to improve water quality in the River Greta and the lake itself. The project will facilitate removal of greater quantities of phosphates. Works to upgrade the wastewater treatment works and pumping station were begun in May 2010.</p><br>
<h2>Neolithic man</h2><br>
<p>It has been reported that the wide gravel spreads between Derwent Water and Bassenthwaite Lake provided the best centre within Lakeland for Neolithic farming communities. Stone axes have been found in the area and particularly at Mossgarth, Portinscale.</p><br>
<p>Ullswater is the second largest lake in the English Lake District, being approximately nine miles  long and 0.75 miles  wide with a maximum depth of slightly more than 60 m. Many regard Ullswater as the most beautiful of the English lakes; it has been compared to Lake Lucerne in Switzerland and it is a popular tourist destination. It is a typical Lake District narrow "ribbon lake" formed after the last ice age when a glacier scooped out the valley floor and when the glacier retreated, the deepened section filled with meltwater which became a lake. A total of three separate glaciers formed the lake. The surrounding mountains give Ullswater the shape of a stretched Z with three distinct segments  that wind their way through the surrounding hills.</p><br>
<p>For much of its length Ullswater forms the border between the historic counties of Cumberland and Westmorland.</p><br>
<h2>Etymology</h2><br>
<p>The origin of the name Ullswater is uncertain. Whaley suggests Ulfs lake, from Old Norse personal name Ulfr plus Middle English water influenced in usage by Old Norse vatn water, lake....Ulfr is also the Old Norse noun meaning wolf, and Hutchinson thought that the name might refer to the lake as a resort of wolves, or...to its elbow-shaped bend (citing a Celtic ulle&#39;...)."</p><br>
<p>Some say it comes from the name of a Nordic chief Ulf who ruled over the area; there was also a Saxon Lord of Greystoke called Ulphus whose land bordered the lake. The lake may have been named Ulf&#39;s Water in honour of either of these, or it may be named after the Norse god Ullr. Hodgson Hill, an earthwork on the northeast shoreline of Ullswater may be the remains of a Viking fortified settlement.</p><br>
<h2>Settlements</h2><br>
<p>The village of Glenridding, situated at the southern end of the lake, is popular with tourists of all kinds but especially with mountain walkers, who can scale England&#39;s third highest mountain, Helvellyn, and many other challenging peaks from there. The village has ample accommodation including two Youth Hostels and camp sites. The village of Pooley Bridge is at the northern extremity of the lake. Its narrow 16th-century bridge straddled the River Eamont as it flows out of Ullswater but was washed away during the floods that affected Cumbria in December 2015; it is overlooked by Dunmallard Hill, which was the site of an Iron Age fort. On the western side of the lake near Aira Force waterfall lies numerous accommodation sites, including the Brackenrigg Inn. Other villages situated on Ullswater include Howtown, Sandwick and Watermillock.</p><br>
<h2>Sport, leisure and tourism</h2><br>
<p>The lake has been a popular tourist destination since the mid-18th century. By the 1890s, Ullswater had become a fashionable holiday destination for the British aristocracy, thanks to its good sailing conditions and proximity to fell shooting estates. In 1912, Wilhelm II, German Emperor visited Ullswater and toured the lake on the MY Raven, which was re-fitted to act as a royal yacht. A shooting lodge was constructed for the Kaiser at Martindale by the major local landowner, Hugh Lowther, 5th Earl of Lonsdale.</p><br>
<p>Ullswaters attractions include the Ullswater Steamers which offer trips around the lake calling at Pooley Bridge, Glenridding, Howtown and Aira Force. The Steamers operate all year round and were originally working boats which from the 1850s moved mail, workers and goods to and from the Greenside Mine at Glenridding, which closed in 1962. Today there are five Steamers plying the waters of Ullswater. People often catch the Steamer&#39; from Glenridding to Howtown and then return on foot along the lake shore to complete one of the most popular and scenic low-level walks in the Lake District.</p><br>
<p>A 20 mile walking route the Ullswater Way was officially opened in 2016 by write and broadcaster Eric Robson. The route can be walked in either direction and from any starting point. The route uses existing Public Rights of Way and quiet roads which circumnavigate Ullswater. The aim is to encourage walkers to enjoy the valley, appreciate the spectacular scenery and support local businesses.</p><br>
<p>Ullswater is very popular as a sailing location, with several sailing marinas situated around the lake. Ullswater is home to the Ullswater Yacht Club and the prestigious Lord Birkett Memorial Trophy, which is held annually on the first weekend in July. This regularly attracts upwards of 200 sailing boats and comprises two races, both of which cover the full length of the lake. There are also facilities for diving, rowing and motorboats. Another of Ullswaters attractions is the waterfall of Aira Force, midway along the lake on the western side. Ullswater lies partly within the National Trusts Ullswater and Aira Force property. Close to the falls is Lyulphs Tower, a pele tower or castellated building built by a former Duke of Norfolk as a shooting box. The prestigious Sharrow Bay Country House hotel is located on the lakes eastern shore.</p><br>
<p>Donald Campbell set the world water speed record on Ullswater on July 23, 1955, when he piloted the jet-propelled hydroplane "Bluebird K7" to a speed of 202.32 mph (325.53 km/h).</p><br>
<p>In 2012, artist Robbie Wild Hudson swam the entire length of Ullswater. The swim, from Glenridding to Pooley Bridge, took 6 hours and was completed as inspiration for a project that offers paintings and drawings of the famous landscape from a different perspective.</p><br>
<p>Ullswater Yacht Club (UYC) is situated on the eastern shore of the lake between Pooley Bridge and Howtown. UYC also offers a sailing school program that is open to members of the general public.</p><br>
<h2>Notable people</h2><br>
<p>Just south of Pooley Bridge on the lake&#39;s eastern shore is Eusemere, where anti-slavery campaigner Thomas Clarkson (1760–1846) lived; the house gives one of the best views of the lower reach of Ullswater. William and Dorothy Wordsworth were friends of Clarkson and visited on many occasions. After visiting Clarkson in April 1802, Wordsworth was inspired to write the poem "Daffodils" after seeing daffodils growing on the shores of Ullswater on his journey back to Grasmere. Wordsworth once wrote of "Ullswater, as being, perhaps, upon the whole, the happiest combination of beauty and grandeur, which any of the Lakes affords".</p><br>
<p>The politician William Marshall lived on the shore of Ullswater at Watermillock. His descendants, the diplomat Sir Cecil Spring Rice and his brother Stephen Spring Rice, were also brought up in Watermillock, and there are several memorials erected at nearby Aira Force to members of the Spring family.</p><br>
<p>In 1962 Lord Birkett led the campaign to prevent Ullswater from becoming a reservoir. He died one day after the proposition was defeated in the House of Lords, and he is commemorated with a memorial plaque on Kailpot Crag.</p><br>
<p>DV342 Ullswater from above Pattersdale.pngUllswater painted in 1825</p><br>
<p>Ullswater from Glencoynedale.JPGUllswater from Seldom Seen in Glencoynedale</p><br>
<p>STEAMER ON ULLSWATER.jpgUllswater steamer SS Lady of the Lake leaves Glenridding</p><br>
<p>Ullswater - geograph.org.uk - 192925.jpgView south towards Patterdale</p><br>
<p>Sharrow Bay Country House Hotel.jpgSharrow Bay Country House</p><br>
<p>500 Pilothouse LDNPA.JPGQuicksilver 500 Pilothouse used by the Lake District National Park Authority</p><br>
<p>The Western Belle on Ullswater.jpgThe Western Belle on Ullswater</p><br>
<p>The French Frigate Shoals  is the largest atoll in the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands. Its name commemorates French explorer Jean-François de La Pérouse, who nearly lost two frigates when attempting to navigate the shoals. It consists of a 20 mi long crescent-shaped reef, twelve sandbars, and the 120 ft high La Perouse Pinnacle, the only remnant of its volcanic origins. The total land area of the islets is 61.508 acre. Total coral reef area of the shoals is over 232,000 acre. Tern Island, with an area of 26.014 acre, has a landing strip and permanent habitations for a small number of people. It is maintained as a field station in the Hawaiian Islands National Wildlife Refuge by the United States Fish and Wildlife Service. The French Frigate Shoals are about 487 nmi northwest of Honolulu.</p><br>
<h2>History</h2><br>
<p>Although there is no evidence of extensive human activity or presence in the area, the earliest human visitors to French Frigate Shoals probably came from the larger Hawaiian Islands, which were settled by Polynesians between 1100 and 1300 AD.</p><br>
<p>The Hawaiian island chain lay outside the routes followed by early European explorers, and it was not until La Pérouse&#39;s near-disastrous discovery that the shoals were known to the outside world. La Pérouse, aboard the frigate Boussole, was sailing westward from Monterey en route to Macau. During the night of 6 November 1786, sailors sighted breakers directly in their path, about a thousand feet ahead. Both the Boussole and her companion vessel, the frigate Astrolabe, were immediately brought about, passing within a few hundred feet of the breakers. At daybreak, the ships returned and mapped the southeastern half of the atoll, as well as finding the rock that would later be named after La Pérouse. La Pérouse named the shoals Basse des Frégates Françaises, the "Shoal of the French Frigates".</p><br>
<p>During the late 19th century, American and European companies became interested in the possibility of mining guano in the Hawaiian Islands. U.S. Navy Lieutenant John M. Brooke, sailing on the naval schooner Fenimore Cooper, formally took possession of French Frigate Shoals for the United States on 14 January 1859, in accordance with the Guano Islands Act. In 1894, French Frigate Shoals, Kure Atoll, Midway Atoll, and Pearl and Hermes Reef were leased for 25 years by the Republic of Hawaii to the North Pacific Phosphate and Fertilizer Company; however, guano and phosphate deposits at French Frigate Shoals were found to be impractical to mine. The Republic did not formally claim possession of the shoals until 13 July 1895.</p><br>
<p>French Frigate Shoals was included among the islands acquired by the United States on 7 July 1898, when Hawaii became a United States territory. In 1909 it was made a part of the Hawaiian Islands Bird Reservation.</p><br>
<h3>World War II</h3><br>
<p>In March 1942, Japanese naval planners took advantage of the shoal&#39;s isolation to use its protected waters as an anchorage and refueling point for the long-range flying boats employed in their Operation K. In the aftermath of that attack, US Pacific Fleet Commander Chester W. Nimitz ordered a permanent US Navy presence at the shoals.</p><br>
<p>After the Battle of Midway, the United States Navy built a naval air station on Tern Island, enlarging the island sufficiently to support a 3,300 ft landing strip; Tern Island now has a land area of 26.014 acre. The station&#39;s main function was as an emergency landing site for planes flying between Hawaii and Midway Atoll. French Frigate Shoals Airport comprises what remains of the original seawall, runway, and buildings.</p><br>
<p>A LORAN station was operated on East Island until 1952, and Tern Island until 1979.</p><br>
<p>The United States Fish and Wildlife Service continues to maintain a permanent field station there. In 2000, the atoll became part of the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands Coral Reef Ecosystem Reserve, which was incorporated into the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands National Monument in 2006. In 2009 the islands were evacuated during the approach of Hurricane Neki, by landing a USCG C-130 on Tern&#39;s coral airstrip.</p><br>
<h2>Geology and ecology</h2><br>
<p>La Perouse Pinnacle, a rock outcrop in the center of the atoll, is the oldest and most remote volcanic rock in the Hawaiian chain. La Perouse Pinnacle stands 120 ft tall and is surrounded by spectacular coral reefs. Because of its peculiar shape, the pinnacle is often mistaken for a ship from a distance.</p><br>
