[ By Delana in Geography & Travel & History & Trivia & Nature & Ecosystems. ]
To most of us, going on vacation means finding an idyllic location where one can indulge in favorite activities. Whether you like swimming, sunbathing, skiing, hiking or even spotting man-eating animals, there is a vacation out there for you. But there is one holiday destination that is unlike any other: Danakil Desert in northeast Ethiopia has been called “Hell on Earth,” but that doesn’t dissuade thrill-seeking travelers from flocking there to see some of the strangest conditions on the entire planet.
(image via: Telegraph)
Walking in the incredible landscape of the Danakil desert is probably as close as you can get to stepping foot on an alien planet. The desolate landscape is marked by volatile volcanoes and the scorching hot air is filled with hazardous gases. Bizarre sights, foul smells, harsh terrain and punishing temperatures are certainly not what most people would consider ideal vacation elements. It seems more like Armageddon than Paradise.
(images via: Telegraph)
Traveling through this strange place can be hazardous to your health. At any given moment, the African tectonic plate is splitting into two, shifting and causing lava to bubble up from the depths to the surface. Tremors constantly rock the land while the Erta Ale volcano erupts continuously. Sulfur fills the air and it is not at all unusual to see fiery fountains spouting up from the ground. The temperature regularly climbs as high as 115 degrees Fahrenheit.
(image via: Telegraph)
But regardless of the highly unconventional nature of this place as a tourist destination, tourists are willingly visiting the Danakil Desert for the experience of a lifetime. There is no other place on Earth to experience this precise set of conditions all at once…and thank goodness for that. Danakil is certainly one of the least hospitable places anywhere on our planet. To be sure, most people simply could not handle these conditions.
(image via: Telegraph)
But it is not only the natural features of the region that make the Afar region of Ethiopia a rather terrifying place to be. The scarcity of resources means that indigenous tribes often clash over water and land – and they go to extreme measures to protect their interests. Even very young boys can be seen toting rifles to defend their tribes’ territory.
(image via: Addis Live)
Despite the unpleasant aspects of the area and the physical discomfort that marks visits to Danakil, there are plenty of reasons to aspire to vacation there. The world’s only below-sea-level volcano can be found in Danakil Desert along with stunning salt flats, mineral springs, bubbling sulfur pits, lava lakes and acid salt ponds.
(image via: Oddity Central)
The alien sights are truly like nothing else and have even given rise to a strange sort of tourism trade. Travelers from all over the world come to see the most punishing climate and bizarre landscape ever seen first-hand by human eyes. And while it may not be the ideal Spring Break party location, Danakil is absolutely one of the most fascinating places on Earth.
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Prehistoric Inspiration: California Desert Sculpture Safari
[ By Delana in Animals & Habitats & Art & Design & History & Trivia. ]
In a stretch of inhospitable desert 90 miles east of San Diego, a dry wind caresses the dramatic curves of a mammoth, whispers through the bared teeth of a sabertooth tiger, whips at the terrifying claws of a raptor. These imposing figures are both the history and the future of this plot of land: a history buried deep beneath the sands and a future imbued in the scrap metal structures that stoically greet visitors to this unassuming parcel of land called Galleta Meadows Estate.
The story of Galleta Meadows Estate – the modern story, anyway – began in the 1990s when multimillionaire Dennis Avery purchased a fabulously-priced huge parcel of land near Borrego Springs but had no concrete plans for it. The new landowner decided to listen to the land itself to figure out what belonged there.
The answer came to him after he learned that the area was known for the great archaeological secrets buried in the sands. Fossils from the Pliocene, Pleistocene and Miocene eras could be found in large numbers nearby, so Avery realized that he needed to use the land to recall its own history. He enlisted the help of Mexican artist Ricardo Arroyo Breceda to create a scrap metal zoo of pre-historic creatures right there in the middle of the desert.
Breceda’s creations are up to 4 meters tall and made of wire and hammer-pounded scrap metal. They are wild broncos, tortoises, camels, dinosaurs, sloths and tapirs among other wild creatures of long, long ago – all part of a strange safari frozen in time. A few humans even make appearances: gold miners and farmers who pay homage to the more recent history of the region.
(all images via: Galleta Meadows)
Galleta Meadows Estate is now a tourist attraction that accompanies Avery’s golf course, tourist resort and country club which share that parcel of land. The sculptures are scattered through Galleta Meadows, inviting tourists to explore the area and discover every one of them.
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That’s No Moon… It’s A Supermoon!
[ By Steve in Geography & Travel, History & Trivia, Science & Research. ]
On March 19, 2011 when the Moon loomed to its closest approach to Earth in almost 20 years, the usual gang of doomsayers spewed forth apocalyptic predictions while seeking to link the Extreme Supermoon event with recent natural disasters in New Zealand and Japan. While science has shown the Chicken Little’s laid a colossal egg, at least we were given a plethora of marvelous moon photos to swoon over.
Moon River, Wider than a Mile
(image via: Global Times)
With apologies to Johnny Mercer and Andy Williams, the March 19, 2011 extreme supermoon looked more than a mile wider than the average moon and actually WAS miles closer. Though the moon’s distance from the Earth (measured center to center) varies between 357,000 kilometers (222,000 mi) at perigee and 406,000 km (252,000 mi) at apogee due to the elliptic nature of the lunar orbit, the March 19 event saw our solitary satellite snuggle up to within a mere 356,577 km (221,572 mi). Since the average lunar perigee is 364,397 km (226,432 mi), on March 19 the moon was about 7,820 km (4,860 mi) closer to the earth. Above is the March 19 supermoon rising behind Berlin’s Funkturm radio and television tower.
(images via: Say To All and Ajorbahman’s Collection)
It gets even better. Supermoons are most notable when they occur at what astronomers call “perigee-syzygy”: a full or new moon that coincides with lunar perigee. While this in itself isn’t all that special (run of the mill supermoons occur 4 to 6 times a year), so-called “extreme supermoons” like this year’s one looming over Sofia, Bulgaria (above, top) are a different story.
(images via: Say To All, Global Times and Jano)
There have been 14 extreme supermoons since 1900 with the most recent occurring in 2005, 1993, 1992, 1990, 1975, 1974, 1972 and 1954. We can look forward to enjoying (weather permitting) future extreme supermoons in 2016, 2018, 2023, 2034 and 2036… so save the date, we’re brewin’ up some moonshine!
Here’s a short video primer on supermoons and supermoon-mania by some folks who know a thing or two about the moon… NASA:
ScienceCasts: Super Moon, via ScienceAtNASA
(image via: Wikipedia)
Numbers are all well and good but are these differences in distance actually noticeable from our Earthly vantage point? Indeed they are. The average full moon at perigee appears around 12 percent larger than an average non-perigee full moon. Supermoons, even more so. The difference is even greater for extreme supermoons such as the March 19, 2011 event as shown in the comparison split-screen image above. It’s estimated that the moon appeared 14 percent larger and was 30 percent brighter!
The Tides That Bind
(images via: Daily News Global, Frugal Cafe and Ajorbahman’s Collection))
For those of us on Earth (basically ALL of us, ISS-crew excepted), the moon’s gravitational force is most evident in the way it influences the tides. One might expect an extreme supermoon to induce some extreme tides, and indeed that’s the case though “extreme” is a relative term; up to 15 cm (6 in) depending on local conditions.
(images via: Celestia Screenshots Gallery, BBC and Will Barnes Online)
Tidal forces also affect land masses though not enough to be noticeable. That’s not the case on some of the solar system’s other heavenly bodies, specifically the moons which orbit large gas giant planets. These moons heat up from the constant stress and stretching; Jupiter’s moon Io is a leading example. Other moons affected by tidal forces are Enceladus (Saturn) and Triton (Neptune).
(images via: Gaia Souls, Free PSP Movies Portal and National Geographic)
Where we run into problems of speculation and extrapolation is when we try to apply marine tidal dynamics to land masses. The forces involved with plate tectonics and earthquakes are not affected by lunar tides, not to mention that old favorite of astrologers: the alignment of the planets.
(image via: Fast Company and Ajorbahman’s Collection))
Some attempts have been made to show causal relationships between the January 10, 2005 extreme supermoon and the December 26, 2004 Indian Ocean Earthquake and tsunami in Indonesia as well as the March 19, 2011 extreme supermoon and the March 11, 2011 Great Tohoku Kanto Earthquake and tsunami in Japan. Not so fast: it’s been proven unequivocally that “the 2011 Tohoku earthquake is the only destructive earthquake of 8.0 magnitude or greater to have occurred within 2 weeks of the 14 extreme supermoons from 1900 to the present date.”
“I’m Ready For My Closeup”
(images via: Ajorbahman’s Collection)
When the moon hits your eye like a big pizza pie, that’s amore! Or to be more precise, that’s an extreme supermoon! Hmm, maybe it’d sound better if Dino sang it. In any case, you may have noticed the vast majority of the photos that accompany articles on the supermoon feature the moon’s face hovering just above the horizon. There’s a good reason for that: supermoon or not, the moon just looks bigger when it’s rising or setting.
(images via: Spirit Voyage and Ajorbahman’s Collection)
It isn’t really bigger, of course. Our brain’s visual centers aren’t equipped to accurately judge the distance of objects, especially those as distant as the moon. Instead, we compare the relative sizes of objects sharing the same field of vision. A full moon riding high in the sky looks smaller than one rising up from behind a city skyline because there aren’t any visual cues for comparison – clouds and stars don’t count. The same theory can be applied to rising and setting suns.
