1.
Geographic coordinate system
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A geographic coordinate system is a coordinate system used in geography that enables every location on Earth to be specified by a set of numbers, letters or symbols. The coordinates are chosen such that one of the numbers represents a vertical position. A common choice of coordinates is latitude, longitude and elevation, to specify a location on a two-dimensional map requires a map projection. The invention of a coordinate system is generally credited to Eratosthenes of Cyrene. Ptolemy credited him with the adoption of longitude and latitude. Ptolemys 2nd-century Geography used the prime meridian but measured latitude from the equator instead. Mathematical cartography resumed in Europe following Maximus Planudes recovery of Ptolemys text a little before 1300, in 1884, the United States hosted the International Meridian Conference, attended by representatives from twenty-five nations. Twenty-two of them agreed to adopt the longitude of the Royal Observatory in Greenwich, the Dominican Republic voted against the motion, while France and Brazil abstained. France adopted Greenwich Mean Time in place of local determinations by the Paris Observatory in 1911, the latitude of a point on Earths surface is the angle between the equatorial plane and the straight line that passes through that point and through the center of the Earth. Lines joining points of the same latitude trace circles on the surface of Earth called parallels, as they are parallel to the equator, the north pole is 90° N, the south pole is 90° S. The 0° parallel of latitude is designated the equator, the plane of all geographic coordinate systems. The equator divides the globe into Northern and Southern Hemispheres, the longitude of a point on Earths surface is the angle east or west of a reference meridian to another meridian that passes through that point. All meridians are halves of great ellipses, which converge at the north and south poles, the prime meridian determines the proper Eastern and Western Hemispheres, although maps often divide these hemispheres further west in order to keep the Old World on a single side. The antipodal meridian of Greenwich is both 180°W and 180°E, the combination of these two components specifies the position of any location on the surface of Earth, without consideration of altitude or depth. The grid formed by lines of latitude and longitude is known as a graticule, the origin/zero point of this system is located in the Gulf of Guinea about 625 km south of Tema, Ghana. To completely specify a location of a feature on, in, or above Earth. Earth is not a sphere, but a shape approximating a biaxial ellipsoid. It is nearly spherical, but has an equatorial bulge making the radius at the equator about 0. 3% larger than the radius measured through the poles, the shorter axis approximately coincides with the axis of rotation
2.
NASA
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President Dwight D. Eisenhower established NASA in 1958 with a distinctly civilian orientation encouraging peaceful applications in space science. The National Aeronautics and Space Act was passed on July 29,1958, disestablishing NASAs predecessor, the new agency became operational on October 1,1958. Since that time, most US space exploration efforts have led by NASA, including the Apollo Moon landing missions, the Skylab space station. Currently, NASA is supporting the International Space Station and is overseeing the development of the Orion Multi-Purpose Crew Vehicle, the agency is also responsible for the Launch Services Program which provides oversight of launch operations and countdown management for unmanned NASA launches. NASA shares data with various national and international such as from the Greenhouse Gases Observing Satellite. Since 2011, NASA has been criticized for low cost efficiency, from 1946, the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics had been experimenting with rocket planes such as the supersonic Bell X-1. In the early 1950s, there was challenge to launch a satellite for the International Geophysical Year. An effort for this was the American Project Vanguard, after the Soviet launch of the worlds first artificial satellite on October 4,1957, the attention of the United States turned toward its own fledgling space efforts. This led to an agreement that a new federal agency based on NACA was needed to conduct all non-military activity in space. The Advanced Research Projects Agency was created in February 1958 to develop technology for military application. On July 29,1958, Eisenhower signed the National Aeronautics and Space Act, a NASA seal was approved by President Eisenhower in 1959. Elements of the Army Ballistic Missile Agency and the United States Naval Research Laboratory were incorporated into NASA, earlier research efforts within the US Air Force and many of ARPAs early space programs were also transferred to NASA. In December 1958, NASA gained control of the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, NASA has conducted many manned and unmanned spaceflight programs throughout its history. Some missions include both manned and unmanned aspects, such as the Galileo probe, which was deployed by astronauts in Earth orbit before being sent unmanned to Jupiter, the experimental rocket-powered aircraft programs started by NACA were extended by NASA as support for manned spaceflight. This was followed by a space capsule program, and in turn by a two-man capsule program. This goal was met in 1969 by the Apollo program, however, reduction of the perceived threat and changing political priorities almost immediately caused the termination of most of these plans. NASA turned its attention to an Apollo-derived temporary space laboratory, to date, NASA has launched a total of 166 manned space missions on rockets, and thirteen X-15 rocket flights above the USAF definition of spaceflight altitude,260,000 feet. The X-15 was an NACA experimental rocket-powered hypersonic research aircraft, developed in conjunction with the US Air Force, the design featured a slender fuselage with fairings along the side containing fuel and early computerized control systems
3.
Hawaiian monk seal
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The Hawaiian monk seal, Neomonachus schauinslandi, is an endangered species of earless seal in the family Phocidae that is endemic to the Hawaiian Islands. The Hawaiian monk seal is one of two remaining monk seal species, the other is the Mediterranean monk seal, a third species, the Caribbean monk seal, is extinct. The Hawaiian monk seal is the only native to Hawaii. These monk seals are a conservation reliant endangered species, known to native Hawaiians as ʻIlio-holo-i-ka-uaua, or dog that runs in rough water, its scientific name is from Hugo Schauinsland, a German scientist who discovered a skull on Laysan Island in 1899. Its common name comes from short hairs on its head, said to resemble a monk, the Hawaiian monk seals are adopted to be Hawaiis state mammal. Its grey coat, white belly, and slender physique distinguish them from their cousin, the monk seal’s physique is ideal for hunting its prey, fish, lobster, octopus and squid in deep water coral beds. When it is not hunting and eating, it generally basks on the sandy beaches, the Hawaiian monk seal is part of the family Phocidae, being named so for its characteristic lack of external ears and inability to rotate its hind flippers under the body. The Hawaiian monk seal has a small, flat head with large black eyes, eight pairs of teeth. The nostrils are vertical slits which close when the seal dives underwater. Additionally, their slender, torpedo-shaped body and hind flippers allow them to be very agile swimmers. Adult males are 300 to 400 pounds in weight and 7 feet in length while females tend to be, on average, slightly larger. When monk seal pups are born, they average 30 to 40 pounds and 40 inches in length. As they nurse for six weeks, the grow considerably, eventually weighing between 150 to 200 pounds by the time they are weaned, while the mother loses up to 300 pounds. Monk seals, like elephant seals, shed their hair and the layer of their skin in an annual catastrophic molt. During the most active period of the molt, about 10 days for the Hawaiian monk seal, the hair, generally dark gray on the dorsal side and lighter silver ventrally, gradually changes color through the year with exposure to atmospheric conditions. The juvenile coat of the seal, manifest in a molt by the time a pup is weaned is silver-gray. Many Hawaiian monk seals sport scars from attacks or entanglements with fishing gear. Maximum life expectancy is 25 to 30 years, the monk seals are members of the Phocidae
4.
Laysan albatross
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The Laysan albatross is a large seabird that ranges across the North Pacific. The Northwestern Hawaiian Islands are home to 99. 7% of the population and this small gull-like albatross is the second most common seabird in the Hawaiian Islands, with an estimated population of 2.5 million birds, and is currently expanding its range to new islands. The Laysan albatross was first described as Diomedea immutabilis by Lionel Walter Rothschild, in 1893 and it is named for Laysan, one of its breeding colonies in the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands. The Laysan albatross averages 81 cm in length and has a wingspan of 195 to 203 cm, males, which weigh 2.4 to 4.1 kg, are larger than females, which weigh 1.9 to 3.6 kg. This albatross has blackish-gray upperwing, mantle, back, upper rump, and tail, and its head, lower rump, and underparts are white. It has a black smudge around the eye, and its underwing pattern varies between individuals, with some having narrower black margins and variable amounts of black in the underwing coverts, finally, the bill is pink with a dark tip. Juveniles have a bill and a dark upper rump. This species does not have a breeding plumage, the Laysan albatross is usually easy to identify. In the North Pacific, it is simple to separate from the relatively common albatross. It can be distinguished from the very rare short-tailed albatross by its all-dark back, the Laysan albatrosss plumage has been compared to that of a gull, two-toned with a dark gray mantle and wings and a white underside and head. The Laysan albatross has a range across the North Pacific. All but 0. 3% of the population is found among the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands, particularly the islands of Midway. When away from the areas, they range widely from Japan to the Bering Sea. The Laysan albatross is normally a silent bird, but on occasion they may be observed emitting long moo-ing sounds, descending whinnies, female Laysan albatrosses may bond for life and cooperatively raise their young. A female Laysan albatross named Wisdom is the oldest known wild bird in the United States or the Northern Hemisphere, Wisdom was banded by a U. S. Geological Survey researcher in 1956, and in December 2016 she was seen rearing a new chick on Midway Atoll. Because Laysan albatrosses cant breed until they are five years old, Laysan albatrosses have a protracted breeding cycle. They breed annually, although some birds skip years, juvenile birds return to the colony three years after fledging, but do not mate for the first time until seven or eight years old. During these four or five years they form pair bonds with a mate that they keep for life
5.
Hawaiian language
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The Hawaiian language is a Polynesian language that takes its name from Hawaiʻi, the largest island in the tropical North Pacific archipelago where it developed. Hawaiian, along with English, is a language of the state of Hawaii. King Kamehameha III established the first Hawaiian-language constitution in 1839 and 1840, Hawaiian was essentially displaced by English on six of seven inhabited islands. In 2001, native speakers of Hawaiian amounted to under 0. 1% of the statewide population, linguists were unsure that Hawaiian and other endangered languages would survive. Nevertheless, from around 1949 to the present day, there has been an increase in attention to. Public Hawaiian-language immersion preschools called Pūnana Leo were started in 1984, the first students to start in immersion preschool have now graduated from college and many are fluent Hawaiian speakers. The federal government has acknowledged this development, for example, the Hawaiian National Park Language Correction Act of 2000 changed the names of several national parks in Hawaiʻi, observing the Hawaiian spelling. A pidgin or creole language spoken in Hawaiʻi is Hawaiian Pidgin and it should not be mistaken for the Hawaiian language nor for a dialect of English. The Hawaiian alphabet has 12 letters, five vowels and seven consonants and it contains an additional consonantal sound okina which is a glottal stop. The island name was first written in English in 1778 by British explorer James Cook and they wrote it as Owhyhee or Owhyee. Explorers Mortimer and Otto von Kotzebue used that spelling, the initial O in the name is a reflection of the fact that unique identity is predicated in Hawaiian by using a copula form, o, immediately before a proper noun. Thus, in Hawaiian, the name of the island is expressed by saying O Hawaiʻi, the Cook expedition also wrote Otaheite rather than Tahiti. The spelling why in the name reflects the pronunciation of wh in 18th-century English, the spelling hee or ee in the name represents the sounds, or. Putting the parts together, O-why-ee reflects, an approximation of the native pronunciation. American missionaries bound for Hawaiʻi used the phrases Owhihe Language and Owhyhee language in Boston prior to their departure in October 1819 and they still used such phrases as late as March 1822. However, by July 1823, they had begun using the phrase Hawaiian Language, in Hawaiian, ʻŌlelo Hawaiʻi means Hawaiian language, as adjectives follow nouns. Hawaiian is a Polynesian member of the Austronesian language family and it is closely related to other Polynesian languages, such as Marquesan, Tahitian, Māori, Rapa Nui, and less closely to Samoan and Tongan. According to Schütz, the Marquesans colonized the archipelago in roughly 300 CE followed by waves of immigration from the Society Islands
6.
Atoll
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An atoll, sometimes called a coral atoll, is a ring-shaped coral reef including a coral rim that encircles a lagoon partially or completely. There may be coral islands/cays on the rim, the coral of the atoll often sits atop the rim of an extinct seamount or volcano which has eroded or subsided partially beneath the water. The lagoon forms over the crater or caldera while the higher rim remains above water or at shallow depths that permit the coral to grow. For the atoll to persist, continued erosion or subsidence must be at a slow enough to permit reef growth upwards and outwards to replace the lost height. The word atoll comes from the Dhivehi word atholhu, meaning an administrative subdivision, the distribution of atolls around the globe is instructive, most of the worlds atolls are in the Pacific Ocean and Indian Ocean. The Atlantic Ocean has no large groups of atolls, other than eight atolls east of Nicaragua that belong to the Colombian department of San Andres and Providencia in the Caribbean. Reef-building corals will thrive only in tropical and subtropical waters of oceans and seas. The northernmost atoll of the world is Kure Atoll at 28°24 N, the southernmost atolls of the world are Elizabeth Reef at 29°58 S, and nearby Middleton Reef at 29°29 S, in the Tasman Sea, both of which are part of the Coral Sea Islands Territory. The next southerly atoll is Ducie Island in the Pitcairn Islands Group, at this latitude coral reefs would not develop without the warming waters of the Gulf Stream. However, Bermuda is termed a pseudo-atoll because its general form, while there is no atoll directly on the equator, the closest atoll to the Equator is Aranuka of Kiribati, with its southern tip just 12 km north of the equator. In most cases, the area of an atoll is very small in comparison to the total area. Atoll islands are low lying, with their elevations less than 5 meters, measured by total area, Lifou is the largest raised coral atoll of the world, followed by Rennell Island. More sources however list as the largest atoll in the world in terms of land area Kiritimati, the remains of an ancient atoll as a hill in a limestone area is called a reef knoll. The second largest atoll by dry land area is Aldabra with 155 km², the largest atoll in terms of island numbers is Huvadhu Atoll in the south of the Maldives with 255 islands. In 1842, Charles Darwin explained the creation of coral atolls in the southern Pacific Ocean based upon observations made during a voyage aboard the HMS Beagle from 1831 to 1836. In time, subsidence carries the old volcano below the ocean surface, at this point, the island has become an atoll. Atolls are the product of the growth of marine organisms. Volcanic islands located beyond the water temperature requirements of hermatypic organisms become seamounts as they subside and are eroded away at the surface
7.
