1.
Sedimentary
–
Sedimentary rocks are types of rock that are formed by the deposition and subsequent cementation of that material at the Earths surface and within bodies of water. Sedimentation is the name for processes that cause mineral and/or organic particles to settle in place. The particles that form a rock by accumulating are called sediment. Sedimentation may also occur as minerals precipitate from solution or shells of aquatic creatures settle out of suspension. The sedimentary rock cover of the continents of the Earths crust is extensive, sedimentary rocks are only a thin veneer over a crust consisting mainly of igneous and metamorphic rocks. Sedimentary rocks are deposited in layers as strata, forming a structure called bedding, sedimentary rocks are also important sources of natural resources like coal, fossil fuels, drinking water or ores. The study of the sequence of rock strata is the main source for an understanding of the Earths history, including palaeogeography, paleoclimatology. The scientific discipline that studies the properties and origin of rocks is called sedimentology. Sedimentology is part of both geology and physical geography and overlaps partly with other disciplines in the Earth sciences, such as pedology, geomorphology, geochemistry, sedimentary rocks have also been found on Mars. Clastic sedimentary rocks are composed of rock fragments that were cemented by silicate minerals. Clastic rocks are composed largely of quartz, feldspar, rock fragments, clay minerals, and mica, any type of mineral may be present, clastic sedimentary rocks, are subdivided according to the dominant particle size. Most geologists use the Udden-Wentworth grain size scale and divide unconsolidated sediment into three fractions, gravel, sand, and mud and this tripartite subdivision is mirrored by the broad categories of rudites, arenites, and lutites, respectively, in older literature. The subdivision of these three categories is based on differences in clast shape, conglomerates and breccias), composition. Conglomerates are dominantly composed of rounded gravel, while breccias are composed of dominantly angular gravel, composition of framework grains The relative abundance of sand-sized framework grains determines the first word in a sandstone name. Naming depends on the dominance of the three most abundant components quartz, feldspar, or the lithic fragments that originated from other rocks, all other minerals are considered accessories and not used in the naming of the rock, regardless of abundance. Clean sandstones with open space are called arenites. Muddy sandstones with abundant muddy matrix are called wackes, six sandstone names are possible using the descriptors for grain composition and the amount of matrix. Mudrocks are sedimentary rocks composed of at least 50% silt- and clay-sized particles and these relatively fine-grained particles are commonly transported by turbulent flow in water or air, and deposited as the flow calms and the particles settle out of suspension
Sedimentary
–
Middle
Triassic marginal marine sequence of siltstones (reddish layers at the cliff base) and limestones (brown rocks above),
Virgin Formation, southwestern
Utah, USA
Sedimentary
–
Sedimentary rocks on Mars, investigated by NASA's
Curiosity Mars rover
Sedimentary
–
Steeply dipping sedimentary rock strata along the
Chalous Road in northern
Iran
Sedimentary
–
Claystone deposited in
Glacial Lake Missoula,
Montana,
United States. Note the very fine and flat bedding, common for distal
lacustrine deposition.
2.
The Needles
–
The Needles is a row of three distinctive stacks of chalk that rise about 30m out of the sea off the western extremity of the Isle of Wight, United Kingdom, close to Alum Bay. The Needles Lighthouse stands at the outer, western end of the formation, built in 1859, it has been automated since 1994. The formation takes its name from a fourth needle-shaped pillar called Lots Wife, the remaining rocks are not at all needle-like, but the name has stuck. The Needles were featured on the BBC Two TV programme Seven Natural Wonders as one of the wonders of Southern England, the Needles lie just to the southwest of Alum Bay, and are a tourist draw. Scenic boat trips operate from Alum Bay that offer views of the Needles. The rocks and lighthouse have become icons of the Isle of Wight, often photographed by visitors, the main tourist attractions of the headland itself are the two gun batteries, the experimental rocket testing station, and the four Coastguard cottages owned by the National Trust. A branch of the National Coastwatch Institution is also based at the Needles, sited near the New Battery, the Needles – Landmark Attraction situated at the top of the cliff at Alum Bay is a small amusement park. A Chairlift operates between the park and the beach, the Needles were a site of a long-standing artillery battery, from the 1860s to 1954, which was eventually decommissioned. A nearby site on High Down was employed in the testing of rockets for the British ICBM programme, the headland at High Down was used for Black Knight and Black Arrow rocket engine tests from 1956–71. During the peak of activity in the early 1960s some 240 people worked at the complex and these rockets were later used to launch the Prospero X-3 satellite. The site is now owned by the National Trust, and is open to the public, concrete installations remain, but the buildings that were less durable have either been demolished or were torn down by the elements. In 1982, HRH Prince Charles officially opened the restored Needles Old Battery facility, underground rocket testing rooms are currently being restored for exhibition. The first phase of restoration was completed in 2004, the batteries are accessible by car, foot, bicycle, and bus. Though there is a road up to The Old and The New batteries, access is on foot. The battery site becomes dangerous in high winds and is closed to the public in winds above force 8, in the spring and summer, the Southern Vectis bus company sends open-top buses along a route called The Needles Tour. This route approaches the Battery along the edge, using a road reserved for bus traffic. The Needles Tour also has stops in Alum Bay, Totland, Colwell Bay, Fort Victoria, Yarmouth, and Freshwater Bay. The Needles Tour buses are the only allowed on the road from Alum Bay, apart from those owned by National Trust staff or, by prior appointment
The Needles
–
The Needles from the cliffs inshore at
The Needles Battery showing the
Needles Lighthouse
The Needles
–
Close-up of the needles
The Needles
–
The Needles from Isaac Taylor's "one inch map" of
Hampshire, published in 1759, showing Lot's Wife, the needle-shaped pillar that collapsed in a storm in 1764.
The Needles
–
Compressed Sand bottle Needles Isle of Wight by Environmental Sand-Artist Brian Pike
3.
Isle of Wight
–
The Isle of Wight /ˈaɪl əv ˈwaɪt/ is a county and the largest and second-most populous island in England. It is located in the English Channel, about 4 miles off the coast of Hampshire, the island has resorts that have been holiday destinations since Victorian times, and is known for its mild climate, coastal scenery, and verdant landscape of fields, downland and chines. The island has been home to the poets Swinburne and Tennyson and to Queen Victoria and it has a maritime and industrial tradition including boat building, sail making, the manufacture of flying boats, the hovercraft, and Britains space rockets. The island hosts annual festivals including the Isle of Wight Festival. It has well-conserved wildlife and some of the richest cliffs and quarries for dinosaur fossils in Europe, the Isle was owned by a Norman family until 1293 and was earlier a kingdom in its own right. Rural for most of its history, its Victorian fashionability and the affordability of holidays led to significant urban development during the late 19th. The island was part of Hampshire until 1890 when it became its own administrative county, apart from a shared police force, there is now no administrative link with Hampshire, although a combined local authority with Portsmouth and Southampton is being considered. Until 1995 the island had a governor, the quickest public transport link to the mainland is the hovercraft from Ryde to Southsea, while three ferry and two catamaran services cross the Solent to Southampton, Lymington and Portsmouth. During the Ice Age, sea levels were lower and the Solent was part of a river flowing south east from current day Poole Harbour towards mid-Channel. As sea levels rose, the valley became flooded. The first inhabitants are assumed to have been hunter-gatherers migrating by land during the Paleolithic or Old Stone Age period, as the ice age began to recede. From the Neolithic era onwards, there are indications that the island had wide trading links, with a port at Bouldnor, evidence of Bronze Age tin trading, caesar reported that the Belgae took the Isle of Wight in about 85 BC and gave its name as Vectis. The Roman historian Suetonius mentions that the island was captured by the commander Vespasian, the Romans built no towns or roads on the island, but the remains of at least seven Roman villas have been found, indicating the prosperity of local agriculture. During the Dark Ages the island was settled by Jutes as the kingdom of Wihtwara under King Arwald. In 685 it was invaded by Caedwalla, who tried to replace the inhabitants with his own followers and it suffered especially from Viking raids, and was often used as a winter base by Viking raiders when they were unable to reach Normandy. Later, both Earl Tostig and his brother Harold Godwinson held manors on the island, the Norman Conquest of 1066 created the position of Lord of the Isle of Wight, the island being given by William the Conqueror to his kinsman William FitzOsbern. Carisbrooke Priory and the fort of Carisbrooke Castle were then founded, allegiance was sworn to FitzOsbern rather than the king, the Lordship was subsequently granted to the de Redvers family by Henry I, after his succession in 1100. For nearly 200 years the island was a semi-independent feudal fiefdom, the final private owner was the Countess Isabella de Fortibus, who, on her deathbed in 1293, was persuaded to sell it to Edward I
Isle of Wight
–
An image of the Isle of Wight from the
ISS
Isle of Wight
–
Carisbrooke Castle just outside of Carisbrooke
Isle of Wight
–
Osborne House and its grounds are now open to the public
Isle of Wight
–
Eugene Manet on the Isle of Wight, 1875 painting by
Berthe Morisot.
4.
Southern England Chalk Formation
–
The Chalk Formation of Southern England is a system of chalk downland in the south of England. The formation is perhaps best known for Salisbury Plain, the location of Stonehenge, the Isle of Wight, the North Downs are confined chiefly to the counties of Kent and Surrey, and the South to Sussex. The Downs enclose the rich district of the Weald, where the chalk has eroded to form a much flatter landscape, the Berkshire Downs and White Horse Hills adjoin the northernmost part of this formation. The formation called Cranborne Chase is a plateau in central southern England, straddling the counties Dorset. To the north of these downs, mostly in Buckinghamshire, are the Chiltern Hills, at the far south west of the formation are the Dorset Downs, notable for their rich Roman and pre-Roman archaeology, including a number of Iron Age hill forts. The Chalk Formation was laid down under the sea during the Upper Cretaceous period, in south-east England, the chalk deposits were formed into an elongated dome, with the long axis in a roughly east-west direction. Erosion along the line of this removed the central part of the chalk. The remaining chalk forms the characteristic escarpments of the North and South Downs, stronger uplift and folding occurred in Dorset and the Isle of Wight, where the chalk strata are almost vertical in some places, such as The Needles. Chalk stream Uffington White Horse This article incorporates text from a now in the public domain, Chisholm, Hugh
Southern England Chalk Formation
–
The Needles, part of the Southern England Chalk Formation.
Southern England Chalk Formation
–
The
Wealden Anticline.
Southern England Chalk Formation
–
Ivinghoe Beacon (the eastern trailhead) seen looking north from The Ridgeway
5.
Calcite
–
Calcite is a carbonate mineral and the most stable polymorph of calcium carbonate. The Mohs scale of hardness, based on scratch hardness comparison. Other polymorphs of calcium carbonate are the minerals aragonite and vaterite, aragonite will change to calcite at 380–470 °C, and vaterite is even less stable. Calcite is derived from the German Calcit, a term coined in the 19th century from the Latin word for lime and it is thus etymologically related to chalk. Calcite crystals are trigonal-rhombohedral, though actual calcite rhombohedra are rare as natural crystals, however, they show a remarkable variety of habits including acute to obtuse rhombohedra, tabular forms, prisms, or various scalenohedra. Calcite exhibits several twinning types adding to the variety of observed forms and it may occur as fibrous, granular, lamellar, or compact. Cleavage is usually in three directions parallel to the rhombohedron form and its fracture is conchoidal, but difficult to obtain. It has a defining Mohs hardness of 3, a gravity of 2.71. Color is white or none, though shades of gray, red, orange, yellow, green, blue, violet, brown, calcite is transparent to opaque and may occasionally show phosphorescence or fluorescence. A transparent variety called Iceland spar is used for optical purposes, acute scalenohedral crystals are sometimes referred to as dogtooth spar while the rhombohedral form is sometimes referred to as nailhead spar. Single calcite crystals display an optical property called birefringence and this strong birefringence causes objects viewed through a clear piece of calcite to appear doubled. The birefringent effect was first described by the Danish scientist Rasmus Bartholin in 1669, at a wavelength of ~590 nm calcite has ordinary and extraordinary refractive indices of 1.658 and 1.486, respectively. Between 190 and 1700 nm, the refractive index varies roughly between 1.9 and 1.5, while the extraordinary refractive index varies between 1.6 and 1.4. Calcite, like most carbonates, will dissolve with most forms of acid, calcite can be either dissolved by groundwater or precipitated by groundwater, depending on several factors including the water temperature, pH, and dissolved ion concentrations. Although calcite is fairly insoluble in water, acidity can cause dissolution of calcite. Ambient carbon dioxide, due to its acidity, has a slight solubilizing effect on calcite, calcite exhibits an unusual characteristic called retrograde solubility in which it becomes less soluble in water as the temperature increases. When conditions are right for precipitation, calcite forms mineral coatings that cement the existing rock grains together or it can fill fractures. On a landscape scale, continued dissolution of calcium carbonate-rich rocks can lead to the expansion and eventual collapse of cave systems, high-grade optical calcite was used in World War II for gun sights, specifically in bomb sights and anti-aircraft weaponry
Calcite
–
A one-inch calcite
rhomb that shows the
double image refraction property
Calcite
–
Crystal structure of calcite
Calcite
–
faceted calcite, oval cut, 1.12ct, Mexico.
Calcite
–
Doubly terminated calcite crystal.
6.
Calcium carbonate
–
Calcium carbonate is a chemical compound with the formula CaCO3. It is a substance found in rocks as the minerals calcite and aragonite and is the main component of pearls and the shells of marine organisms, snails. Calcium carbonate is the ingredient in agricultural lime and is created when calcium ions in hard water react with carbonate ions to create limescale. It is medicinally used as a supplement or as an antacid. Calcium carbonate shares the properties of other carbonates. CaCO3 + CO2 + H2O → Ca2 This reaction is important in the erosion of rock, forming caverns. An unusual form of calcium carbonate is the hexahydrate, ikaite, ikaite is stable only below 6 °C. The vast majority of calcium used in industry is extracted by mining or quarrying. Pure calcium carbonate, can be produced from a quarried source. Alternatively, calcium carbonate is prepared from calcium oxide, other forms can be prepared, the denser, orthorhombic λ-CaCO3 and μ-CaCO3, occurring as the mineral vaterite. The aragonite form can be prepared by precipitation at temperatures above 85 °C, calcite contains calcium atoms coordinated by 6 oxygen atoms, in aragonite they are coordinated by 9 oxygen atoms. The vaterite structure is not fully understood, magnesium carbonate MgCO3 has the calcite structure, whereas strontium and barium carbonate adopt the aragonite structure, reflecting their larger ionic radii. Calcite, aragonite and vaterite are pure calcium carbonate minerals, industrially important source rocks which are predominantly calcium carbonate include limestone, chalk, marble and travertine. Eggshells, snail shells and most seashells are predominantly calcium carbonate, oyster shells have enjoyed recent recognition as a source of dietary calcium, but are also a practical industrial source. While not practical as a source, dark green vegetables such as broccoli. Beyond Earth, strong evidence suggests the presence of Calcium carbonate on Mars, signs of Calcium Carbonate have been detected at more than one location. This provides some evidence for the past presence of liquid water, Carbonate is found frequently in geologic settings and constitute an enormous carbon reservoir. Calcium carbonate occurs as aragonite, calcite and dolomite, the carbonate minerals form the rock types, limestone, chalk, marble, travertine, tufa, and others
Calcium carbonate
–
Calcium carbonate
Calcium carbonate
–
500-milligram calcium supplements made from calcium carbonate
Calcium carbonate
–
Travertine calcium carbonate deposits from a
hot spring
7.