(images via: EarthSky, Pat Dollard and Cosmos TV)
Everything said up to this point applies to supermoons seen by human beings – including our primitive ancestors. Go much farther back in time and a lot of what those aforementioned doomsayers have been saying takes on more than a glimmer of truth. That’s because the moon didn’t always orbit the Earth at its current, slightly variable distance. It used to be closer… a LOT closer.
(images via: German Aerospace Center, Ecogirl & Cosmoboy, Science Photo Library and Bob Willits)
Astronomers believe the moon was formed by a spectacular collision between the Earth and a Mars-sized rogue planetoid approximately 4.5 billion years ago, very early in the history of the solar system. The impactor slammed into the mostly molten proto-Earth, splashing a goodly glop of magma into space where it first became a Saturn-like ring before coalescing into the moon.
(image via: Science Photo Library)
The newborn moon orbited exceptionally close to the earth – approximately 25,500 km (15,845 mi) away. Imagine the tides a moon that close would raise on an Earth awash with oceans of magma! The moon continues to slowly spiral away from the Earth at a rate of about 3.8 cm (1.52 in) per year, thus making each future supermoon slightly less super than the one before.
Look Skywatchers!
(image via: ScriptingNews)
So you missed the 2011 extreme supermoon due to cloudy skies in your area; not to worry. There’ll be another one soon enough… well, 2016 isn’t that far away. Maybe you, like the future President of the United States, will be able to see it from your house. Hey, that’s no moon!
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Our Fiend The Atom: INES Rates The Worst Nuclear Accidents
[ By Steve in Energy & Fuel, History & Trivia, Science & Research. ]
Japan’s Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant, damaged by the March 11, 2011 earthquake and tsunami, joins a listing of 9 major nuclear accidents rated on the IAEA’s International Nuclear and Radiological Event Scale (INES) as the worst the world has seen… so far.
Mihama Nuclear Power Plant, Japan, 2004 (INES 1)
(image via: Ayumu Kawazoe)
The INES scale introduced in 1990 by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) is logarithmic, with each increasing level representing an accident approximately ten times more severe than the previous level – similar to the Richter scale used to judge the magnitude of earthquakes. Therefore our listing of the World’s Worst Nuclear Accidents begins with the August 9, 2004 steam explosion at Japan’s Mihama Nuclear Power Plant, given an INES rating of 1.
(images via: NY Times, SMH and China Daily)
The Mihama Nuclear Power Plant is located in Japan’s Fukui prefecture about 320 km (about 200 miles) west of Tokyo. The plant, which was commissioned in 1976, was the site of several small nuclear-related accidents in 1991 and 2003. On August 9 of 2004, a water pipe in a turbine building adjoining the Mihama 3 reactor burst suddenly as workers prepared to conduct a routine safety inspection. Though no radiation was released, the steam explosion killed 5 plant workers and injured dozens of others. Mihama’s notoriety increased in 2006 when 2 plant workers were injured in an on-site fire.
Davis-Besse Reactor, USA, 2002 (INES 3)
(images via: WKSU, Scientific American and NRC)
The Davis-Besse Nuclear Power Station, located about 10 miles (16km) north of Oak Harbor, Ohio, was commissioned in July of 1978 and is scheduled for final shutdown in April of 2017.
(image via: Ohio Citizen Action)
The plant has racked up a number of safety problems over its lifetime, including being struck by an F2 tornado in 1998, but the worst of those occurred in March of 2002 when a serious corrosion issue forced the plant to close for roughly 2 years.
During maintenance, plant workers discovered a 6-inch deep corrosion hole in the top of the carbon steel reactor vessel. Only 3/8” of steel cladding remained to prevent a catastrophic pressure explosion and subsequent loss of coolant. If nearby control rod mechanisms would have been damaged in the explosion, shutting down the reactor and avoiding a core meltdown would have been difficult to say the least.
National Reactor Testing Station, USA, 1961 (INES 4)
(images via: U.S. Militaria Forum and The ’60s At 50)
One of the earliest major nuclear power plant accidents occurred on January 3, 1961 when a steam explosion and meltdown killed 3 workers at Stationary Low-Power Reactor Number One (SL-1). The reactor, located at the National Reactor Testing Station roughly 40 miles (60km) west of Idaho Falls, Idaho, was of a now-discontinued design that featured a single large, central control rod.
(images via: Wikivisual, U.S. DOE and Wikipedia)
A maintenance procedure that involved withdrawing the control rod about 4 inches (10cm) somehow went horribly wrong: the rod was lifted 26 inches (65cm) and the nuclear pile went critical. Three plant workers were killed in the resulting explosion and radiation release; one man was found impaled to the reactor building’s ceiling by one of the reactor’s shield plugs. About 1,100 Curies of nuclear fission products were released into the surrounding environment but any damage was mitigated by the station’s remote location in the Idaho desert. In the image above at top, you can see the damaged reactor core being lifted out of the containment building by a heavily shielded crane.
Jaslovské Bohunice, Czechoslovakia, 1977 (INES 4)
(image via: Kyberia)
Talk about accidents waiting to happen. At the Bohunice Nuclear Power Plant in Jaslovské Bohunice, Czechoslovakia (now Slovakia), all the ingredients for a nuclear disaster were already in place by 1977 when A1, the plant’s oldest reactor, overheated and nearly caused a large-scale environmental disaster. Where to begin? Let’s see… the model KS-150 reactor was of a unique and unproven design from the Soviet Union which was built in Czechoslovakia. Not a good start, and then it gets worse.
(images via: EnergyWeb and IAEA)
Construction of A1 began in 1958 and took an amazing 16 years! The untested design of the KS-150 reactor soon revealed numerous flaws that led to over 30 unplanned shutdowns in the first few years of operation. Two workers were killed by a gas leak in early 1976. Just over a year later a botched fuel changing procedure compounded by human error – workers forgot to remove silica gel packs from the new fuel rods – resulted in a core cooling emergency. It’s expected that ongoing efforts to decontaminate and fully decommission the A1 reactor won’t be completed until sometime in 2033.
Tomsk-7 Reprocessing Complex, USSR, 1993 (INES 4)
(images via: Jishi Xooob and Girasole Online)
The Siberian Group of Chemical Enterprises is a group of factories and nuclear power plants located in the Russian city of Seversk. Formerly a Soviet “secret city”, Seversk was until 1992 known as Tomsk-7, which is actually a post office box number. Though former Russian president Boris Yeltsin relaxed some of the restrictions on Seversk (including its name), to this day non-residents are not allowed to visit the city.
The Tomsk-7 Reprocessing Complex was one of the “enterprises” at Seversk, and on April 6, 1993, the facility achieved some very unwanted fame. Workers were cleaning out an underground tank at the Tomsk-7 Plutonium Reprocessing Plant using highly volatile Nitric Acid. The acid reacted with residual liquid inside the tank – liquid that contained traces of plutonium. An explosion then occurred which blew a reinforced concrete lid off the top of the tank, punched holes in the building’s roof, short- circuited the plant’s electrical systems and started a fire. Last and not least, the explosion released of a large cloud of radioactive gas into the surrounding environment.
Tokaimura Uranium Processing Facility, Japan, 1999 (INES 4)
(image via: LiveInternet)
Human error compounded by rash business decisions led to the so-called Tokaimura Criticality Accident, which took place on September 30, 1999, at Japan’s Tokaimura Uranium Processing Facility in Japan’s Ibaraki prefecture north of Tokyo. The facility, formerly operated by JCO Ltd., processed and purified Uranium fuel used by Japan’s many nuclear power plants.
(images via: BBC and SOS: El Planeta te Necesita)
The accident was caused by poorly trained workers at the Tokaimura plant taking shortcuts in the refining procedure. Under pressure to complete their duties on time, the workers skipped several steps in the process. Uranium Oxide powder and Nitric Acid were mixed in 10-liter buckets instead of several dedicated tanks, and ended up dumping 7 times the recommended amount of Uranium/Acid mixture to a precipitation tank. The mixture reached critical mass and a chain reaction lasting 20 hours then ensued. Two of the plant workers died from radiation exposure and dozens of others were exposed to above-normal levels of radiation.
Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant, Japan, 2011 (INES 4+)
(images via: InventorSpot, LA Times and 2Space)
The Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant, located 170 miles or 270 kilometers northeast of Tokyo, is one of the largest nuclear power plants in the world with 6 nuclear reactors supplying power to the Tokyo megalopolis and the Japanese electric power grid. In the immediate aftermath of the devastating 9.0 magnitude Sendai Earthquake on March 11, 2011, power outages caused the reactor coolant pumps to stop. Backup diesel generators had been stored in a low-lying area and were damaged by the quake-related tsunami.
(images via: Edmonton Journal and SOS: El Planeta te Necesita)
By the time a working generator could be set up inside the building housing reactor #1, the core had begun to overheat and hydrogen gas built up to dangerous levels inside the containment building. A spark from the generator likely caused a hydrogen explosion that blew the roof off the containment building. The next day a similar, more powerful explosion occurred the next day in the building containing reactor #3, on March 14 yet another explosion shattered the containment building of reactor #2, and inside reactor #4′s containment building stored fuel may be on fire after water in a storage pool boiled off.