Northwestern Hawaiian Islands
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The Northwestern Hawaiian Islands or the Leeward Islands are the small islands and atolls in the Hawaiian island chain located northwest of the islands of Kauai and Niihau. They are part of the U. S. state of Hawaii except Midway Atoll, in the state of Hawaii, they are part of Honolulu County. The United States Census Bureau defines this area as Census Tract 114.98 of Honolulu County and its total land area is 3.1075 square miles. All the islands except Nihoa are north of the Tropic of Cancer and it represents the southwestern part of the islands former volcanic cone. Ancient Hawaiians might have stayed here long-term, 40-acre Necker Island is hook shaped and 270 feet tall at its summit. Barren of vegetation, it was used by Ancient Hawaiians for religious purposes, French Frigate Shoals is an atoll, the largest region of coral reefs in Hawaii, at 200 square miles. The atoll is composed of a dozen or so islands, Tern Island housing an airport. Gardner Pinnacles is made up of two small peaks, the last rocky island in Hawaii. While the island itself is tiny, the reef is expansive. 166-square-mile Maro Reef is an extremely fertile reef system that has described as a coral garden. Laysan is a 913-acre, low, sandy island with a lake in its interior. It has arguably the most diverse ecosystem in the NWHI, Lisianski Island, only 400 acres, is geologically akin to Laysan, without the lake. Though the island is slightly less biodiverse, the reef is very fertile. Pearl and Hermes Atoll is an very similar to French Frigate Shoals. For this reason, it was ignored by guano miners. Midway Atoll is the most commonly known of the NWHI, and is also the largest, circular Kure Atoll contains the 236-acre Green Island, which used to host a LORAN station and a runway, but these have since been demolished. In terms of biodiversity, Kure is one of the less impressive of the NWHI, as the Pacific Plate moved north and later northwest over the hot spot, volcanic eruptions built up islands in a linear chain. The isolated land masses gradually eroded and subsided, evolving from high islands in the south, much like the Main Islands of Hawaii, each of the NWHI are in various stages of erosion
8.
France
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France, officially the French Republic, is a country with territory in western Europe and several overseas regions and territories. The European, or metropolitan, area of France extends from the Mediterranean Sea to the English Channel and the North Sea, Overseas France include French Guiana on the South American continent and several island territories in the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian oceans. France spans 643,801 square kilometres and had a population of almost 67 million people as of January 2017. It is a unitary republic with the capital in Paris. Other major urban centres include Marseille, Lyon, Lille, Nice, Toulouse, during the Iron Age, what is now metropolitan France was inhabited by the Gauls, a Celtic people. The area was annexed in 51 BC by Rome, which held Gaul until 486, France emerged as a major European power in the Late Middle Ages, with its victory in the Hundred Years War strengthening state-building and political centralisation. During the Renaissance, French culture flourished and a colonial empire was established. The 16th century was dominated by civil wars between Catholics and Protestants. France became Europes dominant cultural, political, and military power under Louis XIV, in the 19th century Napoleon took power and established the First French Empire, whose subsequent Napoleonic Wars shaped the course of continental Europe. Following the collapse of the Empire, France endured a succession of governments culminating with the establishment of the French Third Republic in 1870. Following liberation in 1944, a Fourth Republic was established and later dissolved in the course of the Algerian War, the Fifth Republic, led by Charles de Gaulle, was formed in 1958 and remains to this day. Algeria and nearly all the colonies became independent in the 1960s with minimal controversy and typically retained close economic. France has long been a centre of art, science. It hosts Europes fourth-largest number of cultural UNESCO World Heritage Sites and receives around 83 million foreign tourists annually, France is a developed country with the worlds sixth-largest economy by nominal GDP and ninth-largest by purchasing power parity. In terms of household wealth, it ranks fourth in the world. France performs well in international rankings of education, health care, life expectancy, France remains a great power in the world, being one of the five permanent members of the United Nations Security Council with the power to veto and an official nuclear-weapon state. It is a member state of the European Union and the Eurozone. It is also a member of the Group of 7, North Atlantic Treaty Organization, Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, the World Trade Organization, originally applied to the whole Frankish Empire, the name France comes from the Latin Francia, or country of the Franks
9.
Frigate
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A frigate /ˈfrɪɡᵻt/ is any of several types of warship, the term having been used for ships of various sizes and roles over the last few centuries. In the 17th century, this term was used for any warship built for speed and maneuverability and these could be warships carrying their principal batteries of carriage-mounted guns on a single deck or on two decks. The term was used for ships too small to stand in the line of battle. In the late 19th century, the frigate was a type of ironclad warship that for a time was the most powerful type of vessel afloat. The term frigate was used because such ships still mounted their principal armaments on a continuous upper deck. Ship classes dubbed frigates have more closely resembled corvettes, destroyers, cruisers. The rank frigate captain derives from the name of type of ship. The term frigate originated in the Mediterranean in the late 15th century, referring to a lighter galleass type ship with oars, sails and a light armament, built for speed and maneuverability. The etymology of the word is unknown, although it may have originated as a corruption of aphractus, aphractus was, in turn, derived from the Ancient Greek phrase ἄφρακτος ναῦς, or undefended ship. In 1583, during the Eighty Years War, Habsburg Spain recovered the Southern Netherlands from the rebellious Dutch and this soon led to the occupied ports being used as bases for privateers, the Dunkirkers, to attack the shipping of the Dutch and their allies. To achieve this they developed small, maneuverable, sailing vessels that came to be referred to as frigates, in French, the term frigate became a verb, meaning to build long and low, and an adjective, adding further confusion. Even the huge English Sovereign of the Seas could be described as a frigate by a contemporary after her upper decks were reduced in 1651. The navy of the Dutch Republic was the first navy to build the larger ocean-going frigates, the first two tasks required speed, shallowness of draft for the shallow waters around the Netherlands, and the ability to carry sufficient supplies to maintain a blockade. The third task required heavy armament, sufficient to fight against the Spanish fleet, the first of these larger battle-capable frigates were built around 1600 at Hoorn in Holland. The effectiveness of the Dutch frigates became most visible in the Battle of the Downs in 1639, encouraging most other navies, especially the English, to adopt similar designs. The fleets built by the Commonwealth of England in the 1650s generally consisted of ships described as frigates, the largest of which were two-decker great frigates of the third rate. Carrying 60 guns, these vessels were as big and capable as great ships of the time, however, most other frigates at the time were used as cruisers, independent fast ships. The term frigate implied a long hull design, which relates directly to speed and also, in turn, in Danish, the word fregat is often applied to warships carrying as few as 16 guns, such as HMS Falcon which the British classified as a sloop
10.
Shoal
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Often it refers to those submerged ridges, banks, or bars that rise near enough to the surface of a body of water as to constitute a danger to navigation. Shoals are also known as sandbanks, sandbars, or gravelbars, two or more shoals that are either separated by shared troughs or interconnected by past and or present sedimentary and hydrographic processes are referred to as a shoal complex. The term shoal is also used in a number of ways that can be similar or quite different from how it is used in the geologic, geomorphic. Shoals are characteristically long and narrow ridges and they can develop where a stream, river, or ocean current promotes deposition of sediment and granular material, resulting in localized shallowing of the water. Marine shoals also develop either by the in place drowning of barrier islands as the result of sea level rise or by the erosion. Shoals can appear as a coastal landform in the sea, where they are classified as a type of bank, or as fluvial landforms in rivers, streams. A shoal–sandbar may seasonally separate a smaller body of water from the sea, such as, Marine lagoons Brackish water estuaries Freshwater seasonal stream and river mouths and deltas. They are typically composed of sand, although they could be of any matter that the moving water has access to and is capable of shifting around. Wave shoaling is the process when surface waves move towards shallow water, such as a beach, they slow down, their wave height increases and this behavior is called shoaling, and the waves are said to shoal. The waves may or may not build to the point where they break, depending on how large they were to begin with, in particular, waves shoal as they pass over submerged sandbanks or reefs. This can be treacherous for boats and ships, shoaling can also diffract waves, so the waves change direction. For example, if waves pass over a bank which is shallower at one end than the other. Thus the wave fronts will refract, changing direction like light passing through a prism, refraction also occurs as waves move towards a beach if the waves come in at an angle to the beach, or if the beach slopes more gradually at one end than the other. Sandbars, also known as a trough bars, form where the waves are breaking, sometimes this occurs seaward of a trough. Sand carried by the moving bottom current is deposited where the current reaches the wave break. Other longshore bars may lie further offshore, representing the point of even larger waves. A harbor or river bar is a sedimentary deposit formed at an entrance or river mouth by. Where beaches are suitably mobile, or the river’s suspended and/or bed loads are large enough, deposition can build up a sandbar that completely blocks a river mouth and damming the river
11.
Crescent
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A crescent shape is a symbol or emblem used to represent the lunar phase in the first quarter, or by extension a symbol representing the Moon itself. It is used as the symbol for the Moon. It was also the emblem of Diana-Artemis, and hence represented virginity, in Roman Catholic Marian veneration, it is associated with the Virgin Mary. From its use as roof finial in Ottoman era mosques, it has become associated with Islam. The crescent symbol is used to represent the Moon, not necessarily in a particular lunar phase. When used to represent a waxing or waning lunar phase, crescent or increscent refers to the waxing first quarter, the crescent symbol was long used as a symbol of the Moon in astrology, and by extension of Silver in alchemy. The astrological use of the symbol is attested in early Greek papyri containing horoscopes, in the 2nd-century Bianchinis planisphere, the personification of the Moon is shown with a crescent attached to her headdress. Its ancient association with Ishtar/Astarte and Diana is preserved in the Moon representing the female principle, as such, it belongs to the class of figures known as lune in planar geometry. The tapering towards the points of intersection of the two arcs are known as the horns of the crescent, the word crescent is derived etymologically from the present participle of the Latin verb crescere to grow, technically denoting the waxing moon. Unicode encodes a crescent at U+263D and a decrescent at U+263E, the Miscellaneous Symbols and Pictographs block provides variants with faces, FIRST QUARTER MOON WITH FACE at U+1F31B and LAST QUARTER MOON WITH FACE at U+1F31C. The crescent shape is used to represent the Moon, and the Moon deity Nanna/Sin from an early time, visible in Akkadian cylinder seals as early as 2300 BC. The crescent was used in the iconography of the Ancient Near East and was used transplanted by the Phoenicians in the 8th century BC as far as Carthage in modern Tunisia. The crescent and star also appears on coins of South Arabia. The combination of star and crescent also arises in the Ancient Near East, representing the Moon and Ishtar and it was inherited both in Sassanian and Hellenistic iconography. In the iconography of the Hellenistic period, the crescent became the symbol of Artemis-Diana, numerous depictions show Artemis-Diana wearing the crescent Moon as part of her headdress. The related symbol of the star and crescent was the emblem of the Mithradates dynasty in the Kingdom of Pontus and was used as the emblem of Byzantium. The crescent remained in use as an emblem in Sassanid Persia, in the Crusades it came to be associated with the Orient and was widely used in Crusader seals and coins. It was used as a charge by the later 13th century
12.
Coral reef
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Coral reefs are diverse underwater ecosystems held together by calcium carbonate structures secreted by corals. Coral reefs are built by colonies of tiny animals found in waters that contain few nutrients. Most coral reefs are built from stony corals, which in turn consist of polyps that cluster in groups, the polyps belong to a group of animals known as Cnidaria, which also includes sea anemones and jellyfish. Unlike sea anemones, corals secrete hard carbonate exoskeletons which support, most reefs grow best in warm, shallow, clear, sunny and agitated waters. Often called rainforests of the sea, shallow coral reefs form some of the most diverse ecosystems on Earth, paradoxically, coral reefs flourish even though they are surrounded by ocean waters that provide few nutrients. They are most commonly found at depths in tropical waters. Coral reefs deliver ecosystem services to tourism, fisheries and shoreline protection, the annual global economic value of coral reefs is estimated between US$29. 8-375 billion. However, coral reefs are fragile ecosystems, partly because they are sensitive to water temperature. Most of the coral reefs we can see today were formed after the last glacial period when melting ice caused the sea level to rise and this means that most modern coral reefs are less than 10,000 years old. As communities established themselves on the shelves, the reefs grew upwards, Reefs that rose too slowly could become drowned reefs. They are covered by so much water there was insufficient light. Coral reefs are found in the sea away from continental shelves, around oceanic islands. The vast majority of islands are volcanic in origin. The few exceptions have tectonic origins where plate movements have lifted the deep ocean floor on the surface. In 1842 in his first monograph, The Structure and Distribution of Coral Reefs, Charles Darwin set out his theory of the formation of atoll reefs and he theorized uplift and subsidence of the Earths crust under the oceans formed the atolls. Darwin’s theory sets out a sequence of three stages in atoll formation and it starts with a fringing reef forming around an extinct volcanic island as the island and ocean floor subsides. As the subsidence continues, the reef becomes a barrier reef. Darwin predicted that underneath each lagoon would be a bed rock base, where the level of the underlying earth allows, the corals grow around the coast to form what he called fringing reefs, and can eventually grow out from the shore to become a barrier reef
13.