Sedimentary rock
–
Sedimentary rocks are types of rock that are formed by the deposition and subsequent cementation of that material at the Earths surface and within bodies of water. Sedimentation is the name for processes that cause mineral and/or organic particles to settle in place. The particles that form a rock by accumulating are called sediment. Sedimentation may also occur as minerals precipitate from solution or shells of aquatic creatures settle out of suspension. The sedimentary rock cover of the continents of the Earths crust is extensive, sedimentary rocks are only a thin veneer over a crust consisting mainly of igneous and metamorphic rocks. Sedimentary rocks are deposited in layers as strata, forming a structure called bedding, sedimentary rocks are also important sources of natural resources like coal, fossil fuels, drinking water or ores. The study of the sequence of rock strata is the main source for an understanding of the Earths history, including palaeogeography, paleoclimatology. The scientific discipline that studies the properties and origin of rocks is called sedimentology. Sedimentology is part of both geology and physical geography and overlaps partly with other disciplines in the Earth sciences, such as pedology, geomorphology, geochemistry, sedimentary rocks have also been found on Mars. Clastic sedimentary rocks are composed of rock fragments that were cemented by silicate minerals. Clastic rocks are composed largely of quartz, feldspar, rock fragments, clay minerals, and mica, any type of mineral may be present, clastic sedimentary rocks, are subdivided according to the dominant particle size. Most geologists use the Udden-Wentworth grain size scale and divide unconsolidated sediment into three fractions, gravel, sand, and mud and this tripartite subdivision is mirrored by the broad categories of rudites, arenites, and lutites, respectively, in older literature. The subdivision of these three categories is based on differences in clast shape, conglomerates and breccias), composition. Conglomerates are dominantly composed of rounded gravel, while breccias are composed of dominantly angular gravel, composition of framework grains The relative abundance of sand-sized framework grains determines the first word in a sandstone name. Naming depends on the dominance of the three most abundant components quartz, feldspar, or the lithic fragments that originated from other rocks, all other minerals are considered accessories and not used in the naming of the rock, regardless of abundance. Clean sandstones with open space are called arenites. Muddy sandstones with abundant muddy matrix are called wackes, six sandstone names are possible using the descriptors for grain composition and the amount of matrix. Mudrocks are sedimentary rocks composed of at least 50% silt- and clay-sized particles and these relatively fine-grained particles are commonly transported by turbulent flow in water or air, and deposited as the flow calms and the particles settle out of suspension
Sedimentary rock
–
Middle
Triassic marginal marine sequence of siltstones (reddish layers at the cliff base) and limestones (brown rocks above),
Virgin Formation, southwestern
Utah, USA
Sedimentary rock
–
Sedimentary rocks on Mars, investigated by NASA's
Curiosity Mars rover
Sedimentary rock
–
Steeply dipping sedimentary rock strata along the
Chalous Road in northern
Iran
Sedimentary rock
–
Claystone deposited in
Glacial Lake Missoula,
Montana,
United States. Note the very fine and flat bedding, common for distal
lacustrine deposition.
8.
Carbonate rock
–
Carbonate rocks are a class of sedimentary rocks composed primarily of carbonate minerals. The two major types are limestone, which is composed of calcite or aragonite and dolostone, which is composed of the mineral dolomite. Calcite can be dissolved by groundwater or precipitated by groundwater, depending on several factors including the water temperature, pH. Calcite exhibits a characteristic called retrograde solubility in which it becomes less soluble in water as the temperature increases. When conditions are right for precipitation, calcite forms mineral coatings that cement the existing rock grains together or it can fill fractures, karst topography and caves develop in carbonate rocks because of their solubility in dilute acidic groundwater. Cooling groundwater or mixing of different groundwaters will also create conditions suitable for cave formation, marble is the metamorphic carbonate rock. Rare igneous carbonate rocks exist as intrusive carbonatites and even rarer volcanic carbonate lava
Carbonate rock
–
Carbonate
ooids on the surface of a
limestone;
Carmel Formation (Middle
Jurassic) of southern Utah, USA. Largest is 1.0 mm in diameter.
9.
Limestone
–
Limestone is a sedimentary rock, composed mainly of skeletal fragments of marine organisms such as coral, forams and molluscs. Its major materials are the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different crystal forms of calcium carbonate, about 10% of sedimentary rocks are limestones. The solubility of limestone in water and weak acid solutions leads to karst landscapes, most cave systems are through limestone bedrock. The first geologist to distinguish limestone from dolomite was Belsazar Hacquet in 1778, like most other sedimentary rocks, most limestone is composed of grains. Most grains in limestone are skeletal fragments of organisms such as coral or foraminifera. Other carbonate grains comprising limestones are ooids, peloids, intraclasts and these organisms secrete shells made of aragonite or calcite, and leave these shells behind when they die. Limestone often contains variable amounts of silica in the form of chert or siliceous skeletal fragment, some limestones do not consist of grains at all, and are formed completely by the chemical precipitation of calcite or aragonite, i. e. travertine. Secondary calcite may be deposited by supersaturated meteoric waters and this produces speleothems, such as stalagmites and stalactites. Another form taken by calcite is oolitic limestone, which can be recognized by its granular appearance, the primary source of the calcite in limestone is most commonly marine organisms. Some of these organisms can construct mounds of rock known as reefs, below about 3,000 meters, water pressure and temperature conditions cause the dissolution of calcite to increase nonlinearly, so limestone typically does not form in deeper waters. Limestones may also form in lacustrine and evaporite depositional environments, calcite can be dissolved or precipitated by groundwater, depending on several factors, including the water temperature, pH, and dissolved ion concentrations. Calcite exhibits a characteristic called retrograde solubility, in which it becomes less soluble in water as the temperature increases. Impurities will cause limestones to exhibit different colors, especially with weathered surfaces, Limestone may be crystalline, clastic, granular, or massive, depending on the method of formation. Crystals of calcite, quartz, dolomite or barite may line small cavities in the rock, when conditions are right for precipitation, calcite forms mineral coatings that cement the existing rock grains together, or it can fill fractures. Travertine is a banded, compact variety of limestone formed along streams, particularly there are waterfalls. Calcium carbonate is deposited where evaporation of the leaves a solution supersaturated with the chemical constituents of calcite. Tufa, a porous or cellular variety of travertine, is found near waterfalls, coquina is a poorly consolidated limestone composed of pieces of coral or shells. During regional metamorphism that occurs during the building process, limestone recrystallizes into marble
Limestone
–
Limestone outcrop in the
Torcal de Antequera nature reserve of
Málaga, Spain
Limestone
–
Limestone quarry at
Cedar Creek, Virginia, USA
Limestone
–
Cutting the limestone blocks at a quarry in
Gozo,
Malta
Limestone
–
Limestone as building material
10.
Mineral
–
A mineral is a naturally occurring chemical compound, usually of crystalline form and abiogenic in origin. A mineral has one specific chemical composition, whereas a rock can be an aggregate of different minerals or mineraloids, the study of minerals is called mineralogy. There are over 5,300 known mineral species, over 5,070 of these have been approved by the International Mineralogical Association, the silicate minerals compose over 90% of the Earths crust. The diversity and abundance of species is controlled by the Earths chemistry. Silicon and oxygen constitute approximately 75% of the Earths crust, which translates directly into the predominance of silicate minerals, minerals are distinguished by various chemical and physical properties. Differences in chemical composition and crystal structure distinguish the various species, changes in the temperature, pressure, or bulk composition of a rock mass cause changes in its minerals. Minerals can be described by their various properties, which are related to their chemical structure. Common distinguishing characteristics include crystal structure and habit, hardness, lustre, diaphaneity, colour, streak, tenacity, cleavage, fracture, parting, more specific tests for describing minerals include magnetism, taste or smell, radioactivity and reaction to acid. Minerals are classified by key chemical constituents, the two dominant systems are the Dana classification and the Strunz classification, the silicate class of minerals is subdivided into six subclasses by the degree of polymerization in the chemical structure. All silicate minerals have a unit of a 4− silica tetrahedron—that is, a silicon cation coordinated by four oxygen anions. These tetrahedra can be polymerized to give the subclasses, orthosilicates, disilicates, cyclosilicates, inosilicates, phyllosilicates, other important mineral groups include the native elements, sulfides, oxides, halides, carbonates, sulfates, and phosphates. The first criterion means that a mineral has to form by a natural process, stability at room temperature, in the simplest sense, is synonymous to the mineral being solid. More specifically, a compound has to be stable or metastable at 25 °C, modern advances have included extensive study of liquid crystals, which also extensively involve mineralogy. Minerals are chemical compounds, and as such they can be described by fixed or a variable formula, many mineral groups and species are composed of a solid solution, pure substances are not usually found because of contamination or chemical substitution. Finally, the requirement of an ordered atomic arrangement is usually synonymous with crystallinity, however, crystals are also periodic, an ordered atomic arrangement gives rise to a variety of macroscopic physical properties, such as crystal form, hardness, and cleavage. There have been recent proposals to amend the definition to consider biogenic or amorphous substances as minerals. The formal definition of an approved by the IMA in 1995, A mineral is an element or chemical compound that is normally crystalline. However, if geological processes were involved in the genesis of the compound, Mineral classification schemes and their definitions are evolving to match recent advances in mineral science
Mineral
–
Amethyst, a variety of
quartz
Mineral
–
Schist is a
metamorphic rock characterized by an abundance of platy minerals. In this example, the rock has prominent
sillimanite porphyroblasts as large as 3 cm (1.2 in).
Mineral
–
Hübnerite, the manganese-rich end-member of the
wolframite series, with minor quartz in the background
Mineral
–
When minerals react, the products will sometimes assume the shape of the reagent; the product mineral is termed to be a pseudomorph of (or after) the reagent. Illustrated here is a pseudomorph of
kaolinite after
orthoclase. Here, the pseudomorph preserved the Carlsbad
twinning common in orthoclase.
11.
Coccoliths
–
Coccoliths are individual plates of calcium carbonate formed by coccolithophores which are arranged around them in a coccosphere. Coccoliths are formed within the cell in vesicles derived from the golgi body, when the coccolith is complete these vesicles fuse with the cell wall and the coccolith is exocytosed and incorporated in the coccosphere. The coccoliths are either dispersed following death and breakup of the coccosphere and they sink through the water column to form an important part of the deep-sea sediments. Thomas Huxley was the first person to observe these forms in modern marine sediments, there are two main types of coccoliths, heterococcoliths and holococcoliths. Heterococcoliths are formed of an array of elaborately shaped crystal units. Holococcoliths are formed of minute calcite rhombohedra, arranged in continuous arrays, the two coccolith types were originally thought to be produced by different families of coccolithophores. Now, however, it is known through a mix of observations on field samples and laboratory cultures, heterococcoliths are produced in the diploid life-cycle phase and holococcoliths in the haploid phase. Coccoliths are also classified depending on shape, because coccoliths are formed of low-Mg calcite, the most stable form of calcium carbonate, they are readily fossilised. They are found in sediments together with similar microfossils of uncertain affinities from the Upper Triassic to recent, Coccoliths and related fossils are referred to as calcareous nannofossils or calcareous nannoplankton. The EHUX website - site dedicated to Emiliania huxleyi, containing essays on blooms, coccolith function, international Nannoplankton Association site - includes an illustrated guide to coccolith terminology and several image galleries. Nannotax - illustrated guide to the taxonomy of coccolithophores and other nannofossils, cocco Express - Coccolithophorids Expressed Sequence Tags & Microarray Database Possible functions of Coccoliths
Coccoliths
–
False-colour
scanning electron micrograph of
Gephyrocapsa oceanica, showing the coccoliths.
12.
Coccolithophores
–
A coccolithophore is a unicellular, eukaryotic phytoplankton. Within the Chromalveolata, the coccolithophorids are in the phylum or division Haptophyta, coccolithophorids are distinguished by special calcium carbonate plates of uncertain function called coccoliths, which are also important microfossils. However, there are Prymnesiophyceae species lacking coccoliths, so not every member of Prymnesiophyceae is coccolithophorid, coccolithophores are almost exclusively marine and are found in large numbers throughout the sunlight zone of the ocean. The most abundant species of coccolithophore, Emiliania huxleyi, belongs to the order Isochrysidales and it is found in temperate, subtropical, and tropical oceans. This makes E. huxleyi an important part of the base of a large proportion of marine food webs. It is also the fastest growing coccolithophore in laboratory cultures, coccolithophores are of particular interest to those studying global climate change because as ocean acidity increases, their coccoliths may become even more important as a carbon sink. Furthermore, management strategies are being employed to prevent eutrophication-related coccolithophore blooms, coccolithophores are spherical cells about 5–100 micrometres across, enclosed by calcareous plates called coccoliths, which are about 2–25 micrometres across. Each cell contains two brown chloroplasts which surround the nucleus, each unicellular plankton is enclosed in its own collection of coccoliths, the calcified scales, which make up its exoskeleton or coccosphere. The primary constituent of coccoliths is calcium carbonate, or chalk, calcium carbonate is transparent, so the organisms’ photosynthetic activity is not compromised by encapsulation in a coccosphere. Coccoliths are produced by a process known as coccolithogenesis. Generally, calcification of coccoliths occurs in the presence of light, although not yet entirely understood, the biomineralization process is tightly regulated by calcium signaling. Calcite formation begins in the complex where protein templates nucleate the formation of CaCO3 crystals and complex acidic polysaccharides control the shape. As each scale is produced, it is exported in a Golgi-derived vesicle and this means that the most recently produced coccoliths may lie beneath older coccoliths. Depending upon the stage in the life cycle, two different types of coccoliths may be formed. Holococcoliths are produced only in the phase, lack radial symmetry. These crystals are thought to form at least partially outside the cell, heterococcoliths occur only in the diploid phase, have radial symmetry, and are composed of relatively few complex crystal units. Although they are rare, combination coccospheres, which contain both holococcoliths and heterococcoliths, have observed in the plankton recording coccolithophore life cycle transitions. Finally, the coccospheres of some species are highly modified with various appendages made of specialized coccoliths, while the exact function of the coccosphere is unclear, many potential functions have been proposed
Coccolithophores
–
Coccolithaceae Temporal Range: Late Triassic - Present
Coccolithophores
–
Coccolithus pelagicus.
Coccolithophores
–
The milky blue colour of this
phytoplankton bloom in
Barents Sea strongly suggests that it contains coccolithophores.
