<p>Takaka Hill is a range of hills located in the northwest of the South Island of New Zealand. Made of marble which has weathered into many strange forms and with numerous sink holes, it is typical karst country.</p><br>
<p>There is only one road winding over and around the flanks of Takaka Hill, State Highway 60, following the valleys of the Takaka River to the northwest and the Riuwaka River to the southeast.</p><br>
<p>It rises to 791 metres at its highest point and separates the coastal communities of Golden Bay from those of the more populous Tasman Bay to the southeast and because of its winding nature isolates Golden Bay from the rest of the South Island.</p><br>
<p>Takaka Hill is notable for its (now defunct) marble quarry and for many limestone caves and sinkholes, including Ngarua Caves which are open to the public and feature deposits of moa bones. Harwood&#39;s Hole, at one time the deepest cave in New Zealand, is also to be found on Takaka Hill.</p><br>
<p>Many of the caves drain into The Resurgence a spring at the foot of the hill.</p><br>
<p>Takaka Hill, as many other areas in and around the Golden Bay, has also been the location for many scenes filmed for The Lord of the Rings film trilogy.</p><br>
<p>The Northern and Central Bitterroot Range, collectively the Bitterroot Mountains , is the largest portion of the Bitterroot Range, part of the Rocky Mountains, located in the panhandle of Idaho and westernmost Montana in the Western United States. The mountains encompass an area of.</p><br>
<p>The mountains are bordered on the north by Lolo Creek, to the northeast by the Clark Fork, on the south by the Salmon River, on the east by the Bitterroot River and Valley, and on the west by the Selway and Lochsa Rivers. Its highest summit is Trapper Peak, at 10,157 ft.</p><br>
<p>__TOC__</p><br>
<h2>Northern Bitterroot Range</h2><br>
<p>The Northern Bitterroot Range is the northernmost and shortest subrange of the Bitterroot Mountains. The Northern Bitterroots encompass and its two tallest peaks are the Rhodes Peak and the Quartz Benchmark.</p><br>
<p>The Northern Bitterroots also contain a smaller subrange, the Grave Creek Range. The Grave Creek Range is in area and its highest peak is the Petty Mountain.</p><br>
<h2>Central Bitterroot Range</h2><br>
<p>The Central Bitterroot Range is the southernmost and tallest subrange of the Bitterroot Mountains. The Central Bitterroots encompass and its two tallest peaks are the Trapper Peak and the El Capitan.</p><br>
<p>The Central Bitterroots also contain a smaller subrange, the Como Peaks. The Como Peaks subrange is in area and its highest peak is the aforementioned El Capitan.</p><br>
<h2>Early history</h2><br>
<p>The Bitterroot Mountains presented an unexpected, formidable obstacle to Lewis and Clark during their expedition westward, and ended their expectation of finding a "Northwest Passage" giving an easy connection from the Atlantic watershed to that of the Pacific.</p><br>
<h2>Bitterroot controversy</h2><br>
<p>Swanson (2011) examines the critical role of Guy M. Brandborg of the USA Forest Service, who was supervisor of the Bitterroot National Forest from 1935 to 1955. By insisting on selection cutting, he tried to protect the watersheds and wildlife habitats that are harmed by clear-cutting. After he retired in 1955 Brandborg denounced the Forest Service for deviating from his model. He launched a public attack, known as the "Bitterroot controversy." Brandborg lobbied to secure passage of the National Forest Management Act of 1976, that codified his model.</p><br>
<p>The Oconee River is a 220 mi river which has its origin in Hall County, Georgia, and terminates where it joins the Ocmulgee River to form the Altamaha River near Lumber City at the borders of Montgomery County, Wheeler County, and Jeff Davis County. South of Athens, two forks, bad as the North Oconee River and Middle Oconee River, converge to form the Oconee River. Milledgeville, the former capital city of Georgia, lies on the Oconee River.</p><br>
<p>The Oconee River Greenway trail along the Oconee River in Milledgeville opened in 2008 and the North Oconee River Greenway section of the trail is in Athens, Georgia. J.W. McMillan&#39;s brick factory was located along the river.</p><br>
<h2>Course</h2><br>
<p>The Oconee River passes through the Oconee National Forest into Lake Oconee, a man made lake, near the towns of Madison and Greensboro off Interstate 20. From Lake Oconee, the river travels to Lake Sinclair, another manmade lake in Milledgeville, the town founded on Georgia&#39;s fall line and former state capital. South of Milledgeville, the river flows unobstructed and later merges with the Ocmulgee River to form the Altamaha River. Along the river there are many sandbars and oxbow lakes while the forest bottomland swamp surrounding the Oconee extends for miles, creating a very remote setting.</p><br>
<h2>Name origin</h2><br>
<p>The river&#39;s name derives from the Oconee, a Muskogean people of central Georgia. The Oconee lived in present-day Baldwin County, Georgia at a settlement known as Oconee Old Town, and later moved to the Chattahoochee River in the early 18th century. The name exists in several variations, including Ocone, Oconi, Ocony, and Ekwoni.</p><br>
<h2>River pollution</h2><br>
<h3>Fecal coliform bacteria</h3><br>
<p>One of the main sources of pollution comes from fecal coliform bacteria, several species of bacteria found in human and animal feces. Fecal coliform bacteria enter the river through a number of sources; stormwater runoff leaving farmlands, stormwater runoff carrying pet waste, leaking septic and sewer lines contaminating surface or groundwater, and sewer spills throughout the watershed. Fecal coliform bacteria can be deadly to humans if ingested or acquired through an open wound. Fish caught in the Oconee Basin may be eaten if cooked thoroughly.</p><br>
<h3>Fertilizer runoff</h3><br>
<p>The second biggest form of pollution in the river is fertilizer. Nitrogen in fertilizer in the form of nitrates or ammonia, measured in parts per million, is found in regularly collected samples. These forms of nitrogen stimulate abundant growth of algae in the water. The effect is twofold:</p><br>
<p>The water becomes murkier from the algae growing in it. This inhibits sunlight&#39;s path to the bottom of the river and destroys naturally occurring plant life at the bottom of the ecosystem.</p><br>
<p>The algae eventually die and rot in the water; as they decompose, they pull oxygen out of the water, killing fish, especially large ones. This affects other wildlife, including birds, dependent on the fish and the river for survival.</p><br>
<h3>Sedimentation</h3><br>
<p>The third largest source of pollution (?) is sedimentation, typically caused by construction and urbanization. Loose soil washes away with rainwater, clouding the river and eventually settling to the bottom at a faster rate than the river can naturally carry it away. This reduces clarity in the same way as the algal growth. In addition, the buildup of the bottom reduces the depth of the water, affecting flow and raising the temperature of the river, stressing the ecosystem.</p><br>
<p>The Eucumbene River, a perennial river of the Snowy River catchment, is located in the Snowy Mountains region of New South Wales, Australia.</p><br>
<h2>Course and features</h2><br>
<p>The Eucumbene River rises below Shaw Hill, in the northern part of the Kosciuszko National Park, approximately 10 km north of the village of Kiandra. The river flows generally south and southeast before emptying into Lake Eucumbene where its flow is impounded by Eucumbene Dam. After passing through or over the dam wall, the river flows generally south before emptying into Lake Jindabyne, impounded by Jindabyne Dam. Within Lake Jindabyne, the river reaches its confluence with the Snowy River.</p><br>
<p>The river descends 476 m over its 84 km course, joined by seven minor tributaries.</p><br>
<p>The flow of the river is impacted by alpine conditions; with high flows during spring as a result of snow melt. Meanwhile, during winter, the river is subject to snow and ice conditions.</p><br>
<p>The Snowy Mountains Highway crosses the river at several locations between Adaminaby and Kiandra.</p><br>
<p>The Riuwaka River, formerly known as the Riwaka River, is located in the Nelson region in the northwest of New Zealand&#39;s South Island. It flows for 20 kilometres, entering Tasman Bay close to the town of Riwaka, 10 kilometres north of Motueka.</p><br>
<p>The valleys of the Riuwaka and nearby Takaka River form part of the pass over which the only road between Tasman Bay and Golden Bay runs.</p><br>
<p>For part of its journey, the river flows underground through limestone caves, returning to the open air at The Riuwaka Resurgence. This spot is popular with both holidaymakers and divers, as the water is always crystal clear, and is very cold even in the heat of mid-summer.</p><br>
<p>The name of the river was officially altered to Riuwaka River in August 2014, following the Treaty of Waitangi settlements between the Crown and local iwi Ngāti Rārua and Te Atiawa o Te Waka-a-Māui.</p><br>
<p>The city of Plymouth, Devon, England is bounded by Dartmoor to the north, the Hamoaze to the west, the open expanse of water called Plymouth Sound to the south and the river Plym to the east.</p><br>
<p>The Cattewater is that stretch of water where the mouth of the river Plym merges with Plymouth Sound, just to the east of Sutton Pool. It is around this Pool that the manor of Sutton started, which grew to form the present day city. On the northern shore of this confluence of waters there was a rock outcrop, which it was claimed, had the appearance of a cat. This gave its name to this stretch of water and eventually the name of Cattedown to the adjoining wharves and commercial area. Apart from an occasional small oil tanker the area is now used mostly by fishing trawlers, yachts, and smaller pleasure craft. There is a water taxi across it from the Mayflower Steps on Plymouth Barbican to Mount Batten and also Oreston both on the southern bank.</p><br>
<p>The spelling &#39;Cattewater&#39; is not old or consistent. Local sources and texts together with early maps and drawings refer to the opening of the estuary variously as Catwater, Cat Water and Catt Water. The internet search engines throw up other versions.</p><br>
<p>Drake&#39;s Island is a 6.5 acre island lying in Plymouth Sound, the stretch of water south of the city of Plymouth, Devon, England. The rocks which make up the island are volcanic tuff and lava, together with marine limestone of the mid-Devonian period.</p><br>
<h2>Early history</h2><br>
<p>The first recorded name for the island was in 1135, when it was referred to as St Michaels, after the chapel erected on it. At some later date the chapel was rededicated to St Nicholas and the island adopted the same name. From the latter part of the 16th century the island was occasionally referred to as Drakes Island after Sir Francis Drake, the English privateer who used Plymouth as his home port. Even well into the 19th century, maps and other references continued to refer to the island as St Nicholass Island and it is only in about the last 100 years that this name has slipped into disuse and the name Drakes Island has been adopted.</p><br>
<p>It was from here that Drake sailed in 1577, to return in 1580 having circumnavigated the world, and in 1583 Drake was made governor of the island. From 1549 the island began to be fortified as a defence against the French and Spanish, with barracks for 300 men being built on the island in the late 16th century.</p><br>
<p>For several centuries, the island remained the focal point of the defence of the three original towns that were to become modern Plymouth. In 1665 the Roundhead Robert Lilburne died imprisoned on the island. He had been sentenced to life imprisonment for his part in the Regicide of Charles I. A few years later John Lambert, a Roundhead General, was moved to Drakes Island from Guernsey, where he had been imprisoned since 1662. Like Lilburne, he never regained his liberty, dying on Drakes Island in the winter of 1683.</p><br>
<p>In June 1774 the first recorded submarine fatality in history occurred north of Drake&#39;s Island, when a carpenter named John Day perished while testing a wooden diving chamber attached to the sloop Maria.</p><br>
<h2>Drake's Island Battery</h2><br>
<p>The 1859 Royal Commission on the Defence of the United Kingdom recommended a huge programme of new fortifications to defend Plymouth. On Drake&#39;s Island, the existing battery at the centre of the island was to be replaced by five 12-inch muzzle loading guns in open emplacements. A new battery was to be built on the southwestern end, of twenty one 9-inch guns in an arc of stone casemates with iron shields. The work was not complete in 1880. Six 12-pounder quick firing guns were added in 1897 and three 6-inch guns became the main armament in 1901; the original muzzle loaders were dumped under a pile of earth. Finally, in 1942, a modern twin 6-pounder gun was installed.</p><br>
<h2>Recent history</h2><br>
<p>Following World War II Drake&#39;s Island remained under the administration of the War Office, which, despite having announced in 1956 that it was no longer needed for defence purposes, did not finally vacate the island until 1963, when Plymouth City Council obtained a lease from the Crown with the aim of establishing a youth adventure training centre there. This centre was opened in 1964, the year in which a mains water supply finally reached the island.</p><br>
<p>On 1 May 1987 the island got its first telephone line, using a cable attached to the mains water pipe. The telephone number was Plymouth 63393. The warden had previously used the Ministry of Defence system. Drake&#39;s Island Adventure Centre, under the custody of the Mayflower Centre Trust, operated until 31 March 1989, when the Mayflower Trust surrendered their lease to the Crown and sold off the boats and sports equipment.</p><br>
<p>In 1995, Drakes Island was put up for sale by the Crown Estate, with an asking price of £235,000, and had numerous offers. In the end, a bidding war commenced between former Plymouth Argyle chairman, Dan McCauley, and a Cheshire-born businessman who wanted to open it to the public. Dan McCauleys bid was successful and he bought the island for £384,000 in 1995, with plans to turn it into a hotel complex, but he has not, to date, obtained planning permission. In 2003, Plymouth City Council turned down a planning application from McCauley to build a hotel and leisure complex complete with helipad.</p><br>
<p>As of 2014 the island contains derelict military barracks and buildings from the Napoleonic era, and a MoD radio mast. In May 2005 the island attracted British media attention when one of the empty buildings on the island was squatted by a group of anti-nuclear protestors, Trident Ploughshares.</p><br>
<p>The Thiel Mountains are an isolated, mainly snow-capped mountain range of the Transantarctic Mountains System, located in the Ellsworth Land region of Antarctica</p><br>
<p>The mountain range is 72 km long, and is located roughly between the Horlick Mountains and the Pensacola Mountains, and extends from Moulton Escarpment on the west to Nolan Pillar on the east.</p><br>
<p>Major components include Ford Massif (2,810 m), Bermel Escarpment and a group of eastern peaks near Nolan Pillar. The mountains were observed and first positioned by the USARP Horlick Mountains Traverse Party, 1958-59. The mountains were surveyed by the USGS Thiel Mountains parties of 1960-61 and 1961-62.</p><br>
<p>The Thiel Mountains were named by US-ACAN after Dr. Edward C. Thiel, traverse seismologist at Ellsworth Station and the Pensacola Mountains in 1957. In December 1959, he made airlifted geophysical observations along the 88th meridian west, including work near these mountains. Thiel perished with four others on November 9, 1961 in the crash of a P2V Neptune aircraft soon after take-off from Wilkes Station.</p><br>
<p>An aircraft fuel cache (85&deg;12&prime;S latitude, 087&deg;53&prime;W longitude) is located near the Thiel Mountains for planes traveling between the Union Glacier Camp and the Amundsen–Scott South Pole Station.</p><br>
<p>The Pensacola Mountains are a large group of mountain ranges of the Transantarctic Mountains System, located in the Queen Elizabeth Land region of Antarctica.</p><br>
<h2>Geography</h2><br>
<p>They extend 450 km (280 mi) in a NE-SW direction. Subranges of the Pensacola Mountains include: Argentina Range, Forrestal Range, Dufek Massif, Cordiner Peaks, Neptune Range, Patuxent Range, Rambo Nunataks and Pecora Escarpment. These mountain units lie astride the extensive Foundation Ice Stream and Support Force Glacier which drain northward to the Ronne Ice Shelf.</p><br>
<p>Discovered and photographed on January 13, 1956 in the course of a transcontinental nonstop plane flight by personnel of US Navy Operation Deep Freeze I from McMurdo Sound to Weddell Sea and return. Named by US-ACAN for the USA Naval Air Station, Pensacola, Florida, in commemoration of the historic role of that establishment in training aviators of the USA Navy. The mountains were mapped in detail by USGS from surveys and US Navy air photos, 1956-67.</p><br>
<h2>Geology</h2><br>
<p>The Pensacola Mountains were originally continuous with the Ventana Mountains near Bahía Blanca in Argentina, Cape Fold Belt in South Africa, the Ellsworth Mountains (West Antarctica) and the Hunter-Bowen orogeny in eastern Australia.</p><br>
<h2>Features</h2><br>
<p>Georgraphical features include:</p><br>
<h3>Neptune Range</h3><br>
<h4>Williams Hills</h4><br>
<h4>Schmidt Hills</h4><br>
<h4>Other features</h4><br>
<h3>Forrestal Range</h3><br>
<h3>Patuxent Range</h3><br>
<h4>Anderson Hills</h4><br>
<h4>Thomas Hills</h4><br>
<h4>Other features</h4><br>
<h3>Argentina Range</h3><br>
<h4>Schneider Hills</h4><br>
<h4>Panzarini Hills</h4><br>
<h4>Other features</h4><br>
<h3>Cordiner Peaks</h3><br>
<h3>Rambo Nunataks</h3><br>
<h3>Pecora Escarpment</h3><br>
<h3>Dufek Massif</h3><br>
<h4>Boyd Escarpment</h4><br>
<h4>Other features</h4><br>
<h3>Other Pensacola Mountains features</h3><br>
<p>Academy Glacier</p><br>
<p>Edge Rocks</p><br>
<p>Ferrell Nunatak</p><br>
<p>Ford Massif</p><br>
<p>Himmelberg Hills</p><br>
<p>Iroquois Plateau</p><br>
<p>Kester Peaks</p><br>
<p>Mount Soza</p><br>
<p>Taylor Nunatak</p><br>
<p>The Argentina Range is a mountain range of rock peaks and bluffs, 42 mi long, lying 35 mi east of the northern part of Forrestal Range in the northeastern portion of the Pensacola Mountains of Antarctica. Discovered and photographed on January 13, 1956 in the course of a US Navy transcontinental nonstop plane flight from McMurdo Sound to Weddell Sea and return.</p><br>
<p>Named by the Advisory Committee on Antarctic Names after Argentina, which for many years from 1955 maintained a scientific station on the Filchner Ice Shelf at the General Belgrano or Ellsworth Station site. The entire Pensacola Mountains were mapped by United States Geological Survey in 1967 and 1968 from ground surveys and from US Navy tricamera photographs taken in 1964.</p><br>
<h2>Features</h2><br>
<p>Georgraphical features include:</p><br>
<h3>Schneider Hills</h3><br>
<h3>Panzarini Hills</h3><br>
<h3>Other features</h3><br>
<p>* Blackwall Ice Stream</p><br>
<p>* Recovery Glacier</p><br>
<p>* San Martín Glacier</p><br>
<p>* Support Force Glacier</p><br>
<p>* Whichaway Nunataks</p><br>
<p>The Patuxent Range or macizo Armada Argentina is a major range of the Pensacola Mountains, comprising the Thomas Hills, Anderson Hills, Mackin Table and various nunataks and ridges bounded by the Foundation Ice Stream, Academy Glacier and the Patuxent Ice Stream. Discovered and partially photographed on January 13, 1956 in the course of a transcontinental nonstop plane flight by personnel of USA Navy Operation Deep Freeze I from McMurdo Sound to Weddell Sea and return.</p><br>
<p>Named by Advisory Committee on Antarctic Names (US-ACAN) for the Naval Air Station Patuxent River (at Cedar Point, Maryland) located on the south side of the mouth of the Patuxent River. The range was mapped in detail by USGS from surveys and USA Navy air photos, 1956-66.</p><br>
<h2>Key geographic features</h2><br>
<p>OConnell Nunatak (84&deg;43&prime;S latitude, 65&deg;8&prime;W longitude) is a peaked rock nunatak, 1,210 m, standing 6 nautical miles (11 km) south-southeast of Mount Murch in the southern Anderson Hills. Named by US-ACAN for Richard V. OConnell, seismologist at Amundsen–Scott South Pole Station, winter 1967.</p><br>
<p>Shurley Ridge (84&deg;54&prime;S latitude, 65&deg;23&prime;W longitude) is a partly snow-covered ridge projecting from the southwest side of Mackin Table, 10 km southeast of Snake Ridge. Named by US.ACAN for Jay T. Shurley, biologist at Amundsen–Scott South Pole Station, summer 1966-67.</p><br>
<p>Mount Tolchin (85&deg;06&prime;S latitude, 65&deg;12&prime;W longitude) 1,730 m, stands 8 km southwest of Houk Spur at the southwest extremity of Mackin Table in the southern end of the range. Named by US-ACAN for Lt. Sidney Tolchin (MC) USA Navy, officer in charge of the Amundsen–Scott South Pole Station in the winter of 1959.</p><br>
<p>Mount Warnke (84&deg;20&prime;S latitude, 64&deg;55&prime;W longitude) 915 m, stands 5 km NE of Martin Peak in the Thomas Hills. Named by US-ACAN for Detlef A. Warnke, biologist at Palmer Station, 1966-67.</p><br>
<p>Mount Yarbrough (84&deg;24&prime;S latitude, 66&deg;0&prime;W longitude) is a ridge-like mountain, 865 m, standing 3.2 km southwest of Nance Ridge in the Thomas Hills in the northern side of the range. Named by US-ACAN for Leonard S. Yarbrough, industrial engineer at Plateau Station, 1965-66.</p><br>
<h2>Features</h2><br>
<p>Georgraphical features include:</p><br>
<h3>Anderson Hills</h3><br>
<h3>Thomas Hills</h3><br>
<h3>Other features</h3><br>
<p>Bennett Spires</p><br>
<p>Bessinger Nunatak</p><br>
<p>Blake Rock</p><br>
<p>Brazitis Nunatak</p><br>
<p>Brooks Nunatak</p><br>
<p>Brown Ridge</p><br>
<p>DesRoches Nunataks</p><br>
<p>DeWitt Nunatak</p><br>
<p>Foundation Ice Stream</p><br>
<p>Houk Spur</p><br>
<p>Lawrence Nunatak</p><br>
<p>Lekander Nunatak</p><br>
<p>Mackin Table</p><br>
<p>Mount Bragg</p><br>
<p>Mount Campleman</p><br>
<p>Mount Dover</p><br>
<p>Mount Dumais</p><br>
<p>Mount Wanous</p><br>
<p>Mount Weininger</p><br>
<p>Natani Nunatak</p><br>
<p>Patuxent Ice Stream</p><br>
<p>Patuxent</p><br>
<p>Pecora Escarpment</p><br>
<p>Phillips Nunatak</p><br>
<p>Plankington Bluff</p><br>
<p>Postel Nunatak</p><br>
<p>Snake Ridge</p><br>
<p>Stout Spur</p><br>
<p>Sullivan Peaks</p><br>
<p>White Nunataks</p><br>
<p>The Queen Maud Mountains are a major group of mountains, ranges and subordinate features of the Transantarctic Mountains, lying between the Beardmore and Reedy Glaciers and including the area from the head of the Ross Ice Shelf to the Antarctic Plateau in Antarctica. Captain Roald Amundsen and his South Pole party ascended Axel Heiberg Glacier near the central part of this group in November 1911, naming these mountains for the Norwegian queen Maud of Wales. Despite the name, they are not located within Queen Maud Land.</p><br>
<p>Elevations bordering the Beardmore Glacier, at the western extremity of these mountains, were observed by the British expeditions led by Ernest Shackleton (1907–09) and Robert Falcon Scott (1910-13), but the mountains as a whole were mapped by several American expeditions led by Richard Evelyn Byrd (1930s and 1940s), and United States Antarctic Program (USARP) and New Zealand Antarctic Research Program (NZARP) expeditions from the 1950s through the 1970s.</p><br>
<h2>Features</h2><br>
<p>Geographical features include:</p><br>
<h3>Barton Mountains</h3><br>
<h3>Bush Mountains</h3><br>
<h3>Commonwealth Range</h3><br>
<h3>Dominion Range</h3><br>
<h3>Gothic Mountains</h3><br>
<h3>Grosvenor Mountains</h3><br>
<h3>Hays Mountains</h3><br>
<h3>Herbert Range</h3><br>
<h3>Hughes Range</h3><br>
<h3>La Gorce Mountains</h3><br>
<h3>Prince Olav Mountains</h3><br>
<h3>Quarles Range</h3><br>
<h3>Rawson Mountains</h3><br>
<h3>Supporters Range</h3><br>
<h3>Tapley Mountains</h3><br>
<h3>Other features</h3><br>
<p>Amphibole Peak</p><br>
<p>Amundsen Glacier</p><br>
<p>Amundsen Icefall</p><br>
<p>Anderson Ridge</p><br>
<p>Barracouta Ridge</p><br>
<p>Bartlett Bench</p><br>
<p>Beck Peak</p><br>
<p>Breyer Mesa</p><br>
<p>Butchers Spur</p><br>
<p>Bynum Peak</p><br>
<p>Cascade Bluff</p><br>
<p>Cenotaph Hill</p><br>
<p>Chevron Rocks</p><br>
<p>Christy Glacier</p><br>
<p>Collinson Ridge</p><br>
<p>Coloured Peak</p><br>
<p>Cowie Dome</p><br>
<p>Crack Bluff</p><br>
<p>Crilly Hill</p><br>
<p>Cunningham Glacier</p><br>
<p>Curtis Peaks</p><br>
<p>Davis Hills</p><br>
<p>Dick Glacier</p><br>
<p>Dunn Spur</p><br>
<p>Epidote Peak</p><br>
<p>Epler Glacier</p><br>
<p>Erb Range</p><br>
<p>Erickson Glacier</p><br>
<p>Faulkner Escarpment</p><br>
<p>Feeney Col</p><br>
<p>Fernette Peak</p><br>
<p>Ford Spur</p><br>
<p>Forman Glacier</p><br>
<p>Fram Mesa</p><br>
<p>Fulgham Ridge</p><br>
<p>Fuller Dome</p><br>
<p>Garcia Point</p><br>
<p>Gardner Ridge</p><br>
<p>Gerasimou Glacier</p><br>
<p>Gjelsvik Peak</p><br>
<p>Goodale Glacier</p><br>
<p>Gray Peak</p><br>
<p>Gregory Ridge</p><br>
<p>Haas Glacier</p><br>
<p>Hansen Spur</p><br>
<p>Hare Peak</p><br>
<p>Held Glacier</p><br>
<p>Holdsworth Glacier</p><br>
<p>Howe Glacier</p><br>
<p>Husky Dome</p><br>
<p>Husky Heights</p><br>
<p>June Nunatak</p><br>
<p>Keel Hill</p><br>
<p>Kitching Ridge</p><br>
<p>Kranz Peak</p><br>
<p>Kutschin Peak</p><br>
<p>Layman Peak</p><br>
<p>Lee Peak</p><br>
<p>Lindstrøm Peak</p><br>
<p>Liv Glacier</p><br>
<p>McCuistion Glacier</p><br>
<p>McDonough Nunataks</p><br>
<p>McNally Peak</p><br>
<p>Moffett Glacier</p><br>
<p>Moraine Canyon</p><br>
<p>Mount Alice Gade</p><br>
<p>Mount Amherst</p><br>
<p>Mount Andrews</p><br>
<p>Mount Behling</p><br>
<p>Mount Benjamin</p><br>
<p>Mount Bennett</p><br>
<p>Mount Bjaaland</p><br>
<p>Mount Blackburn</p><br>
<p>Mount Blood</p><br>
<p>Mount Bowlin</p><br>
<p>Mount Bowser</p><br>
<p>Mount Clarke</p><br>
<p>Mount Clough</p><br>
<p>Mount Cole</p><br>
<p>Mount Cope</p><br>
<p>Mount Czegka</p><br>
<p>Mount Danforth</p><br>
<p>Mount Deardorff</p><br>
<p>Mount Denauro</p><br>
<p>Mount Dockery</p><br>
<p>Mount Don Pedro Christophersen</p><br>
<p>Mount Ehrenspeck</p><br>
<p>Mount Ellsworth</p><br>
<p>Mount Fairweather</p><br>
<p>Mount Farley</p><br>
<p>Mount Ferguson</p><br>
<p>Mount Fridtjof Nansen</p><br>
<p>Mount Gardiner</p><br>
<p>Mount Hanssen</p><br>
<p>Mount Harkness</p><br>
<p>Mount Hassel</p><br>
<p>Mount Hermanson</p><br>
<p>Mount Innes-Taylor</p><br>
<p>Mount Johnstone</p><br>
<p>Mount Kendrick</p><br>
<p>Mount Kristensen</p><br>
<p>Mount Maloney</p><br>
<p>Mount McKercher</p><br>
<p>Mount Meeks</p><br>
<p>Mount Nansen</p><br>
<p>Mount Nelson</p><br>
<p>Mount Noville</p><br>
<p>Mount Orndorff</p><br>
<p>Mount Prestrud</p><br>
<p>Mount Przywitowski</p><br>
<p>Mount Pulitzer</p><br>
<p>Mount Redifer</p><br>
<p>Mount Riley</p><br>
<p>Mount Roland</p><br>
<p>Mount Rosenwald</p><br>
<p>Mount Russell</p><br>
<p>Mount Ruth</p><br>
<p>Mount Saltonstall</p><br>
<p>Mount Schevill</p><br>
<p>Mount Stubberud</p><br>
<p>Mount Suarez</p><br>
<p>Mount Sundbeck</p><br>
<p>Mount Toth</p><br>
<p>Mount Valinski</p><br>
<p>Mount Verlautz</p><br>
<p>Mount Warden</p><br>
<p>Mount Wasko</p><br>
<p>Mount Wilbur</p><br>
<p>Mount Wisting</p><br>
<p>Muck Glacier</p><br>
<p>Munizaga Peak</p><br>
<p>Nilsen Plateau</p><br>
<p>Norway Glacier</p><br>
<p>Olds Peak</p><br>
<p>Olsen Crags</p><br>
<p>Pallid Peak</p><br>
<p>Parker Bluff</p><br>
<p>Patterson Pea</p><br>
<p>Pegmatite Peak</p><br>
<p>Pendant Ridge</p><br>
<p>Polaris Peak</p><br>
<p>Poulter Glacier</p><br>
<p>Price Bluff</p><br>
<p>Rawson Mountains</p><br>
<p>Rawson Plateau</p><br>
<p>Red Raider Rampart</p><br>
<p>Reedy Glacier</p><br>
<p>Reid Spur</p><br>
<p>Roaring Cliffs</p><br>
<p>Robinson Bluff</p><br>
<p>Sagehen Nunataks</p><br>
<p>Schmidt Peak</p><br>
<p>Scudder Mountain</p><br>
<p>Seabee Heights</p><br>
<p>Shackleton Glacier</p><br>
<p>Sheridan Bluff</p><br>
<p>Simmonds Peak</p><br>
<p>Simplicity Hill</p><br>
<p>Steagall Glacier</p><br>
<p>Sverre Hassel</p><br>
<p>Szabo Bluff</p><br>
<p>Tate Glacier</p><br>
<p>Taylor Nunatak</p><br>
<p>Taylor Ridge</p><br>
<p>Teller Peak</p><br>
<p>Thomas Spur</p><br>
<p>Thrinaxodon Col</p><br>
<p>Titan Dome</p><br>
<p>Tongue Peak</p><br>
<p>Van Reeth Glacier</p><br>
<p>Waldron Spurs</p><br>
<p>Watson Escarpment</p><br>
<p>Waugh Peak</p><br>
