Geography (fromAncient Greekγεωγραφίαgeōgraphía; combininggê 'Earth' andgráphō 'write', literally 'Earth writing') is the study of the lands, features, inhabitants, and phenomena ofEarth. Geography is an all-encompassing discipline that seeks an understanding of Earth andits human and natural complexities—not merely where objects are, but also how they have changed and come to be. While geography is specific to Earth, manyconcepts can be applied more broadly to othercelestial bodies in the field ofplanetary science. Geography has been called "a bridge betweennatural science andsocial science disciplines."
Thehistory of geography as a discipline spans cultures and millennia, being independently developed by multiple groups, and cross-pollinated by trade between these groups. Geography as a discipline dates back to the earliest attempts to understand the world spatially, with the earliest example of an attempted world map dating to the 9th century BCE in ancientBabylon. Origins of many of the concepts in geography can be traced to GreekEratosthenes of Cyrene, who may have coined the term "geographia" (c. 276 BC – c. 195/194 BC). The first recorded use of the wordγεωγραφία was as the title of a book by Greek scholarClaudius Ptolemy (100 – 170 AD). During the Middle Ages, geography was influenced by Islamic scholars, likeMuhammad al-Idrisi, producing detailed maps of the world. TheAge of Discovery was influential in the development of geography, as European explorers mapped theNew World. Modern developments include the development ofgeomatics andgeographic information science.
The core concepts of geography consistent between all approaches are a focus on space, place, time, and scale. Today, geography is an extremely broad discipline with multiple approaches and modalities. The main branches of geography arephysical geography,human geography, andtechnical geography. Physical geography focuses on the natural environment, human geography focuses on how humans interact with the Earth, and technical geography focuses on the development of tools for understanding geography. Techniques employed can generally be broken down intoquantitative andqualitative approaches, with many studies takingmixed-methods approaches. Common techniques includecartography,remote sensing,interviews, andsurveying. (Full article...)
He led the team that made the first crossing of theGreenland interior in 1888, traversing the island oncross-country skis. He won international fame after reaching a record northern latitude of 86°14′ during hisFram expedition of 1893–1896. Although he retired from exploration after his return to Norway, his techniques of polar travel and his innovations in equipment and clothing influenced a generation of subsequentArctic andAntarctic expeditions. He was elected an International Member of theAmerican Philosophical Society in 1897. (Full article...)
Licancabur formed on top ofignimbrites produced by other volcanoes, and has been active during theHolocene. Three stages oflava flows emanated from the edifice and have a young appearance. Although no historical eruptions of the volcano are known, lava flows extending intoLaguna Verde have been dated to13,240±100 yearsbefore present, and there may be residual heat in the mountain. The volcano has primarily eruptedandesite, with small amounts ofdacite andbasaltic andesite. (Full article...)
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Tiruchirappalli (Tamil pronunciation:[ˈt̪iɾɯtːʃiɾapːaɭːi]ⓘ), also known asTrichy, is a majortier II city in theIndian state ofTamil Nadu and the administrative headquarters ofTiruchirappalli district. The city is credited with being the best livable and the cleanest city of Tamil Nadu, as well as the fifth safest city for women in India. It is the fourth largesturban agglomeration in the state. Located 322 kilometres (200 mi) south ofChennai and 374 kilometres (232 mi) north ofKanyakumari, Tiruchirappalli sits almost at the geographic centre of Tamil Nadu. TheCauvery Delta begins 16 kilometres (9.9 mi) west of the city where theKaveri river splits into two, forming the island ofSrirangam which is now incorporated into theTiruchirappalli City Municipal Corporation. The city occupies an area of 167.23 square kilometres (64.57 sq mi) and had a population of 916,857 in 2011.
Joppenbergh Mountain, viewed from across theRondout Creek
Joppenbergh Mountain is a nearly 500-foot (152 m) mountain inRosendale Village, ahamlet in the town ofRosendale, inUlster County, New York. The mountain is composed of acarbonatebedrock overlain byglacially deposited material. It was named after Rosendale's founder, Jacob Rutsen, andmined throughout the late 19th century fordolomite that was used in the manufacture ofnatural cement. Extensive mining caused a large cave-in on December 19, 1899, that destroyed equipment and collapsedshafts within Joppenbergh. Though it was feared that several workers had been killed, the collapse happened while all the miners were outside, eating lunch. Since the collapse, the mountain has experienced shaking and periodic rockfalls.