Coccolithophores
13.
Flint
–
Flint is a hard, sedimentary cryptocrystalline form of the mineral quartz, categorized as a variety of chert. It occurs chiefly as nodules and masses in sedimentary rocks, such as chalks, inside the nodule, flint is usually dark grey, black, green, white or brown in colour, and often has a glassy or waxy appearance. A thin layer on the outside of the nodules is usually different in colour, typically white, from a petrological point of view, flint refers specifically to the form of chert which occurs in chalk or marly limestone. Similarly, common chert occurs in limestone, the exact mode of formation of flint is not yet clear but it is thought that it occurs as a result of chemical changes in compressed sedimentary rock formations, during the process of diagenesis. One hypothesis is that a gelatinous material fills cavities in the sediment, such as bored by crustaceans or molluscs. This hypothesis certainly explains the shapes of flint nodules that are found. The source of dissolved silica in the media could be the spicules of silicious sponges. Certain types of flint, such as that from the south coast of England, pieces of coral and vegetation have been found preserved like amber inside the flint. Thin slices of the stone often reveal this effect, puzzling giant flint formations known as paramoudra and flint circles are found around Europe but especially in Norfolk, England on the beaches at Beeston Bump and West Runton. Flint sometimes occurs in large flint fields in Jurassic or Cretaceous beds, flint was used in the manufacture of tools during the Stone Age as it splits into thin, sharp splinters called flakes or blades when struck by another hard object. This process is referred to as knapping, flint mining is attested since the Palaeolithic, but became more common since the Neolithic. When struck against steel, a flint edge will produce sparks, the hard flint edge shaves off a particle of the steel that exposes iron which reacts with oxygen from the atmosphere and can ignite the proper tinder. Prior to the availability of steel, rocks of pyrite would be used along with the flint. These methods are popular in woodcraft, bushcraft, and among those who wish to use traditional skills, a later, major use of flint and steel was in the flintlock mechanism, used primarily in flintlock firearms, but also used on dedicated fire-starting tools. The sparks ignite the powder and that flame, in turn, ignites the main charge, propelling the ball, bullet. While the military use of the flintlock declined after the adoption of the cap from the 1840s onward, flintlock rifles. Flint and steel used to strike sparks were superseded by ferrocerium and this man-made material, when scraped with any hard, sharp edge, produces sparks that are much hotter than obtained with natural flint and steel, allowing use of a wider range of tinders. Because it can produce sparks when wet and can start fires when used correctly, ferrocerium is used in many cigarette lighters, where it is referred to as flint
Flint
–
A sample of Miorcani flint from the
Cenomanian chalky marl layer of the
Moldavian Plateau. (ca. 7.5 cm wide)
Flint
–
Pebble beach made up of flint nodules eroded out of the nearby
chalk cliffs,
Cape Arkona,
Rügen
Flint
–
Neolithic flint axe, about 31 cm long
Flint
–
Detail of flint used in a building in Wiltshire, England.
14.
Bed (geology)
–
In geology a bed is the smallest division of a geologic formation or stratigraphic rock series marked by well-defined divisional planes separating it from layers above and below. A bed is the smallest lithostratigraphic unit, usually ranging in thickness from a centimetre to several metres and distinguishable from beds above, beds can be differentiated in various ways, including rock or mineral type and particle size. The term is applied to sedimentary strata, but may also be used for volcanic flows or ash layers. In a quarry, a bedding is a used for a structure occurring in granite. Three kinds of beds are, parallel beds, cross beds, geological unit Lamination Stratigraphy Stratum Lamina, Laminaset, Bed and Bedset
Bed (geology)
–
Sedimentary bedding (Turkey)
15.
Nodule (geology)
–
Normally, a nodule has a warty or knobby surface and exists as a discrete mass within the host strata. In general, they lack any internal structure except for the remnants of original bedding or fossils. Nodules are closely related to concretions and sometimes these terms are used interchangeably, minerals that typically form nodules include calcite, chert, apatite, anhydrite, and pyrite. In sedimentology and geology, nodular is used to describe a sediment or sedimentary rock composed of scattered to loosely packed nodules in matrix of like or unlike character. It is also used to describe mineral aggregates that occur in the form of nodules, nodule is also used for widely scattered concretionary lumps of manganese, cobalt, iron, and nickel found on the floors of the worlds oceans. This is especially true of manganese nodules, manganese and phosphorite nodules form on the seafloor and are syndepositional in origin. Thus, technically speaking, they are instead of nodules. Chert and flint nodules are found in beds of limestone
Nodule (geology)
–
Devonian nodular limestone
Nodule (geology)
–
Concretionary nodular limestone at Jinshitan Coastal National Geopark,
Dalian,
China
16.
Spicule (sponge)
–
Spicules are structural elements found in most sponges. They provide structural support and deter predators, large spicules that are visible to the naked eye are referred to as megascleres, while smaller, microscopic ones are termed microscleres. Spicules are found in a range of symmetry types, monaxons form simple cylinders with pointed ends. The ends of diactinal monaxons are similar, whereas monactinal monaxons have a different ends - one pointed, diactinal monaxons are classified by the nature of their ends, oxea have pointed ends, and strongyles are rounded. Spine-covered oxea and strongyles are termed acanthoxea and acanthostrongyles, respectively, monactical monaxons always have one pointed end, they are termed styles if the other end is blunt, tylostyles if their blunt end forms a knob, and acanthostyles if they are covered in spines. Tetraxons have four axes, and polyaxons more, sigma-C spicules have the shape of a C. Dendroclones might be unique to extinct sponges and are branching spicules that may take irregular forms, megascleres are large spicules measuring from 60-2000 µm and often function as the main support elements in the skeleton. Anatriaenes, orthotriaenes and protriaenes are triaenes - megascleres with one long, strongyles are megascleres with both ends blunt or rounded. Styles are megascleres with one end pointed and the other end rounded, tornotes are megascleres with spear shaped ends. Tylotes are megascleres with knobs on both ends, microscleres are small spicules measuring from 10-60 µm and are scattered throughout the tissue and are not part of the main support element. Anisochelas are microscleres with dissimilar ends, chelae are microscleres with shovel-like structures on the ends. Euasters are star-shaped microscleres with multiple rays radiating from a common centre, forceps are microscleres bent back on themselves. Isochelas are microscleres with two similar ends, microstrongyles are microscleres with both ends blunt or rounded. Oxeas are microscleres with both ends pointed, oxyasters are star-shaped microscleres with thin pointed rays. Sigmas are C or S shaped microscleres, spherasters are microscleres with multiple rays radiating from a spherical centre. Sponges can be calcareous, siliceous, or composed of spongin, the meshing of many spicules serves as the sponge’s skeleton. The composition, size, and shape of spicules is one of the largest determining factors in sponge taxonomy, spicules are formed by sclerocytes, which are derived from archaeocytes. The sclerocyte begins with a filament, and adds silica to it
Spicule (sponge)
–
Sponge spicules
Spicule (sponge)
–
Spicules of sponge (
SEM)
17.
Fossil
–
Fossils are the preserved remains or traces of animals, plants, and other organisms from the remote past. The totality of fossils, both discovered and undiscovered, and their placement in fossiliferous rock formations and sedimentary layers is known as the fossil record. The study of fossils across geological time, how they were formed, such a preserved specimen is called a fossil if it is older than some minimum age, most often the arbitrary date of 10,000 years. The observation that fossils were associated with certain rock strata led early geologists to recognize a geological timescale in the 19th century. The development of dating techniques in the early 20th century allowed geologists to determine the numerical or absolute age of the various strata. Like extant organisms, fossils vary in size from microscopic, even single bacterial cells one micrometer in diameter, to gigantic, such as dinosaurs, Fossils may also consist of the marks left behind by the organism while it was alive, such as animal tracks or feces. These types of fossil are called trace fossils, as opposed to body fossils, finally, past life leaves some markers that cannot be seen but can be detected in the form of biochemical signals, these are known as chemofossils or biosignatures. The process of fossilization varies according to type and external conditions. Permineralization is a process of fossilization that occurs when an organism is buried, the empty spaces within an organism become filled with mineral-rich groundwater. Minerals precipitate from the groundwater, occupying the empty spaces and this process can occur in very small spaces, such as within the cell wall of a plant cell. Small scale permineralization can produce very detailed fossils, for permineralization to occur, the organism must become covered by sediment soon after death or soon after the initial decay process. The degree to which the remains are decayed when covered determines the later details of the fossil, some fossils consist only of skeletal remains or teeth, other fossils contain traces of skin, feathers or even soft tissues. This is a form of diagenesis, in some cases the original remains of the organism completely dissolve or are otherwise destroyed. The remaining organism-shaped hole in the rock is called an external mold, if this hole is later filled with other minerals, it is a cast. An endocast or internal mold is formed when sediments or minerals fill the cavity of an organism. This is a form of cast and mold formation. If the chemistry is right, the organism can act as a nucleus for the precipitation of minerals such as siderite, if this happens rapidly before significant decay to the organic tissue, very fine three-dimensional morphological detail can be preserved. Nodules from the Carboniferous Mazon Creek fossil beds of Illinois, USA, are among the best documented examples of such mineralization, replacement occurs when the shell, bone or other tissue is replaced with another mineral
Fossil
–
Silicified (replaced with silica) fossils from the Road Canyon Formation (Middle Permian of Texas).
Fossil
–
External mold of a
bivalve from the
Logan Formation, Lower
Carboniferous, Ohio
Fossil
–
Recrystallized
scleractinian coral (aragonite to calcite) from the
Jurassic of southern Israel
18.
Echinoidea
–
Sea urchins or urchins, archaically called sea hedgehogs, are small, spiny, globular animals that, with their close kin, such as sand dollars, constitute the class Echinoidea of the echinoderm phylum. About 950 species of echinoids inhabit all oceans from the intertidal to 5,000 metres deep, the shell, or test, of sea urchins is round and spiny, typically from 3 to 10 cm across. Common colors include black and dull shades of green, olive, brown, purple, blue, Sea urchins move slowly, feeding primarily on algae. Sea otters, starfish, wolf eels, triggerfish, and other predators hunt and their roe is a delicacy in many cuisines. The name urchin is an old word for hedgehog, which sea urchins resemble, Sea urchins are members of the phylum Echinodermata, which also includes sea stars, sea cucumbers, brittle stars, and crinoids. Like other echinoderms, they have five-fold symmetry and move by means of hundreds of tiny, transparent, the symmetry is not obvious in the living animal, but is easily visible in the dried test. The irregular sea urchins are an infra-class inside the Euechinoidea, called Irregularia, irregular echinoids include, flattened sand dollars, sea biscuits, and heart urchins. Together with sea cucumbers, they make up the subphylum Echinozoa, Sea cucumbers and the irregular echinoids have secondarily evolved diverse shapes. Urchins typically range in size from 6 to 12 cm, although the largest species can reach up to 36 cm, like other echinoderms, sea urchin early larvae have bilateral symmetry, but they develop five-fold symmetry as they mature. This is most apparent in the sea urchins, which have roughly spherical bodies with five equally sized parts radiating out from their central axes. Several sea urchins, however, including the sand dollars, are oval in shape, with front and rear ends. In these urchins, the surface of the body is slightly domed. This irregular body form has evolved to allow the animals to burrow through sand or other soft materials, Sea urchins tube feet arise from the five ambulacral grooves. Tube feet are moved by a vascular system, which works through hydraulic pressure, allowing the sea urchin to pump water into and out of the tube feet. The lower half of a sea urchins body is referred to as the surface, because it contains the mouth. The internal organs are enclosed in a shell or test composed of fused plates of calcium carbonate covered by a thin dermis and epidermis. The test is rigid, and divides into five ambulacral grooves separated by five interambulacral areas, each of these areas consists of two rows of plates, so the sea urchin test includes 20 rows of plates in total. The plates are covered in rounded tubercles, to which the spines are attached, the inner surface of the test is lined by peritoneum
Echinoidea
Echinoidea
–
There is a wide diversity of shapes in sea urchins. This "slate-pencil sea urchin" (
Heterocentrotus mamillatus), despite its big, wide spines, is a regular sea urchin and not a cidaroid: its spines are not covered with algae.
Echinoidea
–
Paracentrotus lividus, a regular sea urchin (
Euechinoidea, infraclass
Carinacea).
Echinoidea
–
A
sand dollar, an irregular sea urchin (
Irregularia).
19.
Silicification
–
Petrified wood typifies this process, but all organisms, from bacteria to vertebrates, can become petrified. Petrification takes place through a combination of two processes, permineralization and replacement. These processes create replicas of the specimen that are similar down to the microscopic level. One of the involved in petrification is permineralization. The fossils created through this process tend to contain an amount of the original material of the specimen. This process occurs when groundwater containing dissolved minerals, fills pore spaces and cavities of specimens, particularly bone, the pores of the organisms tissues are filled when these minerals precipitate out of the water. Two common types of permineralization are silicification and pyritization, silicification is the process in which organic matter becomes saturated with silica. A common source of silica is volcanic material, studies have shown that in this process, most of the original organic matter is destroyed. Silicification most often occurs in two environments-either the specimen is buried in sediments of deltas and floodplains or organisms are buried in volcanic ash, the process begins when a specimen is permeated with an aqueous silica solution. The cell walls of the specimen are progressively dissolved and silica is deposited into the empty spaces, in wood samples, as the process proceeds, cellulose and lignin, two components of wood, are degraded and replaced with silica. The specimen is transformed to stone as water is lost, pyritization is a process similar to silicification, but instead involves the deposition of iron and sulfur in the pores and cavities of an organism. Pyritization can result in both solid fossils as well as preserved soft tissues, in marine environments, pyritization occurs when organisms are buried in sediments containing a high concentration of iron sulfides. Organisms release sulfide, which reacts with dissolved iron in the surrounding water and this reaction between iron and sulfides forms pyrite. Carbonate shell material of the organism is replaced with pyrite due to a higher concentration of pyrite. Pyritization occurs to an extent in plants in clay environments. Replacement, the process involved in petrification, occurs when water containing dissolved minerals dissolves the original solid material of an organism. This can take place extremely slowly, replicating the structure of the organism. The slower the rate of the process, the better defined the structure will be
Silicification
–
Petrified wood
20.