Tern Island (Hawaii)
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It has a land area of 105,276 m2. The island provides a habitat to millions of nesting seabirds, threatened Hawaiian green sea turtles. It is maintained as a station in the Hawaiian Islands National Wildlife Refuge by the United States Fish. After the Battle of Midway, the U. S. Navy built a Naval Air Station on Tern Island, the Stations main function was as an emergency landing site for planes flying between Hawaii and Midway Atoll. The original seawall, runway, and some of the buildings remain, the aforementioned Naval base operated from 1942 to 1946, and a U. S. Coast Guard station operated from 1952 until 1979. In 1969, a tsunami wiped out much of the station, a Piper Aztec has landed over 600 times at Tern Island. There are typically monthly flights to Honolulu for mail, but heavier cargo typically comes by water, an alternative is email, either by satellite phone or the islands broadband internet connection. The old U. S. Coast Guard barracks continued to be used into the 21st century, upgrades include the cleanup of old waste, improved water tanks, and solar power. The solar power runs a reverse osmosis water maker, capable of producing 1200 gallons a day, there is also a diesel generator with a 500-gallon fuel tank. French Frigate Shoals Airport Ternisland. com Tern Island, Noahs Ark of the Hawaiian Isles Satellite View Google Street View July 2013
14.
French Frigate Shoals Airport
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French Frigate Shoals Airport is a private use airport on Tern Island in French Frigate Shoals, a coral atoll, in Hawaii, United States. It is owned by the United States Fish and Wildlife Service, although many U. S. airports use the same three-letter location identifier for the FAA and IATA, this airport is assigned HFS by the FAA but has no designation from the IATA. French Frigate Shoals Airport has one runway designated 06/24 with a surface measuring 3,000 by 200 feet at an elevation of six feet above mean sea level. The runway is closed, except for emergencies, or with permission from the United States Fish. The Seabees in 1942 constructed the airfield and they built a 3, 100-foot x 275-foot runway and a ramp area sufficient for 24 single-engine aircraft, dredging coral to expand the island. Of the 27-acre area of the island, the airfield took up 20 acres. The Navy designated this airfield as French Frigate Shoals Naval Air Facility, the 1946 Aleutian Islands earthquake generated a tsunami that swept clean Tern Island, and the Navy closed the naval air facility. In 1952, the United States Coast Guard built a Long Range Navigation beacon tower on the island alongside a 20-man supporting facility, the Coast Guard used the airfield for a weekly mail-and-supply flight. The Coast Guard installation continued in operation until 1979, French Frigate Shoals Naval Air Facility at Abandoned & Little-Known Airfields Airport information for PHHF at AirNav
15.
Hawaiian Islands National Wildlife Refuge
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Created in June 2006 with 140,000 square miles, it was expanded in August 2016 by moving its border to the limit of the exclusive economic zone, making it the worlds second largest protected area. On two of the islands, Nihoa and Makumanamana, there are archaeological remains relating to pre-European settlement, much of the monument is made up of pelagic and deepwater habitats, with notable features such as seamounts and submerged banks, extensive coral reefs and lagoons. The monument supports 7,000 species, one quarter of which are endemic, according to the Pew Charitable Trusts, populations of lobster have not recovered from extensive harvesting in the 1980s and 1990s, which is now banned, the remaining fisheries are overfished. This shift reduced populations of important species such as lobster, seabirds. The monument receives strict conservation protection, with exceptions for traditional Native Hawaiian uses, the monument covers roughly 583,000 square miles of reefs, atolls and shallow and deep sea in the Pacific Ocean – larger than all of Americas National Parks combined. It contains approximately 10 percent of the shallow water coral reef habitat in U. S. territory. It is slightly larger than Australias Great Barrier Reef Marine Park, approximately the size of the country of Germany, and just slightly smaller than Montana. The islands included in the monument are all part of the State of Hawaii, except Midway Atoll, henderson Field, on Midway Atoll, provides aerial access to the monument. The monuments ocean area is administered by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and it also contains within it a number of U. S. and Hawaiian designated refuges, sanctuaries, reserves and memorials with their own specialized administration. The Hawaiian Islands National Wildlife Refuge, with an area of 254,418.1 acres is in the monument and is administered by the U. S. Fish and Wildlife Service. About 132,000 square miles of the monument were already part of the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands Coral Reef Ecosystem Reserve, which was designated in 2000. The Northwestern Hawaiian Islands were first protected on February 3,1909, President Bill Clinton established the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands Coral Reef Ecosystem Reserve on December 4,2000, with Executive Order 13178. Clintons executive order initiated a process to designate the waters of the NWHI as a National Marine Sanctuary, a public comment period began in 2002. In 2005, Governor of Hawaii Linda Lingle declared parts of the monument a state marine refuge, in April 2006, President George W. Bush and his wife viewed a screening of the documentary film Voyage to Kure at the White House along with its director, Jean-Michel Cousteau. Compelled by the portrayal of the flora and fauna, Bush moved quickly to protect the area. On June 15,2006, Bush signed Proclamation 8031, designating the waters of the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands a national monument under the 1906 Antiquities Act. This was the use by Bush of the Antiquities Act. The protection is only by legislation
16.
United States Fish and Wildlife Service
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The United States Fish and Wildlife Service is an agency of the federal government within the U. S. Department of the Interior dedicated to the management of fish, wildlife, and natural habitats. The mission of the agency is working with others to conserve, protect, and enhance fish, wildlife, plants and their habitats for the continuing benefit of the American people. The leader of the FWS is the director of the U. S. Fish and Wildlife Service Daniel M. Ashe, of Maryland, bavin National Fish and Wildlife Forensic Laboratory Landscape Conservation Cooperatives The vast majority of fish and wildlife habitat is on non-federal lands. The FWS employs approximately 9,000 people and is organized into an administrative office, eight regional offices. Spencer Fullerton Baird was appointed its first commissioner, in 1903, the Fish Commission was reorganized as the United States Bureau of Fisheries. In 1885–1886, the Division of Economic Ornithology and Mammalogy was established within the United States Department of Agriculture, in 1896 it became the Division of Biological Survey. Its early work focused on the effect of birds in controlling pests and mapping the geographical distribution of plants. Clinton Hart Merriam headed the Bureau for 25 years and became a figure for improving the scientific understanding of birds. Under Darlings guidance, the Bureau began a legacy of protecting vital natural habitat throughout the country. The USFWS was finally created in 1940, when the Bureaus of Fisheries, however, these exceptions often only apply to Native Americans that are registered with the federal government and are enrolled with a federally recognized tribe. Therefore, many people that wish to practice their religion continue to face persecution. This has become a source of conflict between many tribes and the US Fish and Wildlife Service. In the late 1990s and early 2000s, the USFWS began to incorporate the research of scientists into conservation decisions. Additionally, other natural resource agencies within the United States government, such as the USDA, have taken steps to be inclusive of tribes, native people. This has marked a transition to a relationship of more cooperation rather than the tension between tribes and government agencies seen historically, today, these agencies work closely with tribal governments to ensure the best conservation decisions are made and that tribes retain their sovereignty
17.
Honolulu, Hawaii
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Honolulu is the capital and largest city of the U. S. state of Hawaii. It is an part of and the county seat of the City and County of Honolulu on the island of Oahu. The city is the gateway to Hawaii and a major portal into the United States. The city is also a hub for international business, military defense, as well as famously being host to a diverse variety of east-west and Pacific culture, cuisine. Honolulu is the most remote city of its size in the world and is both the westernmost and the southernmost major U. S. city. For statistical purposes, the U. S. Census Bureau recognizes the area commonly referred to as City of Honolulu as a census county division. Honolulu is a financial center of the islands and of the Pacific Ocean. The population of the city of Honolulu was 337,256 as of the 2010 census, while the Honolulu CCD was 390,738, Honolulu means sheltered harbor or calm port. The old name is said to be Kou, a district encompassing the area from Nuuanu Avenue to Alakea Street. The city has been the capital of the Hawaiian Islands since 1845, as of 2015, Honolulu was ranked high on world livability rankings, and was also ranked as the 2nd safest city in the U. S. It is also the most populated Oceanian city outside Australasia and ranks second to Auckland as the most populous city in Polynesia, evidence of the first settlement of Honolulu by the original Polynesian migrants to the archipelago comes from oral histories and artifacts. These indicate that there was a settlement where Honolulu now stands in the 11th century, however, after Kamehameha I conquered Oʻahu in the Battle of Nuʻuanu at Nuʻuanu Pali, he moved his royal court from the Island of Hawaiʻi to Waikīkī in 1804. His court relocated in 1809 to what is now downtown Honolulu, the capital was moved back to Kailua-Kona in 1812. In 1794, Captain William Brown of Great Britain was the first foreigner to sail into what is now Honolulu Harbor, more foreign ships followed, making the port of Honolulu a focal point for merchant ships traveling between North America and Asia. In 1845, Kamehameha III moved the permanent capital of the Hawaiian Kingdom from Lahaina on Maui to Honolulu and he and the kings that followed him transformed Honolulu into a modern capital, erecting buildings such as St. Andrews Cathedral, ʻIolani Palace, and Aliʻiōlani Hale. At the same time, Honolulu became the center of commerce in the islands, an economic and tourism boom following statehood brought rapid economic growth to Honolulu and Hawaiʻi. Modern air travel brings, as of 2007,7.6 million visitors annually to the islands, today, Honolulu is a modern city with numerous high-rise buildings, and Waikīkī is the center of the tourism industry in Hawaiʻi, with thousands of hotel rooms. According to the United States Census Bureau, the CDP has an area of 68.4 square miles
18.
Polynesia
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Polynesia is a subregion of Oceania, made up of over 1,000 islands scattered over the central and southern Pacific Ocean. The indigenous people who inhabit the islands of Polynesia are termed Polynesians and they share many similar traits including the language family, culture, and beliefs. Historically, they were experienced sailors who used stars to navigate at night, the term Polynesia was first used in 1756 by French writer Charles de Brosses, and originally applied to all the islands of the Pacific. In 1831, Jules Dumont dUrville proposed a restriction on its use during a lecture to the Geographical Society of Paris, historically, these islands have also been referred to as the South Sea Islands. Polynesia is characterized by an amount of land spread over a very large portion of the mid. Most Polynesian islands and archipelagos, including the Hawaiian Islands and Samoa, are composed of volcanic islands built by hotspots, New Zealand, Norfolk Island, and Ouvéa, the Polynesian outlier near New Caledonia, are the unsubmerged portions of the largely sunken continent of Zealandia. At first, the Pacific plate was subducted under the Australian plate, the Alpine Fault that traverses the South Island is currently a transform fault while the convergent plate boundary from the North Island northwards is called the Kermadec-Tonga Subduction Zone. The volcanism associated with subduction zone is the origin of the Kermadec. Out of approximately 300,000 or 310,000 square kilometres of land, over 270,000 km2 are within New Zealand, the Zealandia continent has approximately 3,600,000 km2 of continental shelf. The oldest rocks in the region are found in New Zealand and are believed to be about 510 million years old, the oldest Polynesian rocks outside of Zealandia are to be found in the Hawaiian Emperor Seamount Chain, and are 80 million years old. Polynesia is generally defined as the islands within the Polynesian Triangle, geographically, the Polynesian Triangle is drawn by connecting the points of Hawaii, New Zealand and Easter Island. The other main island groups located within the Polynesian Triangle are Samoa, Tonga, there are also small Polynesian settlements in Papua New Guinea, the Solomon Islands, the Caroline Islands, and in Vanuatu. An island group with strong Polynesian cultural traits outside of this triangle is Rotuma. The people of Rotuma have many common Polynesian traits but speak a non-Polynesian language, some of the Lau Islands to the southeast of Fiji have strong historic and cultural links with Tonga. However, in essence, Polynesia is a term referring to one of the three parts of Oceania. Some islands of Polynesian origin are outside the triangle that geographically defines the region. The Phoenix Islands and Line Islands, most of which are part of Kiribati, are geographically Polynesian islands, tracing Polynesian languages places their prehistoric origins in the Malay Archipelago, and ultimately, in Taiwan. Between about 3000 and 1000 BC speakers of Austronesian languages began spreading from Taiwan into Island Southeast Asia, there are three theories regarding the spread of humans across the Pacific to Polynesia
19.