Here is a video of the first explosion:
福島第一原発 爆発の瞬間 Explosion at Fukushima nuclear plant, via Studiomu00
(image via: PopSci)
Though the INES has given the ongoing critical situation at the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant a provisory rating of 4, France’s ASN nuclear safety authority has suggested the rating should actually be much higher. “Level 4 is a serious level,” commented ASN President Andre-Claude Lacoste, speaking at a news conference on March 14, 2011, but “We feel that we are at least at level 5 or even at level 6.”
Three Mile Island, USA, 1979 (INES 5)
(images via: EOEarth, How Stuff Works and Reason)
On March 28, 1979, coolant pumps in reactor TMI-2 at the Three Mile Island Nuclear Generating Station near Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, failed and a pressure-relief valve failed to close. Control room staff began to hear alarms and see warning lights. Unfortunately, faulty design of the sensors caused plant operators to miss and/or misread signs that the reactor core was first overheating, then actually melting.
(image via: Timemapped)
By the time the situation was brought under control, half the reactor core had melted and approximately 20 tons of molten uranium was slowly solidifying at the bottom of the reactor’s containment vessel. Venting of steam and gas from inside the containment building allowed significant amounts of radioactive material to escape into the atmosphere and surrounding environment.
(images via: OCRegister, From The Vault Radio, Sodahead and Pennlive)
The Three Mile Island accident caused no deaths or injuries to plant workers or residents of nearby communities but it still is rated as the most serious accident in U.S. commercial nuclear power plant operating history. Extensive – some say sensationalistic – news coverage of the event, comparisons to the plot of the film The China Syndrome (released just 12 days before the accident), and a memorable sketch on Saturday Night Live all contributed to the incident’s prominent place in late 20th century pop culture. It’s no, er, accident that not a single new nuclear power plant has been built in the United States since.
Kyshtym Disaster, USSR, 1957 (INES 6)
(images via: Crashstuff, Wikipedia and Bellona)
In the Soviet Union’s frantic race to catch up with the USA in the post-war, Cold War nuclear arms race, corners were cut and mistakes were made. By far the largest of the latter occurred in September of 1957 at the Mayak nuclear fuel reprocessing plant in the closed city of Ozyorsk, formerly (before 1994) known as Chelyabinsk-40. A cluster of reactors at the site produced Plutonium for Soviet nuclear weapons and, as a by-product, nuclear waste. LOTS of nuclear waste. The waste was stored in underground steel cisterns set in concrete and cooled by an unreliable cooling system.
(image via: Bellona)
In the fall of 1957, the cooling system around a vessel containing up to 80 tons of solid nuclear waste failed. Radioactivity quickly heated the waste to the point where the container exploded, sending its 160-ton concrete lid into the air along with a massive cloud of very dirty fallout. Approximately 10,000 people were evacuated from the affected region and about 270,000 in total were exposed to dangerous levels of radiation. At least 200 deaths from cancer can be directly attributed to the accident and around 30 town names vanished from Soviet maps.
(images via: Bellona and Narod)
Though the full extent of the Kyshtym Disaster was not revealed by the USSR until 1990, the CIA was aware of the incident yet decided not to reveal any information as it might reflect negatively on the American nuclear power industry. Meanwhile in Kyshtym, the vast East-Ural Nature Reserve (also known as the East-Ural Radioactive Trace) remains heavily contaminated by radioactive Caesium-137 and Strontium-90 over a roughly 300 square mile (800 sq km) area.
Chernobyl Disaster, USSR, 1986 (INES 7)
(image via: Stuck In Customs)
As bad as the Kyshtym Disaster was, the Chernobyl Disaster was worse: 4 times worse, if dispersed radioactivity is the measuring stick. To date, the steam explosion and reactor meltdown of Reactor 4 at the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant is the only nuclear accident to rate a 7 on the International Nuclear Event Scale.
(images via: Scrape TV, Stockani News and Stormchaser)
The disaster began on April 26, 1986, when technicians at Reactor 4 were conducting an experimental power-down procedure. Human error led to a series of unexpected power surges that explosively burst the reactor’s containment vessel, starting a fire that impelled clouds of radioactive fission products and fallout into the open air. The cloud would eventually drift over large areas of eastern, western and northern Europe forcing over 335,000 people to be evacuated from a Zone of Alienation. Though only 53 deaths resulted directly from the accident, many thousands of other suffered (and still suffer) debilitating, chronic illness.
(image via: Funny Old Planet)
These days the area around Chernobyl exhibits a strange dichotomy: the abandoned towns of Chernobyl and Pripyat slowly decay while wildlife in the surrounding woods and forests is booming now that the human presence has been removed. Reports of lynxes and even bears, which have not been seen in centuries, prove the eminent resilience of nature and life’s ability to adapt and adjust to even the most hostile of conditions.
(images via: Maison Bisson, Pumachassures and Funny Old Planet)
Chernobyl is the poster child for nuclear accidents, with atomic power protesters warning of “another Chernobyl” as often as anti-war advocates advising against “another Vietnam”. As for the apocalyptically named Zone of Alienation, Ukrainian authorities are finding it difficult to keep self-styled “stalkers” from conducting expeditions into the area aimed at fun and profit. Word to those contemplating such an adventure: what you can’t see, CAN hurt you!
Radiation In Your Nation?
(image via: Market Watch)
Though the Chernobyl Disaster is the only INES-rated Level 7 incident on record, there’s no guarantee that another, even worse nuclear disaster will occur someday. Natural disasters, human errors and aging components are, unfortunately, facts of life (and death) for the nuclear industry. With nearly 500 nuclear power plants around the world in operation and under construction, the question isn’t IF another atomic accident will happen, but WHEN.
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Born Freezing: Meet Antarctica’s First Citizen
[ By Steve in Geography & Travel, History & Trivia, Nature & Ecosystems. ]
You say you’re from the Deep South? From Down Under, perhaps? Emilio Marcos Palma would like a word. Born in 1978 at Argentina’s Esperanza Base on the Antarctic Peninsula, Palma can be considered to be the first native Antarctican.
Snow Kidding
(image via: Fotolog)
He may not be the last man on Earth but Emilio Marcos Palma (above, aged 30) was the first man born on the continent of Antarctica. While this unique claim to fame may not overly impress members of the opposite sex, Palma’s place in history is assured thanks to the cold hard facts of his birth.
(images via: Dinosaurios de Argentina, Taringa! and Skyscraper City)
A little background: The 1959 Antarctic Treaty (to which Argentina is a signatory) “does not recognize, dispute, nor establish territorial sovereignty claims,” and Argentina has staked out a triangular wedge of the continent that encompasses most of the Antarctic Peninsula and narrows to a point at the South Pole.
So-called Argentine Antarctica (Antártida Argentina, in Spanish) is administered as a department of the province of Tierra del Fuego, Antarctica, and South Atlantic Islands with the governor residing in Ushuaia, Patagonia.
(images via: Filatelissimo and Taringa!)
Argentina has strongly supported its claim to Antártida Argentina with people power – the country has sent more humans to Antarctica than all other nations combined.
(image via: Skaboii)
Orcadas Base (above) in the South Orkney Islands was established in early 1904 and was the first permanently inhabited base in Antarctica. Over the succeeding century, Argentina set up 5 other permanently occupied bases including Esperanza Base, where Emilio Marcos Palma was born.
A Man, A Plan, Antarctica!
(images via: Fotolog, Andinia and Alfinal)
In the 1970s, Argentina was ruled by a military dictatorship with expansionist ambitions. The nation’s political hierarchy thought that announcing births in Antártida Argentina would help support Argentina’s claim to the territory. This was easier said than done: like Mars in Elton John’s “Rocket Man”, Esperanza Base ain’t the kind of place to raise your kids; in fact it’s cold as Hell.
(images via: Bill’s Movie Emporium and A Nerd Goes To The Movies)
Speaking of which… those who’ve watched the classic Clint Eastwood film High Plains Drifter (1973) will immediately note the resemblance between Esperanza Base and the film’s fictional Old West town of Lago, after the latter received an extreme makeover of sorts.
(images via: Search.com, Mezvan and Esacademic)
But back to the problem of population. The solution came courtesy of Captain Jorge Emilio Palma, leader of the Argentine army detachment at Esperanza Base, and his wife Sílvia Morella de Palma who at the time (late 1977) was 7 months pregnant. Once it was assured basic medical facilities and staff were on hand at Esperanza Base, Mrs. Palma was flown in to complete her pregnancy.
It was an ideal set of circumstances: Sílvia did not have to face nutrition issues in the sensitive early months of her pregnancy, and the child would be both an Argentine citizen (as were his parents) and the first child to be born in Antarctica.
(images via: Taringa! and La Casa de las Palomas)
Esperanza Base was one of the larger Argentine antarctic bases in 1978 and as of October 2010 had a population of 66. Once ensconced at the base, the remaining weeks of Sílvia Morella de Palma’s pregnancy passed without complications and on January 7, 1978, Emilio Marcos Palma entered the bottom of the world weighing 7½ pounds (3.4 kg). If it was any consolation to the family, Emilio’s birth occurred at the height of the Antarctic summer with the midnight sun shining bright and the average temperature hovering around 3°C (37°F).
He Comes From A Land Down Under
(images via: Welcome Argentina, Ecosolnorte and Nuestromar)
Sorry Aussies, you can’t get any more “under” than Antarctica but with that said, Esperanza Base lies north of more than 90 percent of the frozen continent. The base, founded by Argentina in 1952, is situated near the tip of the Antarctic Peninsula – that long, narrowing tentacle of land that reaches up towards the southern cone of South America from Antarctica’s central massif.