<p>Whale-Skate Island is a submerged island in the French Frigate Shoals. These islands suffered considerably from erosion starting in the 1960s, and by the late 1990s, Whale-Skate Island was completely washed over.</p><br>
<p>The reef system at French Frigate Shoals supports 41 species of stony corals, including several species that are not found in the main Hawaiian Island chain. More than 600 species of marine invertebrates, many of which are endemic, are found there as well.</p><br>
<p>More than 150 species of algae live among the reefs. Especially diverse algal communities are found immediately adjacent to La Perouse Pinnacle. This has led to speculation that an influx of additional nutrients – in the form of guano – is responsible for the diversity and productivity of algae in this environment. The reef waters support large numbers of fish. The masked angelfish (Genicanthus personatus), endemic to the Hawaiian Islands, is relatively common there. Most of Hawaii&#39;s honu (green sea turtles) travel to the shoals to nest. The small islets of French Frigate Shoals provide refuge to the largest surviving population of Hawaiian monk seals, the second most endangered pinniped in the world.</p><br>
<p>The islands are also an important seabird colony. Eighteen species of seabird, the black-footed albatross, Laysan albatross, Bonin petrel, Bulwer&#39;s petrel, wedge-tailed shearwater, Christmas shearwater, Tristram&#39;s storm-petrel, red-tailed tropicbird, masked booby, red-footed booby, brown booby, great frigatebird, spectacled tern, sooty tern, blue-gray noddy, brown noddy, black noddy and white tern nest on the islands, most of them (16) on Tern Island. Two species, the blue-gray noddy and the brown booby, nest only on La Perouse Pinnacle. The island also is the wintering ground for several species of shorebird.</p><br>
<p>A three-week research mission in October 2006 by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) led to the discovery of 100 species never seen in the area before, including many that are totally new to science. The research findings will be used to establish what species live in the area. Further studies will also determine how well the shoals&#39; ecosystem is being managed and the threats it faces. The French Frigate Shoals project is part of the Census of Coral Reef Ecosystems of the International Census of Marine Life.</p><br>
<h2>Islands</h2><br>
<p>Listing of FFS islands:</p><br>
<p>Whale-Skate Island, currently a double island, is also listed in the census documents together as a block, with an area of 32,020 m². The shares of the islands are estimated (40 and 60 percent).</p><br>
<p>1971 it was reported that Near Island, although recorded on maps, would be submerged at high tide.</p><br>
<p>Bare Island can be seen on satellite images but is not listed in the Census Tract A 1971 publication says Bare Island has an area of 0.1 acres (about 400 m).</p><br>
<p>Round and Mullet Islands in census documents found together as a block 1006, together with an area of 5540 m. The shares are valued according to a report from 1971 (0.4 and 0.5 acres).</p><br>
<p>Humbug Mountain lies on the southern coast of the USA state of Oregon. It is located about 6 mi south of Port Orford, and 21 mi north of Gold Beach, on the Pacific Ocean. The mountain is completely within Humbug Mountain State Park, and USA Route 101 passes by its northern base. It is one of the highest mountains in Oregon to rise directly from the ocean.</p><br>
<p>Its slopes feature an old-growth temperate rainforest.</p><br>
<p>Two trails run from the state park campground to the mountain&#39;s summit, one 1.5 mi long, the other 2 mi long. Both are part of the much longer Oregon Coast Trail. The area is popular with hikers, campers, cyclists, and whale watchers.</p><br>
<h2>Geology</h2><br>
<p>Humbug Mountain was created about 130 million years ago, in the early Cretaceous period.</p><br>
<p>It was formed when islands in the Klamath microcontinent collided, uplifting primordial mountains composed of mostly sandstone. Ancient rivers eroded these mountains, and the sediment and sandstone was deposited on the seashore. Then, the microcontinent collided with the North American continent, uplifting Humbug Mountain in the process. Near the summit, rock outcrops of granite and sandstone can still be found.</p><br>
<p>The mountain now stands 1,756 ft above sea level, and is one of the highest mountains in Oregon to rise directly from the ocean. It is considered a headland.</p><br>
<h2>History</h2><br>
<p>Humbug Mountain was originally known as Sugarloaf Mountain. In 1851 it began to be called Tichenor&#39;s Humbug when an exploring party sent by Captain William V. Tichenor, founder of Port Orford, got lost and headed north of the port instead of south.</p><br>
<p>Tichenor stated that the name was chosen "to palliate their gross failure."</p><br>
<p>Since that time, Tichenor&#39;s Humbug came to be known as Humbug Mountain. Other names for the mountain include Mount Franklin, and the Native American name, Me-tus.,</p><br>
<p>In 1934 the Civilian Conservation Corps built the first trail to the summit, however, it was destroyed in the 1962 Columbus Day Storm. An alternate trail was used until the original was reopened in 1993.</p><br>
<h2>Flora and fauna</h2><br>
<p>Many types of plants inhabit Humbug Mountain. The most common types of trees include tanoak, Douglas fir, big-leaf maple, Port Orford cedar, and Oregon myrtle. Spruce, alder, and western red cedar can also be found.</p><br>
<p>Smaller plants such as maidenhair ferns, wild rhododendrons, and vanilla leaf are abundant in the area. Wildflowers such as Columbia lilies, trilliums, and bleeding hearts grow in the spring. Currant, elderberries, blackberries, thimbleberries, huckleberries, and salmonberries are some of the many berries that grow on the mountain.</p><br>
<p>Birds such as varied thrushes and chickadees live on Humbug Mountain. Douglas squirrels and black-tailed deer are among the numerous mammals that inhabit the mountain.</p><br>
<p>There are many tide pools in the intertidal zone at the base of the mountain. Organisms such as jellyfish, littleneck clams, sunflower starfish, and many others can be found in these pools.</p><br>
<p>Gray whales can sometimes be seen migrating along the coast, and more rarely, humpback whales are spotted.</p><br>
<h2>Trails</h2><br>
<p>Many trails have been built on Humbug Mountain. The Humbug Mountain Trail climbs 1,730 ft to the summit. The trailhead is located in the campground at Humbug Mountain State Park. After going through a tunnel under the USA Route 101, the trail leads through the old-growth temperate rainforest on the mountain.</p><br>
<p>It has several switchbacks. Both trails are part of the much longer Oregon Coast Trail.</p><br>
<p>Another trail leads from the campground, under the highway, to a 4 mi long beach on the north side of the mountain.</p><br>
<p>A fourth trail, named Recreation Trail, follows the path of the Old Coast Highway. It is approximately 2.6 mi long, and crosses nearby Brush Creek seventeen times. The trail has many views of the Pacific Ocean. It eventually merges with the USA Route 101.</p><br>
<h2>Recreation</h2><br>
<p>Nature study, wildlife viewing, camping, and whale watching are popular activities around the mountain. Hiking and cycling are also very popular on the trails in the area. Beachcombers, windsurfers, and scuba divers can be found on the beach and in the deep water near the mountain.</p><br>
<p>Humbug Mountain State Park, which includes all of Humbug Mountain, features a campground with over 100 campsites. The campground is located between Brush Creek and the beach. It has amenities such as showers, flush toilets, a hiker/biker camp, and an amphitheater. There are also picnic tables in the day-use section, 1 mi south of the main campground.</p><br>
<p>The Chicago Water Tower is a contributing property and landmark in the Old Chicago Water Tower District. It is located at 806 North Michigan Avenue along the Magnificent Mile shopping district in the Near North Side community area of Chicago, Illinois in a small park, the Jane M. Byrne Plaza. The tower was constructed to house a large water pump, intended to draw water from Lake Michigan. built in 1869, it is the second-oldest water tower in the United States, after the Louisville Water Tower in Louisville, Kentucky.</p><br>
<p>The Chicago Water Tower now serves as a Chicago Office of Tourism art gallery known as the City Gallery in the Historic Water Tower. It features the work of local photographers and artists, and filmmakers.</p><br>
<h2>History</h2><br>
<p>The tower, built in 1869 by architect William W. Boyington from yellowing Lemont limestone, is 182 feet (55 m) tall.</p><br>
<p>Inside was a 138-foot (42 m) high standpipe to hold water. In addition to being used for firefighting, the pressure in the pipe could be regulated to control water surges in the area. Together with the adjacent Chicago Avenue Pumping Station, it drew clean water from water cribs in Lake Michigan.</p><br>
<p>The tower gained prominence after the Great Chicago Fire of 1871. While some incorrectly believe that the tower was the only building to survive the fire, a few other buildings in the burned district survived along with the tower. The tower was the only public building in the burned zone to survive, and is one of just a few of the surviving structures still standing. In the years since the fire, the tower has become a symbol of old Chicago and of the city&#39;s recovery from the fire. In 1918, when Pine Street was widened, the plans were altered in order to give the Water Tower a featured location.</p><br>
<p>The tower has undergone two renovations. The first took place during a three-year period, 1913&ndash;1916. At that time many of the limestone blocks were replaced. The second renovation occurred in 1978. This renovation consisted mostly of interior changes with only minor changes made to the exterior of the building. In 2014, the small park the tower is sited in was named for former Chicago mayor Jane Byrne.</p><br>
<p>The structure has not been universally admired. Oscar Wilde said it looked like "a castellated monstrosity with pepper boxes stuck all over it," although he did admire the arrangement and movement of the pumping machinery inside. The Water Tower&#39;s castle-like style inspired the design of some White Castle restaurant buildings. The Tower was named an American Water Landmark in 1969. In 2004 and 2017 the tower was featured in the finale of The Amazing Race 6 and The Amazing Race 29 respectively.</p><br>
<p>Jökulsárlón  is a large glacial lake in southeast Iceland, on the edge of Vatnajökull National Park. Situated at the head of the Breiðamerkurjökull glacier, it developed into a lake after the glacier started receding from the edge of the Atlantic Ocean. The lake has grown since then at varying rates because of melting of the glaciers. It is now 1.5 km away from the ocean&#39;s edge and covers an area of about 18 km&sup2;. It recently became the deepest lake in Iceland, at over 248 m, as glacial retreat extended its boundaries. The size of the lake has increased fourfold since the 1970s. It is considered as one of the natural wonders of Iceland.</p><br>
<p>The lake can be seen from Route 1 between Höfn and Skaftafell. It appears as "a ghostly procession of luminous blue icebergs".</p><br>
<p>Jökulsárlón has been a setting for four Hollywood movies: A View to a Kill, Die Another Day, Lara Croft: Tomb Raider, and Batman Begins, as well as the reality TV series Amazing Race. In 1991, Iceland issued a postage stamp, with a face value of 26 kronur, depicting Jökulsárlón.</p><br>
<p>The tongue of the Breiðamerkurjökull glacier is a major attraction for tourists.</p><br>
<h2>History</h2><br>
<p>The first settlers arrived in Iceland around AD 870, when the edge of the tongue of Breiðamerkurjökull glacier was about 20 km further north of its present location. During the Little Ice Age between 1600 and 1900, with cooler temperatures prevailing in these latitudes, the glacier had grown by up to about 1 km from the coast at Jokulsá River, by about 1890. When the temperatures rose between 1920 and 1965, the Breiðamerkurjökull glacier tongue rapidly retreated, continually creating icebergs of varying size, thus creating a lagoon in its wake around 1934–35. The lake is about 200 m deep where the glacier snout originally existed. Glacial moraines became exposed on both sides of the lake. In 1975, the lake was about 8 km&sup2; in area and now it reportedly stands at 18 km&sup2; at the edge of the glacier tongue.</p><br>
<h2>Geography</h2><br>
