1.
Tamil Nadu
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Tamil Nadu is one of the 29 states of India. Its capital and largest city is Chennai, Tamil Nadu lies in the southernmost part of the Indian Peninsula and is bordered by the union territory of Puducherry and the South Indian states of Kerala, Karnataka, and Andhra Pradesh. The state shares a border with the nation of Sri Lanka. Tamil Nadu is the eleventh-largest state in India by area and the sixth-most populous, the state was ranked sixth among states in India according to the Human Development Index in 2011, with the second-largest state economy after Maharashtra. Tamil Nadu is the second largest state economy in India with ₹13,842 billion in gross domestic product after Maharashtra. Tamil Nadu was ranked as one of the top seven developed states in India based on a Multidimensional Development Index in a 2013 report published by the Reserve Bank of India and its official language is Tamil, which is one of the longest-surviving classical languages in the world. Tamil Nadu is home to natural resources. In addition, its people have developed and continue classical arts, classical music, historic buildings and religious sites include Hindu temples of Tamil architecture, hill stations, beach resorts, multi-religious pilgrimage sites, and eight UNESCO World Heritage Sites. Archaeological evidence points to this area being one of the longest continuous habitations in the Indian peninsula, the ASI archaeologists have proposed that the script used at that site is very rudimentary Tamil Brahmi. Adichanallur has been announced as a site for further excavation. About 60 per cent of the epigraphical inscriptions found by the ASI in India are from Tamil Nadu. A Neolithic stone celt with the Indus script on it was discovered at Sembian-Kandiyur near Mayiladuthurai in Tamil Nadu, according to epigraphist Iravatham Mahadevan, this was the first datable artefact bearing the Indus script to be found in Tamil Nadu. Mahadevan claimed that the find was evidence of the use of the Harappan language, the date of the celt was estimated at between 1500 BCE and 2000 BCE. The early history of the people and rulers of Tamil Nadu is a topic in Tamil literary sources known as Sangam literature, numismatic, archaeological and literary sources corroborate that the Sangam period lasted for about six centuries, from 300 BC to AD300. Three dynasties, namely the Chera, Chola and Pandya, ruled the area of present-day Tamil Nadu, the Chera ruled the whole of present-day Kerala and parts of western Tamil Nadu comprising Coimbatore, Dharmapuri, Karur, Salem and Erode districts from the capital of Vanchi Muthur. The Chola dynasty ruled the northern and central parts of Tamil Nadu from their capital, Uraiyur, All three dynasties had extensive trade relationships with Rome, Greece, Egypt, Ceylon, Phoenicia, Arabia, Mesopotamia and Persia. Trade flourished in commodities such as spices, ivory, pearls, beads, Chera traded extensively from Muziris on the west coast, Chola from Arikamedu and Puhar and Pandya through Korkai port. A Greco-Roman trade and travel document, the Periplus of the Erythraean Sea gives a description of the Tamil country, besides these three dynasties, the Sangam era Tamilakam was also divided into various provinces named nadu, meaning country
2.
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
3.
Drainage basin
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A drainage basin or catchment area is any area of land where precipitation collects and drains off into a common outlet, such as into a river, bay, or other body of water. Drainage basins connect into other drainage basins at elevations in a hierarchical pattern, with smaller sub-drainage basins. Other terms used to describe drainage basins are catchment, catchment basin, drainage area, river basin and water basin. In closed drainage basins the water converges to a point inside the basin, known as a sink, which may be a permanent lake. The drainage basin acts as a funnel by collecting all the water within the covered by the basin. Each drainage basin is separated topographically from adjacent basins by a perimeter, drainage basins are similar but not identical to hydrologic units, which are drainage areas delineated so as to nest into a multi-level hierarchical drainage system. Hydrologic units are defined to allow multiple inlets, outlets, or sinks, in a strict sense, all drainage basins are hydrologic units but not all hydrologic units are drainage basins. Drainage basins of the oceans and seas of the world. Grey areas are endorheic basins that do not drain to the oceans, the following is a list of the major ocean basins, About 48. 7% of the worlds land drains to the Atlantic Ocean. The two major mediterranean seas of the world also flow to the Atlantic, The Caribbean Sea and Gulf of Mexico basin includes most of the U. S. The Mediterranean Sea basin includes much of North Africa, east-central Africa, Southern, Central, and Eastern Europe, Turkey, and the areas of Israel, Lebanon. Just over 13% of the land in the world drains to the Pacific Ocean, the Indian Oceans drainage basin also comprises about 13% of Earths land. It drains the eastern coast of Africa, the coasts of the Red Sea and the Persian Gulf, the Indian subcontinent, Burma, antarctica comprises approximately eight percent of the Earths land. The five largest river basins, from largest to smallest, are the basins of the Amazon, the Río de la Plata, the Congo, the Nile, and the Mississippi. The three rivers that drain the most water, from most to least, are the Amazon, Ganga, endorheic drainage basins are inland basins that do not drain to an ocean. Around 18% of all land drains to endorheic lakes or seas or sinks, the largest of these consists of much of the interior of Asia, which drains into the Caspian Sea, the Aral Sea, and numerous smaller lakes. Some of these, such as the Great Basin, are not single drainage basins but collections of separate, in endorheic bodies of standing water where evaporation is the primary means of water loss, the water is typically more saline than the oceans. An extreme example of this is the Dead Sea, drainage basins have been historically important for determining territorial boundaries, particularly in regions where trade by water has been important
4.