(image via: Taringa!)
The rugged, mountainous peninsula is actually a continuation of the Andes, a geological fact that connects the two continents (and helps support nationalistic claims to Antártida Argentina).
(images via: Skaboii, Vibracobra23 and Britlink)
Territorial claims in Antarctica typically look like radial sections but unlike a pie, things are anything but cut & dried. The Argentine, Chilean and British claims (Antártida Argentina, Antártica and the British Antarctic Territory respectively) all significantly overlap and, on a lighter note, have their own unique flags.
On a further, even lighter note, Emilio Marcos Palma has a plausible claim to British nationality as Esperanza Base lies within the competing UK claim of the British Antarctic Territory.
Great Scott, it’s an Antarctic Baby Boom!
(image via: Far and Away Photographic Arts)
Antarctica: an ice place to visit but I wouldn’t want to live there… oh really? Emilio Marcos Palma may have been the first human born in Antarctica but subsequent blessed events proved he’s no fluke.
To date (2009), eleven children have been officially born in Antarctica or antarctic territories, which are defined as being south of the 60th parallel. Eight of these erstwhile Antarcticans were born at Esperanza Base.
(images via: YidnaMU and Ateneo Fotografico)
Three other Antarctican babies share a birthplace at Chile’s Base Presidente Eduardo Frei Montalva, situated on King George Island at an approximate latitude of 62° south. Chile’s first official Antarctican is Juan Pablo Camacho Martino, born on November 21, 1984.
(images via: Historias Con Historia and @rt Outsiders)
Well, it WAS an Antarctic baby boom but it seems to have become somewhat of a bust… all indications are that the most recent child born in Antarctica was Ignacio Alfonso Miranda Lagunas, born on January 23, 1985, in the Chilean Commune of Antártica.
As of 2010, the number of people working on scientific research and other work in Antarctica and islands nearby ranges from a low of about 1,000 in winter to around 5,000 in summer – and surely they aren’t all the same sex. What happened?
(image via: AntartidaAbierta)
Maybe now that the ice has been broken, so to speak, governments who operate Antarctic bases realize there’s no longer any good reason to risk the lives of mothers and babies far from large, modern hospitals. Penguins may have evolved to cope with Antarctica’s frigid conditions; humans still have a ways to go.
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Siberian Rusty: Russia’s Despoiled Wrangel Island
[ By Steve in Animals & Habitats, History & Trivia, Nature & Ecosystems. ]
There are few places on earth more hostile to human life than Russia’s Wrangel Island – when it comes to climate, comfort & communication, even Siberia seems cozy. That hasn’t stopped people from trying, however, though the price paid in attempts to colonize this lonely outpost have left a poisonous legacy of environmental despoliation on a massive scale.
(images via: USA State Department and TrekEarth)
Wrangel Island (not to be confused with Alaska’s Wrangell Island) is named after Baron Ferdinand von Wrangel (1797–1870), who in the early 1820s searched for an island mentioned in local legends but never found it. The island that bears his name is located northwest of Siberia’s Chukchi Peninsula along the 180° meridian at 71° north latitude. Its harsh “severe polar climate” (the record low temperature was -57.7°C or -71.9°F) is at its bone-chilling worst during the 2 months between November 22 and January 22 when the 2,800 square mile (7,300 sq km) island doesn’t see a sunrise.
(images via: Lyn Gualtieri, Visions 2200 and Cameron Davidson)
The polar opposite – literally – of a tropical paradise, Wrangel Island is thought to have been the stomping grounds of the world’s last Woolly Mammoths though the remains found on the island indicate these holdouts against extinction were a much smaller variety. These insular dwarf mammoths, Mammuth primigenius wrangelensis, may have survived into the second millennium BC, thousands of years after their larger cousins vanished into history.
(images via: Lyn Gualtieri and Gigazine)
The remoteness of Wrangel Island probably shielded the last mammoths from human predators. Though prehistoric Siberian hunters and Russian fur traders visited on a temporary basis, it wasn’t until 1926 that the first permanent settlement on the island was established at Ushakovskoye.
(image via: RussiaTrek)
Though the first child born on Wrangel Island was recorded at the settlement in 1928, villagers have had to be evacuated a number of times. Ultimately, Ushakovskoye was not sustainable: Vasilina Alpaun, the village’s last resident, was killed outside her home by a polar bear on October 13, 2003.
(images via: Corbis and Sergey Gorshkov)
Various attempts to colonize Wrangel Island in the 20th century by Russia, Canada, the United States and the Soviet Union have left a bitter and unsightly legacy: environmental degradation on a massive scale. The pollution is striking in a visual sense but more insidious is what is unseen – slow but steady contamination of the island’s soil and groundwater by leaked petrofuels. Though Wrangel Island is a horribly cold place much of the year, temperatures rise to 15°C or 60°F during the all-too-brief summer months from June through August. Not uncoincidentally, summer is when Wrangell Island sees an astonishing burst of plant and animal life.
(images via: Gigazine and Sergey Gorshkov)
Biologists estimate over 400 species of plants flourish on Wrangel Island, twice the number found on any other Arctic tundra territory of similar size. The island is a favored polar bear breeding ground and other animals found in abundance include Arctic Fox, Arctic Wolves, Snow Owls, Snow Geese, lemmings, seals and walruses.
(image via: RussiaTrek)
Migrating birds consider the island a crucial stopover point and introduced large mammals such as reindeer and musk ox have thrived. The government of the USSR, in a rare pro-environmental move, established the Wrangel Island State Reserve in 1976. The 1,730,000 acre (700,000 ha) reserve was designated a UNESCO World Heritage site in 2004.
(images via: Sergey Gorshkov)
These worthwhile green initiatives clash with the extreme despoliation that has occurred on other parts of Wrangel Island. Seemingly endless rows of used oil drums litter the treeless landscape while structures and buildings meant to be temporary are gradually being reduced by arctic winds and relentless freeze/thaw cycles. How to explain this disfiguring mess?
(images via: Sergey Gorshkov)
The expansive garbage dumps on Wrangel Island result from a combination of its extreme isolation and forbidding climate. Human settlements in frosty climes require fuel, typically shipped in standard 55-gallon oil drums.
(image via: Sergey Gorshkov)
Transportation by ship is expensive; by helicopter even more so – and bringing empty drums back to their original shipping point by those methods isn’t economically feasible. And so the drums are stacked outdoors, each one containing small amounts of residual fuel that leaks onto (and into) the ground as the drums slowly corrode.
(images via: Russian Geographical Society and RussiaTrek)
Russian wildlife photographer Sergey Gorshkov (above, left) has spent years visually documenting the oft-savage beauty of Russia’s far eastern regions. “I have begun shooting wild nature imperceptibly, taking pleasure which I can’t compare with anything,” says Gorshkov. “I want to photograph the native wildlife such what it is, what it always was and what it should remain for our children.”
(images via: Sergey Gorshkov)
Gorshkov’s eerily beautiful record of Wrangel Island’s spoiled landscape adds a new dimension to his photographic style, capturing the island’s wildlife amidst the flotsam and jetsam of human profligacy. Regardless of the post-apocalyptic scenery surrounding them, Gorshkov’s subjects manage to maintain their essential dignity and natural, timeless beauty. That’s more than can be said for the people who created the mess in the first place.
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Good Day At Black Rock: 10 Cool Columnar Basalt Formations
[ By Steve in Geography & Travel, History & Trivia, Nature & Ecosystems. ]
Columnar basalt formations like Devils Tower and the Giant’s Causeway have amazed and mystified humans from time immemorial. We now know that these spectacular geological wonders formed when extruded molten lava cooled, crystallized and cracked along precise angles. When exposed en masse, these magnificent symmetrical pillars look anything but natural… but they are: SUPER natural!
Devils Tower, Wyoming, USA
(images via: PlanetWare and Brian Davis)
Devils Tower, located in northeastern Wyoming, was designated America’s first national monument by President Theodore Roosevelt in 1906. Geologists are not completely sure how the 1,267 ft (386 m) tall tower came to be, with most theories centering on it being the core, or plug, of an ancient volcano whose outer layers have eroded away. Though the columnar basalt on the formation’s exterior is eroding, so is the softer sandstone surrounding its base.
Here’s an amateur video taken at Devils Tower during a rainstorm, with a bonus double rainbow. What does it mean??
A STORMY ENCOUNTER AT DEVILS TOWER!, via Loakjoe
(images via: ZME Travel)
Devils Tower was known of and venerated by several Native American tribes. One legend concerning the formation involves 7 young girls pursued by a bear. When the ground rose, carrying them upward and out of the creature’s reach, the bear frantically scratched and clawed at the rock until it died of exhaustion. Devils Tower burst into modern pop culture consciousness with the release of the 1977 film Close Encounters of the Third Kind. The Tower first appears as a kitchen construction made of mashed potatoes and then, later on, as the contact point between humans and a more-advanced alien race.
Hexagon Pools, Golan Heights, Israel/Syria
(images via: Don Schwager and Stephen Coster)
The Hexagon Pools and their related watercourses are fed by cold, clear water draining off the nearby hills of the Golan Heights. Surprisingly to many who expect the region to have a classic Middle eastern desert environment, the area is well-watered and the rocks are mainly of volcanic origin.