Negev
–
The Negev or Naqab is a desert and semidesert region of southern Israel. The regions largest city and administrative capital is Beersheba, in the north, at its southern end is the Gulf of Aqaba and the resort city of Eilat. It contains several development towns, including Dimona, Arad and Mitzpe Ramon, as well as a number of small Bedouin cities, including Rahat and Tel as-Sabi and Lakyah. There are also several kibbutzim, including Revivim and Sde Boker, the origin of the word negev is from the Hebrew root denoting dry. In the Bible, the word Negev is also used for the direction south, during the British Mandate it was called Beersheba sub-district. The Negev covers more than half of Israel, over some 13,000 km² or at least 55% of the land area. It forms a triangle shape whose western side is contiguous with the desert of the Sinai Peninsula. The Negev has a number of interesting cultural and geological features, among the latter are three enormous, craterlike makhteshim, which are unique to the region, Makhtesh Ramon, Makhtesh Gadol, and Makhtesh Katan. The Negev is a rocky desert and it is a melange of brown, rocky, dusty mountains interrupted by wadis and deep craters. It can be split into five different ecological regions, northern, western and central Negev, the high plateau, the northern Negev, or Mediterranean zone, receives 300 mm of rain annually and has fairly fertile soils. The western Negev receives 250 mm of rain per year, with light, sand dunes can reach heights of up to 30 metres here. The high plateau area of Ramat HaNegev stands between 370 metres and 520 metres above sea level with temperatures in summer and winter. The area gets 100 mm of rain per year, with inferior, the Arabah Valley along the Jordanian border stretches 180 km from Eilat in the south to the tip of the Dead Sea in the north. The Arabah Valley is very arid with barely 50 mm of rain annually and it has inferior soils in which little can grow without irrigation and special soil additives. Vegetation in the Negev is sparse, but certain trees and plants there, among them Acacia, Pistacia, Retama, Urginea maritima. A small population of Arabian leopards, an animal in the Arabian peninsula. The Negev Tortoise is a endangered species that currently lives only in the sands of the western. The Negev shrew is a species of mammal of the family Soricidae found only in Israel, hyphaene thebaica or doum palm can be found in the Southern Negev
Negev
–
Ein Avdat in the Zin Valley in the Negev
Negev
–
Sunset in the Negev Desert near Yeruham, Israel
Negev
–
Nahal Paran, Negev
Negev
–
Spring blooms in the Negev
21.
Mesozoic
–
The Mesozoic Era is an interval of geological time from about 252 to 66 million years ago. This Era is also called from a paleobotanist view the Age of Conifers, Mesozoic means middle life, deriving from the Greek prefix meso-/μεσο- for between and zōon/ζῷον meaning animal or living being. It is one of three eras of the Phanerozoic Eon, preceded by the Paleozoic and succeeded by the Cenozoic. The era is subdivided into three periods, the Triassic, Jurassic, and Cretaceous, which are further subdivided into a number of epochs. The Mesozoic was a time of significant tectonic, climate and evolutionary activity, the era witnessed the gradual rifting of the supercontinent Pangaea into separate landmasses that would eventually move into their current positions. The climate of the Mesozoic was varied, alternating between warming and cooling periods, overall, however, the Earth was hotter than it is today. Birds first appeared in the Jurassic, having evolved from a branch of theropod dinosaurs, the first mammals also appeared during the Mesozoic, but would remain small—less than 15 kg —until the Cenozoic. Following the Paleozoic, the Mesozoic extended roughly 186 million years and this time frame is separated into three geologic periods. It is also known as the Great Dying because it is considered the largest mass extinction in the Earths history, the upper boundary of the Mesozoic is set at the Cretaceous–Paleogene extinction event, which may have been caused by the impactor that created Chicxulub Crater on the Yucatán Peninsula. Towards the Late Cretaceous large volcanic eruptions are believed to have contributed to the Cretaceous–Paleogene extinction event. Approximately 50% of all genera became extinct, including all of the non-avian dinosaurs, the Triassic ranges roughly from 252 million to 201 million years ago. The Triassic is a time in Earths history bracketed between the Permian Extinction and the Triassic–Jurassic extinction event, two of the big five, and precedes the Jurassic Period and it has three major epochs, the Early Triassic, the Middle Triassic and the Late Triassic. The Early Triassic was between about 252 million to 247 million years ago and was dominated by deserts as Pangaea had not yet broken up, thus the interior was nothing, the Earth had just witnessed a massive die-off in which 95% of all life became extinct. The most common life on earth were Lystrosaurus, labyrinthodonts. Temnospondyls evolved during this time and would be the dominant predator for much of the Triassic, the Middle Triassic spans roughly from 247 million to 237 million years ago. The Middle Triassic featured the beginnings of the breakup of Pangaea, the ecosystem had recovered from the devastation that was the Great Dying. Algae, sponge, corals, and crustaceans all had recovered, new aquatic reptiles evolved, such as ichthyosaurs and nothosaurs. Meanwhile, on land, pine forests flourished, as did groups of insects like mosquitoes, the first ancient crocodilians evolved, which sparked competition with the large amphibians that had since ruled the freshwater world
Mesozoic
–
Plateosaurus (a
prosauropod)
Mesozoic
–
Rhamphorhynchus
Mesozoic
–
(Inaccurately portrayed)
Stegosaurus
Mesozoic
–
Tylosaurus (a
mosasaur) hunting
Xiphactinus
22.
Tethys Ocean
–
It is also referred to as the Tethys Sea or Neotethys. About 250 million years ago, during the Triassic, a new ocean began forming in the end of the Paleo-Tethys Ocean. A rift formed along the continental shelf of Southern Pangaea. Over the next 60 million years, that piece of shelf, known as Cimmeria, traveled north, the Tethys Ocean formed between Cimmeria and Gondwana, directly over where the Paleo-Tethys used to be. During the Jurassic Period, Cimmeria finally collided with Laurasia, there it stalled, the ocean floor behind it buckling under, forming the Tethyan Trench. Water levels rose, and the western Tethys shallowly covered significant portions of Europe, thus, ocean currents at that time—around the Early Cretaceous—ran very differently from the way they do today. Between the Jurassic and the Late Cretaceous, Gondwana began breaking up, pushing Africa and India north across the Tethys and opening up the Indian Ocean. As these land masses crowded in on the Tethys ocean from all sides, to as recently as the Late Miocene, the ocean continued to shrink, becoming the Tethys Seaway or second Tethys Sea. Also, throughout the Cenozoic, global sea levels fell hundreds of meters, today, India, Pakistan, Indonesia, and the Indian Ocean cover the area once occupied by the Tethys Ocean, and Turkey, Iraq, and Tibet sit on Cimmeria. What was once the arm of the Tethys Sea was the ancestor of the present-day Mediterranean Sea. Other remnants are the Black, Caspian, and Aral Seas, most of the floor of the Tethys Ocean disappeared under Cimmeria and Laurasia. Similar geologic evidence can be seen in the Alpine orogeny of Europe, greece and the Levant also retain many units of limestone and other sedimentary rocks deposited by various stands of the Tethys Ocean. Paleontologists also find the Tethys Ocean particularly important because much of the worlds sea shelves were found around its margins for such a length of time. Marine, marsh-dwelling, and estuarian fossils from these shelves are of considerable paleontological interest, the Solnhofen limestone in Bavaria, originally a coastal lagoon mud of the Tethys Ocean, yielded the famous Archaeopteryx fossil. However, Eduard Suess is generally seen as the first person to provide evidence for the existence of this ancient and extinct sea. In 1893, using records from the Alps and Africa. He named it the Tethys Sea after the Greek sea goddess Tethys, Suess first proposed his concept of Tethys in his four-volume work Das Antlitz der Erde. This concept evolved during the 20th century and after WW2 Tethys was described as an ocean with a wide eastern end
Tethys Ocean
–
Geologist
Eduard Suess in 1869
Tethys Ocean
–
First phase of the Tethys Ocean's forming: the (first) Tethys Sea starts dividing
Pangaea into two supercontinents,
Laurasia and
Gondwana.
23.
Weathering
–
Weathering is the breaking down of rocks, soil, and minerals as well as wood and artificial materials through contact with the Earths atmosphere, waters, and biological organisms. Two important classifications of weathering processes exist – physical and chemical weathering, mechanical or physical weathering involves the breakdown of rocks and soils through direct contact with atmospheric conditions, such as heat, water, ice and pressure. While physical weathering is accentuated in very cold or very dry environments, chemical reactions are most intense where the climate is wet, however, both types of weathering occur together, and each tends to accelerate the other. For example, physical abrasion decreases the size of particles and therefore increases their surface area, the various agents act in concert to convert primary minerals to secondary minerals and release plant nutrient elements in soluble forms. The materials left over after the rock breaks down combined with organic material creates soil, in addition, many of Earths landforms and landscapes are the result of weathering processes combined with erosion and re-deposition. Physical weathering, also recognized as mechanical weathering, is the class of processes that causes the disintegration of rocks without chemical change, the primary process in physical weathering is abrasion. However, chemical and physical weathering often go hand in hand, physical weathering can occur due to temperature, pressure, frost etc. For example, cracks exploited by physical weathering will increase the area exposed to chemical action. Abrasion by water, ice, and wind loaded with sediment can have tremendous cutting power, as is amply demonstrated by the gorges, ravines. In glacial areas, huge moving ice masses embedded with soil and rock fragments grind down rocks in their path, plant roots sometimes enter cracks in rocks and pry them apart, resulting in some disintegration, Burrowing animals may help disintegrate rock through their physical action. However, such influences are usually of importance in producing parent material when compared to the drastic physical effects of water, ice, wind. Physical weathering is called mechanical weathering or disaggregation. Thermal stress weathering results from the expansion and contraction of rock, for example, heating of rocks by sunlight or fires can cause expansion of their constituent minerals. As some minerals expand more than others, temperature changes set up differential stresses that cause the rock to crack apart. Because the outer surface of a rock is often warmer or colder than the more protected inner portions and this process may be sharply accelerated if ice forms in the surface cracks. When water freezes, it expands with a force of about 1465 Mg/m^2, disintegrating huge rock masses, thermal stress weathering comprises two main types, thermal shock and thermal fatigue. Thermal stress weathering is an important mechanism in deserts, where there is a diurnal temperature range, hot in the day. The repeated heating and cooling exerts stress on the layers of rocks
Weathering
–
A
natural arch produced by erosion of differentially weathered rock in Jebel Kharaz (
Jordan)
Weathering
–
A rock in
Abisko,
Sweden fractured along existing
joints possibly by frost weathering or thermal stress
Weathering
–
Wave action and water chemistry lead to structural failure in exposed rocks
Weathering
–
Pressure release could have caused the exfoliated granite sheets shown in the picture.
24.
Clay
–
Clay is a fine-grained natural rock or soil material that combines one or more clay minerals with traces of metal oxides and organic matter. Geologic clay deposits are composed of phyllosilicate minerals containing variable amounts of water trapped in the mineral structure. Clays are plastic due to water content and become hard, brittle. Depending on the content in which it is found, clay can appear in various colours from white to dull grey or brown to deep orange-red. Although many naturally occurring deposits include both silts and clay, clays are distinguished from other fine-grained soils by differences in size, silts, which are fine-grained soils that do not include clay minerals, tend to have larger particle sizes than clays. There is, however, some overlap in size and other physical properties. The distinction between silt and clay varies by discipline, geologists and soil scientists usually consider the separation to occur at a particle size of 2 µm, sedimentologists often use 4–5 μm, and colloid chemists use 1 μm. Geotechnical engineers distinguish between silts and clays based on the plasticity properties of the soil, as measured by the soils Atterberg limits, ISO14688 grades clay particles as being smaller than 2 μm and silt particles as being larger. These solvents, usually acidic, migrate through the rock after leaching through upper weathered layers. In addition to the process, some clay minerals are formed through hydrothermal activity. There are two types of deposits, primary and secondary. Primary clays form as residual deposits in soil and remain at the site of formation, secondary clays are clays that have been transported from their original location by water erosion and deposited in a new sedimentary deposit. Clay deposits are associated with very low energy depositional environments such as large lakes. Depending on the source, there are three or four main groups of clays, kaolinite, montmorillonite-smectite, illite, and chlorite. Chlorites are not always considered to be a clay, sometimes being classified as a group within the phyllosilicates. There are approximately 30 different types of clays in these categories. Varve is clay with visible annual layers, which are formed by deposition of those layers and are marked by differences in erosion. This type of deposit is common in glacial lakes
Clay
–
Gay Head cliffs in
Martha's Vineyard consist almost entirely of clay.
Clay
–
Electron microscope photograph of smectite clay – magnification 23,500
Clay
–
Quaternary clay in
Estonia
Clay
–
Deforestation for clay extraction in
Rio de Janeiro,
Brazil. The picture is of Morro da Covanca, Jacarepaguá.
25.
Cliff
–
In geography and geology, a cliff is a vertical, or nearly vertical, rock exposure. Cliffs are formed as erosion landforms by the processes of weathering, Cliffs are common on coasts, in mountainous areas, escarpments and along rivers. Cliffs are usually formed by rock that is resistant to weathering, sedimentary rocks most likely to form cliffs include sandstone, limestone, chalk, and dolomite. Igneous rocks such as granite and basalt also often form cliffs, an escarpment is a type of cliff, formed by the movement of a geologic fault or a landslide. Most cliffs have some form of slope at their base. In arid areas or under high cliffs, they are generally exposed jumbles of fallen rock, in areas of higher moisture, a soil slope may obscure the talus. Many cliffs also feature tributary waterfalls or rock shelters, sometimes a cliff peters out at the end of a ridge, with tea tables or other types of rock columns remaining. Coastal erosion may lead to the formation of sea cliffs along a receding coastline, the Ordnance Survey distinguishes between cliffs and outcrops. Cliff is a Romance loanword that has its origins in the Latin forms clivus / clevus. Given that a cliff need not be vertical, there can be ambiguity about whether a given slope is a cliff or not. For example, given a vertical rock wall above a very steep slope. Listings of cliffs are thus inherently uncertain, some of the largest cliffs on Earth are found underwater. For example, an 8,000 m drop over a 4,250 m span can be found at a ridge sitting inside the Kermadec Trench. One candidate for highest cliff in the world is Nanga Parbats Rupal Face, according to other sources, the highest cliff in the world, about 1,340 m high, is the east face of Great Trango in the Karakoram mountains of northern Pakistan. The location of the worlds highest sea cliffs depends also on the definition of cliff that is used, guinness World Records states it is Kalaupapa, Hawaii, at 1,010 m high. Another contender is the face of Mitre Peak, which drops 1,683 m to Milford Sound. These are subject to a less stringent definition, as the slope of these cliffs at Kaulapapa is about 1.7, corresponding to an angle of 60 degrees. A more vertical drop into the sea can be found at Maujit Qaqarssuasia which is situated in the Torssukátak fjord area at the tip of South Greenland
Cliff
–
The
Trango Towers in
Pakistan. Their vertical faces are the world's tallest cliffs. Trango Tower center; Trango Monk center left; Trango II far left; Great Trango right.
Cliff
–
Europe's highest cliff,
Troll wall in
Norway. A famous
BASE location for jumpers from around the world.
Cliff
–
The far southwestern aspect of
Nanga Parbat 's Rupal face, highest cliff (rock wall/mountain face) in the world. The steepest part of the face lies 2km to the northeast.
Cliff
–
The
Cliffs of Moher in
Ireland
26.