During the late 1930s, Joppenbergh became the site of severalski jumping competitions, which continued until the early 1940s. The original slope was designed by Harold Schelderup for Rosendale's first competition in 1937; Schelderup himself skied that July, after the slope was coated withborax for a summer competition. SeveralOlympic skiers participated in the competitions. Skiing began again in the 1960s, when a new slope was built on the mountain, and the revived competitions continued until 1971. (Full article...)
The volcano was active in theQuaternary period.Radiometric dating has yielded ages of up to 300,000years for its rocks, and it reached its present height about 200,000years ago. Severaltephra layers encountered inice cores atMount Waesche andByrd Station have been attributed to Mount Takahe, although some of them were later linked to eruptions ofMount Berlin instead. The tephra layers were formed byexplosive orphreatomagmatic eruptions. Major eruptions took place around 17,700years ago—possibly forming anozone hole over Antarctica—and in the earlyHolocene. Mount Takahe's last eruption occurred about 7,600 years ago, and there is no present-day activity. (Full article...)
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Sunset on Ganoga Lake
Ganoga Lake is a naturallake inColley Township in southeasternSullivan County inPennsylvania,United States. Known asRobinson's Lake andLong Pond for most of the 19th century, the lake was purchased by the Ricketts family in the early 1850s and became part ofR. Bruce Ricketts' extensive holdings in the area after theAmerican Civil War. The lake is one of the highest in Pennsylvania, which led Ricketts to name itHighland Lake by 1874 and rename it Ganoga Lake in 1881; Pennsylvania senatorCharles R. Buckalew suggested the nameGanoga from theSeneca language word for "water on the mountain".
The Ricketts built astone house on the lake shore by 1852 or 1855; this served as a hunting lodge and tavern. In 1873 a large wooden addition was built north of the stone house, which became a hotel known as the North Mountain House. The hotel had one of the firstsummer schools in the United States in 1876 and 1877. A branch railroad line to the lake served the hotel and also hauled ice cut from the lake for refrigeration. The hotel closed in 1903, though the house remained the Ricketts family summer home. After the death of R. Bruce Ricketts in 1918, his heirs sold much of his 80,000 acres (32,000 ha) to the state forPennsylvania State Game Lands andRicketts Glen State Park. The state tried to purchase the lake in 1957, but was outbid by a group of investors who turned the land around it into a private housing development; as such it is "off limits" to the public. (Full article...)
TheMetacomet Ridge,Metacomet Ridge Mountains, orMetacomet Range of southernNew England is a narrow and steepfault-block mountain ridge known for its extensive cliff faces, scenic vistas,microclimate ecosystems, and rare or endangered plants. The ridge is an important recreation resource located within 10 miles (16 km) of more than 1.5 million people, offering four long-distance hiking trails and over a dozen parks and recreation areas, including several historic sites. It has been the focus of ongoing conservation efforts because of its natural, historic, and recreational value, involving municipal, state, and national agencies and nearly two dozen non-profit organizations.
The Metacomet Ridge extends fromBranford, Connecticut, onLong Island Sound, through theConnecticut River Valley region ofMassachusetts, to northernFranklin County, Massachusetts, 2 miles (3 km) short of theVermont andNew Hampshire borders for a distance of 100 miles (160 km). It is geologically distinct from the nearbyAppalachian Mountains and surrounding uplands, and is composed of volcanicbasalt (also known astrap rock) andsedimentary rock in faulted and tilted layers many hundreds of feet thick. In most cases, the basalt layers are dominant, prevalent, and exposed. The ridge rises dramatically from much lower valley elevations, although only 1,200 feet (370 m) above sea level at its highest, with an average summit elevation of 725 feet (221 m). (Full article...)
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A satellite image of the lower Florida peninsula showing darkened portions south ofLake Okeechobee as theEverglades and Big Cypress Swamp. The reddish area bordering the large inland lake is theEverglades Agricultural Area. Before drainage, theEverglades, a region oftropicalwetlands in southernFlorida, were an interwoven mesh ofmarshes andprairies covering 4,000 square miles (10,000 km2). The Everglades is both a vastwatershed that has historically extended fromLake Okeechobee 100 miles (160 km) south toFlorida Bay (around one-third of the southern Florida peninsula), and many interconnected ecosystems within a geographic boundary. It is such a unique meeting of water, land, and climate that the use of either singular or plural to refer to the Everglades is appropriate. WhenMarjory Stoneman Douglas wrote her definitive description of the region in 1947, she used the metaphor "River of Grass" to explain the blending of water and plant life.