(image via: Ilan_Gad)
Sheets of columnar basalt tinted a burnished gray hue hang alongside the Hexagon Pools – it’s the polygonal sections of rock that give the pools their name. The rock formations have been acted on by shifting subterranean fault lines over a very long time, which accounts for their unusual twisted appearance.
Cyclopean Isles, Italy
(images via: Gnuckx)
Located off the southeastern coast of Sicily in the Mediterranean Sea, the Cyclopean Isles are a small group of volcanic islands associated with nearby Mount Etna. The islands are mainly made up of black basalt that, under the influence of water and weathering, has evolved into a wide variety of otherworldly formations including vertical columns and horizontal polygonal mosaics.
(image via: Carlos Parada and Maicar Förlag)
The Cyclopean Isles feature prominently in The Odyssey, the ancient Greek poet Homer’s tale of the warrior king Odysseus (Ulysses) and his lyric journey home from the city of Troy. Odysseus and his crew were captured and imprisoned by a monstrous, one-eyed Cyclops when they landed on one of the islands, only escaping when Odysseus blinded the Cyclops while he slept. In his rage, the pain-crazed cyclops wildly threw huge boulders in the direction of Odysseus’s sailing ship.
Jusangjeolli, Jeju Island, South Korea
(images via: KTO, Rachello and The Adventures of a Nomad!)
Jusangjeolli is a huge formation of columnar basalt extending along a 3.5km () stretch of the Jungmun and Daepo seashore in Seogwipo, Jeju Island.” In some places, sheer cliffs made up of vertical basalt columns rise up to 20m (60 ft) above the beach. Often compared to the Giant’s Causeway in Northern Ireland, Jusangjeolli also juts out into the ocean and owes its unique character to age-old forces acting at the interface between sea and land.
(image via: Travel Webshots)
Exposure to the elements over untold millions of years has left its mark on the once sharply delineated columns. In some areas the columns have partially separated into individual spires; closer to the shore crashing waves have softened and rounded their contours to the point where they resemble man-made walls similar to those constructed by the Incas.
Fingal’s Cave, Staffa, Scotland
(images via: PDN and Southern Hebrides)
Fingal’s Cave is an enormous sea grotto located on the rugged coast of Staffa, Scotland. The island is uninhabited and is graced with a host of natural geologic wonders formed from the same eruption of black basalt that composes the Giant’s Causeway. Show Caves of the World notes the dimensions of Fingal’s Cave as being 85 m (279 ft) deep and 23 m (75 ft) high.
This remarkable video puts you among a group of visitors touring Staffa and Fingal’s Cave on a magnificent sunny day. Note the varying types of columnar basalt – long straight “organ pipes” below and shorter, jumbled “hair” above:
Staffa & Fingals cave june 09, via Floydog1
(image via: Last Refuge Ltd.)
Described by visitors as a “truly natural cathedral complete with basaltic organ pipes”, Fingal’s Cave is endowed with unusual acoustic properties that distort and magnify the sounds of crashing waves. Scottish novelist Sir Walter Scott visited Fingal’s Cave and described it as “one of the most extraordinary places I ever beheld. It exceeded, in my mind, every description I had heard of it… eternally swept by a deep and swelling sea, and paved, as it were, with ruddy marble, it baffles all description.”
Garni Gorge, Armenia
(image via: Krikor Tersakian)
Garni Gorge is located 23 km (14.3 miles) east of Yerevan, the capitol of the country of Armenia. Due to the fact that it’s an inland canyon and not a seaside cliff formation, Garni Gorge offers a rare opportunity to view vast expanses of well-preserved columnar basalt on both sides of the onlooker. A notable landmark dating far back into prehistory, visitors to Garni Gorge can visit a restored 1st century AD Hellenistic temple situated on a promontory overlooking the canyon’s depths.
(image via: Damn Cool Pics)
Garni Gorge’s most famous feature is the “Symphony of the Stones”, a frozen cascade of basaltic “organ pipes” likened to a hanging garden due to erosion and undercutting of the valley floor. It’s a brave tourist who attempts to take photos or film video from beneath thousands of tons of suspended stone!
Gilbert Hill, Mumbai, India
(images via: IITB and Trivial Matters)
Gilbert Hill is a 197 ft (60 m) tall monolithic black basalt extrusion located in the outskirts of Mumbai in India’s state of Maharashtra. With its sheer vertical face and precisely etched vertical rock columns, the 65 million year old formation is said by some to resemble a much smaller version of Devils Tower.
(image via: YessAarKay)
Unlike most other famous large formations of columnar basalt, Gilbert Hill finds itself located in an urban setting as the city of Mumbai (formerly Bombay) has expanded around it. Though its summit provides a remarkable view over the densely packed roofs of Mumbai, years of quarrying around the formation’s base has both degraded the Gilbert Hill’s original, natural appearance and has created an increasingly dangerous hazard as the basalt columns lose their ground-level support.
Devils Postpile, California, USA
(images via: Travel and Tourism Info and Kevin Gong)
Devils Postpile is located near Mammoth Mountain in eastern California near the border with Nevada. Along with 101-ft high Rainbow Falls, this unusually symmetrical formation of columnar basalt is included in Devils Postpile National Monument, established in 1911 by a presidential proclamation. The order to create the park was in response to a dam-building proposal that would have seen Devils Postpile blasted into oblivion. The basalt formation offers visitors easy access to both the face and the top – the latter looking much like a man-made parquet floor.
Here’s a short video highlighting Devils Postpile, courtesy of an appreciative visitor:
Devils Post Pile, via 01djdave
(image via: T.Linn)
The lava flow that created Devils Postpile is relatively young, geologically speaking, being between 100,000 and 700,000 years old. Surface topography at the time of the eruption prevented the lava from spreading out and as a consequence, the original 400-ft (122 m) thick layer of basalt cooled slowly and evenly. It’s thought that this slow cooling allowed the basalt to form very long and uniform columns, most of which are six-sided in cross section.
Svartifoss, Skaftafell National Park, Iceland
(images via: Academic.ru, TrekEarth, Linternaute and Routard)
Svartifoss (“Black Falls”, in Icelandic) is located in Iceland’s Skaftafell National Park. This rare and striking example of a columnar basalt formation combined with a 12 meter (39 ft) high waterfall can be appreciated in all 4 seasons. The undercut structure of the columns accentuates their visual similarity to traditional church organ pipes.
Click HERE to view a spectacular 360-degree panorama of Svartifoss that can’t be beat except by actually going there:
(image via: Perfect Planet)
The basalt columns that make up the escarpment over which the falls flows are virtually unweathered and display straight, sharp edges that advertise their crystalline structure. This is due to the more rapid erosion caused by the constant, fast-flowing falls combined with Iceland’s perpetual freeze-thaw cycle.
Giant’s Causeway, County Antrim, Northern Ireland
The Giant’s Causeway (Clochán an Aifir, or Clochán na bhFómharach in Gaelic) is a spectacular assemblage of around 40,000 black basalt columns, weathered and eroded to varying degrees by the harsh seaside environment of County Antrim in Northern Ireland. The columns are up to 60 million years old, and the passage of time has acted to form a series of terraces leading down – and into – the frigid North Channel of the Irish Sea.
Check out this video from National Geographic showing the Giant’s Causeway in all its multi-faceted glory:
Giant’s Causeway, via NationalGeographic
(image via: Krikor Tersakian)
The Giant’s Causeway has another claim to fame, one which has contributed to the site being declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO (1986) and a National Nature Reserve (1987) by the Department of the Environment for Northern Ireland. It seems that the Girona, a straggler ship of the Spanish Armada was shipwrecked just offshore of the Giant’s Causeway in late October of 1588. The ship was carrying over 1,000 sailors from other sunk or shipwrecked Spanish ships, along with their valuables, in addition to her own crew of about 300 – it’s estimated less than 10 survived.
(images via: TrekEarth and David Doyle)
It’s somewhat surprising that the Giant’s Causeway was little known in learned geological circles until the last years of the 17th century. Part of this ignorance has to do with the formation’s isolated location, and anecdotal accounts of the features size and grandeur were deemed too grandiose to be true. Thanks to the wonders of modern photographic technology, the world can see that reports of the Giant’s Causeway were anything BUT an exaggeration!
(images via: Ian Burt, National Geographic and Science Daily)
The otherworldly beauty of columnar basalt formations like the Giant’s Causeway lends itself to most any artistic endeavor, including music. Those familiar with Led Zeppelin’s fifth album Houses of the Holy, released in March of 1973, may have wondered where on Earth the bizarre landscape on the album cover was located. Well, now you know… Rock On!!
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Super Fun Superfund? 13 Reclaimed Toxic Sites
[ By Steph in Food & Health, History & Trivia, Nature & Ecosystems. ]
In Montana, children gleefully haul trout out of the water of a river that recently wasn’t able to support life of any kind. New Jersey residents relax once again in a historic but troubled park that shut down for decades due to serious toxic contamination. And in Brooklyn, enthusiastic locals hold dance parties in a district simmering with pollution. Whether officially ‘cleaned up’ by the EPA, still in the process of healing or only just recognized, these 13 Superfund sites have been reclaimed for recreational use – and while some still seem sketchy, it’s encouraging to see that even America’s dirtiest places can sometimes get a clean start.
