<p>Castillo San Felipe del Morro also known as Fuerte San Felipe del Morro or Castillo del Morro, is a 16th-century citadel located in San Juan, Puerto Rico.</p><br>
<h2>Development</h2><br>
<p>Lying on the northwestern-most point of the islet of Old San Juan, Castillo San Felipe del Morro is named in honor of King Philip II of Spain. The fortification, also referred to as el Morro or the promontory, was designed to guard the entrance to the San Juan Bay, and defend the Spanish colonial port city of San Juan from seaborne enemies.</p><br>
<p>In 1983, the citadel was declared a World Heritage Site by the United Nations in conjunction with the San Juan National Historic Site. Over two million visitors a year explore the castillo, making it one of Puerto Ricos leading tourist attractions. Facing the structure, on the opposite side of the bay, a smaller fortification known as El Cañuelo complemented the castillos defense of the entrance to the bay.</p><br>
<h2>Structure for deployment</h2><br>
<p>The construction of the citadel and its surrounding walls began in 1539 on orders of King Charles V of Spain. Its main purpose was to defend the port of San Juan by controlling the entry to its harbor. In order to have a viable defense while the rest of the fort was being completed, a small proto-fortress was erected during the first year of construction. It is estimated that this section comprises about 10% of the whole structure. It was not till 1587, however, that engineers Juan de Tejada and Juan Bautista Antonelli drew the fort&#39;s final design, which was based on the then firmly established Spanish military fortification principles of the time. Thus, similar Spanish fortifications of the 17th to 18th centuries can be found in Cuba, Santo Domingo, the Dominican Republic, Puerto Rico, Veracruz and Acapulco, Mexico, Portobelo, ″Cartagena″ de Indias and Panama City, Panamá, Guatemala,</p><br>
<p>Honduras, and many other Latin American locations which were part of the Spanish Empire during the Age of Exploration.</p><br>
<p>The military officers lead by Field Marshal Alejandro OReilly and Chief of Engineers, Colonel Tomás ODaly, began to transform San Juan in 1765 into one of the most powerful plazas in the Americas. By the late 1780s, ODaly and his military engineers had completed the modifications of El Morro giving it its present form. The construction of the wall around the city had already been completed. The largest fortification built by the Spaniards in the Americas, Castillo de San Cristóbal, had 450 cannons, used in 1797 by Captain General Ramon de Castro to arrest the 7,000 Englishmen commanded by General Ralph Abercromby. Many complex structures were added onto El Morro over the next 400 years to keep up with the new military technologies; for example, El Morros outer walls, which were originally constructed 6 ft thick, had been augmented to 18 ft thickness by the end of the 18th century. Moreover, in 1680, Governor Enrique Enríquez de Sotomayor began the construction of the city walls surrounding San Juan, which took 48 years to build. The citadel was part of the Four Lines of Defense along with the San Cristobal Castle, the first line being formed by the San Gerónimo fortress and the San Antonio bridge. Today, El Morro has six levels that rise from sea level to 145 ft high. All along the walls are seen the dome-covered sentry boxes known as garitas, which have become a cultural symbol of Puerto Rico itself. The Lighthouse of the Castillo San Felipe del Morro was built atop the citadel in 1843, but was destroyed during the 1898 bombardment of the city by the United States; it was replaced by the US military with the current lighthouse in 1908. Including the exterior open killing grounds, known as the glacis and esplanade, which could be dominated by cannon in the 17th and 18th centuries, El Morro is said to take up over 70 acres (280,000 m²).</p><br>
<h2>History</h2><br>
<h3>Spanish Rule (1539–1898)</h3><br>
<p>During the Spanish government of the island, El Morro also known as Castillo de San Felipe survived several attacks from foreign powers on various occasions. In 1595, Englishman Sir Francis Drake attacked San Juan with his fleet. He failed, however, and the Spanish gunners shot a cannonball through his cabin. In 1598, the English attacked again, led by George Clifford, 3rd Earl of Cumberland. Clifford succeeded because he attacked San Juan overland instead of trying to enter through the San Juan Bay. However, an epidemic of dysentery forced him to flee the island.</p><br>
<p>The Dutch, led by Boudewijn Hendricksz, also attacked the island emulating George Cliffords overland invasion. To the amazement of the citizens, the invaders were able to pass in front of the castles defenders and into the harbor, out of reach of the city&#39;s cannons. El Morro managed to resist the siege and eventually made the Dutch retire, although they were able to sack and burn the city before leaving.</p><br>
<p>El Morro&#39;s last active fight occurred during a naval bombardment by the United States Navy during the 1898 Spanish–American War, ending the age of naval warfare in the Caribbean, at least in the classical sense. During the Spanish–American War, the castle was attacked at least three times by American naval forces, the largest being the Bombardment of San Juan on May 12, 1898. The war ended with the signing of the Treaty of Paris, in which Spain ceded ownership of the islands of Puerto Rico, Cuba, Guam, and the Philippines to the United States.</p><br>
<h3>American military occupation (1898–1961)</h3><br>
<p>El Morro and many other Spanish government buildings in Old San Juan became part of a large USA Army post, called Fort Brooke. In the early 20th century, the USA military filled up the esplanade (the green space in front of "El Morro") with baseball diamonds, hospitals, officers quarters, an officers club and even a golf course.</p><br>
<p>On March 21, 1915, Lt. Teófilo Marxuach was the officer of the day at the El Morro fortress. The Odenwald (built in 1903 and not to be confused with the German World War II warship of the same name) was an armed German supply ship which tried to force its way out of the bay and deliver supplies to the German submarines waiting in the Atlantic Ocean. Lt. Marxuach gave the order to open fire on the ship, which was forced to return; its supplies were confiscated. The shots ordered by Lt. Marxuach are widely regarded to be the first shots fired by the United States in World War I, although the first actual wartime shot fired by the USA came on the day war was declared, during the Scuttling of SMS Cormoran off Guam.</p><br>
<p>During World War II the United States Army added a massive concrete bunker to the top of El Morro to serve as a Harbor Defense Fire Control Station to direct a network of coastal artillery sites, and to keep watch for German submarines which were ravaging shipping in the Caribbean. A lighthouse, rebuilt by the USA Army in 1906–08 is the tallest point on El Morro, standing 180 feet (55 m) above sea level. Flagpoles on El Morro today customarily fly the United States flag, the Puerto Rican flag and the Cross of Burgundy flag, also known in Spanish as las Aspas de Borgoña, a standard which was widely used by Spanish armies around the world from 1506–1785.</p><br>
<h3>National Park (1961–present)</h3><br>
<p>In 1961, the United States Army officially retired from El Morro. The fort became a part of the National Park Service to be preserved as museums. In 1983, the Castillo and the city walls were declared a World Heritage Site by the United Nations. In honor of the Quincentennial of the voyages of Columbus in 1992 the exterior esplanade was cleared of palm trees that had been planted by the USA Army in the Fort Brooke era, and restored to the open appearance this "field-of-fire" for El Morros cannon would have had in colonial Spanish times. Parking lots and paved roads were also removed, and the El Morro lighthouse repaired and restored to its original appearance. El Morro was used as a film set in the 1996 motion picture Amistad. Steven Spielberg used it to represent a fort in Sierra Leone where African slaves were auctioned in 1839. African slave labor was used in addition to local labor to help build the castillo. El Morro was a defensive military fortification and a major component of San Juans harbor defense system. Puerto Rico as such was considered by the Spanish crown as the "Key to the Antilles&quot no enemy ship could navigate its waters without fear of capture.</p><br>
<h2>Historical timeline</h2><br>
<p>1509 – Spanish settlers from Caparra found San Juan.</p><br>
<p>1508 – Spanish colonized the area</p><br>
<p>1539 – Construction of the first harbor defenses at El Morro and La Fortaleza authorized by King Charles V.</p><br>
<p>1587 – Engineers Juan de Tejada and Juan Bautista Antonelli lay out the main design for El Morro still seen today.</p><br>
<p>1589 – Governor Diego Menéndez begins new construction at El Morro.</p><br>
<p>1595 – Sir Francis Drake attacks El Morro unsuccessfully by sea. Gunners from El Morro shoot a cannonball through the cabin of Drakes flagship. To impede Drakes ships from entering the bay, a metal chain was drawn across the entrance. Drake was defeated and many of his ships sunk.</p><br>
<p>1598 – George Clifford, Duke of Cumberland, attacks from the land side in June of this year, the only time El Morro was taken in battle. English forces move into the fortress, however weakened by dysentery they leave in November.</p><br>
<p>1625 – The Dutch under the command of Captain Balduino Enrico (also known as Boudewijn Hendricksz/Bowdoin Henrick) attacked and invaded San Juan from the "La Puntilla". El Morro held out under the leadership of Spanish Governor De Haro and Captain Juan de Amezquita of the Puerto Rican militia, but the city was sacked and burned.</p><br>
<p>1630 – Governor Enrique Enríquez de Sotomayor begins construction of the city walls. Work continues until 1678 to encircle the city completely.</p><br>
<p>1765 – After the siege of Havana in 1762 by the British, King Charles III appoints Field Marshal Alejandro OReilly (Alexander OReilly) and Royal Engineer Tomás ODaly (Thomas ODaly) to reform San Juan&#39;s fortifications and reorganize the garrison to make the city a "Defense of the First Order".</p><br>
<p>1787 – An earthquake damages the structure of both San Felipe del Morro and San Cristóbal.</p><br>
<p>1797 – General Ralph Abercromby and Admiral Henry Harvey, with a force of 7,000–13,000 men, invaded the island of Puerto Rico. Captain General Don Ramón de Castro and his forces repelled the attack. Abercromby and Harvey were defeated. This was to be one of the largest invasions to Spanish territories in the Americas.</p><br>
<p>1825 – Well known Puerto Rican pirate, Roberto Cofresí was jailed and later executed within the fort&#39;s walls.</p><br>
<p>1843 – First lighthouse in Puerto Rico constructed atop the castle.</p><br>
<p>1898 – On 12 May, US Navy warships shell El Morro in a day-long bombardment, damaging the tip of the main battery. Six months later, Puerto Rico becomes USA territory by terms of the Treaty of Paris which ends the Spanish–American War.</p><br>
<p>1899 – The Department of the Navy rebuilds the lighthouse tower as an octagonal reinforced concrete structure using the iron structure as reinforcement. A new lenticular lens is installed. By 1906 a crack, through and around the top of the tower, directly under the lantern requires its demolition.</p><br>
<p>1908 – Present lighthouse seen atop El Morro built by the United States Navy.</p><br>
<p>1915 – First shots of World War I fired by Lt. Teófilo Marxuach on behalf of the United States. Marxuach, a native of Arroyo, Puerto Rico, fired what is considered to be the first shot of World War I fired by the regular armed forces of the United States against any ship flying the colors of the Central Powers. Marxuach, who was a member of the "Porto Rico Regiment of Infantry" and Officer of the Day, on 25 March 1915, opened fire on the Odenwald, an armed German supply vessel, as it was trying to force its way out of San Juan&#39;s bay.</p><br>
<p>1942 – El Morro was still an active military post during World War II. The USA Army added concrete artillery observation posts and an underground bunker to El Morro to defend against possible German attacks.</p><br>
<p>1949 – San Juan National Historic Site is established.</p><br>
<p>1961 – The USA Army moves out of the forts of Old San Juan, and they become the jurisdiction of the United States National Park Service, to be preserved solely as museums.</p><br>
<p>1983 – San Juan National Historic Site declared a World Heritage Site by the United Nations.</p><br>
<p>1992 – El Morro&#39;s grounds are returned to their historic 18th century appearance as part of quincentennial commemoration of the discovery of Puerto Rico by Christopher Columbus when modern roadways and parking lots are removed. El Morro now generates tourism revenue by being open to tours.</p><br>
<h2>Appearances</h2><br>
<p>Seen on the McDougal Littell textbook ¡En español! Level 2</p><br>
<p>Seen in Steven Spielberg&#39;s movie, Amistad</p><br>
<p>Seen in Wizards of Waverly Place: The Movie</p><br>
<p>Setting of Yanni Live at El Morro, Puerto Rico concerts and concert film</p><br>
<p>Seen in the Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. episode...Ye Who Enter Here</p><br>
<p>Castillo San Cristóbal, also known as Fort San Cristóbal, is a fort in San Juan, Puerto Rico. It was built by Spain to protect against land based attacks on the city of San Juan. It is part of San Juan National Historic Site.</p><br>
<p>Castillo San Cristóbal is the largest fortification built by the Spanish in the New World. When it was finished in 1783, it covered about 27 acres of land and basically wrapped around the city of San Juan. Entry to the city was sealed by San Cristóbal&#39;s double gates. After close to one hundred years of relative peace in the area, part of the fortification (about a third) was demolished in 1897 to help ease the flow of traffic in and out of the walled city.</p><br>
<p>This fortress was built on a hill originally known as the Cerro de la Horca or the Cerro del Quemadero, which was changed to Cerro de San Cristóbal in celebration of the Spanish victories ejecting English and Dutch interlopers from the island of this name in the Lesser Antilles, then forming part of the insular territorial glacis of Puerto Rico.</p><br>
<p>Castillo de San Cristóbal (Fort San Cristóbal) also contains cisterns that were used for the transport of water during the ages of the Spanish Colony. They are extremely large (30ft tall, 60ft wide and 100ft long) and were used as bomb shelters during World War II. They could be used for a future war again with some refurbishments.</p><br>
<h2>Historical timeline</h2><br>
<p>1521 – San Juan founded by Spanish settlers from Caparra.</p><br>
<p>1539 – Construction of the first fortified defenses at Castillo San Felipe del Morro and La Fortaleza, with batteries aimed at the harbor entrance.</p><br>
<p>1595 – The English attack San Juan, led by Sir Francis Drake, 25 ships penetrated the line of fire from El Morro. At the end of the battle the English fled taking some prisoners but no treasure, the reason for which they attacked.</p><br>
<p>1598 – The English attack San Juan a second time, this time led by George Clifford who wanted to clean Englands honor which had been "dirtied" by Sir Francis Drakes defeat, he organized the greatest squadron ever put together by the English against Spain. The first battle resulted in a Spanish victory, but the exhausted Spanish troops couldn&#39;t impede the English entry into San Juan. On 18 June Cumberland with his forces advanced and then swept into San Juan’s streets meeting little resistance; he found that some of the citizenry had already ﬂed. The government officials and other residents had taken refuge in El Morro and 250 Spanish soldiers are ensconced within the Morro Citadel. Soon after the town had been occupied, the English had artillery ferried ashore from their ﬂeet and a formal siege was instituted. Two days later the siege was under way and El Morro was bombarded from both land and sea while in the meantime Cumberland set about sacking the town. Knowing that the Spanish were short of supplies, the English preferred to lay siege to the castle of El Morro rather than destroy it. After nearly 15 days huddled inside El Morro, short of food and ammunition and being constantly bombarded, the Spanish governor Antonio Mosquera requested terms on 30 June for a surrender. Cumberland refused this request and set his own terms for the Spanish surrender of which Mosquera eventually agreed to. He and his followers were repatriated to Cartagena several weeks later.</p><br>
<p>The victory had cost Cumberland nearly 60 casualties; however, as the same dysentery that had crippled much of the Spanish it had then spread to Cumberland&#39;s men, incapacitating nearly 600 - 700 of them as well as which included forty accidents. With barely enough troops to crew his ships, much less maintain control of the prize he had seized from Spain, Cumberland finally decided to leave the island. Before he left however he ordered the sacking of San Juan and then ordered the destruction of the crops. His troops stole the organ and bells from the cathedral and took booty ranging from 2,000 slaves to a marble windowsill that caught his eye. Cumberland sailed for England with some ships on 14 August, then on 23 September Berkeley followed with his main body along with around 70 artillery pieces from the fort. Clifford on his return to England was proclaimed as a hero of sorts and as a consequence with his limited booty was well rewarded for his efforts including a patent from the Queen.</p><br>
<p>1625 – The Dutch attack and take San Juan from the land side. Construction of some form of defense for San Cristóbal Hill ordered to prevent other attacks from the land side.</p><br>
<p>1634 – A small redoubt is built on the high ground known as San Cristóbal on the northeast side of San Juan.</p><br>
<p>1765–1783 - Main period of construction of San Cristóbal as we see it today under the directions of Royal Engineers Tomás O’Daly and Juan Mestre.</p><br>
<p>1787 – An earthquake damages the structure of both San Felipe del Morro and San Cristóbal.</p><br>
<p>1797 – San Cristóbal helps repel the attack on San Juan from the land side by a British invasion force of 7,000 - 13,000 men commanded by Sir Ralph Abercromby. Abercrombys forces, one of the largest ever to invade Spanish territories in America, are halted a mile from San Cristóbal at the Escambrón defenses, also known as San Juans First Line of Defense; see Fortín de San Gerónimo.</p><br>
<p>1824 – María de las Mercedes Barbudo, a political activist who was the first female from Puerto Rico "Independentista", meaning that she was the first Puerto Rican woman to become an avid advocate of Puerto Rican Independence, and who joined forces with the Venezuelan government, under the leadership of Simon Bolivar, to lead an insurrection against the Spanish colonial forces in Puerto Rico., was held captive in the fort pending her exile to Cuba.</p><br>
<p>1855 – Mutiny by the San Cristóbal artillery brigade against the Spanish crown. The Castillo is held by rebels for 24 hours causing panic in the city when the cannons are turned around and aimed at the city.</p><br>
<p>1897 – A large segment of 18th century walls are dynamited from San Cristóbal to the harbor docks to allow San Juan to expand.</p><br>
<p>1898 – On 10 May 1898, the first shot which marked Puerto Ricos entry into the Spanish–American War was ordered by Captain Ángel Rivero Méndez is against the USS Yale from Castillo San Cristóbals cannon batteries. San Cristóbal&#39;s gunners duel with US Navy warships during a day-long bombardment 10 May 1898. Six months later Puerto Rico becomes US territory by terms of the Treaty of Paris which ends the Spanish–American War.</p><br>
<p>1942 – Still an active military base when World War II breaks out, concrete pillboxes and an underground bunker control center are added to the ancient defenses of the Castillo San Cristóbal. Cisterns were to be used as fallout shelters.</p><br>
<p>1949 – San Juan National Historic Site is established as the most impressive structure in the new world.</p><br>
<p>1961 – The US Army moves out of the forts of Old San Juan, and they become the jurisdiction of the United States National Park Service, to be preserved solely as museums.</p><br>
<p>1983 – San Juan National Historic Site is declared a World Heritage Site by the United Nations.</p><br>
<h2>La Garita del Diablo</h2><br>
<p>Most of San Juans fortified walls have guerites (sentry boxes, "garitas" to the locals) at various points. One of the guerites at Castillo San Cristóbal is called "The Devils Guerite" ("La Garita del Diablo"). This guerites offer a vantage point to watchmen guarding the sea shore, while protecting them. This particular guerite is one of the oldest parts of the fort being built in 1634.</p><br>
<p>There are several legends surrounding the guerite. Some of them say that soldiers disappeared randomly from the guerite. However, it is mostly believed – and told so in various local stories – that the only soldier that apparently disappeared was a soldier called Sánchez, who fled his post to escape with his girlfriend, called Dina. However, the legend still surrounds the guerite and most people ask for it when visiting the fort. Although it is currently inaccessible to the general public, it can be seen from the upper part of the fort.</p><br>
<p>Richmond Creek is a stream in Staten Island, a borough of New York City in the United States. Its upper drainage basin includes the remote forested hills in the center of the island. It empties into the Fresh Kills.</p><br>
<p>Its source is Orbach Lake, located on the grounds of the Pouch Camp, maintained by the Boy Scouts of America; from there it enters the Greenbelt, crossing underneath the intersection of Manor Road and Rockland Avenue, whereupon it enters the Egbertville Ravine, then emerges from the ravine and flows along the east side of Lighthouse Hill, skimming the western edge of the Richmondtown neighborhood (where bridges are necessary to cross it at several points, and creating dead-end streets at others) and through Historic Richmond Town. South of Richmondtown it emerges into a wide floodplain of wetlands that has been designated as part of Staten Island&#39;s "Bluebelt," a region of wetlands in which many, but not all, kinds of development are prohibited.</p><br>
<p>It flows under Richmond Avenue east of the Staten Island Mall and flows into the Fresh Kills alongside the former site of the Fresh Kills Landfill.</p><br>
<p>In colonial times and in the early 19th century the creek was used to operate several mills in the center of the island. One such mill is being restored along the creek in Historic Richmond Town.</p><br>