Hill
–
A hill is a landform that extends above the surrounding terrain. It often has a summit, although in areas with scarp/dip topography a hill may refer to a particular section of flat terrain without a massive summit. The distinction between a hill and a mountain is unclear and largely subjective, but a hill is considered to be less tall. The Great Soviet Encyclopedia defines hill as an upland with a height up to 200 m. Today, a mountain is usually defined in the UK and Ireland as any summit at least 2,000 feet high, some definitions include a topographical prominence requirement, typically 100 feet or 500 feet. In practice, mountains in Scotland are frequently referred to as no matter what their height, as reflected in names such as the Cuillin Hills. In Wales, the distinction is more a term of land use, for a while, the U. S. defined a mountain as being 1,000 feet or more tall. Any similar landform lower than this height was considered a hill, the United States Geological Survey, however, has concluded that these terms do not in fact have technical definitions in the U. S. A hillock is a small hill, other words include knoll and its variant, knowe. Artificial hills may be referred to by a variety of names, including mound. Various names used to describe types of hill, based on appearance and these include, Drumlin – an elongated whale-shaped hill formed by glacial action. Butte – an isolated hill with steep sides and a flat top. Kuppe – a rounded hill or low mountain, typical of central Europe Tor – a rock found on a hilltop, also used to refer to the hill. Puy – used especially in the Auvergne, France, to describe a conical volcanic hill, pingo – a mound of earth-covered ice found in the Arctic and Antarctica. For example, Ancient Rome was built on seven hills, protecting it from invaders, in northern Europe, many ancient monuments are sited in heaps. Some of these are structures, but others appear to have hardly any significance. In Britain, many churches at the tops of hills are thought to have built on the sites of earlier pagan holy places. The National Cathedral in Washington, DC has followed this tradition and was built on the highest hill in that city, Hills provide a major advantage to an army, giving them an elevated firing position and forcing an opposing army to charge uphill to attack them
Hill
–
A khulan (
Mongolian wild ass) on a hill in the
Gobi of
Mongolia at sunset
Hill
–
Chocolate Hills of the
Philippines
Hill
–
Hills in
Tuscany,
Italy
Hill
–
Hills of the
Judean Desert
27.
Downland
–
A downland is an area of open chalk hills. This term is used to describe the chalk countryside in southern England. Areas of downland are often referred to as downs, deriving from a Celtic word for hills, downland is formed when chalk formations are raised above the surrounding rocks. The chalk slowly erodes to form characteristic rolling hills and valleys, where the downs meet the sea, characteristic white chalk cliffs form, such as the White Cliffs of Dover and Beachy Head. Chalk deposits are very porous, so the height of the table in chalk hills rises in winter. This leads to characteristic chalk downland such as dry valleys or coombes. The modern practice of extracting water from reservoir, in order to satisfy demand for water. In the valleys below the downs there is typically a clay soil, along this line, settlements and farms were often built, as on the higher land no water was available. This is demonstrated very clearly beneath the scarp of the White Horse Hills, in many chalk downland areas there is no surface water at all other than artificially created dewponds. The soil profile of chalk downland in England is a thin soil overlaying the parent chalk, weathering of the chalk has created a characteristic soil known as rendzina. This is largely because of the purity of the chalk, which is about 98% calcium carbonate, steep slopes on chalk downland develop a ribbed pattern of grass covered horizontal steps a foot or two high. Although subsequently emphasised by cattle and sheep walking along them, these terracettes were formed by the movement of soil downhill, in temperate regions chalk downland is typically calcareous grassland, a habitat formed by grazing from both livestock and wild animals. Chalk downland is often unsuitable for agriculture, horticulture, or development because of the nutrient-poor, shallow soil. For this reason downland often survived uncultivated when other, more easily worked land was ploughed or reseeded and this shallow soil structure makes downland ecosystems extremely fragile and easy to destroy. The UK cover of lowland calcareous grassland has suffered a decline in extent since the middle of the twentieth century. Much remaining chalk downland has been protected against future development to preserve its unique biodiversity
Downland
–
Culver Down,
Isle of Wight.
Downland
–
Galium verum (L.) Lady's Bedstraw, a typical English chalk downland plant.
28.
Escarpment
–
An escarpment is a steep slope or long cliff that forms as an effect of faulting or erosion and separates two relatively level areas of differing elevations. Usually escarpment is used interchangeably with scarp, but some sources differentiate the two terms, where escarpment refers to the margin between two landforms, while scarp is synonymous with a cliff or steep slope. The surface of the slope is called a scarp face. This is a ridge which has a gentle slope on one side. Scarps are generally formed by one of two processes, either by differential erosion of rocks, or by vertical movement of the Earths crust along a geologic fault. Most commonly, an escarpment is a transition from one series of rocks to another series of a different age. Escarpments are also formed by faults. When a fault displaces the ground surface so that one side is higher than the other and this can occur in dip-slip faults, or when a strike-slip fault brings a piece of high ground adjacent to an area of lower ground. More loosely, the term describes the zone between coastal lowlands and continental plateaus which have a marked, abrupt change in elevation caused by coastal erosion at the base of the plateau. Earth is not the planet where escarpments occur. They are believed to occur on other planets when the crust contracts, on other Solar System bodies such as Mercury, Mars, and the Moon, the Latin term rupes is used for an escarpment. When sedimentary beds are tilted and exposed to the surface, erosion, escarpments erode gradually and over geological time. The mélange tendencies of escarpments results in varying contacts between a multitude of rock types and these varying levels of erosion can lead to strange features forming in the exposed rock. Kinver Edge The Lincoln Edge Stanage Edge Wenlock Edge France La Côte dOr is famous for its wines and has given its name to a département, le Pays de Bray, a clay vale enclosed by chalk escarpments
Escarpment
–
Shaded and colored image from the
Shuttle Radar Topography Mission —shows an
elevation model of New Zealand's
Alpine Fault running about 500 km (300 mi) long. The escarpment is flanked by a vast chain of hills squeezed between the
fault and the
mountains of
New Zealand 's
Southern Alps. Northeast is towards the top.
Escarpment
–
Escarpment face of a
cuesta, broken by a fault,
Cumberland Plateau,
Tennessee
Escarpment
–
The Sierra Escarpment in
California.
29.
Ground water
–
Groundwater is the water present beneath Earths surface in soil pore spaces and in the fractures of rock formations. A unit of rock or a deposit is called an aquifer when it can yield a usable quantity of water. The depth at which pore spaces or fractures and voids in rock become completely saturated with water is called the water table. Groundwater is recharged from, and eventually flows to, the naturally, natural discharge often occurs at springs and seeps. Groundwater is also withdrawn for agricultural, municipal, and industrial use by constructing and operating extraction wells. The study of the distribution and movement of groundwater is hydrogeology, Groundwater is hypothesized to provide lubrication that can possibly influence the movement of faults. It is likely that much of Earths subsurface contains some water, Groundwater may not be confined only to Earth. The formation of some of the landforms observed on Mars may have influenced by groundwater. There is also evidence that water may also exist in the subsurface of Jupiters moon Europa. Groundwater is often cheaper, more convenient and less vulnerable to pollution than surface water, therefore, it is commonly used for public water supplies. For example, groundwater provides the largest source of water storage in the United States. Underground reservoirs contain far more water than the capacity of all surface reservoirs and lakes in the US, many municipal water supplies are derived solely from groundwater. Polluted groundwater is less visible, but more difficult to clean up, than pollution in rivers, Groundwater pollution most often results from improper disposal of wastes on land. An aquifer is a layer of substrate that contains and transmits groundwater. When water can flow directly between the surface and the zone of an aquifer, the aquifer is unconfined. The deeper parts of unconfined aquifers are more saturated since gravity causes water to flow downward. The upper level of this layer of an unconfined aquifer is called the water table or phreatic surface. Below the water table, where in general all pore spaces are saturated with water, is the phreatic zone, substrate with low porosity that permits limited transmission of groundwater is known as an aquitard
Ground water
–
The entire
surface water flow of the
Alapaha River near
Jennings,
Florida going into a
sinkhole leading to the
Floridan Aquifer groundwater
Ground water
–
Dzherelo, a common source of drinking water in a
Ukrainian village
Ground water
–
Reflective carpet trapping soil water vapor
Ground water
–
Wetlands contrast the arid landscape around Middle Spring,
Fish Springs National Wildlife Refuge,
Utah
30.
Meudon
–
Meudon is a municipality in the southwestern suburbs of Paris, France. It is in the département of Hauts-de-Seine and it is located 9.1 km from the center of Paris. The town of Meudon is built on the hills and valleys of the Seine, the wood of Meudon lies for the most part to the west of the town. The northwest part of Meudon, overlooking the Seine, is known as Bellevue, at Meudon, the argile plastique clay was extensively mined in the 19th century. The first fossil of the European diatryma Gastornis parisiensis was discovered in deposits by Gaston Planté. Archaeological sites show that Meudon has been populated since Neolithic times, the Gauls called the area Mol-Dum, and the Romans Latinized the name as Moldunum. The handsome Galliera Institutions, on the hill of Fleury, were founded by the duchess of Galliera for the care of aged persons and orphans, the buildings were completed in 1885. The old castle of Meudon was rebuilt in Renaissance style in the mid-sixteenth century and it was bought by Louis XIV as a residence for Louis, le Grand Dauphin, under whom Meudon became a center of aristocratic life. A branch of the Paris Observatory was founded in 1877 on the ruins, the Meudon town hall is about 43 m in altitude above that of Paris and the climb from there to the observatory offers some rewarding views of Paris. Nicolas-Joseph Cugnot, the inventor of the worlds first automobile, is reported to have carried out some early trials at Meudon in the early 1770s, chalais-Meudon was important in the pioneering of aviation, initially balloons and airships, but also the early heavier-than-air machines. A Corps dAérostatiers under the command of Jean-Marie-Joseph Coutelle was established in 1794, Hangar Y was built in 1880 at the request of the military engineer Captain Charles Renard, for the construction of balloons and airships. The building is 70 m long,24 m wide and around 26 m high. The airship La France, designed by Renard and Arthur Krebs, was built in Hangar Y in 1884 and was the first airship which was controllable during flight and which could return to its starting point. Although a choice residential district, access to the railway and the Seine river have made Meudon a manufacturing center since the 1840s, metal products and military explosives have been continuously produced there since then. From 1921 to 1981 the Air Museum was located here until it moved to Le Bourget Airport, CNRS has a campus in Bellevue. Meudon is well served by public transports operated jointly by the SNCF, Meudon is served by the line C of the RER by the Meudon – Val Fleury station. Meudon is also served by the transilien line N through the Meudon station, the T2 tramway line links the Pont de Bezons station to the Porte de Versailles station. Meudon is served by the Brimborion station and the Meudon-sur-Seine station, the T6 tramway line runs from Châtillon to Viroflay
Meudon
–
Observatory of Meudon
Meudon
–
Meudon Val Fleury Station
31.
Underground mining (hard rock)
–
Soft rock mining refers to excavation of softer minerals such as salt, coal, or oil sands. Accessing underground ore can be achieved via a decline, inclined vertical shaft or adit, declines can be a spiral tunnel which circles either the flank of the deposit or circles around the deposit. The decline begins with a box cut, which is the portal to the surface, depending on the amount of overburden and quality of bedrock, a galvanized steel culvert may be required for safety purposes. They may also be started into the wall of an open cut mine, shafts are vertical excavations sunk adjacent to an ore body. Shafts are sunk for ore bodies where haulage to surface via truck is not economical, Shaft haulage is more economical than truck haulage at depth, and a mine may have both a decline and a ramp. Adits are horizontal excavations into the side of a hill or mountain and they are used for horizontal or near-horizontal ore bodies where there is no need for a ramp or shaft. They are also built and maintained as an emergency safety access from the underground workings. Levels are excavated horizontally off the decline or shaft to access the ore body, stopes are then excavated perpendicular to the level into the ore. There are two phases of underground mining, development mining and production mining. Development mining is composed of excavation almost entirely in waste rock in order to access to the orebody. To start the mining first step is to make the path to go down, the path is defined as Decline as describe above. Before the start of Decline all preplanning of Power facility, drilling arrangement, dewatering, ventilation and, production mining is further broken down into two methods, long hole and short hole. Short hole mining is similar to development mining, except that it occurs in ore, there are several different methods of long hole mining. Typically long hole mining requires two excavations within the ore at different elevations below surface, holes are drilled between the two excavations and loaded with explosives. The holes are blasted and the ore is removed from the bottom excavation, one of the most important aspects of underground hard rock mining is ventilation. Ventilation is also used to manage underground temperatures for the workers, in deep, hot mines ventilation is used to cool the workplace, however, in very cold locations the air is heated to just above freezing before it enters the mine. Ventilation raises are typically used to transfer ventilation from surface to the workplaces, the primary sources of heat in underground hard rock mines are virgin rock temperature, machinery, auto compression, and fissure water. Other small contributing factors are human body heat and blasting, some means of support is required in order to maintain the stability of the openings that are excavated
Underground mining (hard rock)
–
A three-dimensional model of an underground mine with shaft access
Underground mining (hard rock)
–
Decline portal at
Wiluna Gold Mine
Underground mining (hard rock)
–
Door for directing ventilation in an old lead mine. The ore hopper at the front is not part of the ventilation.
32.
Industrial Revolution
–
The Industrial Revolution was the transition to new manufacturing processes in the period from about 1760 to sometime between 1820 and 1840. The Industrial Revolution began in Great Britain and most of the important technological innovations were British, aided by these legal and cultural foundations, an entrepreneurial spirit and consumer revolution drove industrialisation in Britain, which would be emulated in countries around the world. A change in marrying patterns to getting married later made able to accumulate more human capital during their youth. The Industrial Revolution marks a turning point in history, almost every aspect of daily life was influenced in some way. In particular, average income and population began to exhibit unprecedented sustained growth, mechanised textile production spread from Great Britain to continental Europe in the early 19th century, with important centres of textiles, iron and coal emerging in Belgium, and later in France. Since then industrialisation has spread throughout much of the world, the precise start and end of the Industrial Revolution is still debated among historians, as is the pace of economic and social changes. Economic historians are in agreement that the onset of the Industrial Revolution is the most important event in the history of humanity since the domestication of animals and plants. The term Industrial Revolution applied to change was becoming more common by the late 1830s. Friedrich Engels in The Condition of the Working Class in England in 1844 spoke of an industrial revolution, however, although Engels wrote in the 1840s, his book was not translated into English until the late 1800s, and his expression did not enter everyday language until then. Credit for popularising the term may be given to Arnold Toynbee, some historians, such as John Clapham and Nicholas Crafts, have argued that the economic and social changes occurred gradually and the term revolution is a misnomer. This is still a subject of debate among some historians, the commencement of the Industrial Revolution is closely linked to a small number of innovations, beginning in the second half of the 18th century. By the 1830s the following gains had been made in important technologies, Textiles – mechanised cotton spinning powered by steam or water greatly increased the output of a worker, the power loom increased the output of a worker by a factor of over 40. The cotton gin increased productivity of removing seed from cotton by a factor of 50, large gains in productivity also occurred in spinning and weaving of wool and linen, but they were not as great as in cotton. Steam power – the efficiency of steam engines increased so that they used between one-fifth and one-tenth as much fuel, the adaptation of stationary steam engines to rotary motion made them suitable for industrial uses. The high pressure engine had a power to weight ratio. Steam power underwent an expansion after 1800. Iron making – the substitution of coke for charcoal greatly lowered the fuel cost for pig iron, using coke also allowed larger blast furnaces, resulting in economies of scale. The cast iron blowing cylinder was first used in 1760 and it was later improved by making it double acting, which allowed higher furnace temperatures
Industrial Revolution
–
A
Watt steam engine. The
steam engine, made of iron and fueled primarily by
coal, became widely used in the
United Kingdom during the Industrial Revolution.