<p>The Jökulsárlón lake provides outstanding views of the ice cap, a vast dome of ice that rises to a height of 3,000 ft. It spills to the lagoon 12 mi away from the jagged glacier hill to the edge of the water line. The lake developed only about 60 years ago (1948 is mentioned), when the entire area was less than 100 ft of glacier, which was only 250 yard from the Atlantic Ocean, and 2 mi away from Vatnajökull. Vatnajökull was at the shore line of the ocean and dropped icebergs into the ocean. However, it started drifting inland rapidly every year, leaving deep gorges en route, which got filled with melted water and large chunks of ice. These icebergs gather at the mouth of the lake&#39;s shallow exit, melt down into smaller ice blocks, and roll out into the sea. The lake is the lowest point in Iceland, with land at 200 m below sea level. In summer, icebergs melt and roll down the channel into the sea. In winter, the lake freezes and locks the icebergs in place. Ice water and soil make a unique ecological phenomenon. Jökulsárlón Lake, the "glacier lake", is now reported to have doubled in size in the recent 15-year period. The huge blocks of ice that calve from the edge of Vatnajökull are about 30 m high, which fills the lagoon stocked with icebergs. Some icebergs appear naturally sculpted on account volcanic ash from ancient eruptions that partly covers them.</p><br>
<p>Given the current retreat rate of Vatnajökull, likely a deep fjord will develop where Jökulsárlón is now. This retreat is also posing a threat to the National Highway Route 1 of Iceland. The lagoon is 75 km to the west of Höfn town and 60 km east of Skaftafell. It is accessible by the ring road, Route 1, that goes across the lake, and where parking facilities have been provided for visitors. It is also known as the "tourist conveyor belt". While walking on the shore, isolated large blocks of icebergs can be seen on the black sand beach.</p><br>
<h3>Protective measures for the bridge</h3><br>
<p>A coffer dam was constructed near the Glacial River Bridge that spans Jökulsárlón to build a row of protective measures of stone boulders to prevent any erosion of the foundation of the pillars of the bridge. This coffer dam enabled the Icelandic road administration to create workable access for the power shovel digger to place the row of stone protective measures, which would also divert the icebergs from hitting the bridge pillars, thus avoiding damage to the structure.</p><br>
<h3>Features</h3><br>
<p>The icebergs that calve from the glacier edge move towards the river mouth and get entrenched at the bottom. The movement of the icebergs fluctuates with the tide currents, as well as being affected by wind. However, they start floating as icebergs when their size is small enough to drift to the sea. These icebergs are seen in two shades: milky white and bright blue, which depends on the air trapped within the ice and is an interplay of light and ice crystals.</p><br>
<h2>Fauna</h2><br>
<p>The lake is filled with fish that drift in from the sea along with the tides. Seals gather in large numbers at the mouth of the lake to catch fish during the winter. Large numbers of seabirds, particularly Arctic terns, which nest nearby, gather to catch herring, trout, salmon, and other fish and krill. Breiðamerkursandur (the large sand deposits in the area) is the main habitat of the skua (Stercorariidae). During the summer season, the gull-like skuas have their nests on the lake&#39;s shores. The skuas, fat and dark in colour with white wings, are said to be aggressive "pirates of the seas", which harass other birds as big as gannets. They also kill and eat smaller birds such as puffins. Gannets are not afraid of human beings and also do not tolerate human beings close to their nests. These birds are reported to migrate from their wintering grounds off the coasts of Spain and Africa. Seals are seen either swimming in the lagoon or lying on icebergs. Many times, the tides carry shoals of herring or capelan into the lagoon by the tide and the birds feast on them.</p><br>
<h2>Ownership</h2><br>
<p>The Jökulsárlón Landowners Association represents the owners of the land property Fell, which covers the Jökulsárlón, also known as the Glacier Lake. This property is leased out for filming or any other commercial activity as required.</p><br>
<p>Einar Björn Einarsson is the operator of the boat trips on the Glacier Lagoon. The Landowners Association leases out the site at the lagoon front to this operator to ply the boats on the lagoon.</p><br>
<h2>Boat tours on the glacier lake</h2><br>
<p>In 1985, the premiere of the James Bond movie A View to a Kill marked the start of commercial boat tours on the lake. Guðbrandur Jóhannesson started the tours on Jökulsárlón. Jóhannesson, who today owns and operates the company, operated the tours for the first two years. In summer 1987, about 5,000 passengers sailed on the company&#39;s two small vessels. The next year, an amphibious vehicle, the LARC-V, joined the fleet. By 1995, the number of passengers per year had multiplied and the company then operated three amphibious vehicles. In 1999, Einar Björn Einarsson, a local from the nearby town of Höfn, bought the company. In 2006, the company added a fourth amphibian.</p><br>
<p>The company Jökulsárlón ehf now employs about 30 seasonal employees. For the past few years, the company has carried 60,000 to 70,000 passengers annually; since the first commercial boat tour, about 900,000 tourists have taken the excursion.</p><br>
<h2>In popular culture</h2><br>
<p>Jökulsárlón and the Breiðamerkurjökull glacier have been part of the James Bond films A View to a Kill (1985) and Die Another Day (2002), Batman Begins (2005), Beowulf and Grendel (2005), and Lara Croft: Tomb Raider</p><br>
<p>The popularity of the lake has been further boosted by the TV coverage provided live from Jökulsárlón on the American TV program Good Morning America in southeast Iceland, on 13 November 2006.</p><br>
<p>The live broadcast is reported to have been watched by four million people.</p><br>
<p>In 2014, Swedish electronic multimedia project, iamamiwhoami, filmed their music video "vista" in Jökulsárlón.</p><br>
<p>Vartholomio  is a town and a former municipality in Elis, West Greece, Greece. Since the 2011 local government reform it is part of the municipality Pineios, of which it is a municipal unit. The municipal unit has an area of 60.696 km. Its population was 5,899 in 2011, of which 3,603 lived in the town proper. The municipal unit covers the southern part of the hilly Kyllini peninsula, and the plains to the southeast. The town Vartholomio is in the plains, on the right bank of the river Pineios, which flows into the Ionian Sea south of the town.</p><br>
<p>The town was at the junction of two railway lines, one from Kavasila to Kyllini, and the branch Vartholomio–Loutra Kyllinis railway line. Both railways have been dismantled. Vartholomio is 1 km northwest of Kalyvia Myrtountion, 4 km west of Gastouni, 3 km southwest of Dimitra, 10 km southeast of Kyllini and 30 km northwest of Pyrgos.</p><br>
<p>The town has two elementary schools and one high school building, with a standard junior high school and a music oriented junior high school (the only one in Elis). There are also two churches with yards, and a town square with cafes and tavernas. In 1988 and in 2002, two big earthquakes struck the town and most buildings were damaged, including its high school.</p><br>
<h2>Population</h2><br>
<h2>Subdivisions</h2><br>
<p>The municipal unit Vartholomio is subdivided into the following communities (constituent villages in brackets):</p><br>
<p>Dimitra (Dimitra, Regklaiika)</p><br>
<p>Kalyvia Myrtountion</p><br>
<p>Lygia (Lygia, Arkoudi, Glyfa, Paralia)</p><br>
<p>Machos</p><br>
<p>Vartholomio (Vartholomio, Agios Panteleimonas, Vationas, Vranas, Thines, Kokkala, Romeika, Stroumpouli)</p><br>
<p>The village Vranas had 316 inhabitants in 2011. It is 2 km northwest of Vartholomio.</p><br>
<p>Siljan, in Dalarna in central Sweden, is Sweden&#39;s sixth largest lake. The cumulative area of Siljan and the adjacent, smaller lakes Orsasjön and Insjön is 354 km&sup2;. Siljan reaches a maximum depth of, and its surface is situated 161 m above sea level. The largest town on its shore is Mora.</p><br>
<h2>Impact crater</h2><br>
<p>The lake is located around the southwestern perimeter of the Siljan Ring (Swedish: Siljansringen), a circular geological formation which was formed 377 million years ago in the Devonian by a major meteorite impact. The original crater, now mostly eroded, is estimated to have been about 52 km (32 mi) in diameter and is the largest known impact crater in Europe (excluding Russia). The Cambrian, Ordovician and Silurian sedimentary rocks deformed by the impact are rich in fossils.</p><br>
<p>Some people suspect that there might be oil in the area, but drilling has been unsuccessful so far. There are large deposits of lead and zinc in the Boda area.</p><br>
<h2>Deep drilling project</h2><br>
<p>The government-owned power company Vattenfall drilled a deep well in search of natural gas. The project began as a deep commercial wildcat well, and its unusual location in fractured granite attracted scientific attention (e.g., as potentially significant in the context of theory of abiogenic petroleum origin).</p><br>
<p>The Gravberg-1 well location, in the north-northeast section of the ring, was chosen because a gravity anomaly indicates less dense rock below, and four seismic reflectors may represent cap rock above a natural gas reservoir. Electrical resistance is lower in the ring than outside it, suggesting the rocks contain fluid. Soil in the area showed clear traces of methane and heavy hydrocarbons, with a halo around the ring coincident with vanadium and nickel trace elements; the sediment was shown to not be the source of the hydrocarbons due to their location, ice movement pattern, and low level of maturity. Although the greatest gas leakage was in the north-northwestern corner, the lack of leakage in the central area suggested an underlying cap.</p><br>
<p>Drilling began on 1 July 1986. By September 1989 it reached 6,957 m in depth.</p><br>
<p>Four seismic reflectors were detected at 1,440 m, 2,800 m, 4,740 m and 7,400 m. The first three were penetrated and found to be dolerite sills, but the fourth had been identified before drilling as having the best potential for gas production. The dolerite is believed to have existed as much as 1/2 billion years before the meteorite impact. The granite is extensively fractured, with calcite as the principal cement down to the 3,200 m depth, with lesser amounts to 5,000 m.</p><br>
<p>Traces of methane were found at all depths, with higher levels in dolerite. Although they appear to be of abiogenic origin, only that near the dolerite sills points to a probable mantle origin. Hydrogen was found in most sections of the hole, correlated with helium. The helium isotopic pattern was consistent with a radiogenic, crustal origin.</p><br>
<p>A black sticky substance was found to be blocking the drill pipe when circulation was stopped for several days at a depth of 5,520 m. The substance was black, sticky when wet, powdery when dry, showed no fluorescence, and was strongly magnetic. None of the drilling materials showed gas chromatographic patterns which corresponded with the black substance. It contained no ordinary rock minerals, none of the granite fines expected in the drilling fluid, but is made up of microscopic magnetite held together by oils.</p><br>
<p>The well did not penetrate the fourth seismic reflector, did not produce large quantities of fuel, and never entered commercial production. Only 84 barrels of oil were produced; it was later shown to originate from organic additives, lubricants and mud used in the drilling process.</p><br>
<p>A second hole, Stenberg-1, was drilled in the center of the ring, 12 km distant from the ring sediments and from Gravberg-1. This well went to a depth of 6,500 m. The hole produced gases and oily magnetite sludge similar to those found in Gravberg-1.</p><br>
<h2>Localities in the Siljan Ring</h2><br>
<p>Leksand</p><br>
<p>Mora</p><br>
<p>Orsa</p><br>
<p>Rättvik</p><br>
<p>Boda</p><br>
<p>St Patrick&#39;s Isle  is a small tidal island off the Isle of Man in the Irish Sea, largely occupied by Peel Castle and noted for its attractive and relatively well preserved historic castle ruins.</p><br>
<h2>History</h2><br>
<p>Archeological studies have shown permanent occupation on St Patrick&#39;s Isle dating to the Late Bronze Age.</p><br>