<p>The Wailuku River is a 28.0 mi water course on the Island of Hawaii in the Hawaiian Islands. It is the longest river in Hawai&#39;i and its course lies mostly along the divide between the lava flows of Mauna Kea and those of Mauna Loa to the south. It arises at about the 10,800 ft elevation along the eastern slope of Mauna Kea . It flows generally eastward, descending steeply from the mountain and entering the Pacific Ocean at Hilo.</p><br>
<p>Wailuku River State Park is located along the lower reach of the river. One section of the park includes Rainbow Falls (), and another section Peepee falls and an area called the Boiling Pots (a series of small falls and pools). The upper and middle reaches of the river are known for hunting of introduced game animals. The lower river is a popular destination for swimming and tubing. However the Wailuku River (which includes Boiling Pots) accounts for 25% of the river drowning deaths in the state.</p><br>
<p>http://www.honoluluadvertiser.com/article/20090129/BREAKING01/90129057 Drownings in Hawaii</p><br>
<p>The lower reach of the river is used for the generation of hydroelectricity. The flow at Hilo averages 275 cubic feet per second (8 m³/s) with peak flows 40 times as great. The stream carries an average of 10 tons of suspended sediment into Hilo Bay each day, at .</p><br>
<p>In the Hawaiian language, wai means fresh water and luku means destruction, so it means essentially River of Destruction. The river can rise into the trees and drop back down very fast.The high flood marks can be seen dated in concrete, on the stairs going down to the river behind the Hilo Public Library.</p><br>
<p>Mount Emily  is a mountain in the Klamath Mountains of southwestern Oregon in the United States. It is located in southern Curry County in the extreme southwest corner of the state, near Brookings, approximately 5 mi from the Pacific Ocean and 5 mi from the California state line.</p><br>
<h2>Wheeler Ridge Japanese Bombing Site</h2><br>
<p>On September 9, 1942 the Japanese submarine I-25 surfaced near Cape Blanco, Oregon, and launched a Yokosuka E14Y "Glen" seaplane piloted by Nubuo Fujita who dropped incendiary bombs on Mount Emily in an unsuccessful attempt to start a major forest fire. This made Mount Emily the first place in the continental United States to be bombed by an enemy aircraft. The site of the bombing was listed in the National Register of Historic Places as the Wheeler Ridge Japanese Bombing Site in July 2006.</p><br>
<p>Cape Blanco is a prominent headland on the Pacific Ocean coast of southwestern Oregon in the United States, forming the westernmost point in the state. Cape Blanco extends further west than any point of land in the contiguous United States  except Cape Alava, in Washington. The cape is part of Cape Blanco State Park and is the location of the Cape Blanco Light, first lit in 1870.</p><br>
<p>The cape may have been named by explorer Martín de Aguilar in 1603 for its appearance, as blanco means "white" in Spanish. In 1775, Juan Francisco de la Bodega y Quadra named the point Cabo Diligensias. It was later renamed Cape Orford by Captain George Vancouver in 1792 but this name fell into disuse and Cape Blanco became the common usage.</p><br>
<h2>Geology</h2><br>
<p>The cape, a relatively level landform with cliffs facing the sea, is about 200 ft higher than the ocean. It consists of layers of uplifted marine sediments, ranging in age from 80 million years at the bottom to less than 500,000 years at the top. Generally, landforms on the north and south end of the Oregon Coast are rising as the ocean floor slides under the continent, while the central part of the coast "seems to be folding down."</p><br>
<p>Landforms near the cape include beaches, bluffs, and reefs. Visible to the south are Needle Rock, Blanco Reef, and Humbug Mountain. To the north are Gull Rock, Castle Rock, and Blacklock Point. Blanco Reef is a group of irregular rocks and ledges that are from 2 to 5 mi offshore and are up to 149 ft high.</p><br>
<h2>Geography</h2><br>
<p>Cape Blanco is in northern Curry County, about 4 mi north of Port Orford, along a mountainous and isolated stretch of the coast bounded to the east by the Coast Range. It lies about 5 mi west of USA Route 101.</p><br>
<p>The Sixes River empties into the Pacific Ocean along the north side of the cape. A 2 mi walk along the Oregon Coast Trail leads south from the park to the mouth of the Elk River.</p><br>
<h3>Climate</h3><br>
<p>Cape Blanco has very mild temperatures year round, with an all-time record high of only 85 °F (29 °C). Annual precipitation is high, but there is a distinct drying trend in summer, which gives Cape Blanco a warm-summer Mediterranean climate (Csb) according to the Köppen climate classification system. During winter storms, wind speeds can reach 70 to 100 mph at the cape. Extreme winds at the cape and over the Blanco Reef make this part of the coast especially dangerous for ships.</p><br>
<h2>Recreation</h2><br>
<p>Activities at the park include hiking, horseback riding, fishing, camping, picnicking, and beachcombing, among others, and visiting the lighthouse, a pioneer cemetery, or the Hughes House, on the National Register of Historic Places. The property belonged originally to Patrick Hughes, who came to the cape in 1860 in search of gold and who eventually established a 2,000 acre dairy ranch along the lower Sixes River. Restored by the Friends of Cape Blanco, the two-story, eleven-room ranch house was completed in 1898.</p><br>
<h2>Literature</h2><br>
<p>In Jules Vernes early science fiction book The Begums Millions, a Utopian community named Ville-France is established in 1872 on the South Oregon beach. Verne gives the location of this fictitious community as "eighty kilometres north of Cape Blanco". Cape Blanco is also noted on a map of Brobdingnag in Gulliver&#39;s Travels. It is also mentioned in Chapter 3 of Moby-Dick: "And that harpoon-so like a corkscrew now-was flung in Javan seas, and run away with by a whale, years afterwards slain off the Cape of Blanco."</p><br>
<p>Coos Bay is located in northern Coos County. Other communities on the bay include North Bend and Charleston. Many of the fishing and pleasure boats that call Coos Bay home are docked in Charleston.</p><br>
<p>Coos Bay is the proposed site of a liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminal by Jordan Cove Energy Project. The terminal would export liquefied natural gas primarily to overseas market through the proposed 36 in Pacific Connector Gas Pipeline which would extend 234 miles from Malin, near Klamath Falls to Jordan Cove on Coos Bay. The terminal and pipeline projects are under regulatory review. Oregon Governor Kulongoski expressed various environmental concerns.</p><br>
<h2>Coos River</h2><br>
<p>The Coos River, which begins in the Oregon Coast Range, enters the bay from the east.</p><br>
<h2>Shellfishing in Coos Bay</h2><br>
<p>Some of Oregon’s most productive shellfishing is in Coos Bay. The lower bay is the area that extends from the airport to the ocean entrance, and is marine dominated (meaning there is little freshwater influence). Some popular, easily accessible clamming spots are along Cape Arago highway, where recreational clammers can dig for gaper and butter clams in the extensive mud flats during low tide.</p><br>
<p>Lake Maggiore  or Lago Verbàno  is a large lake located on the south side of the Alps. It is the second largest lake in Italy and the largest in southern Switzerland. The lake and its shoreline are divided between the Italian regions of Piedmont and Lombardy and the Swiss canton of Ticino. Located halfway between Lake Orta and Lake Lugano, Lake Maggiore extends for about 65 km between Locarno and Arona.</p><br>
<p>The climate is mild in both summer and winter, producing Mediterranean vegetation, with many gardens growing rare and exotic plants. Well-known gardens include those of the Borromean and Brissago Islands, that of the Villa Taranto in Verbania, and the Alpinia Botanical Garden above Stresa.</p><br>
<h2>Geography</h2><br>
<p>Lake Maggiore is 64.37 km long, and 3 to 5 km wide, except at the bay opening westward between Pallanza and Stresa, where it is 10 km wide. It is the longest Italian lake, although Lake Garda has a greater area. Its mean height above the sea level is 193 metres; a deep lake, its bottom is almost everywhere below sea-level: at its deepest, 179 metres below. Its form is very sinuous, so that there are few points from which any considerable part of its surface can be seen at a single glance. If this lessens the effect of the apparent size, it increases the variety of its scenery. While the upper end is completely alpine in character, the middle region lies between hills of gentler form, and the lower end advances to the verge of the plain of Lombardy. Lake Maggiore is the most westerly of the three great southern prealpine lakes, the others being Lake Como and Lake Garda.</p><br>
<p>The lake basin has tectonic-glacial origins and its volume is 37 km³. The lake has a surface area of about 213 km&sup2, a maximum length of 54 km (on a straight line) and, at its widest, is 12 km. Its main tributaries are the Ticino, the Maggia, the Toce (by which it receives the outflow of Lake Orta) and the Tresa (which is the sole emissary of Lake Lugano). The rivers Verzasca, Giona, and Cannobino also flow into the lake. Its outlet is the Ticino which, in turn, joins the river Po just south-east of Pavia.</p><br>
<p>The lake’s jagged banks are surrounded by the Pennine, Lepontine and Lugano Alps. Prominent peaks around the lake are the Gridone, Monte Tamaro, Monte Nudo and the Mottarone. The highest mountain overlooking Lake Maggiore is Monte Rosa (4,634 m), located about 50 km west of it. The western bank is in Piedmont (provinces of Novara and Province of Verbano-Cusio-Ossola) and the eastern in Lombardy (province of Varese), whereas the most northerly section extends 13 km into the canton of Ticino, where it constitutes its lowest point above sea level as well as that of Switzerland. The culminating point of the lake&#39;s drainage basin is the Grenzgipfel summit of Monte Rosa at 4,618 m above sea level.</p><br>
<h3>Climate</h3><br>
<p>Lake Maggiore weather is humid subtropical (Cfa in the Koeppen climate classification). During winter, the lake helps to maintain a higher temperature in the surrounding region (since water releases heat energy more slowly than air). The temperatures are cooled down in summer by the breezes that blow on the water&#39;s surface changing its colour. The area enjoys nearly 2300 hours of sunshine a year and an average annual temperature of 15.5 &deg;C. The water of the lake has a comfortable temperature of 20 &deg;C to 22 &deg;C in July and August. In winter snowfall is erratic and primarily affects the higher elevations. Rainfall is heaviest in May and lowest during the winter months.</p><br>
<h2>Towns and villages on the lake</h2><br>
<h2>Islands</h2><br>
<p>Borromean Islands (three islands and two islets located between Verbania to the north and Stresa to the south)</p><br>
<p>Isola Bella</p><br>
<p>Isola Madre</p><br>
<p>Isola dei Pescatori (or Isola Superiore)</p><br>
<p>Isolino di San Giovanni (in front of Verbania)</p><br>
<p>Scoglio della Malghera (between Isola Bella and Isola Pescatori)</p><br>
<p>Brissago Islands (close to Brissago)</p><br>
<p>San Pancrazio (or Grande Isola)</p><br>
<p>Isolino (or Isola Piccola or Isola di Sant’Apollinare)</p><br>
<p>Castelli di Cannero (three small islands just off the shore from Cannero Riviera)</p><br>
<p>Isolino Partegora (in the gulf of Angera)</p><br>
<h2>Sacro Monte di Ghiffa</h2><br>
<p>The Sacred Mountain of Ghiffa is a Roman Catholic devotional complex in the comune of Ghiffa, (Piedmont, northern Italy), overlooking the Lake Maggiore. It is one of the nine Sacri Monti of Piedmont and Lombardy, included in UNESCO World Heritage list.</p><br>
<h2>Events</h2><br>
<p>The Spirit of Woodstock Festival is an annual open air festival at the end of July/beginning of August at Armeno organized by the Mirapuri community.</p><br>
<h2>History</h2><br>
<p>The first archaeological findings around the lake belong to nomadic people living in the area in prehistoric types. The first settlements discovered date from the Copper Age. The area was later under the control of the Ligures, later replaced by the Celts. The latter were in turn conquered by the Romans, who called the lake Verbanus Lacus or Lacus Maximus.</p><br>
<p>After the fall of the Western Roman Empire, the lake was under different dominations. Most of the current settlements originated in the Middle Ages, when the lake was under the Della Torre, Visconti, the Borromeo and Habsburg families.</p><br>
<p>Methane was first discovered and isolated by Alessandro Volta as he analysed marsh gas from Lake Maggiore, between 1776 and 1778.</p><br>
<p>In 1936, a Bugatti Type 22 Brescia Roadster, built 1925, was sunk in the lake by employees of Zürich architect Marco Schmucklerski, when Swiss custom officials investigated whether he had paid taxes on the car. The Bugatti was attached to an iron chain making it possible to recover it once the investigation was over, yet that never happened. When the chain corroded, the car sunk to the lake bed, where it was rediscovered on 18 August 1967 by local diver Ugo Pillon and became a favourite target for divers thereafter. When one of the divers, Damiano Tamagni, was killed in a hold-up on 1 February 2008, his friends from the Ascona divers&#39; club decided to lift and sell the carwreck to raise funds for a yet to be created foundation named after the victim. The remains of the Bugatti were recovered on 12 July 2009. The sale took place at the Retro Mobile classic car exhibition in Paris on 23 January 2010. It was sold for €260,500.</p><br>
<p>The Pearl and Hermes Atoll , is part of the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands. It is named after two English whaleships, the Pearl and the Hermes, that wrecked there in 1822.</p><br>
<h2>History</h2><br>
<p>In 1927, Captain William Greig Anderson was fishing for tuna and in the process, discovered pearl beds within the lagoon. This opened up the first commercial activity within the atoll, but the pearl trade lasted for only a few years. The Hawaiian government later prohibited commercial activity and declared the area to be a bird sanctuary. In June 2006, George W. Bush declared the atoll and all other parts of the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands the Papahānaumokuākea Marine National Monument.</p><br>
<h2>Geography</h2><br>
<p>Pearl and Hermes is the 3rd northernmost atoll, behind Midway and Kure, approximately 2,090 km northwest of Honolulu and 140 km east-southeast of Midway Atoll.</p><br>
<p>The Pearl and Hermes Atoll is a large, low atoll consisting of several small islands which are periodically washed over when winter storms pass, along with several ephemeral sand spits. As of 2012 according to the USGS there were five islands: Southeast (the largest), North, Little North, Grass, and Seal-Kittery. Earlier sources note the presence of a Sand Island and a Bird Island.</p><br>
<p>In total there is about 80 acres of land and almost 200,000 acres of coral reef habitat. The fringing reef is roughly 69 km in circumference and open to the west. The atoll adheres to the timezone of UTC−10:00.</p><br>
<h2>Climate</h2><br>
<p>Data chart below has been taken from Midway Atoll due to a lack of any weather stations present on Pearl and Hermes Atoll.</p><br>
<p>Despite being located at 27°48&#39;N which is above the Tropic of Cancer, Pearl and Hermes Atoll features a tropical savanna climate (Köppen Aw) with very pleasant year-round temperatures. Rainfall is evenly distributed throughout the year, with only two months being able to be classified as dry season months (May and June).</p><br>
<h2>Environment</h2><br>
<p>The endangered Laysan finch was introduced to the island to provide a backup population of these birds, should a hurricane, disease, rat introduction, or other disaster wipe out the population on the island of Laysan. Furthermore, the Pearl and Hermes support a breeding population of endangered monk seals. Derelict fishing gear and other types of marine debris are, however, having a major impact on the reefs and associated fauna of the atoll. Over the past three years, efforts have been undertaken to lessen the threat of this growing problem.</p><br>
<p>Riverside Geyser is a geyser in Yellowstone National Park in the USA state of Wyoming.</p><br>
<p>The geyser is located on the Firehole River within the Upper Geyser Basin. The geyser shoots steam and water to heights of 75 feet (23 m) in an arch over the river, sometimes causing brilliant rainbows. The eruptions occur every 5⁄2 to 7 hours. As is Old Faithful, Riverside is one of the most predictable geysers in the park, because it is not located near any other geysers that may disrupt the flow of underground water in the geyser&#39;s plumbing. Riverside is unique in its way that eruptions seldom occur at the average interval for any given time. Instead, Riverside is bimodal, meaning it usually erupts 20 minutes before or 25 minutes late for a duration of 20 minutes. The bimodality does not represent a problem for predictions if the previous erupt time is seen. If not, you are predicting on doubles and triples, which leads to a wide range for uncertainty. For an hour or two before the eruption, water pours over the edge of the cone. The geyser was named by the Hayden Geological Survey of 1871.</p><br>
<p>The geyser is one of the most reliable geysers in Yellowstone, despite the moniker and reputation of the better-known Old Faithful.</p><br>
<p>Buttermere is a lake in the English Lake District in North West England. The adjacent village of Buttermere takes its name from the lake. Historically in Cumberland, the lake is now within the county of Cumbria. It is owned by the National Trust, forming part of their Buttermere and Ennerdale property.</p><br>
<h2>Geography</h2><br>
<p>The lake is 1.25 mi by.25 mi wide, and is 75 ft deep. It has an elevation above sea level of 329 ft. A place of considerable scenic value, it is situated towards the head of the valley of the River Cocker and is surrounded by fells, notably the High Stile range to the south west, Robinson to the north east, Fleetwith Pike and Haystacks to the south east and Grasmoor to the north west.</p><br>
<p>The village of Buttermere stands at the north western end of the lake, and beyond this is Buttermere&#39;s twin, Crummock Water. There is a path around the lake which is about 4.5 mi long, and at one point runs through a rock tunnel beneath the locality of Hassness. Access is by road, from Cockermouth in the north west; from Borrowdale via the Honister Pass; or from Braithwaite and the Newlands Valley via Newlands Hause.</p><br>
<h2>Etymology</h2><br>
<p>There are two possible origins for the name "Buttermere":</p><br>
<p>One, that Buttermere means "the lake by the dairy pastures" (from the Old English "butere mere"). Whaley suggests this as the correct interpretation: " butter lake, the lake with good pasture-land, from OE butere butter, conveying the fertile nature of the flat alluvial land at both ends of the lake, plus mere lake..."</p><br>
<p>Two, that it is the corrupt form of a personal name. Robert Ferguson asserts in his 1866 work, "The Northmen in Cumberland and Westmoreland" that Buttermere derives from the Old Norse personal name "Buthar", as in "Buthars mere" (lake). This accords with local tradition, which says that the valley of Buttermere was part of the holdings of an 11th-century Norse chieftain called "Buthar" (sometimes spelt "Boethar"). Large numbers of Vikings settled in the Cumbrian area during the 9th and 10th centuries and many names in the area are of Norse origin: streams are termed becks, from the Old Norse bekkr; mountains are fells, from the Norse fjall; waterfalls are forces, from fos; ravines are gills; valleys are dales, from dalr (ON); and small lakes are termed tarns, which derives from tjorn, meaning teardrop. Whaley suggests that the personal name interpretation is incorrect, but notes that the Victoria County History "deemed it not disputed that the family of the Scotic ruler, Bueth or Boet, held its own against the Norman intruder&#39;, with possession of the barony of Gillesland, for fifty years after the Norman Conquest."</p><br>
<p>See article on at the English Lakes.com website.</p><br>
<h2>History</h2><br>
<p>From his hidden stronghold at Buttermere, it is said that Jarl Buthar conducted a campaign of running resistance against the Norman invaders, from the time of William the Conqueror&#39;s Harrying of the North in 1069 right up until the early 12th century. In 1072 King William set up a garrison at Carlisle, but the isolated garrison needed constant reinforcement and supplies. It is claimed that the Cumbrians fought a guerrilla war against the Normans for almost half a century, attacking supply wagons, ambushing patrols and inflicting great losses upon them in terms of money, matériel and men.</p><br>
<p>The extent to which Jarl Buthar is a semi-mythological figure is unclear. He is apparently mentioned in 12th century Norman documents, but much of his story appears to be based on local legend and archaeology, later enhanced by Nicholas Size&#39;s popular dramatised history (see below).</p><br>
<p>Jarl Boethars campaign and a final battle at (c.f. Ferguson, "Ragnars dale") between the Normans and the Anglo-Scandinavian Cumbrians led by the Jarl is the subject of a dramatised history by Nicholas Size, called "The Secret Valley: The Real Romance of Unconquered Lakeland" (pub. 1930)</p><br>
<p>Rosemary Sutcliffs YA novel "Shield Ring" (pub. 1956) imagines the lives of Jarl Buthar and his band of Cumbrian rebels, and their last stand against the forces of a Norman army under the command of Ranulf le Meschin, Lord of Carlisle and later Earl of Chester, nearly 50 years after the 1066 Norman Conquest of England. It was clearly inspired by Nicholas Sizes history, which it closely follows.</p><br>
<p>Mary Robinson (1778–1837), known as the "Maid of Buttermere" and the subject of Melvyn Bragg&#39;s novel of that name, was the daughter of the landlord of the Fish Inn in Buttermere village.</p><br>
<p>Lake Tappan is a reservoir impounded by the Tappan Dam on the Hackensack River, straddling the border between the USA states of New Jersey and New York. Within New Jersey, the lake traverses the border separating the municipalities of River Vale and Old Tappan in Bergen County, while extending northward across the New York state line into the town of Orangetown in Rockand County. The reservoir was formed in 1967, flooding areas that included the former CAPROC Field Civil Air Patrol airstrip.</p><br>