Dioxin-Displaced Times Beach, Missouri
(images via: kinetic jane, subliculous)
One of America’s most notorious Superfund sites has undergone a dramatic transformation from a dioxin-soaked wasteland that was so toxic, the town had to be relocated to a new site, to a beautiful wildlife preserve and national park. Times Beach, Missouri became covered in dioxin when waste oil from a facility used to produce Agent Orange during the Vietnam War was sprayed on the roads to control a dust problem. The town was evacuated in 1985 and about 265,000 tons of contaminated soil and debris was incinerated. That site is now Route 66 State Park, and contains a large grass mound covering the debris of the demolished buildings.
Reed Keppler Aquatic Park, West Chicago, Illinois
(images via: epa.gov)
For forty years, residents of West Chicago swam in a public pool and played on fields that were adjacent to and sometimes even covered in radioactive materials. Even more radioactive mill tailings were fenced into a landfill on the property. By the 1990s, it was clear something needed to be done. The site was put on the National Priorities List and was then remediated by the EPA even while the new park complex was under construction. Today, the Reed-Keppler Park includes large family aquatic centers as well as baseball fields, a skate park and green space.
From Fly Ash to Fly Balls at Chisman Creek Park, Virginia
(image via: epa.gov)
Not so long ago, ‘Keep Out’ signs discouraged Virginians from exploring what is now Chisman Creek Park, and for good reason – this former Superfund site was once choked with 500,000 tons of toxic fly ash from the nearby Yorktown Power Station. Cleanup began in 1986 to remove heavy metals like arsenic from 27 acres of land, ponds, a tributary stream and the Chisman Creek Estuary and make the area’s groundwater safe to drink again. The EPA’s solution mostly consisted of a giant clay cap, covering the contaminated area, and relocating a portion of the tributary. The park was built over that cap in 1991 and is home to two softball fields.
Trout Fishing at Silver Bow Creek, Butte, Montana
(image via: mt.gov)
The Silver Bow Creek in Butte, Montana was fouled with dangerous mine waste for the better part of a century, resulting in a moonscape-like floodplain that was incapable of supporting life. This wasteland was listed as a Superfund site in 1983 and finally excavated starting in 1999. Cleanup is still underway, but some promising signs of life have appeared, and some portions of the site are considered safe and open for recreational activities like fishing.
Copper Smelter to Old Works Golf Club, Anaconda, Montana
(image via: oldworks.org)
It’s a startling sight: professional golfer Jack Nicklaus standing in a black pit of mining waste, about to tee off, with the remains of mining operations visible in the background. Anaconda, Montana is just a few miles from Butte and is actually a part of the same Superfund site. It still has a long way to go before it’s totally cleaned up. But one little slice of the contaminated area was turned into the Old Works Golf Course, designed by Jack Nicklaus and built over the site of the Upper Works and Lower Works of the Anaconda Copper smelting operations. The fairways look like many others across the world, but for the sand traps that are filled with black slag, a mining by-product.
Alcyon Lake Park, Pitman, New Jersey
(image via: incaz)
Alcyon Lake Park has been a popular recreation spot in Pitman, New Jersey since 1895, offering a boardwalk, a bathhouse, merry-go-rounds, daredevil performances, a horse track and other attractions. But thanks to dangerous liquid waste contamination from an adjacent landfill, this 38-acre tract became the EPA’s number one Superfund site, forcing the park to close in 1981. The contamination was so great, some residents worried that they’d never get Alcyon Lake Park back – but after years of cleanup, it was restored to its former glory, reopening in 1999.
Maywood Riverfront Park, California
(image via: wikimedia commons)
The old Pemaco chemical mixing facility on the Los Angeles river in Maywood, California burned to the ground in 1993 but both underground and above-ground barrels and tanks of hazardous substances remained. Upon investigation, the EPA found that the soil and groundwater were contaminated with a rather frightening array of volatile organic compounds (VOCs), and it was declared a Superfund site in 1999. The EPA installed a soil treatment system to deal with the mess, and construction on the Maywood Riverfront Park began while the site was still being cleaned. It’s now part of the Los Angeles River Greenway system.
California Gulch Site, Leadville, Colorado
(image via: american trails)
Strap on your helmet and take in the (hopefully safe, though sulfur-smelling) breeze as you take a bicycle tour of America’s largest Superfund site, California Gulch, in Leadville, Colorado. The site, which occupies the remains of an old mining town, is now home to part of a 12-mile trail and even includes some mining ruins. Even though some radioactive tailings remain, the EPA claims that enough cleanup has been done to consider the California Gulch section of the Mineral Belt Trail safe for recreation.
Dump Site to ‘Sort of Clean’ Park in Saco, Maine
(image via: press herald)
”I remember when there were open barrels of sludge,” says Brian Espe of the old Saco dump site in Maine where he now spots foxes, wild turkeys and other wildlife on walks with his dog. The 247-acre wooded site was once full of trash and tannery waste, but was covered with a rubber liner to keep the contamination in place beneath soccer fields and other recreation areas. Transformation of the Saco dump site is not yet complete, and it will never be back to normal – in fact, the recreation department can’t even dig into the field to mount goal posts or other structures for fear of puncturing the rubber seal. The EPA says that the athletic fields and other ‘active areas’ are only slightly contaminated, while the more serious contamination can still be found in ‘passive recreation areas’ used for walking and bird watching.
Luminous Processors/McDonalds, Athens, Georgia
(image via: epa.gov)
You can say a lot of things about the food at McDonalds, but at least the burgers aren’t radioactive (we think…) – even though one location in Georgia was built on an old Superfund site. The Luminous Processors glow-in-the-dark watch and clock manufacturing plant in Athens left behind seriously contaminated soil when it went out of business in 1980. The one-acre patch of radioactive land was backfilled with clean soil and deemed ‘clean’ in just five months, making way for the McDonalds which was constructed in 1990. The whole process was unusually quick for Superfund sites, which often take decades to resolve.
Gowanus Canal in Brooklyn
(image via: the dirt)
The Gowanus Canal area of Brooklyn hasn’t been cleaned up yet. In fact, it was only just named a Superfund site in the summer of 2010. But that designation isn’t stopping local residents from making the most of their neighborhood, for better or worse. Open-air dance parties and dumpster swimming pools are just a few ways that residents show their love for their home despite its many troubles.
“There’s no place in Brooklyn, or in New York City, that feels kind of more pleasant than being right here, which is odd given that that is a toxic waterway,” says Jennifer Prediger. “But it’s actually quite lovely. It’s the loveliest toxic waterway I’ve ever spent time on.”
Koppers ‘Theme Park’ Proposal, Gainesville, Florida
(image via: gainesville.com)
No, the EPA isn’t really planning to turn the Koppers Superfund site in Gainesville, Florida into a theme park. However, one city resident’s tongue-in-cheek proposal – printed in the Gainesville Sun – makes some interesting suggestions and hints at local frustration over the issue. Here’s a snippet:
“What’s with all the protest over the EPA’s plan for the Koppers Superfund site? With a little imagination we can turn a negative into a positive and build a one-of-a-kind environmental theme park. First, it needs a name, and I propose we name it in honor of Carol Browner, President Obama’s energy and environment czar… We can call it ‘Browner Fields Environmental Park of America’. Like any theme park, it’ll need rides. Climb to the top of Mount Apocalypse and slide down the Slippery Slope! Hop on the Endless Public Hearings merry-go-round! Stay overnight, it won’t kill you. Outright.” Sounds fun.
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Coprolites: A Few Words On Prehistoric Turds
[ By Steve in Animals & Habitats, History & Trivia, Science & Research. ]
Coprolites, or fossilized excrement, is commonly found throughout the world – somewhat surprising considering the ephemeral nature of the source. Though the process of mineralization has made them hard and (thankfully) odorless, coprolites can still tell us much about the extinct creatures who created them so long ago.
Living In A World Of Poop
(images via: WIRED.com, Jacob Berkowitz and UCMP Berkeley)
If one considers the number of living creatures who have walked, trod, swam and flown through Life’s billion-year reign, it’s a wonder we’re not up to our eyes in excrement today! Or maybe we are and just don’t know it. When excrement fossilizes, minerals replace the organic matter and to the casual observer the result (a coprolite) is indistinguishable from a rock, stone or pebble. Paleontologists and the rather more specialized Paleoscatologists, however, know turds from treasure when they see them. Sometimes, in fact, the former can be the latter!
(images via: SuperStock and Amazon.com)
Meet Karen Chin, one of the world’s most well-known paleoscatologists – she’ll understand if you don’t want to shake hands. Chin is the curator of paleontology at the University of Colorado Museum in Boulder – no pun intended – and her work with dinosaur coprolites has enlightened us to some important aspects of dinosaur behavior and lifestyles.
(images via: Denver Post, Hanscom Family and Tea Cozy)
For example, Chin noted worm tracks in coprolites that indicated the big beasts were afflicted by worms and other intestinal parasites. She also discovered bones – both whole and crushed – in T Rex’s fossil dung that indicate the dainty-fingered dino wasn’t a dilettante when it came to downing its dinner.
Ex-Stinkers From The Extinct
(images via: NHM and Wyoming Dinosaurs)
Coprolites have been found to have come from all manner of creatures, great and small, fish or fowl, but dinosaur coprolites seem to have inspired the most interest and fascination. Perhaps seeing their poop brings these large, fearsome creatures down to size, so to speak. Maybe it’s just that for most of us excreta is a passing thing – yet these dino dumps appear pretty much “as left” even though they first saw the light of day tens of millions of years ago.