<p>The ruins on St Patrick&#39;s Isle include St Patrick&#39;s Church and an Irish-style round tower, St German&#39;s Cathedral, and the more recent residence of Lords of Mann. The ancient cathedral was left to decay in the 18th century, never to be rebuilt. The island&#39;s steep and rocky edges made it an ideal defensive outpost. It is said to be the place where St Patrick first set foot in the Isle of Man in 444 while returning from Liverpool to Ireland. Having established Christianity, he then appointed Germanus bishop, to oversee further development of the Church. However, there is debate as to whether the name "St Patrick&#39;s Isle" pre-dates the thirteenth century.</p><br>
<p>The islet is now a tourist site within the castle walls. There is a public walk around the outside of the castle, which lines the coastal edge of the islet. It is connected to the town of Peel on the Isle of Man by a causeway over Fenella Beach, named after the character in Sir Walter Scott&#39;s Peveril of the Peak. In addition to the historic ruins, the island is partially a sealife sanctuary.</p><br>
<p>St. Patrick&#39;s Isle was originally referred to as Inis (or Ynnys) Patraic in Manx.</p><br>
<p>Medicine Lake Volcano is a large shield volcano in northeastern California about 50 km northeast of Mount Shasta. The volcano is located in a zone of east-west crustal extension east of the main axis of the Cascade Volcanic Arc and the Cascade Range. The 1 km thick shield is 35 km from east to west and 45 to 50 km from north to south, and covers more than 2,000 km&sup2;. The underlying rock has downwarped by 0.5 km under the center of the volcano. The volcano is primarily composed of basalt and basaltic andesite lava flows, and has a 7 by caldera at the center.</p><br>
<p>The Medicine Lake shield rises about 1,200 m above the Modoc Plateau to an elevation of 2,376 m. Lavas from Medicine Lake Volcano are estimated to be at least 600 km3 in volume, making Medicine Lake the largest volcano by volume in the Cascade Range (Newberry Volcano in Oregon has the second largest volume). Lava Beds National Monument lies on the northeast flank of the volcano.</p><br>
<p>Medicine Lake Volcano has been active for 500,000 years. The eruptions were gentle rather than explosive like Mount St. Helens, coating the volcano&#39;s sides with flow after flow of basaltic lava. Medicine Lake is part of the old caldera, a bowl-shaped depression in the mountain. It is believed that the Medicine Lake volcano is unique, having many small magma chambers rather than one large one.</p><br>
<h2>Caldera</h2><br>
<p>Medicine Lake is in the caldera of the volcano, which measures 7 by. The caldera may have formed by collapse after a large volume of andesite was erupted from vents along the caldera rim. The distribution of late Pleistocene vents, mostly concentrated along the rim, suggests that ring faults already existed when most of the andesite erupted. No single large eruption has been related to caldera formation. The only eruption recognized to have produced ash flow tuff occurred in late Pleistocene time, and this eruption was too small to account for formation of the caldera. Later conclusions were that Medicine Lake caldera formed by collapse in response to repeated extrusions of mostly mafic lava beginning early in the history of the volcano (perhaps in a manner similar to the formation of Kilauea caldera in Hawaii). Several small differentiated magma bodies may have been fed by and interspersed among a plexus of dikes and sills. Late Holocene andesitic to rhyolitic lavas were derived by fractionation, assimilation, and mixing from high alumina basalt parental magma. The small lake from which Medicine Lake volcano derives its name lies within the central caldera.</p><br>
<h2>Eruptive history</h2><br>
<h3>Early history</h3><br>
<p>Medicine Lake Volcano began to grow about one million years ago in Pleistocene time, following the eruption of a large volume of tholeiitic high-alumina basalt. Similar high-alumina basalt has continued to erupt around the volcano throughout its history. Although mafic lavas predominate on the volcano&#39;s flanks, all lava compositions from basalt to rhyolite have erupted during Pleistocene time. The lower flanks consist of mostly basaltic and some andesitic lavas. Basalt is mostly absent at higher elevation, where andesite dominates and rhyolite and small volumes of dacite are present. During the past 11,000 years, eruptive activity at Medicine Lake Volcano has been episodic. Eight eruptions produced about 5.3 km3 of basaltic lava during a time interval of a few hundred years about 10,500 years ago. That eruptive episode was followed by a hiatus that ended with a small andesitic eruption about 4,300 years ago. During the most recent eruptive episode between 3000 and 900 years ago, eight eruptions produced approximately 2.5 km3 of lava ranging in composition from basalt to rhyolite. Late Holocene lava compositions include basalt and andesite, but silicic lavas dominate.</p><br>
<p>Eruptive activity during Holocene time has included numerous rhyolite and dacite lava flows erupted at high elevations inside and outside the caldera; cinder cones and associated lava flows of basalt and basaltic andesite have resulted from eruptions at vents on the flanks of the shield. Most vents are aligned along zones of crustal weakness that trend North East to North West.</p><br>
<h3>Glass Mountain</h3><br>
<p>The most recent eruption occurred around 1,000 years ago when rhyolite and dacite erupted at Glass Mountain and associated vents near the caldera&#39;s eastern rim. Fitch cites reports that a light ash fall that occurred in 1910 may have come from a small eruption at Glass Mountain. No field evidence has been found to substantiate the 1910 eruption.</p><br>
<p>Glass Mountain consists of a spectacular, nearly treeless, steep-sided rhyolite and dacite obsidian flow that erupted just outside the eastern caldera rim and flowed down the steep eastern flank of Medicine Lake Volcano. Ten additional small domes of Glass Mountain rhyolite and rhyodacite lava lie on a N25degreesW trend to the north and one to the south. The age of Glass Mountain and its preceding pumice deposits has been a matter of discussion for some time. A radiocarbon dating age of 885±40 years before present (1990) was obtained on a dead incense-cedar tree without limbs or bark that is preserved in the edge of one of the distal tongues of the flow. The dated material consisted of a piece of exterior wood containing about 30 annual growth rings. This age may be too old, because some of the outside of the tree is missing. The tephra deposits that precede the flow and domes may be somewhat older but are constrained to be less than about 1050 years before present (1990) by the Little Glass Mountain and Lassen Peak data.</p><br>
<p>The Kii Peninsula is the largest peninsula on the island of Honshū in Japan. It is named after the ancient Kii Province.</p><br>
<p>The area south of the “Central Tectonic Line” is called Nanki (南紀), and includes the most poleward living coral reefs in the world due to the presence of the warm Kuroshio Current, though these are threatened by global warming and human interference. Because of the Kuroshio’s strong influence, the climate of Nankii is the wettest in the Earth’s subtropics with rainfall in the southern mountains believed to reach 5 m per year and averaging 3.85 m in the southeastern town of Owase, comparable to Ketchikan, Alaska or Tortel in southern Chile. When typhoons hit Japan, the Kii Peninsula is typically the worst affected area and daily rainfalls as high as 940 mm are not unknown.</p><br>
<p>Most of the Kii Peninsula is dense temperate rainforest since the climate even in the very limited lowlands is too wet for agriculture, and much of the coast consists of networks of small rias into which flow very steep and rapid streams characterised by a large number of high waterfalls. Forestry and fishing were the traditional economic mainstays of the region and remain important even today despite a declining population and labour force.</p><br>
<h2>Location</h2><br>
<p>Wakayama Prefecture occupies much of the area, including the entire southern part. To the northwest of Wakayama Prefecture is Osaka Prefecture, whose southern part is on the peninsula. East of Osaka Prefecture is landlocked Nara Prefecture; farther east is Mie Prefecture.</p><br>
<p>The Seto Inland Sea lies to the west of the Kii Peninsula. To the south and east is the Pacific Ocean and to the north is the valley of the Kiso Three Rivers and Ise Bay.</p><br>
<h2>Notable places</h2><br>
<p>Notable places in the Kii Peninsula include :</p><br>
<p>Nara, former capital of Japan.</p><br>
<p>Mount Koya (or Kōyasan), the headquarters of the Shingon sect of Buddhism.</p><br>
<p>Wakayama, former home of the Kii (or Kishu) Tokugawa clan. It is the location of the Hinokuma Shrine that is pursuant to Grand Shrine of Ise.</p><br>
<p>Matsuzaka, now the center of a major beef-producing area, formerly the center of Ise merchants.</p><br>
<p>Ise, the location of the Grand Shrine of Ise and center of pearl production.</p><br>
<p>Yoshino District, a wild area of heavily forested deep mountains, home of the Southern Imperial Court during the Nanboku-chō period of Japanese history.</p><br>
<p>Kumano Region, home of the Kumano Shrines and the Nachi Waterfall. Another name is Muro District.</p><br>
<p>Kushimoto, Wakayama, the southernmost point in Honshū.</p><br>
<p>Taiji, Wakayama, the birthplace of the Japanese traditional whaling.</p><br>
<p>The Kii Peninsula is the location of a UNESCO World Heritage Site: Sacred Sites and Pilgrimage Routes in the Kii Mountain Range.</p><br>
<p>In 2004, UNESCO designated three other locations on the Kii Peninsula as World Heritage Sites. They are:</p><br>
<p>Yoshino and Mount Omine, mountainous areas in the north of the peninsula.</p><br>
<p>Kumano Shrines, three shrines at the southern tip of the peninsula.</p><br>
<p>Mount Koya, the mountain at the west of the peninsula</p><br>
<h2>Transportation</h2><br>
<p>Nanki-Shirahama Airport in Shirahama serves the southern part of the Kii Peninsula.</p><br>
<p>Kisei Main Line connects Wakayama to Mie Prefecture and runs along the peninsula&#39;s coastline.</p><br>
<p>Öskjuvatn is a lake in the Highlands of Iceland. Its surface area is about 11 km². With a depth of 217 m, it is the second deepest lake in Iceland after Jökulsárlón.</p><br>
<p>The lake is situated in the crater of the volcano Askja in the north-east of the glacier Vatnajökull. Its name simply means the lake of Askja. Like the neighbouring crater Víti, it was created by an enormous volcanic eruption in 1875.</p><br>
<p>On July 10, 1907, two German scientists, Walter von Knebel and Max Rudloff disappeared while exploring the lake in a small boat. Knebel&#39;s fiancée, Ina von Grumbkow, led an expedition in search of them with a vulcanologist Hans Reck, but no trace of them was ever found. Suppositions at the time suggested that seismic volcanic disturbances could have caused a landslip or similar occurrence, and recorded that only two days previously the telegraph cable to Iceland had been broken by deep water disturbances for the first time since it was laid, close to the Icelandic coast.</p><br>
<p>The Flint River is a 344 mi river in the USA state of Georgia. The river drains 8,460 square miles of western Georgia, flowing south from the upper Piedmont region south of Atlanta to the wetlands of the Gulf Coastal Plain in the southwestern corner of the state. Along with the Apalachicola and the Chattahoochee rivers, it forms part of the ACF basin. In its upper course through the red hills of the Piedmont, it is considered especially scenic, flowing unimpeded for over 200 mi. Historically, it was also called the</p><br>
<p>Thronateeska River.</p><br>
<h2>Description</h2><br>
<p>The Flint River rises in west central Georgia in the city of East Point in southern Fulton County on the southern outskirts of the Atlanta metropolitan area as ground seepage. The exact start can be traced to the field located between Plant Street, Willingham Drive, Elm Street, and Vesta Avenue. It travels under the runways of the Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport. Flowing generally south through rural western Georgia, the river passes through Sprewell Bluff State Park, approximately 10 mi west of Thomaston. Farther south, it comes within 5 mi of Andersonville, the site of the Andersonville prison during the Civil War.</p><br>
<p>In southwestern Georgia, the river flows through downtown Albany, the largest city on the river. At Bainbridge it joins Lake Seminole, formed at its confluence with the Chattahoochee River upstream from the Jim Woodruff Dam, very near the Florida state line. From this confluence, the Apalachicola River flows south from the reservoir through Florida to the Gulf of Mexico.</p><br>