<p>The Lake Tappan reservoir covers 1,255 acres (5.1 km²), the majority of its area being within New Jersey, and it contains 3.5 e9USgal of water, with up to 12 to 13 e6USgal released downstream daily into the Oradell Reservoir, which lies entirely within Bergen County in New Jersey. The passage of this water between reservoirs can occur in as rapidly as two to three hours.</p><br>
<p>On March 11, 2003, New Jersey Governor Jim McGreevey visited the reservoir and proposed protecting it as well as the nearby Woodcliff Lake Reservoir and their tributaries with Category 1 water purity status.</p><br>
<p>The reservoir is owned by Suez North America, a private utility.</p><br>
<p>Lake Tappan is a local fishing spot as well, serving as a habitat for bluegill, bass, perch, catfish and carp.</p><br>
<p>The River Ribble is a river that runs through North Yorkshire and Lancashire in Northern England.</p><br>
<h2>History</h2><br>
<p>Neolithic to Saxon finds from along the River Ribble during the creation of the Preston Docks and other revealed man has been in the area for a long time. The River Ribble looked completely different then and the coastline is likely to have been much further inland than it is at present where land has been reclaimed and the marsh extended out into the River Ribble due to sedimentation.</p><br>
<p>The Ribble would appear to have been known in Roman times as the Belisama, possibly giving its name to Samlesbury. Ptolemy&#39;s "Belisama aest." seems to represent the estuary of the Ribble. Bremetennacum was a Roman fort that guarded a crossing-point of the river at Ribchester. Remains of another Roman site were discovered at Walton-le-Dale in the mid 19th century.</p><br>
<p>The medieval silver Mitton Hoard was found near where this river joins the River Hodder in 2009. Whilst the Cuerdale Hoard, the largest Viking silver hoard ever found outside Russia was discovered in 1840 on the southern bank of a bend of the river, at Cuerdale near Preston.</p><br>
<p>At one time the Ribble marked the northernmost extent of the ancient kingdom of Mercia. At the time of the Domesday Book, the river formed the northern boundary of an area of land (known as Inter Ripam et Mersam) that was included in the Domesday information for Cheshire, though it was probably not formally part of the county of Cheshire.</p><br>
<h2>Geography</h2><br>
<p>The Ribble begins at the confluence of the Gayle Beck and Cam Beck near the famous viaduct at Ribblehead, in the shadow of the Yorkshire three peaks. It is the only major river rising in Yorkshire which flows westward. It flows through Settle, Clitheroe, Ribchester and Preston, before emptying into the Irish Sea between Lytham St. Annes and Southport, a length of 75 mi. Its main tributaries are the Hodder and Calder which join the river near Great Mitton, the River Darwen which joins at Walton-le-Dale and the River Douglas which joins near Hesketh Bank.</p><br>
<p>Above Hellifield the valley of the river is known as Ribblesdale.</p><br>
<p>The Ribble Way is a long-distance footpath which follows the river for much of its course. The river is connected to both the Leeds and Liverpool Canal and the Lancaster Canal (via the Ribble Link). The river downstream of Preston was actively dredged when Preston was an active port; this is no longer done and silt from the river is now spreading more widely over the (sand) beaches around Fairhaven and St. Annes.</p><br>
<p>Its 10 mi estuary forms part of the Ribble and Alt Estuaries Special Protection Area for wildlife. An average of 340,000 water birds over-winter in the estuary making it the most important wetland site in Britain. The Ribble is also a key breeding ground for the endangered Atlantic salmon.</p><br>
<p>1.25 million people live in the Ribble&#39;s catchment area.</p><br>
<p>The Normal Tidal Limit (NTL) of the river is at Fishwick Bottoms, between Preston and Walton-le-Dale, 11 mi from the sea.</p><br>
<p>The River Ribble has the third largest tides in England, with tides that run at 4 kn and a tidal range at the mouth of the river of 8 m during spring tides. Since River Ribble dredging ceased, the estuary is filling up with sand and is developing a meandering path, depending on the tides and river runoff. In addition, many tributaries flow into the main channel including the Savick Brook/Ribble Link, while the River Douglas, has a significant influence both on sediment transport and hydrodynamics of the estuary.</p><br>
<h2>Ribble campaigns</h2><br>
<p>The River Ribble catchment is covered by the Mersey Basin Campaign, a partnership which was established in 1985 to improve water quality and encourage waterside regeneration.</p><br>
<p>Preston City Council have published plans to build a barrage across the River Ribble, in their Riverworks proposals. The aim of these proposals is to build a water sports park on a section of the Ribble, coupled with over 4,000 units of high quality housing and businesses in the rivers flood plain. Some local residents are opposing these plans, arguing that they endanger wildlife, increase flood risk to local housing and damage greenbelt areas. These residents have set up the Save The Ribble&#39; campaign. Parts of the river are a County Biological Heritage Site.</p><br>
<p>People living near the Ribble Estuary have set up the Ribble Estuary Against Fracking campaign to protest about plans to carry out fracking for shale gas in the area.</p><br>
<h2>Settlements</h2><br>
<h3>North Yorkshire</h3><br>
<p>Horton in Ribblesdale</p><br>
<p>Stainforth</p><br>
<p>Stackhouse</p><br>
<p>Langcliffe</p><br>
<p>Giggleswick</p><br>
<p>Settle</p><br>
<p>Halton West</p><br>
<p>Nappa</p><br>
<h3>Lancashire</h3><br>
<p>Paythorne</p><br>
<p>Sawley</p><br>
<p>West Bradford</p><br>
<p>Horrocksford</p><br>
<p>Clitheroe</p><br>
<p>Great Mitton</p><br>
<p>Little Town</p><br>
<p>Ribchester</p><br>
<p>Samlesbury</p><br>
<p>Walton-le-Dale</p><br>
<p>Preston</p><br>
<p>Penwortham</p><br>
<p>Tarleton</p><br>
<p>Hundred End</p><br>
<p>Banks</p><br>
<p>Lytham</p><br>
<h2>Main tributaries</h2><br>
<p>River Douglas or River Asland</p><br>
<p>Savick Brook</p><br>
<p>River Darwen</p><br>
<p>Stydd Brook</p><br>
<p>Dinckley Brook</p><br>
<p>River Calder</p><br>
<p>River Hodder</p><br>
<h2>Name</h2><br>
<p>The River Ribble gives its name to the local government boroughs of Ribble Valley and South Ribble, and the Ribble Valley parliamentary constituency. The Ribble Bus Company once operated throughout North West England. The Ribble also lends its name to the Ribble Steam Railway, Ribble Cycles, a bicycle manufacturer based in Preston, and Ribble Valley Inns.</p><br>
<p>The Teton Range is a mountain range of the Rocky Mountains in North America. It extends for approximately 40 mi in a north–south direction through the USA state of Wyoming, east of the Idaho state line. It is south of Yellowstone National Park and most of the east side of the range is within Grand Teton National Park.</p><br>
<p>Early French voyageurs named the range les trois tétons ("the three nipples") after the distinct breast-like shapes of its peaks, from which the modern name is derived. It is likely that the local Shoshone people once called the whole range Teewinot, meaning "many pinnacles".</p><br>
<p>The principal summits of the central massif, sometimes referred to as the Cathedral Group, are Grand Teton (13,775 ft), Mount Owen (12,928 ft), Teewinot (12,325 ft), Middle Teton (12,804 ft) and South Teton (12,514 ft). Other peaks in the range include Mount Moran (12,605 ft), Mount Wister (11,490 ft), Buck Mountain (11,938 ft) and Static Peak (11,303 ft).</p><br>
<h2>Geology</h2><br>
<p>Between six and nine million years ago, stretching and thinning of the Earths crust caused movement along the Teton fault. The west block along the fault line rose to form the Teton Range, creating the youngest mountain range in the Rocky Mountains. The faults east block fell to form the valley called Jackson Hole. The geological processes that led to the current composition of the oldest rocks in the Teton range began about 2.5 billion years ago. At that time, sand and volcanic debris settled into an ancient ocean. Additional sediment was deposited for millions of years and eventually heat and pressure metamorphosed the sediment into gneiss. Subsequently, magma was forced up through the cracks in the gneiss to form granite, anywhere from inches to hundreds of feet thick. Other intrusive igneous rocks are noticeable as the black dikes of diabase, visible on the southwest face of Mount Moran and on the Grand Teton. Starting during the Cambrian period, deep deposits of sedimentary rock were deposited in shallow seas over the metamorphic basement rocks. Erosion and uplift have exposed the metamorphic and intrusive igneous rocks now visible on the east slope of the range and in the Cathedral Group and the Paleozoic and Cenozoic sedimentary rocks on the west slope. As recently as 2.1 million years ago the Huckleberry Ridge Tuff was deposited along the west slope of the north part of the range.</p><br>
<p>One reason the Teton Range is famous is because of the dramatic elevation profile visible from the eastern side, which rises sharply from 5,000 to 7,000 ft above the valley floor. Unlike most mountain ranges, the east side of the Teton Range lacks significant foothills or lower peaks which might obscure the view. This is due to the presence of the Teton Fault at the base of the east slope as well as the range being too young to have eroded into soft hills. The Snake River flows southward through the valley before turning to the west and entering Idaho.</p><br>
<h2>As a filming location</h2><br>
<p>The Tetons and Jackson Hole have been the setting for a number of films, including John Wayne&#39;s film acting debut in The Big Trail in 1930 and the western film classic Shane in 1953. Mount Moran and the surrounding mountains were used as a backdrop for the lake/swamp setting in the original television series Land of the Lost.</p><br>
<p>Severny Island  is the northern island of the Novaya Zemlya archipelago, lying approximately 400 km north of the Russian mainland. It has an area of 48,904 km&sup2, making it the 30th-largest island in the world. It is part of Russian Arctic National Park.</p><br>
<h2>Geography</h2><br>
<p>Severny Island is separated from Yuzhny Island (Southern) by the narrow Matochkin Strait. Forty percent of the island is covered by the Severny Island ice cap, which is the largest glacier by area and by volume in Europe (if counted as part of it). Severny Island is known for its numerous glaciers. Cape Flissingsky is the easternmost point of Severny Island.</p><br>
<h3>Ice cap and glaciers</h3><br>
<p>Unlike Yuzhny Island, Severny has an inner ice cap with numerous glaciers, most of which have their terminus in the eastern or western shore of the island.</p><br>
<h2>History</h2><br>
<p>Sukhoy Nos cape, located at the southern end of the island, was used for nuclear weapons testing between 1958 and 1961. The Tsar Bomba hydrogen bomb test destroyed all buildings in the village of Severny (both wooden and brick). The village was located 55 kilometres (34 miles) from ground zero within the Sukhoy Nos test range. Tsar Bomba was the most powerful nuclear weapon detonated (October 30, 1961) and was the most powerful anthropogenic explosion in human history. It had a yield of 50 megatons of TNT although it was designed for a 100 megaton yield. Severny is now the site of a Russian Army base and has a harbor.</p><br>
<p>There is a meteorological station at Cape Zhelaniya, Severny&#39;s northernmost cape.</p><br>
<p>Cape Chelyuskin  is the northernmost point of the Eurasian continent , and the northernmost point of mainland Russia. It is situated at the tip of the Taymyr Peninsula, south of Severnaya Zemlya archipelago, in Krasnoyarsk Krai, Russia. The headland has a 17 m light on a framework tower.</p><br>
<p>Cape Chelyuskin is 1,370 km from the North Pole. Cape Vega is a headland located a little to the west of Cape Chelyuskin. Oscar Bay lies between both capes.</p><br>
<h2>History</h2><br>
<p>The cape was first reached in May, 1742 by an expedition on land party led by Semion Chelyuskin, and was initially called Cape East-Northern. It was renamed in honour of Chelyuskin by the Russian Geographical Society in 1842, on the 100th anniversary of the discovery.</p><br>
<p>It was passed on August 18, 1878 by Adolf Erik Nordenskiöld during the first sea voyage through the North-East Passage.</p><br>
<p>In 1919 Norwegian explorer Roald Amundsens ship Maud, left behind two men, Peter Tessem and Paul Knutsen, at Cape Chelyuskin after having made winter quarters there. The Maud continued eastwards into the Laptev Sea and the men were instructed to wait for the freeze-up of the Kara Sea and then sledge southwestwards towards Dikson carrying Amundsens mail. However, these two men disappeared mysteriously and were never seen again.</p><br>
<p>In 1922 Nikifor Begichev led a Soviet expedition in search for Peter Tessem and Paul Knutsen on request of the government of Norway, but Begichev was not successful.</p><br>
<p>A weather and a hydrology research base named "Polar Station Cape Chelyuskin" was constructed in 1932, and headed by Ivan Papanin. It was renamed the "E. K. Fyodorov Hydrometeorological Observatory" in 1983. The station has a magnetic observatory and stands on the eastern side of the point.</p><br>
<p>Systematic geological survey for uranium began here in 1946-47 with industrial extraction between 1950 and 1952 in a mountain 150 km south of the cape proper.</p><br>
<p>The cape hosts the northernmost airfield in Eurasia, in operation at various locations since 1950.</p><br>
<h2>Climate</h2><br>
<p>Cape Chelyuskin has a tundra climate (Köppen climate classification ET).</p><br>
<h2>Photo gallery</h2><br>
<p>Jarmo  is a prehistoric archeological site located in Iraq on the foothills of the Zagros Mountains. It lies at an altitude of 800 m above sea-level in a belt of oak and pistachio woodlands. Excavations revealed that Jarmo was an agricultural community dating back to 7090 BC. It was broadly contemporary with such other important Neolithic sites such as Jericho in the southern Levant and Çatal Hüyük in Anatolia.</p><br>
<h2>Discovery and excavation</h2><br>
<p>The site was originally discovered by the Iraqi Directorate of Antiquities in 1940, and later became known to archaeologist Robert Braidwood from the University of Chicago Oriental Institute. At the time, he was looking for suitable places to research the origins of the Neolithic Revolution. Braidwood worked as part of the Iraq-Jarmo programme for three seasons, those of 1948, 1950–51 and 1954–55; a fourth campaign, to be carried out in 1958-59 did not come about because of the 14 July Revolution. During the excavations in Jarmo in 1954-55, Braidwood used a multidisciplinary approach for the first time, in an attempt to refine the research methods and clarify the origin of the domestication of plants and animals. Among his team were a geologist, Herbert Wright, a palaeo-botanist, Hans Helbaek, an expert in pottery and radio-carbon dating, Frederic Mason, and a zoologist, Charles Reed, as well as a number of archaeologists. The interdisciplinary method was subsequently used in all serious field work in archaeology.</p><br>
<h2>Jarmo, the village</h2><br>
<p>The excavations exposed a small village, covering an area of 12,000 to 16,000 m², and which has been dated (by carbon-14) to 7090 BC, for the oldest levels, to 4950 BC for the most recent. The entire site consists of twelve levels. Jarmo appears to be two older, permanent Neolithic settlements and, approximately, contemporary with Jericho or the Neolithic stage of Shanidar. The high point is likely to have been between 6,200 and 5,800 BC. This small village consisted of some twenty five houses, with adobe walls and sun-dried mud roofs, which rested on stone foundations, with a simple floor plan dug from the earth. These dwellings were frequently repaired or rebuilt. In all, about 150 people lived in the village, which was clearly a permanent settlement. In the earlier phases there is a preponderance of objects made from stone, silex- using older styles- and obsidian. The use of this latter material, obtained from the area of Lake Van, 200 miles away, suggests that some form of organized trade already existed, as does the presence of ornamental shells from the Persian Gulf. In the oldest level baskets have been found, waterproofed with pitch, which is readily available in the area.</p><br>
<h2>Agriculture and cattle farming</h2><br>
<p>Agricultural activity is attested by the presence of stone sickles, cutters, bowls and other objects, for harvesting, preparing and storing food, and also by receptacles of engraved marble. In the later phases instruments made of bone, particularly perforating tools, buttons and spoons, have been found. Further research has shown that the villagers of Jarmo grew wheat of two types, emmer and einkorn, a type of primitive barley and lentils (it is common to record the domestication of grains, less so of pulses). Their diet, and that of their animals, also included species of wild plant, peas, acorns, carob seeds, pistachios and wild wheat. Snail shells are also abundant. There is evidence that they had domesticated goats, sheep and dogs. On the higher levels of the site pigs have been found, together with the first evidence of pottery.</p><br>
<h2>Pottery and religion</h2><br>
<p>Jarmo is one of the oldest sites at which pottery has been found, appearing in the most recent levels of excavation, which dates it to the 7th millennium BC. This pottery is handmade, of simple design and with thick sides, and treated with a vegetable solvent. There are clay figures, zoomorphic or anthropomorphic, including figures of pregnant women which are taken to be fertility goddesses, similar to the Mother Goddess of later Neolithic cultures in the same region.</p><br>
<p>Camp 4 is a campground in Yosemite National Park. It became notable after World War II as the hangout for rock climbers with many spending months there—not necessarily legally. It is located near Yosemite Falls, on the north side of the valley. There is a single parking lot at the campground, and no driveways connecting to individual campsites, so visitors must carry their gear in. Nearby boulders have long been used for bouldering. Among the boulders located here, the Columbia Boulder is probably the most famous. On it is the world-renowned boulder problem called the Midnight Lightning first done by Ron Kauk in 1978. It is easily recognizable by a painting of a white thunderbolt next to it.</p><br>
<h2>History</h2><br>
<p>Physically unimpressive, Camp 4 was nevertheless a center of rock climbing development during the middle of the 20th century. Dozens of the most famous climbers in the world would congregate at Camp 4, learning from each other and trying out new ideas on Yosemites walls. Some, such as Yvon Chouinard, made and sold climbing equipment in the camps parking lot, laying the foundation for successful businesses later.</p><br>
<p>Camp 4 was the site of ongoing friction between climbers and the National Park Service. The conflict came to a head in 1997, when flooding in Yosemite Valley destroyed many employee housing units. The Park Service proposed to build a three story dormitory complex at Camp 4. Tom Frost played a critical role in the fight to save Camp 4. He filed a lawsuit against the National Park Service to save the historic rockclimber&#39;s campsite, and convinced the American Alpine Club to support the suit. The effort was successful.</p><br>
<p>On February 21, 2003, Camp 4 was listed on the National Register of Historic Places for "its significant association with the growth and development of rock climbing in the Yosemite Valley during the golden years of pioneer mountaineering".</p><br>
<p>From 1971 to 1999, Camp 4 was officially known as Sunnyside Walk-in Campground, but has been since renamed Camp 4 in recognition of its historic status.</p><br>
<p>On June 14, 2012, the Superintendent of Yosemite National Park released a comprehensive rockfall hazard report for Yosemite Valley floor. The 96-page scientific report by an interdisciplinary team of geologists and rockfall-hazard specialists concludes that several campsites on the northern side of Camp 4 need to be relocated to achieve adequate safety for climbers.</p><br>
<h2>Reservations & Availability</h2><br>
<p>Reservations are not taken for spots in Camp 4 as it is a "walk-in" campground (i.e., first-come, first-served). A total of 35 sites are available daily, each accommodating a maximum of 6 people (i.e., 210 spots total) at a cost of US $6 per person per night; as of September, 2017, construction is underway to increase this number to accommodate the camp&#39;s popularity. Notably, the Park Service has imposed a 30-night camping limit within Yosemite National Park per calendar year; however, from 1 May - 15 September, the camping limit in Yosemite is 14 nights with only seven of those nights allowed in Yosemite Valley or Wawona. Because of these restrictions and because Camp 4 is the only walk-in campground in Yosemite Valley, spots can be difficult to obtain during major holidays, such as Memorial Day weekend, as well as during the peak rock climbing season in September and October.</p><br>
<p>During the 2013 Memorial Day weekend, for example, the number of available spots (and the number of people present at the respective time noted below) were as follows:</p><br>
<p>Fri, 24 May - 68 Available Spots - 22 People there at 5:15am</p><br>
<p>Sat, 25 May - 27 Available Spots - 15 People there at 3:15am(</p><br>
<p>Sun, 26 May - 43 Available Spots - 20 People there at 05:15am</p><br>
<p>Mon, 27 May - 107 Available Spots</p><br>
<p>Tue, 28 May - 63 Available Spots</p><br>
<p>Wed, 29 May - 65 Available Spots</p><br>
<p>Thu, 30 May - 75 Available Spots; and</p><br>
<p>Fri, 31 May - 78 Available Spots.</p><br>
<p>During the climbing season at the end of September, 2017, the availability was as follows:</p><br>
<p>Mon, 25 Sep - 24 Available Spots- all 24 in line by 06:00am</p><br>
<p>Tue, 26 Sep - 14 Available Spots- all 14 in line by 06:15am</p><br>
<p>Wed., 27 Sep - 10 Available Spots - all 10 in line by 05:00am; and</p><br>
<p>Thu., 28 Sep - 6 Available Spots - all 6 in line the day before at 18:00.</p><br>
<p>The Wallowa Mountains are a mountain range located in the Columbia Plateau of northeastern Oregon in the United States. The range runs approximately 40 mi northwest to southeast in southwestern Wallowa County and eastern Union County between the Blue Mountains to the west and the Snake River to the east. The range is sometimes considered to be an eastern spur of the Blue Mountains, and it is known as the "Alps of Oregon". Much of the range is designated as the Eagle Cap Wilderness, part of the Wallowa–Whitman National Forest.</p><br>
<h2>Geography</h2><br>