Common Era
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Common Era or Current Era is a year-numbering system for the Julian and Gregorian calendars that refers to the years since the start of this era, i. e. since AD1. The preceding era is referred to as before the Common or Current Era, the Current Era notation system can be used as a secular alternative to the Dionysian era system, which distinguishes eras as AD and BC. The two notation systems are equivalent, thus 2017 CE corresponds to AD2017 and 400 BCE corresponds to 400 BC. The year-numbering system for the Gregorian calendar is the most widespread civil calendar used in the world today. For decades, it has been the standard, recognized by international institutions such as the United Nations. The expression has been traced back to Latin usage to 1615, as vulgaris aerae, the term Common Era can be found in English as early as 1708, and became more widely used in the mid-19th century by Jewish academics. He attempted to number years from a reference date, an event he referred to as the Incarnation of Jesus. Dionysius labeled the column of the table in which he introduced the new era as Anni Domini Nostri Jesu Christi, numbering years in this manner became more widespread in Europe with its usage by Bede in England in 731. Bede also introduced the practice of dating years before what he supposed was the year of birth of Jesus, in 1422, Portugal became the last Western European country to switch to the system begun by Dionysius. The first use of the Latin term vulgaris aerae discovered so far was in a 1615 book by Johannes Kepler, Kepler uses it again in a 1616 table of ephemerides, and again in 1617. A1635 English edition of that book has the title page in English – so far, a 1701 book edited by John LeClerc includes Before Christ according to the Vulgar Æra,6. A1716 book in English by Dean Humphrey Prideaux says, before the beginning of the vulgar æra, a 1796 book uses the term vulgar era of the nativity. The first so-far-discovered usage of Christian Era is as the Latin phrase aerae christianae on the page of a 1584 theology book. In 1649, the Latin phrase æræ Christianæ appeared in the title of an English almanac, a 1652 ephemeris is the first instance so-far-found for English usage of Christian Era. The English phrase common Era appears at least as early as 1708, a 1759 history book uses common æra in a generic sense, to refer to the common era of the Jews. The first-so-far found usage of the phrase before the era is in a 1770 work that also uses common era and vulgar era as synonyms. The 1797 edition of the Encyclopædia Britannica uses the terms vulgar era, the Catholic Encyclopedia in at least one article reports all three terms being commonly understood by the early 20th century. Thus, the era of the Jews, the common era of the Mahometans, common era of the world
20.
Monterey, California
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The City of Monterey in Monterey County is located on the southern edge of Monterey Bay, in the Northern Portion of Californias Central Coast. It stands at an elevation of 26 feet above sea level, the 2010 census recorded a population of 27,810. Monterey was the capital of Alta California under both Spain and Mexico and it was the only port of entry for taxable goods in California. In 1846 the U. S. flag was raised over the Customs House, the city had Californias first theater, public building, public library, publicly funded school, printing press, and newspaper. The city and surrounding area have attracted artists since the late 19th century, until the 1950s, there was an abundant fishery. Among Montereys notable present-day attractions are the Monterey Bay Aquarium, Cannery Row, Fishermans Wharf, long before the arrival of Spanish explorers, the Rumsen Ohlone tribe, one of seven linguistically distinct Ohlone groups in California, inhabited the area now known as Monterey. They subsisted by hunting, fishing and gathering food on and around the biologically rich Monterey Peninsula, researchers have found a number of shell middens in the area and, based on the archaeological evidence, concluded the Ohlones primary marine food consisted at various times of mussels and abalone. A number of sites have been located along about 12 miles of rocky coast on the Monterey Peninsula from the current site of Fishermans Wharf in Monterey to Carmel. In 1602, Spanish maritime explorer Sebastian Vizcaino recorded the name Bahía de Monterrey, Vizcaino landed at the southern end of the bay and described a great port, suitable for use as an anchorage by southbound Manila galleons. Vizcaino also noted and named the Point of Pines, all other uses of the name Monterey derive from Vizcainos name for the bay. Variants of the name are recorded as Monte Rey and Montery. In 1769, the first European land exploration of Alta California, for some reason, the explorers failed to recognize the place when they came to it on October 1,1769. The party continued north as far as San Francisco Bay before turning back, on the return journey, they camped near one of Montereys lagoons on November 27, still not convinced they had found the place Vizcaino had described. Franciscan missionary Juan Crespí noted in his diary, We halted in sight of the Point of Pines and camped near a lagoon which has rather muddy water. Portolá returned by land to Monterey the next year, having concluded that he must have been at Vizcainos Port of Monterey after all, the land party was met at Monterey by Junípero Serra who traveled by sea. Portolá erected the Presidio of Monterey to defend the port and, on June 3,1770, Portolá returned to Mexico, replaced in Monterey by Captain Pedro Fages, who had been third in command on the exploratory expeditions. Fages became the governor of Alta California, serving from 1770 to 1774. Serras missionary aims soon came into conflict with Fages and the soldiers, the existing wood and adobe building became the chapel for the Presidio
21.
Macau
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Macau, also spelled Macao, officially the Macao Special Administrative Region of the Peoples Republic of China, is an autonomous territory on the western side of the Pearl River Delta in East Asia. Macau is bordered by the city of Zhuhai in Mainland China to the north, Hong Kong lies about 64 kilometres to its east across the Delta. With a population of 650,900 living in an area of 30.5 km2, Macau was administered by the Portuguese Empire and its inheritor states from the mid-16th century until late 1999, when it constituted the last remaining European colony in Asia. Portuguese traders first settled in Macau in the 1550s, in 1557, Macau was leased to Portugal from Ming China as a trading port. The Portuguese Empire administered the city under Chinese authority and sovereignty until 1887, sovereignty over Macau was transferred back to China on 20 December 1999. The Joint Declaration on the Question of Macau and Macau Basic Law stipulate that Macau operate with a degree of autonomy until at least 2049. Macau participates in international organizations and events that do not require members to national sovereignty. Macau is a city in Southern China, known for its casinos. Its gaming revenue has been the worlds largest since 2006, with the heavily dependent on gaming. According to The World Factbook, Macau has the fourth highest life expectancy in the world, the present Chinese name means Inlet Gates. Macau is otherwise known in Chinese as Haojing or Jinghai, the name Macau is thought to be derived from the A-Ma Temple, a temple built in 1448 dedicated to Mazu, the goddess of seafarers and fishermen. It is said that when the Portuguese sailors landed at the coast just outside the temple and asked the name of the place, the Portuguese then named the peninsula Macau. The history of Macau is traced back to the Qin dynasty, the first recorded Chinese inhabitants of the area were people seeking refuge in Macau from invading Mongols during the Southern Song. Under the Ming dynasty, fishermen migrated to Macau from Guangdong, the Macau native people were Tanka boat people. Macau did not develop as a settlement until the Portuguese arrived in the 16th century. In 1513, Jorge Álvares became the first Portuguese to land in China, in 1535, Portuguese traders obtained the rights to anchor ships in Macaus harbours and to carry out trading activities, though not the right to stay onshore. In 1557, the Portuguese established a permanent settlement in Macau, the Portuguese continued to pay an annual tribute up to 1863 in order to stay in Macau. By 1564, Portugal commanded western trade with India, Japan, but their pride was damaged by the indifference with which the Chinese treated them
22.
Guano
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Guano is the accumulated excrement of seabirds, seals, or cave-dwelling bats. As a manure, guano is an effective fertilizer due to its exceptionally high content of nitrogen, phosphate and potassium. During the twentieth century, guano-producing birds became an important target of conservation programs, today, guano is increasingly sought after by organic farmers. Seabird guano consists of nitrogen-rich ammonium oxalate and urate, phosphates, as well as some earth salts, the word guano originates from the Andean indigenous language Quechua, which refers to any form of dung used as an agricultural fertilizer. Archaeological evidence suggests that Andean people have collected guano from small islands, spanish colonial documents suggest that the rulers of the Inca Empire assigned great value to guano, restricted access to it, and punished any disturbance of the birds with death. The Guanay cormorant has historically been the most abundant and important producer of guano, other important guano producing species off the coast of Peru are the Peruvian pelican and the Peruvian booby. At that time, massive deposits of guano existed on some islands, in this context the United States passed the Guano Islands Act in 1856, which gave U. S. citizens discovering a source of guano on an unclaimed island exclusive rights to the deposits. Nine of these islands are still officially U. S. territories, control over guano played a central role in the Chincha Islands War between Spain and a Peruvian-Chilean alliance. Indentured workers from China played an important role in guano harvest, the first group of 79 Chinese workers arrived in Peru in 1849, by the time that trade ended a quarter of a century later, over 100,000 of their fellow countrymen had been imported. There is no evidence that enslaved Pacific Islanders participated in guano mining. Between 1847 and 1873, there was a significant increase in Peruvian guano exports, after 1870, the use of Peruvian guano as a fertilizer was eclipsed by saltpeter in the form of caliche extraction from the interior of the Atacama Desert, not far from the guano areas. Since 1909, when the Peruvian government took over guano extraction for use by Peru farmers, South Africa independently developed its own guano industry based on sustained-yield production from marine birds during this period, as well. Both industries eventually collapsed due to pressure from overfishing, DNA testing has suggested that new potato varieties imported alongside Peruvian seabird guano in 1842 brought a virulent strain of potato blight that began the Irish Potato Famine. The ideal type of guano is found in dry climates. Post-depositional decomposition and ammonia volatilization of penguin guano also plays an important role in the evolution of ornithogenic sediments in the cold, Bat guano is usually mined in caves and this mining is associated with a corresponding loss of troglobytic biota and diminishing of biodiversity. Guano deposits support a variety of cave-adapted invertebrates that rely on bat feces as their sole source of nutrition. The greatest damage caused by mining to caves with extant guano deposits is to the bat colonies themselves, bats are highly vulnerable to regular disturbance to their roosts. Some species, such as Phyllonycteris aphylla, have low fat reserves, many species will drop pups when in panic, with subsequent death, leading to a steady reduction in population
23.
United States Navy
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The United States Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the seven uniformed services of the United States. The U. S. Navy is the largest, most capable navy in the world, the U. S. Navy has the worlds largest aircraft carrier fleet, with ten in service, two in the reserve fleet, and three new carriers under construction. The service has 323,792 personnel on duty and 108,515 in the Navy Reserve. It has 274 deployable combat vessels and more than 3,700 operational aircraft as of October 2016, the U. S. Navy traces its origins to the Continental Navy, which was established during the American Revolutionary War and was effectively disbanded as a separate entity shortly thereafter. It played a role in the American Civil War by blockading the Confederacy. It played the role in the World War II defeat of Imperial Japan. The 21st century U. S. Navy maintains a global presence, deploying in strength in such areas as the Western Pacific, the Mediterranean. The Navy is administratively managed by the Department of the Navy, the Department of the Navy is itself a division of the Department of Defense, which is headed by the Secretary of Defense. The Chief of Naval Operations is an admiral and the senior naval officer of the Department of the Navy. The CNO may not be the highest ranking officer in the armed forces if the Chairman or the Vice Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. The mission of the Navy is to maintain, train and equip combat-ready Naval forces capable of winning wars, deterring aggression, the United States Navy is a seaborne branch of the military of the United States. The Navys three primary areas of responsibility, The preparation of naval forces necessary for the prosecution of war. The development of aircraft, weapons, tactics, technique, organization, U. S. Navy training manuals state that the mission of the U. S. Armed Forces is to prepare and conduct prompt and sustained combat operations in support of the national interest, as part of that establishment, the U. S. Navys functions comprise sea control, power projection and nuclear deterrence, in addition to sealift duties. It follows then as certain as that night succeeds the day, that without a decisive naval force we can do nothing definitive, the Navy was rooted in the colonial seafaring tradition, which produced a large community of sailors, captains, and shipbuilders. In the early stages of the American Revolutionary War, Massachusetts had its own Massachusetts Naval Militia, the establishment of a national navy was an issue of debate among the members of the Second Continental Congress. Supporters argued that a navy would protect shipping, defend the coast, detractors countered that challenging the British Royal Navy, then the worlds preeminent naval power, was a foolish undertaking. Commander in Chief George Washington resolved the debate when he commissioned the ocean-going schooner USS Hannah to interdict British merchant ships, and reported the captures to the Congress
24.
Lieutenant
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A lieutenant is a junior commissioned officer in many nations armed forces, fire service or police. The meaning of lieutenant differs in different military formations, but is often subdivided into senior and junior ranks, in navies it is often equivalent to the army rank of captain, it may also indicate a particular post rather than a rank. The rank is used in fire services, emergency medical services, security services. Lieutenant may also appear as part of a used in various other organisations with a codified command structure. It often designates someone who is second-in-command, and as such, for example, a lieutenant master is likely to be second-in-command to the master in an organisation using both ranks. Political uses include lieutenant governor in various governments, and Quebec lieutenant in Canadian politics, in the United Kingdom, a lord lieutenant is the sovereigns representative in a county or lieutenancy area, while a deputy lieutenant is one of the lord lieutenants deputies. However, their efforts failed, and the French word is used, along with its many variations. The early history of the pronunciation is unclear, Middle English spellings suggest that the /luː-/ and /lɛf-/ pronunciations may have existed even then. The rare Old French variant spelling luef for Modern French lieu supports the suggestion that a final of the Old French word was in certain environments perceived as an, in Royal Naval tradition—and other English-speaking navies outside the United States—a reduced pronunciation /ləˈtɛnənt/ is used. This is not recognised as current by recent editions of the OED, conventionally, armies and other services or branches which use army-style rank titles have two grades of lieutenant, but a few also use a third, more junior, rank. Where more junior officers were employed as deputies to the lieutenant, they went by names, including second lieutenant, sub-lieutenant, ensign. The senior grade of lieutenant is known as first lieutenant in the United States, and as lieutenant in the United Kingdom, in countries which do not speak English, the rank title usually translates as lieutenant, but may also translate as first lieutenant or senior lieutenant. The Israel Defense Forces rank segen literally translates as deputy, which is equivalent to a lieutenant, there is great variation in the insignia used worldwide. In most English-speaking and Arabic-speaking countries, as well as a number of European and South American nations, an example of an exception is the United States, whose armed forces distinguish their lieutenant ranks with one silver bar for first lieutenant and one gold bar for second lieutenant. Second lieutenant is usually the most junior grade of commissioned officer, in non-English-speaking countries, the equivalent rank title may translate as second lieutenant, lieutenant, sub-lieutenant or junior lieutenant. Non-English terms include alferes, alférez, fänrik, ensign, Leutnant, letnan, poručík, a few non-English-speaking militaries maintain a lower rank, frequently translated as third lieutenant OF1c. The rank title may translate as second lieutenant, junior lieutenant, sub-lieutenant or ensign. Warsaw Pact countries standardised their ranking systems on the Soviet system, some of the former Soviet and Warsaw Pact nations have now discarded the third rank while many retain it like Bulgaria
25.