<p>Webster Knob</p><br>
<p>Witalis Peak</p><br>
<p>Yeats Glacier</p><br>
<p>The Axel Heiberg Glacier in Antarctica is a valley glacier, 48 km long, descending from the high elevations of the Antarctic Plateau into the Ross Ice Shelf  between the Herbert Range and Mount Don Pedro Christophersen in the Queen Maud Mountains.</p><br>
<p>This huge glacier was discovered in November 1911 by the Norwegian polar explorer Roald Amundsen, and named by him for Axel Heiberg, a Norwegian businessman and patron of science who contributed to numerous Norwegian polar expeditions. Amundsen used this glacier as his route up onto the polar plateau during his successful expedition to the South Pole.</p><br>
<p>Unlike the big “outlet” glaciers such as the Beardmore, Shackleton and Liv, the Axel Heiberg is in effect an alpine glacier, cut off from the Plateau by a dolerite rim and fed entirely from the uncharacteristically heavy snow falling within its own catchment. It falls over 9,000 ft in only 20 mi, most of it over just 7 mi.</p><br>
<p>The Sentinel Range is a major mountain range situated northward of Minnesota Glacier and forming the northern half of the Ellsworth Mountains in Antarctica. The range trends NNW-SSE for about 185 km and is 24 to 48 km  wide. Many peaks rise over 4,000 m and Vinson Massif  in the southern part of the range is the highest elevation on the continent.</p><br>
<p>Sentinel Range comprises a main ridge (featuring Vinson Massif in its southern portion) and a number of distinct heights, ridges and mountains on its east side, including (south to north) Petvar Heights, Doyran Heights, Veregava Ridge, Flowers Hills, Sullivan Heights, Barnes Ridge, Maglenik Heights, Probuda Ridge, Bangey Heights, Sostra Heights and Gromshin Heights. It is separated from Bastien Range to the southwest by Nimitz Glacier, and from Heritage Range to the south by lower Minnesota Glacier.</p><br>
<p>The range was first sighted and photographed from the air on November 23, 1935, by Lincoln Ellsworth who in naming it recognised its prominent position as a landmark on an otherwise featureless ice surface. The range was first visited and partially surveyed in January 1958 by the Marie Byrd Land Traverse party, led by Charles R. Bentley. The entire range was mapped by USGS from aerial photography taken by the USA Navy, 1958-61.</p><br>
<h2>Key mountains and peaks</h2><br>
<h2>Maps</h2><br>
<p>Scale 1:250 000 topographic map. Reston, Virginia: US Geological Survey, 1988.</p><br>
<p>Scale 1:250 000 topographic map. Reston, Virginia: US Geological Survey, 1961.</p><br>
<h2>Features</h2><br>
<p>Georgraphical features include:</p><br>
<h3>Bangey Heights</h3><br>
<h3>Bastien Range</h3><br>
<h3>Doyran Heights</h3><br>
<h3>Flowers Hills</h3><br>
<h3>Gromshin Heights</h3><br>
<h3>Maglenik Heights</h3><br>
<h3>Owen Ridge</h3><br>
<h3>Petvar Heights</h3><br>
<h3>Sostra Heights</h3><br>
<h3>Sullivan Heights</h3><br>
<h3>Veregava Ridge</h3><br>
<h3>Other features</h3><br>
<p>Ahrida Peak</p><br>
<p>Allen Peak</p><br>
<p>Arzos Peak</p><br>
<p>Aster Glacier</p><br>
<p>Beadnos Nunatak</p><br>
<p>Bender Glacier</p><br>
<p>Bohot Nunatak</p><br>
<p>Boyce Ridge</p><br>
<p>Branscomb Glacier</p><br>
<p>Branscomb Peak</p><br>
<p>Brichebor Peak</p><br>
<p>Brocks Peak</p><br>
<p>Bruguière Peak</p><br>
<p>Bugueño Pinnacle</p><br>
<p>Burdenis Glacier</p><br>
<p>Cairns Glacier</p><br>
<p>Cervellati Glacier</p><br>
<p>Chaplin Peak</p><br>
<p>Clinch Peak</p><br>
<p>Corbet Peak</p><br>
<p>Craddock Massif</p><br>
<p>Craig Ridge</p><br>
<p>Damien Gildea</p><br>
<p>Debren Pass</p><br>
<p>Della Pia Glacier</p><br>
<p>Delyo Glacier</p><br>
<p>Donnellan Glacier</p><br>
<p>Doyran Heights</p><br>
<p>Drama Glacier</p><br>
<p>Duridanov Peak</p><br>
<p>Elfring Peak</p><br>
<p>Enitsa Peak</p><br>
<p>Epperly Ridge</p><br>
<p>Evans Peak</p><br>
<p>Eyer Peak</p><br>
<p>Fisher Nunatak</p><br>
<p>Flowers Hills</p><br>
<p>Fonfon Glacier</p><br>
<p>Frontier Nunataks</p><br>
<p>Fukushima Peak</p><br>
<p>Galicia Peak</p><br>
<p>Gerila Glacier</p><br>
<p>Gilbert Spur</p><br>
<p>Gildea Glacier</p><br>
<p>Giles Glacier</p><br>
<p>Goloe Pass</p><br>
<p>Goodge Col</p><br>
<p>Hammer Col</p><br>
<p>Hariton Peak</p><br>
<p>Helfert Nunatak</p><br>
<p>Hinkley Glacier</p><br>
<p>Hollister Peak</p><br>
<p>Holth Peaks</p><br>
<p>Howard Nunataks</p><br>
<p>Ichev Nunatak</p><br>
<p>Jacobsen Valley</p><br>
<p>Knutzen Peak</p><br>
<p>Kovil Nunatak</p><br>
<p>Lanz Peak</p><br>
<p>Long Gables</p><br>
<p>MacDonald Peak</p><br>
<p>Marts Peak</p><br>
<p>Memolli Nunatak</p><br>
<p>Miller Peak</p><br>
<p>Minnesota Glacier</p><br>
<p>Mount Alf</p><br>
<p>Mount Anderson</p><br>
<p>Mount Atkinson</p><br>
<p>Mount Barden</p><br>
<p>Mount Bearskin</p><br>
<p>Mount Bentley</p><br>
<p>Mount Besch</p><br>
<p>Mount Craddock</p><br>
<p>Mount Crawford</p><br>
<p>Mount Dalrymple</p><br>
<p>Mount Davis</p><br>
<p>Mount Dawson</p><br>
<p>Mount Epperly</p><br>
<p>Mount Gardner</p><br>
<p>Mount Giovinetto</p><br>
<p>Mount Goldthwait</p><br>
<p>Mount Hale</p><br>
<p>Mount Holmboe</p><br>
<p>Mount Hubley</p><br>
<p>Mount Jumper</p><br>
<p>Mount Liavaag</p><br>
<p>Mount Liptak</p><br>
<p>Mount Lymburner</p><br>
<p>Mount Milton</p><br>
<p>Mount Morris</p><br>
<p>Mount Osborne</p><br>
<p>Mount Ostenso</p><br>
<p>Mount Press</p><br>
<p>Mount Reimer</p><br>
<p>Mount Rutford</p><br>
<p>Mount Sharp</p><br>
<p>Mount Shear</p><br>
<p>Mount Shinn</p><br>
<p>Mount Sisu</p><br>
<p>Mount Slaughter</p><br>
<p>Mount Tegge</p><br>
<p>Mount Todd</p><br>
<p>Mount Viets</p><br>
<p>Mount Wyatt Earp</p><br>
<p>Moyher Ridge</p><br>
<p>Mursalitsa Peak</p><br>
<p>Nell Peak</p><br>
<p>Nikola Peak</p><br>
<p>Obelya Glacier</p><br>
<p>Olsen Peak</p><br>
<p>Opalchenie Peak</p><br>
<p>Ostrusha Nunatak</p><br>
<p>Owen Ridge</p><br>
<p>Pastrogor Peak</p><br>
<p>Patton Glacier</p><br>
<p>Podgore Saddle</p><br>
<p>Ponor Saddle</p><br>
<p>Príncipe de Asturias Peak</p><br>
<p>Progled Saddle</p><br>
<p>Rada Peak</p><br>
<p>Ramorino Glacier</p><br>
<p>Ranuli Ice Piedmont</p><br>
<p>Ravulya Nunatak</p><br>
<p>Roché Glacier</p><br>
<p>Rumyana Glacier</p><br>
<p>Saltzman Glacier</p><br>
<p>Sanchez Peak</p><br>
<p>Schatz Ridge</p><br>
<p>Schoening Peak</p><br>
<p>Severinghaus Glacier</p><br>
<p>Shinn Ridge</p><br>
<p>Shockey Peak</p><br>
<p>Silverstein Peak</p><br>
<p>Silyanov Peak</p><br>
<p>Skafida Peak</p><br>
<p>Sowers Glacier</p><br>
<p>Stolnik Peak</p><br>
<p>Strahil Peak</p><br>
<p>Taylor Ledge</p><br>
<p>Toros Peak</p><br>
<p>Tulaczyk Glacier</p><br>
<p>Tyree Ridge</p><br>
<p>Valchan Peak</p><br>
<p>Vanand Peak</p><br>
<p>Veregava Ridge</p><br>
<p>Versinikia Peak</p><br>
<p>Vinson Massif</p><br>
<p>Vinson Plateau</p><br>
<p>Wahlstrom Peak</p><br>
<p>Willis Ridge</p><br>
<p>Zalmoxis Peak</p><br>
<p>Zapol Glacier</p><br>
<p>Zinsmeister Ridge</p><br>
<p>Zvegor Saddle</p><br>
<p>Ierapetra  is a town and municipality in the southeast of the Greek island of Crete.</p><br>
<h2>History</h2><br>
<p>The town of Ierapetra (in the local dialect: Γεράπετρο Gerapetro) is located on the southeast coast of Crete, along the beach of Ierapetra Bay. It lies south of Agios Nikolaos and southwest of Sitia and is an important regional centre. With its 16,139 inhabitants (in 2011) it is the most populous town in the regional unit of Lasithi, and the fourth town of Crete. Ierapetra is nicknamed "bride of the Libyan Sea" because of its position as the only town on the south coast of Crete.</p><br>
<h3>Antiquity</h3><br>
<p>Ierapetra has had a place in the history of Crete since the Minoan period. The Greek and later Roman town of Hierapytna was on the same site as present day Ierapetra. In the Classical Age Hierapytna became the strongest town of eastern Crete and, as a Dorian city in continual rivalry with Praisos, the last Minoan city in the island. Later, in the 3rd century BC, Hierapytna was notorious for its tendency to piracy and took part in the Cretan War along with other Cretan cities in the side of Philip V of Macedon against Knossos and Rhodes. Its importance as independent state ended when it was conquered by the Romans in 67 BC (the last free city in Crete) and was surpassed by the city of Gortyn. The Roman conquest of Ierapetra occurred at about the same time as that of Knossos, Cydonia and Lato. Today remains of the Roman harbor can still be seen in the shallow bay. In AD 824 it was destroyed by Arab invaders, only to be rebuilt as a base for pirates again.</p><br>
<h3>Venetian and Ottoman eras</h3><br>
<p>In the Venetian Age, from the 13th to the 17th centuries, Ierapetra - now known by its present name - became prosperous again. The Fortress of Kales, built in the early years of Venetian rule and strengthened by Francesco Morosini in 1626 to protect the harbor, is a remnant of this period, although local myth says it was built by the Genoese pirate Pescatore in 1212. In July 1798 Ierapetra made a small step into world history: Napoleon stayed with a local family after the Battle of the Pyramids in Egypt. The house where he stayed can still be seen. In the Ottoman period a mosque was built in the town. Finds from Ierapetra&#39;s past can be found in the local Museum of Antiquities, formerly a school for Muslim children. The centrepiece of the exhibition is a well-preserved statue of Persephone.</p><br>
<h3>Modern Era</h3><br>
<p>Present day Ierapetra consists of two quite distinct parts, Kato Mera and Pano Mera. Kato Mera is the old town on the southwestern headland. It is characterized by a medieval street layout with narrow alleyways, cul-de-sacs and small houses, creating a village-like atmosphere. The former mosque and the "house of Napoleon" can be found in this neighbourhood, as can Aghios Georgios metropolitan church (built in 1856) in the town&#39;s center. It is considered one of the most interesting churches of Crete. The ceiling of the church has many "blind" domes. Those, as well as the central dome, are wooden (mainly cedar wood). Pano Mera is the much bigger new town, with wider streets and three and four storey houses. Pano Mera is still expanding towards the west, north and east.</p><br>
<p>Ierapetras main shopping street is Koundouriotou. In the centre the town hall, the museum and two cinemas can be found. The local hospital lies in Pano Mera. To the west is the southern headland with the fortress, a port for fishing boats and ´Navmachia´ area, where sea fights among slaves for citizens´ entertainment were taking place during the Roman period. Further east is a short beach with bars and restaurants, followed by the quay for ferries to Chrissi. Further on lies the main boulevard with hotels, bars, restaurants and souvenir shops. At its end a new promenade leads alongside Ierapetra Bays long beach.</p><br>
<h2>Infrastructure</h2><br>
<p>The local government has planned the development of a new international port. This plan is being opposed by some citizens who think it will destroy the local environment and scenery. They are supported by Ecocrete.gr, the local environmental tribune.</p><br>
<h3>Education</h3><br>
<p>In 2003 the Technological Educational Institute (TEI) of Marketing and Commerce was opened. In the wake of the financial crisis, in early 2013 the government decided to merge or close down a number of schools (a plan named "Athena" after the Greek goddess of wisdom), including TEI of Marketing in Ierapetra. This sparked a round of protests. Around 7,000 people staged a peaceful protest on 8 February 2013 holding candles and torches. Local authorities and local media described that march as "the biggest rally in Ierapetra to date". On 12 February 2013 the town of Ierapetra witnessed a big protest rally, as thousands of people took to the streets once again demanding the TEI school to stay in town and the hospital to be upgraded.</p><br>
<h3>Health</h3><br>
<p>The local hospital (General Hospital of Ierapetra) was set up in 1955 with funds coming from Cretans who lived in the USA. In 2010 it was announced that under a government plan for new administrative divisions, called "the Kallikratis Project", the hospital was to shut down. This sparked an unprecedented wave of protests within the region, as the hospital serves 40,000 people, including some from the neighboring prefecture of Iraklion. The protests culminated in a march that took place on 25 January 2011. Another march from Ierapetra to Iraklion followed on the same day, where over 2,500 people from and around the town, participated and showed their anger for the decision by the central government to close the hospital. Protests included occupation of the building where the Decentralised Administration is located and an outdoors theatrical play by the protestors. Following those incidents, it was announced that the authorities had decided to halt the process of degrading and closing the hospital. Instead, the latter was funded with 1 million euros and more doctors were to be sent.</p><br>
<p>However, despite the promises by the socialist government, problems loomed surrounding health services and the lack of staff in the one and only hospital in the region. As a result, a new round of protests commenced on 26 May 2011, with a rally outside the seat of the municipality, in Ierapetra. Around 1,000 people protested the latest developments demanding the upgrading of the hospital and came to storm the building of the town hall. The protest, which is regarded as with no precedent for the region, lasted for 16 days. A row between the municipal authorities and the commission that advocated the upgrade of the hospital resulted in a standstill, with the prosecution of the people who led the storming of the town hall. The Head of the local Church, Evgenios, mediated and went to Athens, along with the mayor and other officials. This resulted in having the agreement for the upgrade of the hospital officially signed in. Following an order by the incumbent mayor, 14 citizens were put to trial for the occupation of the town hall and were unanimously found not guilty on 11 July 2011. It was the first such trial in the town to date. Another protest followed with a march by people from Ierapetra to Iraklion, on 20 July 2011 and yet another despite the rain in Heraklion, on 29 February 2012.</p><br>
<p>The hospital was rated "as an example for other hospitals in regional Greece" according to inspectors. However, it was merged by the government only two months before June 2012 Greek legislative elections. The merger caused yet more problems over the following months, having to do with bureaucracy, less food supplies and a lack of doctors, nurses, paramedics, oil and food for the hospital. On 30 January 2013, people staged another protest outside the hospital of Ierapetra. The hospital was in the centre of a fresh rally, again in Ierapetra, which took place on 12 February 2013 and another spreading to the entire prefecture of Lasithi. As a result, on 20 February 2013, thousands of people from Lasithi marched at Selinari, Lasithi and then to the neighboring city of Iraklion. Following the march, Cretans from Lasithi demanded access to health services, equally to the rest of Crete and went on to storm the headquarters of the Regional Health in Crete, located in Iraklion. The storming ended on 22 February 2013, following an agreement with officials that TEI schools, hospitals and facilities will stay in the region.</p><br>
<p>The situation got worse in early 2014 and a new rally was held on 7 May 2014. At the same time, people from Ierapetra went to Heraklion, where they met with Antonios Grigorakis, the Head of the Prefecture in charge of Health, who committed to install a permanent pathologist (coming from another hospital in the Prefecture of Lasithi). Three people were injured before the meeting following clashes with the police.</p><br>
<h2>Municipality</h2><br>
<p>The municipality of Ierapetra was formed under the 2011 local government reform by the merger of the following 2 former municipalities, that became municipal units:</p><br>
<p>Ierapetra</p><br>
<p>Makry Gialos</p><br>
<p>The municipality of Ierapetra has an area of 554.003 km&sup2, the municipal unit of Ierapetra 394.774 km&sup2;. The municipal unit has a population of 23,708 (2011) and consists of the town of Ierapetra (population 16,139 in 2011), several villages and hamlets and the island of Chrissi. These settlements are: Agia Fotia, Agios Ioannis, Anatoli, Amoudares, Ano Simi, Christos, Drakalevri, Episkopi, Ferma, Gdochia, Gra Lygia, Kaimenos, Kalamafka, Kalogeri, Kamara, Kato Chorio, Kavousi, Kentri, Koutsounari, Males, Mathokotsana, Melises, Meseleri, Monastiraki, Minos, Mythi, Mournies, Myrtos, Nea Anatoli, Nea Myrtos, Pachia Ammos, Panagia, Pano Chorio, Psathi, Riza, Selakano, Stavros, Stomio, Sykia, Thrypti, Vainia, Vasiliki, Vatos, Xerambela and Xerokambos.</p><br>
<p>The municipal unit of Makry Gialos, established as a municipality in 1998, with an area of 159.229 km&sup2; and a population of 3,894 in 2011, consists of the communities of Schinokapsala with the settlements of Achlia, Galini and Mavros Kolimbos, Oreino with the settlements of Agios Panteleimon, Andrianos and Kalyvitis, Stavrochori with the settlements of Koutsouras, Lapithos and Tsikalaria, Chrysopigi with the settlement of Mpemponas, Agios Stefanos with the settlement of Makry Gialos, Pefki with the settlements of Analipsi, Aspros Potamos and Pilalimata, Lithines with the settlements of Azali and Lagada, and finally Perivolakia with the settlements of Epano Pervolakia, Kalo Nero, Moni Kapsa and Pezoulas.</p><br>
<h2>Province</h2><br>
<p>The province of Ierapetra (Επαρχία Ιεράπετρας) was one of the provinces of Lasithi. Its territory corresponded partial with that of the current municipal unit Ierapetra. It was abolished in 2006.</p><br>
<h2>Economy</h2><br>
<p>The area&#39;s main economic activities are agriculture in the winter and tourism in the summer. The agricultural production can be divided into two main parts. Whereas olive oil has been produced all over the municipality at least since Minoan times, for the last thirty years large quantities of fruit and vegetables have also been exported. These are grown in plastic greenhouses, which spread over an area of 15,000,000 square meters between the town of Ierapetra, and Neos Myrtos- Psari Forada in the western part, as well as, in a lesser degree, between the town and Goudouras to the eastern part of the municipality. They were introduced by the Dutchman Paul Kuypers. Mainly because of the greenhouse production the inhabitants of Ierapetra used to be on average among the richest on Crete.</p><br>
<h2>Geology</h2><br>
<h3>Gorges</h3><br>
<p>Orino Gorge or Red Butterflies Gorge</p><br>
<p>Milona Gorge</p><br>
<p>Ha Gorge</p><br>
<p>Sarakina Gorge</p><br>
<p>Mesona Gorge</p><br>
<p>Havga Gorge</p><br>
<h3>Beaches</h3><br>
<p>Ierapetra was chosen among 500 South European destinations by the QualityCoast International Certification Program of EUCC as one of the 50 most attractive tourist destinations for visitors interested in cultural heritage, environment and sustainability. In 2012 Ierapetra was one of the only three destinations in Greece that won the Gold QualityCoast award, ranking 2nd among the TOP 100 chosen European destinations.</p><br>
<p>Chrysi island golden coast</p><br>
<p>Aghios Andreas Beach</p><br>
<p>Koutsounari Long Beach</p><br>
<p>Livadi Beach in Ferma</p><br>
<p>Agia Fotia Beach</p><br>
<p>Kakkos Beach</p><br>
<p>Galini Beach, Achlia</p><br>
<p>Mavros Kolymbos Beach</p><br>
<p>Koutsouras Beach</p><br>
<p>Kalamokanias Beach in Makry Gialos</p><br>
<p>Katovigli / Lagkoufa Beach in Makry Gialos</p><br>
<p>Kalamaki Beach</p><br>
<p>Tholos Beach in Kavousi</p><br>
<p>Pachia Ammos Beach</p><br>
<p>Myrtos Beach in Myrtos</p><br>
<p>Ammoudares Beach</p><br>
<h3>Other</h3><br>
<p>Bramiana Dam, an artificial dam and lake. The lake was made to supply the local greenhouses with water in the dry summer. The lake area is the biggest wetland on Crete, and has become a nature reserve known for its birdlife.</p><br>
<p>Mount Dikti</p><br>
<p>Mount Thrypti</p><br>
<p>Selakano Forest</p><br>
<p>Ano Simi</p><br>
<h2>Climate</h2><br>
<p>Ierapetra average annual temperature is 19.7 &deg;C (1956-1997 HNMS). According to HNMS published material Ierapetra alongside Karpathos Island is Greeces warmest city with a mean annual temperature of 20.1 &deg;C. Ierapetra has 3101 hours of sunshine per year and is again Greeces sunniest city according to HNMS</p><br>
<h2>Transportation</h2><br>
<p>One can travel to Ierapetra by plane boarding onto domestic or charter flights to Sitia airport (59 km) or Heraklion airport (94 km). There are also frequent ferry departures from Piraeus to Sitia and Heraklion ports.</p><br>
<h2>Chrysi</h2><br>
<p>Chrysi (Golden) or Gaidhouronisi (Donkey Island) is an uninhabited island some twelve kilometres (12 km) off the coast of the town of Ierapetra. It is 5 km long and on average one kilometre (1 km) wide. The island&#39;s average height above sea level is 10 m; Kefala, the highest point of the island, is 31 m above sea level. The island is renowned for its white beaches, sand dunes and forest of pines and junipers. The western tip of the island has some remains of past settlement: a few Minoan ruins and a 13th-century chapel dedicated to Agios Nikolaos (Saint Nicholas). It was inhabited into Byzantine times. The main sources of wealth were fishing, salt export, and the export of porphyra (Tyrian purple), a scarlet dye made from shells. After the Byzantine period the island was abandoned, although later it was used as a hideout.</p><br>
<p>Nowadays the island is protected as an "area of intense natural beauty". Especially in summer, the island attracts many tourists. As camping is forbidden on the island, only day trips are possible. Ferries leave the quay at Ierapetra daily at 10 A.M. and return at 5 P.M. Visitors are not allowed to roam freely over the island, but only on designated paths and some beaches close to the eastern tip of the island. There is a small tavern at the ferry landing. 700 m to the east of Chrysi lies the rocky islet of Mikronisi (Small Island).</p><br>
<h2>Minoan sites</h2><br>
<p>Gournia, Minoan city on Mirambelo (Mirabello) Gulf.</p><br>
<p>Pyrgos, between Myrtos and Nea Myrtos.</p><br>
<p>Vasiliki, near the village of the same name.</p><br>
<p>Makry Gialos minoan site</p><br>
<p>Episkopi</p><br>
<p>Anatoli minoan site</p><br>
<h2>Ierapetra in popular culture</h2><br>
<p>In the 1964 movie Zorba the Greek the famous scene in which Anthony Quinn dances the Sirtaki on the beach was shot on Ierapetra Beach.</p><br>
<p>In the 1994 movie, Legends of the Fall, Tristan Ludlow (Brad Pitt) returning from a long journey, gifts a ring from Ierapetra to his future wife, Isabelle 2.</p><br>
<p>In two of his books R. Graves refers the name of Ierapetra. In "King Jesus" and in the "Hercules, my shipmate".</p><br>
<p>Luis Sepúlveda mentions Ierapetra in the introduction of his book "Mundo del fin del mundo" (The World at the End of the World).</p><br>
<p>The Kaikoura Ranges are two parallel ranges of mountains located in the northeast of the South Island of New Zealand. The two ranges are visible from a great distance, including from the southern coast of the North Island.</p><br>
<h2>Description</h2><br>
<p>Formed along New Zealand&#39;s Marlborough Fault System, they can be seen as the northernmost extension of the Southern Alps in the South Island. Named the Looker-on mountains, by Captain James Cook, they take their name from the town of Kaikoura at the southern extreme of the more eastern range, the Seaward Kaikouras. This range rises straight from (and dominates) the coast to the north of the town, and reaches its highest point with the 2,608 m Mount Manakau.</p><br>
<p>The long straight river valley of the Clarence River separate the Seaward Kaikouras from the longer and loftier Inland Kaikouras. This latter range contains the highest peak in the ranges, the 2,885 m Tapuae-o-Uenuku, the translation from the Maori of which is the poetic "Footprint of the rainbow". Beyond the Inland Kaikouras is the valley of the Awatere River, which runs parallel to that of the Clarence. The climate is characterised by a dry cold winter.</p><br>
<h2>Flora</h2><br>
<p>These mountains are characterized by tussock land, fellfields, and large areas of open scree, while lowland forests have largely been cleared. The Spencer range to the south meanwhile has a more intact beech forest covering.</p><br>
<h2>Fauna</h2><br>
<p>The ranges contain the Kowhai Valley and Shearwater Stream Important Bird Area.</p><br>
<p>Tasman Bay / Te Tai-o-Aorere, originally known as Blind Bay, is a large V-shaped bay at the north end of New Zealand&#39;s South Island. Located in the centre of the island&#39;s northern coast, it stretches along 120 km of coastline and is 70 km across at its widest point. It is an arm of the Tasman Sea, lying on the western approach to Cook Strait.</p><br>
<p>At the bays western extremity, the land around the bay is rough and densely forested. Separation Point, the westernmost point of the bay, is located in Abel Tasman National Park and separates Tasman Bay from its smaller neighbour, Golden Bay. To the east, the land is also steep, with the westernmost points of sea-drowned valleys of the Marlborough Sounds. DUrville Island sits to the northeast of Tasman Bay&#39;s easternmost point. Arrow Rock is situated off the coast of Nelson.</p><br>
<p>The land between these two extremes is more gently rolling, and also includes the coastal plains around the mouth of the Waimea River at the bays southernmost point. Other rivers entering the sea along the coast of the bay include the Riwaka, the Motueka and Serpentine Rivers. The long low form of Rabbit Island is located close to the bays south coast. Tasman Bay contains the rare rock formation known as the Boulder Bank.</p><br>
<p>The fertile land around the centre of the bays coast is extensively cultivated and known for its horticultural crops such as apples, kiwifruit, olives, grapes and hops. In the middle of the twentieth century the Tasman Bay area produced large crops of Tobacco. There is a tobacco museum in Motueka. It is also the most densely populated part of the South Islands north coast, and several towns and the city of Nelson are all located close to the shore. These towns include Motueka, Riwaka and Richmond.</p><br>
<p>The location&#39;s original name, Blind Bay, was given by Captain Cook in 1770. The name of the bay was officially altered to Tasman Bay / Te Tai-o-Aorere in August 2014.</p><br>
<p>Moturoa / Rabbit Island is a small island located in the southermost part of the Tasman Bay, in the northern coast of New Zealands South Island. It lies across the southernmost part of Tasman Bay, at the top of New Zealands South Island. The long narrow island runs east-west for 8 km, and covers 15 km².</p><br>
<p>It lies opposite the mouth of the Waimea River, 7 km to the west of Richmond and was formed about 7000 years ago as several barrier islands accumulated near the mouth of the Waimea River. There is evidence of Maori occupation for over 800 years. The original vegetation comprised tussock, manuka scrub and totara forest further inland.</p><br>
<p>The Rabbit Island Recreational Reserve contains three islands, Rabbit Island, Rough Island and Bird Island, and became a public reserve in 1908. Rabbit Island, with its long, safe swimming beach is a popular beach resort to the residents of Motueka, Wakefield, Brightwater, Richmond, Mapua, Stoke and Nelson itself.</p><br>
<p>A medium-sized causeway spans a tidal area and joins the mainland to Rabbit Island itself. There is a large grassed area after this bridge and a Fire Hazard sign ("Keep it Green"). Large areas of the relatively flat islands are covered in pine plantation forest. The beach proper contains vast and mountainous sand dunes topped with masses of cone-bearing pines, with exposed roots, extending for long distances along the island.</p><br>
<p>The Tasman&#39;s Great Taste Trail, a cycleway running from Richmond to Motueka, runs through Rabbit Island. There is also a newly established equestrian area. The reserve area is closed to the public from dusk to 5 am.</p><br>
<p>In August 2014, the name of the island was officially altered to Moturoa / Rabbit Island.</p><br>
<h2>Others islands with the same name</h2><br>
<p>The other Rabbit Islands are smaller than 1 km² or 100 hectare. They are located (north to south):</p><br>
<p>inside Whangarei Harbour, Northland Region -35.7888&deg; latitude, 174.3475&deg; longitude</p><br>
<p>just west of Great Barrier Island, Hauraki Gulf -36.1477&deg; latitude, 175.3140&deg; longitude</p><br>