<p>The range is drained by the Wallowa River, which flows from the north side of the mountains, and its tributary the Minam River, which flows through the west side of the range. The Imnaha River flows from the east side of the range.</p><br>
<p>The highest point in the range is Sacajawea Peak, which is 9,838 ft above sea level. Sacajawea is the sixth highest mountain in Oregon and the state&#39;s highest peak outside of the Cascade Range.</p><br>
<h2>Geology</h2><br>
<p>Many geologists believe that the Wallowa Mountains in northeastern Oregon are a displaced fragment of the Insular Belt. The core of the Wallowas is composed of the Wallowa Batholith surrounded by Columbia River basalt. In addition there are many older terranes between the batholith and basalt flows.</p><br>
<p>The Wallowa Batholith is formed of granite from a magma upwelling in Late Jurassic and Early Cretaceous time (between 160 million and 120 million years ago). At the center of the Batholith are granodioritic rocks, while the outer limits of the range are tonalitic. The granite batholith is cut by dikes; however, these are uncommon.</p><br>
<p>Glaciers carved out the valleys during the late Pleistocene, which left a number of moraines. The series of moraines is formed by a series of glacial advances and retreats. Glacial till is also a common feature of the valleys. The melting of the glaciers produced a large quantity of water, which carried sediment to the valley bottoms, leaving delta deposits on top of the former deposits.</p><br>
<h2>Climate</h2><br>
<p>In the mountains, much precipitation falls as snow. Total snowfall peaks around March. Most precipitation in the area is orographic precipitation. Near the tops of the mountains, total annual precipitation can exceed 100 in per year, while in the valleys it can be as low as 10 in.</p><br>
<h3>Avalanches</h3><br>
<p>The mountains receive significant snowfall during the winter, enough that sometimes doesn&#39;t melt through the summer. Avalanches are a consistent threat to backcountry skiers and snowmobilers.</p><br>
<p>In February 2014, two backcountry skiers were killed in the southern Wallowas near Cornucopia when a skier-triggered avalanche swept into a mountainside gully. On March 8, 2016 the local avalanche center director, Kip Rand, was killed backcountry skiing near the Hurwal Divide and Chief Joseph Peak (Mount Joseph) in an avalanche-like event.</p><br>
<h2>Ecology</h2><br>
<p>The higher precipitation of the mountains compared with the surrounding country has created a mesic habitat in the Wallowas. Vegetation in the region contains combinations of plants found in both the Rocky Mountains and the Cascades. At low elevations, Douglas fir is the most common tree for slopes, whereas Engelmann spruce and lodgepole pine occur in valley bottoms, with grand fir common below 5,300 ft. In meadows and around springs and seeps, willows and sedge grow.</p><br>
<h2>Human history</h2><br>
<p>The area was home to the Wallowa band of the Lower Nez Perce. The Nez Perce lived in the canyons and burned trees to create meadows for the horses that they obtained around 1730. In 1834, Captain Bonneville crossed through the mountains and met with the lower Nez Perce on his way to Fort Walla Walla. In the 1840s, people began to move west, bringing settlers through the land. The Nez Perce began to trade with these settlers. In 1863, a new treaty was signed that relinquished lands that granted by an 1855 treaty, turning them over to the American government. This same year, the settlers in the mountains moved to present-day La Grande. These lands included the Wallowa Valley, home of Chief Joseph. The Wallowa Valley was partitioned in 1873, with one half for the Nez Perce and the other for settlers. Two years later, in 1875, the government banned the Nez Perce from the valley. The first road into the valley, a toll road, was constructed the same year. The USA Government attempted to force the removal of the Nez Perce in 1877; however, this angered the natives, who chose instead to raid the settlers, leading to the Nez Perce War.</p><br>
<p>Logging came in the late 1880s, using streams and rivers to transport the wood. A dam was constructed on Wallowa Lake in 1884 to help irrigate the valley. In 1908, the first railroad into the valley was completed. Rail lines were built to the upper valley by the Union Pacific Railroad in 1919, allowing for safer transportation of logs. The dam beneath Wallowa Lake was replaced by a concrete dam in 1916, and a new dam was completed in 1929.</p><br>
<p>Urkesh or Urkish  is a tell, or settlement mound, located in the foothills of the Taurus Mountains in Al-Hasakah Governorate, northeastern Syria. It was founded during the fourth millennium BC possibly by the Hurrians on a site which appears to have been inhabited previously for a few centuries.</p><br>
<h2>Geography</h2><br>
<p>There are other contemporary ancient sites in this area of upper Khabur River basin. For example, Chagar Bazar is 22km south of Mozan. Tell Arbid is located 45km south of Tell Mozan. Tell Brak is about 50km to the south.</p><br>
<p>Tell Leilan is located about 50km to the east of Urkesh. Leilan, Brak and Urkesh were particularly prominent during the Akkadian period.</p><br>
<h2>History</h2><br>
<p>Urkesh was an ally of the Akkadian Empire through what is believed to have been a dynastic marriage tradition. Tar&#39;am-Agade the daughter of the Akkadian king, Naram-Sin, is believed to have been married to the king of Urkesh. During the early second millennium BC the city passed into the hands of the rulers of Mari, a city a few hundred miles to the south. The king of Urkesh became a vassal (and apparently an appointed puppet) of Mari. The people of Urkesh evidently resented this, as the royal archives at Mari provide evidence of their strong resistance; in one letter, the king of Mari tells his Urkesh counterpart that "I did not know that the sons of your city hate you on my account. But you are mine, even if the city of Urkesh is not." In the middle of the millennium, Tell Mozan was the location of a Mitanni religious site. The city appears to have been largely abandoned circa 1350 BC, although the reason for this is unknown to archaeologists at this time.</p><br>
<p>The genealogy and identity of Urkeshs rulers is largely unknown, but the following names have been identified as being those of the city-states kings. The first three known kings (only two of whom are known by name) bore the Hurrian title endan:</p><br>
<p>Tupkish endan (c. 2250 BC)</p><br>
<p>Tish-atal endan (date unknown)</p><br>
<p>Shatar-mat (date unknown)</p><br>
<p>Atal-shen (date unknown)</p><br>
<p>Ann-atal (c. 2050 BC)</p><br>
<p>Te&#39;irru (c. 1800 BC)</p><br>
<h2>Archaeology</h2><br>
<p>The entire site covers around 135 hectare, mostly made up of the outer city. The high mound covers about 18 hectare and rises to a height of 25 m, with 5 sub-mounds. The high mound is surrounded by a mudbrick city wall that was roughly 8 m wide and 7 m high.</p><br>
<p>Important excavated structures include the royal palace of Tupkish, an associated necromantic underground structure (Abi), a monumental temple terrace with a plaza in front and a temple at the top, residential areas, burial areas, and the inner and outer city walls.</p><br>
<p>Soundings at the site were first made by Max Mallowan during his survey of the area. Agatha Christie, his wife, wrote that they chose not to continue at the site because it seemed to have Roman material. No trace of Roman occupation levels have been found in later excavations, however. Mallowan went on to excavate Chagar Bazar, another site to the south of Mozan/Urkesh. Excavations at Tell Mozan began in 1984 and have been conducted for at least 17 seasons up to the present time. The work has been led by Giorgio Buccellati of UCLA and Marilyn Kelly-Buccellati of California State University, Los Angeles. The 2007 season was primarily dedicated to working on publication material, primarily excavation units A16, J1, J3 and J4. A small sounding was done in J1 to clarify the transition between Mittani and Khabur. The excavations have been assisted at various times by other groups including the German Archaeological Institute.</p><br>
<p>The excavations at Tell Mozan are known for the projects interest in pursuing the uses of technology in an archaeological context. The main focus is on the Global Record&#39;, a method of documentation that combines journal entries into a hypertext based output. This system marries the advantages of both the database and prose type approaches, in that elements are individually linked across both stratigraphy and typology, and yet remain tied in a more synthetic whole through the narrative of the archaeological record. Another focal point of research at the site is the application of conservation.</p><br>
<p>The mud brick architecture which comprises the majority of the structures found to date has been preserved over the years though an innovative system. This system protects the monument while still allowing a detailed inspection of the primary document as originally unearthed. The same system affords an overview of the architectural volumes as perceived by the ancients. A sizeable lab in the field research facility allows the conservators to give the best possible on-site care while interacting with the excavations. An extensive storage facility has been established where more than 10,000 objects and samples of non-museographic quality are available for further study. A detailed catalog indexes these finds.</p><br>
<p>Special emphasis is placed on documenting the concrete types of contact which are observed in the ground. This is done with great detail at the level of each individual feature. From this evidence is automatically derived a complete depositional history of all elements in contact. The strata are conceived as segments of this continuum in which a single depositional moment can be reconstructed. The phases are periods that are culturally identifiable on the basis of typological and functional analysis. Horizons are the broad chronological subdivisions based on comparative material and as they can be linked to the general historical understanding.</p><br>
<p>One of the most important fixed points of reference for chronology are impressions on door sealings of the seal of Tar&#39;am-Agade, the daughter of Naram-Sin, which because of stratigraphy can be firmly linked to phase 3 of the AP palace occupation.</p><br>
<p>Finds from the excavations at Tell Mozan are on display in the Deir ez-Zor Museum.</p><br>
<h3>Syrian Civil War 2011-present</h3><br>
<p>Excavations are on hold during the Syrian Civil War since 2011. The site lies close to the Turkish border, and is protected by Kurdish troops and a team of local workers.</p><br>
<p>The Union Canal is a canal in Scotland, running from Falkirk to Edinburgh, constructed to bring minerals, especially coal, to the capital. It was opened in 1822 and was initially successful, but the construction of railways, particularly the Edinburgh and Glasgow Railway, opened in 1842, diminished its value as a transport medium. It fell into slow commercial decline and was closed to commercial traffic in 1933. It was officially closed in 1965. The canal is listed as three individual Scheduled monuments by Historic Scotland according to the three former counties, Midlothian, West Lothian and Stirlingshire, through which it flows.</p><br>
<p>It shares in the revival of interest in canals generally at the present day, and, as a result of the Millennium Link, was re-opened in 2001 and reconnected to the Forth and Clyde Canal in 2002 by the Falkirk Wheel. It is now in popular use for leisure purposes.</p><br>
<h2>Location and features</h2><br>
<p>The canal has several navigable aqueducts, including the Slateford Aqueduct that takes the canal over the Water of Leith in Edinburgh, the Almond Aqueduct near Ratho and the 810 ft Avon Aqueduct near Linlithgow, the second longest in the United Kingdom.</p><br>
<p>Priestley describes the route and structures in some detail:</p><br>
<p>The Canal commences from the sixteenth lock of the Forth and Clyde Navigation, about two miles west of Falkirk, in the county of Sterling (sic), whence it takes an eastwardly course on the south side of the above-mentioned town, by some collieries; thence, through Black Hill Tunnel, and across the Glen Water, on which stream, at a short distance to the southward, is constructed a considerable reservoir. Its line hence is by Brighton Freestone Quarries, and about a mile north from Park Hill Colliery, to the Avon River, over which there is an aqueduct conveying the canal at an elevation of 80 feet above the surface of the river. The canal here enters the county of Linlithgow, and passes within a mile and a half on the south side of its capital, to Craighton House, where its course is more southerly and circuitous, to the River Almond, near Clifton House, where it crosses into Edinburghshire, by means of an aqueduct. Its course hence is by Ratho House, and across Leith River, to the city of Edinburgh, where it terminates by a basin at the Lothian Road, about half a mile south-west of the castle. The length of the canal is thirty miles, the depth of water 5 feet, and is on one level from Edinburgh to its western extremity, where it falls 110 feet, in one series of locks, into the Forth and Clyde Canal.</p><br>
<p>Many of the stone bridges have keystones on which is engraved the number of the bridge: the keystones of Viewforth bridge, the second bridge from the start of the canal at Edinburgh Quay, are emblazoned with the coats of arms of Glasgow and Edinburgh, facing west and east respectively. When new bridges were installed as part of the Millennium Link, no CAD information was available on narrowboats, so the articulated lorries were used to design bends in the approaches to bridges. However, as narrowboats are rigid, some of these bends are very tight and difficult to navigate.</p><br>
<h2>Origins</h2><br>
<p>Priestley, writing in 1831 reported:</p><br>
<p>The primary object of this navigation was to effect an inland communication between the cities of Edinburgh and Glasgow; to the former of which it must be essentially serviceable, in consequence of the increased facilities afforded to the transit of lime, coal, stone, &c. which abound in its course.</p><br>
<p>This undertaking was designed by Mr. Thomas Telford and Mr. Baird, who estimated the cost at £240,468, 17s. 2d. of which sum £198,650 was subscribed before going to parliament. The first act of parliament ... is entitled, &#39;An Act for making and maintaining a navigable Canal from the Lothian Road, near the city of Edinburgh, to join the Forth and Clyde Navigation near Falkirk, in the county of Stirling.&#39; The company of proprietors consisted, at the time the first act was obtained, of three hundred and eighty-four persons, amongst whom were the Lord Provost of Edinburgh, Sir William Forbes, Sir John Hay, and Sir John Marjoribanks, who were incorporated by the name of "The Edinburgh and Glasgow Union Canal Company," with power to raise £240,500, in four thousand eight hundred and ten shares, of £50 each, and a further sum of £50,000, either among themselves, by the admission of new subscribers, or on mortgage of the undertaking.</p><br>
<p>The estimate of cost was evidently inadequate, because a second Act authorised borrowing of £48,100, a third Act of 1821 authorised an increase in share capital of a further £50,000 and a fourth authorised a further £60,000.</p><br>
<h2>Indemnity to Linlithgow and Edinburgh</h2><br>
<p>When the Company got its Act, Linlithgow and Edinburgh petitioned to be compensated for any loss of dues and charges they were accustomed to receive, and also loss of income on the turnpike (toll road).</p><br>
<p>The Company are directed to indemnify the Magistrates and Town Council of the Royal Burgh of Linlithgow for any Diminution of the Customs upon Cattle, Carriages, or Goods carried over the Avon at Torphichan Mill; also to secure to the Magistrates and Town Council of the City of Edinburgh the Rate of One Penny per Ton on all Goods, Wares, or other Things (except Manure,) shipped or unloaded at any of the Wharfs and Basins, in lieu of certain Rates, Dues, Causeway, Mail, and Petty Customs, which they are now entitled to; as it appears that, by a Charter or Gift of Charles the First, dated 17th May, 1636, the Ministers of Edinburgh are entitled to a Duty or Custom of Thirteen Shillings and Four-pence Scots, upon each Ton or Pack of Goods imported to Edinburgh, Leith, or Newhaven. The Company are therefore directed to pay the same on all Goods which may be imported by this Navigation. They are also bound to indemnify the Edinburgh Road Trustees, the Bathgate, and another Trust, in any Diminution of Tolls arising from these Turnpike Roads, which may be affected by their Canal.</p><br>
<h2>Tolls</h2><br>
<p>The income from the project was derived from tolls, and charges for wharfage etc. Maximum prices for these were laid down in the Act. The tolls were based on tonnage of the merchandise being conveyed; there was a toll for empty vessels, and this was to be remitted if the vessel returned laden within fourteen days.</p><br>
<h2>Nineteenth-century boat discovered</h2><br>
<p>In 2004, an archaeological investigation by a team from Headland Archaeology uncovered the stern of a 21 metre long wooden barge. The vessel was discovered on the south bank of the canal between the Leamington Lift Bridge and Viewforth Bridge in Edinburgh. The remains represent the final berth of an early to mid 19th century canal barge or scow, a type of horse drawn vessel that was the main freight carrier of the time. Typical cargoes included coal and lime from Lanarkshire although there were a number of passenger carriers too; the actual function of this vessel is unknown. The vessel was dismantled and removed from the canal in order to record the techniques used in its construction. Additional work will seek to identify the species, age and provenance of the timbers.</p><br>
<h2>The soliton</h2><br>
<p>The discovery of the soliton, a kind of self-perpetuating wave, occurred in 1834 on the Union Canal (at Hermiston) when John Scott Russell saw one generated by a horse-drawn canal boat. A modern aqueduct over the Edinburgh City Bypass just to the east is named after Russell.</p><br>
<h2>Modern uses</h2><br>
<p>The canal is now used recreationally by canoeists at the Forth Canoe Club and rowers from schools and universities, e.g. St Andrew Boat Club, George Heriots School Rowing Club and George Watsons College Rowing Club. The Edinburgh Canal Society, the Bridge 19-40 Canal Society and Linlithgow Union Canal Society promote general use of the canal. They hire rowing boats and narrowboats, and they provide regular boat trips on the canal for the general public. Re-Union Canal Boats operate a social enterprise building and maintaining trip boats.</p><br>
<p>Scottish Canals (as successor to the British Waterways Board in Scotland) have redeveloped the area at the Edinburgh terminal; their publicity states:</p><br>
<p>Edinburgh Quay is a major regeneration project centred on the site of Lochrin Basin, in the heart of Scotland&#39;s capital. It provides around 90 waterfront apartments, 150,000 ft&sup2; of offices and 55,000 ft&sup2; of retail and restaurant space.</p><br>
<p>Raft races have become an annual event, having been held in Edinburgh from 2007 to 2011, and using found "junk" material for the rafts. The Linlithgow Union Canal Society has been hosting its cardboard boat race for many years, at Linlithgow Basin.</p><br>
<h2>Millennium Link</h2><br>
<p>The Millennium Link, a project to restore both the Union and Forth and Clyde Canals, saw the two canals joined once again at the Falkirk end of the Union Canal, in 2002, by means of the Falkirk Wheel. This route involved a new lock and short tunnel where the canal passes under the Edinburgh - Glasgow railway and the Antonine Wall, just before the Falkirk Wheel and a double lock just above.</p><br>
<p>Mount Vancouver is the 15th highest mountain in North America. Its southern side lies in Glacier Bay National Park and Preserve at the top of the Alaska panhandle, while its northern side is in Kluane National Park and Reserve in the southwestern corner of Yukon, Canada. Mount Vancouver has three summits: north, middle, and south, with the middle summit being the lowest. The south summit, Good Neighbor Peak at 4,785 m, straddles the international border while the north summit is slightly higher at 4,812 m.</p><br>
<p>The mountain was named by William Healey Dall in 1874 after George Vancouver, who explored the southeast coast of Alaska from 1792 to 1794.</p><br>
<h2>Notable Ascents</h2><br>
<p>1949 North Buttress (northwest ridge): FA of mountain by William Hainsworth, Alan Bruce-Robertson, Bob McCarter, Noel Odell; with Walter Wood in support.</p><br>
<p>1975 Northeast Ridge (to north peak), FA by Cliff Cantor, Bob Dangel, Paul Ledoux, Rob Milne, Hal Murray, Bob Walker, John Yates and Barton DeWolf.</p><br>
<p>1977 West Face, FA by John Lauchlan, John Calvert, Trevor Jones and Mike Sawyer.</p><br>
<p>Mount Hubbard is one of the major mountains of the Saint Elias Range. It is located on the Alaska/Yukon border; the Canadian side is within Kluane National Park and Reserve, and the American side is part of Wrangell–St. Elias National Park. The mountain was named in 1890 by USA Geological Survey geologist Israel Russell after Gardiner Greene Hubbard, first president of the National Geographic Society, which had co-sponsored Russell&#39;s expedition.</p><br>
<p>Hubbard is the highest point of a large massif with three named summits; the other two are Mount Alverstone and Mount Kennedy. Alverstone and Hubbard form a corner of the Canada–United States border: the border extends roughly south from these peaks toward the Alaska panhandle, and roughly west toward Mount Saint Elias, approximately 100 km away. The Hubbard Glacier separates Mount Hubbard from Mount Vancouver to the west, while the Lowell Glacier lies to the east of the peak.</p><br>
<p>Mount Hubbard is the eighth-highest peak in the United States, and the twelfth-highest peak in Canada. It is also notable for its large rise above local terrain. For example, its west face rises 7,500 ft above the Alverstone Glacier in less than 2 mi, and the peak rises 11,000 ft above the Hubbard Glacier to the southwest in only 7 mi. Mount Hubbard is just over 20 mi from tidewater at Disenchantment Bay. However, despite its precipitous drops to the west, the eastern side provides a non-technical (though long) route to the summit.</p><br>
<p>Moosehead Lake is the largest lake in the USA state of Maine and the largest mountain lake in the eastern United States. Situated in the Longfellow Mountains in the Maine Highlands Region, the lake is the source of the Kennebec River. Towns that border the lake include Greenville to the south and Rockwood to the northwest. There are over 80 islands in the lake, the largest being Sugar Island. The area has been the focal point of a controversy surrounding planned large scale commercial development, and the environmental practices of the developer.</p><br>