India
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India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and it is bounded by the Indian Ocean on the south, the Arabian Sea on the southwest, and the Bay of Bengal on the southeast. It shares land borders with Pakistan to the west, China, Nepal, and Bhutan to the northeast, in the Indian Ocean, India is in the vicinity of Sri Lanka and the Maldives. Indias Andaman and Nicobar Islands share a border with Thailand. The Indian subcontinent was home to the urban Indus Valley Civilisation of the 3rd millennium BCE, in the following millennium, the oldest scriptures associated with Hinduism began to be composed. Social stratification, based on caste, emerged in the first millennium BCE, early political consolidations took place under the Maurya and Gupta empires, the later peninsular Middle Kingdoms influenced cultures as far as southeast Asia. In the medieval era, Judaism, Zoroastrianism, Christianity, and Islam arrived, much of the north fell to the Delhi sultanate, the south was united under the Vijayanagara Empire. The economy expanded in the 17th century in the Mughal empire, in the mid-18th century, the subcontinent came under British East India Company rule, and in the mid-19th under British crown rule. A nationalist movement emerged in the late 19th century, which later, under Mahatma Gandhi, was noted for nonviolent resistance, in 2015, the Indian economy was the worlds seventh largest by nominal GDP and third largest by purchasing power parity. Following market-based economic reforms in 1991, India became one of the major economies and is considered a newly industrialised country. However, it continues to face the challenges of poverty, corruption, malnutrition, a nuclear weapons state and regional power, it has the third largest standing army in the world and ranks sixth in military expenditure among nations. India is a constitutional republic governed under a parliamentary system. It is a pluralistic, multilingual and multi-ethnic society and is home to a diversity of wildlife in a variety of protected habitats. The name India is derived from Indus, which originates from the Old Persian word Hindu, the latter term stems from the Sanskrit word Sindhu, which was the historical local appellation for the Indus River. The ancient Greeks referred to the Indians as Indoi, which translates as The people of the Indus, the geographical term Bharat, which is recognised by the Constitution of India as an official name for the country, is used by many Indian languages in its variations. Scholars believe it to be named after the Vedic tribe of Bharatas in the second millennium B. C. E and it is also traditionally associated with the rule of the legendary emperor Bharata. Gaṇarājya is the Sanskrit/Hindi term for republic dating back to the ancient times, hindustan is a Persian name for India dating back to the 3rd century B. C. E. It was introduced into India by the Mughals and widely used since then and its meaning varied, referring to a region that encompassed northern India and Pakistan or India in its entirety
5.
Sri Lanka
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Sri Lanka, officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, is an island country in South Asia near south-east India. Sri Lanka has maritime borders with India to the northwest and the Maldives to the southwest, Sri Lankas documented history spans 3,000 years, with evidence of pre-historic human settlements dating back to at least 125,000 years. Its geographic location and deep harbours made it of strategic importance from the time of the ancient Silk Road through to World War II. Sri Lanka was known from the beginning of British colonial rule until 1972 as Ceylon, Sri Lankas recent history has been marred by a thirty-year civil war which decisively ended when the Sri Lankan military defeated the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam in 2009. A diverse and multicultural country, Sri Lanka is home to many religions, ethnic groups, in addition to the majority Sinhalese, it is home to large groups of Sri Lankan and Indian Tamils, Moors, Burghers, Malays, Kaffirs and the aboriginal Vedda. Sri Lanka has a rich Buddhist heritage, and the first known Buddhist writings of Sri Lanka, Sri Lanka is a republic and a unitary state governed by a semi-presidential system. The legislative capital, Sri Jayawardenepura Kotte, is a suburb of the capital and largest city. Along with the Maldives, Sri Lanka is one of the two countries in South Asia that are rated among high human development on the Human Development Index. In antiquity, Sri Lanka was known to travellers by a variety of names, according to the Mahavamsa, the legendary Prince Vijaya named the land Tambapanni, because his followers hands were reddened by the red soil of the area. In Hindu mythology, such as the Mahabharata, the island was referred to as Lankā, in Tamil, the island is referred to as Eelam. Ancient Greek geographers called it Taprobanā or Taprobanē from the word Tambapanni, as a British crown colony, the island was known as Ceylon, it achieved independence as the Dominion of Ceylon in 1948. The country is known in Sinhalese as Śrī Laṃkā and in Tamil as Ilaṅkai, in 1972, its formal name was changed to Free, Sovereign and Independent Republic of Sri Lanka. Later in 1978 it was changed to the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, as the name Ceylon still appears in the names of a number of organisations, the Sri Lankan government announced in 2011 a plan to rename all those over which it has authority. The pre-history of Sri Lanka goes back 125,000 years, the era spans the Palaeolithic, Mesolithic and early Iron Ages. Among the Paleolithic human settlements discovered in Sri Lanka, Pahiyangala and it is said that Kubera was overthrown by his demon stepbrother Ravana, the powerful emperor who built a mythical flying machine named Dandu Monara. The modern city of Wariyapola is described as Ravanas airport, early inhabitants of Sri Lanka were probably ancestors of the Vedda people, an indigenous people numbering approximately 2,500 living in modern-day Sri Lanka. According to the Mahāvamsa, a written in Pāḷi, the original inhabitants of Sri Lanka are the Yakshas and Nagas. Ancient cemeteries that were used before 600BC and other signs of advanced civilization has also discovered in Sri Lanka
6.