<p>The Flint River is fed by Kinchafoonee Creek just north of Albany, and by Ichawaynochaway Creek in southwestern Mitchell County, approximately 15 mi northeast of Bainbridge.</p><br>
<p>In addition to Lake Seminole, the Flint River is impounded approximately 15 mi upstream from Albany to form the Lake Blackshear reservoir.</p><br>
<p>The Flint River is one of only 40 rivers in the nation to flow more than 200 mi unimpeded by dams or other manmade systems, and is increasingly valued for that. In the 1970s, a plan by the USA Army Corps of Engineers to build a dam at Sprewell Bluff in Upson County was defeated by the Jimmy Carter, Governor of Georgia, and other supporters. Carter&#39;s hometown of Plains is located near the Flint River.</p><br>
<h2>Natural history</h2><br>
<p>The river is considered to have three distinct sections as it flows southward through western Georgia. In its upper reaches in the red hills of the Piedmont, it flows through a deeply incised channel etched into crystalline rocks. South of its fall line near Culloden, the channel transforms to a broad, forested swampy flood plain. South of Lake Blackshear, it transforms again, flowing through a channel in limestone rock above the Upper Floridan Aquifer below southwestern Georgia and northwestern Florida.</p><br>
<p>The river has been prone to floods throughout its history. In 1994, during flooding from Tropical Storm Alberto, the river crested at 43 ft in Albany, resulting in the emergency evacuation of over 23,000 residents. It caused one of the worst natural disasters in the state&#39;s history. Interstate 75 was closed in Macon, and Albany State University was also seriously flooded, as the river became a few miles or several kilometers wide in some places. The water lifted caskets from cemeteries and left them, along with drowned cattle and other livestock, stuck in trees and other places.</p><br>
<p>Montezuma, Georgia was completely inundated after the Flint River topped the 29-foot levee protecting the town from floodwater. The official depth of the river at the height of the flood was estimated at 34 feet. The nearby gauge was underwater, making it impossible to get an accurate reading. Cleanup and restoration of Albany took months to complete. In 1998 another serious flood occurred in Albany, but it was not as damaging as the one of 1994. Bainbridge also flooded in 1998. Other significant floods occurred in 1841 and 1925.</p><br>
<p>In January 2002, a winter storm blew through Atlanta the day after New Years Day. The airports drainage system overflowed, resulting in deicing fluid leaking into the river. Although the antifreeze entered the drinking water of some residents, no one became seriously ill. The airport changed its drainage system to prevent the problem in the future. No problems were reported after an unusually heavy 4 in of rain officially fell at the airport at the beginning of March 2009.</p><br>
<p>In May 2009, the National Fish Habitat Action Plan named the Lower Flint River one of its "10 Waters to Watch" for 2009 for its habitat restoration work. In October 2009, AmericanRivers.org declared the Flint to be one of the most endangered rivers in the country, mainly due to new plans to put a dam on it.</p><br>
<p>The Flint is one of four rivers in the southeast with significant remaining populations of Hymenocallis coronaria, the Shoals spider-lily. Four separate stands of the plant have been studied and documented in the river, ranging from Yellow Jacket Shoals to Hightower Shoals.</p><br>
<h2>In popular culture</h2><br>
<p>In Gone With the Wind, author Margaret Mitchell describes the Flint River as bordering the fictional plantation Tara.</p><br>
<p>Maro Reef  is a largely submerged coral atoll located in the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands. It was discovered in 1820 by Captain Joseph Allen of the ship Maro, after whose ship the reef was named. With a total area of 747 square miles, it is the largest coral reef in the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands. It contains 37 species of stony coral. Unlike most atolls, the coral extends out from the center like spokes on a wheel. Located about 850 mi northwest of Honolulu, Hawaii, Maro Reef contains about 1 acre of dry land which itself can be submerged depending on the tides. Some scientists believe that it "may be on the verge of drowning" because the reefs are detached and are vulnerable to strong storm waves.</p><br>
<p>USNS Mission San Miguel (T-AO-129) ran aground on the reef, while running at full speed and in ballast, and sank on October 8, 1957.</p><br>
<p>Laki or Lakagígar  is a volcanic fissure in the south of Iceland, not far from the canyon of Eldgjá and the small village of Kirkjubæjarklaustur. Lakagígar is the correct name, as Laki mountain itself did not erupt, as fissures opened up on each side of it. Lakagígar is part of a volcanic system centered on the volcano Grímsvötn and including the volcano Thordarhyrna. It lies between the glaciers of Mýrdalsjökull and Vatnajökull, in an area of fissures that run in a southwest to northeast direction.</p><br>
<p>The system erupted violently over an eight-month period between June 1783 and February 1784 from the Laki fissure and the adjoining volcano Grímsvötn, pouring out an estimated 42 billion tons 14 km3 of basalt lava and clouds of poisonous hydrofluoric acid and sulfur dioxide compounds that contaminated the soil, leading to the death of over 50% of Icelands livestock population, and the destruction of the vast majority of all crops. This led to a famine which then killed approximately 25% of the islands human population. The lava flows also destroyed 20 villages.</p><br>
<p>The Laki eruption and its aftermath caused a drop in global temperatures, as 120 million tons of sulfur dioxide was spewed into the Northern Hemisphere. This caused crop failures in Europe and may have caused droughts in North Africa and India.</p><br>
<h2>1783 eruption</h2><br>
<p>On 8 June 1783, a 25 km (15.5 mi) long fissure with 130 craters opened with phreatomagmatic explosions because of the groundwater interacting with the rising basalt magma. Over a few days the eruptions became less explosive, Strombolian, and later Hawaiian in character, with high rates of lava effusion. This event is rated as 4 on the Volcanic Explosivity Index, but the eight-month emission of sulfuric aerosols resulted in one of the most important climatic and socially repercussive events of the last millennium.</p><br>
<p>The eruption, also known as the Skaftáreldar ("Skaftá fires") or Síðueldur, produced an estimated 14 km3 of basalt lava, and the total volume of tephra emitted was 0.91 km3. Lava fountains were estimated to have reached heights of 800 to 1400 m. The gases were carried by the convective eruption column to altitudes of about 15 km.</p><br>
<p>The eruption continued until 7 February 1784, but most of the lava was ejected in the first five months. Grímsvötn volcano, from which the Laki fissure extends, was also erupting at the time, from 1783 until 1785. The outpouring of gases, including an estimated 8 million tons of hydrogen fluoride and an estimated 120 million tons of sulfur dioxide, gave rise to what has since become known as the "Laki haze" across Europe.</p><br>
<h3>Consequences in Iceland</h3><br>
<p>The consequences for Iceland, known as the Móðuharðindin "Mist Hardships", were disastrous. An estimated 20–25% of the population died in the famine and fluoride poisoning after the fissure eruptions ensued. Around 80% of sheep, 50% of cattle and 50% of horses died because of dental fluorosis and skeletal fluorosis from the 8 million tons of hydrogen fluoride that were released.</p><br>
<p>The parish priest and dean of Vestur-Skaftafellssýsla, Jón Steingrímsson (1728–1791), grew famous because of the eldmessa ("fire sermon") that he delivered on 20 July 1783. The people of the small settlement of Kirkjubæjarklaustur were worshipping while the village was endangered by a lava stream, which ceased to flow not far from town, with the townsfolk still in church.</p><br>
<h3>Consequences in monsoon regions</h3><br>
<p>There is evidence that the Laki eruption weakened African and Indian monsoon circulations, leading to between 1 and less daily precipitation than normal over the Sahel of Africa, resulting in, among other effects, low flow in the River Nile. The eruption was also found to have affected the southern Arabian Peninsula and India.</p><br>
<h3>Consequences in Europe</h3><br>
<p>An estimated 120,000,000 LT of sulphur dioxide was emitted, about three times the total annual European industrial output in 2006 (but delivered to higher altitudes, hence more persistent), and equivalent to six times the total 1991 Mount Pinatubo eruption. This outpouring of sulphur dioxide during unusual weather conditions caused a thick haze to spread across western Europe, resulting in many thousands of deaths throughout the remainder of 1783 and the winter of 1784.</p><br>
<p>The summer of 1783 was the hottest on record and a rare high-pressure zone over Iceland caused the winds to blow to the south-east. The poisonous cloud drifted to Bergen in Denmark–Norway, then spread to Prague in the Kingdom of Bohemia (now the Czech Republic) by 17 June, Berlin by 18 June, Paris by 20 June, Le Havre by 22 June, and Great Britain by 23 June. The fog was so thick that boats stayed in port, unable to navigate, and the sun was described as "blood coloured".</p><br>
<p>Inhaling sulphur dioxide gas causes victims to choke as their internal soft tissue swells – the gas reacts with the moisture in lungs and produces sulfurous acid. The local death rate in Chartres was up by 5% during August and September, with more than 40 dead. In Great Britain, the records show that the additional deaths were among outdoor workers; the death rate in Bedfordshire, Lincolnshire and the east coast was perhaps two or three times the normal rate. It has been estimated that 23,000 British people died from the poisoning.</p><br>
<p>The weather became very hot, causing severe thunderstorms with large hailstones that were reported to have killed cattle, until the haze dissipated in the autumn. The winter of 1783–1784 was very severe; the naturalist Gilbert White in Selborne, Hampshire, reported 28 days of continuous frost. The extreme winter is estimated to have caused 8,000 additional deaths in the UK. During the spring thaw, Germany and Central Europe reported severe flood damage.</p><br>
<p>The meteorological impact of Laki continued, contributing significantly to several years of extreme weather in Europe. In France, the sequence of extreme weather events included a surplus harvest in 1785 that caused poverty for rural workers, as well as droughts, bad winters and summers. These events contributed significantly to an increase in poverty and famine that may have contributed to the French Revolution in 1789. Laki was only one factor in a decade of climatic disruption, as Grímsvötn was erupting from 1783 to 1785, and there may have been an unusually strong El Niño effect from 1789 to 1793.</p><br>
<h3>Consequences in North America</h3><br>
<p>In North America, the winter of 1784 was the longest and one of the coldest on record. It was the longest period of below-zero temperatures in New England, with the largest accumulation of snow in New Jersey, and the longest freezing over of Chesapeake Bay, where Annapolis, Maryland is, then the capital of the United States; the weather delayed Congressmen in coming to Annapolis to vote for the Treaty of Paris, which formally ended the American Revolutionary War. A huge snowstorm hit the South; the Mississippi River froze at New Orleans and there were reports of ice floes in the Gulf of Mexico.</p><br>
<h3>Contemporary reports</h3><br>
<p>Gilbert White recorded his perceptions of the event at Selborne, Hampshire, England:</p><br>
<p>Benjamin Franklin recorded his observations in America in a 1784 lecture:</p><br>
<p>Note that, according to contemporary records, Hekla did not erupt in 1783; its previous eruption was in 1766. The Laki fissure eruption was 45 mi to the east and the Grímsvötn volcano was erupting about 75 mi north east. Additionally Katla, only 31 mi south east, was still renowned after its spectacular eruption 28 years earlier in 1755.</p><br>
<p>Sir John Cullum of Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk, England, recorded his observations on 23 June 1783 (the same date on which Gilbert White noted the onset of the unusual atmospheric phenomena), in a letter to Sir Joseph Banks, then President of the Royal Society:</p><br>