Althoughsawgrass andsloughs are the enduring geographical icons of the Everglades, other ecosystems are just as vital, and the borders marking them are subtle or nonexistent. Pinelands and tropical hardwoodhammocks are located throughout the sloughs; the trees, rooted in soil inches above thepeat,marl, or water, support a variety of wildlife. The oldest and tallest trees arecypresses, whose roots are specially adapted to grow underwater for months at a time. The Big Cypress Swamp is well known for its 500-year-old cypresses, though cypress domes can appear throughout the Everglades. As the freshwater from Lake Okeechobee makes its way to Florida Bay, it meets saltwater from theGulf of Mexico;mangrove forests grow in this transitional zone, providing nursery and nesting conditions for many species of birds, fish, and invertebrates. The marine environment of Florida Bay is also considered part of the Everglades because its seagrasses and aquatic life are attracted to the constant discharge of freshwater. (Full article...)
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Extent of Ali Bey and Zahir's territory between 1768 and 1774 and Russian naval movements in the Levant, based on the accounts of Sauveur Lusignan, a contemporary historian Beirut was twice occupied during theRusso-Turkish War of 1768–1774 by squadrons of theImperial Russian Navy's Mediterranean Fleet, first in June 1772 and second from October 1773 to early 1774, as part of itsLevant campaign.Russia's main objective in this campaign was to assist local forces led by Egypt's autonomous ruler,Ali Bey al-Kabir, who was in open rebellion against theOttoman Empire.
Russia, led byCatherine the Great, was pressing the Ottomans in Europe. Ali took advantage of the Empire's preoccupation with Russia to declare Egypt's independence; in 1771 he sent an army led byMuhammad Bey Abu al-Dhahab to occupy Ottoman territory in the Levant. Abu al-Dhahab unexpectedly returned to challenge Ali for control of Egypt. Ali requested Russian military assistance against both his rival and the Ottomans. When this aid, in the form of a small Russiansquadron, arrived in the region, Ali had already fled Egypt and taken refuge inAcre, the power base of his ally,Zahir al-Umar. After helping repel an Ottoman offensive onSidon, the Russian squadron sailed for Beirut. They bombarded the town in June 1772 and occupied it from 23 to 28 June. (Full article...)
Griffin designed the lake with many geometric motifs, so that the axes of his design lined up with natural geographical landmarks in the area. However, government authorities changed his original plans, and no substantial work was completed on the lake before he left the project in 1920. Griffin's proposal was further delayed by theGreat Depression andWorld War II, and it was not until the 1950s that planning resumed. After political disputes and consideration of other proposed variations, excavation work began in 1960 with the energetic backing ofAustralian Prime MinisterRobert Menzies. After the completion of the bridges and dams, the dams were locked in September 1963. However, because of a drought, the lake's target water level was not reached until April 1964. The lake was formally inaugurated on 17 October 1964. (Full article...)
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Enhanced color image of Io from theGalileo spacecraft, taken in 1999.
With over 400 activevolcanoes, Io is the most geologically active object in the Solar System. This extreme geologic activity results fromtidal heating fromfriction generated within Io's interior as it is pulled between Jupiter and two other Galilean moons—Europa andGanymede. Several volcanoes produce plumes ofsulfur andsulfur dioxide as high as 500 km (300 mi) above the surface. Io's surface is also dotted with more than 100 mountains uplifted by extensive compression at the base of Io'ssilicate crust. Some of these peaks are taller thanMount Everest, the highest point on Earth's surface. Unlike most moons in the outer Solar System, which are mostly composed of waterice, Io is primarily composed ofsilicate rock surrounding a molteniron oriron sulfide core. Most of Io's surface is composed of extensive plains with a frosty coating ofsulfur andsulfur dioxide. (Full article...)
Bruce had spent most of the 1890s engaged on expeditions to theAntarctic andArctic regions, and by 1899 was Britain's most experiencedpolar scientist. In March of that year, he applied to join the Discovery Expedition; however, his proposal to extend that expedition's field of work into the Weddell Sea quadrant, using a second ship, was dismissed as "mischievous rivalry" byRoyal Geographical Society (RGS) presidentSir Clements Markham. Bruce reacted by obtaining independent finance; his venture was supported and promoted by theRoyal Scottish Geographical Society. (Full article...)