Industrial Revolution
–
Iron and Coal, 1855–60, by
William Bell Scott illustrates the rise of coal and iron working in the Industrial Revolution and the heavy engineering projects they made possible.
Industrial Revolution
–
Model of the
spinning jenny in a museum in
Wuppertal. Invented by
James Hargreaves in 1764, the spinning jenny was one of the innovations that started the revolution.
Industrial Revolution
–
The only surviving example of a
spinning mule built by the inventor
Samuel Crompton.
33.
Quicklime
–
Calcium oxide, commonly known as quicklime or burnt lime, is a widely used chemical compound. It is a white, caustic, alkaline, crystalline solid at room temperature, the broadly used term lime connotes calcium-containing inorganic materials, in which carbonates, oxides and hydroxides of calcium, silicon, magnesium, aluminium, and iron predominate. By contrast, quicklime specifically applies to the chemical compound calcium oxide. Calcium oxide that survives processing without reacting in building such as cement is called free lime. Both it and a chemical derivative are important commodity chemicals, Calcium oxide is usually made by the thermal decomposition of materials, such as limestone or seashells, that contain calcium carbonate in a lime kiln. This is accomplished by heating the material to above 825 °C, annual worldwide production of quicklime is around 283 million tonnes. China is by far the worlds largest producer, with a total of around 170 million tonnes per year, the United States is the next largest, with around 20 million tonnes per year. Approximately 1.8 t of limestone is required per 1.0 t of quicklime, quicklime has a high affinity for water and is a more efficient desiccant than silica gel. The reaction of quicklime with water is associated with an increase in volume by a factor of at least 2.5, the major use of quicklime is in the Basic oxygen steelmaking process. Its usage varies from about 30–50 kg/t of steel, the quicklime neutralizes the acidic oxides, SiO2, Al2O3, and Fe2O3, to produce a basic molten slag. Ground quicklime is used in the production of aerated concrete blocks, quicklime and hydrated lime can considerably increase the load carrying capacity of clay-containing soils. They do this by reacting with finely divided silica and alumina to produce calcium silicates and aluminates, small quantities of quicklime are used in other processes, e. g. the production of glass, calcium aluminate cement, and organic chemicals. The hydrate can be reconverted to quicklime by removing the water by heating it to redness to reverse the hydration reaction, one litre of water combines with approximately 3.1 kilograms of quicklime to give calcium hydroxide plus 3.54 MJ of energy. This process can be used to provide a convenient portable source of heat, light, When quicklime is heated to 2,400 °C, it emits an intense glow. This form of illumination is known as a limelight, and was used broadly in theatrical productions prior to the invention of electric lighting, cement, Calcium oxide is a key ingredient for the process of making cement. As a cheap and widely available alkali, about 50% of the total quicklime production is converted to calcium hydroxide before use. Both quick- and hydrated lime are used in the treatment of drinking water, petroleum industry, Water detection pastes contain a mix of calcium oxide and phenolphthalein. Should this paste come into contact with water in a storage tank
Quicklime
Quicklime
–
Calcium oxide
34.
Brick
–
A brick is building material used to make walls, pavements and other elements in masonry construction. Traditionally, the term referred to a unit composed of clay. A brick can be composed of clay-bearing soil, sand, and lime, Bricks are produced in numerous classes, types, materials, and sizes which vary with region and time period, and are produced in bulk quantities. Two basic categories of bricks are fired and non-fired bricks, block is a similar term referring to a rectangular building unit composed of similar materials, but is usually larger than a brick. Lightweight bricks are made from expanded clay aggregate, fired bricks are one of the longest-lasting and strongest building materials, sometimes referred to as artificial stone, and have been used since circa 5000 BC. Air-dried bricks, also known as mudbricks, have an older than fired bricks. Bricks are laid in courses and numerous patterns known as bonds, collectively known as brickwork, the earliest bricks were dried brick, meaning that they were formed from clay-bearing earth or mud and dried until they were strong enough for use. The oldest discovered bricks, originally made from shaped mud and dating before 7500 BC, were found at Tell Aswad, in the upper Tigris region, ceramic, or fired brick was used as early as 3000 BC in early Indus Valley cities. In pre-modern China, bricks were being used from the 2nd millennium BCE at a site near Xian, the carpenters manual Yingzao Fashi, published in 1103 at the time of the Song dynasty described the brick making process and glazing techniques then in use. He also had to know when to quench the kiln with water so as to produce the surface glaze, Early civilisations around the Mediterranean adopted the use of fired bricks, including the Ancient Greeks and Romans. The Roman legions operated mobile kilns, and built large brick structures throughout the Roman Empire, during the Early Middle Ages the use of bricks in construction became popular in Northern Europe, after being introduced there from Northern-Western Italy. An independent style of architecture, known as brick Gothic flourished in places that lacked indigenous sources of rocks. Examples of this style can be found in modern-day Denmark, Germany, Poland. A clear distinction between the two styles developed at the transition to Baroque architecture. In Lübeck, for example, Brick Renaissance is clearly recognisable in buildings equipped with terracotta reliefs by the artist Statius von Düren, production of bricks increased massively with the onset of the Industrial Revolution and the rise in factory building in England. For reasons of speed and economy, bricks were increasingly preferred as building material to stone and it was at this time in London, that bright red brick was chosen for construction to make the buildings more visible in the heavy fog and to help prevent traffic accidents. The transition from the method of production known as hand-moulding to a mechanised form of mass-production slowly took place during the first half of the nineteenth century. His mechanical apparatus soon achieved widespread attention after it was adopted for use by the South Eastern Railway Company for brick-making at their factory near Folkestone, the Bradley & Craven Ltd ‘Stiff-Plastic Brickmaking Machine’ was patented in 1853, apparently predating Clayton
Brick
–
A wall constructed in glazed-headed
Flemish bond with bricks of various shades and lengths
Brick
–
A pallet of bricks stacked without mortar
Brick
–
Raw Indian brick
Brick
–
An old brick wall in
English bond laid with alternating courses of headers and stretchers
35.
Chalk Group
–
The Chalk Group is the lithostratigraphic unit which contains the late Cretaceous limestone succession in southern and eastern England. The same or similar rock sequences occur across the wider northwest European chalk province and it is characterised by thick deposits of chalk, a soft porous white limestone, deposited in a marine environment. Chalk is a limestone that consists of coccolith biomicrite, a biomicrite is a limestone composed of fossil debris and calcium carbonate mud. Most of the debris in chalk consists of the microscopic plates. In addition to the coccoliths, the fossil debris includes a variable, the coccolithophores lived in the upper part of the water column. The Chalk Group usually shows few signs of bedding, other lines of flint nodules which become common in the upper part. Nodules of the mineral pyrite also occur and are oxidized to brown iron oxide on exposed surfaces. The Chalk Group is now divided into a White Chalk Subgroup and these modern divisions replace numerous earlier divisions, references to which occur widely on geological maps and in other geological literature. Previously no subgroups were defined but three formations were identified, the Upper Chalk, Middle Chalk and Lower Chalk, different formations are defined within the northern and southern provinces, from Norfolk northwards and south of the Thames valley respectively. A transitional province between the two and covering much of East Anglia and the Chiltern Hills is also recognised, a different approach again is taken as regards the succession beneath the North Sea. The Grey Chalk Subgroup is usually soft and greyish in colour. It is also the most fossiliferous, the strata of this subgroup usually begins with the Glauconitic Marl Member, named after the grains of the green minerals glauconite and chlorite which it contains. The remainder of the subgroup is argillaceous in its lower part (the West Melbury Marly Chalk Formation, in the central Chilterns the two parts are separated by the hard Totternhoe Stone, which forms a prominent scarp in some places. There are few, if any, flint nodules present and these two formations are not recognised within the northern province i. e. the outcrop north from East Anglia to Yorkshire, where the entire sequence is now referred to as the Ferriby Chalk Formation. The thickness of the Grey Chalk Subgroup strata varies, averaging around 200 feet and they often contains fossils such as the ammonites Schloenbachia, Scaphites, and Mantelliceras, the belemnite Actinocamax, and the bivalves Inoceramus and Ostrea. The White Chalk Subgroup includes what were designated the Middle Chalk and Upper Chalk Formations. The sparse fossils found in this include the brachiopod Terebratulina. It may contain ammonite and gastropod fossils in some nodular layers, the thickness of this sequence varies greatly, often averaging around 300 feet
Chalk Group
–
The Needles, (Isle of Wight); part of southern England's extensive chalk outcrop.
Chalk Group
–
Fossil echinoid Echinocorys from the Chalk Group of England
Chalk Group
–
Contact between two units of the
lithostratigraphy of South England: the Chalk Group (left, white, upper unit) and the
Greensand Formation (right, green, lower unit). Location:
Lulworth Cove, near
West Lulworth,
Dorset, England.
Chalk Group
–
Ivinghoe Beacon, Chiltern Hills
36.
Europe
–
Europe is a continent that comprises the westernmost part of Eurasia. Europe is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, yet the non-oceanic borders of Europe—a concept dating back to classical antiquity—are arbitrary. Europe covers about 10,180,000 square kilometres, or 2% of the Earths surface, politically, Europe is divided into about fifty sovereign states of which the Russian Federation is the largest and most populous, spanning 39% of the continent and comprising 15% of its population. Europe had a population of about 740 million as of 2015. Further from the sea, seasonal differences are more noticeable than close to the coast, Europe, in particular ancient Greece, was the birthplace of Western civilization. The fall of the Western Roman Empire, during the period, marked the end of ancient history. Renaissance humanism, exploration, art, and science led to the modern era, from the Age of Discovery onwards, Europe played a predominant role in global affairs. Between the 16th and 20th centuries, European powers controlled at times the Americas, most of Africa, Oceania. The Industrial Revolution, which began in Great Britain at the end of the 18th century, gave rise to economic, cultural, and social change in Western Europe. During the Cold War, Europe was divided along the Iron Curtain between NATO in the west and the Warsaw Pact in the east, until the revolutions of 1989 and fall of the Berlin Wall. In 1955, the Council of Europe was formed following a speech by Sir Winston Churchill and it includes all states except for Belarus, Kazakhstan and Vatican City. Further European integration by some states led to the formation of the European Union, the EU originated in Western Europe but has been expanding eastward since the fall of the Soviet Union in 1991. The European Anthem is Ode to Joy and states celebrate peace, in classical Greek mythology, Europa is the name of either a Phoenician princess or of a queen of Crete. The name contains the elements εὐρύς, wide, broad and ὤψ eye, broad has been an epithet of Earth herself in the reconstructed Proto-Indo-European religion and the poetry devoted to it. For the second part also the divine attributes of grey-eyed Athena or ox-eyed Hera. The same naming motive according to cartographic convention appears in Greek Ανατολή, Martin Litchfield West stated that phonologically, the match between Europas name and any form of the Semitic word is very poor. Next to these there is also a Proto-Indo-European root *h1regʷos, meaning darkness. Most major world languages use words derived from Eurṓpē or Europa to refer to the continent, in some Turkic languages the originally Persian name Frangistan is used casually in referring to much of Europe, besides official names such as Avrupa or Evropa
Europe
–
Reconstruction of
Herodotus ' world map
Europe
Europe
–
A medieval
T and O map from 1472 showing the three continents as domains of the sons of
Noah — Asia to Sem (
Shem), Europe to Iafeth (
Japheth), and Africa to Cham (
Ham)
Europe
–
Early modern depiction of
Europa regina ('Queen Europe') and the mythical
Europa of the 8th century BC.
37.
Cretaceous
–
The Cretaceous is a geologic period and system that spans 79 million years from the end of the Jurassic Period 145 million years ago to the beginning of the Paleogene Period 66 Mya. It is the last period of the Mesozoic Era, the Cretaceous Period is usually abbreviated K, for its German translation Kreide. The Cretaceous was a period with a warm climate, resulting in high eustatic sea levels that created numerous shallow inland seas. These oceans and seas were populated with now-extinct marine reptiles, ammonites and rudists, during this time, new groups of mammals and birds, as well as flowering plants, appeared. The Cretaceous ended with a mass extinction, the Cretaceous–Paleogene extinction event, in which many groups, including non-avian dinosaurs, pterosaurs. The end of the Cretaceous is defined by the abrupt Cretaceous–Paleogene boundary, the name Cretaceous was derived from Latin creta, meaning chalk. The Cretaceous is divided into Early and Late Cretaceous epochs, or Lower and Upper Cretaceous series, in older literature the Cretaceous is sometimes divided into three series, Neocomian, Gallic and Senonian. A subdivision in eleven stages, all originating from European stratigraphy, is now used worldwide, in many parts of the world, alternative local subdivisions are still in use. As with other geologic periods, the rock beds of the Cretaceous are well identified. No great extinction or burst of diversity separates the Cretaceous from the Jurassic and this layer has been dated at 66.043 Ma. A140 Ma age for the Jurassic-Cretaceous boundary instead of the usually accepted 145 Ma was proposed in 2014 based on a study of Vaca Muerta Formation in Neuquén Basin. Víctor Ramos, one of the authors of the study proposing the 140 Ma boundary age sees the study as a first step toward formally changing the age in the International Union of Geological Sciences, due to the high sea level there was extensive space for such sedimentation. Because of the young age and great thickness of the system. Chalk is a type characteristic for the Cretaceous. It consists of coccoliths, microscopically small calcite skeletons of coccolithophores, the group is found in England, northern France, the low countries, northern Germany, Denmark and in the subsurface of the southern part of the North Sea. Chalk is not easily consolidated and the Chalk Group still consists of sediments in many places. The group also has other limestones and arenites, among the fossils it contains are sea urchins, belemnites, ammonites and sea reptiles such as Mosasaurus. In southern Europe, the Cretaceous is usually a marine system consisting of competent limestone beds or incompetent marls
Cretaceous
–
Drawing of fossil jaws of
Mosasaurus hoffmanni, from the
Maastrichtian of
Dutch Limburg, by Dutch geologist
Pieter Harting (1866).
Cretaceous
–
Although the first representatives of leafy trees and true grasses emerged in the Cretaceous, the flora was still dominated by conifers like
Araucaria (Here: Modern Araucaria araucana in Chile).