<p>Sir John goes on to describe the effect of this "frost" on trees and crops:</p><br>
<p>Eldgjá  is a volcano and a canyon in Iceland. Eldgjá and the Katla volcano are part of the same volcanic system in the south of the country.</p><br>
<p>Situated between Landmannalaugar and Kirkjubæjarklaustur, Eldgjá is the largest volcanic canyon in the world, approx. 40 km long, 270 m deep and 600 m wide at its greatest. It was discovered by Þorvaldur Thoroddsen in 1893.</p><br>
<p>The first documented eruption in 934 (or 939) was the largest flood basalt in historic time. The areal extent of the lava is around 800 km. An estimated 18 km of magma poured out of the earth.</p><br>
<p>There is a waterfall named Ófærufoss within the canyon. A natural bridge across the waterfall vanished in 1993 due to excess water from melting ice.</p><br>
<p>The northern part of Eldgjá, including Ófærufoss, and surrounding areas, have been a part of Vatnajökull National Park since 2011.</p><br>
<p>Champagne Castle is a mountain in the central Drakensberg range, and is the second highest peak in South Africa. It contains a series of subsidiary peaks, amongst them, Cathkin Peak , Sterkhorn , Monk&#39;s Cowl and Dragon&#39;s Back.</p><br>
<p>It is said that when two intrepid mountaineers, David Gray and Major Grantham, climbed the peaks directly in front of Cathkin, they were about to celebrate their long haul by popping a bottle of champagne. But as fate would have it, the guide dropped the bottle on a rock – and in that moment Champagne Castle in the heart of the Drakensberg was christened.</p><br>
<p>Cathkin Peak was named after the residence of a Lanarkshire immigrant, Stephan Snyman, who named his home after Cathkin Braes, a hill in Glasgow.</p><br>
<p>As is the common trend in the Drakensberg, surrounding hotels and resorts have been named after Champagne Castle, Monk&#39;s Cowl and Cathkin Peak.</p><br>
<p>Giants Castle is a mountain peak in the southern African Drakensberg in KwaZulu Natal. Giants Castle offers visitors to the regions hiking opportunities with panoramic views. The Nature Reserve offers secluded accommodation, bushman rock art with easy access for everyone and about the best base to start a Drakensberg hiking experience. The area is one of many of South Africas adventure areas, and plays host to the Giants Challenge MTB marathon in April each year.</p><br>
<p>Lying at the southern end of the central Drakensberg Giant’s Castle, which gets its name from the outline of the peaks and escarpment that combine to resemble the profile of a sleeping giant, is essentially a grassy plateau that nestles among the deep valleys of this part of the Drakensberg.</p><br>
<p>Giants Castle Game Reserve is considered the home of the eland as well as the bearded vulture. Another Giants Castle highlight is the superb bushman rock art at main caves which is easy to get to and well presented.</p><br>
<p>Formerly the renowned Lammergeier Hide was open for visitors to watch bearded vultures and other endangered bird species. This facility has since fallen into disrepair.</p><br>
<h2>Hiking Trails</h2><br>
<p>There are in excess of 25 walks in the Giant’s Castle Game Reserve. The 285 km network of trails here includes 3 km to 30 km hikes, spanning from 1 hour to overnight.</p><br>
<p>There are currently 14 recognized escarpment passes in the region (listed north to south):</p><br>
<p>Corner Pass</p><br>
<p>Around the Corner Pass (variation route on Corner Pass with alternative summit)</p><br>
<p>Judge Pass</p><br>
<p>Gypaetus Pass (opened in September 2012)</p><br>
<p>Bannerman Pass</p><br>
<p>Thumb Pass (opened in 1997)</p><br>
<p>North Hlubi Pass</p><br>
<p>South Hlubi Pass</p><br>
<p>Langalibalele Pass</p><br>
<p>Bond Pass (opened in 2014)</p><br>
<p>North Jarding/Jarateng Pass</p><br>
<p>Central Jarding/Jarateng Pass</p><br>
<p>South Jarding/Jarateng Pass</p><br>
<p>Giant&#39;s Castle Pass</p><br>
<p>The Bushman’s River Trail is one of the most popular walks in the reserve. Points of interest along this route include Sandstone View and the historic Rock 75, where a cook from the 75th Regiment on Foot carved the figure 75 into a boulder during the Langalibalele rebellion in 1874. The highlight of this trail is the Main Caves, with one of the best known rock-art sites in South Africa</p><br>
<p>Grímsvötn  is a volcano in South-East Iceland. It is in the highlands of Iceland at the northwestern side of the Vatnajökull ice-cap. The caldera is at {{coord|64|25|N|17|20|W|}}, at an elevation of 1,725 m. Beneath the caldera is the magma chamber of the Grímsvötn volcano.</p><br>
<p>Grímsvötn is a basaltic volcano which has the highest eruption frequency of all the volcanoes in Iceland and has a southwest-northeast-trending fissure system. The massive climate-impacting Laki fissure eruption of 1783–1784 was a part of the same fissure system. Grímsvötn was erupting at the same time as Laki during 1783, but continued to erupt until 1785. Because most of the volcano lies underneath Vatnajökull, most of its eruptions have been subglacial and the interaction of magma and meltwater from the ice causes phreatomagmatic explosive activity.</p><br>
<p>On 21 May 2011 at 19:25 UTC, an eruption began, with 12 km high plumes accompanied by multiple earthquakes, resulting in cancellation of 900 flights in Iceland,</p><br>
<h2>Jökulhlaup</h2><br>
<p>Eruptions in the caldera regularly cause glacial outbursts known as jökulhlaup. Eruptions melt enough ice to fill the Grímsvötn caldera with water, and the pressure may be enough to suddenly lift the icecap, allowing huge quantities of water to escape rapidly. Consequently, the Grímsvötn caldera is monitored very carefully.</p><br>
<p>When a large eruption occurred in 1996, geologists knew well in advance that a glacial burst was imminent. It did not occur until several weeks after the eruption finished, but monitoring ensured that the Icelandic ring road (Hringvegur) was closed when the burst occurred. A section of road across the Skeiðará sandur was washed away in the ensuing flood, but no one was hurt.</p><br>
<h2>1998 and 2004 eruptions</h2><br>
<p>&lt;!-- new photographs needed</p><br>
<p>A week-long eruption occurred at Grímsvötn starting on 28 December 1998, but no glacial burst occurred. In November 2004, a week-long eruption occurred. Volcanic ash from the eruption fell as far away as mainland Europe and caused short-term disruption of airline traffic into Iceland, but again no glacial burst followed the eruption.</p><br>
<h2>2011 eruption</h2><br>
<p>Harmonic tremors were recorded twice around Grímsvötn on 2 and 3 October 2010, possibly indicating an impending eruption. At the same time, sudden inflation was measured by GPS in the volcano, indicating magma movement under the mountain. On 1 November 2010 meltwater from the Vatnajökull glacier was flowing into the lake, suggesting that an eruption of the underlying volcano.</p><br>
<p>On 21 May 2011 at 19:25 UTC, an eruption began, with 12 km high plumes accompanied by multiple earthquakes.</p><br>
<p>The ash cloud from the eruption rose to 20 km, and is so far 10 times larger than the 2004 eruption, and the strongest in Grímsvötn in the last 100 years.</p><br>
<p>Disruption to air travel in Iceland commenced on 22 May, followed by Greenland, Scotland, Norway, Svalbard and a small part of Denmark on subsequent days. On 24 May the disruption spread to Northern Ireland and to airports in northern England. The cancellation of 900 out of 90,000 European flights in the period 23–25 May was much less widespread than the 2010 disruption after the Eyjafjallajökull eruption.</p><br>
<h2>Bacteria in the subglacial lakes</h2><br>
<p>In 2004, a community of bacteria was detected in water of the Grímsvötn lake under the glacier, the first time that bacteria have been found in a subglacial lake. The lakes never freeze because of the volcanic heat. The bacteria can also survive at low concentrations of oxygen. The site is a possible analogue for life on the planet Mars, because there are also traces of volcanism and glaciers on Mars and thus the findings could help identify how to look for life on Mars.</p><br>
<h2>Future trends</h2><br>
<p>Studies indicate that volcanic activity in Iceland rises and falls so that the frequency and size of eruptions in and around the Vatnajökull ice cap varies with time. It is believed that four eruptions, that have taken place in the last fifteen years, are the beginning of an active period, during which an eruption in Grímsvötn in Vatnajökull may be expected every 2–7 years. Parallel volcanic activity in nearby Bárðarbunga is known to be associated with increased activity in Grímsvötn. Seismic activity has been increasing in the area in recent years, indicating the entry of magma.</p><br>
<p>Þingvallavatn, anglicised as Thingvallavatn, is a rift valley lake in southwestern Iceland. With a surface of 84 km² it is the largest natural lake in Iceland. Its greatest depth is 114 m. At the northern shore of the lake, at Þingvellir , the Alþingi, the national parliament, was founded in the year 930, and held its sessions there until 1799 and still as of today the name Alþingi Íslendinga is carried by the parliament of Iceland.</p><br>
<p>The lake lies partially within Þingvellir National Park. The volcanic origin of the islands in the lake is clearly visible. The cracks and faults around it, of which the Almannagjá ravine is the largest, is where the Eurasian and North American tectonic plates meet. Silfra fissure is a popular scuba and snorkeling site. The only outflow from lake Þingvallavatn is the river Sog.</p><br>
<p>One of the noted features of the lake is the presence of four morphs of the Arctic charr.</p><br>
<p>The Arlington Memorial Bridge is a Neoclassical masonry, steel, and stone arch bridge with a central bascule  that crosses the Potomac River at Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States. First proposed in 1886, the bridge went unbuilt for decades thanks to political quarrels over whether the bridge should be a memorial, and to whom or what. Traffic problems associated with the dedication of the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier in November 1921 and the desire to build a bridge in time for the bicentennial of the birth of George Washington led to its construction in 1932.</p><br>
<p>Designed by the architectural firm McKim, Mead, and White, decorated with monumental statues depicting valor and sacrifice by sculptor Leo Friedlander, cast by Ferdinando Marinelli Artistic Foundry, Florence, Italy, Arlington Memorial Bridge defines the western end of the National Mall. The bridge&#39;s draw span was permanently closed in 1961. The bridge has received minor repairs, but as of 2013, never a major overhaul and is deteriorating. The bridge is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.</p><br>
<p>The Bridge&#39;s Draw Span will be restored in August 2016 and the bridge will be operated after restoration.</p><br>
<h2>Early attempts to build a bridge</h2><br>
<h3>Early memorial bridge proposals</h3><br>
<p>Congress first proposed a bridge at the site of the current structure on May 24, 1886. The resolution required that the United States Department of War study the feasibility of a bridge at the site, and a 24 ft wide design was proposed later that year. The following year, the War Department suggested a "Lincoln-Grant Memorial Bridge". The Washington Post supported the idea of naming the bridge after both Robert E. Lee and Grant. Congress again passed a resolution requesting another design, and in late 1887 the department proposed a "General Ulysses S. Grant Memorial Bridge". The new bridge would be a suspension bridge 105 ft high, with 98 ft of clearance below it. Designs for the bridge at this time included a bare steel truss bridge, a low masonry arch bridge, and a Romanesque Revival structure by Paul J. Pelz with two massive central towers, two barbicans on each end, and exuberant ornamentation. Senator John W. Daniel sponsored legislation in 1897 funding a survey of the bedrock in the Potomac River. Congress approved the legislation the same year, and the United States Army Corps of Engineers began the survey in July. The survey was delivered in March 1898.</p><br>