Laccadive Sea
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The Laccadive Sea or Lakshadweep Sea is a body of water bordering India, the Maldives, and Sri Lanka. It is located to the west of Kerala and this warm sea has a stable water temperature through the year and is rich in marine life, with the Gulf of Mannar alone hosting about 3,600 species. Trivandrum, Kochi, Colombo, Quilon and Malé are the cities on the shore of the Laccadive Sea. The International Hydrographic Organization defines the limits of the Laccadive Sea as follows, a line running from Dondra Head in Ceylon to the most Southerly point of Addu Atoll. The West coasts of Ceylon and India, water temperature is rather constant through the year, averaging 26–28 °С in summer and 25 °С in winter. Salinity is 34‰ in the center and northern part and up to 35. 5‰ in the south, the coasts are sandy but the deeper parts are covered in silt. There are numerous coral reefs in the sea, such as the Lakshadweep islands which are made up of atolls, the Gulf of Mannar is known for its pearl banks of Pinctada radiata and Pinctada fucata for at least two thousand years. Pliny the Elder praised the pearl fishery of the gulf as most productive in the world, although extraction of natural pearls is considered too expensive in most parts of the world, it is still conducted in the gulf. Also collected in numbers are Shankha mollusks whose shells are used as a ritual. Other mollusks of the sea are either too scarce or not popular in the Indian society, another traditional occupation in the Laccadive Sea is fishing. The annual fish catch is 2,000 to 5,000 tonnes from the Lakshadweep islands, perches, halfbeaks, Carangidae, needlefish and rays are also caught near the reefs. Shrimp, Achelata and small fish, such as Sprattus, Pomacentridae and Apogonidae are widely used as a bait by the Laccadive islanders. With about 3,600 species of flora and fauna, the Gulf of Mannar is regarded as one of the richest marine biological resources in the world. Of these 3,600 species,44 are protected,117 are corals,79 crustaceans,108 sponges,260 mollusks,441 fin fishes,147 seaweeds and 17 mangroves. In 1986, a group of 21 islands and nearby waters with the area of 560 km² were declared Gulf of Mannar Marine National Park. The park and its zone were designated as a Biosphere Reserve in 1989. The Gulf of Mannar Biosphere Reserve covers an area of 10,500 km² of ocean, islands and the adjoining coastline, and is the largest such reserve in India. Most of its area is restricted for outsiders and the access of boats is subject to strict rules, from about 150,000 people living in the buffer zone and more than 70% of them depend on the coastal marine resources
7.
Indian Ocean
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The Indian Ocean is the third largest of the worlds oceanic divisions, covering 70,560,000 km2. It is bounded by Asia on the north, on the west by Africa, on the east by Australia, the Indian Ocean is known as Ratnākara, the mine of gems in ancient Sanskrit literature, and as Hind Mahāsāgar, in Hindi. The northernmost extent of the Indian Ocean is approximately 30° north in the Persian Gulf, the oceans continental shelves are narrow, averaging 200 kilometres in width. An exception is found off Australias western coast, where the width exceeds 1,000 kilometres. The average depth of the ocean is 3,890 m and its deepest point is Diamantina Deep in Diamantina Trench, at 8,047 m deep, Sunda Trench has a depth of 7, 258–7,725 m. North of 50° south latitude, 86% of the basin is covered by pelagic sediments. The remaining 14% is layered with terrigenous sediments, glacial outwash dominates the extreme southern latitudes. The major choke points include Bab el Mandeb, Strait of Hormuz, the Lombok Strait, the Strait of Malacca, the Indian Ocean is artificially connected to the Mediterranean Sea through the Suez Canal, which is accessible via the Red Sea. All of the Indian Ocean is in the Eastern Hemisphere and the centre of the Eastern Hemisphere is in this ocean, marginal seas, gulfs, bays and straits of the Indian Ocean include, The climate north of the equator is affected by a monsoon climate. Strong north-east winds blow from October until April, from May until October south, in the Arabian Sea the violent Monsoon brings rain to the Indian subcontinent. In the southern hemisphere, the winds are milder. When the monsoon winds change, cyclones sometimes strike the shores of the Arabian Sea, the Indian Ocean is the warmest ocean in the world. Long-term ocean temperature records show a rapid, continuous warming in the Indian Ocean, Indian Ocean warming is the largest among the tropical oceans, and about 3 times faster than the warming observed in the Pacific. Research indicates that human induced greenhouse warming, and changes in the frequency, among the few large rivers flowing into the Indian Ocean are the Zambezi, Shatt al-Arab, Indus, Godavari, Krishna, Narmada, Ganges, Brahmaputra, Jubba and Irrawaddy River. The oceans currents are controlled by the monsoon. Two large gyres, one in the northern hemisphere flowing clockwise and one south of the equator moving anticlockwise, during the winter monsoon, however, currents in the north are reversed. Deep water circulation is controlled primarily by inflows from the Atlantic Ocean, the Red Sea, north of 20° south latitude the minimum surface temperature is 22 °C, exceeding 28 °C to the east. Southward of 40° south latitude, temperatures drop quickly, surface water salinity ranges from 32 to 37 parts per 1000, the highest occurring in the Arabian Sea and in a belt between southern Africa and south-western Australia
8.
Coromandel Coast
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The Coromandel Coast is the southeastern coast region of the Indian Subcontinent, between the Eastern Ghats and the Bay of Bengal of the Indian Ocean. The coastline runs between False Divi Point in the north to Kanyakumari in the south and its definition can also include the northwestern coast of the island of Sri Lanka. The land of the Chola dynasty was called Cholamandalam in Tamil, literally translated as The realm of the Cholas, the alluvial plains created by these rivers are fertile and favour agriculture. The coastline forms a part of Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh, the region averages 800 mm/year, most of which falls between October and December. As a result, the coast is hit by inclement weather almost every year between October and January, the high variability of rainfall patterns is also responsible for water scarcity and famine in most areas not served by the great rivers. The Coromandel Coast is home to the East Deccan dry evergreen forests ecoregion, by late 1530 the Coromandel Coast was home to three Portuguese settlements at Nagapattinam, São Tomé de Meliapore, and Pulicat. Later, in the 17th and 18th centuries, the Coromandel Coast was the scene of rivalries among European powers for control of the India trade, the Coromandel Coast supplied Indian Muslim eunuchs to the Thai palace and court of Siam. The Thai at times asked eunuchs from China to visit the court in Thailand, eventually the British won out, although France retained the tiny enclaves of Pondichéry and Karaikal until 1954. Chinese lacquer goods, including boxes, screens, and chests, became known as Coromandel goods in the eighteenth century, because many Chinese exports were consolidated at the Coromandel ports. Some of the books on the economic history of the Coromandel Coast are 1. )S. Arasaratnam, Merchants, companies, and commerce on the Coromandel Coast, 1650-1740, Oxford University Press,1986. The earthquake and subsequent tsunami killed over 220,000 people around the rim of the Indian Ocean. The tsunami devastated the Coromandel Coast, killing many and sweeping away many coastal communities, four ships of the Royal Navy have borne the name HMS Coromandel after the Indian coast. The Coromandel Peninsula in New Zealand was named one of these ships. After the ship reached the shore, some of its sailors deserted, intending to remain behind in South Australia, a red nail varnish made by Chanel is named coromandel due to its suggestions of exoticism. One of the earliest superfast trains of Indian Railways that runs between Howrah and Chennai is named Coromandel Express, in Slovene the idiom Indija Koromandija means a land of plenty, a promised land, a utopia where Houses are bleached with cheese and covered with cake. There is a poem by the Indian poet and freedom fighter Sarojini Naidu titled Coromandel Fishers. Also, the little-known early 20th-century poet Walter J. Turner wrote a poem entitled Coromandel, the Courtship Of The Yonghy-bonghy-bo by Edward Lear is set on the Coast of Coromandel. Coromandel Wood is referred to by Dame Edith Sitwell in her poem Black Mrs Behemoth, part of Façade and her brother, Sir Osbert Sitwell composed a poem entitled On the coast of Coromandel
9.