<p>to the west of Kawau Island, north of Auckland -36.4146&deg; latitude, 174.7932&deg; longitude</p><br>
<p>off the east coast of the Coromandel Peninsula, in Opito Bay -36.7137&deg; latitude, 175.8177&deg; longitude</p><br>
<p>off the east coast of the Coromandel Peninsula, near Slipper Island -37.0713&deg; latitude, 175.9272&deg; longitude</p><br>
<p>officially known as Motuotau Island, north of Tauranga, off the beach east of Mount Maunganui -37.6311&deg; latitude, 176.1940&deg; longitude</p><br>
<p>Rabbit Island, a six-hectare islet close to Pitt Island in the Chatham Islands -44.2400&deg; latitude, 176.2817&deg; longitude</p><br>
<p>inside the entrance to Blueskin Bay, north of Dunedin -45.7311&deg; latitude, 170.5907&deg; longitude</p><br>
<p>south of Riverton, in Foveaux Strait</p><br>
<p>near the centre of Bluff Harbour, Southland Region -46.5680&deg; latitude, 168.3305&deg; longitude</p><br>
<p>Maldon Marine Lake is a lake in Maldon, a small historic town on the estuary of the River Blackwater in Essex, England has been renowned for its promenade park with its salt water lake. The lake was created in 1905 and greatly added to the attraction of the area, making it a popular tourist venue. The attraction being that one could swim, no matter what the state of the tide in the adjacent estuary.</p><br>
<p>In 2002 a young father lost his life swimming in the lake when he seems to have collided with a submerged and unseen post that was the base for a warning sign. Ultimately the Maldon District Council was prosecuted by The Health and Safety Executive and found guilty.</p><br>
<p>Meanwhile the lake was closed to swimmers on safety grounds. The Councils plans to reopen the lake for swimming foundered because they could not afford to satisfy the HSEs condition that 26 life guards should supervise swimming at any one time and the lake should be enclosed by a barrier of at least 2 metres, which some had said would give it aesthetic similarities to that of a prison. It was pointed out that there are many other swimming places in the UK where swimming is permitted without formal supervision. Local people seemed not to understand why there need to be different standards applied in Maldon.</p><br>
<p>As the plans to reopen the marine lake to swimmers were blocked, Maldon Town Council submitted new plans which involved the creation of an "ornamental lake." This proved incredibly unpopular with local residents and a "Save Maldon Marine Lake" campaign was initiated. However, the council were unwilling to take any further risks with regards to health & safety and therefore decided the lake would benefit the area in the long term. The new proposals will prohibit people from bathing in the lake. In addition a water-play area and a "Galleon play area" were proposed for the site and are now built.</p><br>
<p></revision></p><br>
<p>Wareham Forest is an area in Dorset, England, consisting of open heathland, including Decoy Heath and Gore Heath, and plantations of conifers such as Morden Heath and Bloxworth Heath. The site is overseen by the Forestry Commission for conservation and recreation. Situated next to the A35 road between Dorchester and Poole; the forest provides a home for sika deer, the Dartford warbler and a population of sand lizards.</p><br>
<h2>History</h2><br>
<p>Wareham Forest featured in the American magazine Life on 20 October 1947.</p><br>
<p>The article describes a fire that raged for four days across Wareham Heath in the summer of that year. The fire severed the road from Wareham to Bere Regis and exploded ammunition left behind from Second World War troop manoeuvres.</p><br>
<p>The photograph accompanying the Life piece shows fire-fighters trying to counteract the blaze, which saw flames leap to over 150 feet in height.</p><br>
<p>Thanks to these efforts, a majority of the forest was saved.</p><br>
<p>A 55-acre tourist park and campsite now makes up part of Wareham Forest.</p><br>
<p>In 2012, a married couple walking their dog over the heath had to be rescued by the Dorset Fire and Rescue Service, after they became stuck in a freezing swamp.</p><br>
<h2>Ecosystem</h2><br>
<p>A track that passes through the site comprises part of the Wareham Forest Way, a walk that leads from Wareham to Sturminster Marshall. There is also a route for cyclists called the Sika Cycle Trail.</p><br>
<p>Situated to the east of the forest is Morden Bog National Nature Reserve.</p><br>
<p>Calluna (or heather) and grasses such as Molinia caerulea (or purple moor grass) grow readily at Wareham Forest, give grazing fodder to a population of sika.</p><br>
<p>The nationally scarce Dartford warbler and the nightjar has been observed around here, and sand lizards may also be spotted. The iconic fly agaric (Amanita muscaria), hallucinogenic toadstool, has been recorded within the forest. In 2006 the Journal of Zoology published the results of a nine-year study that looked into the breeding frequency of the site&#39;s smooth snakes (Coronella austriaca).</p><br>
<h2>In fiction</h2><br>
<p>The forest provides a backdrop for scenes within R. Hyslops Wolfs-Head novel, set in the time of Æthelwulf of Wessex.</p><br>
<p>Hanover Square in Downtown Syracuse, New York, is a triangular-shaped public park located at the intersection of Warren, Water, and East Genesee streets. The triangle was originally named Veteran&#39;s Park.</p><br>
<p>The name may also refer to the larger Hanover Square Historic District which includes seventeen historic buildings in the area that was the first commercial district in Syracuse. In the warm weather months, entertainment is common on the plaza around the fountain. Workers in the surrounding office buildings and retail establishments often lunch there.</p><br>
<h2>History</h2><br>
<p>The public square was originally named Veterans Park. It was renamed to Hanover Square after the Soldiers and Sailors Monument was dedicated in Clinton Square in 1910 and the function of commemorating Syracuses war dead was shifted there.</p><br>
<p>The triangular shape of the park came as a result of the city&#39;s new grid street system in the early 19th century which was "superimposed on the diagonal route" of early Genesee Turnpike (now known as Genesee Street).</p><br>
<p>The larger, Clinton Square, the city&#39;s town center located to the west, had developed first, however, following the completion of the Erie Canal in 1825, commercial and retail activity spread along Genesee Street to Hanover Square.</p><br>
<h3>Public square</h3><br>
<p>When Syracuse was still a village, the village well was located in Hanover Square.</p><br>
<p>In the 1820s, a group of shops called the Hanover Arcade were located where the State Tower Building now stands.</p><br>
<p>The buildings on Water Street were backed by the Erie Canal, and were known as “double-enders.” This facilitated the unloading of goods from barges on the canal. Civil War recruiting booths were set up in the square, and were made into a huge bonfire at the end of the war.</p><br>
<h3>Commercial center</h3><br>
<p>The first buildings in the square were a church and several wooden structures which were both residential and commercial.</p><br>
<p>In March 1834, the area was devastated by fire which destroyed all the buildings on the north side of the square, next to the canal. That same year, the buildings were replaced with narrow, brick structures in the Federal style of architecture and known as the Phoenix Buildings four of which still stand today on the northern edge of the square.</p><br>
<p>Later in 1834, the owners of the wooden buildings on the south side of the square erected a similar row of brick buildings along East Genesee Street known as the Franklin buildings. The area was soon known as Franklin Square. Three of the buildings are still standing today.</p><br>
<p>Similar to Clinton Square, the public space became an "important center" of social and political life in the city with its "public meetings, demonstrations and partisan speeches." After 1840, the railroad brought additional commerce to the intersection.</p><br>
<p>In 1865, after Abraham Lincoln&#39;s funeral procession traveled through Syracuse on the way to Springfield, Illinois, thousands came to the square to hear eulogies for the former president.</p><br>
<h3>Transportation hub</h3><br>
<p>Hanover Square has played a vital role in Syracuses commercial development. At one time, banks and theaters lined the square which was originally known as Veterans Park. Throughout the years, the square served as a transportation hub for railroads and trolleys and was a busy commercial center.</p><br>
<p>At one time, the square served as a "hack stand" where drivers would hire out their wagons to local merchants. For years, many pedestrians, especially women, complained that they could not safely travel from one side of the square to the other due to the standing carts, mud and moving vehicles.</p><br>
<h3>Historic district</h3><br>
<p>Listed on the National Register of Historic Places since 1976, the square is an intact, mainly nineteenth century historic district.</p><br>
<p>The square is a National Register Historic District and a Local Preservation District whose buildings represent over 100 years of architecture and was the first in the city on the register.</p><br>
<p>Hanover Square has changed little since the Civil War. Several of the buildings date to the period that ran from 1830 through 1860. Newer buildings date to the late 19th century, such as the Onondaga County Savings Bank which was constructed in 1896.</p><br>
<h2>Hanover Square Historic District contributing Properties</h2><br>
<p>The 17 properties can by visited in order, starting at South Salina Street and Water Street, going east on Water Street, turning south on Warren Street, and returning on the diagonal along East Genesee Street to Water Street.</p><br>
<p>The buildings in the square encompass a myriad of architectural styles building over a period of several years including; Federal, Greek Revival, Second Empire, Italianate, Romanesque, Sullivanesque, Victorian Gothic, Queen Anne, Neo-classical and Art Deco are all represented.</p><br>
<h2>Today</h2><br>
<p>The park is now a major setting for ceremonial and cultural gatherings where shade trees and annual plantings "complement the water sculpture."</p><br>
<p>The center of the square showcases a fountain and plaza where lunchtime entertainment is available during the summer months. The plaza is faced on both sides by various storefronts including cafes, pubs and salons.</p><br>
<p>In addition to modern businesses, eateries and stores, loft-style apartments have been created on the upper floors of some of Hanover Square&#39;s historic buildings.</p><br>
<p>Businesses in Hanover Square include:</p><br>
<p>Downtown Manhattan&#39;s</p><br>
<p>Anthony&#39;s Pasta Bar</p><br>
<p>Wild Will&#39;s Saloon</p><br>
<p>The 23-floor overlooking the square hosts offices and is a major telecommunications hub for downtown Syracuse.</p><br>
<p>Beagle Channel  is a strait in Tierra del Fuego Archipelago on the extreme southern tip of South America partly in Chile and partly in Argentina. The channel separates the larger main island of Isla Grande de Tierra del Fuego from various smaller islands including the islands of Picton, Lennox and Nueva; Navarino; Hoste; Londonderry; and Stewart. The channel&#39;s eastern area forms part of the border between Chile and Argentina and the western area is entirely within Chile.</p><br>
<p>The Beagle Channel, the Straits of Magellan to the north, and the open-ocean Drake Passage to the south are the three navigable passages around South America between the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans. However, most commercial shipping uses the open-ocean Drake Passage.</p><br>
<p>The Beagle Channel is about 240 km long and is about 5 km wide at its narrowest point. It extends from Nueva Island in the east to Darwin Sound and Cook Bay of the Pacific Ocean in the west. Some 50 km from its western end it divides into two branches, north and south of Gordon Island. The southwest branch between Hoste Island and Gordon Island enters Cook Bay. The northwest branch between Gordon Island and Isla Grande enters Darwin Sound connecting to the Pacific Ocean by the O&#39;Brien Channel and the Ballenero Channel. The biggest settlement on the channel is Ushuaia in Argentina followed by Puerto Williams in Chile. These are two of the southernmost settlements of the world.</p><br>
<h2>Navigation</h2><br>
<p>Although it is navigable by large ships, there are safer waters to the south (Drake Passage) and to the north (Strait of Magellan). Under the Treaty of Peace and Friendship of 1984 between Chile and Argentina, ships of other nations navigate with a Chilean pilot between the Strait of Magellan and Ushuaia through the Magdalena Channel and the Cockburn Channel to the Pacific Ocean, then by the Ballenero Channel, the O&#39;Brien Channel and the northwest branch of the Beagle Channel.</p><br>
<h2>Islands</h2><br>
<p>The Beagle Channel develops between several islands; to the north lies Argentine-Chilean Isla Grande de Tierra del Fuego, to the south Hoste, Navarino, and Picton and Nueva, which were claimed by Argentina until 1984. The latter two lie at the bi-national eastern entrance to the channel while the western entrance is wholly inside Chile. The western entrance of Beagle Channel is divided by Gordon Island into two channels. Some minor islands exist inside the channel among them Snipe Islet and Gable Island. Except for eastern Isla Grande de Tierra del Fuego and Gable Island all islands mentioned here belong to Chile.</p><br>
<h2>History</h2><br>
<p>The Yaghan peoples settled the islands along the Murray Channel approximately 10,000 years before present. There are notable archaeological sites indicating such early Yaghan settlement at locations such as Bahia Wulaia on Isla Navarino, site of the Bahia Wulaia Dome Middens.</p><br>
<h3>Naming and Darwin visit</h3><br>
<p>The channel was named after the ship HMS Beagle during its first hydrographic survey of the coasts of the southern part of South America which lasted from 1826 to 1830. During that expedition, under the overall command of Commander Phillip Parker King, the Beagle&#39;s captain Pringle Stokes committed suicide and was replaced by captain Robert FitzRoy. The ship continued the survey in the second voyage of the Beagle under the command of captain FitzRoy, who took Charles Darwin along as a self-funding supernumerary, giving him opportunities as an amateur naturalist. Darwin had his first sight of glaciers when they reached the channel on 29 January 1833, and wrote in his field notebook "It is scarcely possible to imagine anything more beautiful than the beryl-like blue of these glaciers, and especially as contrasted with the dead white of the upper expanse of snow."</p><br>
<h3>Beagle Conflict</h3><br>
<p>Several small islands (Picton, Lennox and Nueva) up to the Cape Horn were the subject of the long-running Beagle conflict between Chile and Argentina; by the terms of a Treaty of Peace and Friendship of 1984 between Chile and Argentina they are now part of Chile. From the 1950s to 1970s several incidents involving the Chilean and Argentine Navy occurred in the waters of the Beagle Channel, for example the 1958 Snipe incident, the 1967 Cruz del Sur incident and the shelling of Quidora the same year. See List of incidents during the Beagle conflict.</p><br>
<h2>Fauna</h2><br>
<p>Beagle Channel is a prominent area to watch rare, endemic dolphins, and the less-studied pygmy right whales.</p><br>
<p>Mount Soledad is a prominent landmark in the city of San Diego, California, United States. The mountaintop is the site of the Mount Soledad cross, the subject of a 25-year controversy over the involvement of religion in government , which concluded in 2016.</p><br>
<h2>Geography</h2><br>
<p>The 822 ft tall hill</p><br>
<p>lies between Interstate 5 to the east and the Pacific Ocean to the west. It is mostly within the community of La Jolla where the northern and eastern slopes form a sharp escarpment along the Rose Canyon fault. The community of Pacific Beach is on the gentler southern slope. There are several radio and television transmitters located on the summit including KFMB-TV and KGTV, the CBS and ABC affiliates respectively. Commercial aircraft approaching San Diego from the direction of Los Angeles often use Mount Soledad as their point to start the downwind leg of their approach to San Diego International Airport.</p><br>
<h2>Land events</h2><br>
<p>On October 3, 2007, one home on Soledad Mountain Road and one of the main roads up the mountain was destroyed by a major landslide. Five houses were damaged, and over 20 others were evacuated. The city of San Diego had noticed water and gas main leaks since July, and cracks in the pavement since August, 2007.</p><br>
<h2>Legend of Munchkin land</h2><br>
<p>There is an urban legend that in the 1930s, a group of little people who appeared in Hollywood films such as The Wizard of Oz, came to San Diego, where they built miniature houses on Mount Soledad.</p><br>
<p>The legend gained traction due to the fact several houses were built on steep slopes overlooking the Pacific. As passing observers looked down, the perspective made doors and other features appear smaller than normal. Most of the supposed "Munchkin Houses" have been remodeled and the effect is no longer present.</p><br>
<h2>Last home of Dr. Seuss</h2><br>
<p>Mount Soledad is the location of the last home lived in by Dr. Seuss. His widow, Audrey Geisel, still resides atop Mt. Soledad in a lavish home, which includes an observation tower referred to as the Seuss house by the locals.</p><br>
<h2>In literature</h2><br>
<p>Mount Soledad figures in a major location for San Diego-born writer Adam Gnade&#39;s 2011 novella, Hey Hey Lonesome.</p><br>
<h2>Cycling</h2><br>
<p>Because of the variety of long steady climbs, light traffic on most routes, and great views, Mount Soledad is a popular cycling destination and area. There are numerous routes ranging from the relatively gradual, 3.5 mi climb up Soledad Mountain Road on the southern slopes to the very steep and short, 1.25 mi, Hidden Valley Road to Via Capri route on the north side.</p><br>
<p>The routes up to the top of Mount Soledad going clockwise starting in Pacific Beach, are (note: the footnotes are links to Google maps showing the routes):</p><br>
<p>Soledad Mountain Road - From Garnet Ave up Soledad Mountain Road to La Jolla Scenic Drive South.</p><br>
<p>Variation (Pacifica) - From Pico Street at Garnet Ave: Pico Street, Pacifica Drive (steep), Amity Street, Middleton Road, Middleton Way, Soledad Rancho Road, Soledad Mountain Road, La Jolla Scenic Drive South.</p><br>
<p>Variation (Beryl Way and Pendleton St.) - Soon after starting up Soledad Mountain Rd, take Beryl Way, left on Beryl St., right on Quincy, right on Wilbur, left on Loring, right on Pendleton, left on Amity to join the Pacifica variation route.</p><br>
<p>Soledad Road - Lamont Street, which becomes Soledad Road, to Soledad Mountain Road and La Jolla Scenic Drive South.</p><br>
<p>Variation (Alta La Jolla Drive) - While going up Soledad Road, turn left at Alta La Jolla Drive, then right on Cardeno Drive and up to the top via La Jolla Scenic Drive.</p><br>
<p>Cardeno Drive - Fanuel Street, which becomes Cardeno Drive, to La Jolla Scenic Drive South.</p><br>
<p>Variation (Castle Hills Drive) - From Foothill Blvd. at Vickie Drive head up Vickie Drive, then left on Castle Hills Drive, and Calle Vaquero to Cardeno Drive.</p><br>
<p>Candlelight-Rutgers - From Turquoise St at Cass St, take Cass St up, left on Van Nuys, right on Candlelight Dr, Vista Claridad, Rutgers Rd, to La Jolla Scenic Drive South.</p><br>
<p>La Jolla Mesa - Mission Boulevard, which becomes La Jolla Mesa Drive, to La Jolla Scenic Drive South.</p><br>
<p>La Jolla Rancho - Forward Street, Linda Rosa Ave, La Jolla Corona Drive, La Jolla Rancho Road, La Jolla Scenic Drive.</p><br>
<p>Muirlands Vista - Nautilus Street, Muirlands Vista Way, Muirlands Drive, La Cumbre Drive, El Camino Teatro, La Jolla Scenic Drive South.</p><br>
<p>Muirlands - West Muirlands Drive, briefly left on Nautilus, then Muirlands Drive, El Camino Teatro and La Jolla Scenic Drive South.</p><br>
<p>Nautilus - Nautilus Street at Neptune Place to La Jolla Scenic Drive South.</p><br>
<p>Valverde - Nautilus Street, Via Valverde, Caminito Valverde, Caminito Bassano West, Upper Hillside Drive, Via Casa Alta (steep grade), La Jolla Scenic Drive South.</p><br>
<p>Upper Hillside - Exchange Place, Country Club Drive, Romero Drive, Brodiaea Way, Encilia Drive, Upper Hillside Drive (requires walk through side pedestrian gates to get around a short section of private road with locked gates across the road at each end), Via Casa Alta, La Jolla Scenic Drive South.</p><br>
<p>Hillside - Hillside Drive at Torrey Pines Road to Via Siena and up Via Capri (very steep).</p><br>
<p>Variation (paved path): Where Hillside becomes Via Siena, turn right to continue along the remaining short dead-end section of Hillside, where it becomes a paved path. At the end of the path it is easy to connect to Via Capri near the top.</p><br>
<p>Variation (Soledad Ave) - Exchange Place, Soledad Ave, to Hillside Drive....</p><br>
<p>Variation (historic bridge detour) - Exchange Place, Soledad Ave, Al Bahr Drive, Crespo Street, Castellana Road to Hillside Drive...</p><br>
<p>Via Capri - Hidden Valley Road to Via Capri - very steep in sections.</p><br>
<h2>Mount Soledad cross</h2><br>
<p>Mount Soledad is topped by a large concrete Christian cross, first built in 1913, and since rebuilt twice. The third and current version was dedicated in 1954 as the Mount Soledad Easter Cross; the word "Easter" was dropped in the 1980s. After the cross was challenged in court during the late 1980s, it was designated a Korean War memorial. It became the center of a controversy, known around the world, over the display of religious symbols on government property.</p><br>
<p>In December 2008, a local San Diego painting contractor donated time and material to restore the cross.</p><br>
<p>It was ruled unconstitutional by the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit in January 2011.</p><br>
<p>On June 25, 2012, the United States Supreme Court denied certiorari, allowing the order of the Ninth Circuit to stand.</p><br>
<p>In July 2015, a group called the Mt. Soledad Memorial Association reported that it had bought the half-acre of land under the cross from the Department of Defense for $1.4 million. On September 7, 2016 the USA Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit issued a one-page ruling, ordering dismissal of the case and an end to all current appeals, stating that the case was now moot because the cross was no longer on government land. Both sides agreed that this decision puts a final end to the case.</p><br>
<p>The Brindabella Range, commonly called The Brindabellas, is a mountain range located in Australia, on a state and territory border that separates New South Wales and the Australian Capital Territory . The range rises to the west of Canberra, the capital city of Australia, and includes the Namadgi National Park in the ACT and the Bimberi Nature Reserve and Brindabella National Park in New South Wales. The Brindabellas are visible to the west of Canberra and form an important part of the city&#39;s landscape.</p><br>
<h2>Location and features</h2><br>
<p>The Brindabella Range is located in the northern tip of the Australian Alps bioregion, marking the dividing line with the southern tip of the South Eastern Highlands bioregion and the eastern limits of the Riverina. The northern point of the range is Mount Coree, situated 34 km west-northwest of Canberra. From this point the range heads generally south, towards the eastern watershed of the Murrumbidgee River, in a line that marks the western edge of the ACT border with NSW. The most southern point of the range is approximately 5 km west of Piccadilly Circus in the Australian Capital Territory. The range is located adjacent to the Bag Range, Baldy Range, Codys Ridge, Dingi Dingi Ridge and Webbs Ridge. Scabby Range lies to the south.</p><br>
<p>The geology of the range comprises block-faulted granites and Palaeozoic metamorphic rocks. There are small areas of Tertiary basalt with buried river gravels and lake sediments. The typical characteristics of the range include low-relief high plains with steep margins and slopes and fault aligned river valleys with deep gorges and waterfalls. Soils in the range change with altitude. At lower levels in forests, texture contrast soils are the norm. In the sub-alpine snow gum areas deep gradational soils with moderate amounts of organic matter are common.</p><br>
<p>Vegetation changes with altitude, aspect, cold air drainage and soil saturation. Low elevations with dry aspects carry red stringybark, white gum, broad-leaved peppermint, candlebark and brittle gum. Moist sites have alpine ash, mountain gum, narrow-leaved peppermint, manna gum and brown barrel, with tree ferns, blackwood and sassafras in gullies. Between 1,000 - alpine ash and mountain gum dominate and abruptly change to sub-alpine snow gum woodlands, heath, grasslands and bogs between 1,500 -. Common species include snow grasses, leafy bossiaea, yellow kunzea, alpine pepper and sphagnum bogs, with candle heath and swamp heath. Alpine herbfield and rare feldmark communities are found above the tree line at 1,800 m. Common species include prickly snow grass, alpine wallaby grass, silver snow daisy, ribbony grass, white purslane, eyebrights, gentians and buttercups. Most alpine species have a limited range.</p><br>
<h3>Peaks</h3><br>
<p>The highest mountain within the range is Bimberi Peak at 1,913 m. Mount Aggie at 1,421 m, Mount Coree at 1,421 m, Mount Bramina at 1,392 m, Bulls Head at 1,375 m, Black Bottle Mountain at 1,356 m, Mount Lickhole at 1,188 m, and Brindabella Mountain at 972 m.</p><br>
<h3>Nature reserves and national parks</h3><br>
<p>The range straddles both the Brindabella National Park, within New South Wales, and the Namadgi National Park, within the ACT and covers an area of 213.6 km&sup2;. The Brindabella Valley, in the middle of the range, is 40 km south-west of Canberra and 350 km from Sydney. The valley is on the edge of the Snowy Mountains and the Goodradigbee River flows through the valley.</p><br>
<h2>History</h2><br>
<p>The traditional custodians of the area now known as the Brindabella Range are the Ngunnawal, Walgalu and Djimantan indigenous peoples. The Brindabella Valley, located in New South Wales to the west of the range, was first settled by Europeans as a stock outstation for the Yarralumla station in the 1830s, with the first land grant made in 1849.</p><br>
<p>Australian author Miles Franklin grew up in the Brindabella Valley and wrote an autobiographical work, Childhood at Brindabella, which told of her early life in the valley.</p><br>
<h3>Etymology</h3><br>
<p>The name brindabella is said to mean “two kangaroo rats” in the language of the local Aborigines. However, another account states that "Brindy brindy" was a local term meaning water running over rocks and bella was presumably added by the Europeans as in "bella vista".</p><br>
<h2>Snow country</h2><br>
<p>The most northerly ski fields in Australia are located in the Brindabella Range and include the Namadgi National Park in the ACT and Bimberi Nature Reserve and Brindabella National Park in New South Wales. The highest mountain in the ACT is Bimberi Peak, which lies above the treeline at 1,912 m, at the northern edge of the Snowy Mountains.</p><br>
<p>A ski chalet was constructed at Mount Franklin in 1938 to service the Canberra Alpine Club. Ski runs were cleared and ski tows were improvised. The chalet later operated as a museum before being destroyed in the 2003 Canberra bushfires. A new shelter designed and built by University of Adelaide students opened in 2008. Today, cross country skiing is possible in the area, when conditions allow. Cross Country skiing is also practised at Mount Gingera, which rises above the city of Canberra to an elevation of 1,857 m, and is the most prominent snow-covered peak above the city.</p><br>
<p>Snow play is available at Corin Forest, near Canberra, at an elevation of 1,200 m. A development plan was drafted following the 2003 bushfires which would see three 600 m chairlifts installed together with snowmaking facilities and accommodation at this site.</p><br>
<p>BrindabellaValleyAndGoodradigbeeRiver.jpgGoodradigbee River in the Brindabella valley.</p><br>