(images via: Fossils For Sale, It’s A Hard Rock Life and Science A2Z)
Paleoscatologists state that coprolites from carnivores are more easily preserved than those from herbivores – a somewhat surprising fact given that some of said plant-eaters were the largest creatures to have ever walked the Earth. Cretaceous carnivores were no lightweights however, and that goes for their dung as well.
(images via: RSM, Prehistoric CSI and Oak Park Journal)
The monster loaf above was thought to have been pinched by a Tyrannosaurus Rex some 65 million years ago, presumably during a commercial break. Discovered in 1995 by Wendy Sloboda of the Royal Saskatchewan Museum, the dino dropping measures 17.6 by 6.4 by 5.2 inches (44 x 16 x 13 cm) and weighs over 15.5 pounds (7 kg).
Mammoth Dung: A BIG Problem
(images via: PPSC, SEAC and Discovery.com)
Mammoths and Mastodons were big, they ate during the bulk of their waking hours – and they ate in bulk, period. What goes in, must come out as the old saying goes, and it’s likely these extinct shaggy pachyderms had a significant impact on their environment. Images of several fossilized “impacts” are shown above.
(image via: Green Diary)
It doesn’t take long (on a geologic scale) for dung to fossilize and in some cases the process is over and done with in just a few hundred years. Not so in the earth’s frozen tundra where generations of Woolly Mammoths roamed for hundreds of thousands of years, doing what Woolly Mammoths do… and doodoo. Some scientists speculate that as global warming heats up the Arctic, dormant microbes in the dung could wake up and go back to work, in the process spewing forth significant amounts of methane. Kinda like letting your dog do his business in the yard all winter and next spring when the snow melts… uh oh.
Regurgitalites: Jurassic Barf
(images via: WordSpy and Karen Carr)
Closely related to coprolites are Regurgitalites, or mineralized vomitus. If that’s not plain enough for you, we’ll call a spade a spade: fossilized vomit. One of the most, er, exciting regurgitalite finds occurred in 2002 when Peter Doyle of the University of Greenwich described a conglomeration of belemnite skeletons believed to have been coughed up by a marine reptile called Ichthyosaurus approximately 160 million years ago.
(images via: New Scientist, Prehistoric World and Tonmo.com)
Belemnites are ancient relatives of squid that had hard, calcified skeletal structures. It’s thought that once a certain number of these shells had accumulated within an ichthyosaur’s stomach, it would vomit them up much the way owls do with indigestible rodent bones. As for the British regurgitalite, Doyle stated that “We believe this is the first time the existence of fossil vomit on a grand scale has been proven beyond reasonable doubt.”
Pseudocoprolites: If It Ain’t Crap, It’s Crap
(images via: WAMS and Wikipedia Japan)
Sometimes what looks like a coprolite is really just a crappy rock. Various geological processes can conspire to create these so-called pseudocoprolites, most involve water and a variety of chemical reactions. Paleontologists and paleoscatologists can determine if a coprolite is the real deal by examining it under a microscope and by treating it with chemical agents. Coprolites of carnivores will have a high calcium phosphate content due to their high bone content.
Ground Sloths: Paleofeces Of The Pleistocene
Giant Ground Sloths were once relatively common in North and South America, and were the poster kids of the megafauna. Some species weighed up to 5 tons and stood up to 20 feet tall. Though most giant ground sloths died out thousands of years ago, a few may have survived in Cuba and on some Caribbean islands up until the mid 16th century. These massive creatures liked to make their dens in sheltered caves – those in dry or desert regions contain remarkably preserved samples of their dung.
(images via: Cryptomundo)
These massive creatures died out too recently for their dung to become completely fossilized as coprolites. Instead, what friable droppings remain are described as “paleofeces”. Samples found in Arizona caves have been extremely well preserved, and a cave in Chile was found to contain not only paleofeces but surprisingly fresh-looking sloth skin and hair. The photo above shows the interior of one of the best-known Arizona “sloth caves” with piles of dung scattered across the cave floor – not a candidate for a Good Housekeeping profile. No recent, color photos of the cave exist because a careless human smoker accidentally started a fire in the cave which consumed most of the flammable dung.
Dung Deposit Leaves Ancient Viking Thor
(images via: Guardian UK and York Daily Photo)
Human coprolites? In my bank? It’s not the deposit one normally expects to find but workers digging a new bank vault for Lloyds Bank in York, England back in 1972, found exactly that. At first, the 9-inch (23cm) long object was thought to be a chunk of old refinery slag but upon further investigation it was determined to be a rather large mineralized human excrement over 1,000 years old. According to paleoscatologist Andrew Jones, “This is the most exciting piece of excrement I’ve ever seen. In its own way, it’s as valuable as the Crown Jewels.” No shi-, er, no kidding!
(images via: Jorvik Viking Centre, BBC and Sports Illustrated)
The area of northeastern England including the town of York was under Viking occupation in the 10th century so it’s reasonable to assume the originator was a Viking. The Lloyds Bank Coprolite‘s impressive length and girth led student conservator Gill Snape to comment “Whoever passed it probably hadn’t performed for a few days, shall we say.” This makes sense, what with all the rape, pillage and games against the Packers that kept the Vikings busy. The coprolite is currently on display at the Jorvik Viking Centre in York, which invites you to come face to feces with the Vikings.
Who’s Laughing Now?
(images via: Personal Money Store, Gawker, Odd News Articles and Earth Magazine)
A remarkable discovery in Gladysvale Cave near Johannesburg, South Africa, has extended the age of the oldest found human hair from 9,000 years to over 200,000 years – thanks to the caveman’s ancient nemesis, the hyena. The hairs – about 40 of them – were discovered when coprolites of prehistoric Brown Hyenas were dissolved and analyzed. As the only human (hominid, to be exact) species known to inhabit the area 200,000 years ago was Homo Heidelbergensis, thought to be ancestral to Neanderthal Man, it’s extremely likely the hairs were ingested by a hyena that either killed one of our ancestors or scavenged a predeceased carcass.
When Poop Mines Were Goldmines
(images via: Welcome To Boyton, Factoidz and One Suffolk)
Not the most prestigious address perhaps, but the sign above marks a curious chapter in British history: the Great Coprolite Rush of 1849! It seems that in the early 1840s, coprolites aplenty were discovered in the hills of Suffolk, England. Processing with sulfuric acid released copious amounts of phosphates which were used for fertilizer. Most of the refining took place in the city of Ipswich, where the above street sign is located.
(image via: Suffolk Booklover)
The coprolite industry declined in the 1880s when other, less expensive methods of producing phosphates were discovered but Ipswich holds dear to its unusual claim to fame – and woe be it that anyone call the town a dump.
Polishing A Turd
(images via: Witless Wanderer, Bellerustique, Ken Grant Jewelry and Contrariwise Ramblings)
Who says you can’t polish a turd? Some may be familiar with jewelry made from polished dinosaur bones but coprolite jewelry is also available from the same manufacturers – and is often quite beautiful. Thank the natural process of mineralization for providing the coprolites with such a wide range of contrasting and complementary colors… and thank the dinosaurs for taking time out to produce those gaudy baubles in the first place.
(images via: FOX News and Telegraph UK)
As long as we’re co-opting old expressions, how about “I don’t know whether to sh*t or wind my watch”? Now you can do both… well, sort of, courtesy of the Dinosaur Dung watch from Artya. The Swiss-made timepiece features a polished coprolite face sourced from a herbivorous dinosaur’s dung dropped 100 million years ago. A bronze casing chosen to match the “warm and matchless tints” of dinosaur dung and a strap made from American Cane Toad skin completes this piece of… art? All for only $11,900.
(images via: BoingBoing and EW.com)
Whew, I need a break, and not that kind of break if you know what I mean. Writing about poop can leave one feeling flushed, pooped even, but it does stimulate some speculation such as: how appropriate it is that remains… remain? Coprolites offer us a unique way to get down & dirty with the daily details of ancient life – without all the actual down & dirtyness working with fresh pre-coprolites entrails. I mean entails. That’s it, I’m outta here.
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That Sinking Feeling: The Top 10 Drained Lakes
[ By Steve in Geography & Travel, History & Trivia, Nature & Ecosystems. ]
I like lakes, you like lakes, Luke Luck likes lakes, you get the picture but when lakes leak with little or lack of warning, there’s a lot less to like. This look at 10 drained lakes of the past and present shows the gravity of the situation when Mother Nature – or, on occasion, the errant hand of Man – suddenly decides to pull the plug.
Tempe Town Lake, Arizona, USA
(images via: DesertUSA, ASU and GWilmore)
Tempe Town Lake is a 2-mile long artificial lake that runs through the center of Tempe, Arizona, USA. The lake sits within the bed of the Salt River, which is almost always dry due to diversion of the river’s water for agricultural use at various points upstream.
(image via: KAM-AZ)
The lake is only about 13 feet deep on average and is held in place by innovative inflatable dams at either end. The Dams allow the Salt River to flow along its natural course at times when storms and flooding create an unusually high level of water in the river bed.
On July 20, 2010, the west side of Tempe Town Lake’s outflow dam suffered (for want of a better term) a blowout that allowed most of the lake’s water to quickly drain into the Salt River. Most of the approximately 10,000 fish living in the lake were swept downstream and an alligator named Tuesday was released into the remaining pools of water to eat what fish remained.
Lake Delhi, Iowa, USA
(images via: CBS News and Vacation Rentals)
The Delhi Dam, on the Maquoketa River south of Delhi, Iowa, was built over a 7-year period from 1922 to 1929. Lake Delhi was created behind the dam and over the succeeding decades proved to be a much-desired location for recreational boating, fishing, and lakeside summer housing.