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The ACFEL ice auger showing an ice core pushed up into the core remover barrel
Ice drilling allows scientists studyingglaciers andice sheets to gain access to what is beneath the ice, to take measurements along the interior of the ice, and to retrieve samples. Instruments can be placed in the drilled holes to record temperature, pressure, speed, direction of movement, and for other scientific research, such asneutrino detection.
Many different methods have been used since 1840, when the first scientific ice drilling expedition attempted to drill through theUnteraargletscher in theAlps. Two early methods were percussion, in which the ice is fractured and pulverized, and rotary drilling, a method often used in mineral exploration for rock drilling. In the 1940s, thermal drills began to be used; these drills melt the ice by heating the drill. Drills that use jets of hot water or steam to bore through ice soon followed. A growing interest inice cores, used forpalaeoclimatological research, led to ice coring drills being developed in the 1950s and 1960s, and there are now many different coring drills in use. For obtaining ice cores from deep holes, most investigators use cable-suspended electromechanical drills, which use an armoured cable to carry electrical power to a mechanical drill at the bottom of the borehole. (Full article...)
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Ernest Joyce (right), pictured with other expedition members
Joyce came from a humble seafaring background and began his naval career as a boy seaman in 1891. His Antarctic experiences began 10 years later, when he joined Scott'sDiscovery Expedition as an Able Seaman. In 1907 Shackleton recruited Joyce to take charge of dogs andsledges on theNimrod Expedition. Subsequently, Joyce was engaged in a similar capacity forDouglas Mawson'sAustralasian Antarctic Expedition in 1911, but left the expedition before it departed for the Antarctic. In 1914 Shackleton recruited Joyce for the Ross Sea party; despite his heroics this expedition marked the end of Joyce's association with the Antarctic, and of his exploring career, although he made repeated attempts to join other expeditions. (Full article...)
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SYAurora, anchored to the Antarctic ice
The drift of the Antarctic exploration vesselSYAurora was an ordeal which lasted 312 days, affecting theRoss Sea party ofSir Ernest Shackleton'sImperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition, 1914–1917. It began when the ship broke loose from its anchorage inMcMurdo Sound in May 1915, during a gale. Caught in heavypack ice and unable to manoeuvre,Aurora, with eighteen men aboard, was carried into the open waters of theRoss Sea andSouthern Ocean, leaving ten men stranded ashore with meagre provisions.
Aurora, a 40-year-old former Arcticwhaler registered as asteam yacht, had brought the Ross Sea party toCape Evans in McMurdo Sound in January 1915, to establish its base there in support of Shackleton's proposed transcontinental crossing. WhenAurora's captainAeneas Mackintosh took charge of activities ashore,first officerJoseph Stenhouse assumed command of the ship. Stenhouse's inexperience may have contributed to the choice of an inappropriate winter's berth, although his options were restricted by the instructions of his superiors. After the ship was blown away it suffered severe damage in the ice, including the destruction of its rudder and the loss of its anchors; on several occasions its situation was such that Stenhouse considered abandonment. Efforts to makewireless contact with Cape Evans and, later, with stations in New Zealand and Australia, were unavailing; the drift extended through the southern winter and spring to reach a position north of theAntarctic Circle. In February 1916 the ice broke up, and a month later the ship was free. It was subsequently able to reach New Zealand for repairs and resupply, before returning to Antarctica to rescue the seven surviving members of the shore party. (Full article...)
This picture is a panoramic map of North Cascades National Park, as viewed from the east, created in 1987 by Austrian painter and cartographerHeinrich C. Berann for the National Park Service.
Asatellite image of theSahara, the world's largesthot desert and second largest desert afterAntarctica at over 9,000,000 km² (3,500,000 mi²), almost as large as theUnited States. The Sahara is located in Northern Africa and is 2.5 million years old.
Map:Strebe, using the Geocart map projection software
Atwo-point equidistant projection ofEurasia. All distances of other points from the two points marked in red (45°N 40°E and 30°N 110°E) are correct. This map is a derivative ofNASA'sBlue Marble summer month composite, with oceans lightened to enhance legibility and contrast.
Typhoon Noru was the second-longest lastingtropical cyclone of the northwest Pacific Ocean on record. The fifth named storm of the2017 Pacific typhoon season, it formed on July 19 and reached peak intensity on July 31 with 175 km/h (110 mph) 10-minute sustained winds. By this time, as shown in this satellite image, thetyphoon was located south ofIwo Jima, and had taken onannular characteristics, with a symmetric ring of deep convection surrounding a 30 km (19 mi) well defined eye and fairly uniform cloud top temperatures. Traveling northwestward over an area of low ocean heat content, the eye became enlarged and ragged as the system weakened. By the time Noru madelandfall overWakayama Prefecture, Japan, on August 7, it had been downgraded to a severe tropical storm. It then dissipated over theSea of Japan on August 9 as anextratropical cyclone.