John Mercer Brooke
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John Mercer Brooke was an American sailor, engineer, scientist, and educator. He was instrumental in the creation of the Transatlantic Cable, and was a noted marine, John M. Brooke was born in Fort Brooke, Florida. He was related to Congressman John Francis Mercer and his father was an army officer, General George Mercer Brooke, who died in San Antonio, Texas. He was a kinsman of General Dabney Herndon Maury as well as Virginia governor Robert Brooke, Brooke graduated from one of the earliest classes of the United States Naval Academy and became a lieutenant in the United States Navy in 1855. Many believed the sea floor was flat, but all previous soundings as deep as eleven miles could not find the ocean bottom, part of this was due to powerful undercurrents far below, rivers in the ocean traveling in various directions. In the struggles with soundings, which nobody had anything of value at great depths. Brooke perfected a deep-sea sounding device which was used afterwards by navies of the world until modern times, at Maurys direction, Brooke also added a core-sampling device for taking samples of the material of the sea floor. The outcome was a cannonball with a tube through the center of it — a tube coated on the inside so as not to contaminate the samples. Studying this seafloor material with his microscope, Maury saw something that fascinated him and they are chiefly made up of perfect little calcareous shells and contain, also, a small number of silicious shells. Maury had charted the underwater mountain ridge and this meant that the area was deep enough that no ships anchor nor any fishermans net would drag the area. The fact that there was no abrasion on these minute organisms meant that there were no currents in that area at that depth. Soon after publishing this, Cyrus West Field wrote to Maury of the USNO on the feasibility of laying a cable and was given a positive reply. Cyrus Field also contacted Samuel Morse regarding the feasibility of transmitting an electric current a distance of 1,600 miles underwater, again, Field was given an affirmative and soon visited Morse. As an expert in maritime surveys, he participated in missions in the Pacific. He had a role in the counseling and instruction of officers of the nascent Japanese Navy, in Japan, he was a technical adviser aboard the Japanese steamer Kanrin Maru, and he helped sail the ship to the United States in February 1860. He was accompanied by Japanese representatives aboard the Powhatan, in 1861, Brooke resigned from the U. S. Navy to join the Confederate Navy. He was involved in the conversion of the frigate USS Merrimack into the ironclad CSS Virginia and he was also instrumental in the development of a new rifled gun for the Navy that became known as the Brooke rifle. In 1862, he was promoted to commander, and in 1863, to Chief of the Confederate Navys Bureau of Ordnance and Hydrography and he was instrumental in the organization and establishment of the Confederate States Naval Academy
26.
Guano Islands Act
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The Guano Islands Act is a United States federal law passed by the U. S. Congress that enables citizens of the United States to take possession of unclaimed islands containing guano deposits. The islands can be located anywhere, so long as they are not occupied and it also empowers the President of the United States to use the military to protect such interests and establishes the criminal jurisdiction of the United States in these territories. The Act continues to be part of the law of the United States, the most recent Guano Islands Act claim was made to Navassa Island, however, the claim was discarded because a court ruled the island was already under American jurisdiction. In the 1840s, guano came to be prized as a source of saltpeter for gunpowder as well as an agricultural fertilizer, the United States began importing it in 1843 through New York. By the early 1850s, the U. K. imported over 200,000 tons a year, and U. S. imports totaled about 760,000 tons. The Act enables U. S. citizens to take possession of unclaimed islands containing guano for the U. S. and this encouraged American entrepreneurs to search and exploit new deposits on tiny islands and reefs in the Caribbean and in the Pacific. This is the beginning of the concept of insular areas in U. S. territories, with insular areas, land could be held by the federal government without the prospect of its ever becoming a state in the Union. The provision was considered and ruled constitutional by the U. S. Supreme Court in Jones v. United States,137 U. S.202. More than 100 islands have been claimed for the United States under the Guano Islands Act, but most claims have been withdrawn. The Act specifically allows the islands to be considered possessions of the U. S. on the other hand, it also does not say that the U. S. cannot retain possession though the guano is exhausted. The Act does not specify what the status of the territory is after it is abandoned by private U. S. interests, the implication is that it reverts to its former status as terra nullius. In most cases, the stems from attempts by a state to expand its exclusive economic zone over the surrounding seas. To cement the U. S. claim to Navassa Island against Haiti, control of Navassa Island was transferred by the Department of the Interior to the Director of the Office of Insular Affairs under Order No.3205 on January 16,1997. Both the Department of the Interior and Insular Affairs would later grant administration responsibilities to the United States Fish, Order No 3210 also established a 12-nautical-mile territorial sea boundary for the United States around Navassa Island. Multiple countries have claimed ownership of Serranilla Bank and the Bajo Nuevo Bank, Bajo Nuevo Bank is the subject of conflicting claims made by a number of sovereign states. In 1899, a claim was made on Fox Island, Quebec, neither the US nor Jamaica recognized his claim before the raft was destroyed in a storm in 1966
27.
Kure Atoll
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Kure Atoll or Ocean Island is an atoll in the Pacific Ocean 48 nautical miles beyond Midway Atoll in the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands at 28°25′N 178°20′W. The only land of significant size is called Green Island and is habitat for hundreds of thousands of seabirds, a short, unused and unmaintained runway and a portion of one building, both from a former United States Coast Guard LORAN station, are located on the island. Politically it is part of Hawaii, although separated from the rest of the state by Midway, the International Date Line lies approximately 100 miles to the west. Surprisingly, although located to the west of Midway Atoll, Kure Atoll has a timezone +1 hour ahead at UTC-10,00, Kure is the northern-most coral atoll in the world. It consists of a 6-mile wide nearly circular barrier reef surrounding a shallow lagoon, there is a total land area of 213.097 acres, with Green Island on the southeast side having 191.964 acres of this total. A growing number of Hawaiian monk seals haul out on its beaches, data chart below has been taken from Midway Atoll due to a lack of any weather stations present on Kure Atoll. Kure Atoll features a tropical climate with very pleasant year-round temperatures. Rainfall is evenly distributed throughout the year, with two months being able to be classified as dry season months. Barring unforeseen evolution, it will begin to join the other volcanic and reef-topped remnants of the Hawaiian-Emperor Chain to the northwest. In the Hawaiian language the term Mokupāpapa was used for any flat island with reefs, the northwestern islands are associated with Kāne Milohai in Hawaiian mythology. The brother of Pele was left to guard for travelers. Before the mid-19th century, Kure Atoll was visited by several ships, sometimes spelled Cure, its English name was for a Russian navigator who sighted the atoll. It was officially named Kure Island in 1924 and then Kure Atoll in 1987, many crews were stranded on Kure Atoll after being shipwrecked on the surrounding reefs and had to survive on the local seals, turtles, and birds. The shipwrecks remain on the reef today, including the USS Saginaw, because of these incidents, King Kalākaua sent Colonel J. H. Boyd to Kure as his Special Commissioner. On September 20,1886, he took possession of the island for the Hawaiian government, the King ordered that a crude house be built on the island, with tanks for holding water and provisions for any other unfortunates who might be cast away there. But the provisions were stolen within a year and the house fell into ruins. Once ashore, Lt. Kikuchi and the two members of his crew refused capture and were either killed or committed suicide when an American landing party tried to capture them. Kure is located within a current which washes up debris from the Great Pacific Garbage Patch, such as fishing nets and large numbers of cigarette lighters
28.
Midway Atoll
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Midway Atoll is a 2. 4-square-mile atoll in the North Pacific Ocean at 28°12′N 177°21′W. As its name suggests, Midway is roughly equidistant between North America and Asia, Midway Atoll is an unorganized, unincorporated territory of the United States. Midway continues to be the island in the Hawaiian archipelago that is not part of the state of Hawaii. Unlike the other Hawaiian islands, Midway observes Samoa Time, which is one hour behind the time in the state of Hawaii, for statistical purposes, Midway is grouped as one of the United States Minor Outlying Islands. The Midway Atoll National Wildlife Refuge, encompassing 590,991.50 acres of land and water in the area, is administered by the United States Fish. The refuge and most of its area are part of the larger Papahānaumokuākea Marine National Monument. Until 1993, the atoll was the home of the Naval Air Facility Midway, the Battle of Midway, which was fought between June 4 and 6,1942, was one of the most important battles of the Pacific campaign of World War II. The United States Navy defeated a Japanese battle group marking a point in the war in the Pacific Theater. USAAF aircraft based at the original Henderson Field on Eastern Island joined the attack against the Japanese fleet, approximately 40 to 60 people live on the atoll, which includes staff of the US Fish and Wildlife Service and contract workers. At present, visitation to the atoll is only for business reasons as the tourism program has been suspended due to budget cutbacks. In 2012, the last year that the program was in operation,332 people made the trip to Midway. Tours focused on both the ecology of Midway as well as its military history. The economy is derived solely from governmental sources and tourist fees, nearly all supplies must be brought to the island by ship or plane, though a hydroponic greenhouse and garden supply some fresh fruits and vegetables. As its name suggests, Midway is roughly equidistant between North America and Asia, and lies almost halfway around the world longitudinally from Greenwich and it is near the northwestern end of the Hawaiian archipelago, about one-third of the way from Honolulu, Hawaii, to Tokyo, Japan. Midway Atoll is less than 140 nautical miles east of the International Date Line, about 2,800 nautical miles west of San Francisco, and 2,200 nautical miles east of Tokyo. Midway Atoll is part of a chain of islands, atolls. It consists of a barrier reef and several sand islets. The two significant pieces of land, Sand Island and Eastern Island, provide a habitat for millions of seabirds
29.
Pearl and Hermes Atoll
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The Pearl and Hermes Atoll, is part of the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands. It is named after two English whaleships, the Pearl and the Hermes, that there in 1822. In 1927, Captain William Greig Anderson was fishing for tuna and in the process and this opened up the first commercial activity within the atoll, but the pearl trade lasted for only a few years. The Hawaiian government later prohibited commercial activity and declared the area to be a bird sanctuary, in June 2006, George W. Bush declared the atoll and all other parts of the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands the Papahānaumokuākea Marine National Monument. As the 3rd northernmost atoll, behind Midway and Kure, approximately 2,090 km northwest of Honolulu and 140 km east-southeast of Midway Atoll. The Pearl and Hermes Atoll is a large, low atoll with several small islets devoid of life, apart for some species, forming about 80 acres of land. The fringing reef is roughly 69 km in circumference and open to the west, the Pearl and Hermes atoll features adheres to the timezone of UTC-10,00. Data chart below has been taken from Midway Atoll due to a lack of any weather stations present on Pearl, despite being located at 27°48N which is above the Tropic of Cancer, Pearl and Hermes Atoll features a tropical savanna climate with very pleasant year-round temperatures. Rainfall is evenly distributed throughout the year, with two months being able to be classified as dry season months. Furthermore, the Pearl and Hermes support a population of endangered monk seals. Derelict fishing gear and other types of debris are, however, having a major impact on the reefs. Over the past three years, efforts have been undertaken to lessen the threat of this growing problem
30.