<h2>History</h2><br>
<p>Mount Kineo, with 700-foot (200 m) cliffs rising straight up from Moosehead Lake, has attracted visitors for centuries, from early American Indians (Red Paint People), to later tribes seeking its flint called hornstone, Penobscots and Norridgewocks, the Abenaki bands who battled here with their enemy the Mohawks, to 19th-century "rusticators" traveling by railroad and steamboat and today&#39;s hotel guests. Various species dwell among its cliffs and talus slopes, including peregrine falcons and rare plants.</p><br>
<p>The Moosehead region includes the headwaters of the Kennebec, the West Branch of the Penobscot, the Piscataquis, the Pleasant, and the Saint John rivers. Henry David Thoreau and other 19th-century visitors remarked on the beauty of the area. The region has a large moose population; moose outnumber people 3:1. However, the name of the region derives from the remarkable similarity between maps of the lake and an antlered moose.</p><br>
<p>No stranger to the natural wonders of the region, Henry David Thoreau described the lake as “...a gleaming silver platter at the end of the table.”</p><br>
<h2>Geography</h2><br>
<p>Set at an elevation of 1,023 feet (312 m), Moosehead Lake is approx. 40 by 10 miles (64 by 16 km), with an area of 120 mile² (311 km²), and over 400 miles (640 km) of shoreline. Its major inlet is the Moose River, which, east of Jackman, flows through Long Pond to Brassua Lake. To the east of Moosehead Lake, the Roach River is its second largest tributary. Flowing out of Moosehead Lake to the southwest are its east and west outlets—the Kennebec River.</p><br>
<p>The Moosehead Lake Region encompasses 4,400 square miles (11,000 km²) of West Central Maine, and includes 127 townships in addition to Moosehead Lake. The region is drained by 330 miles (530 km) of main stem rivers, into which flow 3,850 miles (6,200 km) of smaller tributaries. During the last glacial era, more than 1,200 natural lakes and ponds were carved into its landscape, varying in size from one acre (4,000 m²) ponds to Moosehead, at 74,890 acres (303 km²) one of the largest natural freshwater lakes in the United States. The total area of all standing surface waters in the region is more than 238,000 acres (963 km²)—24% of the total area of lakes and ponds in Maine.</p><br>
<h2>Development plans</h2><br>
<p>Seattle-based Plum Creek Real Estate Investment Corporation, the largest private United States landowner, submitted a development proposal for the Moosehead region in April 2005. The 570-page proposal was the largest development ever proposed for the State of Maine. This development was to bring residents, money, and tourists to Maine. The initial version of the scheme called for 975 house lots, two resorts, a golf course, a marina, three RV parks, and more than 100 rental cabins. The plan was accepted by the Maine Land Use Regulatory Committee, despite public opposition. Adding to the controversy, the developer has been fined for illegally clear-cutting sections of forest.</p><br>
<p>The Gulf of Maine  is a large gulf of the Atlantic Ocean on the east coast of North America. It is bounded by Cape Cod at the eastern tip of Massachusetts in the southwest and by Cape Sable Island at the southern tip of Nova Scotia in the northeast. The gulf includes the entire coastlines of the USA states of New Hampshire and Maine, as well as Massachusetts north of Cape Cod, and the southern and western coastlines of the Canadian provinces of New Brunswick and Nova Scotia, respectively.</p><br>
<p>The gulf was named for the adjoining English colonial Province of Maine, which was in turn likely named by early explorers after the Province of Maine in France. Massachusetts Bay, Penobscot Bay, Passamaquoddy Bay, and the Bay of Fundy are included within the Gulf of Maine system; as such, the Gulf of Maine is also home to the highest tidal variations on the planet (see Bay of Fundy for further information).</p><br>
<h2>Geography and hydrography</h2><br>
<p>The Gulf of Maine is a roughly rectangular depression with a surface area of around 36,000 square miles, enclosed to the west and north by the North American mainland and communicating with the Atlantic Ocean to the southeast. The region&#39;s glaciation by the Laurentide Ice Sheet stripped sedimentary soil away from the coastline, leaving a shore that is predominantly rocky and scenic, lacking the sandy beaches found to the south along the Eastern Seaboard. The only significant coastal developments are located in the Boston, Portsmouth, Portland and Saint John metropolitan areas.</p><br>
<p>The underwater features of the seabed sculptured during the lower sea levels of the ice ages make the gulf a semi-enclosed sea bounded to the south and east by underwater banks. Georges Bank in particular, on its southern end, shelters the gulf from the Gulf Stream. Gulf of Maine waters are more strongly influenced by the Labrador Current, making the gulf waters significantly colder and more nutrient-rich than those found to the south. Undersea valleys in the central basin can reach depths of 1,500 feet (500 m) while undersea mountains rise up 800 feet (266 m) from the sea floor, almost reaching the surface in some locations, or even exceeding it, creating islands.</p><br>
<p>There are three major basins contained within the Gulf of Maine: Wilkinson Basin to the west, Jordan Basin in the northeast, and Georges Basin in the south, which are isolated from each other beneath the 650 foot (200 m) isobath. Georges Basin, just north of Georges Bank, is the deepest of the three at just over 1200 feet (370 m) and generates a pocket at the end of the Northeast Channel, a deep fissure between Georges Bank and Browns Bank, the southwestern edge of the Nova Scotian Shelf. The Northeast Channel is the major channel between the Gulf and the rest of the Northwest Atlantic. A secondary, shallower connection to the rest of the Atlantic is the Great South Channel, located between Georges Bank and the Nantucket Shoals.</p><br>
<h2>Ecology</h2><br>
<p>The cold waters, extreme tidal mixing, and diverse bottom of the Gulf make it one of the most productive marine environments in the North Atlantic, and it furnishes habitat for many diverse species including most notably haddock, the Acadian redfish (Sebastes fasciatus), the Atlantic herring (Clupea harengus) and the American lobster (Homarus americanus), which grows to famously large sizes in the Gulf. The waters of the Gulf of Maine system, particularly at the boundary with the Bay of Fundy are also home to the summering grounds for many different bird and whale species, most notably the highly endangered North Atlantic right whale.</p><br>
<p>Due to rapid warming of the Gulf of Maine, the water has become too hot for cod. This, along with past overfishing, has helped pushed stocks towards collapse and hampered its recovery despite deep reductions in the number of fish caught, according to a study conducted by the Gulf of Maine Research Institute. Traditional calculations "consistently over-estimated the abundance of cod." From 2004, temperatures rose by more than 0.4 degrees F (0.1 degrees C) per year, culminating in an ocean heat wave in the northwest Atlantic in 2012-13.</p><br>
<h2>Watershed</h2><br>
<p>The watershed of the gulf encompasses an area of 69,000 square miles, including all of Maine, 70% of New Hampshire, 56% of New Brunswick, 41% of Massachusetts, and 36% of Nova Scotia. The watershed also includes a small southern portion (less than 1%) of the Canadian province of Quebec. Significant rivers that drain into the Gulf include, from east to west, the Annapolis, Shubenacadie, Salmon, Petitcodiac, Saint John, Magaguadavic, St. Croix, Penobscot, Kennebec, Saco, Piscataqua, Merrimack and Charles rivers; the Saint John and Penobscot having the greatest discharge.</p><br>
<h2>History and political significance</h2><br>
<p>The gulf&#39;s relative proximity to Europe made it an early destination for European colonization. French settlers founded a settlement on St. Croix Island in 1604. English settlers founded the Popham Colony on an island in the Kennebec River in 1607, the same year as the Jamestown settlement, followed by the Plymouth Colony on the shores of Massachusetts Bay in 1620.</p><br>
<p>In the 1960s and 1970s there was a dispute between Canada and the United States over fishing and other resource rights in the Gulf of Maine, specifically the Georges Bank region. This dispute was taken to the International Court of Justice, which delineated a maritime boundary through the Gulf in 1984. Canada and the USA continue to disagree on the sovereignty of Machias Seal Island and the waters surrounding it in the northeastern part of the gulf. In recognition of the Gulf&#39;s importance to marine habitat, both nations currently maintain complementary embargoes against offshore oil and gas exploration activities on Georges Bank in the southern part of the gulf.</p><br>
<p>Aliʻiōlani Hale is a building located in downtown Honolulu, Hawaiʻi, currently used as the home of the Hawaiʻi State Supreme Court. It is the former seat of government of the Kingdom of Hawaiʻi and the Republic of Hawaiʻi.</p><br>
<p>Located in the building&#39;s courtyard is the famed gold-leaf statue of Kamehameha the Great.</p><br>
<h2>Design and history</h2><br>
<p>The Aliʻiōlani Hale was designed by Australian Thomas Rowe in an Italian Renaissance Revival as the royal palace for King Kamehameha V. In the Hawaiian language, Aliʻiōlani Hale means "House of Heavenly Kings". The name "Aliʻiōlani" was also one of the given names of Kamehameha V.</p><br>
<p>Although the building was designed to be a palace, Kamehameha V realized that the Hawaiian government desperately needed a government building. At that time, the several buildings in Honolulu used by the government were very small and cramped, clearly inadequate for the growing Hawaiian government. Thus, when Kamehameha V ordered construction of Aliʻiōlani Hale, he commissioned it as a government office building instead of a palace.</p><br>
<p>Kamehameha V laid the cornerstone for the building on February 19, 1872. He died before the building was completed, and it was dedicated in 1874 by one of his successors, King David Kalākaua. At the time, Hawaiian media criticized the building&#39;s extravagant design, suggesting that the building be converted into a palace as originally designed.</p><br>
<p>Until 1893, the building held most of the executive departments of the Hawaiian government as well as the Hawaiian legislature and courts.</p><br>
<h2>Overthrow of the Hawaiian monarchy</h2><br>
<p>It was from Aliʻiōlani Hale in 1893 that the Committee of Safety, under the leadership of Lorrin A. Thurston, deposed Queen Liliʻuokalani by public proclamation.</p><br>
<p>After the establishment of the Hawaiian provisional government in 1893 and the Republic of Hawaiʻi in 1894, some of the offices in Aliʻiōlani Hale were moved to ʻIolani Palace, including the Hawaiian legislature. As a result, Aliʻiolani Hale became primarily a judicial building.</p><br>
<h2>Aliʻiōlani Hale since 1900</h2><br>
<p>The growing size of Hawaiʻis government continued to be a problem for the building, however, especially after Hawaiʻi became a United States territory in 1900. In 1911, the building was extensively renovated to help solve these space problems. The entire interior of the building was gutted and rebuilt, giving the buildings interior a completely new floorplan. Since the building was originally designed to be a palace, its floorplan was not adequate for its later usage as a judicial building. The new layout of the building fixed this problem.</p><br>
<p>The size of the territorial government continued to grow. In the 1940s, a new wing was added to the building to help alleviate the growing problem of overcrowding. The architects who designed the new wing tried to blend it in with the original building that dated back to the 1870s.</p><br>
<p>Over the next many decades, most of the state judiciary functions moved out of Aliʻiōlani Hale to various other buildings around Honolulu (including the state district, family, and circuit courts). Today, the building houses the Hawaiʻi State Supreme Court and is the administrative center of the Hawaiʻi State Judiciary. It also houses the Judiciary History Center, a museum featuring a multimedia presentation of Hawaiʻis judiciary, a restored historic courtroom, and other exhibits dealing with Hawaiʻis judicial history. The building also houses Hawaiʻis largest law library. In 2010, John Andreonis firm of King&#39;s Custom Koa won the contract to replace the koa wood doors.</p><br>
<p>In December 2005, a capsule buried by Kamehameha V when he laid the cornerstone was located, at the direction of the Joint POW/MIA Accounting Command, by Professor Larry Connors of the University of Denver using ground penetrating radar. The capsule contained photos of royal families and the constitution of the Hawaiian Kingdom, Hawaiian postage stamps, Hawaiian and foreign coinage, newspapers, a calendar and books. The capsule was located to protect it during future renovations, and not retrieved due to concerns of damaging the structure of the building itself.</p><br>
<p>Copper thieves stripped several copper downspouts from the building in 2006.</p><br>
<p>In the 2010 version of CBS&#39; Hawaii Five-0 TV series, Aliʻiōlani Hale is depicted as the Iolani Palace; headquarters for the Five-0 task force with exterior shots of the building being used frequently throughout the series.</p><br>
<p>Aliʻiōlani Hale is one of many buildings in downtown Honolulu listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Within walking distance are the Cathedral of Our Lady of Peace, Hawaiʻi State Capitol, Hawaiʻi State Library, Honolulu Hale, ʻIolani Palace, Kawaiahaʻo Church, Territorial Building, and Washington Place.</p><br>
<h2>King Kamehameha V Judiciary History Center</h2><br>
<p>The King Kamehameha V Judiciary History Center, located in Aliʻiōlani Hale, focuses on Hawaii&#39;s legal history and landmark court cases. Admission is free and the public can tour the exhibits from Monday through Friday from 8am to 4pm. Group tours are offered by reservation.</p><br>
<p>Mount Haruna is a dormant stratovolcano in Gunma, eastern Honshū, Japan.</p><br>
<h2>Outline</h2><br>
<p>Mount Haruna started to form more than 300,000 years ago and the last known eruption was c. 550. The volcano has a summit caldera containing the symmetrical pyroclastic cone of Mount Haruna-Fuji, along with a crater lake, Lake Haruna, along the western side. To the west of the lake is Mount Kamonga, the tallest of Mount Haruna&#39;s numerous peaks at 1,449 m high.</p><br>
<p>The lake and the area to its east, as well as the southern and southwestern slopes, lie within the borders of Takasaki city. The border of Shibukawa city (to the east) nearly approaches Lake Haruna. Both Shinto village and Yoshioka town are on the southeast slopes of the mountain. The northern and northwestern slopes lie within Higashi Agatsuma town, which also bounds Lake Haruna. The summit lies on the border of Takasaki and Higashi Agatsuma.</p><br>
<p>Mount Haruna, along with Mount Akagi and Mount Myōgi, is one of the "Three Mountains of Jōmō." (Jōmō is an old name for Gunma.)</p><br>
<h2>In popular culture</h2><br>
<p>The mountain is made famous in the manga series Initial D under the fictional name Akina (秋名), where the main character, Takumi Fujiwara, delivers tofu every day to a hotel uphill, using his fathers (eventually gained full ownership) heavily modified Toyota Sprinter Trueno (AE86). It is also where Takumi won his first few races. It is the home course for the racing team called the Akina Speed Stars with which Takumi becomes closely associated. Later in the anime Takumi due to his unbeatable track records and for his downhill driving technique, is popularly referred to as Akinas 86.</p><br>
<p>The mountain is featured in the PlayStation 2 games Tokyo Xtreme Racer: Drift and Tokyo Xtreme Racer: Drift 2. It is also featured in the PC games Race Driver: GRID and Blur, although not realistically.</p><br>
<p>ODea Castle, also known as Dysert ODea Castle, is an Irish fortified tower house, loosely described as a castle at Dysert ODea, the former ODea clan stronghold, 5 km from Corofin, County Clare just off the R476 road. It was built between 1470 and 1490 by Diarmaid ODea, Lord of Cineal Fearmaic, and stands some 50 ft high on a limestone outcrop base measuring 20 by. The tower is adjacent to Dysert ODea Monastery.</p><br>
<h2>History</h2><br>
<p>The Battle of Dysert ODea, which drove the Anglo-Normans from the region for over 200 years, took place at this site on 10 May 1318. The castle was built between 1470 and 1490 by Diarmaid ODea, Lord of Cineal Fearmaic. The Earl of Ormond took the castle from the ODea clan in 1570 by force. By 1584, however, they had regained it. At that time, Domhnall Maol ODea was listed as owner. Domhnall supported the northern Chiefs in the Nine Years War of 1594-1603 and subsequently Dysert Castle fell to the Protestant Bishop of Kildare, Daniel Neylon, who in 1594 bequeathed it to his son, John. The castle soon returned to the ODea clan. Conor Cron O&#39;Dea supported the Confederates and participated in the successful siege of Ballyalla Castle in 1642.</p><br>
<p>After the fall of Limerick in 1651 to the Cromwellian forces, they maintained a small garrison here. When they left, the soldiers demolished the battlements, upper floors and staircase. The Neylon family then returned but during the reign of Charles II, Conor Cron ODea regained the castle. Conors sons, Michael and James, supported the cause of James II and once again lost the castle. The lands passed to the Synge family but the castle eventually and gradually fell into ruin.</p><br>
<p>In 1970, John ODay of Wisconsin Rapids, Wisconsin (USA) purchased the tower and had it restored. The castle was then leased to the Dysert Development Association, which, with support from the Irish Tourist Board, opened it as "The Dysert ODea Castle Archaeology Centre" in 1986. It showed an exhibition of local artefacts from the stone age to 1922.</p><br>
<p>The tower also won the "Clare Tourism Award" for being one of the most authentically rebuilt castles in Ireland.</p><br>
<h2>Today</h2><br>
<p>Today, the centre is known as the Clare Archaeology Centre, with exhibits of local archaeological artefacts from 1000 BC to 1700 AD, local history over the last three centuries, and a wall walk of parts of the castle. The Dysert ODea Archeology Trail includes sites around the tower, including the remains of the Dysert ODea Monastery.</p><br>
<h2>Pictures</h2><br>
<p>Katoomba Scenic World is a privately owned tourist attraction located in Katoomba in the Blue Mountains, New South Wales, Australia, about 100 kilometres west of Sydney. Scenic World is home to four attractions, of which the most famous is the Katoomba Scenic Railway. The site also includes the Katoomba Scenic Skyway, the Cableway and Katoomba Scenic Walkway a 2.4 km elevated boardwalk through ancient rainforest. Onsite facilities also include free all day parking, the largest souvenir shop in NSW and several dining outlets.</p><br>
<h2>Overview</h2><br>
<h3>Railway</h3><br>
<p>The Scenic Railway is the steepest cable-driven funicular railway in the world,</p><br>
<p>the steepest incline of 52 degrees contained within a total incline distance of 310 m. It was originally constructed for a coal and oil shale mining operation in the Jamison Valley in the 1880s, in order to haul the coal and shale from the valley floor up to the escarpment above. From 1928 to 1945 it carried coal during the week and passengers at weekends. The coal mine was closed in 1945 after which it remained as a tourist attraction. The Scenic Railway was closed on 13 January 2013 (although the Skyway, Cableway, and Walkway remained open) as construction to upgrade both tracks and carriages began. The work was completed and the railway reopened in April 2013.</p><br>
<h3>Skyway</h3><br>
<p>Built in 1958 the Scenic Skyway is another cable-driven conveyance at Scenic World. It travels across the gorge above the Katoomba Falls, 270 m above the valley floor. The original Scenic Sky-way was withdrawn on 4 April 2004 after 587,401 crossings and today is used as a picnic shelter. It was replaced by a new cable car in December of the same year. The new Skyway was built by Doppelmayr and CWA Constructions, and features a 72-person cabin with sections of liquid crystal glass that turns a raised section of the floor from translucent to transparent as the ride progresses. In November 2005 a second station on the opposite cliff-face opened, allowing Skyway passengers to disembark and follow bush walking trails to the nearby Echo Point.</p><br>
<h3>Orphan Rocker</h3><br>
<p>In 1984 Scenic World began building a roller coaster known as the Orphan Rocker, named after the nearby Orphan Rock. This is the first roller coaster to be completely designed and manufactured in Australia. The highlight of this ride is meant to be a swooping banked turn that takes riders within metres of the edge of a 200 m cliff. It has in the past been referred to as a "sitdown suspended" coaster, because although it is a conventional sitdown coaster, the trains can tilt from side to side, like a suspended coaster, giving it its name. It was originally planned as a scenic monorail ride, but it soon evolved into a roller-coaster ride. The roller coaster has never publicly opened due to demands for redevelopment elsewhere onsite. Visitation to Scenic World in the 80s were peaking at more than 1.2 million visitors annually, necessitating additional access into the valley and the idea for Scenic World&#39;s 3rd ride - The Cableway (originally Scenicscender) was born. The roller coaster track has been left in place for possible redevelopment in the future.</p><br>
<h3>Cableway</h3><br>
<p>In 2000 Scenic World installed the Sceniscender, now called Scenic Cableway, 84-passenger cable car from Doppelmayr that passes over a 25 m tower on the edge of the cliff, and then 510 m to the Valley Station in the Jamison Valley 200 m below.</p><br>
<h3>Restaurants and shops</h3><br>
<p>Scenic World has two food and beverage outlets operating – EATS270 and the Terrace Café.</p><br>
<p>The former Scenic Revolving Restaurant was renovated and reopened in late 2012 as an eatery. During this time a decision was made to cease operation of the revolving platform due to complaints from diners losing their table and feeling sick while eating. The platform can still however be turned on by request for private functions. EATS270 now includes food outlets with Australian, Italian and light lunch menu options. EATS270 also features a new balcony area with extensive outdoor seating overlooking the Three Sisters and Jamison Valley.</p><br>