<p>Road Closed Mount Franklin.jpgThe road to Mount Franklin, ACT, was built by the Canberra Alpine Club in the 1930s.</p><br>
<p>Pelorus Sound / Te Hoiere is the largest of the sounds which make up the Marlborough Sounds at the north of the South Island, New Zealand. The Marlborough Sounds is a system of drowned river valleys, which were formed after the last ice age around 10,000 years ago. Pelorus Sound has a main channel which winds south from Cook Strait for about 55 km, between steeply sloped wooded hills, until it reached its head close to Havelock town. Pelorus has several major arms, notably Tennyson Inlet, Tawhitinui Reach, Kenepuru Sound and the Crail/Clova/Beatrix Bay complex. Its shoreline runs for 380 km.</p><br>
<p>Industry in Pelorus Sounds is based around marine farming, pine forestry and some tourism. Private holiday homes are becoming more common. Most of the settled places are hard to reach overland, and are serviced by the Pelorus Express, a mail boat which does three different weekly runs from Havelock.</p><br>
<p>Maud Island, originally called Te Hoiere in the Māori language, is a 310 hectare island in the Pelorus Sounds. It is an important nature reserve to which only scientists and conservationists have access.</p><br>
<h2>History</h2><br>
<p>The local iwi (tribe) of the indigenous people of New Zealand is the Ngāti Kuia. According to Ngāti Kuia oral tradition, their founding father, a descendant of Kupe, came to the South Island in his waka Te Hoiere.</p><br>
<p>In 1642, Abel Tasman sailed past D&#39;Urville Island. French and Russian explorers followed and in the 1770s Captain James Cook arrived.</p><br>
<p>In 1838, Philip Chetwode in command of the Cruizer class brig-sloop, HMS Pelorus, carried out the first survey of Pelorus Sound. The sound was named in honour of this survey. A pelorus was a navigational instrument used on sailing ships. The instrument, in turn, was named after the pilot for Hannibal, circa 203 BC.</p><br>
<p>In 1864, gold was discovered in the Wakamarina Valley and, for a brief time, Havelock became a boom town as several thousand prospectors flooded the area.</p><br>
<p>In 1865, the first timber mill started at Mahikipawa, an upper arm of Pelorus Sound. More mills were established, and native timber was shipped around New Zealand and to Australia. By the start of the 20th century the timber camps had largely given way to dairy and sheep farms. In 1939 the last mill was closed. About 325 million feet of timber had been sawn over a period of sixty years, and only two small areas of native timber remained.</p><br>
<p>In 1888, a Risso’s dolphin appeared in the sounds. This dolphin became famous as Pelorus Jack and became the first dolphin in the world to receive the protection of the law. Pelorus Jack would accompany boats to and from the notorious French Pass. He would join boats bound for Nelson at the entrance to Pelorus Sound and for eight kilometres would ride their bow waves to Pelorus Sound. He did not go through the pass with them, but would met returning boats as they exited the pass. Pelorus Jack was last seen in April 1912. The lightkeeper at French Pass claimed he found the body of Pelorus Jack decomposing on the shore.</p><br>
<p>During World War II, coastal fortifications were constructed on Maud Island to protect Cook Strait, and the entrance to the sound. These fortifications included a 6in Mk 7 gun emplacement, and range finding equipment that is still there today.</p><br>
<p>In 1906, New Zealand purchased its first naval ship, a sail training ship called NZS Amokura. It became a coal hulk in 1922, and in 1953 was towed into St Omer Bay in Kenepuru Sound, an arm of Pelorus Sound. It was used there as a store hulk and jetty. Reported broken up in 1955, her remains lie on the beach in the southern end of the bay.</p><br>
<p>In August 2014, the name of the sound was officially altered to Pelorus Sound / Te Hoiere.</p><br>
<h2>Industry</h2><br>
<h3>Marine farming</h3><br>
<p>Over 80 percent of New Zealand’s aquaculture exports - worth more than $NZ 200 million per annum - come from the Marlborough Sounds. Most of the marine farms are in Pelorus Sound. Most of the exports involve green-lipped mussels.</p><br>
<p>A New Zealand sea sponge, Mycale hentscheli, which grows in Pelorus Sound, may hold the key to an anti-cancer drug. Scientists are working to see how peloruside, a substance produced by the sponges, might be used as a cancer-fighting drug. Marine farmers are helping Victoria University of Wellington and NIWA develop a method for growing the sponge on an existing mussel farm.</p><br>
<p>Trial mussel farms began in the Marlborough Sounds in the late 1960s. In the Pelorus Sound waters, mussel farms started in Kenepuru Sound and in Crail Bay. Subsequently, Pelorus has become the major mussel-producing area in New Zealand. Initially, the mussels were cultured on ropes suspended from rafts. It was a labour-intensive method which has since been replaced with a modified Japanese longline system, where mussel spat is packed into stockings and suspended from parallel rows of looped ropes, supported by buoys.</p><br>
<p>In 1981 the first specially designed mussel-processing factory started operations at Havelock, at the head of the sounds. Havelock has become the main centre for landing harvested mussels, with other smaller processing plants at French Pass, Elaine Bay, Okiwi Bay and Rai Valley. People are needed to manage and work the farms, and to harvest and transport the mussels to the processing plants. As a result, the mussel-farming industry has become closely linked to several local communities.</p><br>
<p>Heavy rain can result in high sediment-levels in rivers and land runoff, and can contain bacterial contamination from livestock. This can result in mussel-farming areas being closed to harvesting. Applications to increase mussel farms in Admiralty Bay have been successfully opposed on the grounds that the area is a special feeding site for the dusky dolphin. A claim has been made, and a study carried out in New Zealand, that marine farms may affect the feeding ability of Dusky dolphins which round up shoals of schooling fish such as pilchard.</p><br>
<p>The Nelson Mail, 31 August 2005.</p><br>
<h3>Pine forestry</h3><br>
<p>Since the 1970s, large areas of exotic (pine) forest have been planted around the sounds. Bulk timber is exported from a deep-water berth in Shakespeare Bay to the west of Picton.</p><br>
<h2>Māori</h2><br>
<p>The indigenous people of New Zealand are the Māori. The local iwi, Ngāti Kuia, Ngāti Koata and Ngāti Toa have engaged in marine farming with the aim of supplying better employment for their people. They are concerned about protecting their sacred sites, and about the environmental effects of industrial scale marine farming. They have objected to some development projects, such as a mussel farm in an area where their people are starting to return to the land, and a proposed harbour development at Havelock, where the local dump was located near sites and a waterway sacred to Ngati Kuia. Maori groups are becoming better resourced through settlements and income from fisheries quotas. They are more active at looking after their interests. Community tensions have increased, with some interests feeling Māori hold up development.</p><br>
<h2>Tides and currents</h2><br>
<p>There have been several hydrographic studies in Pelorus Sound. These show the importance of the large, variable freshwater input into Pelorus Sound. The Sound has 380 kilometres (240 mi) of shoreline and an area of 290 km&sup2;. Average freshwater input is 99 m3/s, of which the Pelorus and Kaituna Rivers at the head of the sound deliver 43 and respectively. Rain falling directly on the surface of the sound provides another 14 m3/s, and the remainder drains from adjacent land via small streams.</p><br>
<p>This freshwater input corresponds to a depth of 10.8 m of water distributed over the area of the sound per year. The freshwater input is highly variable. In a typical year there are several events where the daily rainfall exceeds 50 mm and the river flow exceeds 400 m3/s. The freshwater inflow generates an estuarine circulation in the main channel, with low-salinity water moving outwards at the surface, and higher-salinity water flowing inwards below. The currents in the main channel associated with this circulation are typically 0.05 to 0.15 m/s, but immediately after a flood event they can be much larger. Fresh water layers have been observed to spread through the Sound at 0.9 m/s. After each flood event, the freshwater is slowly flushed out of the sound, with a flushing time estimated to be 21 days.</p><br>
<p>The tidal regime at the entrance to Pelorus Sound is typical of New Zealand coastal locations, i.e. there is a semi-diurnal tide modulated on a spring-neap cycle, generated by the superposition of M2 (lunar, semi-diurnal) and S2 (solar, semi-diurnal) tidal constituents. Other tidal constituents, notably N2 (semi-diurnal, generated by the ellipticity of the moon’s orbit), introduce further modulation, meaning that the spring-neap cycle is not exactly repeated. The tidal range varies between 1.0 and at neap and 2.1 and at spring. (These values are calculated from a sea level time series, July 1997 – February 1998, at Pelorus Sound entrance.) The propagation of this tidal signal into Pelorus Sound has not been well described, but models and measurements both suggest that the tidal range within the sound is somewhat larger (by 10–20%) than at the entrance. Because the sound is long, and in places narrow, the tidal currents are fairly strong.</p><br>
<p>A further factor affecting the hydrodynamics of Pelorus Sound is wind. Winds in the area are generally strong and are channelled by the steep topography. Wind stress acting on the surface generates currents, which have not been well described. The wind stress also generates turbulence, which causes the surface fresh water to be mixed down and results in a brackish layer typically 5 to 15 m thick. The interface, called a pycnocline, between the brackish near-surface water and the denser water below supports internal wave motion.</p><br>
<p>Waves on the pycnocline, called internal waves, are ubiquitous in Pelorus Sound. They propagate at 1 m/s and involve vertical displacements of the pycnocline through 5 m. They are often generated by the tide, in which case they are called internal tides. They play an important part in driving flow and horizontal exchange in bays off the main channel. For example, current meter records at the entrance to Beatrix Bay show a significant semi-diurnal component with velocities up to 0.2 m/s. This is not simple, uniform tidal flow in and out of the bay because its amplitude does not follow a spring-neap cycle and there is a phase difference of several hours between the surface and the bottom.</p><br>
<h2>Timeline</h2><br>
<p>Mists of time: The founding father of the Ngāti Kuia arrives in the South Island in his canoe Te Hoiere</p><br>
<p>1642: Abel Tasman sails past D&#39;Urville Island.</p><br>
<p>Late 17th century: French and Russian explorers arrive.</p><br>
<p>1770s: Captain James Cook arrives.</p><br>
<p>1827: Jules Dumont d&#39;Urville has a disconcerting ride through French Pass in the French Navy corvette Astrolabe.Baldwin O (1979) The story of New Zealand’s French Pass and d’Urville Island. Fields Publishing House, Plimmerton, p. 164.</p><br>
<p>1838: HMS Pelorus, carries out the first survey. The sound is named in honour of this survey.</p><br>
<p>1864: Gold is discovered in the Wakamarina Valley, and briefly Havelock becomes a boom town.</p><br>
<p>1865: Milling of native timber begins</p><br>
<p>1870: A flax mill starts operating on the Ruapeka Stream</p><br>
<p>1888: First appearance of the dolphin Pelorus Jack.</p><br>
<p>c. 1900: The timber camps are giving way to dairy and sheep farms.</p><br>
<p>1912: Pelorus Jack dies.</p><br>
<p>1939: The last native timber mill closes. Only two small areas of native timber remain</p><br>
<p>1942: Coastal fortifications are constructed on Maud Island to protect Cook Strait, and the entrance to the sound.</p><br>
<p>1953: NZS Amokura, New Zealand&#39;s first naval ship, is towed into St Omer Bay in Kenepuru Sound, an arm of Pelorus Sound, and retired on the beach, where her remains lie to this day.</p><br>
<p>1960s: There is a general decline in wet fish and scallop harvests, as some wild fisheries collapse due to overfishing.</p><br>
<p>Late 1960s: Mussel farming begins.</p><br>
<p>1981: The first specially designed mussel processing factory is established at Havelock.</p><br>
<p>Manchester Central Library is the headquarters of the citys library and information service in Manchester, England. Facing St Peters Square, it was designed by E. Vincent Harris and constructed between 1930 and 1934. At its opening, one critic wrote, "This is the sort of thing which persuades one to believe in the perennial applicability of the Classical canon". The form of the building, a columned portico attached to a rotunda domed structure, is loosely derived from the Pantheon, Rome.</p><br>
<p>The library building is grade II* listed. A four-year project to renovate and refurbish the library commenced in 2010. Central Library re-opened on 22 March 2014.</p><br>
<h2>History</h2><br>
<h3>Background</h3><br>
<p>Manchester was the first local authority to provide a public lending and reference library after the passing of the Public Libraries Act 1850. The Manchester Free Library opened at Campfield in September 1852 at a ceremony attended by Charles Dickens.</p><br>
<p>When the Campfield premises were declared to be unsafe in 1877, the library was moved to the old Town Hall in King Street. The library moved again to what is now Piccadilly Gardens, to the former outpatients wing of Manchester Royal Infirmary and an old YMCA hut in 1912.</p><br>
<p>In 1926 the city council held a competition to design an extension to the town hall and a central library. E. Vincent Harris was selected to design both buildings. His circular design for the library, reminiscent of the Pantheon in Rome, was based on libraries in America. The library&#39;s foundation stone was laid on 6 May 1930 by the Prime Minister Ramsay MacDonald. The library was officially opened by King George V on 17 July 1934 after he had laid the foundation stone for the Town Hall Extension.</p><br>
<p>In 1934 the Blind Collection from Deansgate and the Commercial Library from the Royal Exchange were moved to the library. The Chinese Library Service was set up in 1968.</p><br>
<h3>Opening</h3><br>
<p>Central Library opened in 1934 to much fanfare. Singer-songwriter Ewan MacColl reminisced on the opening: "The new Central Library which replaced the chicken house was an imposing circular structure with an enormous reading room, a small theatre and carrels where serious students could carry on their research without interruption. The portico of the magnificent edifice quickly became a popular rendezvous and "Meet you at the Ref" became a familiar phrase on the lips of students, lovers and unemployed youths. I was there on the opening day and on many days thereafter; the Ref played an important part in my life for I made many friends there."</p><br>
<p>The library was declared open by King George V on 17 July 1934. George V declared to the crowd: "In the splendid building which I am about to open, the largest library in this country provided by a local authority, the Corporation have ensured for the inhabitants of the city magnificent opportunities for further education and for the pleasant use of leisure."</p><br>
<p>An employee at the library who was present on opening day said: "When it was being built the public were very intrigued about its final appearance – they were used to rectangular buildings and the shape of the girders used seemed to make little sense. I remember families coming in first to "gawp"... Under the portico became a favourite trysting place. In all, the shape of the building was its best advertisement and it was never necessary to put a notice Public Library on the outside."</p><br>
<h3>Renovation</h3><br>
<p>Reports emerged in 2008 that the Central Library needed essential renovation to repair and modernise its facilities. The library faced asbestos problems and needed work to maintain its structural integrity. The Central Library closed from 2010 to 2014 for refurbishment and expansion. During the closure its collections were stored in the Winsford Rock Salt Mine; some of the books in the stack joined collections at Greater Manchester County Record Office. Some of its services were available at a temporary location nearby. During renovation, a temporary community library for the city centre was established on Deansgate. Central Library re-opened on 22 March 2014 after a £40 million re-design. The project delivered by Laing O&#39;Rourke won the Construction News Judges Supreme Award in June 2015. It was described as an almost impossibly complex project completed on schedule and within budget.</p><br>
<p>The indoor plan is now very different. What was the theatre in the basement is now part of the library. A wall was knocked through, making an indoor connection between the library and Manchester Town Hall. The Library Theatre Company will move to their new theatre at HOME (Manchester) in May 2015.</p><br>
<h2>Architecture</h2><br>
<p>Designed by architect Vincent Harris, the striking rotunda form of the library was inspired by the Pantheon in Rome. Like its 2nd-century model, the library is a round building fronted by a large two-storey portico which forms the main entrance on St Peter&#39;s Square, and is surrounded by five bays of Corinthian columns. Around the second and third floors is a Tuscan colonnade, topped by a band of unrelieved Portland stone.</p><br>
<p>The pitched leaded roof appears from street level to be a dome, but this is only a surrounding roof. The dome that can be seen from within the Great Hall lies within this roof, and cannot be seen from the ground.</p><br>
<p>On the first floor is the Great Hall, a large reading room topped by a dome. Much of the original furniture designed by the architect can be seen on this floor. Around the rim of the dome is an inscription from the Book of Proverbs in the Old Testament:</p><br>
<p>In former years the dome&#39;s acoustics caused an echo problem, which repeated several times any short noise made in the room. Adding sound-absorbing material reduced this effect.</p><br>
<p>The Shakespeare Hall is an ornate chamber displaying local heraldry and with large stained glass windows. The central window was designed by Robert Anning Bell and depicts William Shakespeare and scenes from his plays. Two side windows designed by George Kruger Gray depict the coats of arms of the City of Manchester, the University of Manchester, and the County and Duchy of Lancaster. The windows were a memorial bequest to the library by Rosa E. Grindon (1848–1923), the widow of Manchester botanist Leo Grindon.</p><br>
<p>The ceiling decorations include the arms and crests of the Duchy of Lancaster, the See of York, the See of Manchester, the City of Manchester, and Lancashire County Council. The walls of Shakespeare Hall are covered with Hopton Wood stone quarried in Derbyshire. On the walls are the arms of The Manchester Grammar School, Manchester University, the Manchester Regiment, Humphrey Chetham, the Overseers of the Township, England, St. George, St. Mary (patron saint of Manchester), and over the memorial window, Shakespeare.</p><br>
<p>On the left landing is a white marble statue, the Reading Girl by the Italian sculptor Giovanni Ciniselli. It was bought by the industrialist and promoter of the Manchester Ship Canal, Daniel Adamson. The statue was presented to the library by his grandchildren, the Parkyn family, in 1938.</p><br>
<h2>Collections</h2><br>
<p>It is the second largest public lending library in Britain, after the Library of Birmingham.</p><br>
<p>Beneath the Great Hall were four floors of steel book stacks providing 35 miles of shelving which accommodated one million books:. Those floors were only accessible to employees and were environmentally controlled to protect books, many of which are old and fragile. The upper two stack floors occupied all the area under the dome. The fourth level, the Archive unit, was in the basement of the building. The lower two stack floors were smaller because the basement theatre took some of that area. In 2011 when the library closed for the alterations, there were 3600 stack columns supporting approximately 45,000 shelves; those columns were rooted in the sandstone rock underneath and supported the Great Hall&#39;s reinforced concrete floor. Placed end to end, those shelves would have covered over 35 mi. The total floor area was about 7,000 sqyd. After the 2010–2014 alterations, many of the former stack books (except rare or valuable or fragile books) are on public shelves.</p><br>
<p>The library collections include over 30 incunabula (books published before 1500) and many first and early editions of major works. The special collections include:</p><br>
<p>– works by Elizabeth Gaskell, one of the most important writers to have lived and worked in the city</p><br>
<p>The Theatre Collection – a record of the history of theatre in Manchester</p><br>
<p>The Newman Flower Collection of Handel Manuscripts – works by George Frederic Handel, as well as items of Italian music from the early 18th century, including the Manchester Violin Sonatas by Antonio Vivaldi (previously undiscovered violin sonatas autographed by the composer) and the Four Seasons concerto partbooks.</p><br>
<h2>Library Theatre</h2><br>
<p>The Library Theatre occupied much of the basement of Manchester Central Library and was the home of the Library Theatre Company, a Manchester City Council service. It was built in 1934 as a lecture theatre, and since 1952 had been used by the Library Theatre Company. After the 2011–2014 alterations its area is now part of the library. A new theatre opened on First Street in partnership with Cornerhouse, Manchester in 2015.</p><br>
<h2>Famous users</h2><br>
<p>The conductor Sir John Barbirolli, was a regular user of the Music Library.</p><br>
<p>Ewan MacColl, folk singer and playwright, educated himself in the library.</p><br>
<p>Anthony Burgess, the novelist who wrote the cult classic A Clockwork Orange, was a regular visitor to the library during his school days. In a volume of his autobiography, Little Wilson and Big God (1987) he recounted his visit to the index system, then in temporary accommodation in Piccadilly, Manchester, where he met an older woman who took him to her flat in Ardwick where she seduced him (p. 121, 1988 Penguin ed.)</p><br>
<p>Morrissey studied in the library for his A Level exams. Having once tried to use the Language & Literature Library for an unofficial photo session, he was asked to leave by the librarian who did not know who he was.</p><br>
<h2>Statistics</h2><br>
<p>In 1968 it was recorded that the adult lending stock was 895,000, the adult reference stock 638,200, the junior stock 114,600, a total of nearly one and two thirds of a million volumes. There were about 2,000 reading places and an estimated 10,000 people visited the library each day. There were subscriptions to 3,000 periodicals.</p><br>
<p>Castle Clinton or Fort Clinton, previously known as Castle Garden, is a circular sandstone fort now located in Battery Park, in Manhattan, New York City. It is perhaps best remembered as America&#39;s first immigration station , where more than 8 million people arrived in the United States from 1855 to 1890. Over its active life, it has also functioned as a beer garden, exhibition hall, theater, and public aquarium, and currently is a national monument.</p><br>
<h2>Historic use</h2><br>
<p>Castle Clinton stands approximately two blocks west of where Fort Amsterdam was built in 1626, when New York City was known by the Dutch name New Amsterdam. Construction began in 1808 and was completed in 1811. The fort, known as West Battery (sometimes Southwest Battery), was designed by architects John McComb, Jr. and Jonathan Williams. It was built on a small artificial island just off shore.</p><br>
<p>West Battery was intended to complement the three-tiered Castle Williams on Governors Island, which was East Battery, to defend New York City from British forces in the tensions that marked the run-up to the War of 1812, but it never saw action in that or any war. Subsequent landfill expanded Battery Park, and the fort was incorporated into the mainland of Manhattan Island.</p><br>
<p>Castle Clinton National Monument was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on October 15, 1966.</p><br>
<h2>19th century</h2><br>
<p>West Battery was renamed Castle Clinton in 1815, its current official name, in honor of New York City Mayor DeWitt Clinton (who eventually became Governor of New York).</p><br>
<p>The United States Army stopped using the fort in 1821, and it was leased to New York City as a place of public entertainment. It opened as Castle Garden on July 3, 1824, a name by which it was popularly known for most of its existence, even to the present time. It served in turn as a promenade, beer garden/restaurant, exhibition hall, opera house, and theater. Designed as an open-air structure, it was eventually roofed over to accommodate these uses.</p><br>
<p>In 1850, the castle was the site of two concerts given for charity by Swedish soprano Jenny Lind to initiate her American tour. A year later, European dancing star Lola Montez performed her notorious "tarantula dance" in Castle Garden. In 1853–54, Louis-Antoine Jullien, the eccentric French conductor and composer of light music, gave dozens of very successful concerts mixing classical and light music. The Max Maretzek Italian Opera Company notably staged the New York premieres of Gaetano Donizettis Marino Faliero on June 17, 1851, and Giuseppe Verdis Luisa Miller on July 20, 1854, at Castle Garden.</p><br>
<h2>Immigration holding center</h2><br>
<p>In the first half of the 19th century, most immigrants arriving in New York City landed at docks on the east side of the tip of Manhattan, around South Street. On August 1, 1855, Castle Clinton became the Emigrant Landing Depot, functioning as the New York State immigrant processing center (the nations first such entity). It was operated by the state until April 18, 1890, when the U. S. government assumed control of immigration processing, soon moving the center to the larger, more isolated Ellis Island facility on January 2, 1892. The new facility was needed because immigrants were known to carry diseases, which led to epidemics of cholera and smallpox. After many unnecessary deaths, and scandals over immigration workers cheating and stealing from immigrants, the immigration center was moved to Ellis Island. Most of Castle Clintons immigrant passenger records were destroyed in a fire that consumed the first structures on Ellis Island on 15 June 1897, but it is generally accepted that over 8 million immigrants (and perhaps as many as 12 million) were processed during its operation. Called Kesselgarten by Yiddish-speaking Eastern European Jews, a Kesselgarten became a generic term for any situation that was noisy, confusing or chaotic, or where a "babel" of languages was spoken (a reference to the multitude of languages heard spoken by the immigrants from many countries at the site). Prominent persons associated with the administration of the immigrant station included Gulian Crommelin Verplanck, Friedrich Kapp, and John Alexander Kennedy.</p><br>
<h2>20th century to present</h2><br>
<p>From 1896 to 1941, Castle Garden was the site of the New York City Aquarium. For many years, it was the city&#39;s most popular attraction, drawing hundreds of thousands of visitors each year. The structure was extensively altered and roofed over to a height of several stories, though the original masonry fort remained. In 1941, the politically powerful Park Commissioner Robert Moses wanted to tear the structure down completely, claiming that this was necessary to build a crossing from the Battery to Brooklyn. The public outcry at the loss of a popular recreation site and landmark stymied his effort at demolition, but the aquarium was closed and not replaced until Moses opened a new facility on Coney Island in 1957. With efforts from Albert S. Bard, Walter D. Binger, and other civic reformers, the Castle was saved and finally became a national monument.</p><br>