Republic of Hawaii
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The Territory of Hawaii was formally established as part of the U. S. on June 14,1900. The Kingdom of Hawaii was overthrown in 1893 in a revolt against a Queen who rejected the constitution then in effect. American officials immediately recognized the new government and U. S, marines landed to protect American citizens during the upheaval. The Queens supporters charged their presence frightened the Queen and thus enabled the revolution, in 1887, members of the Reform Party of Hawaii forced the King to accept a new constitution limiting the monarchs constitutional power as defined by the Constitution of 1864. The Constitution of 1887, also called the Bayonet Constitution for the used to secure the kings approval, was enacted without legislative approval. In 1893 a coup détat against the monarch was carried out by more than 1,000 armed local men who were led by sugar planters. There was no bloodshed as the armed force did not resist. A temporary Provisional Government of Hawaii was formed by the Committee of Safety, the leaders of the coup, who had strong economic ties with the United States wanted to join the United States, in part to avoid import taxes. Annexation was delayed by two petitions with over 20,000 signatures representing over half of the Native Hawaiian population, the Queen herself took up residence in Washington to lobby for her restoration. President Grover Cleveland, a Democrat opposed to American expansion, sent an investigator who wrote the Blount Report, the report concluded that Minister Stevens had manipulated and orchestrated the revolt. Cleveland decided that the United States should restore the Queen, he asked for Doles resignation, however, the U. S. Senate held hearings regarding the Morgan Report, undermining the Blount Reports claims. Public opinion in the United States favored annexation, in May 1894 the U. S. President Cleveland thereupon dropped the issue, leaving the Republic of Hawaii to fend for itself. The Provisional Government convened a convention and established the Republic of Hawaiʻi on July 4,1894. The president of Hawaii was the head of state and head of government. The constitution provided that the term of office would be six years. The President had the authority to legislation, which could be overridden by two-thirds majority in both houses of the legislature, and he was also commander-in-chief of the military. The President appointed, subject to the confirmation of the Senate, Cabinet members were considered usurers of both houses of the Legislature, they could participate in proceedings, but could not vote as they were not elected members of the Legislature. If the presidency became vacant, the Minister of Foreign Affairs could serve as Acting President until the Legislature voted to elect a successor, article 23 of the 1894 Constitution specifically named Sanford B. Dole as the republics first President
31.
Territories of the United States
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Territories of the United States are sub-national administrative divisions directly overseen by the United States federal government. These territories are classified by whether they are incorporated and whether they have a government through an Organic Act passed by the U. S. Congress. Currently, the United States has sixteen territories, five of which are inhabited, Puerto Rico, Guam, Northern Mariana Islands, the U. S. Virgin Islands. They are classified as unincorporated territories and they are organized, self-governing territories with locally elected governors and territorial legislatures. Each also elects a member to the U. S. House of Representatives. Eleven territories are small islands, atolls and reefs, spread across the Caribbean and Pacific, the status of some are disputed by Colombia, Haiti, Honduras, Jamaica, Nicaragua, and the Marshall Islands. The Palmyra Atoll is the territory currently incorporated. Historically, territories were created to govern newly acquired land while the borders of the United States were still evolving, other territories administered by the United States went on to become independent countries, such as the Philippines, Micronesia, Marshall Islands and Palau. Many organized incorporated territories of the United States existed from 1789 to 1959, currently, the United States has sixteen territories, five of which are permanently inhabited, Puerto Rico, Guam, Northern Mariana Islands, United States Virgin Islands and American Samoa. The 11 uninhabited territories administered by the Interior Department are Palmyra Atoll, Baker Island, Howland Island, Jarvis Island, Johnston Atoll, Kingman Reef, while claimed by the US, Navassa Island, Wake Island, Serranilla Bank and Bajo Nuevo Bank are disputed. Territories have always been a part of the United States, by Act of Congress, the term United States, when used in a geographical sense, means the continental United States, Alaska, Hawaii, Puerto Rico, Guam, and the Virgin Islands of the United States. Since political union with the Northern Mariana Islands in 1986, they too are treated as a part of the U. S, an Executive Order in 2007 includes American Samoa as U. S. geographical extent duly reflected in U. S. State Department documents. Approximately 4 million islanders are U. S. citizens, about 32,000 U. S. non-citizen nationals live in American Samoa, under current law among the territories, only persons born in American Samoa and Swains Island are non-citizen U. S. nationals. American Samoans are under the protection of the U. S. with freedom of U. S. travel without visas. The five inhabited U. S. territories have local voting rights and protections under U. S. courts, pay some U. S. taxes, depending on the congress, they may also vote on the floor in the House Committee of the Whole. S. Every four years, the Democratic and Republican political parties nominate their candidates at conventions which include delegates from the five major territories. The citizens there, however, do not vote in the election for U. S. President. S. Incorporated territories are considered a part of the United States
32.
Operation K
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It culminated on 4 March 1942, with an unsuccessful attack carried out by two Kawanishi H8K Emily flying boats. This was the longest distance ever undertaken by a bombing mission. Plans to bomb California and Texas were being discussed, when the need for updated information regarding the repairs to US Navy facilities at Pearl Harbor took precedence. An assessment of the repairs to the docks, yards and airfields of Oahu would help the IJN staff to determine American ability to power for months to come. Initial plans called for the use of five H8K aircraft and they would fly to French Frigate Shoals, the largest atoll in the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands, to be refueled by submarines prior to taking off for Oahu. If the first raid was successful, additional raids would be made, the codebreakers had reason to correctly interpret the Japanese intent. Edwin T. Laytons staff included Lieutenant Jasper Holmes, who, writing under the pen name Alec Hudson, had a story entitled Rendezvous published in an August,1941, when time came for the raid, only two of the big flying boats were available. Pilot Lieutenant Hisao Hashizume was in command of the mission, with Ensign Shosuke Sasao flying the second airplane and they were sent to Wotje Atoll in the Marshall Islands, where each airplane was loaded with four 250-kilogram bombs. From there, they flew 3,100 kilometers to French Frigate Shoals to refuel, then set off for Oahu,900 kilometers distant. In addition to their mission, they were to bomb the Ten-Ten dock – named for its length,1,010 feet – at the Pearl Harbor naval base to disrupt salvage. However, errors ensued on both sides, the Japanese submarine I-23 was supposed to station itself just south of Oahu as a lifeguard and weather spotter for the flying boats, but was lost sometime after 14 February. Japanese cryptanalysts had broken the United States Navy weather code, but a change on 1 March eliminated that alternative source of weather information over Pearl Harbor. The mission proceeded on the assumption of clear skies over Pearl Harbor from knowledge of conditions at French Frigate Shoals, American radar stations on Kauai picked up and tracked the two planes as they approached the main Hawaiian Islands, prompting a search by Curtiss P-40 Warhawk fighters. Consolidated PBY Catalina flying boats were sent to seek Japanese aircraft carriers. However, a layer of nimbus clouds over Pearl Harbor prevented the defenders from spotting the Japanese planes flying at an altitude of 4,600 meters. Those same clouds also confused the IJN pilots, using the Kaena Point lighthouse for a position fix, Hashizume decided to attack from the north. Sasao, however, did not hear Hashizumes order and instead turned to skirt the southern coast of Oahu and he was unable to see Pearl Harbor, the only lit facility on Oahu due to blackout conditions intended to hinder air raids. Hashizumes bombs landed about 300 meters from Roosevelt High School, creating craters 2–3 meters deep, damage was limited to shattered windows
33.
Chester W. Nimitz
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Chester William Nimitz was a fleet admiral of the United States Navy. Nimitz was the leading U. S. Navy authority on submarines. S, the chief of the Navys Bureau of Navigation in 1939, Nimitz served as Chief of Naval Operations from 1945 until 1947. He was the United States last surviving officer who served in the rank of fleet admiral and his frail, rheumatic father had died six months earlier, on August 14,1884. The best way to get along with either is to all you can, then do your best. His grandfather became a Texas Ranger in the Texas Mounted Volunteers in 1851 and he then served as captain of the Gillespie Rifles Company in the Confederate States Army during the Civil War. Originally, Nimitz applied to West Point in hopes of becoming an Army officer and his congressman, James L. Slayden, told him that he had one appointment available for the United States Naval Academy and that he would award it to the best qualified candidate. Nimitz felt that this was his opportunity for further education. He was appointed to the United States Naval Academy from Texass 12th congressional district in 1901, Nimitz joined the battleship Ohio at San Francisco, and cruised on her to the Far East. In September 1906, he was transferred to the cruiser Baltimore, on January 31,1907, remaining on Asiatic Station in 1907, he successively served on the gunboat Panay, destroyer Decatur, and cruiser Denver. The destroyer Decatur ran aground on a bar in the Philippines on July 7,1908 while under the command of Ensign Nimitz. The ship was pulled free the next day, and Nimitz was court-martialed, found guilty of neglect of duty, and issued a letter of reprimand. Nimitz returned to the United States on board USS Ranger when that vessel was converted to a school ship, in May of that year, he was given command of the flotilla, with additional duty in command of USS Plunger, later renamed A-1. He commanded USS Snapper when that submarine was commissioned on February 2,1910, in the latter command, he had additional duty from October 10,1911 as Commander 3rd Submarine Division Atlantic Torpedo Fleet. On the monitor Tonopah on March 20,1912, he rescued Fireman Second Class W. J. Walsh from drowning, receiving a Silver Lifesaving Medal for his action. In the summer of 1913, Nimitz studied engines at the diesel engine plants in Nuremberg, Germany, returning to the New York Navy Yard, he became executive and engineer officer of Maumee at her commissioning on October 23,1916. Under his supervision, Maumee conducted the first-ever underway refuelings, on August 10,1917, Nimitz became aide to Rear Admiral Samuel S. Robison, Commander, Submarine Force, U. S. On February 6,1918, Nimitz was appointed chief of staff and was awarded a Letter of Commendation for meritorious service as COMSUBLANTs chief of staff. On September 16, he reported to the Office of the Chief of Naval Operations, from May 1919 to June 1920, he served as executive officer of the battleship South Carolina
34.
Battle of Midway
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The Battle of Midway was a decisive naval battle in the Pacific Theater of World War II. Military historian John Keegan called it the most stunning and decisive blow in the history of naval warfare, the Japanese hoped another demoralizing defeat would force the U. S. to capitulate in the Pacific War and thus ensure Japanese dominance in the Pacific. Luring the American aircraft carriers into a trap and occupying Midway was part of an overall strategy to extend Japans defensive perimeter. This operation was also considered preparatory for further attacks against Fiji, Samoa, the plan was handicapped by faulty Japanese assumptions of the American reaction and poor initial dispositions. Most significantly, American cryptographers were able to determine the date and location of the planned attack, the Battle of Midway, along with the Guadalcanal Campaign, is widely considered a turning point in the Pacific War. Because of this, preliminary planning for a phase of operations commenced as early as January 1942. Admiral Yamamoto finally succeeded in winning the struggle with a thinly veiled threat to resign. Yamamotos primary strategic goal was the elimination of Americas carrier forces and this, and other successful hit-and-run raids by American carriers in the South Pacific, showed that they were still a threat, although seemingly reluctant to be drawn into an all-out battle. Yamamoto reasoned that another air attack on the main U. S. Naval base at Pearl Harbor would induce all of the American fleet to sail out to fight, including the carriers. Instead, Yamamoto selected Midway, a tiny atoll at the extreme northwest end of the Hawaiian Island chain and this meant that Midway was outside the effective range of almost all of the American aircraft stationed on the main Hawaiian islands. In addition to serving as a base, Midways airstrips also served as a forward staging point for bomber attacks on Wake Island. Typical of Japanese naval planning during World War II, Yamamotos battle plan for taking Midway was exceedingly complex and it required the careful and timely coordination of multiple battle groups over hundreds of miles of open sea. His design was predicated on optimistic intelligence suggesting that USS Enterprise and USS Hornet. During the Battle of the Coral Sea one month earlier, USS Lexington had been sunk, however, following hasty repairs at Pearl Harbor, Yorktown sortied and would go on to play a critical role in the discovery and eventual destruction of the Japanese fleet carriers at Midway. Yamamoto felt deception would be required to lure the U. S. fleet into a compromised situation. To this end, he dispersed his forces so that their full extent would be concealed from the Americans prior to battle, critically, Yamamotos supporting battleships and cruisers trailed Vice Admiral Chūichi Nagumos carrier force by several hundred miles. What Yamamoto did not know was that the U. S. had broken the main Japanese naval code and his emphasis on dispersal also meant none of his formations were in a position to support each other. By contrast, Yamamoto and Kondo had between two light carriers, five battleships, four heavy cruisers, and two light cruisers, none of which would see action at Midway
35.
Naval air station
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A naval air station is a military air base, and consists of a permanent land-based operations locations for the military aviation division of the relevant branch of a navy. These bases are typically populated by squadrons, groups or wings, their various support commands, the term Naval Air Station is used by many countries navies, such as the United States Navy, the Royal Australian Navy, the British Royal Navy, and the Indian Navy. In the case of the U. S. Navy, similar facilities in the U. S. Marine Corps are known as Marine Corps Air Stations, runways also serve domestic airlines at almost all Argentine military airbases. The Navy operates Estacion Aeronaval which have smaller crews and are not normally assigned aircraft and these include Ezeiza, Rio Gallegos and Ushuaia. The Argentine Naval Prefecture, serving as a Coast Guard, also operates air stations at Posadas, Buenos Aires, Mar del Plata, Aircraft operating out of these bases are heavily involved in sea rescues. In Australia, there is one Naval Air Station, NAS Nowra, HMAS Albatross, in 2016, the French Navy has four naval air stations, all located in metropolitan territory. The United Kingdom has two Royal Naval Air Stations, RNAS Yeovilton and RNAS Culdrose, until 2006, the former served as the main operating base for the Royal Navys Sea Harriers, which were based upon the three Invincible class aircraft carriers. However, upon the withdrawal of the BAe Sea Harrier in that year and it is believed that all of their successors will be based at RAF Lossiemouth. The site also contains the Royal Naval Air Museum, that showcases a variety of aircraft from the Royal Naval Air Service until the present day, RNAS Yeovilton also has RNAS Merryfield as its training and satellite station. RNAS Culdrose serves a variety of helicopter and fixed-wing squadrons, such as the Sea King, among the features at RNAS Culdrose is the Dummy deck which is used to train pilots to land on ships, the Merlin training facility, and the Fleet Requirements Air Direction Unit. Its satellite airfield is RNAS Predannack, in the United States, a Naval Air Station is an air base of the United States Navy. When located in countries, they are often identified as US Naval Air Stations. A slightly lower level of air base in the U. S. Navy is the Naval Air Facility and these facilities normally support smaller numbers of naval aircraft. Permanently based naval aircraft are usually minimal, with the focus being on supporting naval aircraft deployed from other installations. There are also a number of former Naval Air Stations that have been realiged as part of larger Naval Stations or redesignated to other functions in the Navy. This includes the former NAS Norfolk, Virginia, the former NAF Mayport, Florida, the former NAS Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, and the former NAS Lakehurst, New Jersey. In the case of NAS Memphis, Tennessee, the airfield and flight line was turned over to civilian authorities. The first naval air station in the United States was located at Greenbury Point, at the mouth of the Severn River near Annapolis, Maryland
36.