<p>Scenic World food & beverage outlets are not open in the evenings for general dining but can be booked for private functions and corporate events.</p><br>
<p>The Colo River, a perennial stream that is part of the Hawkesbury-Nepean catchment, is located in the Central Tablelands of New South Wales, Australia.</p><br>
<h2>Course</h2><br>
<p>The Colo River rises on the Great Dividing Range, northeast of Newnes, formed by the confluence of the Wolgan River and the Capertee River, which respectively drain the Wolgan and Capertee Valleys north of Lithgow. Colo River flows eastwards and then south through a deep gorge in the northern section of the Blue Mountains. The majority of the river lies in Wollemi National Park. The middle Colo is inaccessible, rugged and remote. The wilderness was saved from development, logging and damming in the late 1970s by the Colo Wilderness Preservation Society and other environmentalists. Emerging from the wilderness region, the lower part of the Colo River flows through a scenic, narrow agricultural valley and reaches the Hawkesbury River at Lower Portland north of Windsor. Tributaries of the Colo include the Wollangambe River and Wollemi Creek. The river descends 214 m over its 86 km course.</p><br>
<p>Parts of the area surrounding the river, including both the Blue Mountains National Park and the Wollemi National Park have received World Heritage listing, due in part to the discovery of the Wollemi Pine, often described as a living fossil from the age of the dinosaurs. The Colo River gorge contains many boulder-rapids that alternate with deep pools. Even though this area is relatively close to the Sydney metropolitan area, the Colo River flows through the largest wilderness area in New South Wales. Local volunteer bush regeneration groups such as the "Friends of the Colo" have been helping eradicate invasive exotic weeds in the area surrounding the river.</p><br>
<h2>History</h2><br>
<p>The traditional custodians of the land surrounding the Colo River are the Australian Aboriginal peoples of the Darug nation.</p><br>
<p>The area of the lower Colo River was first explored by Europeans in June 1789 by Governor Philiip and settlement commenced from the early 1800s via land grants, that were significantly expanded from 1833. The Colo River was an important transport corridor in the period before motor vehicles, with produce and goods transported down the Hawkesbury River to Sydney.</p><br>
<h2>Recreation</h2><br>
<p>Some of the beautiful and inaccessible gorges of the Colo River can be viewed by floating down the river on inflatable lilos, from walk-in access tracks such as Bob Turner&#39;s Track at Colo Heights.</p><br>
<p>Bushwalking, canoeing, fishing, viewing natural flora and fauna, and relaxing accommodation retreats are all popular recreation activities along various parts of the Colo River.</p><br>
<p>The Foxton Inclined Plane is a canal inclined plane that is located on the Leicester line of the Grand Union Canal about 5 km west of the Leicestershire town of Market Harborough and are named after the nearby village of Foxton. The plane was built in 1900 as a solution to various operational restrictions imposed by the Foxton Lock flight. However, it was not a commercial success and only remained in full-time operation for ten years. The plane was dismantled in 1926. A project to re-create the plane commenced in the 2000s because the narrowbeam locks remain a bottleneck for leisure boat traffic.</p><br>
<h2>History</h2><br>
<p>By 1897, the Grand Junction Canal Company had acquired several of the canals comprising the Leicester line, and was keen to meet demand from carriers seeking to use wider beam (14 ft) craft, rather than the traditional narrow beam boats, which were the only type the locks could accommodate. Their solution was to build an inclined plane to the side of the locks. Initially, the company had planned for the plane to replace the locks, rather than having it act as a second, faster option. Construction began in 1898 and was finished by 10 July 1900.</p><br>
<p>The Plane was designed by Gordon Cale Thomas, after a large-scale prototype was built at the company&#39;s Bulbourne yard and he had assessed the 75 ft climb.</p><br>
<p>The inclined plane had a journey time of 12 minutes for two boats up and two down, compared with 1¼ hours through the old lock system, thereby improving the speed of passage up the hill tremendously. During a 12-hour day, 6,000 tons (6,100 tonnes) of cargo could pass through the upper and lower level. Unlike the locks, where water flowed downhill every time a boat passed through, on the inclined plane almost the same amount of water went up and down the hill. Only the displaced water is moved, thus saving a great deal of water and giving better control of this vital resource.</p><br>
<p>An initial problem with the plane was the stress on the tracks by the caissons.</p><br>
<p>In 1926, dismantling of the incline&#39;s machinery began, and it was sold for scrap in 1928 for a mere £250. The mooring bollards from the incline can be found alongside the locks.</p><br>
<h2>Preservation</h2><br>
<p>The Foxton Canal Museum is located in the former boiler house for the plane&#39;s steam engine. The museum covers the history of the locks and the plane, the lives of the canal workers, and other aspects of the local canal. There is also a collection of Measham pottery. The museum opened in 1989 and is accredited by the Museums, Libraries and Archives Council.</p><br>
<h3>Restoration</h3><br>
<p>The site of the Foxton Inclined Plane Boat Lift has been recognised as a Scheduled Ancient Monument This recognition, together with the steady increase in leisure boating on British canals, means its restoration is now considered a key project in the development of the national waterway network. The cost of full restoration has been estimated at £9 million (in 2006).</p><br>
<p>Stage 1 of the project – the clearing of the site and restoration of the canal arms above and below the plane – was completed in 2008. A grant for £1.7 million was received from the Heritage Lottery Fund towards the £2.8 million cost of this first stage, and its successful completion resulted in the site being removed from the Monuments at Risk register.</p><br>
<p>The Namoi River, a major perennial river that is part of the Barwon catchment of the Murray–Darling basin, is located in the Northern Tablelands and North West Slopes districts of New South Wales, Australia.</p><br>
<p>The Namoi River rises on the western slopes of the Moonbi Range and Great Dividing Range, near Niangala, at the convergence of the Macdonald River and Boundary Creek, and flows generally west, joined by twenty-seven tributaries, including the Peel, Manilla and Mooki rivers, before reaching its confluence with the Barwon River, near Walgett.</p><br>
<p>The Namoi River descends 578 m over its 708 km course; passing near the towns of Gunnedah, Boggabri, Narrabri, Wee Waa and Walgett. The flow of the river is impounded by Lake Keepit and Baraneal Lagoon.</p><br>
<h2>Course</h2><br>
<p>The headwaters of the Namoi, including the Macdonald River, the Peel River, the Cockburn River and the Manilla River, rise on the western slopes of the Great Dividing Range on the Northern Tablelands. Other smaller tributaries include Cobrabald River, Coxs Creek, Maules Creek, Mooki River and Bundock Creek. It rises east of Niangala and flows generally north west after its confluence with its major tributary, the Cobrabald River, then passes through the villages of Woolbrook and Bendemeer. It continues to flow westward to where it changes name to the Namoi River at Boundary Creek just east of where the river enters Warrabah National Park.</p><br>
<p>The Namoi flows past Manilla, where it is joined by the Manilla River. After passing into Keepit Dam it is joined by the Peel River before passing by Carroll, then joined by the Mooki River near Gunnedah on the Liverpool Plains. From here it flows north-westwards past Boggabri, Narrabri, Wee Waa and Burren Junction and eventually joins the Barwon River, near the town of Walgett.</p><br>
<p>Keepit Dam near Gunnedah is an important dam for flood control and irrigation. The floodplains of the lower Namoi around Wee Waa are an important area for growing cotton which is irrigated using water from the dam.</p><br>
<h2>History</h2><br>
<p>The traditional custodians of the land surrounding the Namoi River are the Aboriginal people of the Kamilaroi nation. The word namoi or nammoy is believed to be the native name for a species of acacia; and ngamu is a Gamilaraay word for "breast". Alternative meanings of the name include Aboriginal words for "forked stick" and "meeting of the waters".</p><br>
<p>Allan Cunningham, a botanist-explorer, in 1827 became the first European to explore the Namoi River. Cunningham named this river "Mitchell" in honour of a surgeon in Sydney who was dismissed from Government Service because he refused to attend the flogging of a convict at Hyde Park barracks.</p><br>
<p>The Namoi River Road Bridge, which was built at Manilla in 1886, has been placed on the Register of the National Estate. This bridge has eleven metal lattice truss spans and is one of the longest six or seven metal truss bridges completed in Australia by that time.</p><br>
<h2>Fauna</h2><br>
<p>The Namoi supports a wide range of fish and crustaceans, which include Murray cod, yellowbelly, silver perch, catfish (Tandanus tandanus) as well as yabbies (Cherax destructor). "Crawbob" is a regional name and may be called a "yabby" elsewhere in the state.</p><br>
<p>Murray cod in the Namoi grow to a very large size, with fish of forty kilograms or larger being not uncommon. European carp and extensive irrigation practices have had adverse impact on the native fish population over the last forty years, and restocking programs have been undertaken, mainly by volunteers, to ensure the survival of the native fish population.</p><br>
<p>The Namoi River Snapping Turtle or Bell&#39;s turtle (Elseya belli) is a species of turtle found only in the upper reaches of the Namoi River, Gwydir and Macdonald rivers on the North West Slopes.</p><br>
<p>The Platypus (Ornithorhynchus anatinus) is found in this river and can often be seen around Warrabah National Park, east of Manilla.</p><br>
<p>Lake Alexandrina is a freshwater ephemeral lake located in the Fleurieu and Kangaroo Island and Murray Mallee regions of South Australia, adjacent to the coast of the Southern Ocean, about 100 km south-east of Adelaide. The lake adjoins the smaller Lake Albert; together they are known as the Lower Lakes.</p><br>
<h2>Nomenclature</h2><br>
<h3>Aboriginal naming</h3><br>
<p>Names reported as being used for the lake by aboriginal people having an association with the lake include Mungkuli, Parnka and Kayinga.</p><br>
<h3>European naming</h3><br>
<p>The lake was named after Princess Alexandrina, niece and successor of King William IV of Great Britain and Ireland. When the princess ascended the throne and took the name Queen Victoria there was some talk of changing the name of the lake to Lake Victoria, but the idea was dropped.</p><br>
<h2>Description</h2><br>
<p>Lake Alexandrina is located north of Encounter Bay and east of Fleurieu Peninsula within the two following South Australian government regions - the Fleurieu and Kangaroo Island region and the Murray Mallee region. The Murray River is the major river to flow into Lake Alexandrina. Others include the Bremer, Angas, and Finniss Rivers, all from the eastern side of the southern Mount Lofty Ranges. The lake is shallow and contains a number of islands near the southern end. Loveday Bay is an inlet located at the south-east of Lake Alexandrina, adjacent to Tauwitchere Channel.</p><br>
<p>The lake empties into the sea via a channel known as the Murray Mouth south-east of the town of Goolwa, however when the river flow is low the mouth is often blocked by a sand-bar. Originally subjected to tidal and storm inflows of seawater, the lake is now maintained as fresh water by a a series of barrages known as the Goolwa Barrages which cross five channels between the mainland and three islands near the Murray Mouth.</p><br>
<p>Though connected to the ocean historically the fresh and salt water flows mixed very little, with the lake area remaining fresh over 95% of the time with normal river inflow. Salt water inflows from the ocean would result in relatively little mixing of fresh and salt water, either vertically in the water column or laterally across the flow stream. Hindmarsh Island is reputed to be the largest island in the world with salt water on one side and fresh water on the other. Lake Alexandrina is connected by a narrow channel to the smaller Lake Albert to the south-east.</p><br>
<h2>History</h2><br>
<p>In the Australian Aboriginal Dreamtime the lake was inhabited by a monster known as the Muldjewangk.</p><br>
<p>Edward Wilson, visiting the lake in the 1850s described it as follows:"Lake Alexandrina is the finest sheet of fresh water I ever saw. Indeed so formidable did it look, with a stiff wind blowing up quite a sufficient swell to make one seasick, that I could scarcely believe it to be fresh. Such is the fact however. It is forty or fifty miles long by twelve or fifteen wide and the shores around it receded into the dim distance until they become invisible, in the way which we are accustomed only with ideas of salt water. Supplied almost entirely by the Murray, the whole lake retains the muddy tinge of which I have spoken, and this sadly detracts from the otherwise beautiful appearances of this magnificent sheet of water."</p><br>
<p>In 2008, water levels in Lake Alexandrina and Lake Albert became so low that large quantities of acid sulphate soils threatened to form. The soils on the lake beds are naturally rich in iron sulfides. When exposed to the air, such as may occur in a time of severe drought, the sulfides oxidize, producing sulfuric acid. The barrages now prevent seawater inflows that have prevented this phenomenon in every drought since the last ice age. A weir was proposed near Pomanda Point where the river entered the lake to protect upriver and Adelaide&#39;s water supplies should it become necessary to open the barrages, but this plan was dropped by the South Australian government after a campaign by the River, Lakes and Coorong Action Group highlighted the many environmental problems such a weir would cause.</p><br>
<h2>Environment</h2><br>
<p>Turtles live in the lake, with lizards and snakes present along the shoreline. Insect species include dragon flies, a range of moths and butterflies and large numbers of beetles (coleoptera). Freshwater fish inhabit the lake, including the introduced European carp. The soils around the lake are relatively low in organic carbon although good barley and vegetable crops may be produced. Non-wetting soils are present along the south eastern bounds of Lake Albert and in areas around Lake Alexandrina.</p><br>
<h3>Birds</h3><br>
<p>The lake is a habitat for many species of waterbird, including migratory waders, or shorebirds, which breed in northern Asia and Alaska. Species supported by the lake include the critically endangered orange-bellied parrots, endangered Australasian bitterns, vulnerable fairy terns, as well as over 1% of the world populations of Cape Barren geese, Australian shelducks, great cormorants and sharp-tailed sandpipers.</p><br>
<h2>Protected area status</h2><br>
<h3>Australian government</h3><br>
<p>Lake Alexandrina is part of the wetland complex known as the Coorong and Lakes Alexandrina and Albert Wetland which is listed as a Ramsar site. The wetland is also appears in the non-statutory list known as A Directory of Important Wetlands in Australia.</p><br>
<h3>South Australian government</h3><br>
<p>Lake Alexandrina includes the following protected areas declared under the National Parks and Wildlife Act 1972 - Currency Creek Game Reserve, Mud Islands Game Reserve, Salt Lagoon Islands Conservation Park and Tolderol Game Reserve.</p><br>
<h3>Non-statutory arrangements</h3><br>
<p>Lake Alexandrina is included within the boundary of the Lakes Alexandrina and Albert Important Bird Area which is an area considered by BirdLife International to be a place of ‘international significance for the conservation of birds and other biodiversity.’</p><br>
<p>Myall Lakes, a series of fresh water lakes protected under the Ramsar Convention, are located within the Mid-Coast Council local government area in the Mid North Coast region of New South Wales, Australia.</p><br>
<p>The Myall Lakes are adjacent to the east coast, about 250 km north of Sydney.</p><br>
<h2>Features and location</h2><br>
<p>There are three Myall Lakes, called Myall Lake, Boolambayte Lake and The Broadwater.</p><br>
<p>When full, Myall Lake covers an area of around 5,800 hectare; Boolambayte Lake covers an area of around 1,100 hectare; and Bombah Broadwater covers an area of around 2,400 hectare.</p><br>
<p>Smiths Lake is close to the northern Myall Lake, but is not connected nor formally part of the Myall Lakes. The lakes are partially interconnected and navigable by small craft. The Myall River flows into the western side of The Broadwater. The Myall River also flows out of The Broadwater and meanders southwest where it empties into Port Stephens between the towns of Tea Gardens and Hawks Nest. The lower Myall River progressively becomes saltier and more tidal as it flows southwards.</p><br>
<p>Most of the Myall Lakes are surrounded by the Myall Lakes National Park. The NSW National Parks & Wildlife Service operate a car ferry across the lake at Bombah Point. The area between the lakes and the sea is mainly uninhabited coastal woodlands and long isolated beaches although some of it was mined for heavy mineral sands before the 1970s. The village of Bungwahl is located on the northern shore of Myall Lake. There are a number of small islands in the lakes.</p><br>
<p>At the northern end of Myall Lake lies Mayers Point. This was the centre of a timber industry established by Allen Taylor and Company Limited. To assist in the transport of the logs from the forests to the lake, an extensive light railway system was constructed.</p><br>
<p>Due to the nature of Myall Lakes being coastal dune lakes, or coastal lagoons, they were featured in an American documentary about conservation done by producer Elam Stoltzfus.</p><br>
<p>Port Stephens, an open youthful tide dominated drowned valley estuary,</p><br>
<p>Port Stephens lies within the Port Stephens-Great Lakes Marine Park and is situated about 160 km north-east of Sydney. The harbour lies wholly within the local government area of Port Stephens; although its northern shoreline forms the boundary between the Port Stephens and Mid-Coast local government areas.</p><br>
<p>According to the 2006 Census, more than 26,000 people lived within 3 km of its 113 km long shoreline and more than 32,000 lived within 10 km.</p><br>
<h2>Geography</h2><br>
<p>Port Stephens is formed through the confluence of the Myall and Karuah rivers, Tilligerry Creek, and the Tasman Sea of the South Pacific Ocean. The lower port has a predominantly marine ecology and the upper port an estuarine ecology. The area to the east of Port Stephens comprises the Tomago/Tomaree/Stockton sand beds.</p><br>
<p>A narrow entrance between two striking hills of volcanic origin marks the opening of Port Stephens to the sea. The southern headland, Tomaree or South Head, rises to 120 m above mean sea level (AMSL) while Yacaaba, the northern headland, is 210 m AMSL. The harbour is mostly shallow and sandy but contains sufficient deep water to accommodate large vessels. After its recovery from the wreck site in 1974 the bow of the, a 53,000 t Norwegian bulk carrier that was shipwrecked on Stockton Beach earlier that year, was moored in Port Stephens, at Salamander Bay, for almost two years.</p><br>
<p>With an area of approximately 134 km&sup2, Port Stephens is larger than Sydney Harbour. Port Stephens extends approximately 24 km inland from the Tasman Sea and at its widest point, between Tanilba Bay and Tahlee, it is 6.5 km across. The narrowest point is between Soldiers Point and Pindimar where the distance is only 1.1 km. Between Nelson Bay and Tea Gardens, in the most well known section of the port, it is 3.8 km wide.</p><br>
<p>The Karuah River drains into Port Stephens at its north-western corner. The Myall River (through the Myall Lakes) drains into the port on its northern shore, about 5.7 km from the mouth of the port. Twelve Mile Creek drains into the port&#39;s south-western corner.</p><br>
<p>The southern shore of the port is divided into two distinct areas known as the Tomaree and Tilligerry peninsulas. These are separated by Tilligerry Creek, a watercourse covering approximately 7.7 km&sup2, which drains the land in the low-lying areas of Salt Ash, Bobs Farm, Tanilba Bay and Mallabula. While the Tilligerry Peninsula is geographically closer to major centres such as Sydney and Newcastle, it lacks the urban development that has occurred on the much larger (25 km&sup2; vs 115 km&sup2; respectively) Tomaree peninsula. Although Lemon Tree Passage, on the Tilligerry Peninsula, and Soldiers Point, on the Tomaree Peninsula, are only 2.9 km from each other, physical separation of the suburbs by Port Stephens and Tilligerry Creek results in them being almost 40 km from each other by road.</p><br>
<p>The town of Karuah, located at the north-western corner of the port near the mouth of the Karuah River, experiences similar geographical separation from the Tilligerry Peninsula. Despite being only 7.7 km from Tanilba Bay, the road distance between the two suburbs is 40 km.</p><br>
<p>The western shore and the western part of the northern shore of the port are largely undeveloped with the flora ranging from scrubland in the west to the large tracts of bushland which are present along most of the northern shore. Closer to the mouth of the port, at and near Winda Woppa, sandy beaches are prevalent. These extend from Jimmys Beach, near the mouth of the port, to the mouth of the Myall River, a distance of approximately 5.2 km. Just outside the mouth of the port lie the two small insular nature reserves of Cabbage Tree Island and Boondelbah Island, both dedicated to the conservation of the threatened Gould&#39;s petrel, and with no public access.</p><br>
<h2>History</h2><br>
<p>The port was named by Captain Cook when he passed on 11 May 1770, honouring Sir Philip Stephens, who was Secretary to the Admiralty. Stephens was a personal friend of Cook and had recommended him for command of the voyage. It seems Cook&#39;s initial choice had actually been Point Keppel and Keppel Bay, but instead he used Keppel Bay later.</p><br>
<p>The first ship to enter the port was the Salamander, a ship of the Third Fleet that later gave the suburb of Salamander Bay its name, in 1791. In that same year escaped convicts, then known as bolters, discovered coal in the area.</p><br>