<p>Although Castle Garden was designated a national monument on August 12, 1946; the law did not take effect until July 18, 1950, when the legislature and the governor of New York (Thomas Dewey) formally ceded ownership of the property to the federal government. A major rehabilitation took place in the 1970s. It is currently administered by the National Park Service and is a departure point for visitors to the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island. It appears today much as it did in its earliest days; it has a museum and is again called Castle Clinton.</p><br>
<p>Gough Island, also known historically as Gonçalo Álvares  or mistakenly as Diego Alvarez, is a volcanic island in the South Atlantic Ocean. It is a dependency of Tristan da Cunha and part of the British overseas territory of Saint Helena, Ascension and Tristan da Cunha. It is uninhabited except for the personnel of a weather station  which the South African National Antarctic Programme has maintained continually on the island since 1956. It is one of the most remote places with a constant human presence.</p><br>
<p>It is a remote, rugged, and lonely place, about 400 km south-east of the Tristan da Cunha archipelago (which includes Nightingale Island and Inaccessible Island), 2,400 km north-east from South Georgia Island, 2,700 km west from Cape Town, and over 3,200 km from the nearest point of South America.</p><br>
<p>Gough Island and Inaccessible Island comprise the UNESCO World Heritage Site of Gough and Inaccessible Islands.</p><br>
<h2>Name</h2><br>
<p>The island was first named Ilha de Gonçalo Álvares on Portuguese maps. It was named Gough Island after the English mariner Captain Charles Gough of the Richmond, who sighted the island in 1732. Confusion of the unusual Portuguese saint name Gonçalo with Spanish Diego led to the misnomer "Diego Alvarez island" in English sources from the 1800s to 1930s. However, the most likely explanation is that it was simply a misreading of Is de Go Alvarez, the name by which the island is represented on some of the early charts, the de Go mutating into Diego.</p><br>
<h2>History</h2><br>
<p>The details of the discovery of Gough Island are unclear, but the most likely occasion is July 1505 by the Portuguese explorer Gonçalo Álvares. Maps during the next three centuries named the island after him. On some later maps, this was erroneously given as Diego Alvarez.</p><br>
<p>According to some historians, the English merchant Anthony de la Roché was the first to land on the island, in the austral autumn of 1675.</p><br>
<p>Charles Gough rediscovered the island on 3 March 1732, thinking it was Gonçalo Álvares.</p><br>
<p>It had been named Gonçalo Álvares since 1505 after the captain of Vasco da Gamas flagship on his epic voyage to the east, and under this name it was marked with reasonable accuracy on the charts of the South Atlantic during the following 230 or so years. Then, in 1732, Captain Gough of the British ship Richmond reported the discovery of a new island, which he placed 400 miles to the east of Gonçalo Álvares. Fifty years later cartographers realised that the two islands were the same, and despite the priority of the Portuguese discovery, and the greater accuracy of the position given by them, "Goughs Island" was the name adopted.</p><br>
<p>In the early 19th century, sealers sometimes briefly inhabited the island. The earliest known example is a sealing gang from the USA ship Amethyst which remained on the island in 1806–1807.</p><br>
<p>The Scottish National Antarctic Expedition on the Scotia made the first visit to the island by a scientific party on 21 April 1904, when William Speirs Bruce and others collected specimens. The Quest Expedition also stopped at the island in 1922.</p><br>
<p>Gough Island was formally claimed in 1938 for Britain, during a visit by HMS Milford of the Royal Navy. In 1995, the island was inscribed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. In 2004, the site was extended to include Inaccessible Island and renamed Gough and Inaccessible Islands.</p><br>
<p>Gough Island is the only place outside South America from which the solar eclipse of September 12, 2034 will be visible; the centre of the path of totality crosses over the island.</p><br>
<h2>Geography and geology</h2><br>
<p>Gough Island is roughly rectangular with a length of 13 km and a width of 7 km. It has an area of 91 km&sup2; and rises to heights of over 900 m above sea level. Topographic features include the highest Peak, Edinburgh Peak, Hags Tooth, Mount Rowett, Sea Elephant Bay, Quest Bay, and Hawkins Bay.</p><br>
<p>It includes small satellite islands and rocks such as Southwest Island, Saddle Island (South), Tristiana Rock, Isolda Rock (West), Round Island, Cone Island, Lot&#39;s Wife, Church Rock (North), Penguin Island (Northeast), and The Admirals (East).</p><br>
<h3>Climate</h3><br>
<p>The islands have a cool-temperate oceanic climate, and lie on the edge of the roaring forties. Gough Islands temperatures are very solid between 11 &deg;C and 17 &deg;C during the day year-round, due to its isolated position far out in the Atlantic Ocean. The Atlantic is much cooler in the southern hemisphere than the northern, but frosts are still very rare. As a result, summers are extremely cool. Precipitation is high for all of the year and sunshine hours are low. Snow falls in the interior, but its rare at sea level.</p><br>
<h2>Fauna and flora</h2><br>
<p>Gough and Inaccessible Island are a protected wildlife reserve, which has been designated a World Heritage Site by UNESCO. It has been described as one of the least disrupted ecosystems of its kind and one of the best shelters for nesting seabirds in the Atlantic. In particular, it is host to almost the entire world population of the Tristan albatross (Diomedea dabbenena) and the Atlantic petrel (Pterodroma incerta). The island is also home to the almost flightless Gough moorhen, and the critically endangered Gough bunting.</p><br>
<h3>Birds</h3><br>
<p>The island has been identified as an Important Bird Area (IBA) by BirdLife International for its endemic landbirds and as a breeding site for seabirds. Birds for which the IBA has conservation significance include northern rockhopper penguins (30,000 breeding pairs), Tristan albatrosses (1500–2000 pairs), sooty albatrosses (5000 pairs), Atlantic yellow-nosed albatrosses (5000 pairs), broad-billed prions (1,750,000 pairs), Kerguelen petrels (20,000 pairs), soft-plumaged petrels (400,000 pairs), Atlantic petrels (900,000 pairs), great-winged petrels (5000 pairs), grey petrels (10,000 pairs), great shearwaters (100,000 pairs), little shearwaters (10,000 pairs), grey-backed storm petrels (10,000 pairs), white-faced storm petrels (10,000 pairs), white-bellied storm petrels (10,000 pairs), Antarctic terns (500 pairs), southern skuas (500 pairs), Gough moorhens (2500 pairs) and Gough buntings (3000 individuals).</p><br>
<h3>Mammals</h3><br>
<p>The island has a large breeding population of subantarctic fur seals and some southern right whales still migrate around the island.</p><br>
<p>House mice are currently present on the island. (see Invasive Species)</p><br>
<h3>Invasive species</h3><br>
<h4>Pearlwort (Sagina procumbens)</h4><br>
<p>In 1998 a number of procumbent pearlwort (Sagina procumbens) plants were found on the island which are capable of dramatically transforming the upland plant ecosystem (as it has on the Prince Edward Islands).</p><br>
<p>Eradication efforts are ongoing but are expected to require years of concerted effort.</p><br>
<h4>House mice</h4><br>
<p>In April 2007 researchers published evidence that predation by introduced house mice on seabird chicks is occurring at levels that might drive the Tristan albatross and the Atlantic petrel to extinction.</p><br>
<p>The Royal Society for the Protection of Birds awarded £62,000 by the UK government&#39;s Overseas Territories Environment Programme to fund additional research on the Gough Island mice and a feasibility study of how best to deal with them. The grant also paid for the assessment of a rat problem on Tristan da Cunha island. Trials for a method of eradicating the mice through baiting were commenced,R. J. Cuthbert1</p><br>
<h2>Weather station</h2><br>
<p>A weather station has been operating on Gough Island since 1956. It is operated as part of the network of the South African Weather Service. Because cold fronts approach South Africa from the south-west, the Gough station is particularly important in forecasting winter weather. Initially it was housed in the station at The Glen, but moved to the South Western lowlands of the island in 1963 where weather observations are more accurate.</p><br>
<h3>Human presence</h3><br>
<p>Each year a new overwintering team arrives by ship (beginning in 2012, the S. A. Agulhas II) to staff the weather station and perform scientific research. The team for a particular year may be termed as "Gough" and an expedition number: for example, the 1956 team were "Gough 01", and the team for 2013 were "Gough 58". Each new team directly replaces the departing one, thereby maintaining a continual human presence on the island.</p><br>
<p>A team normally consists of:</p><br>
<p>A senior meteorologist</p><br>
<p>Two junior meteorologists</p><br>
<p>A radio technician</p><br>
<p>A medic</p><br>
<p>A diesel mechanic</p><br>
<p>A number of biologists (depending on ongoing research projects)</p><br>
<p>The team is supplied with enough food to last the whole year. People and cargo are landed either by helicopter, from a helideck-equipped supply ship, or by a fixed crane atop a cliff near the station (a place aptly called "Crane Point").</p><br>
<p>In 2014 a member of the research team died on the island and his body was taken back to South Africa. Cause of death was choking.</p><br>
<h2>Maps</h2><br>
<h2>Gough Island in popular Culture</h2><br>
<h3>Non-fiction</h3><br>
<p>Martin Holdgate describes a scientific expedition to Gough Island in 1955 in "Mountains in the Sea" (Macmillan)</p><br>
<p>The Bunker Hill Monument was erected to commemorate the Battle of Bunker Hill, which was among the first major battles between British and Patriot forces in the American Revolutionary War, fought there June 17, 1775. The 221-foot  granite obelisk was erected between 1825 and 1843 in Charlestown, Massachusetts, with granite from nearby Quincy conveyed to the site via the purpose-built Granite Railway, followed by a trip by barge. There are 294 steps to the top.</p><br>
<p>An exhibit lodge built adjacent to the monument in the late 19th century houses a statue of fallen hero Dr. Joseph Warren. Bunker Hill is one of the sites along the Freedom Trail and is part of Boston National Historical Park.</p><br>
<p>The monument underwent a $3.7 million renovation, completed in 2007, that included repairs, handicap accessibility improvements, and new lighting. The Bunker Hill Museum across the street was dedicated in June of that year and includes many exhibits about the battle. No admission charge applies to the museum or monument.</p><br>
<h2>Background</h2><br>
<p>The monument was one of the first in the United States. An earlier memorial at the site had been erected in memory of fallen Bunker Hill hero Dr. Joseph Warren, a Mason, in 1794 by King Solomons Lodge of Masons, and was initially an 18-foot (5.5 m) wooden column topped with a gilt urn. In front of the obelisk is a statue of Col. William Prescott, a native of Groton, Massachusetts, another hero of Bunker Hill. According to popular stories, he coined the famous Revolutionary War phrase, "Dont fire until you see the whites of their eyes" during the battle. However, various writers attribute it to Israel Putnam, John Stark, Prescott or Gridley, while a few question whether it was said at all.</p><br>
<p>The monument is not on Bunker Hill, but instead on Breeds Hill, where most of the fighting in the misnamed Battle of Bunker Hill actually took place. The Monument Association, which had purchased the battlefield site, was forced to sell off all but the hills summit in order to complete the monument.</p><br>
<h2>Construction</h2><br>
<p>William Ticknor, a well-known Boston lawyer and antiquarian, first suggested the memorial. An interested group of men met for breakfast at the home of Colonel Thomas Handasyd Perkins, including William Tudor, Daniel Webster, Professor George Ticknor, Doctor John C. Warren, William Sullivan, and George Blake. On May 10, 1823, the first public meeting was called. Each member subscribed five dollars, and on June 7, 1823, the Bunker Hill Monument Association was established and the work of raising money was begun. Famed nineteenth-century philanthropist Amos Lawrence contributed $10,000 to the monument&#39;s erection.</p><br>
<p>In the spring of 1825 the directors had purchased about 15 acres (61,000 m²) on the slope of Breeds Hill, but had not yet chosen a design. The first design committee consisted of Webster, noted engineer Loammi Baldwin, Jr., George Ticknor, Gilbert Stuart, and Washington Allston. One hundred dollars was offered for the best design; about 50 plans were presented in response. Choice was soon narrowed to a column and an obelisk and a new committee was appointed to procure designs and estimate expenses for each. At the next meeting the majority voted that the obelisk designed by Solomon Willard be used. The directors laid the cornerstone on June 17, 1825. The Marquis de Lafayette (who was on a 14-month tour of the United States on the 50th anniversary of the War) performed the ceremony, Webster delivered the oration, and the Grand Master of the Grand Lodge of Massachusetts, Ancient Free and Accepted Masons, conducted the services. Rev. Joseph Thaxter, who was wounded in the battle, officiated as chaplain at the ceremony, offering a prayer in thanks for the colonists victory.</p><br>
<p>Blocks of granite for the monument averaged two cubic yards each and were quarried by wedging. Delivered to the site of the monument at an actual cost of $5.40 per cubic yard from a quarry opened for the purpose far under the average contract offers for the same of $24.30. Work proceeded somewhat slowly at first, but the Granite Railway was completed in short order and became operational on October 7, 1826, as the first commercial railroad in the United States functioning as a common carrier.</p><br>
<p>Construction was frequently halted as available funds were depleted. To bring the project to completion the Monument Association in 1838 began to sell off the 10 acre of the battlefield as house lots, eventually preserving only the summit of Breeds Hill as the monument grounds. Neighbors disgruntled with the construction eyesore were rumored to have plans to raise money to tear down the partially completed monument. Sarah Josepha Hale and the readers of her magazine supplied funds essential to the monuments successful completion. The capstone was laid on July 23, 1842 with the monument being dedicated on June 17 of the following year, again with a Daniel Webster oration. According to the Boston Latin School Association&#39;s "Points of Pride Quiz" for December 2007, BLS boys helped erect the Boston landmark.</p><br>
<p>The Bunker Hill Monument Association maintained the monument and grounds until 1919, when it was turned over to the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. In 1976 the monument was transferred to the National Park Service and became a unit of Boston National Historical Park. The monument was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1961, in part for its architectural significance as a major early war memorial, and the nation&#39;s largest-scale memorial prior to the construction of the Washington Monument. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1966, and was included in the Monument Square Historic District in 1987.</p><br>
<h2>Image gallery</h2><br>
<p>The Awatere River is a large river flowing through Marlborough, New Zealand. Flowing along the trace of the active Awatere Fault, it runs northeast through a straight valley to the west of the Inland Kaikoura mountains. This valley is parallel with that of the Clarence River, 20 km to the south.</p><br>
<p>It flows for 110 km from its source in the mountainous interior to reach Cook Strait close to the town of Seddon.</p><br>
<h2>Awatere River bridge</h2><br>
<p>In 1887 the Awatere River was without any bridge crossing and at the time was noted by Parliament to be the only river not bridged between Picton and Bluff. Planning of a 325-metre joint road and rail bridge began in 1896, designed by Peter Seton Hay, and construction by Scott Brothers Ltd, a Christchurch based company, began two years after. Back in those times, bridge building lacked the modern engineering technology that is used today, and much of the construction was done via human and animal power. The laying of caissons which formed the foundations of the bridge was notoriously treacherous to workers at the risk of developing the bends due to long exposure of working in pressurised conditions. Construction was completed on 18 July 1901. The original road/rail bridge was opened on 10 October 1902. Construction took three years at the cost of £22,500.</p><br>
<p>State Highway 1 crosses the Awatere River at its current point just north of Seddon. The initial bridge remained the crossing until 2007 when most recently traffic signals were added to either direction to control vehicles on the platform, which was only wide enough for one lane of traffic. A new $15 million two-lane road bridge was constructed with the railway being the sole use of the original bridge and officially opened on 9 November 2007. The vehicle deck on the original bridge was decommissioned as it was deemed too expensive to retain its use for pedestrians and cyclists.</p><br>
<p>Leverett Glacier in Antarctica is about 50 nmi long and 3 to 4 nmi wide, draining northward from the Watson Escarpment, between California Plateau and Stanford Plateau, and then trending west-northwest between the Tapley Mountains and Harold Byrd Mountains to terminate at the head of the Ross Ice Shelf close east of Scott Glacier. It was discovered in December 1929 by the Byrd Antarctic Expedition geological party under Laurence Gould, and named by him for Frank Leverett, an eminent geologist at the University of Michigan and an authority on the glacial geology of the central United States.</p><br>
<p>Leverett Glacier is on the route through the Transantarctic Mountains for the McMurdo – South Pole Highway, an overland supply route between McMurdo Station and Amundsen–Scott South Pole Station.</p><br>
<p>The Tapley Mountains  is a mountain range fronting on the eastern side of the Scott Glacier, extending eastward for 56 km between Leverett and Albanus glaciers in the Queen Maud Mountains, a part of the larger Transantarctic Mountains.</p><br>
<p>Discovered in December 1929 by the Byrd Antarctic Expedition geological party under Laurence McKinley Gould, and named by Byrd for the Hon. Harold L. Tapley of Dunedin, New Zealand, agent for the Byrd AE of 1928–30 and 1933–35.</p><br>
<h2>Features</h2><br>
<p>Geographical features include:</p><br>
<p>* Albanus Glacier</p><br>
<p>* Bobo Ridge</p><br>
<p>* Durham Point</p><br>
<p>* Evans Butte</p><br>
<p>* Leverett Glacier</p><br>
<p>* Mount Andes</p><br>
<p>* Mount Bushnell</p><br>
<p>* Mount Durham</p><br>
<p>* Mount Herr</p><br>
<p>* Mount Seebeck</p><br>
<p>* Mount Stahlman</p><br>
<p>* Mount Wallace</p><br>
<p>* Pincer Point</p><br>
<p>* Roe Glacier</p><br>
<p>* Scott Glacier</p><br>
<p>The Karwendel is the largest mountain range of the Northern Limestone Alps. The major part belongs to the Austrian federal state of Tyrol, while the adjacent area in the north is part of Bavaria, Germany. Four chains stretch from west to east; in addition, there are a number of fringe ranges and an extensive promontory  in the north.</p><br>
<h2>Geography</h2><br>
<p>The term Karwendel describes the part of the Alps between the Isar river and the Seefeld Saddle mountain pass in the west and Achen Lake in the east. In the north it stretches to the Bavarian Prealps. In the south the Lower Inn Valley with the city of Innsbruck separates the Karwendel from the Central Eastern Alps. Other major settlements include Seefeld in Tirol and Mittenwald in the west, as well as Eben am Achensee in the east. Neighbouring ranges are the Wetterstein and Mieming Mountains in the west and the Brandenberg Alps in the east.</p><br>
<p>The mountaineer Hermann von Barth created the tradition of naming the Karwendel chains ranges after the valleys limiting them in the south: Karwendel valley, Hinterau valley and Vomper Loch, Gleirsch valley, Hall valley, and Inn valley:</p><br>
<p>Northern Karwendel Chain</p><br>
<p>Hinterautal-Vomper Chain (a.k.a. main Karwendel Range),</p><br>
<p>Gleirsch-Halltal Chain</p><br>
<p>Nordkette (a.k.a. Solstein Range or Inn Valley Range).</p><br>
<p>Side ranges are the Erlspitze Group, Soiern Group and Vorkarwendel, Falken Group, Gamsjoch Group and Sonnjoch Group.</p><br>
<h2>Peaks</h2><br>
<p>There are 125 peaks in the Karwendel that reach heights of over 2,000 metres. The most important are listed below together with some notable peaks between 1,800 and 2,000 metres high.</p><br>
<h2>Alpine huts</h2><br>
<p>In the Karwendel, of the 21 Alpine huts, 18 are run by the German or Austrian Alpine Clubs:</p><br>
<p>Mitchell Caverns, within the Mitchell Caverns Natural Preserve, is a trio of solutional limestone caves, located on the east side of the Providence Mountains at an elevation of 4,300 ft, within the Providence Mountains State Recreation Area. It is located in the Mojave Desert, at the north-western end of Essex Road, off of Interstate 40  in San Bernardino County, California.</p><br>
<p>The Caverns temperature is around 73 °F (9 °C) and 41% Humidity. It is accessible by the Park Service (two) guided tours, 11 a.m. and 2 p.m., Friday thru Sunday (including holiday Mondays). Tickets are "not" sold online, and Reservations will be taken by phone only on Mondays between 8 a.m. and 5 p.m. 15 people per tour.</p><br>
<h2>Geology</h2><br>
<p>The caves lie within a thick sequence of marine Permian limestone. They were formed during the Pleistocene epoch, when ground water with a high carbonic acid content ate into the surrounding  limestone. Stalactites, stalagmites, and other cave formations were formed from calcium carbonate left by dripping mineral water. For many years the caves were thought to be "dead", that is, the formations were no longer growing. However, recent studies have found some signs of life.</p><br>
<h2>History</h2><br>
<p>Numerous paleontological and archaeological finds have been made in and around the caverns. Scientists have found the remains of several prehistoric animals, including a sloth. The caverns were a sacred place for the Chemehuevi Indians, and a number of tools and fire pits have been found. The Chemihuevi knew the caves as "the eyes of the mountain" due to their easily spotted dual entrances located near the top of the mountain.</p><br>
<p>The caverns are named after Jack Mitchell, who owned and operated the caves from 1934 to 1954 as a tourist attraction and rest stop for travelers on nearby USA Route 66. Mitchell also held mining rights to the area and dug several prospect holes and tunnels, some of which are still visible.</p><br>
<p>The area became a state recreation area in 1956. The surrounding lands became a part of the National Park Service Mojave National Preserve in 1994, but the caves are still owned and operated by the state.</p><br>
<h2>Cavern tours</h2><br>
<p>The "Tecopa" (named for a Shoshone Indian chief) and "El Pakiva" (Devil&#39;s house) caves are connected by a man-made tunnel and were open to guided tours led by California State Park rangers. The "Winding Stair" cave is considered dangerous and is closed to the public, though it is occasionally used for training cave rescue teams. These caves are the only limestone caves in the California State Park system.</p><br>
<p>In January 20111 due to Californias budget crisis all tours have been suspended and the Providence Mountains SRA closed. Vandalism has plagued the caverns visitor center and installations since their closure.</p><br>
<p>Tours are set to begin again starting Nov. 3, 2017.</p><br>
<p>Mitchell Caverns and Providence Mountains State Recreation Area reopened on November 3, 2017, after being closed for nearly seven years due to major infrastructure upgrades.</p><br>
<p>Haggetts Pond is the reservoir for the town of Andover, Massachusetts, United States. It is located in the western part of the town and also lends its name to a road. The Merrimack River is connected to the pond to add volume to the reservoir.</p><br>
<p>It is bordered by Route 133 on the south. Not far to the northwest is Interstate 495; to the northeast is Interstate 93. Haggetts Pond is located at 42&deg;38&prime;36&Prime;N latitude, 71&deg;12&prime;18&Prime;W longitude.</p><br>
<p>Permissible activities include walking, hiking, jogging biking and fishing. Only registered rowboats are allowed on the reservoir and fishing must be done from either the shoreline or a rowboat (no hip waders). Canoeing or kayaking, windsurfing, sailing, ice skating and ice fishing are prohibited. Swimming, bathing, wading and pets in the water are also prohibited.</p><br>
<p>Hiking trails, some converted out of a former railway (the Lowell and Lawrence Railroad), encircle the pond.</p><br>
<p>The Pond also gives its name to a road (Haggetts Pond Road) that starts to the west of the pond itself. Haggetts Pond Road transverses Route 133, but the vast majority of its length is on the side north of the pond. (Of the 245 houses on Haggetts Pond Road, 240 of them are on the north side.)</p><br>
<p>The Sweet Track is an ancient causeway in the Somerset Levels, England. It was built in 3807 BC and is the second-oldest timber trackway discovered in the British Isles, dating to the Neolithic. It is now known that the Sweet Track was predominantly built over the course of an earlier structure, the Post Track.</p><br>
<p>The track extended across the now largely drained marsh between what was then an island at Westhay and a ridge of high ground at Shapwick, a distance close to 2,000 m. The track is one of a network that once crossed the Somerset Levels. Various artifacts and prehistoric finds, including a jadeitite ceremonial axe head, have been found in the peat bogs along its length.</p><br>
<p>Construction was of crossed wooden poles, driven into the waterlogged soil to support a walkway that consisted mainly of planks of oak, laid end-to-end. The track was used for a period of only around ten years and was then abandoned, probably due to rising water levels. Following its discovery in 1970, most of the track has been left in its original location, with active conservation measures taken, including a water pumping and distribution system to maintain the wood in its damp condition. Some of the track is stored at the British Museum and at the Museum of Somerset in Taunton. A reconstruction has been made on which visitors can walk, on the same line as the original in Shapwick Heath National Nature Reserve.</p><br>
<h2>Location</h2><br>
<p>In the early fourth millennium BC the track was built between an island at Westhay and a ridge of high ground at Shapwick close to the River Brue. A group of mounds at Westhay mark the site of prehistoric lake dwellings, which were likely to have been similar to those found in the Iron Age Glastonbury Lake Village near Godney, itself built on a morass on an artificial foundation of timber filled with brushwood, bracken, rubble, and clay.</p><br>
<p>The remains of similar tracks have been uncovered nearby, connecting settlements on the peat bog; they include the Honeygore, Abbotts Way, Bells, Bakers, Westhay, and Nidons trackways. Sites such as the nearby Meare Pool provide evidence that the purpose of these structures was to enable easier travel between the settlements. Investigation of the Meare Pool indicates that it was formed by the encroachment of raised peat bogs around it, particularly during the Subatlantic climatic period (1st millennium BC), and core sampling demonstrates that it is filled with at least 2 m of detritus mud.</p><br>
<p>The two Meare Lake Villages within Meare Pool appear to originate from a collection of structures erected on the surface of the dried peat, such as tents, windbreaks and animal folds. Clay was later spread over the peat, providing raised stands for occupation, industry and movement, and in some areas thicker clay spreads accommodated hearths built of clay or stone.</p><br>