Seawall
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A seawall is a form of coastal defense constructed where the sea, and associated coastal processes, impact directly upon the landforms of the coast. The purpose of a sea wall is to protect areas of habitation, conservation and leisure activities from the action of tides, waves. As a seawall is a feature it will conflict with the dynamic nature of the coast. The coast is generally a high-energy, dynamic environment with spatial variations over a range of timescales. The coast is exposed to erosion by rivers and winds as well as the sea, because of these persistent natural forces, sea walls need to be maintained to maintain their effectiveness. Sea walls are hard engineering shore-based structures which protect the coast from erosion, but various environmental problems and issues may arise from the construction of a sea wall, including disrupting sediment movement and transport patterns. Combined with a construction cost, this has led to an increasing use of other soft engineering coastal management options such as beach replenishment. Sea walls may be constructed from various materials, most commonly reinforced concrete, boulders, steel, other possible construction materials are, vinyl, wood, aluminium, fibreglass composite, and large biodegrable sandbags made of jute and coir. In the UK, sea wall also refers to a bank used to create a polder. A seawall works by reflecting incident wave energy back into the sea, sea walls have two specific weaknesses. First, wave reflection from the wall may result in scour, second, sea walls may accelerate erosion of adjacent, unprotected coastal areas because they affect the littoral drift process. Different designs of man-made tsunami barriers include building reefs and forests to above-ground, in 2005, India began planting Casuarina and coconut saplings on its coast as a natural barrier against future tsunamis like the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake. Studies have found that a tsunami wall could reduce tsunami wave heights by up to 83%. The design and type of sea wall that is appropriate depends on aspects specific to the location, a Japanese study of this tsunami in Sri Lanka used satellite imagery modelling to establish the parameters of coastal resistance as a function of different types of trees. Natural barriers, such as reefs and mangrove forests, prevent the spread of tsunamis. A cost benefit approach is a way to determine whether a seawall is appropriate. Besides controlling erosion, consideration must be given to the effects of hardening a shoreline on natural coastal ecosystems, a seawall is a static feature which can conflict with the dynamic nature of the coast and impede the exchange of sediment between land and sea. The table below summarises some positive and negative effects of seawalls which can be used when comparing their effectiveness with other coastal management options, such as beach nourishment
37.
LORAN
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LORAN, short for long range navigation, was a hyperbolic radio navigation system developed in the United States during World War II. It was similar to the UKs Gee system but operated at frequencies in order to provide improved range up to 1,500 miles with accuracy of tens of miles. It was first used for ship convoys crossing the Atlantic Ocean, and then by long-range patrol aircraft, LORAN, in its original form, was an expensive system to implement, requiring a cathode ray tube display. This limited use to the military and large commercial users, use was never widespread, and by the time new receivers were available in the 1950s, the same improved electronics led to new systems with higher accuracy. The US Navy began development of Loran-B, which offered accuracy on the order of a few tens of feet, the US Air Force had worked on a different concept, known as Cyclan, which the Navy took over as Loran-C. Loran-C offered longer range than LORAN and accuracy of hundreds of feet, the US Coast Guard took over operations of both systems in 1958. In spite of the improved performance of Loran-C, LORAN, now known as Loran-A. This was due largely to the numbers of surplus Loran-A units released from the Navy as ships. The widespread introduction of inexpensive microelectronics during the 1980s caused Loran-C receivers to drop in price dramatically, Loran-A was dismantled starting in the 1970s, it remained active in North America until 1980 and the rest of the world until 1985. A Japanese chain remained on the air until 9 May 1997, at a 1 October 1940 meeting of the US Army Signal Corps Technical Committee, Alfred Loomis, chair of the Microwave Committee, proposed building a hyperbolic navigation system. He predicted that such a system could provide an accuracy of at least 1,000 feet at a range of 200 miles, and this led to the Precision Navigational Equipment for Guiding Airplanes specification, which was sent back to the Microwave Committee and formed up as Project 3. Orders for initial systems were sent out at a meeting on 20 December 1940. Project 3 moved to the newly formed Radiation Laboratorys Navigation Group in 1941, early systems operated around 30 MHz, but it was later decided to try experiments with different equipment that could be tuned from 3 to 8 MHz. These lower frequency systems were found to be more stable electronically. After first considering setting up transmitters on mountain peaks, the team settled on two abandoned Coast Guard stations at Montauk Point, New York, and Fenwick Island, Delaware. On the receiving end, a wagon was fitted with a simple receiver and sent around the country looking for solid signals. For a production system, the team working with a system using a circular J-scope display for improved accuracy. A J-scope presents time differences not as a linear displacement across the tube, as in the more common A-scope, times differences could be represented with a longer length for a given display size, improving accuracy
38.
Tsunami
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A tsunami or tidal wave, also known as a seismic sea wave, is a series of waves in a water body caused by the displacement of a large volume of water, generally in an ocean or a large lake. Unlike normal ocean waves which are generated by wind, or tides which are generated by the pull of the Moon and Sun. Tsunami waves do not resemble normal undersea currents or sea waves, Tsunamis generally consist of a series of waves with periods ranging from minutes to hours, arriving in a so-called internal wave train. Wave heights of tens of metres can be generated by large events, numerous terms are used in the English language to describe waves created in a body of water by the displacement of water, however, none of the terms in frequent use are entirely accurate. The term tsunami, meaning harbour wave in literal translation, comes from the Japanese 津波, while not entirely accurate, as tsunami are not restricted to harbours, tsunami is currently the term most widely accepted by geologists and oceanographers. Tsunami are sometimes referred to as tidal waves and this once-popular term derives from the most common appearance of tsunami, which is that of an extraordinarily high tidal bore. Although the meanings of tidal include resembling or having the form or character of the tides, use of the tidal wave is discouraged by geologists. The term seismic sea wave also is used to refer to the phenomenon, prior to the rise of the use of the term tsunami in English-speaking countries, scientists generally encouraged the use of the term seismic sea wave rather than tidal wave. The Sumatran region is not unused to tsunamis either, with earthquakes of varying magnitudes regularly occurring off the coast of the island, Tsunamis are an often underestimated hazard in the Mediterranean Sea and parts of Europe. The tsunami claimed more than 123,000 lives in Sicily, the Storegga Slide in the Norwegian sea and some examples of tsunamis affecting the British Isles refer to landslide and meteotsunamis predominantly and less to earthquake-induced waves. The cause, in my opinion, of this phenomenon must be sought in the earthquake, at the point where its shock has been the most violent the sea is driven back, and suddenly recoiling with redoubled force, causes the inundation. Without an earthquake I do not see how such an accident could happen, the principal generation mechanism of a tsunami is the displacement of a substantial volume of water or perturbation of the sea. This displacement of water is attributed to either earthquakes, landslides, volcanic eruptions, glacier calvings or more rarely by meteorites. The waves formed in this way are then sustained by gravity, tides do not play any part in the generation of tsunamis. Tsunami can be generated when the sea floor abruptly deforms and vertically displaces the overlying water and they grow in height when they reach shallower water, in a wave shoaling process described below. A tsunami can occur in any state and even at low tide can still inundate coastal areas. On April 1,1946, the 8.6 Mw Aleutian Islands earthquake occurred with a maximum Mercalli intensity of VI and it generated a tsunami which inundated Hilo on the island of Hawaii with a 14-metre high surge. Between 165 and 173 were killed, the area where the earthquake occurred is where the Pacific Ocean floor is subducting under Alaska
39.
Hurricane Neki
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Hurricane Neki was the final tropical cyclone of the 2009 Pacific hurricane season. It developed on October 18 as a large disturbance from a trough south of Hawaii. Moving northwestward, it slowly organized at first due to its large size, after reaching hurricane status on October 21, Neki intensified at a much faster rate and peaked with winds of 125 mph. It later turned to the north and north-northeast and weakened due to hostile conditions, while passing through the Papahānaumokuākea Marine National Monument, Neki was downgraded to a tropical storm after the center became exposed from the deepest convection. It caused little impact in the island chain, after stalling and executing a small loop, Neki resumed its northward track and dissipated on October 27. The origins of Hurricane Neki were from a trough that persisted near the equator in the central Pacific Ocean in the middle of October 2009. A weak tropical disturbance became evident in the trough on October 15 and this created an unusually large gyre for the region. Following the formation of a circulation, it is estimated the system developed into Tropical Depression Three-C late on October 18, about 730 mi south of Ka Lae. Upon developing into a cyclone, the storm was moving west-northwestward. It was located over an area of sea surface temperatures and moderate wind shear. The convection diminished during a cycle before redeveloping the next day. Maintaining an unusually large size, the depression slowly organized, gradually separating from the trough from which it developed, on October 19, the CPHC upgraded it to Tropical Storm Neki, and shortly thereafter the storm turned toward the northwest. By the next day, the cyclone resembled the structure of a monsoon depression typically found in the western Pacific Ocean, however, the structure began to more resemble a tropical cyclone after the outermost convection diminished and the thunderstorms around the center increased. Following the development of a feature, Neki intensified into a hurricane early on October 21 about 625 mi southwest of Honolulu, Hawaii. After reaching hurricane status, Neki began rapidly intensifying as it turned northward, an anticyclone aloft provided favorable outflow, which contributed in the strengthening. Early on October 22, Neki reached its peak winds of 125 mph about 215 mi northeast of Johnston Atoll, afterward, the trough that influenced the hurricanes track also began restricting westerly outflow and increasing wind shear, which caused a steady weakening trend. It maintained major hurricane status – a Category 3 on the Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Scale – for about 24 hours, the weakening and deterioration of the storms structure became more marked on October 23 after the thunderstorms failed to persist over the center. While approaching the Papahānaumokuākea Marine National Monument, Neki weakened to tropical storm status, continued wind shear exposed the circulation from the convection, although further weakening was slow to occur
40.
Lockheed C-130 Hercules
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The Lockheed C-130 Hercules is a four-engine turboprop military transport aircraft designed and built originally by Lockheed. Capable of using unprepared runways for takeoffs and landings, the C-130 was originally designed as a troop, medevac and it is now the main tactical airlifter for many military forces worldwide. Over forty variants and versions of the Hercules, including a civilian one marketed as the Lockheed L-100, the C-130 entered service with the U. S. in the 1950s, followed by Australia and others. During its years of service, the Hercules family has participated in numerous military, the C-130 Hercules is the longest continuously produced military aircraft at over 60 years, with the updated Lockheed Martin C-130J Super Hercules currently being produced. The new transport would have a capacity of 92 passengers,72 combat troops or 64 paratroopers in a compartment that was approximately 41 feet long,9 feet high. Unlike transports derived from passenger airliners, it was to be designed from the ground-up as a transport with loading from a hinged loading ramp at the rear of the fuselage. A key feature was the introduction of the Allison T56 turboprop powerplant, as was the case on helicopters of that era, such as the UH-1 Huey, turboshafts produced much more power for their weight than piston engines. Lockheed would subsequently use the engines and technology in the Lockheed L-188 Electra. The Boeing C-97 Stratofreighter also had a ramp, which made it possible to drive vehicles onto the plane. The ramp on the Hercules was also used to airdrop cargo, the new Lockheed cargo plane design possessed a range of 1,100 nmi, takeoff capability from short and unprepared strips, and the ability to fly with one engine shut down. Fairchild, North American, Martin, and Northrop declined to participate, the remaining five companies tendered a total of ten designs, Lockheed two, Boeing one, Chase three, Douglas three, and Airlifts Inc. one. The contest was an affair between the lighter of the two Lockheed proposals and a four-turboprop Douglas design. The Lockheed design team was led by Willis Hawkins, starting with a 130-page proposal for the Lockheed L-206, both Hibbard and Johnson signed the proposal and the company won the contract for the now-designated Model 82 on 2 July 1951. The first flight of the YC-130 prototype was made on 23 August 1954 from the Lockheed plant in Burbank, the aircraft, serial number 53-3397, was the second prototype, but the first of the two to fly. The YC-130 was piloted by Stanley Beltz and Roy Wimmer on its 61-minute flight to Edwards Air Force Base, Jack Real, kelly Johnson flew chase in a Lockheed P2V Neptune. After the two prototypes were completed, production began in Marietta, Georgia, where over 2,300 C-130s have been built through 2009. The initial production model, the C-130A, was powered by Allison T56-A-9 turboprops with three-blade propellers, deliveries began in December 1956, continuing until the introduction of the C-130B model in 1959. Some A-models were equipped with skis and re-designated C-130D, four-bladed Hamilton Standard propellers replaced the Aeroproducts three-blade propellers that distinguished the earlier A-models
41.