Adam's Bridge
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Geological evidence suggests that this bridge is a former land connection between India and Sri Lanka. The bridge is 50 km long and separates the Gulf of Mannar from the Palk Strait, some of the sandbanks are dry and the sea in the area is very shallow, being only 1 to 10 metres deep in places, which hinders navigation. The bridge was first mentioned in the ancient Indian Sanskrit epic Ramayana of Valmiki, the Ramayana attributes the building of this bridge to Rama in verse 2-22-76, naming it as Setubandhanam, a name that persists until today. The sea separating India and Sri Lanka is called Sethusamudram meaning Sea of the Bridge, maps prepared by a Dutch cartographer in 1747, available at the Thanjavur Saraswathi Mahal Library show this area as Ramancoil, a colloquial form of the Tamil Raman Kovil. Another map of Mughal India prepared by J. Rennel in 1788 retrieved from the library called this area as the area of the Rama Temple. Many other maps in Schwartzbergs historical atlas and other such as travel texts by Marco Polo call this area by various names such as Sethubandha and Sethubandha Rameswaram. The western world first encountered it in works in the 9th century by Ibn Khordadbeh in his Book of Roads and Kingdoms. The earliest map that calls this area by the name Adams bridge was prepared by a British cartographer in 1804, Adams Bridge starts as a chain of shoals from the Dhanushkodi tip of Indias Pamban Island and ends at Sri Lankas Mannar Island. Pamban Island is semi-connected to the Indian mainland by 2 km long Pamban Bridge, Mannar Island is connected to mainland Sri Lanka by a causeway. The border between India and Sri Lanka is said to pass one of the shoals constituting one of the shortest land borders in the world. Adams bridge and neighbouring areas like Rameswaram, Dhanushkodi, Devipattinam, Pamban Island with its small port of Rameswaram is about 2 km from mainland India. The Pamban Bridge crossing the Pamban channel links Pamban Island with mainland India and it refers to both, a road bridge and a cantilever railway bridge. Small boats would go below the 2065 m long road bridge, the problem in navigation exists because big ships cannot travel in the shallow waters of the Pamban channel. Dredging in this channel would cost more than dredging a channel in the Rama Setu area, hence, in 2005, the Government of India approved a multi-million dollar Sethusamudram Shipping Canal Project that aims to create a ship channel across the Palk Bay cutting across Rama Setu. A ferry service linked Dhanushkodi in India with Talaimannar in Sri Lanka, the service was part of the Indo-Ceylon Railway service during the British Rule. One could buy a ticket from Chennai to Colombo, whereby people travelled by rail from Chennai to Pamban island, go by ferry to Talaimannar. In 1964, a completely destroyed Dhanushkodi, as a train was about to enter the station. The tracks and the pier were damaged along the shores of Palk Bay
10.
Palk Strait
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The Palk Strait is a strait between the Tamil Nadu state of India and the Mannar district of the Northern Province of the island nation of Sri Lanka. It connects the Bay of Bengal in the northeast with the Palk Bay in the southwest, the strait is 33 to 51 miles wide. Several rivers flow into it, including the Vaigai River of Tamil Nadu, the strait is named after Robert Palk, who was a governor of Madras Presidency during the Company Raj period. Palk Bay is studded at its end with a chain of low islands and reef shoals that are collectively called Adams Bridge. This chain extends between Dhanushkodi on Pamban Island in Tamil Nadu and Mannar Island in Sri Lanka, the island of Rameswaram is linked to the Indian mainland by the Pamban Bridge. As from 1914, there used to be regular trains from Madras/Chennai to Dhanushkodi, a ferry to Talaimannar on Mannar Island, in 1964, a cyclone destroyed Dhanushkodi and the railway and caused severe damage along the shores of Palk Strait and Palk Bay. Dhanushkodi was not rebuilt and the railway from Talaimannar to Mahawilachchiya in Sri Lanka was given up, there was a ferry between small piers in Rameswaram and Talaimannar, but this was discontinued till date. The shallow waters and reefs of the make it difficult for large ships to pass through, although fishing boats. Large ships must travel around Sri Lanka, construction of a shipping canal through the strait was first proposed to the British government of India in 1860, and a number of commissions have studied the proposal up to the present day. However, the plan encountered opposition from religious circles. The Ram Karmabhoomi movement, encouraged by a NASA satellite photograph of Ramas Setu, was formed to prevent the canal from being built. Rahul Gandhi, a leader of the Congress party, sparked controversy by saying that Rama does not exist and this statement was later taken by Congress as Current Government said so. Later the then Congress Government of India, in an affidavit in the Supreme Court of India, Palk Strait bridge Photo essay on the Palk Strait
11.