<p>In 1795 the crew of discovered a group of escaped convicts, living with the Worimi people. Port Stephens became a popular haven for escaped convicts and so in 1820 a garrison of soldiers was established at what is now known as Soldiers Point.</p><br>
<p>The 63 t cutter Lambton, commanded by Captain James Corlette, began shipping timber and wool out of the port in 1816. The suburb of Corlette was named after the captain.</p><br>
<p>Port Stephens has rather poor soil for the most part, and has limited agricultural potential. For this reason, no large towns developed there historically and it was never developed as a significant port. The major city and port of Newcastle developed at the mouth of the Hunter River, about 45 km south-west of Port Stephens.</p><br>
<p>Despite this, in 1920 there was a push for Port Stephens to be the capital city of a new state in a proposal originating from the country newspaper The Daily Observer. The proposal was the Observers editor Victor Charles Thompsons idea in response to continuing rural Australian antipathy at the Sydney-centralised funding and governance that many rural newspapers claimed had neglected to aid rural Australian towns.</p><br>
<p>During World War II, the remoteness and lack of any significant civilian population led to the Royal Australian Navy establishing HMAS Assault, an amphibious landing training establishment, at Nelson Bay. The sick bay from HMAS Assault still stands and is used by the Port Stephens Community Arts Centre.</p><br>
<p>A number of small towns developed around the port as fishing, holiday and retirement communities. Since the 1970s, with improved road access from Sydney, and the increasing popularity of coastal retirement lifestyles, there has been major expansion of these towns.</p><br>
<h3>Port Stephens-Great Lakes Marine Park</h3><br>
<p>On 1 December 2005 the Port Stephens-Great Lakes Marine Park was established pursuant to the. The park comprises approximately 97,200 hectare and includes all of Port Stephens, the Karuah and Myall rivers and all their creeks and tributaries under tidal influence. The park was established to protect the wide variety of sea life that inhabit the port and nearby coastal areas of the Tasman Sea from just south of Forster to the northern end of Stockton Beach.</p><br>
<h2>Demographics</h2><br>
<p>At the time of the 2006 Census, more than 85% of the population around Port Stephens resided in towns and suburbs that have developed on or near the southern shores of the port. More than 22,188 people live within 3 km of the port in the suburbs of Corlette, Lemon Tree Passage, Mallabula, Nelson Bay, Oyster Cove, Salamander Bay, Shoal Bay, Soldiers Point, Tanilba Bay and Taylors Beach. Another 5,343 people live in other suburbs on the Tomaree peninsula that are within 10 km of Port Stephens. These suburbs include Anna Bay, Boat Harbour, Bobs Farm, Fingal Bay, Fishermans Bay and One Mile.</p><br>
<p>Most urban development to the south of Port Stephens has occurred on the Tomaree peninsula in the suburbs of Corlette, Nelson Bay, Salamander Bay, Shoal Bay and Soldiers Point.</p><br>
<p>On the western shore is the suburb of Swan Bay, a small community of around 100 persons. The main industry in the area is oyster farming, however a small tourist resort is located near the mouth of Twelve Mile Creek. Karuah township, which has a population of 857, is at the north-western corner of the port, at the mouth of the Karuah River.</p><br>
<p>East of the Karuah River, in the Mid-Coast Council local government area there are 3,584 people living in Bundabah, Carrington, Hawks Nest, North Arm Cove, Pindimar, Tahlee and Tea Gardens.</p><br>
<h2>Tourism and recreation</h2><br>
<p>Port Stephens is a popular tourism destination with a strong focus on aquatic activities such as whale and dolphin watching, fishing and recreational boating and swimming.</p><br>
<p>Woodmont is a mansion and hilltop estate of 72 acre in Gladwyne, a suburb of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. In 1953, it became the home of evangelist Father Divine, and the center of his International Peace Mission movement. It was declared a National Historic Landmark in 1998 for its well-preserved Chateau-style architecture, and for its association with Father Divine.</p><br>
<h2>Alan Wood, Jr.</h2><br>
<p>Woodmont was designed in 1891 by Quaker architect William Lightfoot Price in the French Gothic style for Alan Wood, Jr., a steel magnate and former USA Congressman. Overlooking the Schuylkill River, the industrial town of Conshohocken, Pennsylvania, and the Alan Wood Iron & Steel Company Plant, the chateauesque mansion was completed in 1894 at a cost of one-million dollars.</p><br>
<p>The site is the highest elevation in Montgomery County, and features views of 15 to 20 miles. The Schuylkill Expressway passes by the estate, hundreds of feet below.</p><br>
<p>The model for Woodmont was the George W. Vanderbilt mansion, Biltmore, in Asheville, North Carolina. Price had designed a nearby hotel for Vanderbilt, the Kenilworth Inn (1890–91), and was intimately familiar with the then-under-construction chateau.</p><br>
<p>Woodmont includes tennis courts, a swimming pool, stables, several outbuildings, greenhouses, a stream, and walking paths. The original property spanned more than 400 acre, including a working farm with two dairy barns (one survives).</p><br>
<p>Alan Wood, Jr. occupied the estate for less than a decade. A year before his 1902 death, he sold it to his nephew, Richard G. Wood, who lived there for 28 years. Richard began subdividing the land in 1929, including the sale of 200 acre to the Philadelphia Country Club.</p><br>
<p>A description from 1897:</p><br>
<p>WOODMONT.--Alan Wood, Jr., owns the estate with the above name. The section around the house, including the gardens, is styled Woodmont Park. The house was constructed between 1891 and 1894. William L. Price, of Philadelphia, being the architect. The style is that of a French Gothic chateau. Stone from the vicinity furnished most of the walls, the cellar being cut out of the rock. Lieperville stone, with limestone trimmings, were used in facing, and the stable is from the stone quarried from the cellar. The site is 475 feet above tidewater, overlooking the Valley of the Schuylkill for fifteen or twenty miles around. The highest site in Montgomery County is on the Woodmont Farm, being twenty-five feet higher than the mansion site. There are neat lodge-houses. Woodmont Farm contains about 100 acres, and Bellevue and Highland Farms, owned by Mr. Wood, adjoining, also contain about a hundred acres each. The Woodmont Farm had been owned by the Newberry family for a century before Mr. Wood purchased it in 1880. The Bellevue and Highland Farms were a part of the John Y. Crawford estate, and were bought from the estate by Mr. Wood in 1885. Highland Farm was well-named in old time from its elevated position. The farms are well-kept, and in the best condition. On Highland Farm was a stone mansion house, which Mr. Wood beautifully remodeled, and it has been rented to citizens yearly, furnished. Richard G. Wood, of Pittsburg, is dwelling there this summer. There is also a fine farm-house. The stone barn on Bellevue Farm is believed to be the finest one in Montgomery County, accommodating fifty cows and twenty-five horses; and hospital stalls are added for sick cows and horses for isolation.</p><br>
<h2>Father Divine</h2><br>
<p>The estate is today the center of the International Peace Mission movement. Father Divine, a self-proclaimed God and leader of the movement, was given the estate by a follower, John Devoute, in 1953. His followers renovated the mansion and placed an American flag prominently in front reflecting Father Divine&#39;s patriotism. They also added a garden like those on previous Peace Mission properties. An open house was held on September 10–12, 1953.</p><br>
<p>Followers visited Father Divine here until his death in 1965. All furnishings in Divine&#39;s rooms, including an antiquated television set, have been left as they were at his death. The estate is now a shrine to his life and a meeting place for his few remaining followers.</p><br>
<h2>Visiting</h2><br>
<p>Woodmont is open to the public on Sunday afternoons, from April to October. The guided tours are free of charge.</p><br>
<p>The Obelisco de Buenos Aires  is a national historic monument and icon of Buenos Aires. Located in the Plaza de la República in the intersection of avenues Corrientes and 9 de Julio, it was erected in 1936 to commemorate the fourth centenary of the first foundation of the city.</p><br>
<h2>History</h2><br>
<p>Construction began on March 20, 1936, and it was inaugurated on May 23 of the same year. It was designed by architect Alberto Prebisch (one of the main architects of the Argentine modernism who also designed the Teatro Gran Rex, in Corrientes and Suipacha) at the request of the mayor Mariano de Vedia y Mitre (appointed by president Agustín Pedro Justo). For its construction, which cost 200,000 pesos moneda nacional, 680 m&sup3; of concrete and 1,360 m&sup2; of Olaen white stone from Córdoba were used.</p><br>
<p>The obelisk was built by the German company G.E.O.P.E. - Siemens Bauunion - Grün & Bilfinger, which completed its work in a record time of 31 days, with 157 workers. The rapid hardening Incor cement was used and was built in sections of 2 m to facilitate the dumping of concrete.</p><br>
<p>Its height is 67.5 m, and 63 m of these are up to the initiation of the apex, which is 3.5 by. The tip is blunt, measuring 40 cm and ends in a lightning rod that can not be seen because of the height, whose cables run through the interior of the obelisk.</p><br>
<p>It has only one entrance (in its west side) and on its top there are four windows, that can only be reached by a straight staircase of 206 steps with 7 breaks every 6 –.</p><br>
<p>On February 20, 1938, Roberto María Ortiz succeeded Justo and appointed Arturo Goyenche as the new mayor of the city. In June 1939 the City Council sanctioned the demolition of the Obelisco, citing economic, aesthetic and public safety reasons. However, the ordinance was vetoed by the municipal executive power, characterizing it as an act lacking of value and juridical content, because it alters the state of things emanated by the executive power, and that it was a monument under the jurisdiction and custody of the Nation whose heritage belongs to it.</p><br>
<p>Where the Obelisco stands, a church dedicated to St. Nicholas of Bari was previously demolished. In that church the Argentine flag was officially hoisted for the first time in Buenos Aires, 1812. That fact is noted in one of the inscriptions on the north side of the monument.</p><br>
<p>As a result of some detachments of stone cladding, which occurred on the night of June 20–21, 1938, the day after a public event with the presence of president Ortiz took place there, it was decided to remove such cladding in 1943 and was replaced by another one made of polished cement, making cracks to simulate the joints of the stones. When the slabs were removed, a legend that said "Its architect was Alberto Prebisch" was also removed.</p><br>
<p>In 1973, it was decorated as a Christmas tree. In 1975, during the Peronist government of Isabel Martínez de Perón, a ring-shaped rotating sign was hung around the obelisk, with the motto El silencio es salud (Silence is health). Although it was allegedly geared against motorists creating excessive noise, it was widely interpreted as a statement calling Argentines to refrain from expressing their political views.</p><br>
<p>Throughout its history, the monument has suffered vandalism, especially politically oriented graffiti. In the 1980s, an activist group broke in and spilled paint from the top windows, causing the city government to erect a fence around its base in 1987. This move stirred controversy, but eventually proved effective in reducing the number of defacing incidents.</p><br>
<p>On 1 November 2005 it was announced that a comprehensive restoration, financed by the Argentine painting and restoration industry association (Ceprara), was finished. The monument was painted with 90-micrometre acrylic paint to a "Paris stone" hue, deemed more pleasant than the previously used white.</p><br>
<p>On December 1, 2005, the obelisk was covered by a giant pink condom to commemorate the World AIDS Day.</p><br>
<p>To commemorate the 30th anniversary of the La Noche de los Lápices, the monument was converted into a giant pencil.</p><br>
<p>Lines B, C, and D of the Buenos Aires Metro have stations near the monument, and are connected by a number of underground passages with commercial galleries.</p><br>
<h2>Inscriptions on its sides</h2><br>
<p>At the base of the south face, in a very small rectangle, this sonnet written by Baldomero Fernández Moreno during a tribute dinner in the Alvear Palace Hotel to Prebisch:</p><br>
<h2>Special occasions</h2><br>
<p>Vulcan is a pumice cone in Papua New Guinea. It is a sub-vent of the Rabaul caldera and lies on the western rim of the Rabaul caldera. Its most recent eruption was in 1994, when it and another vent, Tavurvur, forced the city of Rabaul to be temporarily abandoned and the local administrative centres of East New Britain Province to be moved to a new capital, Kokopo. Today, the slopes of Vulcan are now forested, as a result of dormancy since 1994.</p><br>
<p>Vulcan did not exist during the German colonial times, although the agronomist for the New Guinea Company, Richard Parkinson, noticed that a small island in the harbour in 1880 had grown noticeably larger by 1900. During the 1920s the island offered enough new land for Australian colonials to open a sporting club there, with tennis courts. By 1937 Vulcan was its current size and erupted that year, filling the harbour with a thick layer of pumice. An Australian Navy sailor walked out from the wharf some hundred meters before he broke through the crust and drowned.</p><br>
<p>Cascade Mountain is a mountain located in the Bow River Valley of Banff National Park, adjacent to the town of Banff. The mountain was named in 1858 by James Hector after the waterfall or cascade on the southern flanks of the peak. The mountain has also been called Stoney Chief, which is related to the name of the smaller neighbouring mountain Stoney Squaw, which is still in use. Cascade is the highest mountain adjacent to the townsite.</p><br>
<h2>Climbing routes</h2><br>
<p>The mountain can be climbed starting from the Norquay Ski Area base. The first portion is a fairly moderate hike, up to the Cascade Amphitheatre. Continuing upwards, the route ascends along the ridge edge until it reaches the crest where it dips before it rises to the false summit. While the false summit can be descended at its end, it is much easier to follow a trail around the western side along the exposed foot. Snow typically blocks this route almost until mid July and attempting it while snowy can entail considerable avalanche risk due to the slabby terrain and exposure. A long window of clear weather - full day - should be anticipated before attempting this climb, as many climbers have gotten into trouble and needed rescue (or died) when a storm suddenly blows in. The ascent normally takes 3 to 4 hours while the descent along the same path takes 2 to 3 hours.</p><br>
<p>Cascade Mountain is in Essex County of New York. It is one of the 46 Adirondack High Peaks  and is located in the Adirondack Park. Its name comes from a series of waterfalls on a brook near the mountain&#39;s base. The lake it flows into and the pass between Cascade and Pitchoff mountains are also named Cascade.</p><br>
<p>Cascade Mountain towers over the Van Hoevenberg ski center, the venue for bobsledding at the 1980 Winter Olympics.</p><br>
<p>Of the 46 Adirondack High Peaks, Cascade is the most accessible and the most frequently climbed. The main trailhead is on Route 73, 6 miles (10 km) east of Lake Placid, at Cascade Pass, overlooking Cascade Lake. The summit is visible from the trailhead, a rare occurrence in the High Peaks.</p><br>
<p>The well-used trail follows red plastic markers and takes the hiker up 2.2 miles (4.6 km) and almost 2,000 vertical feet (600 vertical m) to the mountain&#39;s bare-rock summit, which, while it resembles the alpine summits found on many higher peaks, is instead the result of a 1903 fire.</p><br>
<p>Views are possible in all directions, and on a clear day with good weather one often finds many hikers on the summit.</p><br>
<p>Porter Mountain, another of the High Peaks, is an easy side-trip. The summit of Porter Mountains is 0.7 miles from Cascade Mountain Trail. The two summits can be reached together on a 6.2-mile hike.</p><br>
<p>Peel River, a watercourse that is part of the Namoi catchment within the Murray–Darling basin, is located in the Northern Tablelands district of New South Wales, Australia.</p><br>
<p>The river rises on the northern slopes of the Liverpool Range, at the junction of the Great Dividing Range and Mount Royal Range, south of the village of Nundle, and flows generally north, west and north west and emerges into the Liverpool Plains near Tamworth. The Peel River is joined by thirteen tributaries, including the Cockburn River, and flows through Chaffey Dam before reaching its mouth at the confluence with the Namoi River; dropping 457 m over its course of 210 km.</p><br>
<p>From source to mouth, the river passes through or near the villages of Nundle, Woolomin and Piallamore.</p><br>
<p>The Peel River was first discovered by European settlers in 1818 by John Oxley and named by Oxley in honour of Sir Robert Peel, an important British politician at the time of its discovery by British settlers in Australia.</p><br>
<p>The famous Australian freshwater native fish Murray cod, Maccullochella peelii, was named after the Peel River by Major Mitchell, who sketched and scientifically described and named one of the numerous Murray cod his men caught from the river on his 1838 expedition.</p><br>
<p>The Clyde River  is an open intermediate tide dominated drowned valley estuary; or perennial river that flows into the Tasman Sea, located in the South Coast region of New South Wales, Australia.</p><br>
<h2>Course and features</h2><br>
<p>The Clyde River rises below Kangaroo Hill in the Budawang Range, part of the Great Dividing Range, within Budawang National Park, south of the locality of Sassafras, and flows generally southwards parallel to the east coast, joined by nine tributaries including the Bimberamala, Yadboro, and Buckenbowra rivers, before turning east and reaching its mouth of the Tasman Sea at Batemans Bay. The river descends 601 m over its 102 km course.</p><br>
<p>The lower reaches of the Clyde River form a substantial estuary up to 30 km from its mouth which is navigable by small vessels to Nelligen, with a tidal ebb of up to 1.28 m. The coastal estuary covers a catchment area of 1,723 km&sup2; and contains approximately 50,737 ML of water over an estimated surface area of 17.5 km&sup2 and at an average depth of 3 m.</p><br>
<p>The river is one of the last major rivers in eastern Australia that has not been dammed.</p><br>
<p>In its upper reaches, the river forms within the Budawang National Park; while in its lower reaches, the river flows through the Clyde River National Park.</p><br>
<p>Water quality of the basin is very good. The upper catchment is heavily timbered (state forests and national parks); there is a small amount of logging in the Yadboro State Forest. There are no polluting industries in its catchment, nor any sewage outflows, and thus the river has a reputation for the cleanest, least polluted waters of any major river in eastern Australia.</p><br>
<h2>Etymology</h2><br>
<p>The river was known to Indigenous Australians as the Bhundo.</p><br>
<p>The river was named after the River Clyde in Glasgow, Scotland, by Lieutenant Robert Johnson who navigated the river aboard the cutter Snapper on 1 December 1821.</p><br>
<p>Nelligen, NSW Early Morning Mist, Panorama, 25.9.2008.jpgEarly morning mist on the Clyde River at Nelligen, 2008.</p><br>
<p>CountryTown0020.jpgClyde River, looking upstream from Batemans Bay towards the Budawang Range, 2009.</p><br>
<p>20080706 011 Clyde.JPGAt Shallow Crossing, The River Road crosses the Clyde River at a concrete ford.</p><br>
<p>NelliganWharf.jpgWharf at Nelligen formerly used by the Illawarra Steam Navigation Company.</p><br>
<p>The Moruya River is an open and trained mature wave dominated barrier estuary or tidal river is located in the South Coast region of New South Wales, Australia. In its upper freshwater reaches, the river is known as the Deua River.</p><br>
<h2>Course and features</h2><br>
<p>The headwaters of the Deua River rise south of Braidwood and flow 139 km to the village of Kiora where the Deua River forms its confluence with the Moruya River. The Moruya River flows generally east, joined by two minor tributaries, past the town of Moruya, before reaching its mouth of the Tasman Sea at Moruya Heads. The river descends 22 m over its 19 km course.</p><br>
<h3>Barrier entrance</h3><br>
<p>The river has a bar at its confluence with the Tasman Sea. Work on the river training walls was concentrated in 1907, following extensive siltation of the river opening. The dredge Antleon was based there during the 1920s, when in 1924, the steamer Benandra was wrecked at the entrance. Work on the break walls was completed in 1925 when huge storms required some repairs to the training walls. The port gained greater significance in 1924 when a stone quarry was opened and used to supply granite for the pylons of the Sydney Harbour Bridge, and the stone for the Cenotaph in Martin Place. The Public Works Department built a wharf adjacent to the quarry fore ease of use. Extensions to the southern training walls were undertaken between 1931 and 1933, with major additional works from 1946-1954. The bar is dangerous to shipping and as a result of its hazards for smaller ships and because it prevented access by larger ones, the major settlement in the area was first developed at nearby Broulee. In 1841 a flood cleared the bar and the town of Moruya, now accessible to shipping, developed at the expense of the settlement at Broulee despite later recurring problems with the bar, not least as it was the easist point to access the rich Araluen goldfields from the 1850s.</p><br>
<p>The bar is now managed in part by a rock breakwall on the northern side of the river.</p><br>
<h2>History</h2><br>
<p>The river was previously navigable by coastal shipping to Moruya and was serviced by the Illawarra Steam Navigation Company. The Benandra, a wooden screw steamer operated by the Illawarra Steam Navigation Company to transport cargo, was lost on 25 March 1924 when it hit the sandspit near the bar. At least one person died.</p><br>