<h2>Discovery and study</h2><br>
<p>The track was discovered in 1970 during peat excavations, and is named after its finder, Ray Sweet. The company for which he worked, E. J. Godwin, sent part of a plank from the track to John Coles, an assistant lecturer in archaeology at Cambridge University, who had carried out some excavations on nearby trackways. Coles&#39; interest in the trackways led to the Somerset Levels Project, which ran from 1973 to 1989, funded by various donors including English Heritage. The project undertook a range of local archaeological activities, and established the economic and geographic significance of various trackways from the third and first millennia BC. The work of John Coles, Bryony Coles, and the Somerset Levels Project was recognised in 1996 when they won the Imperial Chemical Industries (ICI) Award for the best archaeological project offering a major contribution to knowledge, and in 2006 with the European Archaeological Heritage Prize.</p><br>
<p>Dendrochronology (tree-ring dating) of the timbers has enabled precise dating of the track, showing it was built in 3807 BC. This dating led to claims that the Sweet Track was the oldest roadway in the world, until the discovery in 2009 of a 6,000-year-old trackway built in 4100 BC, in Plumstead, near Belmarsh prison. Analysis of the Sweet Track&#39;s timbers has aided research into Neolithic Era dendrochronology; comparisons with wood from the River Trent and a submerged forest at Stolford enabled a fuller mapping of the rings, and their relationship with the climate of the period.</p><br>
<p>The wood used to build the track is now classed as bog-wood, the name given to wood (of any source) that for long periods (sometimes hundreds of thousands of years) has been buried in peat bogs, and kept from decaying by the acidic and anaerobic bog conditions. Bog-wood usually is stained brown by tannins dissolved in the acidic water, and represents an early stage of fossilisation. The age of the track prompted large-scale excavations in 1973, funded by the Department of the Environment.</p><br>
<p>In 1973 a jadeitite axehead was found alongside the track; it is thought to have been placed there as an offering. One of over 100 similar axe heads found in Britain and Ireland, its good condition and its precious material suggest that it was a symbolic axe, rather than one used to cut wood. Because of the difficulty of working this material, which was derived from the Alpine area of Europe, all the axe heads of this type found in Great Britain are thought to have been non-utilitarian and to have represented some form of currency or be the products of gift exchange. Radiocarbon dating of the peat in which the axe head was discovered suggests that it was deposited in about 3200 BC. Wooden artefacts found at the site include paddles, a dish, arrow shafts, parts of four hazel bows, a throwing axe, yew pins, digging sticks, a mattock, a comb, toggles, and a spoon fragment. Finds made from other materials, such as flint flakes, arrowheads, and a chipped flint axe (in mint condition) have also been made.</p><br>
<p>A geophysical survey of the area in 2008 showed unclear magnetometer data; the wood may be influencing the peat&#39;s hydrology, causing the loss or collection of minerals within the pore water and peat matrix.</p><br>
<h2>Builders</h2><br>
<p>The community that constructed the trackway were Neolithic farmers who had colonised the area around 3900 BC, and the evidence suggests that they were, by the time of construction, well organised and settled. Before this human incursion, the uplands surrounding the levels were heavily wooded, but local inhabitants began to clear these forests about this time to make way for an economy that was predominately pastoral with small amounts of cultivation. During the winter, the flooded areas of the levels would have provided this fishing, hunting, foraging and farming community with abundant fish and wildfowl; in the summer, the drier areas provided rich, open grassland for grazing cattle and sheep, reeds, wood, and timber for construction, and abundant wild animals, birds, fruit, and seeds. The need to reach the islands in the bog was sufficiently pressing for them to mount the enormous communal activity required for the task of stockpiling the timber and building the trackway, presumably when the waters were at their lowest after a dry period. The work required for the construction of the track demonstrates that they had advanced woodworking skills and suggests some differentiation of occupation among the workers. They also appear to have been managing the surrounding woodland for at least 120 years.</p><br>
<h2>Construction</h2><br>
<p>Built in 3807 or 3806 BC, the track was a walkway consisting mainly of planks of oak laid end-to-end, supported by crossed pegs of ash, oak, and lime, driven into the underlying peat. The length, straightness, and lack of forks or branches in the pegs suggest that they were taken from coppiced woodland. Longitudinal log rails up to 6.1 m long and 7.6 cm in diameter, made of mostly hazel and alder, were laid down and held in place with the pegs, which were driven at an angle across the rails and into the peat base of the bog. Notches were then cut into the planks to fit the pegs, and the planks were laid along the X shapes to form the walkway. In some places a second rail was placed on top of the first one to bring the plank above it level with the rest of the walkway. Some of the planks were then stabilised with slender, vertical wooden pegs driven through holes cut near the end of the planks and into the peat, and sometimes the clay, beneath. At the southern end of the construction smaller trees were used, and the planks split across the grain to utilise the full diameter of the trunk.</p><br>
<p>The wetland setting indicates that the track components must have arrived prefabricated, before being assembled on site, although the presence of wood chips and chopped branches indicates that some trimming was performed locally. The track was constructed from about 200,000 kg of timber, but Coles estimates that once the materials were transported to the site, ten men could have assembled it in one day.</p><br>
<p>The Sweet Track was used only for about ten years; rising water levels may have engulfed it, and therefore curtailed its use. The variety of objects found alongside the track suggest that it was in daily use as part of the farming life of the community.</p><br>
<h2>Conservation</h2><br>
<p>Most of the track remains in its original location, which is now within the Shapwick Heath biological Site of Special Scientific Interest and National Nature Reserve. Following purchase of land by the National Heritage Memorial Fund, and installation of a water pumping and distribution system along a 500 m section, several hundred metres of the tracks length are now being actively conserved. This method of preserving wetland archaeological remains (maintaining a high water table and saturating the site) is rare. A 500 m section, which lies within the land owned by the Nature Conservancy Council, has been surrounded by a clay bank to prevent drainage into surrounding lower peat fields, and water levels are regularly monitored. The viability of this method is demonstrated by comparing it with the nearby Abbots Way, which has not had similar treatment, and which in 1996 was found to have become dewatered and desiccated. Evaluation and maintenance of water levels in the Shapwick Heath Nature Reserve involves the Nature Conservancy Council, the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, and the Somerset Levels Project.</p><br>
<p>Although the wood recovered from the Levels was visually intact, it was extremely degraded and very soft. Where possible, pieces of wood in good condition, or the worked ends of pegs, were taken away and conserved for later analysis. The conservation process involved keeping the wood in heated tanks in a solution of polyethylene glycol and, by a process of evaporation, gradually replacing the water in the wood with the wax over a period of about nine months. After this treatment the wood was removed from the tank and wiped clean. As the wax cooled and hardened, the artefact became firm and could be handled freely.</p><br>
<p>A section of the track on land owned by Fisons (who extracted peat from the area) was donated to the British Museum in London. Although this short section can be assembled for display purposes, it is currently kept in store, off site, and under controlled conditions. A reconstructed section was displayed at the Peat Moors Centre near Glastonbury. The centre was run by the Somerset Historic Environment Service, but was closed in October 2009 as a result of budget cuts imposed by Somerset County Council. The main exhibits are extant, but future public access is uncertain. Other samples of the track are held in the Museum of Somerset.</p><br>
<p>Sections of the track have been designated as a Scheduled Monument, These sections are also included in Historic England&#39;s Heritage at Risk Register.</p><br>
<p>Tusculum is a ruined Roman city in the Alban Hills, in the Latium region of Italy.</p><br>
<h2>Location</h2><br>
<p>Tusculum was one of the largest Roman cities in the Alban Hills and today is amongst the largest ruins of a Roman city in the region. The Tusculum is located on Tuscolo hill on the northern edge of the outer crater rim of the Alban volcano. The volcano itself is located in the Alban Hills 6 km south of the present-day town of Frascati.</p><br>
<p>Tuscolo Hills&#39; summit is 670 m above sea level and affords a view of the Roman Campagna, with Rome lying 25 km to the north-west. Rome was reached by the Via Latina (from which a branch road ascended to Tusculum, while the main road passed through the valley to the south of it), or by the Via Labicana to the north.</p><br>
<p>Tusculum was most famous in Roman times for the many great and luxurious patrician country villas sited close to the city, yet a comfortable distance from Rome (notably the villas of Cicero, Lucullus etc.).</p><br>
<p>Strabo wrote about Tusculum in Geography, V 3 § 12.:</p><br>
<p>But still closer to Rome than the mountainous country where these cities lie, there is another ridge, which leaves a valley (the valley near Algidum) between them and is high as far as Mount Albanus. It is on this chain that Tusculum is situated, a city with no mean equipment of buildings; and it is adorned by the plantings and villas encircling it, and particularly by those that extend below the city in the general direction of the city of Rome; for here Tusculum is a fertile and well-watered hill, which in many places rises gently into crests and admits of magnificently.</p><br>
<h2>History</h2><br>
<h3>Antiquity</h3><br>
<p>According to legend, the city was founded either by Telegonus, the son of Odysseus and Circe, or by the Latin king Latinus Silvius, a descendant of Aeneas, who according to Titus Livius was the founder of most of the towns and cities in Latium. The geographer Filippo Cluverio discounts these legends, asserting that the city was founded by Latins about three hundred years before the Trojan War. Funerary urns datable to the 8th–7th centuries B.C. demonstrate a human presence in the late phases of Latin culture in this area.</p><br>
<p>Tusculum is first mentioned in history as an independent city-state with a king, a constitution and gods of its own. When Lucius Tarquinius Superbus, the last King of Rome, was expelled from the city in 509 B.C., he sought military help from his son-in-law Octavius Mamilius, one of the leading men of Tusculum. After the war between Clusium and Rome failed to win back the throne for Tarquinius, he sought refuge with Mamilius in Tusculum. The Mamilii claimed to be descended from Telegonus, the founder of the city. Mamilius commanded the army of the Latins against the Romans at the Battle of Lake Regillus, where he was killed in 498 B.C. This is the point at which Rome gained predominance among the Latin cities.</p><br>
<p>According to some accounts Tusculum subsequently became an ally of Rome, incurring the frequent hostilities of the other Latin cities. In 460 B.C. the Sabines occupied the Capitol. Of the Latin cities, only Tusculum quickly sent troops, commanded by the dictator Lucius Mamilius, to help the Romans. Together with the forces of the consul Publius Valerius Poplicola they were able to quash the revolt. Poplicola was thankful to the Tusculans for their help, and conferred on Lucius Mamilius the honour of Roman citizenship.</p><br>
<p>In 459 B.C. the Aequi attacked Tusculum and captured its citadel. Because of the assistance given Rome the previous year, the Romans came to their defense, and helped regain the citadel, with soldiers under the command of Lucius Quinctius Cincinnatus, who defeated the Aequi at the battle of Mons Algidus.</p><br>
<h3>Roman Republic and Empire</h3><br>
<p>In 381 BC, after an expression of complete submission to Rome, the people of Tusculum received a franchise from Rome. Tusculum became the first "municipium cum suffragio", or self-governing city. The Tusculum citizens were therefore recorded in the "Tribus Papiria".</p><br>
<p>Other accounts, however, speak of Tusculum as often allied with Rome&#39;s enemies, the last being the Samnites in 323 BC.</p><br>
<p>Several of the chief Roman families were of Tusculan origin, e.g. the gentes Mamilia, Fulvia, Fonteia, Juventia, Oppia, Coruncania, Quinctia, Rabiria, Javonelia, Cordia, Manlia, Furia and Porcia; to the latter belonged Marcus Porcius Cato the Elder, who was born at Tusculum in 234 BC.</p><br>
<p>In 54 BC, in his Orationes Pro Cn. Plancio, Marcus Tullius Cicero said: "You are from the most ancient municipium of Tusculum, from which so many consular families are originating, among which even the gens Iuventia—all other municipia (together) do not have so many (consular families) coming from them".</p><br>
<p>Varro wrote about the laws of Tusculum in De Lingua Latina, Volume 5: "New wine shall not be taken into the town before the Vinalia are proclaimed".</p><br>
<p>The town council kept the name of senate, but the title of dictator gave place to that of aedile. Notwithstanding this, and the fact that a special college of Roman equites was formed to take charge of the cults of the gods at Tusculum, and especially of the Dioscuri, the citizens resident there were neither numerous nor men of distinction.</p><br>
<p>The villas of the neighbourhood had indeed acquired greater importance than the town itself, which was not easily accessible. By the end of the Republic, and still more during the imperial period, the territory of Tusculum was a favorite place of residence for wealthy Romans. Seneca wrote: "Nobody who wants to acquire a home in Tusculum or Tibur for health reasons or as a summer residence, will calculate how much yearly payments are".</p><br>
<p>In 45 BC Cicero wrote a series of books in his Roman villa in Tusculum, the Tusculanae Quaestiones. In his times there were eighteen owners of villas there.</p><br>
<p>An example is the so-called villa of Lucullus, which later belonged to Flavia gens, which was built in terraces on the slope of Tusculum facing Rome: the vast terrace now houses virtually all the historical centre of Frascati.</p><br>
<p>Much of the territory (including Cicero&#39;s villa), but not the town itself, which lies far too high, was supplied with water by the Aqua Crabra.</p><br>
<p>The last archeological evidence of Roman Tusculum is a bronze tablet of 406 AD commemorating Anicius Probus Consul and his sister Anicia.</p><br>
<h3>Middle Ages</h3><br>
<p>From the 5th to the 10th century there are no historical mentions of Tusculum. In the 10th century it was the base of the Counts of Tusculum, an important family in the Medieval History of Rome.</p><br>
<p>They were a clan system whose first mentioned member is Theophylact I (died 924). His daughter Marozia married Alberic I, Marquis of Spoleto and Camerino, and was for a while the arbiter of political and religious affairs in Rome—a position which the Counts held for a long period of time. They were pro-Byzantine and against the German Emperors. From their clan came several Popes in the period between 914 and 1049.</p><br>
<p>Gregory I of Tusculum rebuilt the fortress on the Tuscolo hill, and gave as a gift the "Criptaferrata" to Saint Nilus the Younger, where the latter built a famous abbey. Gregory also headed the rebellion of the Roman people of 1001 against the German Emperor Otto III.</p><br>
<p>After 1049 the Counts of Tusculum Papacy declined as the particular "formula" of the papacy-family became outdated. Subsequent events from 1062 confirmed the change of the Counts&#39; politics, which became pro-Emperor in opposition to the Commune of Rome. Tusculum had in this time several notable guests: Henry III, Holy Roman Emperor, and his wife Empress Agnes in 1046, the Pope Eugene III from 1149, Louis VII of France and his wife Eleanor of Aquitaine in 1149, Frederick Barbarossa and the English Pope Adrian IV in 1155.</p><br>
<p>In 1167 the Roman communal army attacked Tusculum (Battle of Monte Porzio), but it was defeated by the Emperor-allied army, headed by Christian I, Archbishop of Mainz; in the summer of the same year, however, a plague decimated the imperial army and Frederick Barbarossa was forced to get back to Germany.</p><br>
<h3>Destruction and rediscovery</h3><br>
<p>From 1167 the residents of Tusculum moved to the neighbours (Locus) or little villages as Monte Porzio Catone, Grottaferrata and mostly to Frascati: only a little group of defence troops remained in the old city.</p><br>
<p>When in 1183 the Roman army again attacked Tusculum, Barbarossa sent a new contingent of troops to its defence. The Commune of Rome was however able to destroy the town on 17 April 1191 with the consent of Pope Celestine III and the consent of Henry VI, Holy Roman Emperor, son of Frederick Barbarossa.</p><br>
<p>Roger of Hoveden wrote "lapis supra lapidem non remansit" (not a stone upon a stone remained), indeed the Roman Commune&#39;s army took away the stones of the walls of Tusculum as spoils of war in Rome.</p><br>
<p>After destruction the land of Tusculum city became woodland and pasture lands. The buildings destroyed in Tusculum became a big open quarry of materials for the inhabitants of the neighbouring towns of the Alban Hills.</p><br>
<p>In 1806 the first campaign of archaeological excavation on the top of the Tuscolo hill was begun by Lucien Bonaparte. In 1825 the archaeologist Luigi Biondi excavated to find out Tusculum, engaged by Queen Maria Cristina of Bourbon, wife of Charles Felix of Sardinia. In 1839 and 1840 the architect and archaeologist Luigi Canina, called by the same royal family, excavated the Theatre area of Tusculum. The ancient works of art excavated were sent to Savoy Castle of Agliè in Piedmont.</p><br>
<p>In 1825 Lucien Bonaparte found the so-called Tusculum portrait of Julius Caesar at the city&#39;s forum.</p><br>
<p>In 1890 Thomas Ashby arrived to Rome as Director of the British School in Rome. He was an expert of ancient monuments topography and studied the Tusculum monuments, reporting the results in The Roman Campagna in Classical Times published in London in 1927.</p><br>
<p>In 1955 and 1956 the archaeologist Maurizio Borda excavated a necropolis with cinerary urns.</p><br>
<p>From 1994 to 1999 was held the last excavation campaigns of archaeologist Xavier Dupré and his staff undertaken by Escuela Espanola de Historia y Arqueologia en Roma.</p><br>
<h2>Main sights</h2><br>
<p>On the hill of Tuscolo are remains of a small theatre excavated in 1839.</p><br>
<p>In the High Middle Ages, there were three churches in Tusculum: St. Saviour and Holy Trinity "in civitate", and St. Thomas on the acropolis. The Greek monastery of St. Agata lay at the foot of the Tuscolo hill, at the 15th mile of the Via Latina road, the old "Statio Roboraria": it was founded in 370 AD by the basilian monk John of Cappadocia, a disciple of St. Basil of Caesarea, called St. Basil the Great. He brought here a relic of the master, handed it over to him by monk Gregory Nazianzus. Saint Nilus the Younger died in this Greek monastery on 27 December 1005.</p><br>
<p>The Portrait of "Madonna del Tuscolo", placed nowadays in a little aedicule on the Tuscolo hill, is a reproduction in ceramic of an earlier original icon from Tusculum, spoil of war, which now is in the Abbey of St. Mary in Grottaferrata.</p><br>
<p>In the extra-urban area located south of the city, between it and the Via Latina, there is archeological evidence of burials in the place of a medieval church already in ruin after 1191 and dating to the 13th century, found by the last archeological excavation (1999).</p><br>
<p>The cross of Tusculum there was already in 1840, as reported by Cardinal Nicholas Wiseman, rector of the English College. In October, 1864 the students of the English College rebuilt the plinth of foundation of the old cross. Now on the top of the Tuscolo hill is an altar and an iron cross 19 metres (62,33 ft) high. The height of cross underlines the fact that it was built 19 centuries after the death of Jesus Christ.</p><br>
<p>Hangu Pass or Hanguguan is a pass separating the upper Yellow River and Wei valleys—the cradle of Chinese civilization and seat of its longtime capital Xi&#39;an—from the fertile North China Plain. It lies on the south bank of the Yellow River just east of its eastward bend out of the Ordos Loop at Tongguan in Shaanxi. It was the site of many battles during the Warring States and early imperial eras, when it was the chokepoint shielding Qin, Guanzhong, or Luoyang from outside attack. Today, the Hangu Pass forms part of the area of Lingbao in Henan.</p><br>
<h2>History</h2><br>
<p>Chinese legends state Lao-tzu wrote his Tao Te Ching for a border guard at the Hangu Pass before leaving for the west.</p><br>
<p>The state of Qin fortified the pass in 361 as its eastern border, protecting access to their homeland from the armies of the other Warring States competing to succeed the Zhou. It continued to protect the Guanzhong area of the Qin and Western Han empires. Under the Eastern Han that succeeded Wang Mang&#39;s "Xin dynasty", its fortifications protected the capital Luoyang in the other direction, staving off attacks coming from the west and northwest.</p><br>
<p>After the fall of the Han and rise of the Three Kingdoms, the Hangu Pass lost most of its importance as the primary fortifications moved a little west to Tongguan.</p><br>
<p>In Kingdom manga and anime, this pass was the last chokepoint Li Mu and his 5 allied Coalition Army in order to defeat Qin. Their attacks was repelled with great losses, forcing Li Mu to make a decision of attacking Xianyang via Zui.</p><br>
<p>Mount Hopkins is a 8,553 ft peak of the Santa Rita Mountains range, in Santa Cruz County, southern Arizona.</p><br>
<p>The peak was named after Gilbert Hopkins, who was killed nearby during the Battle of Fort Buchanan in 1865.</p><br>
<p>It is in the Coronado National Forest and is bounded on three sides by the Mount Wrightson Wilderness.</p><br>
<h2>Fairborn Observatory</h2><br>
<p>In 1979, Russell Merle Genet founded the Fairborn Observatory, which he moved from Fairborn, Ohio to Mount Hopkins, Arizona in 1985, and worked there until 1993. He was also its first director, until 1989. Genet and his colleagues developed robotic telescopes there. It became the first totally automatic robotic observatory in the world.</p><br>
<h2>Fred Lawrence Whipple Observatory</h2><br>
<p>The Fred Lawrence Whipple Observatory is located on the mountain. The prime mover for the mountains observatory was Fred Whipple, a professor at Harvard University who was in charge of a small 25 inch mirror telescope in Cambridge, Massachusetts. In Cambridge the ambient light caused light pollution that limited the telescopes usefulness.</p><br>
<p>That led to engineer Tom Hoffman being appointed by Whipple to search for a site in the USA that would provide a clear view of the sky at a high elevation, with minimal surrounding light pollution. After searching many locations, southern Arizona with its dry air and high elevations, and the assistance of The University of Arizona, brought Hoffman to focus on Mt Hopkins. Whipple agreed, leaving the challenge of how to transport an 8 m diameter glass mirror and build a telescope on an 8,583 ft mountain that had no road.</p><br>
<p>Norman Island is an island located at the southern tip of the British Virgin Islands archipelago. It is one of a number of islands reputed to be the inspiration for Robert Louis Stevenson&#39;s pirate novel Treasure Island.</p><br>
<h2>History</h2><br>
<p>It is said that the island was named after a pirate who bought it or leased it at some point during the early 18th century, although supporting evidence for this contention is difficult to find.</p><br>
<p>However, Norman Island also has a documented history of pirate booty being stowed upon the island. In August 1750, a Spanish treasure galleon named Nuestra Señora de Guadalupe sought shelter from a storm on the North Carolina coast. The crew mutinied and the treasure, said to consist of (amongst other things) 55 chests of silver coins, was loaded into two bilanders, one of which was manned by Owen Lloyd. The first vessel perished, but Lloyd escaped to St. Croix. After disposing of some of the money, he proceeded to Norman Island where the treasure was buried. Lloyd and his crew were later arrested in St. Eustatius, but word of the treasure spread, and residents of Tortola went to Norman Island and dug it up for themselves. Part of the booty was later recovered by Gilbert Fleming, Lieutenant-General of the Leeward Islands at the time, who travelled to Tortola with two companies of soldiers. Fleming persuaded Abraham Chalwill, the acting Lieutenant Governor of the British Virgin Islands (who had coincidentally lead the search for the treasure on Norman Island) to issue a proclamation whereby the treasure would be returned and the people who had dug it up would receive a one-third share as a reward.</p><br>
<p>There the historical record ends, but local rumours abound that a member of a well-known local family had been fishing near Norman Island and took shelter in one of the caves on the Western coast of Norman Island during a storm. The surge repeatedly banged his small boat against the walls of the cave, whilst the storm surge caused the water level to rise several feet. When the fortunate fisherman woke the next morning, a large number of rocks had broken off into his small craft, as had a small chest, supposedly filled with gold doubloons. The story cannot be verified as no legal application for treasure trove was ever made, but it is known that members of the family ceased being fisherman and left Tortola at about the time to open some shops in Charlotte Amalie in St. Thomas.</p><br>
<p>Rumours persist of more pirate gold to be found on Norman Island, although to date no applications have ever been made for treasure trove.</p><br>
<h2>Today</h2><br>
<p>The island is uninhabited and privately owned by Dr Henry Jarecki. Its area is about 600 acres, and it is about 2.5 mi long. A large harbour known as "The Bight" offers one of the most protected anchorages in the area. It is considered to be one of the "Little Sisters," along with Pelican Island, Peter Island, Salt Island, Dead Chest Island, and Ginger Island. This group of islands is smaller, lower, and more arid than other islands to the north and west.</p><br>
<p>Norman Island is a well-known destination for cruisers and other tourists because of three water-level caves at the base of cliffs just outside the western edge of The Bight. The caves are ideal for snorkeling, and, if one goes deeply enough into the cliffs, darkness makes the experience like a night dive.</p><br>
<p>The island has no permanent inhabitants (other than wild goats), but there is a restaurant and bar named "Pirates Bight" located in the Bight. It burned to the ground early in the morning on October 1 of 2013 and was rebuilt and re-opened in 2014 along with a gift shop and full service dive shop. In 2016, a second restaurant opened next door. Anchored in the Bight is a modern copy of an old schooner named the Willie T which operates as a bar and restaurant.</p><br>
<p>Moorings in the Bight are available overnight for $30.</p><br>