Thamirabarani River
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The Thamirabarani River (Tamil, தாமிரபரணி is a perennial river that originates from the famous Agastyarkoodam peak of Pothigai hills of the Western Ghats, above Papanasam in the Ambasamudram taluk. It flows through Tirunelveli and Tuticorin districts of the Tamil Nadu state of southern India into the Gulf of Mannar and it was called the Tamraparni River in the pre-classical period, a name it lent to the island of Sri Lanka. The old Tamil name of the river is Porunai, from the source to sea, the river is about 185 kilometres long and is the only perennial river in South India. A meaning for the term following its derivation became copper-colored leaf, from the words Thamiram in Tamil/Sanskrit and parani meaning leaf/tree, other name derivations include the Pali term Tambapanni, Tamradvipa of Sanskrit speakers and Taprobana of ancient Greek cartographers. Its many name derivations of Tan Porunai include Tampraparani, Tamraparni, Tamiravaruni, Tan Porunai nathi finds mention by classical Tamil poets in ancient Sangam Tamil literature Purananuru. Recognised as a river in Sanskrit literature Puranas, Mahabharata and Ramayana. One important historical document on the river is the treatise Thamirabarani Mahathmiyam and it has many ancient temples along its banks. In the Mahābhārata the river is mentioned as Listen, O son of Kunti, in that asylum the gods had undergone penances impelled by the desire of obtaining salvation. The Thamirabarani River originates from the peak of the Pothigai hills on the slopes of the Western Ghats at an elevation of 1,725 metres above sea-level. The river is joined by its headwater tributaries Peyar, Ullar, Pambar before it flows into the Kariyar Dam reservoir, the river forms the Vaanatheertham waterfalls,40 metres high, as it enters the Kariyar reservoir. Servalar joins the Thamirabarani before it enters into the Papanasam lower reservoir, the river descends down the mountains near Papanasam, where it forms the Kalyanatheertham falls and Agasthiar falls. The river flows on the plains eastwards from Papanasam, the first tributary to join Thamirabarani in the plains is the Manimuthar River, which originating from Manjolai hills and joins Thamirabarani near Aladiyoor village. The towns Ambasamudram and Kallidaikurichi are located respectively on the left and right banks of Thamiraparani, the Gadananathi is fed by the Jambunathi and Ramanathi Rivers. The Pachaiyar River which originates from the Kalakkadu reserve forests at about 1,300 metres above sea level joins the Thamirabarani near Tharuvai village in Palayamkottai Taluk, the Chittar River runs almost parallel to Thamirabarani till it joins the main river near Sivalaperi. Thamirabarani passes through the taluks of Tirunelveli and Palayamkottai of Tirunelveli district and Srivaikundam, list of major tributaries The river drains into Gulf of Mannar near Punnaikayal in Tiruchendur taluk of Tuticorin district. The river drains with its tributaries an area of about 4,400 square kilometres, as most of its extensive catchment areas lie in the Western Ghats, the river enjoys the full benefit of both the monsoons, which make the river perennial. Since all its tributaries are arising from the Western ghats, the river is prone to heavy floods especially during the northeast monsoon and it flooded again in 2015 with water entering the Kurukuthurai Murugan Temple. It is fed by both the monsoons – the south west and the north-eastern and is seen in full spate twice a year if the monsoons do not fail
12.
South India
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The region occupies 19. 31% of Indias land area. Covering the southern part of the peninsular Deccan Plateau, South India is bounded by the Bay of Bengal in the east, the Arabian Sea in the west, and the Indian Ocean in the south. The geography of the region is diverse, with two ranges, the Western and Eastern Ghats, bordering the plateau heartland. The Godavari River, Krishna River, Kaveri, Tungabhadra and Vaigai rivers are important non-perennial sources of water, Bangalore, Chennai, Hyderabad, Visakhapatnam, Vijayawada, Coimbatore and Kochi are the largest urban areas. Majority of the people in South India speak one of the four major Dravidian languages, Telugu, Tamil, Kannada and Malayalam. During its history, a number of kingdoms ruled over parts of South India whose invasions across southern and southeastern Asia impacted the history. Major dynasties that were established in South India include the Cheras, Cholas, Pandyas, Pallavas, Satavahanas, Chalukyas, Rashtrakutas, european countries entered India through Kerala and the region was colonised by Britain and other nations. HDI in the states is high and the economy has undergone growth at a faster rate than most northern states. Literacy rates in the states are higher than the national average with approximately 80% of the population capable of reading and writing. The fertility rate in South India is 1.9, the lowest of all regions in India, South India also known as Peninsular India has been known by several other names. Carnatic derived from Karnād or Karunād meaning high country has also associated with South India. Carbon dating on ash mounds associated with Neolithic cultures in South India date back to 8000 BCE, artefacts such as ground stone axes, and minor copper objects have been found in the region. Towards the beginning of 1000 BCE, iron technology spread through the region, however, the region was in the middle of a trade route that extended from Muziris to Arikamedu linking the Mediterranean and East Asia. Trade with Phoenicians, Romans, Greeks, Arabs, Syrians, Jews, the region was part of the ancient Silk Road connecting the Asian continent in the East and the West. C. to 14th century A. D. The Vijayanagara Empire, founded in 14th century A. D. was the last Indian dynasty that ruled over the region. The Europeans arrived in the 15th century and by the middle of the 18th century, the French, the British Empire took control of the region from the British East India Company in 1857. During the British colonial rule, the region was divided into the Madras Presidency, Hyderabad state, Mysore, Travancore, Kochi, Vizianagaram and a number of other minor princely states. After the independence of India in 1947, the region was organised into four states, Madras State, Mysore State, Hyderabad State and Travancore-Cochin
13.