<p>Because the bridge was conceived as a memorial to Grant, Congress repeatedly blocked funding for the bridge. But after the Corps&#39; survey was complete, Congress authorized the Secretary of War to expend $5,000 ($ in dollars) on a bridge design competition. To help improve the prospects for a bridge, a "National Memorial Bridge Association" was formed. In July, four prominent bridge engineers from New York City — George S. Morrison, Leffert L. Buck, William H. Burr, and William R. Hutton — were invited to submit designs for a memorial bridge to honor American war dead. A five-member board appointed by the Secretary of War selected a design by William H. Burr and architect Edward P. Casey (designer of the Taft Bridge). Their design, based on the 1887 winning plan, called for a drawbridge made of steel and stone with 36 arches. A "classical" tower sat over each end of the draw span, on top of which would stand bronze statues of Victory. Statues of famous generals and statesmen (in either bronze or granite) would line both sides of the bridge.</p><br>
<p>Senator George F. Hoar blocked the bridge from being built in June 1900 because he opposed the design. The National Memorial Bridge Association began pushing again for a bridge in October 1900, and commissioned Connecticut architect George Keller to design plans. Kellers design went on display in Washington in November. Contrary to almost all previous designs, his bridge was low to the water and eliminated a draw span. His design featured a monumental Romanesque Revival arch for the D.C. approaches and a memorial column celebrating the Union on the Virginia side, both to be placed in traffic circles. Kellers design was published in architectural magazines, and by 1901 was widely seen as the appropriate design for the bridge.</p><br>
<p>In 1901, the American Institute of Architects proposed that the bridge extend New York Avenue NW (which then ended at 23rd Street NW) over the Potomac to Arlington National Cemetery. But once more, Congress did not act.</p><br>
<h3>McMillan Plan proposal</h3><br>
<p>In 1900, the USA Senate created the Senate Park Commission to reconcile competing visions for the development of Washington, D.C., and especially the National Mall and nearby areas. Popularly known as the McMillan Commission after its chairman, Senator James McMillan of Michigan, the commission issued its report (commonly referred to as the "McMillan Plan") on January 15, 1902.</p><br>
<p>The McMillan Plan proposed siting a major new bridge and memorial at the western end of the National Mall, an area also known as West Potomac Park. Almost none of the National Mall west of the Washington Monument grounds and below Constitution Avenue NW existed prior to 1882. After terrible flooding inundated much of downtown Washington, D.C., in 1881, Congress ordered the Army Corps of Engineers to dredge a deep channel in the Potomac and use the material to fill in the Potomac shoreline (creating the current banks of the river) and raise this and much of the land near the White House and along Pennsylvania Avenue NW by nearly 6 ft to prevent future flooding. This "reclaimed land" — which included West Potomac Park, East Potomac Park, the Tidal Basin — was largely complete by 1890, and designated Potomac Park by Congress in 1897. Congress first appropriated money for the beautification of the reclaimed land in 1902, which led to the planting of sod, bushes, and trees; grading and paving of sidewalks, bridle paths, and driveways; and the installation of water, drainage, and sewage pipes.</p><br>
<p>Although Congress did not formally adopt the McMillan Plan, it began to implement it piecemeal over the next several years. In 1910, Congress enacted legislation establishing the United States Commission of Fine Arts, a body of federally-appointed architects, landscape architects, and others who began to formally push for construction of the bridge envisioned by the McMillan Plan. On March 4, 1913, Congress enacted the Public Buildings Act which, among other things, created and funded an Arlington Memorial Bridge Commission whose purpose was to settle on a design for the bridge and report back to Congress. Its members included the President of the United States, President of the Senate, Speaker of the House of Representatives, and the chairs of the committees on public grounds and buildings of the House and Senate (or their designees). But Congress appropriated no money for the commission&#39;s operation due to the onset of World War I, and it remained inactive.</p><br>
<h2>Construction: 1922-32</h2><br>
<p>On November 11, 1921, President Warren G. Harding traveled to the dedication ceremony for the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier at Arlington National Cemetery. He became caught in a three-hour traffic jam because Highway Bridge (on which he traveled) could not handle the traffic. Resolving to prevent that from happening again, Harding sought an appropriation of $25,000 in 1922 to fund the work of the bridge commission. Congress approved his request on June 12, 1922.</p><br>
<p>Initially, the Arlington Memorial Bridge Commission proposed a site for the bridge at the New York Avenue site, upstream from its current position. But the Commission of Fine Arts (CFA), which had legislative authority to approve the siting and design of memorials, opposed the plan. With President Harding presiding, the Arlington Memorial Bridge Commission held a joint meeting with Vice President Calvin Coolidge and the Commission of Fine Arts on December 18, 1922, at which time it was unanimously decided to adhere to the McMillan Plan and site the bridge on a line of sight between the Lincoln Memorial and Arlington House in Arlington National Cemetery. The parties also agreed to seek to construct a low (rather than monumental) bridge with a bascule (drawbridge) in the center to permit ship traffic to reach the Georgetown waterfront.</p><br>
<h3>Bridge design considerations</h3><br>
<p>The bridge commission asked the Commission of Fine Arts whether there should be an open design competition (as in the past) or whether the bridge commission should pick a designer itself. The CFA recommended a direct selection, and provided the names of three firms: Charles A. Platt, who designed the Freer Gallery of Art; Paul Philippe Cret, who designed the Pan-American Union Building; and the firm of McKim, Mead and White. The bridge commission chose a direct selection, and picked the firm of McKim, Mead and White on April 4, 1923. Architect William Mitchell Kendall was the lead designer.</p><br>
<p>Members of the D.C. business community immediately pressed for resolution on whether the bridge would have a draw span. Merchants in Georgetown wanted their small harbor to be reachable by large ships. On February 17, 1923, Colonel C.O. Sherrill of the Army Corps of Engineers stated that the Corps would only approve a bridge with a draw span.</p><br>
<p>Kendalls first design, submitted to the CFA in May 1923, was generally well received. His plan envisioned a low, Neoclassical arch bridge. Two statues stood atop each pier on both sides of the bridge. The D.C. approaches consisted of a traffic circle around the Lincoln Memorial linked to the Potomac River by a plaza and monumental steps (the "watergate"). Two memorial columns were placed in this plaza. On the Columbia Island landing, Kendall envisioned a gigantic crossarm circumscribed by a grassy ellipse, with traffic circles at the terminus of the north and south arms. The traffic circles would accommodate Lee Highway and the Mt. Vernon Memorial Parkway. Within the ellipse were placed two 181 ft tall memorial columns. Two circular Greek Revival temples were planned for the western shoreline. The commission was especially pleased that Kendall had the Rock Creek and Potomac Parkway linked to the traffic circle around the Lincoln Memorial rather than passing beneath the bridge via an arch. (Kendall had, in fact, intended to pass it through one of the bridges arches but forgot to make the change.) However, CFA members asked that he consider widening the bridge to 100 ft from the proposed 80 ft. The CFA also discussed at length its long-standing proposal for a major traffic circle on Columbia Island, within which would be placed a memorial to Robert E. Lee. There was also concern whether enough space had been allotted to permit the Mount Vernon Memorial Parkway, Lee Highway, and Memorial Drive (which was planned to cross the Boundary Channel via the Boundary Channel Bridge into Virginia and link with the main gate to Arlington National Cemetery). When the CFA gave its preliminary approval to the bridge design (but withheld a resolution on the approaches), models of the bridge went on public display in February 1924.</p><br>
<h3>Legislative approval</h3><br>
<p>A bill authorizing construction of Arlington Memorial Bridge was introduced in the USA Senate on April 25, 1924, by Senator Bert M. Fernald. The Senate Committee on Public Buildings and Grounds reported out the bill in mid-May. But the legislation languished. With Congress due to adjourn on March 4, 1925, the Senate finally passed the bridge bill on December 30, 1924. Senator William Borah made a motion to reconsider the bill in late January 1925, Borahs motion did not ask the House to return the Senate-passed bill, so his motion would not affect the bills passage either way.</p><br>
<p>The bridge authorization faced a far more difficult time in the USA House of Representatives. The House Committee on Public Buildings and Grounds speedily approved the bill and reported it on January 27, 1925, less than a month after receiving it from the Senate. But with a legislative logjam in the House and only about 30 days left in the legislative session, the bill&#39;s chances for approval seemed slim. Floor managers helping to guide the bill through the final approval process tried to bring the bill up for approval on January 30, believing they had the necessary two-thirds majority to suspend the rules to allow the bill to be considered. Instead, the House voted to suspend the legislative calendar — blocking all legislative except for appropriations bills.</p><br>
<p>Floor managers won a major victory, however, when the House quickly passed the appropriations legislation and allowed the bridge bill to be considered on February 18. There was significant opposition to the bill on the House floor. Many Democrats opposed the bill, and several Republicans felt it went against President Calvin Coolidges budgetary restraint program. Many members of Congress received feedback from their constituents, who did not want their tax dollars to pay for a bridge in the District of Columbia. Representative Louis C. Cramton offered an amendment to the District of Columbia pay an "equitable amount" of the bridges cost. (The amount was to be established by Congress at a future date.) His amendment passed by a vote of 103-to-89. Amendments to make the city pay 60 percent of the cost, to make the state of Virginia pay half the cost, and require the Army Corps of Engineers to build the bridge were defeated. Finally, the House approved the Arlington Memorial Bridge bill by a vote of 204-to-125.</p><br>
<p>The Senate agreed to the House amendments on February 20, and President Coolidge signed it into law on February 24, 1925. In 1926 Comptroller General John R. McCarl voided contracts for the construction of the $12.5 million bridge because they called for the hiring of a general contractor and not specific individuals, as he believed the law required. In 1927, Congress changed the law so the contracts could proceed.</p><br>
<h3>Bridge construction</h3><br>
<p>The Arlington Memorial Bridge Commission oversaw the design and construction of the bridge. Arlington Memorial Bridge opened on January 16, 1932. The dedication ceremony was headed by President Herbert Hoover. Designed by architectural firm McKim, Mead, and White, the neoclassical bridge is 2,163 ft long. The bridge cost $7.25 million to build, of which $900,000 was attributed to the center draw span.</p><br>