<p>Some think that Norman Island and the tales about its treasures have inspired Robert Louis Stevenson to write his famous novel Treasure Island. The estimated timeframe of Treasure Island approximates to the time of the salvaging of the booty of the Nuestra Señora de Guadalupe on Norman Island.</p><br>
<p>Norman Island has so many caves, hidden bays, and wrecks that many tourists still explore hoping to find treasure one day, and tourism operators in the British Virgin Islands have no interest in trying to discourage this.</p><br>
<h2>Footnotes</h2><br>
<p>The Nuba Mountains, also referred to as the Nuba Hills , is an area located in South Kordofan, Sudan. The area is home to a group of indigenous ethnic groups known collectively as the Nuba peoples. In the 18th century, the Nuba Mountains became home to the kingdom of Taqali that controlled the hills of the mountains until their defeat by Mahdi Muhammad Ahmad. After the Mahdi&#39;s defeat by the British, Taqali was restored as a client state. Infiltration of the Messiria tribe of Baggara Arabs has been influential in modern conflicts.</p><br>
<h2>Geography</h2><br>
<p>The mountains cover an area roughly 64 km wide by 145 km long (40 by 90 miles), and are 450 to 900 metres (1,500 to 3,000 feet) higher in elevation than the surrounding plain. The mountains stretch for some 48,000 square kilometres (19,000 square miles). The climate is semi-arid with under 800 mm of rain per year on average, but lush and green compared with most nearby areas. There are almost no roads in the Nuba Mountains; most villages there are connected by ancient paths that cannot be reached by motor vehicle. The rainy season extends from mid-May to mid-October, and annual rainfall ranges from 400 to 800 millimetres (16.4 to 32.8 in), allowing grazing and seasonal rain-fed agriculture.</p><br>
<h2>Political status</h2><br>
<p>The region stayed under the control of the central government and the Comprehensive Peace Agreement did not give the Nuba Mountains the right to join South Sudan in its vote for independence in 2011. Residents of the Nuba Mountains were required to hold ill-defined "popular consultations" to determine their future. Not only the Nuba Mountains but the whole of South Kordofan state would be eligible to vote, essentially to accommodate the Messiria. Additionally, the Sudanese government maintained heavy military presence in the region and even prospective "popular consultations" were seen likely to be barred. The ambiguous situation and fears of future communal violence invoked concerns that South Kordofan could be the "next Darfur".</p><br>
<p>As of June 2011, South Kordofans governor Ahmed Haroun had suspended the process of popular consultations and conflict between Sudan Peoples Armed Forces and Nuba fighters of the SPLM-N followed (see Sudan–SPLM-N conflict (2011)).</p><br>
<p>The war in Sudan began in 1983 until the Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA) signed on 9 January 2005 with independence vote set for 9 July 2011-the vote on 9 July 2011 succeeded the south into Africas newest country, the Republic of South Sudan. The capital is located in Juba. The Nuba Mountains are geographically in the north in the area called South Kordofan (see Wikipedia for in-depth review). The people of the Nuba Mountains (a five mountain chain rising from the desert to 1,000 metres (3,000 feet)) were not aligned with the north under sharia law nor the Arabic language. This cultural dispute was in part the reason for people in Nuba being prosecuted by indiscriminate bombing, attacks on civilians and mines at entry points to the Nuba Mountains. In 2002, due to the extreme starvation of the people of the Nuba Mountains and under the international pressure from the UN, Khartoum under President Bashir (at that time, the government was termed the National Islamic Front) authorizes an interim cease fire to provide food and medical equipment/support to the people of the Nuba Mountains. In exchange, the Sudan Peoples Liberation Army/SPLA agree not attack the south-north pipeline to Port Sudan on the Red Sea coast. An international group of observers/advisers deployed to South Kordofan Province/Kadugli with several US advisers deployed directly into the Nuba Mountains, specifically to be co-located with the SPLA. One of the advisers/observers was Randy Hampton (US) located in Kauda co-located with the SPLA command element. Reports of indiscriminate bombing of civilians and mining entry points primarily for relief operation was reported and documents (with photos) during this time. Abdel Aziz Adam El Hilu was at that time, the governor of the Nuba Mountains and former military leader for the SPLA. He is currently (as of March 2012) back in the Nuba Mountains supporting relief and security operations.</p><br>
<p>The international community, including a number of celebrities such as actor George Clooney and reporter Nicholas Kristof, have recently travelled to the Nuba Mountains and documented the continued genocidal activities of the Bashir government. It should be noted that President Bashir is an indicted war criminal at the International Criminal Court (ICC) as a result of the genocidal activities of Sudan in Darfur. Human Rights Watch says that cluster bombs are used in the region.</p><br>
<p>The ongoing war continues as the international community continues to debate a resolution to the issue of the Nuba Mountains.</p><br>
<p>The Little Sisters is an informal name for a group of some of the smaller islands of the British Virgin Islands, south of Tortola and southwest of Virgin Gorda. These islands are also called the Southern Islands.</p><br>
<p>*Norman Island</p><br>
<p>*Pelican Island</p><br>
<p>*Peter Island</p><br>
<p>*Salt Island</p><br>
<p>*Cooper Island</p><br>
<p>*Ginger Island</p><br>
<p>*Carvel Rock</p><br>
<p>*Dead Chest Island</p><br>
<p>Also included in the group are several smaller rocky outcroppings.</p><br>
<p>The closest thing to a formal endorsement of the term occurs in the Labour Code, 2010 (a British Virgin Islands statute) which includes a reference and statutory definition for the "Sister Islands", which the Code defines as meaning &#39;the islands of the Virgin Islands other than Tortola&#39;.</p><br>
<h2>Footnotes</h2><br>
<p>Inaccessible Island is an extinct volcano  with Cairn Peak reaching 449 m. The island is 14 km&sup2; in area, rising out of the South Atlantic Ocean 45 km south-west of Tristan da Cunha.</p><br>
<p>It is part of the archipelago of Tristan da Cunha which is part of the overseas territory of the United Kingdom known as Saint Helena, Ascension and Tristan da Cunha. Along with Gough Island, Inaccessible Island is a protected wildlife reserve and both make up the UNESCO World Heritage Site of Gough and Inaccessible Islands.</p><br>
<h2>Geography</h2><br>
<p>The island sits approximately 17 nautical miles to the southwest of the main island of the Tristan da Cunha archipelago. Mostly desolate and inhospitable, the island has one small landing site named Port David on the northwesternmost point.</p><br>
<h2>History</h2><br>
<p>Inaccessible Island was discovered in January 1656 during a voyage by &#39;t Nachtglas ("the night glass"), a Dutch ship under the command of Jan Jacobszoon, 146 years after Tristan da Cunha was first sighted by Portuguese sailors. Jacobszoon originally named it "Nachtglas" island.</p><br>
<p>There are two explanations for the name "Inaccessible" island. One is that on maps the newly found island was referred to as "inaccessible" because the Dutch crew who landed were not able to reach its interior. The other claims that French captain d&#39;Etcheverry renamed the island in 1778 after not being able to land.</p><br>
<p>In 1803, US sealers led by Amasa Delano made landfall on the island.</p><br>
<p>The Stoltenhoff brothers, who arrived on Inaccessible from Germany in 1871, lived there for several years intending to make a living sealing and selling their wares to passing traders (forgetting how infrequently Inaccessible had visitors). However, due to the scarcity of food, they were "overjoyed" to be rescued in 1873 during HMS Challengers visit to examine the flora and fauna there. The South African author Eric Rosenthal chronicled the Stoltenhoffs adventure in 1952. The nearby Stoltenhoff Island is named after the brothers.</p><br>
<p>In 1922, the Shackleton–Rowett Expedition&#39;s ship, the Quest, stopped by Inaccessible briefly, and on-board naturalist Hubert Wilkins discovered a bird later named (after him) the Wilkins bunting (Nesospiza wilkinsi).</p><br>
<p>In 1938, the Norwegian Scientific Expedition spent three weeks on the island, during which time they managed to gain access to the plateau and extensively catalogued plants, birds, and rocks.</p><br>
<p>Another attempt at mapping the island was made during the Royal Society&#39;s expedition of 1962 to Tristan da Cunha, which took scientists to Inaccessible Island. Like many other explorers before them, the scientists were not able to reach the interior of the island.</p><br>
<p>Inaccessible Island was declared a nature reserve under the Tristan da Cunha Conservation Ordinance of 1976. Tristan islanders, however, were still permitted to harvest seabirds from the island.</p><br>
<p>In a 1982 expedition (October 16, 1982 – February 10, 1983), students and faculty of Denstone College in England made detailed maps of the island, studied its flora, fauna, and geology, and carried out a marking programme on more than 3,000 birds.</p><br>
<p>In 1997, Inaccessible Island&#39;s territorial waters out to 22 km (12 nmi) were declared a nature reserve under the Tristan da Cunha Conservation Ordinance of 1976. Currently, only guides from Tristan are allowed to take visiting cruise ships to Inaccessible; indeed, most trips to the island are now made at the request of expatriates.</p><br>
<p>In 2004 Inaccessible Island was added to the UNESCO World Heritage Site of Gough Island to create a new site of Gough and Inaccessible Islands.</p><br>
<p>It has frequently been noted on lists of unusual place names.</p><br>
<h3>Shipwrecks</h3><br>
<p>At least three confirmed shipwrecks have occurred off the coast of Inaccessible Island.</p><br>
<p>The first, and most dramatic, was that of Blenden Hall, a British ship which set sail in 1821 with 54 passengers and crew aboard with destination Bombay. Captain Alexander Grieg intended to sail past Saint Helena, but adverse currents carried her to Tristan da Cunha. She got caught in seaweed and on 22 July drifted aground on Inaccessible Island. All but two of those aboard survived the shipwreck.</p><br>
<p>The other two shipwrecks are the wreck of Shakespeare at Pig Beach in 1883, and Helen S Lea at North Point in 1897.</p><br>
<h2>Flora and fauna</h2><br>
<p>When Corporal William Glass and his family became the first settlers at Tristan da Cunha in 1816, goats and pigs were brought to Inaccessible Island to serve as a source of food. Some domestic animals remained for at least 57 years and helped to keep the Stoltenhoff brothers alive during their expedition, but they have now died out. Cattle, sheep, and dogs were also introduced to the island at various points in the island&#39;s history, but none remain.</p><br>
<p>No land mammals, reptiles, amphibians, butterflies, or snails have recently been found at Inaccessible. The island does have 64 native plant species, including 20 types of flowering plants and 17 species of ferns. In addition, 48 invertebrate species exist on the island, 10 of which were introduced. Subantarctic fur seals and southern elephant seals have also been seen at the island in increasing numbers, and cetaceans live in the surrounding waters most notably southern right whales and resident population of dusky dolphins.</p><br>
<h3>Birds</h3><br>
<p>Inaccessible is perhaps best known for the Inaccessible rail, the world&#39;s smallest living flightless bird. The island has been identified as an Important Bird Area (IBA) by BirdLife International as a breeding site for seabirds and its endemic landbirds. Birds for which the IBA is significant include northern rockhopper penguins (up to 27,000 breeding pairs), Tristan albatrosses (2-3 pairs), sooty albatrosses (200 pairs), Atlantic yellow-nosed albatrosses (1100 pairs), broad-billed prions (up to 500,000 pairs), soft-plumaged petrels (up to 50,000 pairs), spectacled petrels, great shearwaters (up to 2 million pairs), little shearwaters (up to 50,000 pairs), white-faced storm petrels (up to 50,000 pairs), white-bellied storm petrels (up to 50,000 pairs), Antarctic terns, Inaccessible rails (up to 5000 pairs), Tristan thrushes and Inaccessible buntings.</p><br>
<h2>Economy</h2><br>
<p>Inaccessible Island has been used by the islanders of Tristan da Cunha for several economic purposes. The island has guano deposits and eggs, but due to the difficulty of traveling about the island, the islanders have generally chosen to go to Nightingale Island instead.</p><br>
<h2>In popular culture</h2><br>
<p>Edgar Allan Poe&#39;s The Narrative of Arthur Gordon Pym of Nantucket alluded to Nightingale Island, Inaccessible Island, and Tristan da Cunha.</p><br>
<p>In Patrick OBrians The Thirteen Gun Salute (1989), pp. 120–29, Captain Aubreys ship Diane, in a dead calm, is carried toward Inaccessible Island by the inshore current. One of the sailors recounts the wreck of a whaling ship that he witnessed when it was lost with all hands in similar conditions. Only a fortunate breeze saves Aubreys ship. The episode is depicted in the cover painting of the book showing the towering cliffs plunging directly into the sea.</p><br>
<p>"Sea Lion", the pseudonym of "a serving naval officer" (Geoffrey Martin Bennett), wrote The Phantom Fleet (1946), a novel that was predicated on the supposition that Inaccessible Island contained a natural harbour, the entrance to which was concealed from the sea. The antagonists were assembling a fleet of obsolescent warships in this harbour, with the intention of striking a coup de main leading to world domination, a scheme foiled by the derring-do of a naval officer and the guns of the Royal Navy.</p><br>
<p>Eric Newby passed within sight of Inaccessible Island on his 1938/1939 voyage from Ireland to Australia aboard Moshulu, as chronicled in his books The Last Grain Race and Learning the Ropes. Inaccessible Island was the only land the crew saw on the voyage, until reaching Australia, and was therefore a cause for some excitement.</p><br>
<p>Daniel Suarezs 2014 novel Influx refers to this island as the location of the underground prison Hibernity&#39;.</p><br>
<p>The Antipodes Islands  are inhospitable volcanic islands in subantarctic waters to the south of – and territorially part of – New Zealand. They lie 860 km to the southeast of Stewart Island/Rakiura.</p><br>
<p>The island group consists of one main island, Antipodes Island, of 20 km² area, Bollons Island to the north, and numerous small islets and stacks.</p><br>
<p>Ecologically, the islands are part of the Antipodes Subantarctic Islands tundra ecoregion. The islands are inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List, together with other subantarctic New Zealand islands. The island group is a nature reserve and there is no general public access.</p><br>
<h2>Etymology</h2><br>
<p>The word antipodes derives from the Greek: ἀντίποδες, plural of antipous (ἀντίπους) "with feet opposite (ours)", from anti- "opposed" and pous "foot".</p><br>
<p>The island group was originally called the "Penantipodes" meaning "next to the antipodes", because it lies near to the antipodes of London. Over time the name has been shortened to "Antipodes" leaving some to suppose its European discoverers had not realised its global location. This misapprehension persists. In fact, the island&#39;s antipodes are situated on the territory of the French village Gatteville-le-Phare, near Cherbourg.</p><br>
<h2>Geography</h2><br>
<p>The volcanic Antipodes Islands lie 860 km southeast of Stewart Island/Rakiura. They consist of a main island (Antipodes Island), area 20 km², surrounded by a series of small offshore islands and rocks. These islands include Bollons Island, at 2 km&sup2; the second largest in the group, 1,200 m to the northeast of the main islands North Cape, and the nearby smaller Archway Island; Leeward Island, situated just off the centre of the main islands east coast (to which it is connected by a rocky bar at low tide); the two Windward Islands, situated 800 m apart, the easternmost of which is 600 m to the immediate north of Cave Point, the main islands westernmost point; and the tiny Orde Lees Islet, located close to the main islands northwestern shore. Numerous small islets and stacks further surround the coast of the main island.</p><br>
<p>The islands are steep, and cliffs and rocky reefs line the majority of the coasts. The highest point is Mount Galloway at 366 m in the north of the main island, which also forms part of the groups most recently active volcano. Mount Waterhouse, to Galloways southwest, also reaches over 360 m. Several other heights on the main island reach above 200 m, as does the highest point of Bollons Island. A ridge of peaks, the Reliance Ridge, runs along the main islands south cast. Several small streams run from the slopes of the main islands peaks, with the largest of these being the Dougall Stream, which runs northeast from the eastern slopes of Mount Waterhouse to reach the east coast not far from its closest point to Leeward Island. The Ringdove Stream runs east along the northern flanks of the Reliance Ridge to reach the large, rocky Ringdove Bay in the southeast of the main island. A further prominent stream runs southwest from the northwestern slopes of Mount Waterhouse to reach Stack Bay to the south of the Cave Point Peninsula, and a fourth runs north from the slopes of Mount Galloway, reaching the sea to the west of North Cape, close to Reef Point.</p><br>
<h2>History</h2><br>
<h3>Prehistory</h3><br>
<p>There is no archaeological evidence of human visitation prior to European discovery of the islands. Descriptions of a shard of early Polynesian pottery having been discovered 2 ft below the surface on the main island in 1886, and housed in the collections of the Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa, are unsubstantiated. The Museum has not been able to locate such a shard in its collection, and the original reference to the object in the Museum&#39;s collection documentation indicates no reference to Polynesian influences.</p><br>
<h3>Sealing</h3><br>
<p>The island group was first charted in 1800 by Captain Henry Waterhouse of the British ship HMS Reliance. In 1803 Waterhouse&#39;s brother-in-law George Bass applied to Governor Philip Gidley King of New South Wales for a fishing monopoly from a line bisecting southern New Zealand from Dusky Sound to the Otago Harbour to cover all the lands and seas to the south, including the Antipodes Islands, probably because he knew the latter were home to large populations of fur seals. Bass sailed from Sydney to the south that year and was never heard of again but his information led to a sealing boom at the islands in 1805 to 1807.</p><br>
<p>At one time eighty men were present; there was a battle between American and British-led gangs and a single cargo of more than 80,000 skins—one of the greatest ever shipped from Australasia—was on-sold in Canton for one pound sterling a skin, a multimillion-dollar return in modern terms. Prominent Sydney merchants such as Simeon Lord, Henry Kable and James Underwood were engaged in the trade as well as the Americans Daniel Whitney and Owen Folger Smith. William W. Stewart, who claimed to have charted Stewart Island, and probably William Tucker who started the retail trade in preserved Maori heads, were present during the boom. After 1807, sealing was occasional and cargoes small, no doubt because the animals had been all but exterminated.</p><br>
<h3>Shipwrecks</h3><br>
<p>A much later attempt to establish cattle on the islands was short-lived (as were the cattle). When the ship Spirit of the Dawn (with a crew of 16) foundered off the main island&#39;s coast in 1893, the eleven surviving crew spent nearly three months living as castaways on the island, living on raw muttonbirds, mussels and roots for 87 days before gaining the attention of the government steamer Hinemoa by a flag made from their sail</p><br>
<p>A well-supplied castaway depot was available on the other end of the island, but the survivors weak condition and the islands mountainous terrain prevented them from searching for depots.</p><br>
<p>The depot was found and used by the crew of the French barque President Felix Faure, wrecked in Anchorage bay in 1908, who were stranded for sixty days until rescued by HMS Pegasus.</p><br>
<p>The last wreck at the Antipodes was the yacht Totorore with the loss of two lives, Gerry Clark and Roger Sale, in June 1999.</p><br>
<h3>Nuclear Testing Proposals</h3><br>
<p>In 1955 the British Government required a large site remote from population centres to test the new Thermonuclear devices it was developing. Various islands in the South Pacific and Southern Oceans were considered, along with Antarctica. The Admiralty suggested the Antipodes Islands.</p><br>
<h2>Flora and fauna</h2><br>
<p>The flora of the islands has been recorded in detail, and includes megaherbs. The islands are also home to numerous bird species including the endemic Antipodes snipe and Antipodes parakeet, as well as several albatrosses, petrels and penguins, including half of the world population of erect-crested penguins. Antipodes Island has introduced house mice.</p><br>
<p>Original population of fur seals seems to be regionally extinct or in serious peril where "Upland Seals" once found on Antipodes and Macquarie Island have been claimed as a distinct subspecies with thicker furs by scientists although it is unclear whether these seals were genetically distinct.</p><br>
<h3>Important Bird Area</h3><br>
<p>The Antipodes group has been identified as an Important Bird Area (IBA) by BirdLife International because of its significance as a breeding site for several species of seabirds. The seabirds are southern rockhopper and erect-crested penguins, Antipodean, black-browed, light-mantled and white-capped albatrosses, and northern giant, grey and white-chinned petrels.</p><br>
<h2>Conservation</h2><br>
<p>As with many other islands, introduced rodents have caused problems by preying on the indigenous wildlife. A "Million Dollar Mouse" campaign was launched in 2012 to raise funds for an eradication programme. The Department of Conservation undertook two bait drops intended to eliminate all mice from Antipodes Island in the winter of 2016.</p><br>
<p>Hangman Island, also known as Hayman&#39;s Island, is an island in the Quincy Bay area of the Boston Harbor Islands National Recreation Area. The island is a barren outcrop of bedrock, with a permanent size of half an acre rising to only three feet above sea level, plus an intertidal zone of a further 5 acre. Access is by private boat only.</p><br>
<p>Approach to this island should be made with care and with the use of a nautical chart since there are many rocks and shoals in the immediate area. There is a small pebbly beach on the southern side. Special care should be taken when passing close aboard this island. Shoals extend approximately 250 yd to the northeast (061 degrees true) from this island and approximately 480 yd toward the south and southwest (246 degrees true). There are many rocks and ledges in these areas that are hidden at high water. A green and white daybeacon on a pile marks the southwestern point of these shoals.</p><br>
<p>On a 1775, London chart, this island was labeled Hayman&#39;s Island and shows a greater area than presently exists. There is no historical evidence that this island was used as a location for hanging criminals. The source of its current name has a hazy history. In 1882, several fishermen built fishing shacks on Hangman Island and were reported to have cultivated a vegetable garden here among the rocks. As of 2006, there are no human inhabitants on Hangmans Island. It is being used as a bird sanctuary and landing on this island is discouraged. Local private fishermen fish for striped bass among the rocks located on and near this island during the summer season. The label Hangman&#39;s Island also appears on a 1733 Map Of the British Empire in America created by Henry Popple.</p><br>
<p>Slættaratindur  is the highest mountain in the Faroe Islands, at an elevation of 880 metres. It is located in the northern part of Eysturoy, between the villages of Eiði, Gjógv, and Funningur. Funningur lies at the foot of the mountain.</p><br>
<p>Its name means "flat summit". It can be climbed in about four hours, and although the routes are steep, technical climbing skills are not necessary to reach the summit. In clear weather the summit gives views over the entire archipelago. Slættaratindur is one of ten mountains in the Faroe Islands which rise to over 800m above sea level. Gráfelli, the second-highest peak at 856 m, lies just to the north-east of Slættaratindur.</p><br>
<p>According to Guinness World Records Slættaratindur is the object of the world&#39;s longest sight line, 550 km from Vatnajökull, the largest glacier in Iceland. GWR state that "owing to the light bending effects of atmospheric refraction, Vatnajökull (2119m), Iceland, can sometimes be seen from the Faroe Islands, 340 miles (550km) away". This may be based on a claimed sighting of Vatnajökull by a British sailor in 1939, during the British occupation of the Faroe Islands in World War II when they were used to monitor German shipping and U-boat movements. The validity of this record is analysed/undermined in mathematical and atmospheric detail by J.C. Ferranti.</p><br>
<p>Falkland Palace in Falkland, Fife, Scotland, is a royal palace of the Scottish Kings. Today it is under the stewardship of the Marquess of Bute, who delegates most of his duties to The National Trust for Scotland.</p><br>
<h2>History</h2><br>
<h3>Early years</h3><br>
<p>Before Falkland Palace was built a hunting lodge existed on the site in the 12th century. This lodge was expanded in the 13th century and became a castle which was owned by the Earls of Fife – the famous Clan MacDuff. The castle was built here because the area could be easily defended as it was on a slight hill. The surrounding land eventually became the Palace gardens.</p><br>
<p>There was a great wood of oaks to the north between the royal stable and the River Eden, with many groves merging into the surrounding parkland. Timber was occasionally cut in the forest for royal ships of war. The castle would also have been surrounded by meadows, fields, orchards, glades and Falkland Park which was a managed forest surrounded by a Pale, which is a ditch with a fence on top of it. This pale would have been used to keep game inside the park for the royal family and courtiers to hunt. The land near the palace which is currently the orchard would have originally been meadows. The castle and the palace would have had their own orchard somewhere close by. In 1371 Falkland Castle was destroyed by an invading English army.</p><br>
<p>In 1402 Robert, Duke of Albany imprisoned his nephew and rival David, Duke of Rothesay, the eldest son of King Robert, in the Well Tower at Falkland. The incarcerated Duke eventually died there from neglect and starvation.</p><br>
<p>Albany was exonerated from blame by Parliament, but suspicions of foul play persisted, suspicions which never left Rothesays younger brother the future King James, and which would eventually lead to the downfall of the Albany Stewarts. John Debrett, writing in 1805, was in no doubt of Duke Roberts motives and guilt:</p><br>
<h3>16th century improvements</h3><br>
<p>Between 1501 and 1541 Kings James IV and James V transformed the old castle into a beautiful royal palace: with Stirling Castle it was one of two Renaissance palaces in Scotland. To address the poor state of the garden and park, James V appointed a new Captain and Keeper, William Barclay, Master of Rhynd, in March 1527. Ten years later, James V extended his fathers buildings in French renaissance style. He built a Royal Tennis Court in the grounds of the Palace which was completed in 1541. The court still survives to this day and is the oldest in Britain. James died at Falkland Palace in December 1542, from an illness induced by the shock and grief of his armys defeat at Solway Moss and of his wifes failure to give him a male heir, instead giving birth to the future Mary, Queen of Scots. His body lay in the Chapel Royal for almost a month and the Chapel was draped in black. On 4 January 1543 messengers ordered the gentlemen of Fife to convey the kings body to North Queensferry on its way to Holyrood Abbey.</p><br>