Dugong
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The dugong is a medium-sized marine mammal. It is one of four living species of the order Sirenia and it is the only living representative of the once-diverse family Dugongidae, its closest modern relative, Stellers sea cow, was hunted to extinction in the 18th century. The dugong is the strictly marine herbivorous mammal. The dugong is the only sirenian in its range, which spans the waters of some 40 countries and territories throughout the Indo-West Pacific, the northern waters of Australia between Shark Bay and Moreton Bay are believed to be the dugongs contemporary stronghold. Like all modern sirenians, the dugong has a body with no dorsal fin or hind limbs. The forelimbs or flippers are paddle-like, the dugong is easily distinguished from the manatees by its fluked, dolphin-like tail, but also possesses a unique skull and teeth. Its snout is sharply downturned, an adaptation for feeding in benthic seagrass communities, the molar teeth are simple and peg-like unlike the more elaborate molar dentition of manatees. The dugong has been hunted for thousands of years for its meat, traditional hunting still has great cultural significance in several countries in its modern range, particularly northern Australia and the Pacific Islands. The dugongs current distribution is fragmented, and many populations are believed to be close to extinction, the IUCN lists the dugong as a species vulnerable to extinction, while the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species limits or bans the trade of derived products. Despite being legally protected in many countries, the causes of population decline remain anthropogenic and include fishing-related fatalities, habitat degradation. With its long lifespan of 70 years or more, and slow rate of reproduction, the word dugong derives from the Tagalog term dugong which was in turn adopted from the Malay duyung, both meaning lady of the sea. Other common local names include sea cow, sea pig and sea camel, Dugong dugon is the only extant species of the family Dugongidae, and one of only four extant species of the Sirenia order, the others forming the manatee family. It was first classified by Müller in 1776 as Trichechus dugon and it was later assigned as the type species of Dugong by Lacépède and further classified within its own family by Gray and subfamily by Simpson. Dugongs and other sirenians are not closely related to marine mammals. Dugongs and elephants share a group with hyraxes and the aardvark. The fossil record shows sirenians appearing in the Eocene, where they most likely lived in the Tethys Ocean, the Stellers sea cow became extinct in the 18th century. No fossils exist of other members of the Dugongidae, molecular studies have been made on dugong populations using mitochondrial DNA. The results have suggested that the population of Southeast Asia is distinct from the others, Australia has two distinct maternal lineages, one of which also contains the dugongs from Africa and Arabia
14.
Gulf of Mannar Marine National Park
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The Gulf of Mannar Marine National Park is a protected area of India consisting of 21 small islands and adjacent coral reefs in the Gulf of Mannar in the Indian Ocean. It lies 1 to 10 km away from the east coast of Tamil Nadu and it is the core area of the Gulf of Mannar Biosphere Reserve which includes a 10 km buffer zone around the park, including the populated coastal area. The park has a diversity of plants and animals in its marine, intertidal. Public access inside the Park is limited to glass bottom boat rides, the 560 km2 park is part of the 140 km long and 25 km wide Mannar barrier reef. It lies between 8° 47’ to 9° 15’ N latitude and 78° 12’ to 79° 14’ E longitude, the 21 islands vary from 0.25 ha to 130 ha. Its surrounding shallow waters harbour three species of seagrass that are nowhere else in India. Representatives of every animal phylum known are found on this island, shingle,12.69 ha, elevation. 6m 9. 24174°N79. 23563°E /9.24174,79.23563. Tidal amplitude in the area is about. 5m, there were two more islands named Pandayan and Punnaiyadi at 8. 78075°N78. 19536°E /8.78075,78.19536 that were destroyed for construction of the new Tuticorn Port facilities. The park includes estuaries, mudflats, beaches and forests of the near shore environment and it also includes marine components such as coral reefs, seaweed communities, sea grasses, salt marshes and mangroves. Seaweed photo gallery Flora – Mangroves dominate the intertidal zones of the park islands and they consist of species belonging to the Rhizophora, Avicennia, Bruguiera, Ceriops and Lumnitzera genus. Introduced Prosopis genus of tree species are dominant on land in all the islands, pemphis acidula is the only endemic plant species. 12 species of sea grass and 147 species of seaweeds were recorded and this vegetation provides important feeding grounds for the vulnerable marine mammal, the Dugong, endangered Green turtles and Olive Ridley turtles. Sea grasses, photo gallery Fauna Vertebrates Dugong, a marine mammal is the flagship mammal of the park. It is an important habitat for the Cetaceans, Indo-Pacific bottlenose dolphin, Finless porpoise, Spinner dolphin, Common dolphin, Rissos dolphin, Melon-headed whale, and Dwarf sperm whale. Larger whales include Sperm whale, Minke whale, Brydes whale, Sei whale, and critically endangered species including Humpback whale, Fin whale, and Blue whale. About 510 of the 2,200 fin fish species in Indian waters are found in the Gulf, Coral associated ornamental fishes belonging to the family Chaetodontidae, Parrotfish, Amphiprion spp, Holocentrus spp, Scarus spp, Lutjanus spp and Abudefduf saxatilis are abundant. A unique endemic species of Balanoglossus – Ptychodera fluva, a fossil that links invertebrates and vertebrates, has been recorded only at Kurusadai. The coral fauna includes 106 species from 30 genus of hermatypes and 11 species from 10 genus of ahermatypes, including 13 new species, large areas of these reefs are in generally poor condition due to destructive human activities of the 150,000 persons living along the coast
15.