TheGall–Peters projection, named afterJames Gall andArno Peters, is a specialization of a configurable equal-areamap projection known as thecylindrical equal-area projection. It achieved considerable notoriety in the late 20th century as the centerpiece of a controversy surrounding the political implications of map design; Peters promoted it as a more faithful representation than theMercator projection, which inflates the sizes of regions farther from the equator and thus makes the (mostly technologically underdeveloped) equatorial countries appear smaller and therefore, according to Peters, less significant.
Thesinusoidal projection is a pseudocylindricalequal-areamap projection. Used as early as the 16th century, this projection shows distances accurately along the central meridian and theequator; areas furthest from these lines are the most distorted.
The last picture taken of Johnston, 13 hours before his death at the eruption site
David Alexander Johnston (December 18, 1949 – May 18, 1980) was an AmericanUnited States Geological Survey (USGS)volcanologist who was killed by the1980 eruption of Mount St. Helens in the U.S. state ofWashington. A principal scientist on the USGS monitoring team, Johnston was killed in the eruption while manning an observation post six miles (10 km) away on the morning of May 18, 1980. He was the first to report the eruption, transmitting "Vancouver! Vancouver! This is it!" before he was swept away by alateral blast; despite a thorough search, Johnston's body was never found, but state highway workers discovered remnants of his USGS trailer in 1993.
Johnston's career took him across the United States, where he studied theAugustine Volcano inAlaska, theSan Juan volcanic field inColorado, and long-extinct volcanoes inMichigan. Johnston was a meticulous and talented scientist, known for his analyses ofvolcanic gases and their relationship to eruptions. This, along with his enthusiasm and positive attitude, made him liked and respected by many co-workers. After his death, other scientists lauded his character, both verbally and in dedications and letters. Johnston felt scientists must do what is necessary, including taking risks, to help protect the public fromnatural disasters. His work, and that of fellow USGS scientists, convinced authorities to close Mount St. Helens to the public before the 1980 eruption. They maintained the closure despite heavy pressure to re-open the area. His story became intertwined with the popular image of volcanic eruptions and their threat to society, and a part of volcanology's history. To date, Johnston, along with his menteeHarry Glicken, is one of two American volcanologists known to have died in a volcanic eruption. (Full article...)
Dymaxion map of the world with the 30 largest countries and territories by area
This is a list of the world's countries and theirdependencies, ranked by total area, including land and water. (Full article...)
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Generation Z, often shortened toGen Z and informally known asZoomers, is the demographiccohort succeedingMillennials and precedingGeneration Alpha. Researchers and popular media use the mid-to-late 1990s as starting birth years and the early 2010s as ending birth years, with the generation typically being defined as people born from 1997 to 2012. Most members of Generation Z are the children ofGeneration X, and it is expected that many will be the parents of the proposedGeneration Beta. (Full article...)
TheUnited Nations uses three definitions for what constitutes a city, as not all cities in all jurisdictions are classified using the same criteria. Cities may be defined as thecities proper, theirmetropolitan regions, or the extent of theirurban area. A complicating factor is that many large cities in the world have not only homeless or the unhoused, but also vastslum communities. This leads to official census data being less accurate in representing the actual number of residents in a given area. (Full article...)
![Image 1 Nansen in 1890 Fridtjof Wedel-Jarlsberg Nansen (Norwegian: [ˈfrɪ̂tːjɔf ˈnɑ̀nsn̩]; 10 October 1861 – 13 May 1930) was a Norwegian polymath and Nobel Peace Prize laureate. He gained prominence at various points in his life as an explorer, a scientist, a diplomat, a humanitarian, and the co-founder of the Fatherland League. He led the team that made the first crossing of the Greenland interior in 1888, traversing the island on cross-country skis. He won international fame after reaching a record northern latitude of 86°14′ during his Fram expedition of 1893–1896. Although he retired from exploration after his return to Norway, his techniques of polar travel and his innovations in equipment and clothing influenced a generation of subsequent Arctic and Antarctic expeditions. He was elected an International Member of the American Philosophical Society in 1897. (Full article...)](/mt/?noimg=&dark=on&url=https%3a%2f%2fen.wikipedia.org%2fwiki%2fFile%3aBlank.png)
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