<p>Falkland became a popular retreat with all the Stewart monarchs. They practised falconry there and used the vast surrounding forests for hawking and for hunting deer. Wild boar, imported from France, were kept in the Park, within a fence made by the Laird of Fernie. They also loved using the Royal Tennis Court; Queen Mary became especially fond of the game, and it is recorded that she scandalised the people of Scotland by wearing men&#39;s breeches to play.</p><br>
<p>Nearby Myres Castle is the hereditary home of the Royal Macers and Sergeants at Arms who served Falkland Castle since at least the 16th century. John Scrimgeour of Myres supervised building at the Palace from 1532 to 1563.</p><br>
<h3>Civil war</h3><br>
<p>After the Union of the Crowns (1606), Kings James VI, Charles I, and Charles II all visited Falkland. A fire partially destroyed the palace during its occupation by Cromwell&#39;s troops, and it quickly fell into ruin.</p><br>
<h3>19th Century</h3><br>
<p>In 1887 John, 3rd Marquis of Bute purchased the estates of Falkland and started a 20-year restoration of the palace using his two right-hand architects: John Kinross and Robert Weir Schultz. At the time the Palace was a ruin with no windows or doors. Thanks to his sympathetic restoration work and considerable budget the Palace is still standing to this day. Many features in and around the Palace show evidence of his work, such as the "B" on the guttering and portraits of his children carved into a cupboard door in the Keeper&#39;s Dressing Room.</p><br>
<p>During the time of Lord Bute, the ornamental kitchen garden was enhanced by a pergola and decorative vases. The north part of the "upper garden" was redesigned to express the foundations of Falkland Castle and Palace North Range which were uncovered during the Marquis&#39;s archaeological excavations. Walls were built on top of the foundations for the Well Tower and the Great Hall to emphasise the structures.</p><br>
<p>The Orchard and Palace gardens were linked to the House of Falkland by the private walk and new bridges. Houses were built near to the palace and connected into the ornamental kitchen garden and orchard by a system of new public and private paths. The ground around the curling pond (to the North East of the orchard) was planted with trees and shrubs and laid out in flower plots.</p><br>
<p>The enclosing yew hedge around the pond garden is a typical feature of period. The lime tree avenue which is north of the palace gatehouse was built sometime between 1894 and 1912&ndash;13 according to the Ordinance Surveys of those periods. The Victorian glass house was built in 1890 by Mckenzie and Moncur from Edinburgh for Lord Bute and was used mainly to grow flowers and exotic plants. Plant hunting was popular at this time and people of wealth would travel the world to find specimens and bring them home to plant in their gardens and show them off to their friends. There is also evidence that there was a second glass house in the garden near the existing one.</p><br>
<h3>Modern era</h3><br>
<p>In 1952, the Hereditary Keeper Major Michael Crichton Stewart decided to appoint the National Trust for Scotland to take care of the Palace. The National Trust thus became Deputy Keeper of the Palace, and they now care for and maintain the Palace and its extensive gardens. An NTS virtual tour of the palace is available.</p><br>
<h3>Gardens</h3><br>
<p>Falkland Palace stands on three hectares of ground on a sandstone ridge which is dominated by the Lomond Hills in the background. As you walk around the garden today you will see a distinct and overlapping timeline which tells of the ever changing purpose and style of the grounds.</p><br>
<p>The first record of a garden here was in 1451. At that time the garden had a courtyard and stables in the gatehouse, where King James IV kept his great Belgian steed. There was also a fish pond which provided the King with fresh fish. Fruit, vegetables and herbs were grown in the local area for the Royal plate and meat could be hunted in the ancient forest surrounding the Palace known as Falkland Forest, by hawking and hunting wild boar and deer.</p><br>
<p>The celebrated garden designer Percy Cane redesigned the gardens in the 1903s. He was a horticultural writer, artist and a garden designer. He had designed the palace grounds at Addis Ababa in Ethiopia. Percy Cane was born and educated in Essex where he studied horticulture and architecture. In 1930 Cane founded and edited the quarterly journal Garden Design and wrote many books on garden design. Cane’s style can best be described as Arts and Crafts and his curvy borders were seen as innovatory at the time.</p><br>
<p>Conservation in the garden is achieved through general maintenance, which includes clearing leaves, mowing the main lawn, tidying the flower beds and planting, enhancing and create wildlife habitats. A wildflower meadow, native hedges and spring flowering bulbs have been planted to provide food and protection to various small insects and small mammals. Conservation means work has to be carried out in a sympathetic way throughout property, not only to the aesthetics and history of the palace but also for the climbing plants and bats that live in the cellars. Bats are endangered and protected in Scotland and it is important that they are not disturbed. The walls of the palace have been repointed (replacing the cement between the stones) and replaced with lime mortar which is a traditional material and better suited for this purpose as it is breathable and prevents damp.</p><br>
<p>The current Head Gardener Sonia Ferrás Mañá is restoring the Percy Cane garden back to his original design and flower choice. Sonia, the garden staff and volunteers have been working on various projects over the last few years to conserve the garden and to encourage wildlife.</p><br>
<p>The garden team at Falkland Palace are now encouraging wildlife by bringing back the meadow. To create the meadow the grass has been cut only once a year for the last four years and more than 10,000 wild flowers and a similar number of spring flowering bulbs have been planted. This work is thanks to the garden staff, volunteers and support from Fife Environmental Trust, Scottish Natural Heritage, NTS Member Centres and other donations. These flowers and un-mown grasses encourage beneficial insects to the orchard which aid in the fruit trees pollination and in turn attract other animals. There are currently forty different fly species in the orchard, some of which are rare or unusual and some are found nowhere else in Scotland. The insects, especially the moths, have attracted Pipistrelle and Soprano Pipistrelle bats which have been seen hunting and living here. There have also been sightings of Red Squirrels in the forest which are now considered endangered animals due to the disappearance of their habitats and the competition from Grey Squirrels. A Red Squirrel Project is carried out at Falkland Palace to encourage them back into the gardens. A shelter was built in the orchard for invertebrate (animals without backbones i.e. insects and worms) and small animals which will encourage them to stay longer in the garden and maybe live here. The orchard has been planted with native trees such as hawthorn, oak and willows which would have been growing here in the 15th century. The Maspie Burn that runs between the garden and the orchard is a fantastic place for water wildlife, including trout!</p><br>
<h2>Description</h2><br>
<p>The palace has two wings arranged in an L shape, now called the South and East Quarters or Ranges. The palace courtyard is entered through the gatehouse tower at the west end of the South Quarter. The external ashlar façade of the South Quarter has gunloops at basement level. Above these are the small windows of the private lodgings, and on the second level the large paired windows of the Chapel Royal. Between these windows are weathered niches and statues. The corbels show the instruments of the passion; the chapel at Falkland was dedicated to St Thomas and is the Catholic parish church for Falkland with Mass every Sunday at 9 a.m. The wallhead is finished with a decorated cornice and battlement which continues around the west side of the gate tower. To the east of the chapel there is small rectangular sectioned tower which once housed a circular staircase, and beyond is the partly reconstructed gable of the East Quarter. Although some writers have attributed part of the South Quarter to the time of James IV, the form of the gunloops, the continuous parapet, and the documented payments to Peter the Flemishman for the 5 statues in 1539 adequately demonstrate that the present appearance dates from the works of James V. Within, visitors can view the Keeper&#39;s Apartments in the Gatehouse tower, the Chapel Royal and gallery.</p><br>
<p>The East Quarter, apart from its courtyard façade is ruined. The centrally placed access tower, the Crosshouse, was reconstructed by the Marquis of Bute. The National Trusts architect, Schomberg Scott recreated the King and Queens bedchambers within. The northern section of the East quarter was originally a lodging built by James IV. The master of works, James Murray of Kilbaberton was ordered to repair the flat roof of the King and Queen&#39;s galleries and the roof of the lodging of the East Quarter in 1616 in anticipation of the visit of James VI.</p><br>
<p>The South and East courtyard façades were decorated and unified with pilasters in a French Renaissance style between 1537 and 1542. Their appearance is comparable to the French Chateau of Villers-Cotterêts. The buttresses on the East are dated 1537, and on the South, where the masonry is more sophisticated, 1539. The later work may be connected with Nicolas Roy, a French mason sent to Scotland in March 1539 by Antoinette of Bourbon, the mother of Mary of Guise. The chapel ceiling dates from the time of James V and was re-decorated for the visit of Charles I in 1633. James Murray, master of works, was ordered to repair the roof of the South Quarter in 1625, with instructions to "have a special care and regard" that the great ceiling of the Chapel be "preserved and kept as far as possibly may be."</p><br>
<p>The courtyard was originally finished with a great hall to the north. The footprint of the building was established by excavation and laid out with paving slabs by the 3rd Marquis of Bute.</p><br>
<h2>Real tennis court</h2><br>
<p>On lower ground in the gardens, slightly beyond the remains of the medieval castle uncovered c. 1900, lies the original real tennis court. Built in 1539, it is the world&#39;s oldest tennis court still in use. The roofed spectator area is home to a number of swallows, who swoop in and out, through the door left open for them, during spring and summer. The court is home to the Falkland Palace Royal Tennis Club.</p><br>
<p>The Nyamiha  is a river in Minsk. Today it is contained within a fabricated culvert.</p><br>
<p>The first mention of the river in historical chronicles is connected with a disastrous Battle on the river Nemiga, which took place here in 1067, when the forces of the prince of Kievan Rus defeated the forces of Polatsk princedom. The medieval epic The Tale of Igors Campaign refers to the "bloody river banks of Nyamiha."</p><br>
<p>Lines from the famous epic detail the gruesome battle:</p><br>
<p>On the Nemiga the spread sheaves are heads,</p><br>
<p>the flails that threshare of steel,</p><br>
<p>lives are laid out on the threshing floor,</p><br>
<p>souls are winnowed from bodies.</p><br>
<p>Nemiga’s gory banks are not sowed</p><br>
<p>goodly-sown with the bones of Russia’s sons.</p><br>
<p>For a long time it was the second largest river flowing through Minsk, until it was adapted for its urban location by containment within a network of pipes. One part of the river was put into a pipe in 1926, and the rest in 1955. Today the river is a minor feature of the city environment, and the name Nyamiha more commonly refers to a nearby street.</p><br>
<p>Nyamiha (or Nemiga) Street is part of a shopping district famous for its amber craftwork. The Nyamiha metro station on the street was the site of a tragedy on May 30, 1999.</p><br>
<p>Another incident on Nyamiha Street occurred on July 25, 2004, when a two-hour downpour in Minsk caused the storm sewers to overflow. Nyamiha Street and environs were flooded.</p><br>
<p>Pulicat Lake formerly Palaverkaadu Eri is the second largest brackish water lake or lagoon in India, after Chilika Lake. It straddles the border of Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu states with over 96% of it in Andhra Pradesh and 4% in Tamil Nadu situated on the Coromandal Coast in South India. The lake encompasses the Pulicat Lake Bird Sanctuary. The barrier island of Sriharikota separates the lake from the Bay of Bengal and is home to the Satish Dhawan Space Centre.</p><br>
<h2>History</h2><br>
<p>In the 13th century, Arabs migrated to the shores of the lake after they were banished from Mecca for refusing to pay tributes to a new calif. Streets with dilapidated masonry houses once occupied by these Arabian Muslims are still found in the area and resident families claim records in Arabic testifying the migration. Portuguese colonized the lake in 16th century followed by the Dutch. The Dutch drifted to the lagoon as their ships got stuck on the shores of Karimanal village on the opposite side of the mouth of the lake. During the Dutch occupation, Pulicat was known by the name Pallaicatta. Fort Geldria dating to 1609, a church, a cemetery with tombs and mausoleums constructed by the Dutch are protected by the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI). The Dutch transacted business with the British East India Company and other countries in the region.</p><br>
<p>A scientific study of the palynological characteristics of the lagoon was conducted by taking sedimentary soil samples from four test pits. It shows that the vegetational reconstruction from peat beds at 4.98 m a.m.s.l. and 1 m (a.m.s.l.) in the west at Sullurpeta and Kasdredinilem, respectively, is indicative of a palaeoshoreline. The sea level reached its maximum around 6650 plus or minus 110 yrs BP in Sullurpeta, 18 km west from the present shoreline. The radiocarbon dates of peat bed at Kasdreddinilem reveals an age of 4608 plus or minus 122 yrs BP, indicating the shift in mangrove line eastwards during the regressive phase.</p><br>
<h2>Geography and topography</h2><br>
<p>The lagoon’s boundary limits range between 13.33° to 13.66° N and 80.23° to 80.25°E, with a dried part of the lagoon extending up to 14.0°N. with about 96% of the lagoon in Andhra Pradesh and 3% in Tamil Nadu. The lagoon is aligned parallel to the coast line with its western and eastern parts covered with sand ridges. Area of the lake varies with the tide; 450 km&sup2; in high tide and 250 km&sup2; in low tide. Its length is about 60 km with width varying from 0.2 km to 17.5 km. Climate of the lagoon coast line is dominated by Tropical monsoons. Air temperature varies from 15 &deg;C to 45 &deg;C. The Satish Dhawan Space Center is located on the north end of the island. Pulicat, Dugarājupatnam and Sullurpeta are villages located on the periphery of the lagoon.</p><br>
<h2>Hydrology</h2><br>
<p>Two rivers which feed the lagoon are the Arani river at the southern tip and the Kalangi River from the northwest, in addition to some smaller streams. The Buckingham Canal, a navigation channel, is part of the lagoon on its western side. The lagoon&#39;s water exchange with the Bay of Bengal is through an inlet channel at the north end of Sriharikota and out flow channel of about 200 m width at its southern end, both of which carry flows only during the rainy season. The lake acts as buffer to retain the accumulated flood water till the flood water is discharged gradually to the sea during the monsoon period and cyclones. The lake and its river basins are located both in Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu states. The lake and its drainage river basins become interstate river basin as per Interstate River Water Disputes Act 1956. Most of the lake area including its water outlet to the sea is located in Andhra Pradesh.</p><br>
<p>The water quality of the lake varies widely during various seasons &ndash; summer, pre&ndash;monsoon, monsoon and post&ndash;monsoon &ndash; as the depth and width of the lake mouth varies causing a dynamic situation of mixing and circulation of waters. The resultant salinity variation and DO (dissolved oxygen) affects the primary production, plankton, biodiversity and fisheries in this lake. Salinity values vary from zero during the monsoon to about 52,000 ppm (hyper saline) during post and pre&ndash;monsoon seasons. Adjustment to this wide variation is difficult for sessile and sedentary species in the lake. However, euryhaline species still dwell in the lake. The benthic or the bottom habitat of this lagoon is classified into three zones. The southern zone, the first zone, is dominated by sand with some admixture of mud. The second zone at the northern region is wholly muddy. The third zone with sand and mud in equal parts is overgrown with patches of weeds and is reported to be rich in benthic biodiversity.</p><br>
<h2>Flora and fauna</h2><br>
<p>The lagoon has rich flora and fauna diversity, which supports active commercial fisheries and a large and varied bird population.</p><br>
<h3>Limnology</h3><br>
<p>Fishing is the major occupation in the many villages located around the lake periphery and on the islands.</p><br>
<p>An average 1200 tonnes of fish and crustaceans are harvested annually, of which prawns constitute 60%, followed by mullets. Seafood exports of white and tiger prawns, jellyfish, finfish and live lagoon green crabs are also economic benefits from the lagoon. 168 total fish species are reported. The frequently found ones are the mullets: M. cunnesius, M. jerdoni, M. dussumieri, M. cephalus, M. bornensis and blowfish T. nigropunctatus, T. leopardus, Barbus dorsalis, catfish Macrones vittatus, sardines, Sardinella fimbriata and milk fish. Finfish, green crabs, clams and prawns are the most commercially exploited fishes of the lagoon. Endangered green sea turtles are found on the beaches of Sriharikota beach. Apart from prawns, salt is also produced from the lagoon.</p><br>
<h3>Avifauna</h3><br>
<p>The shallow lake is known for its diversity of aquatic birds and is an important stopover on migration routes and is reported to be the third most important wetland on the eastern coast of India for migratory shorebirds, particularly during the spring and autumn migration seasons. In view of the rich avifauna of the lagoon, two bird sanctuaries are established in the lagoon, one in each of the two states of Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu. The Andhra Pradesh portion of Pulicat Lake Bird Sanctuary, established in September 1976, has an area of 172 km&sup2; within the lagoon’s total area in the state in the Tada Taluk of Nellore district. The Wildlife Division of the state has listed 115 species of water and land birds in the sanctuary. Nelapattu Bird Sanctuary is also located nearby in its catchment area. The Tamil Nadu part of the lagoon of 60 km&sup2; area, extending over the Ponneri and Gummidipundi taluks of Thiruvallur district was declared a Bird Sanctuary in October 1980.</p><br>
<p>Every year approximately 15,000 greater flamingos are reported to visit the lake along with pelicans, kingfishers, herons, painted storks, spoonbills and ducks. The largest concentrations of flamingos occur in the Andhra Pradesh part of the sanctuary, around the islands of Vendadu and Irukkam.</p><br>
<h3>Aquatic vegetation</h3><br>
<p>Aquatic vegetation reported are 59 species, including eight Cyanophyceae, seven Chlorphyceae and two</p><br>
<p>Rhodophyceae. Patches of residual, dry, evergreen forest and large areas of littoral scrub in woodlands in fishing villages bordering the lagoon are seen. Invasive phytoplankton species of Prosopis juliflora, Spirulina major, Oscillatoria spp., Anabaena spp., Rhizosolenia castracanei, Eucampia cornuta and Climacodium frauenfeldianum in the plains on the periphery of the lake have been recorded.</p><br>
<h2>Threats and issues</h2><br>
<p>In the Andhra Pradesh part of the lake several threats to the lagoon have been identified. These are: pollution from sewage, pesticides, agricultural chemicals and industrial effluents &ndash; from Arani and Kalangi rivers draining into the lake that bring in fertilizers and pesticides with the run off from the agricultural field in to the drainage basin, domestic sewage, effluents and wastes from numerous fish processing units; oil spills from the mechanized boats; release of4,780 hectare of the sanctuary for a marine chemicals and salt-manufacturing industry and shrimp farming in more than 1,000 acre on the eastern part of the lagoon have affected the Pulicat Bird Sanctuary; livelihood of 30,000 fishermen and 20,000 agricultural labourers (for whom fishing is an off-season economic activity) have also been disturbed. This activity is also reported to have serious impact on aquaculture development.</p><br>
<p>Siltation and periodic closure of the bar mouth due to the dynamic process of sediment transport has caused reduction of size and seasonal closure of the mouth of the lake has reduced fresh sea-water exchange and made the lake shallow and turbid. It is reported that average depth of 1.5 m in the early 20th century, has reduced to less than about 1 m now, in the lagoon. This has caused difficulties such as mouth getting silted up and getting closed during the summer season (June&ndash;July to Oct&ndash;Nov); raise in flood level occurs during the rainy season; the lake acts as a large evaporating basin when the bar is closed resulting in salinity levels remaining low or high subject to the flood discharge into the lake during the north east monsoon; fluctuation of water level in the lake (above or below the sea level) is affecting flora, fauna and fisheries; siltation has caused variation of the lake mouth resulting in reduction of tidal inflows and consequent decline in stocking of commercially important species of prawns and mullets. The flood plains reclamation in Arani river basin for industrial and residential purposes is also increasing lake maximum water level during the floods.</p><br>
<p>The Arani and Kalangi rivers carrying run off from agricultural fields in the drainage basin cause increase in pollution load from fertilizers and pesticides into the lake; pollution from domestic sewage being released to the lake; Petrochemical complex, power plant and a satellite port on Ennore creek have further aggravated the problem; there is threat of flooding of 14 island &ndash; villages of the lake; subsequent to the tsunami in 2004, the number of fishing boats have increased resulting in the `Catch Per Unit Effort&#39; of fish, prawns and crabs declined from 1000 tonnes to about 700 tonnes; and this has increased the social and fishing rights conflicts between marine based fishermen and the lagoon fishermen.</p><br>
<p>Due to the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake, lagoon fishery was adversely affected, with many fishing communities losing all means of livelihood until the middle of April 2005, as the loss of lives, homes and boats prevented them from going fishing in the sea and the lake. They subsisted on relief supplies provided by the government and other agencies. Many people in fish related trades were also affected. However, a beneficial effect of the tsunami has been the widening of the opening to the lagoon.</p><br>
<h2>Restoration and social activities</h2><br>
<p>Various groups and non governmental organizations are active in the area. An expert plan on "Wildlife Action Plan for Conservation Measures on the Pulicat Lake Sanctuary" has envisaged to set up a hydro biological research station, visitor center, provide shallow-bottomed boats to enable sanctuary staff to patrol the lagoon and to prepare a management plan and conservation strategy for the entire area. COPDANET is striving to implement traditional "Paadu system" and regular desilting to ensure adequate salt and fresh water mix in the lagoon which could enhance fish resources. Centre for Research on New International Economic Order (CReNIEO) has been promoting welfare of fishermen and management of the natural resources of the lake. A research study by Loyola College, Chennai reported in 2007 that the lake that bore the brunt of industrial pollution has made an ecological turnaround, recording toxicity levels well within permissible limits. Under the "Tsunami Emergency Assistance Project" (TEAP), construction of a high level bridge across Pulicat lake along with approach roads on both sides of the lake has been constructed providing a safe escape route for people residing on the islands and also access for emergency response operations.</p><br>
<p>The southern part of the lagoon in Tamil Nadu 5 km from the estuary is rich in fishes and the fishing is controlled by a traditional Paadu system. Paadu is a traditional system of getting entitlements to eligible members of a particular community for undertaking specified fishing activity in certain designated areas. The fishing grounds fall within a radius of5 km from the mouth of the lake with a salinity well maintained without much drying even during low tides. However, this traditional practice is based on caste control of the access rights to the high productive areas and is opposed by eastern fishermen and ocean-side villages. As a result, conflicts leading to violence have been reported.</p><br>
<h2>Transportation</h2><br>
<p>The Tamil Nadu part of the lake is 60 km north of Chennai and the nearest airport and major railway station are in Chennai. The nearest suburban railway station is at Ponneri. To reach Pulicat on the National Highway 5 from Chennai, drive north toward Nellore, after 30 km, turn right towards Ponneri village and continue 18 km to Pulicat village. Sullurpeta station is 17 km from Sriharikota. The Buckingham Canal on the western side of the lagoon is the navigation route through the lake used by cargo and passenger vessels.</p><br>
<p>Queen Charlotte Sound  is the easternmost of the main sounds of the Marlborough Sounds, in New Zealand&#39;s South Island. It is, like the other sounds, a drowned river valley , and like the majority of its neighbours it runs southwest to northeast before joining Cook Strait.</p><br>
<p>The town of Picton, the northern terminus of the South Island&#39;s railway and state highway networks, lies near the head of the Sound. Other settlements by the sound are small and isolated—often simply individual properties. Due to the rugged nature of the coast, for many of these access is by boat only.</p><br>
<p>To the east of the sound lie Arapaoa Island and Tory Channel. Interisland ferries use Tory Channel and Queen Charlotte Sound on their journeys between Picton and Wellington in the North Island.</p><br>
<p>Parallel to Queen Charlotte Sound to the northwest lies Kenepuru Sound, an arm of Pelorus Sound, Marlborough&#39;s other main sound. Some of the small side arms of the two sounds are only hundreds of metres apart, but are separated by a steep serrated range of hills. Not surprisingly, one of the settlements on this stretch of coast is called Portage, named for the simplest method of passing between the two sounds.</p><br>
<p>It was from a hill on Arapaoa Island in 1770 that Captain James Cook first saw the sea passage from the Pacific Ocean to the Tasman Sea, which was named Cook Strait. Captain Cook sheltered in Queen Charlotte Sound during each of his three voyages of exploration at various points, and named it after Queen Consort Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz.</p><br>
<p>The area was a base for whaling throughout the 19th and early 20th centuries, notably at Perano Head on Arapaoa Island.</p><br>
<p>Queen Charlotte Sound has calm water and is popular for sailing - a marked contrast to the notorious waters of Cook Strait. Many ships have been wrecked close to the entrance to the Sound, most notably in recent years the Russian cruise liner Mikhail Lermontov, which sank in 1986 in Port Gore after striking rocks. One life was lost in the incident.</p><br>
<p>In August 2014, the name of the sound was officially altered to Queen Charlotte Sound / Tōtaranui.</p><br>