<p>The Princes Highway crosses the Moruya River at Moruya. The first bridge across the Moruya River was erected in 1876. Due to frequent flooding new bridges were erected in 1900 and 1945 and, most recently, in 1966.</p><br>
<h2>Nature</h2><br>
<h3>Wildlife</h3><br>
<p>Coast-favoring Southern Right Whales may enter into the river mouth. Mordacia praecox is a species of southern topeyed lamprey that is found only in the Moroya and Tuross Rivers.</p><br>
<p>The Santa Ana Volcano or Ilamatepec  is a large stratovolcano located in the Santa Ana department of El Salvador. At 2,381 metres above sea level, it is the highest volcano in the country. It is located immediately west of Coatepeque Caldera.</p><br>
<p>The volcano was the inspiration for one of the active volcanoes in Antoine de Saint-Exupéry&#39;s famous French novella (The Little Prince), based on his life with his Salvadoran wife Consuelo de Saint Exupéry, who was The Rose in the story.</p><br>
<h2>Geography</h2><br>
<p>The summit of Santa Ana features four nested calderas and volcanic craters, with the innermost containing a small crater lake. Collapse of the summit during the late Pleistocene (inferring from underlying soil samples, the upper age limit is no more than 57 000 years ago) produced a massive debris avalanche that reached the Pacific Ocean, forming the Acajutla Peninsula. Subsequent eruptions have largely rebuilt the edifice.</p><br>
<p>There have been numerous historical eruptions since the 16th century, both at the summit and from cinder cones on the lower flanks, and also the flank vents of San Marcelino located east of Santa Ana. The San Marcelino vents erupted in 1722 and flowed eastwards for 11 km, destroying the village of San Juan Tecpan.</p><br>
<p>In October, 2005, the volcano erupted, killing at least two people, injuring seven people, forcing many people to flee their villages. The volcano spat rocks for over 1.5 km with rocks the size of cars. The eruption contributed to the damage from Hurricane Stan. The most recent previous eruption had been in 1904.</p><br>
<h2>Climate</h2><br>
<p>The climate on the northeast facing slope of the volcano sees substantial rainfall in the summer months. Located at 13.9 N, 89.6 W, altitude: 1770 m, the climate is classified as a subtropical highland climate (Köppen Cwb).</p><br>
<p>Musala ; from Arabic through Ottoman Turkish: from Musalla, "near God" or "place for prayer" is the highest peak in the entire Balkan Peninsula, standing at 2,925 m . The summit of the Rila mountain range in southwestern Bulgaria, Musala is the highest peak between the Alps and the Caucasus and the highest in Eastern Europe bar the Caucasus. With a prominence of 2473 m, Musala is the 7th most prominent mountain peak in Europe.</p><br>
<p>Musala is situated within the Rila National Park, which is noted for its rich flora, including species such as Macedonian Pine and Bulgarian Fir in the forests on its middle slopes, and fauna; it is one of the easiest places in Europe to see the wallcreeper. All major mountain ranges of Bulgaria can be seen from the top; these include Vitosha to the northwest, Sredna Gora towards the northeast, the Balkan Mountains along most of the northern horizon behind Vitosha and Sredna Gora, the Rhodope Mountains to the southeast, Pirin to the south, Osogovo and Ruy Mountain to the west, and of course Rila.</p><br>
<p>A Cosmic Ray Station was built on the peak in 1960 with cooperation from the Hungarian Academy of Science. The station conducted scientific experiments using a muon telescope. The station was destroyed by an electrical fire on October 29, 1983.</p><br>
<p>With an average annual temperature of -2.3 °C Musala is the coldest place in Bulgaria and the entire Balkan Peninsula. Temperatures stay below 0 °C for about 8 months each year. Due to this about 45% of the annual precipitation on Musala is snow, and snow cover lasts for about 200 days (more than six months). Three of the main rivers of Bulgaria, the Iskar, Maritsa and Mesta have their sources near Musala.</p><br>
<p>The next highest peaks in the vicinity of Musala are Little Musala (2,902 m) and Irechek (2,852 m).</p><br>
<h2>Climate</h2><br>
<p>Peak Musala has an alpine climate with cold, long winters and short, cool summers. Usually, through winter, the temperatures don&#39;t exceed the freezing point for months. Snow cover lasts for about 8–9 months. Through the summer, temperatures rarely go above 14-15C. The summer season only lasts for 2 months, and snowfalls are possible. For the period 1931-2013, the highest recorded temperature was 20.0 &deg;C, and the lowest - -31.2 &deg;C. The average annual temperature is -2.5 &deg;C, which makes the peak the coldest place in Bulgaria.</p><br>
<h2>Honour</h2><br>
<p>Musala Glacier on Greenwich Island in the South Shetland Islands, Antarctica is named after Musala Peak.</p><br>
<p>Sunset Crater is a cinder cone located north of Flagstaff in USA State of Arizona. The crater is within the Sunset Crater Volcano National Monument.</p><br>
<p>Sunset Crater is the youngest in a string of volcanoes (the San Francisco volcanic field) that is related to the nearby San Francisco Peaks.</p><br>
<p>The date of the eruptions that formed the 340 m was initially derived from tree-ring dates, suggesting the eruption began between the growing seasons of A.D. 1064–1065. However, more recent geologic and archaeological evidence places the eruption around A.D. 1085. The largest vent of the eruption, Sunset Crater itself, was the source of the Bonito and Kana-a lava flows that extended about 2.5 km NW and 9.6 km NE, respectively. Additional vents along a 10 km extending SE produced small spatter ramparts and a 6.4 km to the east. The Sunset Crater eruption produced a blanket of ash and lapilli covering an area of more than 2,100 km&sup2; and forced the temporary abandonment of settlements of the local Sinagua people. The volcano has partially revegetated, with pines and wildflowers. The crater is the namesake for the Sunset Crater Beardtongue (Penstemon clutei). Since the last eruption of the volcano is a recent occurrence, it is considered dormant by volcanologists.</p><br>
<p>Damage from hikers forced the National Park Service to close a trail leading to the crater, but a short trail at the base remains.</p><br>
<p>The hiking trail below the summit skirts the substantial Bonito Lava Flow. This hardened lava is black and appears fresh as it has devastated the forest in its path. The lava flow also created an ice cave or tube that is now closed to the public after a partial collapse.</p><br>
<h2>2015 eruption scare</h2><br>
<p>On June 5, 2015, a website with satellite images reported steam rising from the crater, leading to fears that Sunset Crater was erupting. The cause of the steam was later determined to be a forest fire, and geologists stated that the volcano was extinct.</p><br>
<h2>Sunset Crater Volcano National Monument</h2><br>
<p>Sunset Crater Volcano National Monument is a USA National Monument in the north-central part of the USA state of Arizona, created to protect Sunset Crater, a cinder cone within the San Francisco Volcanic Field.</p><br>
<p>The monument is managed by the National Park Service in close conjunction with nearby Wupatki National Monument. In 1928, a Hollywood film company - Famous Players-Lasky Corporation - planned to detonate large quantities of explosives on the side of Sunset Crater in order to create an avalanche for Zane Grey&#39;s motion picture, Avalanche. Public outcry over this plan led in part to the proclamation of Sunset Crater Volcano National Monument by President Herbert Hoover in 1930.</p><br>
<p>A 1-mile (1.6 km), self-guided loop trail is located at the base of Sunset Crater, but hiking to the summit is not permitted. A trail providing access to the summit and crater was closed in 1973 because of excessive erosion caused by hikers. A visitor center is located near the park entrance, 15 mi north of Flagstaff, Arizona, along USA Highway 89.</p><br>
<h2>In popular culture</h2><br>
<p>In James Rollins&#39; seventh Sigma Force novel The Devil Colony, Painter Crowe takes a contingent to explore Sunset Crater and the Wupatki National Monument. During the course of their preparations and explorations, the group discusses the history of the people and geology at the two sites.</p><br>
<p>Fortín de San Gerónimo del Boquerón is a small fort located in the mouth of the Condado Lagoon, across from the historic sector of Miramar in San Juan, Puerto Rico.</p><br>
<p>It was built during the 18th century to replace a smaller battery (called El Boquerón) that stood at the easternmost end of the San Juan islet. The original Boquerón battery was used by the Spanish to defend the city of San Juan from attacks by Sir Francis Drake in 1595 and George Clifford, the third Earl of Cumberland in 1598, who managed to destroy it during his attack. San Gerónimo became part of San Juan&#39;s first line of defense, along with the San Antonio Fort/Bridge and Escambrón Fort, being the fourth and last line of defense the formidable Castillo de San Cristóbal, which guarded the city entrance proper.</p><br>
<h2>Overview</h2><br>
<p>The San Gerónimo and San Antonio forts were pivotal in repelling the invasion by the forces of British Admiral Henry Harvey and Sir Ralph Abercromby in 1797. On April 17, 1797, their combined forces (64 to 68 ships and 7,000 to 13,000 men) landed in Cangrejos, approximately three miles west of San Juan. San Juans military forces, which included, among others, the Regimiento Fijo de Puerto Rico (Resident Regiment of Puerto Rico) and the Milicias Disciplinadas (Trained Militias) were outnumbered by the invaders by a ratio of almost three to one. Admiral Harvey blockaded the San Juan Harbor while Abercromby established his operations headquarters in San Mateo parish overseeing all of San Juan and the Martín Peña Bridge. Abercrombys strategy was to take the Martín Peña bridge in order to block Spanish reinforcements from the south and bombard San Gerónimo and San Antonio from Miramar to gain access to and cross the San Antonio Bridge into the San Juan islet. British forces included the Royal Marines, made famous by their later defeat of Napoleon&#39;s troops in Egypt. Then Governor of Puerto Rico Field Marshal Don Ramón de Castro y Gutiérrez, a brilliant strategist, prevented the British from advancing and frustrated their conquest of San Juan.</p><br>
<p>The San Gerónimo and San Antonio, sustained heavy damage from the constant bombardment during the two-week siege on the city. Chronicles describe the defenders shooting their muskets and cannons from behind sandbags because of the devastation their forts sustained. Both San Gerónimo and San Antonio were eventually rebuilt and expanded.</p><br>
<p>San Gerónimo is located adjacent to the grounds of the Caribe Hilton Hotel. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on October 11, 1983. Unlike similar forts near Old San Juan, it is not part of San Juan National Historic Site. San Gerónimo is owned by the Institute of Puerto Rican Culture, but is managed by the Hilton. The hotel occasionally used it for private gatherings, but during recent times it has fallen into such disrepair that visitors are no longer allowed. The "Polvorín de San Gerónimo", or gunpowder house, that was built in 1769 and supplied the fort with gunpowder, is now part of the Luis Muñoz Rivera Park nearby.</p><br>
<p>As recent as the year 2006, attempts were being made by the Instituto de Cultura Puertorriqueña and the USA Army Corps of Engineers to build a breakwater to stop any further deterioration from irreparably damaging the centuries old fort. Senate Vice President Orlando Parga has led efforts to modify some of the construction projects that would encroach on the fort or would hamper the Corps of Engineers&#39; preservation and reconstruction efforts.</p><br>
<p>In July 2007, the Fort was the scene of protests against the construction of a tourist project called Paseo Caribe that would block access to the fortification. Protesters argued that the public should have free access to it. The protest lasted about a week during which the protesters halted the construction projects by climbing onto the cranes.</p><br>
<p>The Omnibus Public Land Management Act of 2009 directed the USA Secretary of the Interior to conduct a study to determine the suitability of including San Gerónimo as part of San Juan National Historic Site.</p><br>
<p>Indian Heaven is a polygenetic volcanic field in Washington, United States. It is located midway between Mount St. Helens and Mount Adams, and dates from the Pleistocene and Holocene. The field trends north to south and is dominated by seven small shield volcanoes that may have each erupted only once. Those shields are topped by small spatter and cinder cones. The northernmost peak in the field is Sawtooth Mountain and the southernmost is Red Mountain. The highest point is Lemei Rock at 5,925 ft.</p><br>
<p>Its last volcanic activity produced a large cinder cone and a voluminous lava and scoria flows about 8,200 years ago.</p><br>
<p>About 60 eruptive centers lie on the 30 km long, N10°E-trending, Indian Heaven fissure zone. The 600 km&sup2; field has a volume of about 100 km3 and forms the western part of a 2,000 km&sup2; Quaternary basalt field in the southern Washington Cascades, including the King Mountain fissure zone along which Mount Adams was built.</p><br>
<h2>Notable vents</h2><br>
<h2>Visitation</h2><br>
<p>Popular fishing and hiking destinations in the volcanic field include the Indian Heaven Wilderness, which is rather popular for the high mountain meadows among its scattered volcanic peaks. The Pacific Crest National Scenic Trail passes north/south through the volcanic field and the Indian Heaven Wilderness, which is known for its many lakes and spectacular views of four nearby volcanoes: Mount Adams, Mount Hood, Mount St. Helens, and Mount Rainier. It is also known to hikers for an intense population of mosquitoes throughout the summer. Other major trails in the area are Indian Heaven Trail and the Cultus Creek Trail, which climbs up the east side of Bird Mountain; and Lemei Trail which traverses up the east side of Lemei Rock and passes by Lake Wapiki.</p><br>
<p>The popular Goose Lake Campground, a favorite pastime with fishers, is located right at the northernmost edge of the Big Lava Bed. The lake was originally created when the flow dammed up its outflow creek, resulting in a dead forest on the southern end of the lake. The shallow Forlorn Lakes, just northeast of Goose Lake, offers a day use area and a campground. Cultus Creek Campground offers visitors two major trail heads (Indian Heaven Trail #33 and Cultus Creek Trail #108) and popular huckleberry picking access to the Indian Heaven Wilderness, famous for its huckleberries, and the volcanic field in which it resides.</p><br>
<p>The Dura-Europos synagogue  is an ancient synagogue uncovered at Dura-Europos, Syria, in 1932. The last phase of construction was dated by an Aramaic inscription to 244 CE, making it one of the oldest synagogues in the world. It is unique among the many ancient synagogues that have emerged from archaeological digs as the structure was preserved virtually intact, and it had extensive figurative wall-paintings, which came as a considerable surprise to scholars. These paintings are now displayed in the National Museum of Damascus.</p><br>
<p>Dura-Europos was a small garrison and trading city on the river Euphrates, and usually on the frontier between the Eastern Roman Empire and the Parthian and finally the Sassanid Empires of Persia. It changed hands at various points but was Roman from 165 CE. Before the final Persian destruction of the town in 256-257 CE, parts of the synagogue which abutted the main city wall were apparently requisitioned and filled with sand as a defensive measure. The city was abandoned after its fall and never resettled, and the lower walls of the rooms remained buried and largely intact until excavated. The excavations discovered also very important wall-paintings from places of worship of Christianity, at the Dura-Europos church, and Mithraism, and fragmentary Christian texts in Hebrew.</p><br>
<p>In the Syrian Civil War, the site was occupied by ISIL, and what was left there appears to have been destroyed.</p><br>
<h2>Wall-paintings</h2><br>
<p>Because of the paintings adorning the walls, the synagogue was at first mistaken for a Greek temple, though this was quickly corrected by the vice-director of excavations Robert du Mesnil du Buisson in Les peintures de la synagogue de Doura-Europos (Rome, 1939). Mesnil also made detailed comparisons of the friezes from the Dura synagogue with those of the mithraeum, the Christian baptistery, and the temple of the Palmyrene gods.</p><br>
<p>The synagogue contains a forecourt and house of assembly with painted walls depicting people and animals, and a Torah shrine in the western wall facing Jerusalem. The paintings cover the walls of the main "Assembly Room", using three levels of pictures over a dado frieze of symbols in most places, reaching a height of about 7 metres. The scenes depicted are drawn from the Hebrew Bible and include many narrative scenes, and some single figure "portraits"—58 scenes in total, probably representing about 60% of the original number. They include the Sacrifice of Isaac and other Genesis stories, Moses receiving the Tablets of the Law, Moses leading the Hebrews out of Egypt, the visions of Ezekiel, and many others. The Hand of God motif is used to represent divine intervention or approval in several paintings. Scholars cannot agree on the subjects of some scenes, because of damage, or the lack of comparative examples.</p><br>
<p>Stylistically they are provincial versions of contemporary Graeco-Roman style and technique; several different artists seem to have worked on them. Technically they are not fresco (paint fused into wet plaster) but tempera over plaster. Earlier parts of the building have decorative painting with no figures. Some of the paintings have figures whose eyes have been scratched out, especially those in Persian costume. (See the figure on the white horse in the picture at right.)</p><br>
<p>Scholars think the paintings were used as an instructional display to educate and teach the history and laws of the religion. Some think that this synagogue was painted in order to compete with the many other religions practiced in Dura Europos; the new (and considerably smaller) Christian church (Dura-Europos church) appears to have opened shortly before the surviving paintings were begun in the synagogue. The large-scale pictorial art in the synagogue came as a surprise to scholars, although they already suspected that there was a tradition of Jewish narrative religious art at this period, which had all been lost, leaving only traces in later Christian art. The discovery of the synagogue helps to dispel narrow interpretations of Judaism&#39;s historical prohibition of visual images.</p><br>
<p>The Torngat Mountains are a mountain range on the Labrador Peninsula at the northern tip of Newfoundland and Labrador and eastern Quebec. They are part of the Arctic Cordillera. The mountains form a peninsula that separates Ungava Bay from the Atlantic Ocean.</p><br>
<h2>Extent</h2><br>
<p>The Torngat Mountains have a substantial geographical extent. About 56% of the range is located in Quebec, 44% is in Labrador, and the remainder, less than 1%, is located on Killiniq Island in Nunavut. At least 2% of the mountain chain is under water, and poorly surveyed. The Torngat Mountains cover 30,067 km&sup2, including lowland areas and extend over 300 km from Cape Chidley in the north to Hebron Fjord in the south. The Torngat Mountains have the highest peaks of eastern continental Canada.</p><br>
<h2>Terrain</h2><br>
<p>The highest point is Mount Caubvick (also known as Mont D&#39;Iberville) at 1,652 m. There are no trees in the Torngat Mountains because the mountains lie in an arctic tundra climate and are therefore above the tree line.</p><br>
<p>Permafrost is continuous on the Quebec side of the border, and it is extensive but discontinuous on the eastern Atlantic side. The terrain is over 300 m above sea level and is predominantly rocky desert.</p><br>
<h2>Geology</h2><br>
<p>Precambrian gneisses that comprise the Torngat Mountains are among the oldest on Earth and have been dated at roughly 3.6 to 3.9 billion years old. Geologists recognize the gneisses of the Torngats as a part of the Canadian Shield or Laurentian Upland, which, composing the very old North American Craton, split from the continent of Rodinia roughly 750 million years ago to form the geologic core of North America.</p><br>
<p>However, the mountain-building or orogeny of the Torngats took place much more recently, and is characteristic of the folding and faulting that defines the series of geological events known as Arctic Cordillera. This, according to some, makes the Torngats, as mountains, "distinct compared to the surrounding Precambrian Canadian Shield," though they are ultimately composed of shield rock. Evidence of this dramatic cordilleran folding and faulting characterizing the Torngat Mountains can be seen distinctly in rocks where the North American Craton long ago collided with the Nain Craton, later exposed in cross-section by glacial scouring, especially at Saglek Fjord.</p><br>
<h2>Glaciation</h2><br>
<p>The ranges of the Torngat Mountains are separated by deep fjords and finger lakes surrounded by sheer rock walls. The fjords were produced by glaciation. The Laurentide ice sheet covered most of the mountains at least once, however during the last ice age the coverage was more limited.</p><br>
<p>Currently, there are over 100 active small mountain glaciers in the Torngat Mountains with a total of about 195 ice masses in the region.</p><br>
<h2>Flora and fauna</h2><br>
<p>Caribou travel through the Torngat Mountains, and polar bears roam along the coast. Numerous species of vegetation common to the Arctic region of Canada are also found in the Torngat Mountains.</p><br>
<h2>History and popular culture</h2><br>
<p>The name Torngat is derived from an Inuktitut word meaning place of spirits, sometimes interpreted as place of evil spirits.</p><br>
<p>The Torngat Mountains National Park Reserve was announced on 1 December 2005. It aims to protect wildlife (caribou, polar bears, peregrine falcon and golden eagle among others), while offering wilderness-oriented recreational activities.</p><br>
<p>In the CBC Series Geological Journey the Torngat mountains are featured. Notably, a billion-year-old coal seam (based on algae, not peat swamps) was discovered in the Torngat mountains on the Newfoundland Coast as part of the filming of the series.</p><br>
<p>Backcountry Magazine ran a feature story written by Drew Pogge in 2009 on steep skiing in the Torngat Mountains, notably first descents in Nachvak and Saglek fjords, as well as on the Caubvick massif.</p><br>