Scleractinia
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Scleractinia, also called stony corals or hard corals, are marine animals in the phylum Cnidaria that live on the seabed and build themselves a hard skeleton. The individual animals are known as polyps and have a cylindrical body crowned by a disc with a mouth. Although some species are solitary, most are colonial, the founding polyp settles on the seabed and starts to secrete calcium carbonate to protect its soft body. Solitary corals can be as much as 25 cm across but in colonial species the polyps are only a few millimetres in diameter. These polyps reproduce by budding but remain attached to other, forming a multi-polyp colony with a common skeleton. The shape and appearance of each coral colony depends not only on the species, but also on its location, depth, many shallow-water corals contain symbiont unicellular organisms known as zooxanthellae within their tissues. These give their colour to the coral which thus may vary in hue depending on species of symbiont it contains. Stony corals are related to sea anemones, and like them are armed with stinging cells known as cnidocytes. Corals reproduce both sexually and asexually, most species release gametes into the sea where fertilisation takes place, and the planula larvae drift as part of the plankton, but a few species brood their eggs. Asexual reproduction is mostly by fragmentation, when part of a colony becomes detached, stony corals occur in all the worlds oceans. Hermatypic corals are colonial and form part of reef structures. Other corals may be solitary or colonial and do not form reefs, stony corals first appeared in the Middle Triassic, but their relationship to the tabulate and rugose corals of the Paleozoic is currently unresolved. Much of the framework of coral reefs is formed by scleractinians. Stony corals numbers are expected to decline due to the effects of global warming, scleractinian corals may be solitary or colonial. Colonies can reach considerable size, consisting of a number of individual polyps. Stony corals are members of the class Anthozoa and like other members of the group, the individual animals are known as polyps and have a cylindrical body crowned by an oral disc surrounded by a ring of tentacles. The base of the polyp secretes the stony material from which the skeleton is formed. The body wall of the consists of mesoglea sandwiched between two layers of epidermis
42.
Invertebrate
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Invertebrates are animals that neither possess nor develop a vertebral column, derived from the notochord. This includes all animals apart from the subphylum Vertebrata, familiar examples of invertebrates include insects, crabs, lobsters and their kin, snails, clams, octopuses and their kin, starfish, sea-urchins and their kin, jellyfish, and worms. The majority of species are invertebrates, one estimate puts the figure at 97%. Many invertebrate taxa have a number and variety of species than the entire subphylum of Vertebrata. Some of the invertebrates, such as the Tunicata and Cephalochordata are more closely related to the vertebrates than to other invertebrates. This makes the term invertebrate paraphyletic and hence almost meaningless for taxonomic purposes, the word invertebrate comes from the form of the Latin word vertebra, which means a joint in general, and sometimes specifically a joint from the spinal column of a vertebrate. In turn the jointed aspect of vertebra derived from the concept of turning, coupled with the prefix in-, meaning not or without. The term invertebrates is not always precise among non-biologists since it does not accurately describe a taxon in the way that Arthropoda. Each of these describes an valid taxon, phylum, subphylum or family. Invertebrata is a term of convenience, not a taxon, it has very little circumscriptional significance except within the Chordata, the Vertebrata as a subphylum comprises such a small proportion of the Metazoa that to speak of the kingdom Animalia in terms of Vertebrata and Invertebrata has limited practicality. That would at least circumscribe the Chordata, however, even the notochord would be a less fundamental criterion than aspects of embryological development and symmetry or perhaps bauplan. The following text reflects earlier scientific understanding of the term and of animals which have constituted it. According to this understanding, invertebrates do not possess a skeleton of bone and they include hugely varied body plans. Many have fluid-filled, hydrostatic skeletons, like jellyfish or worms, others have hard exoskeletons, outer shells like those of insects and crustaceans. The most familiar invertebrates include the Protozoa, Porifera, Coelenterata, Platyhelminthes, Nematoda, Annelida, Echinodermata, Mollusca, Arthropoda include insects, crustaceans and arachnids. By far the largest number of described species are insects. The following table lists the number of described extant species for major invertebrate groups as estimated in the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species,2014.3. The IUCN estimates that 66,178 extant vertebrate species have been described, the trait that is common to all invertebrates is the absence of a vertebral column, this creates a distinction between invertebrates and vertebrates
43.
Endemism
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The extreme opposite of endemism is cosmopolitan distribution. An alternative term for a species that is endemic is precinctive, the word endemic is from New Latin endēmicus, from Greek ενδήμος, endēmos, native. Endēmos is formed of en meaning in, and dēmos meaning the people, the term, precinctive, has been suggested by some scientists, and was first used in botany by MacCaughey in 1917. It is the equivalent of endemism, precinction was perhaps first used by Frank and McCoy. That definition excludes artificial confinement of examples by humans in far-off botanical gardens or zoological parks, physical, climatic, and biological factors can contribute to endemism. The orange-breasted sunbird is found in the fynbos vegetation zone of southwestern South Africa. The glacier bear is found only in limited places in Southeast Alaska, political factors can play a part if a species is protected, or actively hunted, in one jurisdiction but not another. There are two subcategories of endemism, paleoendemism and neoendemism, paleoendemism refers to species that were formerly widespread but are now restricted to a smaller area. Neoendemism refers to species that have arisen, such as through divergence and reproductive isolation or through hybridization. Endemics can easily become endangered or extinct if their restricted habitat changes, particularly—but not only—due to human actions, there were millions of both Bermuda petrels and Bermuda cedars in Bermuda when it was settled at the start of the seventeenth century. By the end of the century, the petrels were thought extinct, cedars, already ravaged by centuries of shipbuilding, were driven nearly to extinction in the twentieth century by the introduction of a parasite. Bermuda petrels and cedars are now rare, as are species endemic to Bermuda
44.
Algae
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Algae is an informal term for a large, diverse group of photosynthetic organisms which are not necessarily closely related, and is thus polyphyletic. Included organisms range from unicellular genera, such as Chlorella and the diatoms, to forms, such as the giant kelp. Most are aquatic and autotrophic and lack many of the cell and tissue types, such as stomata, xylem, and phloem. No definition of algae is generally accepted, one definition is that algae have chlorophyll as their primary photosynthetic pigment and lack a sterile covering of cells around their reproductive cells. Some authors exclude all prokaryotes thus do not consider cyanobacteria as algae, Algae constitute a polyphyletic group since they do not include a common ancestor, and although their plastids seem to have a single origin, from cyanobacteria, they were acquired in different ways. Green algae are examples of algae that have primary chloroplasts derived from endosymbiotic cyanobacteria, diatoms and brown algae are examples of algae with secondary chloroplasts derived from an endosymbiotic red alga. Algae exhibit a range of reproductive strategies, from simple asexual cell division to complex forms of sexual reproduction. Algae lack the various structures that characterize land plants, such as the phyllids of bryophytes, rhizoids in nonvascular plants, and the roots, leaves, and other organs found in tracheophytes. Most are phototrophic, although some are mixotrophic, deriving energy both from photosynthesis and uptake of organic carbon either by osmotrophy, myzotrophy, or phagotrophy. Some other heterotrophic organisms, such as the apicomplexans, are derived from cells whose ancestors possessed plastids. Fossilized filamentous algae from the Vindhya basin have been dated back to 1.6 to 1.7 billion years ago, the singular alga is the Latin word for seaweed and retains that meaning in English. Although some speculate that it is related to Latin algēre, be cold, a more likely source is alliga, binding, entwining. The Ancient Greek word for seaweed was φῦκος, which could mean either the seaweed or a red dye derived from it, the Latinization, fūcus, meant primarily the cosmetic rouge. It could be any color, black, red, green, accordingly, the modern study of marine and freshwater algae is called either phycology or algology, depending on whether the Greek or Latin root is used. The name Fucus appears in a number of taxa, most algae contain chloroplasts that are similar in structure to cyanobacteria. Chloroplasts contain circular DNA like that in cyanobacteria and presumably represent reduced endosymbiotic cyanobacteria, however, the exact origin of the chloroplasts is different among separate lineages of algae, reflecting their acquisition during different endosymbiotic events. The table below describes the composition of the three groups of algae. Their lineage relationships are shown in the figure in the upper right, many of these groups contain some members that are no longer photosynthetic
45.
Biodiversity
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Biodiversity, a contraction of biological diversity, generally refers to the variety and variability of life on Earth. One of the most widely used definitions defines it in terms of the variability within species and it is a measure of the variety of organisms present in different ecosystems. This can refer to genetic variation, ecosystem variation, or species variation within an area, biome, terrestrial biodiversity tends to be greater near the equator, which seems to be the result of the warm climate and high primary productivity. Biodiversity is not distributed evenly on Earth, and is richest in the tropics and these tropical forest ecosystems cover less than 10 per cent of earths surface, and contain about 90 percent of the worlds species. Marine biodiversity tends to be highest along coasts in the Western Pacific, there are latitudinal gradients in species diversity. Biodiversity generally tends to cluster in hotspots, and has been increasing through time, the number and variety of plants, animals and other organisms that exist is known as biodiversity. It is a component of nature and it ensures the survival of human species by providing food, fuel, shelter, medicines. The richness of biodiversity depends on the conditions and area of the region. All species of plants taken together are known as flora and about 300,000 species of plants are known to date, all species of animals taken together are known as fauna which includes birds, mammals, fish, reptiles, insects, crustaceans, molluscs, etc. Rapid environmental changes typically cause mass extinctions, more than 99 percent of all species, amounting to over five billion species, that ever lived on Earth are estimated to be extinct. Estimates on the number of Earths current species range from 10 million to 14 million, of which about 1.2 million have been documented and over 86 percent have not yet been described. More recently, in May 2016, scientists reported that 1 trillion species are estimated to be on Earth currently with only one-thousandth of one percent described, the total amount of related DNA base pairs on Earth is estimated at 5.0 x 1037 and weighs 50 billion tonnes. In comparison, the mass of the biosphere has been estimated to be as much as 4 TtC. In July 2016, scientists reported identifying a set of 355 genes from the Last Universal Common Ancestor of all living on Earth. The age of the Earth is about 4.54 billion years old, there are microbial mat fossils found in 3.48 billion-year-old sandstone discovered in Western Australia. Other early physical evidence of a substance is graphite in 3.7 billion-year-old meta-sedimentary rocks discovered in Western Greenland. More recently, in 2015, remains of life were found in 4.1 billion-year-old rocks in Western Australia. According to one of the researchers, If life arose relatively quickly on Earth, then it could be common in the universe
46.
Fish
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A fish is any member of a group of animals that consist of all gill-bearing aquatic craniate animals that lack limbs with digits. They form a group to the tunicates, together forming the olfactores. Included in this definition are the living hagfish, lampreys, and cartilaginous, tetrapods emerged within lobe-finned fishes, so cladistically they are fish as well. However, traditionally fish are rendered obsolete or paraphyletic by excluding the tetrapods, because in this manner the term fish is defined negatively as a paraphyletic group, it is not considered a formal taxonomic grouping in systematic biology. The traditional term pisces is considered a typological, but not a phylogenetic classification, the earliest organisms that can be classified as fish were soft-bodied chordates that first appeared during the Cambrian period. Although they lacked a true spine, they possessed notochords which allowed them to be more agile than their invertebrate counterparts, fish would continue to evolve through the Paleozoic era, diversifying into a wide variety of forms. Many fish of the Paleozoic developed external armor that protected them from predators, the first fish with jaws appeared in the Silurian period, after which many became formidable marine predators rather than just the prey of arthropods. Fish are abundant in most bodies of water and they can be found in nearly all aquatic environments, from high mountain streams to the abyssal and even hadal depths of the deepest oceans. With 33,100 described species, fish exhibit greater species diversity than any group of vertebrates. Fish are an important resource for humans worldwide, especially as food, commercial and subsistence fishers hunt fish in wild fisheries or farm them in ponds or in cages in the ocean. They are also caught by fishers, kept as pets, raised by fishkeepers. Fish have had a role in culture through the ages, serving as deities, religious symbols, fish do not represent a monophyletic group, and therefore the evolution of fish is not studied as a single event. Early fish from the record are represented by a group of small, jawless. Jawless fish lineages are mostly extinct, an extant clade, the lampreys may approximate ancient pre-jawed fish. The first jaws are found in Placodermi fossils, the diversity of jawed vertebrates may indicate the evolutionary advantage of a jawed mouth. It is unclear if the advantage of a hinged jaw is greater biting force, improved respiration, fish may have evolved from a creature similar to a coral-like sea squirt, whose larvae resemble primitive fish in important ways. The first ancestors of fish may have kept the form into adulthood. Fish are a group, that is, any clade containing all fish also contains the tetrapods
47.
Genicanthus personatus
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Genicanthus personatus is a species of marine angelfishes in the genus, Genicanthus. It is known as the masked angelfish and this species is marine, found around the Hawaiian Islands and is associated with coral reefs. It is found at a range of 23m - 174m