Coral
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Corals are marine invertebrates in the class Anthozoa of phylum Cnidaria. They typically live in colonies of many identical individual polyps. The group includes the important reef builders that inhabit tropical oceans, a coral group is a colony of myriad genetically identical polyps. Each polyp is an animal typically only a few millimeters in diameter. A set of tentacles surround a central mouth opening, an exoskeleton is excreted near the base. Over many generations, the colony creates a large skeleton that is characteristic of the species. Individual heads grow by reproduction of polyps. Corals also breed sexually by spawning, polyps of the same species release gametes simultaneously over a period of one to several nights around a full moon and these are commonly known as zooxanthellae and the corals that contain them are zooxanthellate corals. Such corals require sunlight and grow in clear, shallow water, other corals do not rely on zooxanthellae and can live in much deeper water, with the cold-water genus Lophelia surviving as deep as 3,000 metres. Some have been found on the Darwin Mounds, north-west of Cape Wrath, Corals have also been found as far north as off the coast of Washington State and the Aleutian Islands. In his Scala Naturae, Aristotle classified corals as zoophyta, animals that had characteristics of plants and were therefore hypothetically in between animals and plants, the Persian polymath Al-Biruni classified sponges and corals as animals, arguing that they respond to touch. The phylogeny of Anthozoans is not clearly understood and a number of different models have been proposed, within the Hexacorallia, the sea anemones, coral anemones and stony corals may constitute a monophyletic grouping united by their eight-fold symmetry and cnidocyte trait. The Octocorallia appears to be monophyletic, and primitive members of this group may have been stolonate, the cladogram presented here comes from a 2014 study by Stampar et al. which was based on the divergence of mitochondrial DNA within the group and on nuclear markers. Corals are classified in the class Anthozoa of the phylum Cnidaria and they are divided into three subclasses, Hexacorallia, Octocorallia, and Ceriantharia. The Hexacorallia include the stony corals, the sea anemones and the zoanthids and these groups have polyps that generally have 6-fold symmetry. The Octocorallia include blue coral, soft corals, sea pens and these groups have polyps with 8-fold symmetry, each polyp having eight tentacles and eight mesenteries. Fire corals are not true corals, being in the order Anthomedusa of the class Hydrozoa, Corals are sessile animals in the class Anthozoa and differ from most other cnidarians in not having a medusa stage in their life cycle. The body unit of the animal is a polyp, most corals are colonial, the initial polyp budding to produce another and the colony gradually developing from this small start
16.
Sea turtle
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Sea turtles, sometimes called marine turtles, are reptiles of the order Testudines. The seven extant species of sea turtles are, the green, loggerhead, Kemps ridley, olive ridley, hawksbill, flatback, the majority of a sea turtles body is protected by its shell. The turtles shell is divided two sections, carapace and plastron. The shell is made up of plates called scutes. The leatherback is the sea turtle that does not have a hard shell. Instead, it bears a mosaic of bony plates beneath its leathery skin, in general, sea turtles have a more fusiform body plan than their terrestrial or freshwater counterparts. The reduced volume of a body means sea turtles can not retract their head, legs. However this more stream-line body plan reduces drag in the water, the leatherback is the largest species of sea turtle. Measuring 2-3 meters in length, and 1-1.5 m in width, other species are smaller, being mostly 60-120 cm and proportionally narrower. Sea turtles, along with turtles and tortoises, are part of the order Testudines. All species except the leatherback are in the family Cheloniidae, the leatherback is the only extant member of the family Dermochelyidae. The origin of sea turtles back to the Late Jurassic with genera such as Plesiochelys. In Africa, the first marine turtle is Angolachelys, from the Turonian of Angola, however, neither of these are related to extant sea turtles, the oldest representative of the lineage leading to these was Desmatochelys padillai, from the Early Cretaceous. A lineage of unrelated marine testudines, the pleurodire bothremydids, also survived well into the Cenozoic, Sea turtles constitute a single radiation that became distinct from all other turtles at least 110 million years ago. The flatback sea turtle is found solely on the northern coast of Australia, the Kemps ridley sea turtle is found solely in the Gulf of Mexico and along the East Coast of the United States. Sea turtles are found in the waters over continental shelves. During the first three to five years of life, sea turtles spend most of their time in the pelagic zone floating in seaweed mats, Green sea turtles in particular are often found in Sargassum mats, in which they find shelter and food. Once the sea turtle has reached adulthood it moves closer to the shore, females will come ashore to lay their eggs on sandy beaches during the nesting season
17.
Shark
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Sharks are a group of elasmobranch fish characterized by a cartilaginous skeleton, five to seven gill slits on the sides of the head, and pectoral fins that are not fused to the head. Modern sharks are classified within the clade Selachimorpha and are the group to the rays. Under this broader definition, the earliest known sharks date back to more than 420 million years ago, acanthodians are often referred to as spiny sharks, though they are not part of Chondrichthyes proper, they are a paraphyletic assemblage leading to cartilaginous fish as a whole. Since then, sharks have diversified into over 500 species, Sharks are found in all seas and are common to depths of 2,000 metres. They generally do not live in freshwater although there are a few exceptions, such as the bull shark and the river shark. Sharks have a covering of dermal denticles that protects their skin from damage and they have numerous sets of replaceable teeth. Well-known species such as the white shark, tiger shark, blue shark, mako shark. Many shark populations are threatened by human activities, until the 16th century, sharks were known to mariners as sea dogs. The etymology of the shark is uncertain. One theory is that it derives from the Yucatec Maya word xok, however, the Middle English Dictionary records an isolated occurrence of the word shark in a letter written by Thomas Beckington in 1442, which rules out a New World etymology. Evidence for the existence of sharks dates from the Ordovician period, 450–420 million years ago, before land vertebrates existed and before many plants had colonized the continents. Only scales have been recovered from the first sharks and not all agree that these are from true sharks. The oldest generally accepted shark scales are from about 420 million years ago, the first sharks looked very different from modern sharks. The majority of sharks can be traced back to around 100 million years ago. Most fossils are of teeth, often in large numbers, partial skeletons and even complete fossilized remains have been discovered. Estimates suggest that sharks grow tens of thousands of teeth over a lifetime, the teeth consist of easily fossilized calcium phosphate, an apatite. When a shark dies, the decomposing skeleton breaks up, scattering the apatite prisms, preservation requires rapid burial in bottom sediments. Among the most ancient and primitive sharks is Cladoselache, from about 370 million years ago, which has been found within Paleozoic strata in Ohio, Kentucky, and Tennessee
18.