Cretaceous
–
Tyrannosaurus rex, one of the largest land predators of all time, lived during the late Cretaceous.
Cretaceous
–
Up to 2 m-long
Velociraptor was likely feathered and roamed the late Cretaceous.
38.
White Cliffs of Dover
–
The White Cliffs of Dover are cliffs that form part of the English coastline facing the Strait of Dover and France. The cliffs are part of the North Downs formation, the cliff face, which reaches up to 350 feet, owes its striking appearance to its composition of chalk accentuated by streaks of black flint. The cliffs stretch along the coastline for eight miles, spreading east and west from the town of Dover in the county of Kent, the National Trust calls the cliffs an icon of Britain, with the white chalk face a symbol of home and war time defence. Because crossing at Dover was the route to the continent before the advent of air travel. In World War II, thousands of allied troops on the ships in the Dunkirk evacuation saw the welcoming sight of the cliffs. The cliffs are located along the coastline of England between approximately 51°06′N 1°14′E and 51°12′N 1°24′E, the White Cliffs are at one end of the Kent Downs designated Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. During the summer of 1940, reporters gathered at Shakespeare Cliff to watch aerial dogfights between German and British aircraft during the Battle of Britain and it marks the point where Great Britain most closely approaches continental Europe. On a clear day, the cliffs are visible from the French coast. In 1999 a sustainable National Trust visitor centre was built in the area, the cliffs themselves were formed at the same time as the Strait of Dover, by ice-age floods. Flint and quartz are found in the chalk. White cliffs like those of Dover are also found on the Danish islands of Møn and Langeland, the chalk cliffs of the Alabaster Coast of Normandy, France, are part of the same geological system as Dovers cliffs. In a 2005 poll of Radio Times readers, the cliffs were named as the third greatest natural wonder in Britain, the cliff face continues to weather at an average rate of 1 centimetre per year, although occasionally large pieces will fall. This occurred in 2001, when a chunk of the edge, as large as a football pitch. A further large section collapsed into the Channel on 15 March 2012, visitors are, therefore, urged to remain well away from the cliff edge. Several species of nesting birds nest on the cliff face, including fulmar. However, contrary to the words of the World War II song White Cliffs of Dover, bluebirds are an American species not found in the UK
White Cliffs of Dover
–
The White Cliffs of Dover
White Cliffs of Dover
–
The cliffs seen across the channel from
Cap Gris Nez, France
White Cliffs of Dover
–
Evidence of erosion along the cliff top
White Cliffs of Dover
–
Close up of the cliffs from the walk along the ridge
39.
Kent
–
Kent /ˈkɛnt/ is a county in South East England and one of the home counties. It borders Greater London to the north west, Surrey to the west and East Sussex to the south west, the county also shares borders with Essex via the Dartford Crossing and the French department of Pas-de-Calais through the Channel Tunnel. France can be clearly in fine weather from Folkestone and the White Cliffs of Dover. Hills in the form of the North Downs and the Greensand Ridge span the length of the county, because of its relative abundance of fruit-growing and hop gardens, Kent is known as The Garden of England. The title was defended in 2006 when a survey of counties by the UKTV Style Gardens channel put Kent in fifth place, behind North Yorkshire, Devon. Haulage, logistics, and tourism are industries, major industries in north-west Kent include aggregate building materials, printing. Coal mining has played its part in Kents industrial heritage. Large parts of Kent are within the London commuter belt and its transport connections to the capital. Twenty-eight per cent of the county forms part of two Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty, the North Downs and The High Weald, the area has been occupied since the Palaeolithic era, as attested by finds from the quarries at Swanscombe. The Medway megaliths were built during the Neolithic era, There is a rich sequence of Bronze Age, Iron Age, and Roman era occupation, as indicated by finds and features such as the Ringlemere gold cup and the Roman villas of the Darent valley. The modern name of Kent is derived from the Brythonic word Cantus meaning rim or border and this describes the eastern part of the current county area as a border land or coastal district. Julius Caesar had described the area as Cantium, or home of the Cantiaci in 51 BC, the extreme west of the modern county was by the time of Roman Britain occupied by Iron Age tribes, known as the Regnenses. East Kent became a kingdom of the Jutes during the 5th century and was known as Cantia from about 730, the early medieval inhabitants of the county were known as the Cantwara, or Kent people. These people regarded the city of Canterbury as their capital, in 597, Pope Gregory I appointed the religious missionary as the first Archbishop of Canterbury. In the previous year, Augustine successfully converted the pagan King Æthelberht of Kent to Christianity, the Diocese of Canterbury became Britains first Episcopal See with first cathedral and has since remained Englands centre of Christianity. The second designated English cathedral was in Kent at Rochester Cathedral, in the 11th century, the people of Kent adopted the motto Invicta, meaning undefeated. This naming followed the invasion of Britain by William of Normandy, the Kent peoples continued resistance against the Normans led to Kents designation as a semi-autonomous county palatine in 1067. Under the nominal rule of Williams half-brother Odo of Bayeux, the county was granted powers to those granted in the areas bordering Wales
Kent
Kent
–
Kent shown within England
Kent
–
Title page of
William Lambarde 's Perambulation of Kent (completed in 1570, and published in 1576), a historical description of Kent and the first published
county history
Kent
–
The
White Cliffs of Dover
40.
Cap Blanc Nez
–
Cap Blanc Nez is a cape on the Côte dOpale, in the Pas-de-Calais département, in northern France. The cliffs of chalk are very similar to the cliffs of Dover at the other side of the Channel in England. Cap Blanc Nez was a measuring point for the eighteenth-century trigonometric survey linking the Paris Observatory with the Royal Greenwich Observatory. Sightings were made across the English Channel to Dover Castle and Fairlight Windmill on the South Downs and this Anglo-French Survey was led in England by General William Roy. Some miles away to the southwest of Cap Blanc Nez is the taller Cap Gris Nez
Cap Blanc Nez
–
Cap Blanc Nez on a summer day.
Cap Blanc Nez
41.
Dover Strait
–
Between these points lies the most popular route for cross-channel swimmers. The entire strait is within the waters of France and the United Kingdom. The strait is the busiest international seaway in the world, used by over 400 commercial vessels daily and this has made traffic safety a critical issue, with HM Coastguard and the Maritime Gendarmerie maintaining a 24-hour watch over the strait and enforcing a strict regime of shipping lanes. In addition to the intensive east–west traffic, the strait is crossed north to south by ferries linking Dover to Calais. Until 1994 these provided the route across it for land transport. The Channel Tunnel now provides a route, crossing beneath the strait at an average depth of 45 m below the seabed. The town of Dover gives its name to one of the sea areas of the British Shipping Forecast, the strait is believed to have been created by the erosion of a land bridge that linked the Weald in Great Britain to the Boulonnais in the Pas de Calais. The predominant geology on both the British and French sides and on the seafloor is chalk, although somewhat resistant to erosion, erosion of both coasts has created the famous white cliffs of Dover in the UK and the Cap Blanc Nez in France. The Channel Tunnel was bored through solid chalk, the Rhine flowed northwards into the North Sea as the sea level fell during the start of the first of the Pleistocene Ice Ages. This overflow channel became the Strait of Dover about 425,000 years ago, a narrow deep channel along the middle of the strait was the bed of the Rhine in the last Ice Age. A geological deposit in East Anglia marks the old preglacial northward course of the Rhine, a 2007 study concluded the English Channel was formed by erosion caused by two major floods. The first was about 425,000 years ago, when a lake in the southern North Sea overflowed and broke the Weald-Artois chalk range in a catastrophic erosion. Afterwards, the Thames and Scheldt flowed through the gap into the English Channel, in a second flood about 225,000 years ago the Meuse and Rhine were ice-dammed into a lake that broke catastrophically through a high weak barrier. Both floods cut massive flood channels in the dry bed of the English Channel, the Lobourg strait, a major feature of the straits seafloor, runs its 6 km wide slash on a NNE–SSW axis. The submarine depth of the varies between 68 m at the Lobourg strait and 20 m at the highest banks. It presents a succession of rocky areas relatively deserted by ships wanting to spare their nets, the strong currents of the Channel are slowed down around the rocky areas of the strait, with formation of countercurrents and calmer zones where many species can find shelter. Moreover, this is a zone for the species of the Atlantic Ocean. This mix of various environments promotes a variety of wildlife
Dover Strait
–
View of the English coast from France
Dover Strait
–
Dover Strait
Dover Strait
–
The white cliffs of Dover
Dover Strait
–
NASA Satellite image December 2002
42.
Champagne region
–
The Champagne wine region is a wine region within the historical province of Champagne in the northeast of France. The area is best known for the production of the white wine that bears the regions name. EU law and the laws of most countries reserve the term Champagne exclusively for wines that come from this region located about 100 miles east of Paris, the towns of Reims and Épernay are the commercial centers of the area. Located at the edges of France, the history of the Champagne wine region has had a significant role in the development of this unique terroir. The areas proximity to Paris promoted the economic success in its wine trade but also put the villages. The principal grapes grown in the region include Chardonnay, Pinot noir, Pinot noir is the most widely planted grape in the Aube region and grows very well in Montagne de Reims. Pinot Meunier is the dominant grape in the Vallée de la Marne region, the Côte des Blancs is dedicated almost exclusively to Chardonnay. The Champagne province is located near the limits of the wine world along the 49th parallel. The high altitude and mean temperature of 10 °C creates a difficult environment for wine grapes to fully ripen. Ripening is aided by the presence of forests which helps to stabilize temperatures, the cool temperatures serve to produce high levels of acidity in the resulting grape which is ideal for sparkling wine. During the growing season, the mean July temperature is 18 °C, the average annual rainfall is 630 mm, with 45 mm falling during the harvest month of September. Throughout the year, growers must be mindful of the hazards of fungal disease, ancient oceans left behind chalk subsoil deposits when they receded 70 million years ago. Earthquakes that rocked the region over 10 million years ago pushed the marine sediments of belemnite fossils up to the surface to create the belemnite chalk terrain. The belemnite in the soil allows it to heat from the sun. This soil contributes to the lightness and finesse that is characteristic of Champagne wine, the Aube area is an exception with predominately clay based soil. The chalk is used in the construction of underground cellars that can keep the wines cool through the bottle maturation process. The tradition of crowning kings at Reims contributed to the reputation of the wines that came from this area, the Counts of Champagne ruled the area as an independent county from 950 to 1316. In 1314, the last Count of Champagne assumed the throne as King Louis X of France, the location of Champagne played a large role in its historical prominence as it served as a crossroads for both military and trade routes
Champagne region
–
Champagne vineyards in
Verzenay in the Montagne de Reims subregion
Champagne region
–
Viticultural zones in the Champagne region
Champagne region
–
Statue of
Pope Urban II in Champagne
Champagne region
–
Champagne wine
43.
Wine storage
–
Storage of wine is an important consideration for wine that is being kept for long-term aging. While most wine is consumed within 24 hours of purchase, fine wines are often set aside for long-term storage, Wine is one of the few commodities that can improve with age, but it can also rapidly deteriorate if kept in inadequate conditions. The three factors that have the most direct impact on a wines condition are light, humidity, historically, the storage of wine was handled by wine merchants. Since the mid-20th century, however, consumers have been increasingly storing their own wine in home-based wine cellars, the three factors that have the most pronounced effect on wine in storage are light, humidity, and temperature. Strong, direct sunlight or incandescent light can adversely react with compounds in wine. Delicate, light-bodied white wines run the greatest risk from light exposure, wines packaged in clear, light green and blue colored bottles are the most vulnerable to light, and may need extra precautions for storage. For example, the Champagne house of Louis Roederer uses cellophane wrap to protect its premium cuvee Cristal from light, in the cellar, wines are stored in corrugated boxes or wooden crates to protect the wines from direct light. Some degree of humidity is required in order to keep wines with cork enclosures from drying out, even when wine bottles are stored on their sides, one side of the cork is still exposed to air. Should the cork begin to dry out, it can allow oxygen to enter the bottle, filling the ullage space, excessive humidity can also pose the risk of damaging wine labels, which may hinder identification or hurt potential resale value. Wine experts such as Jancis Robinson note that 75% humidity is often cited as ideal, some wine experts debate the importance of humidity for proper wine storage. However, Alexis Lichine contends that low humidity can still be detrimental to premium wine quality due to the risk of the drying out. As a way of maintaining optimal humidity, Lichine recommends spreading half an inch of gravel on the floor of a wine cellar, Wine is very susceptible to changes in temperature, with temperature control being an important consideration in wine storage. If the wine is exposed to too high a temperature for long periods of time, it may be spoiled or become cooked, dramatic temperature swings can also cause adverse chemical reactions in the wine that may lead to a variety of wine faults. In general, a wine has a potential to develop complexity. The lower the temperature, the more slowly a wine develops, on average, the rate of chemical reactions in wine doubles with each 18 °F increase in temperature. Wine expert Karen MacNeil recommends keeping wine intended for aging in an area with a constant temperature around 55 °F. Wine can be stored at temperatures as high as 69 °F without long-term negative effect, professor Cornelius Ough of the University of California, Davis believes that wine can be exposed to temperatures as high as 120 °F for a few hours and not be damaged. It is not normally possible to freeze wine in the bottle as there is insufficient room for it to expand as it freezes, in a particular study, vibrations of different frequencies have been shown to have their own distinct effect on the chemistry of the wine
Wine storage
–
Wines stored in a rack
Wine storage
–
Underground wine caves can often keep wine in suitable temperature, humidity and light conditions.
Wine storage
–
Madeira is exposed to high temperatures during its winemaking process and is thereby able to sustain exposure to higher temperatures more easily than other wines.
Wine storage
–
Champagne is often recommended to be stored upright rather than lying on its side.
44.
Jasmund National Park
–
The Jasmund National Park is a nature reserve on the Jasmund peninsula, in the northeast of Rügen island in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Germany. It is famous for containing the largest chalk cliffs in Germany and these cliffs are up to 161 m above the Baltic Sea. The beech forests behind the cliffs are part of the national park. Consisting of only 30 km2, this is the smallest national park in Germany, the park was founded in 1990 by the last government of East Germany prior to the German reunification. On June 25,2011 the beech forest in the park was added to UNESCO World Heritage Site as an extension of the Primeval Beech Forests of the Carpathians, the chalk cliffs face constant erosion. With every storm, parts of the fall, including rocks and fossils of sponges, oysters. The most majestic part of the cliffs is the Königsstuhl which stands at 118 m. One of the most scenic and best known of the chalk outcrops, because of the special geological characteristics of the Jasmund National Park, it is home to many rare plants and animals. In the woods of the Stubnitz, behind the cliffs, there are numerous water-filled dells and hollows, a wide range of plants are found in this area, for example, black alder, European crab apple, wild service tree, yew and orchids. A variety of live in the park, white-tailed eagle, kingfisher, house martin. Since its creation in 1934, the Jasmund National Park has attracted hundreds of thousands of visitors annually, in March 2004, the visitor centre, the Königsstuhl National Park Centre, was opened. Jasmund National Park travel guide from Wikivoyage Jasmund National Park pictures and information about the chalk cliffs Official site Photos of the parks beech forests
Jasmund National Park
–
Cliffs and coastline in the national park
Jasmund National Park
–
UNESCO World Heritage Site
Jasmund National Park
–
Königsstuhl National Park Centre
Jasmund National Park
–
The
Königsstuhl (King's Chair)
45.