<p>Construction of the Virginia approaches to the bridge took six years. The National Capital Parks Commission (NCPC) had authority to plan and approve regional transportation plans, and wanted the Virginia approaches to the bridge to be new roads. This would help stimulate housing and economic growth in Arlington County. The state of Virginia (which would provide some of the funding for the approaches) and Arlington County officials wrestled with the problems of cost and development. New roads and approaches would be the most costly (largely due to the need to obtain rights-of-way), a major consideration in the Great Depression. Yet, connecting the bridge to existing roadways would not stimulate development. The choice of a route also had political considerations, as neighborhoods vied to be the recipient of this economic stimulus. The construction of Lee Boulevard (now known as Arlington Boulevard) and Washington Boulevard eastward both provided an opportunity for economic stimulus. The state and county eventually agreed to push Lee Boulevard north around Arlington National Cemetery. When this project ran into rights-of-way problems, the state and county constructed Washington Boulevard south around the cemetery. When the Lee Boulevard problems were resolved, and with the addition of large amounts of new federal dollars, the state and county resumed construction of the Lee Boulevard approaches. The Lee Boulevard approach finally opened in October 1938. The construction of The Pentagon in 1941 and extensive war-related building south of the cemetery in 1942 led the federal government to approve a second connection by extending Washington Boulevard past Arlington National Cemetery and over Boundary Channel as well.</p><br>
<p>At the time it opened, the Arlington Memorial Bridge bascule span was the longest, heaviest (3,000 ST), and fastest-opening bascule span in the world.</p><br>
<h2>About the bridge</h2><br>
<p>The bridges northeastern approaches frame, in part, the Lincoln Memorial, while the bridges southwestern landing is on Columbia Island. The northeastern end of the bridge marks the western edge of the National Mall. The southwestern end connects with Memorial Drive, which crosses the Boundary Channel Bridge into Virginia and travels to Arlington National Cemetery in Arlington County.</p><br>
<p>In 2011, the bridge carried about 54,000 vehicles a day.</p><br>
<h3>Architecture</h3><br>
<p>The northeastern entrance to the Arlington Memorial Bridge features The Arts of War sculptures, Sacrifice and Valor, which were completed by Leo Friedlander in 1951. On the pylons of each pier of the bridge are large circular discs with eagles and fasces designed by sculptor Carl Paul Jennewein.</p><br>
<p>The closest Metro station to the bridge is Arlington Cemetery. The bridge connects, both literally and symbolically, the Lincoln Memorial and Arlington House, the former home of Civil War General Robert E. Lee. This placement was done intentionally to represent the reunification of the North and the South.</p><br>
<p>At the southwestern terminus on Columbia Island, the bridge and its connecting roadways connect with the George Washington Memorial Parkway, State Route 27 and State Route 110. At the northeastern terminus, the bridge and its connecting roadways connect with Constitution Avenue, Independence Avenue, the Rock Creek and Potomac Parkway, and the District of Columbia segment of Interstate 66.</p><br>
<p>A peculiarity of the traffic circle at the southwestern terminus is that traffic already in the circle must yield to traffic entering the circle — the opposite of the standard rule. During morning rush hour, a portion of the traffic circle is closed to prevent mergers that would otherwise tie up rush hour traffic.</p><br>
<p>The center portion of the bridge is a metal draw span, intended to allow large vessels to pass upriver to Georgetown. However, with the construction of the Theodore Roosevelt Bridge immediately upstream, which has no such provision, the draw mechanism has been abandoned. It was opened for the last time on February 28, 1961. The bascule leaves were to be counterbalanced with scrap steel embedded in concrete, but during the Great Depression there was not enough scrap available for the project. A ship load of Swedish iron ore eventually provided the 2,400 ST needed for the counterweights.</p><br>
<p>Arlington Memorial Bridge was added to the National Register of Historic Places on April 4, 1980.</p><br>
<h2>Renovation history</h2><br>
<p>The bridge was damaged during floods in March 1936 when water infiltrated and caused shorts in the bridge&#39;s electrical equipment. Repairs were made in late 1938 and early 1939. The Electrical Underground Construction Co. of New York City received $9,245 to replace damaged electrical equipment and wiring, install new electrical conduits, and install two sump pumps. In October 1936, a gear and a crankshaft in the drawbridge broke. The bridge was closed for nine hours while crews rushed to repair the span, which was open and unable to permit traffic. The closing, the Washington Post reported, was the longest since the bridge opened.</p><br>
<p>Major maintenance and repair work on the bridge first occurred in 1939. The draw span was repainted, the bridge repaved, the west engine room heated, and the granite on the Virginia abutments repointed and cleaned. This led to complete six-hour closures on August 30, August 31, and September 1.</p><br>
<p>In 1945, the bridge closed for two hours while workers attended to a jammed draw span. The bridge closed again on the evening of August 2, 1947, and most of the day on August 3 while workers replaced a gear and shaft that kept the draw span from vibrating when crossed by traffic. The National Park Service (NPS) said it was the second-longest closing in the bridge&#39;s history.</p><br>
<p>Major work occurred again in 1951. The granite blocks on the roadway surface were removed, and the bridged replaced with asphalt (a safer material) in a $207,000 repaving project. The work began on July 16, 1951. Several of the bridge&#39;s six lanes were closed during the work week, and the entire bridge closed to traffic on weekends for four weeks in a row. The Corson and Gruman Co. performed the work. Minor repaving occurred again in July 1957.</p><br>
<p>Beginning in March 1964, at least one lane of the six-lane bridge was closed every day while repairs were made to the draw span. However, the bridge never fully closed.</p><br>
<p>Additional work on the bridge occurred in November 1976. The draw span was immobilized and sealed, and the approaches on both ends of the bridge repaired. Three lanes in the direction of heaviest traffic flow were kept open during rush hour, but only one lane in the opposite direction. At all other times, only one lane in each direction was open. These repairs lasted several weeks.</p><br>
<p>A major repair effort occurred in the summer of 1985. The work involved resurfacing the bridge and renovating some of its safety and other features. The $4.7 million construction project, which involved the closure of two lanes in each direction, was conducted by A.A. Beiro Construction Co. To help speed work, the company received a $4,000-a-day bonus for each day it finished ahead of schedule.</p><br>
<p>Work began the first week of April 1985 and ended September 25.</p><br>
<p>Preservation and repair work was performed on the bridges sidewalks in January 2011, which led to the closure of two lanes in each direction during daytime non-rush hours. The center lanes were closed for a few days in March 2012 for additional rehabilitation work. In June 2012, Cianbro Corp. oversaw an eight-week, $788,000 project to repair the bridges deck, restore granite curbs, and replace sidewalks at both approaches. At least one lane (and sometimes two) in each direction was closed in September, October, and November.</p><br>
<p>Despite these various projects, as of 2012 the bridge had never had a major overhaul. That year, a report by the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) called for a complete overhaul of Arlington Memorial Bridge.</p><br>
<h3>2013 and 2015 inspections</h3><br>
<p>In February 2013, the FHWA launched a major inspection of the bridges deck. In April, National Park Service transportation division head Charles N. Borders II declared, "The bridge... is really at the end of, and beyond, its life cycle". The inspection was performed on April 24, 2013, by the Federal Lands Bridge Office, an arm of the FHWA. In its post-inspection report, the FHWA declared the bridge to be "in poor condition overall due to continuing problems related to corrosion of the steel in the bascule span, deterioration of the concrete in the arch spans, and deterioration of the sidewalks and wearing surface." Among the problems noted in the report: moderate amounts of rusting were found on all the bridges load-bearing beams, there were moderate to widespread cracks in the reinforced concrete arch spans, metal flakes (or "spalls") were coming off the steel beams on the road deck&#39;s underside, and the drainage system was clogged in many places by debris or rust.</p><br>
<p>The Washington Post reported that without immediate action, truck and bus traffic over the bridge could be banned within five years. However, the park service had yet to budget for any repairs. Borders suggested that if Congress were to immediately fund the bridge&#39;s complete overhaul, a two- to four-year reconstruction could begin as early as 2016. Repair options, which ranged from $125 million to $250 million in cost, included replacing the draw span with a fixed span and either closing the bridge completely for 40 to 100 days or keeping it partially open for four years.</p><br>
<p>In January 2015, the FHWA and NPS released an Arlington Memorial Bridge rehabilitation environmental assessment. It declared the bridge safe for all traffic, but warned that deterioration "continues to progress at a rapid pace." The report cautioned that the bascule span was in particularly bad shape: "Overall, the superstructure of the bascule span of Arlington Memorial Bridge is in fair to poor condition with areas of severe deterioration."</p><br>
<h3>2015 lane closures</h3><br>
<p>On May 15, 2015, the National Park Service suddenly closed one lane of the bridge for an indeterminate amount of time to conduct a critical corrosion inspection of the bridge.</p><br>
<p>The inspection uncovered corrosion to the bascule span. FHWA engineers determined that it was no longer safe for traffic to pass along the outer lanes of the bascule span; consequently, these two lanes were closed to traffic on the evening of May 28, 2015. Moreover, experts discovered that corrosion had so affected secondary support beams throughout the rest of the bridge that they imposed a limit of 10 ST per vehicle, essentially barring most buses from crossing. Law enforcement agencies with jurisdiction over the bridge said they would begin stopping overweight vehicles to educate drivers about the new load limits, but would not ticket drivers for several weeks to give the "education period" time to work. Engineers also closed a 4 ft strip of sidewalk on either side of the bridge out of structural concerns.</p><br>
<p>While the weight limit was indefinite (pending full rehabilitation of the bridge), NPS officials said the lanes and sidewalks would be closed six to nine months to allow workers to shore up the corroded beams and bascule span. The Department of Transportation issued a call for bids on May 26, 2015, and said a contractor will be chosen on June 18. The $5 million project is to cover repair or replacement of expansion joints, steel, structural concrete; drainage improvements; concrete sidewalk repair; restoration of the asphalt atop the bridge deck; and debris removal. Cianbro Corp. of Maine, which rehabbed the bridge a decade earlier, won a $2.5 million contract to begin the repairs, which were estimated to take about six months to complete. (The work would only allow lane re-openings, but not remove the 10-ton weight limit.) Work was to begin on the bridge in late August or early September 2015.</p><br>
<p>In a July 2016 statement issued jointly by the offices of Senators Mark Warner and Tim Kaine; Representatives Don Beyer, Gerald Connolly, and Barbara Comstock; and Delegate Eleanor Holmes Norton, the NPS plans repair the bridge in two phases. The first phase, which addresses the bridge&#39;s most urgent repairs, will refurbish and reinforce the approach spans on either end of the bridge at a cost of $166 million. These repairs will permit the bridge to stay open until 2030. The second phase, whose cost was estimated at $94 million, would replace the bascule span and make other repairs to the bridge.</p><br>
<p>On July 5, 2016, the USA Department of Transportation awarded a $90 million grant from its Fostering Advancements in Shipping and Transportation for the Long-term Achievement of National Efficiencies (FASTLANE) program to the National Park Service and the District of Columbia to permit repairs to the bridge to begin. The grant is conditional on finding an additional $36 million in matching funds for project, funds which can come from other federal non-transportation funds or from local funds. A joint statement by the group of congresspeople said the FASTLANE grant would enable NPS to begin engineering planning and issue contracts, with an eye toward beginning construction in early 2017.</p><br>