(images via: Washington Times, Des Moines Register and FOX News)
Call it a dammed shame, but many say the failure of the Delhi Dam was an accident waiting to happen. Flooding in 2008 had caused a half-million dollars worth of damage to the dam and exceptionally heavy rains (approximately 10 inches in 12 hours) caused the swollen lake to overtop its southern embankment on July 24, 2010.
(image via: Des Moines Register)
Rapid erosion of the embankment sped up the outflow and by the next day, Lake Delhi was no more. As the lake and the Delhi Dam were owned by the Lake Delhi Recreation Association, it’s uncertain whether state or federal funds will be used to help rebuild the dam and restore the lake. If not, those who invested in former lakefront property will be out of luck AND lake.
Lake Delton, Wisconsin, USA
(images via: FlyHighWi, RV.net and Wunderground)
If residents of Lake Delhi are searching for some hope, they may find it in Wisconsin’s Lake Delton. Like Lake Delhi, Lake Delton is a man-made lake created in the 1920s as a way to attract visitors to the Wisconsin Dells tourist and vacation area. The lake – more of a reservoir, actually – is only about 10 feet deep and has a surface area of around 260 acres… at least it did, until June 9th of 2008.
(images via: Howder Family)
Heavy rains had raised the level of Lake Delton and put tremendous pressure on the dikes that separated the lake from the Wisconsin River 800 feet away. The sudden collapse of a 400-ft section of County Highway A that ran on top of the containment dike caused a deluge that completely drained Lake Delton in a matter of hours. Several lakefront homes also collapsed though there was no loss of life. Here’s a short video showing the state of the former Lake Delton 2 weeks after the water drained out:
Empty Lake Delton, via TFHowder
(image via: Wikimedia)
Wisconsin Governor Jim Doyle quickly announced the state would be repairing the lake and indeed, by Memorial Day of 2009 Lake Delton was re-opened with great fanfair.
Iceberg Lake, Alaska, USA
(images via: Far North Science and Stelia’s Guides)
Iceberg Lake, a glacial lake in the Wrangell-St. Elias Mountains area of Alaska, leads a precarious existence by regularly filing and draining, sometimes catastrophically as it did in 1999. The lake is also remarkably responsive to weather conditions as it is pinned between two glaciers whose level of annual advancement and melting decide the fate of the lake.
(image via: National Park Photo Tour)
Scientists exploring the exposed bottom of Iceberg Lake discovered that distinct layers of sediment deposited on after another provided them with a detailed record of the area’s climate that could be traced back to the year 442 AD. Among other findings, the researchers were able to discern the Iceberg Lake did not drain at all during the Medieval Warm Period, a several centuries long warm interlude that existed up until the advent of the Little Ice Age, which lasted from approximately 1600 to 1850 AD.
Lake Haramaya, Ethiopia
(images via: Road To Ethiopia and Adis Ababa University)
Lake Haramaya was a freshwater lake in Ethiopia that was around 30 feet deep and whose shoreline stretched for about 10 miles – not an especially large lake but one that provided residents of the city of Harar with drinking water and farmers & fisherman with livelihoods. The keyword is “was”… overuse by residents, farmers and commercial enterprises caused the lake to drain completely in roughly a decade.
(images via: Gadaa.com, Road To Ethiopia and The CLP)
Lake Haramaya is not the only lake in Africa’s volcanic Rift Valley to run dry, and human use (and abuse) is not the only factor involved. Climatologists have noted an increased frequency of droughts over the past several decades and it’s thought that increasing human exploitation of the lake in recent years was enough to tip the balance.
Scott Lake, Florida, USA
(image via: The Ledger and Democratic Underground)
Scott Lake is a 291-acre natural lake in Lakeland, Florida, 30 miles east of Tampa. Like Lake Delhi, Scott Lake is owned by the surrounding homeowners who are once again asking state authorities to refill the lake and preserve their property values. Yes, “once again” – Scott Lake has drained before, in the early 1970s, caused by sinkholes opening up in the porous limestone bedrock that lies beneath the lake.
(images via: Democratic Underground, Thomas.net and Death By 1000 Papercuts)
In June of 2006, as many as 4 sinkholes suddenly opened in the lakebed and before you could say “Great Scott!”, Scott Lake was drained. Since then a heated controversy has arisen over demands from wealthy owners of lakeside property that water from Florida’s freshwater aquifer be used to refill the lake. This wasn’t a problem in 1974 but today, water is in short supply as Florida’s population puts increasing strain on the state’s fresh water supplies.
White Lake, Russia
(images via: Above Top Secret, Free Republic and BBC)
In May of 2005, residents of the village of Bolotnikovo near Nizhni Novgorod, Russia, were shocked to find that most of the water in White Lake had mysteriously vanished. No explanation could be offered for the sudden and silent loss of roughly a million cubic meters of water. “It looks like somebody has pulled the plug out of a gigantic bath,” said a correspondent fr Russia’s NTV. Though an official from a nearby village speculated that the lake’s water flowed into an underground river, others had their own suspicions, believing that “outside forces” were responsible. One man was quoted as stating “I think that America got us here.” It seems that in rural Russia at least, the Cold War never really ended.
Lake Peigneur, Louisiana, USA
(images via: Troy McClure, Damn Interesting and WayMarking)
Lake located above a salt mine? Scary. Oil drilling in and around said lake? Crazy! But then, we all know that the right hands at big oil companies (we’re looking at you, BP) sometimes don’t know what their left hands are up to… or down to, and in the case of Texaco’s drilling rig in Louisiana’s Lake Peigneur, that would be down to 1,300-odd feet below the bottom of a 10-ft deep lake. When the 14-inch wide drill bit broke through the roof of the mine, the results were predictable yet still spectacular.
(images via: Circa71 and Ticklebooth)
Thirty years before the BP disaster in the Gulf of Mexico, carelessness on an oil rig created a chain reaction of events that saw the 1,125 square acre lake (plus several barges, trees and 65 acres of shoreline land) quickly drain into the underlying Jefferson Island salt mine.
This video from The History Channel shows some of the events connected with the catastrophic drainage of Lake Peigneur, filmed by eye-witnesses at the time:
Lake Peigneur – Disappearing Lake, via The History Channel
So, what have we learned from the Lake Peigneur disaster? Considering the salt dome beneath the now saline lake is being used as a storage for pressurized natural gas while oil drilling continues in the area, the answer is “not much”.
Aral Sea, Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan
(images via: Elgadfly and New Eurasia)
Once the 4th largest inland body of water in the world, the Aral Sea now ranks at just 10th – and falling. A victim of misguided agricultural policies enacted by a nation (the USSR) that is no more, the Aral Sea itself may soon be no more since its main inlet rivers have been dammed to provide water for cotton farms. As the lake shrinks, its waters become more and more saturated with salt , fertilizer and pesticides to the point that an estimated 75 million tons of toxic dust and salts are blown across Central Asia each year. Images of the Aral Sea’s shocking retreat taken from orbiting satellites and spacecraft are, in a word, tragic.
(image via: Econuz)
Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan are the successor states to the USSR in which the toxic Aral Sea now lies, and although no longer bound by decrees from the Kremlin, the 2 states cannot agree on how to preserve or even restore the Aral Sea. In the meantime, the loss of over 90 percent of the sea has caused the entire region’s climate to become more extreme, and exposure to poisonous, windblown dust from the exposed lake bed has created a health crisis of immense scope. The shocking image above dates from the summer of 2009.
(image via: Telegraph UK)
There is, however, new hope for the Aral Sea as the Kazakh government and the World Bank are working to restore the lake to at least a semblance of its former size. As the images above show (2004 on the left, 2010 on the right), the Aral Sea’s surface area has rebounded 30 percent and depths in some areas have grown from 98 feet to over 130 feet.
Lake Missoula, Northwestern USA
(images via: The Resilient Earth and Glacial Lake Missoula)
Picture a lake with a surface area of 3,000 square miles containing 500 square miles of water, blocked by an ice dam that is actually an arm of a retreating glacier. This precarious image once existed, in western Montana, about 13,000 years ago and is known today as Lake Missoula. When the ice dam was breached and the lake began to drain westward towards the Pacific Ocean, a flood of biblical proportions ensued.
(images via: NPS and Summit Realty)
Not only is it estimated that it took only about 48 hours for the lake to drain completely, this nightmarish scenario is thought to have taken place as many as 40 times over a 2,000 year period. The repeated series of cataclysmic floods scoured vast stretches of eastern Oregon and Washington states into the Channeled Scablands. The remains of an enormous waterfall three times the height and width of Niagara Falls can be seen above top.
(images via: Huge Floods and Pics Digger)
Gigantic potholes, gargantuan ripple marks, dry waterfalls and other large-scale geologic features state unequivocally the incalculable power of rushing water – and lots of it. These features show some similarities to features found on the planet Mars and it’s now thought that our neighboring planet was subject to massive flooding events in its younger, wetter days.
(image via: Wikimedia)
Lakes, especially larger lakes, seem to be permanent fixtures of the landscape they occupy. In the geological big picture, however, this isn’t necessarily so and when change comes, it often comes suddenly and strikingly. Water tends to seek its own level under the influence of gravity, that’s just the way nature is… and nature knows no timetable and acts without regard to the works or wishes of Mankind.
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