Germany
–
Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a federal parliamentary republic in central-western Europe. It includes 16 constituent states, covers an area of 357,021 square kilometres, with about 82 million inhabitants, Germany is the most populous member state of the European Union. After the United States, it is the second most popular destination in the world. Germanys capital and largest metropolis is Berlin, while its largest conurbation is the Ruhr, other major cities include Hamburg, Munich, Cologne, Frankfurt, Stuttgart, Düsseldorf and Leipzig. Various Germanic tribes have inhabited the northern parts of modern Germany since classical antiquity, a region named Germania was documented before 100 AD. During the Migration Period the Germanic tribes expanded southward, beginning in the 10th century, German territories formed a central part of the Holy Roman Empire. During the 16th century, northern German regions became the centre of the Protestant Reformation, in 1871, Germany became a nation state when most of the German states unified into the Prussian-dominated German Empire. After World War I and the German Revolution of 1918–1919, the Empire was replaced by the parliamentary Weimar Republic, the establishment of the national socialist dictatorship in 1933 led to World War II and the Holocaust. After a period of Allied occupation, two German states were founded, the Federal Republic of Germany and the German Democratic Republic, in 1990, the country was reunified. In the 21st century, Germany is a power and has the worlds fourth-largest economy by nominal GDP. As a global leader in industrial and technological sectors, it is both the worlds third-largest exporter and importer of goods. Germany is a country with a very high standard of living sustained by a skilled. It upholds a social security and universal health system, environmental protection. Germany was a member of the European Economic Community in 1957. It is part of the Schengen Area, and became a co-founder of the Eurozone in 1999, Germany is a member of the United Nations, NATO, the G8, the G20, and the OECD. The national military expenditure is the 9th highest in the world, the English word Germany derives from the Latin Germania, which came into use after Julius Caesar adopted it for the peoples east of the Rhine. This in turn descends from Proto-Germanic *þiudiskaz popular, derived from *þeudō, descended from Proto-Indo-European *tewtéh₂- people, the discovery of the Mauer 1 mandible shows that ancient humans were present in Germany at least 600,000 years ago. The oldest complete hunting weapons found anywhere in the world were discovered in a mine in Schöningen where three 380, 000-year-old wooden javelins were unearthed
Germany
–
The
Nebra sky disk is dated to c. 1600 BC.
Germany
–
Flag
Germany
–
Martin Luther (1483–1546) initiated the
Protestant Reformation.
Germany
–
Foundation of the
German Empire in
Versailles, 1871.
Bismarck is at the center in a white uniform.
46.
Denmark
–
Denmark, officially the Kingdom of Denmark, is a Scandinavian country in Europe and a sovereign state. The southernmost and smallest of the Nordic countries, it is south-west of Sweden and south of Norway, Denmark also comprises two autonomous constituent countries in the North Atlantic Ocean, the Faroe Islands and Greenland. Denmark has an area of 42,924 square kilometres. The country consists of a peninsula, Jutland, and an archipelago of 443 named islands, with the largest being Zealand, the islands are characterised by flat, arable land and sandy coasts, low elevation and a temperate climate. The unified kingdom of Denmark emerged in the 10th century as a proficient seafaring nation in the struggle for control of the Baltic Sea, Denmark, Sweden and Norway were ruled together under the Kalmar Union, established in 1397 and ending with Swedish secession in 1523. Denmark and Norway remained under the monarch until outside forces dissolved the union in 1814. The union with Norway made it possible for Denmark to inherit the Faroe Islands, Iceland, beginning in the 17th century, there were several cessions of territory to Sweden. In the 19th century there was a surge of nationalist movements, Denmark remained neutral during World War I. In April 1940, a German invasion saw brief military skirmishes while the Danish resistance movement was active from 1943 until the German surrender in May 1945, the Constitution of Denmark was signed on 5 June 1849, ending the absolute monarchy which had begun in 1660. It establishes a constitutional monarchy organised as a parliamentary democracy, the government and national parliament are seated in Copenhagen, the nations capital, largest city and main commercial centre. Denmark exercises hegemonic influence in the Danish Realm, devolving powers to handle internal affairs, Home rule was established in the Faroe Islands in 1948, in Greenland home rule was established in 1979 and further autonomy in 2009. Denmark became a member of the European Economic Community in 1973, maintaining certain opt-outs, it retains its own currency, the krone. It is among the members of NATO, the Nordic Council, the OECD, OSCE. The etymology of the word Denmark, and especially the relationship between Danes and Denmark and the unifying of Denmark as a kingdom, is a subject which attracts debate. This is centred primarily on the prefix Dan and whether it refers to the Dani or a historical person Dan and the exact meaning of the -mark ending. Most handbooks derive the first part of the word, and the name of the people, from a word meaning land, related to German Tenne threshing floor. The -mark is believed to mean woodland or borderland, with references to the border forests in south Schleswig. The first recorded use of the word Danmark within Denmark itself is found on the two Jelling stones, which are believed to have been erected by Gorm the Old and Harald Bluetooth
Denmark
–
The gilded side of the
Trundholm sun chariot dating from the Nordic Bronze Age.
Denmark
–
Flag
Denmark
–
The
Ladby ship, the largest ship burial found in Denmark.
Denmark
–
Larger of the two Jelling stones, raised by
Harald Bluetooth.
47.
Silt
–
Silt is granular material of a size between sand and clay, whose mineral origin is quartz and feldspar. Silt may occur as a soil or as sediment mixed in suspension with water in a body of such as a river. It may also exist as soil deposited at the bottom of a water body, Silt has a moderate specific area with a typically non-sticky, plastic feel. Silt usually has a floury feel when dry, and a slippery feel when wet, Silt can be visually observed with a hand lens. Silt is created by a variety of physical processes capable of splitting the generally sand-sized quartz crystals of primary rocks by exploiting deficiencies in their lattice and these involve chemical weathering of rock and regolith, and a number of physical weathering processes such as frost shattering and haloclasty. The main process is abrasion through transport, including fluvial comminution, aeolian attrition and it is in semi-arid environments that substantial quantities of silt are produced. Silt is sometimes known as rock flour or stone dust, especially produced by glacial action. Mineralogically, silt is composed mainly of quartz and feldspar, sedimentary rock composed mainly of silt is known as siltstone. Liquefaction created by an earthquake is silt suspended in water that is hydrodynamically forced up from below ground level. In the Udden–Wentworth scale, silt particles range between 0.0039 and 0.0625 mm, larger than clay but smaller than sand particles, ISO14688 grades silts between 0.002 mm and 0.063 mm. In actuality, silt is chemically distinct from clay, and unlike clay, grains of silt are approximately the size in all dimensions, furthermore. Clays are formed from thin plate-shaped particles held together by electrostatic forces, according to the U. S. Department of Agriculture Soil Texture Classification system, the sand-silt distinction is made at the 0.05 mm particle size. The USDA system has been adopted by the Food and Agriculture Organization, in the Unified Soil Classification System and the AASHTO Soil Classification system, the sand-silt distinction is made at the 0.075 mm particle size. Silts and clays are distinguished mechanically by their plasticity, Silt is easily transported in water or other liquid and is fine enough to be carried long distances by air in the form of dust. Thick deposits of silty material resulting from deposition by aeolian processes are called loess. Silt and clay contribute to turbidity in water, Silt is transported by streams or by water currents in the ocean. When silt appears as a pollutant in water the phenomenon is known as siltation, Silt, deposited by annual floods along the Nile River, created the rich, fertile soil that sustained the Ancient Egyptian civilization. In south east Bangladesh, in the Noakhali district, cross dams were built in the 1960s whereby silt gradually started forming new land called chars, the district of Noakhali has gained more than 28 square miles of land in the past 50 years
Silt
–
A silted lake located in
Eichhorst,
Germany
48.
Clay minerals
–
Clay minerals are hydrous aluminium phyllosilicates, sometimes with variable amounts of iron, magnesium, alkali metals, alkaline earths, and other cations found on or near some planetary surfaces. Clay minerals form in the presence of water and have been important to life and they are important constituents of soils, and have been useful to humans since ancient times in agriculture and manufacturing. Clays form flat hexagonal sheets similar to the micas, Clay minerals are common weathering products and low-temperature hydrothermal alteration products. Clay minerals are common in soils, in fine-grained sedimentary rocks such as shale, mudstone. Clay minerals are usually ultrafine-grained and so may require special techniques for their identification. These methods can be augmented by polarized light microscopy, a traditional technique establishing fundamental occurrences or petrologic relationships. Given the requirement of water, clay minerals are rare in the Solar System, though they occur extensively on Earth where water has interacted with other minerals. Clay minerals have been detected at several locations on Mars including Echus Chasma and Mawrth Vallis and the Memnonia quadrangle, spectrography has confirmed their presence on asteroids including the dwarf planet Ceres and Tempel 1 as well as Jupiters moon Europa. A1,1 clay would consist of one sheet and one octahedral sheet. A2,1 clay consists of an octahedral sheet sandwiched between two sheets, and examples are talc, vermiculite and montmorillonite. Smectite group which includes dioctahedral smectites such as montmorillonite, nontronite and beidellite, in 2013, analytical tests by the Curiosity rover found results consistent with the presence of smectite clay minerals on the planet Mars. Illite group which includes the clay-micas, illite is the only common mineral. Chlorite group includes a variety of similar minerals with considerable chemical variation. Other 2,1 clay types exist such as sepiolite or attapulgite, mixed layer clay variations exist for most of the above groups. Ordering is described as random or regular ordering, and is described by the term reichweite. Literature articles will refer to a R1 ordered illite-smectite, for example and this type would be ordered in an ISISIS fashion. R0 on the other hand describes random ordering, and other advanced ordering types are also found, mixed layer clay minerals which are perfect R1 types often get their own names. R1 ordered chlorite-smectite is known as corrensite, R1 illite-smectite is rectorite, knowledge of the nature of clay became better understood in the 1930s with advancements in x-ray diffraction technology necessary to analyze the molecular nature of clay particles
Clay minerals
–
Oxford Clay (
Jurassic) exposed near
Weymouth, England.
49.
Diagenesis
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It does not include changes from weathering. It is any chemical, physical, or biological change undergone by a sediment after its initial deposition and this process excludes surface alteration and metamorphism. These changes happen at low temperatures and pressures and result in changes to the rocks original mineralogy. There is no boundary between diagenesis and metamorphism, but the latter occurs at higher temperatures and pressures than the former. Hydrothermal solutions, meteoric groundwater, porosity, permeability, solubility, after deposition, sediments are compacted as they are buried beneath successive layers of sediment and cemented by minerals that precipitate from solution. Grains of sediment, rock fragments and fossils can be replaced by other minerals during diagenesis, porosity usually decreases during diagenesis, except in rare cases such as dissolution of minerals and dolomitization. The study of diagenesis in rocks is used to understand the history they have undergone. From a commercial standpoint, such aid in assessing the likelihood of finding various economically viable mineral. The process of diagenesis is also important in the decomposition of bone tissue, the term diagenesis, literally meaning across generation, is extensively used in geology. However, this term has filtered into the field of anthropology, archaeology and paleontology to describe the changes, the composite nature of bone, comprising one-third organic and two thirds mineral renders its diagenesis more complex. Three general pathways of the diagenesis of bone have been identified, chemical deterioration of the mineral phase. They are as follows, The dissolution of collagen depends on time, temperature, at high temperatures, the rate of collagen loss will be accelerated and extreme pH can cause collagen swelling and accelerated hydrolysis. The hydrolytic activity plays a key role in the phase transformations that exposes the collagen to accelerated chemical-. Once an individual has been interred, microbial attack, the most common mechanism of bone deterioration, during this phase, most bone collagen is lost and porosity is increased. The dissolution of the mineral phase caused by low pH permits access to the collagen by extracellular microbial enzymes thus microbial attack, when animal or plant matter is buried during sedimentation, the constituent organic molecules break down due to the increase in temperature and pressure. This transformation occurs in the first few hundred meters of burial and it is generally accepted that hydrocarbons are formed by the thermal alteration of these kerogens. In this way, given certain conditions kerogens will break down to form hydrocarbons through a process known as cracking. These models have been studied and applied in real geological applications
Diagenesis
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Originally
calcitic crinoid stem (in cross-section) diagenetically replaced by
marcasite in a
siderite concretion; Lower Carboniferous.
50.
Sidewalk chalk
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Sidewalk chalk is typically large colored sticks of chalk mostly used for drawing on pavement or concrete sidewalks. A single piece of chalk is called a schibel and it is sometimes used by children to draw a four square court or a hopscotch board. There are several different types of chalk, typically coming in solid-colored sticks. 3-D sidewalk chalk sets, in each stick of chalk is created with two particular colors that appear 3-dimensional when viewed through the 3-D glasses that come with the chalk. Sidewalk chalk can be cheaply homemade, sidewalk chalk is used at some universities to advertise for events, especially where there is much concrete. Prohibitions are set for where students can chalk, usually limiting it to areas that will be washed away with rain, some teachers promote use of sidewalk chalk on a carpet as an interactive teaching tool. On September 16–17,2006, an event was held to promote peace through sidewalk chalk drawings. Designated areas on sidewalks, pavement, and concrete were used for the participants to draw on while volunteers took pictures of the street paintings. Aaron used his own money and donations to provide sidewalk chalk to areas of the world that he believed did not have access to good quality chalk, there are many competitions for chalk artists, including the Pavement Art Competition in the Bold Street Festival in Liverpool in 2010. The largest sidewalk chalk festival in the world is the Pasadena Chalk Festival, held annually in Pasadena, the 2010 edition involved about six hundred artists of all ages and skills and attracted more than 100,000 visitors. Artists such as Kurt Wenner, Ellis Gallagher and Julian Beever have created intricate and realistic street paintings using the chalk and it is typical for sidewalk chalk artists to use anamorphic drawing when drawing with sidewalk chalk. Nonanamorphic drawing are drawings that are drawn to be observed face-on, all I had to do was color them and then fill in the pool inside…I was so impressed with the result… that I had to do more. Sidewalk Sam was well known in the Boston area for his reproductions of European masterpieces, busker Alley - videos of sidewalk artists with chalks and paints Gallery of sidewalk chalk art drawn by children Drawing on Earth Worlds Largest Chalk Drawing Pasadena Chalk Festival-official site
Sidewalk chalk
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Common colors used in sidewalk chalk
Sidewalk chalk
Sidewalk chalk
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A sidewalk chalk artist at work
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