Dolphin
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Dolphins are a widely distributed and diverse group of aquatic mammals. They are a grouping within the order Cetacea, excluding whales and porpoises. The dolphins comprise the extant families Delphinidae, Platanistidae, Iniidae, and Pontoporiidae, there are 40 extant species of dolphins. Dolphins, alongside other cetaceans, belong to the clade Cetartiodactyla with even-toed ungulates and their closest living relatives are the hippopotamuses, having diverged about 40 million years ago. Dolphins range in size from the 1.7 m long and 50 kg Mauis dolphin to the 9.5 m and 10 t killer whale, several species exhibit sexual dimorphism, in that the males are larger than females. They have streamlined bodies and two limbs that are modified into flippers, though not quite as flexible as seals, some dolphins can travel at 55.5 km/h. Dolphins use their conical shaped teeth to capture fast moving prey and they have well-developed hearing which is adapted for both air and water and is so well developed that some can survive even if they are blind. Some species are adapted for diving to great depths. They have a layer of fat, or blubber, under the skin to keep warm in the cold water, although dolphins are widespread, most species prefer the warmer waters of the tropic zones, but some, like the right whale dolphin, prefer colder climates. Dolphins feed largely on fish and squid, but a few, like the killer whale, feed on large mammals, male dolphins typically mate with multiple females every year, but females only mate every two to three years. Calves are typically born in the spring and summer months and females bear all the responsibility for raising them, mothers of some species fast and nurse their young for a relatively long period of time. Dolphins produce a variety of vocalizations, usually in the form of clicks, Dolphins are sometimes hunted in places like Japan, in an activity known as dolphin drive hunting. Besides drive hunting, they face threats from bycatch, habitat loss. Dolphins have been depicted in cultures worldwide. Dolphins occasionally feature in literature and film, as in the film series Free Willy, Dolphins are sometimes kept in captivity and trained to perform tricks, but breeding success has been poor and the animals often die within a few months of capture. The most common dolphins kept are killer whales and bottlenose dolphins, the name is originally from Greek δελφίς, dolphin, which was related to the Greek δελφύς, womb. The animals name can therefore be interpreted as meaning a fish with a womb, the name was transmitted via the Latin delphinus, which in Medieval Latin became dolfinus and in Old French daulphin, which reintroduced the ph into the word. The term mereswine has also historically been used, the term dolphin can be used to refer to, under the parvorder Odontoceti, all the species in the family Delphinidae and the river dolphin families Iniidae, Pontoporiidae, Lipotidae and Platanistidae
19.
Overexploitation
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Overexploitation, also called overharvesting, refers to harvesting a renewable resource to the point of diminishing returns. Sustained overexploitation can lead to the destruction of the resource, the term applies to natural resources such as, wild medicinal plants, grazing pastures, game animals, fish stocks, forests, and water aquifers. In ecology, overexploitation describes one of the five main activities threatening global biodiversity, ecologists use the term to describe populations that are harvested at a rate that is unsustainable, given their natural rates of mortality and capacities for reproduction. This can result in extinction at the level and even extinction of whole species. The term is used and defined somewhat differently in fisheries, hydrology. Overexploitation can lead to destruction, including extinctions. However it is possible for overexploitation to be sustainable, as discussed below in the section on fisheries. Overexploitation is not an activity limited to humans, introduced predators and herbivores, for example, can overexploit native flora and fauna. Concern about overexploitation is relatively recent, though overexploitation itself is not a new phenomenon and it has been observed for millennia. For example, ceremonial cloaks worn by the Hawaiian kings were made from the mamo bird, the dodo, a flightless bird from Mauritius, is another well-known example of overexploitation. As with many species, it was naive about certain predators, allowing humans to approach. From the earliest of times, hunting has been an important human activity as a means of survival, there is a whole history of overexploitation in the form of overhunting. The overkill hypothesis explains why the megafaunal extinctions occurred within a short period of time. This can be traced with human migration, the most convincing evidence of this theory is that 80% of the North American large mammal species disappeared within 1000 years of the arrival of humans on the western hemisphere continents. A second wave of extinctions occurred later with European settlement, overexploitation doesnt necessarily lead to the destruction of the resource, nor is it necessarily unsustainable. However, depleting the numbers or amount of the resource can change its quality, for example, footstool palm is a wild palm tree found in Southeast Asia. Its leaves are used for thatching and food wrapping, and overharvesting has resulted in its leaf size becoming smaller, the tragedy of the commons refers to a dilemma described in an article by that name written by Garrett Hardin and first published in the journal Science in 1968. Central to Hardins essay is an example which is a parable for understanding how overexploitation can occur
20.
Oyster
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Oyster is the common name for a number of different families of salt-water bivalve molluscs that live in marine or brackish habitats. In some species the valves are highly calcified, and many are somewhat irregular in shape, many, but not all, oysters are in the superfamily Ostreoidea. Some kinds of oysters are consumed by humans, cooked or raw. Some kinds of oysters are harvested for the pearl produced within the mantle. Windowpane oysters are harvested for their translucent shells, which are used to various kinds of decorative objects. True oysters are members of the family Ostreidae and this family includes the edible oysters, which mainly belong to the genera Ostrea, Crassostrea, Ostreola, and Saccostrea. Examples include the Belon oyster, eastern oyster, Olympia oyster, Pacific oyster, almost all shell-bearing mollusks can secrete pearls, yet most are not very valuable. Pearl oysters are not closely related to oysters, being members of a distinct family. Both cultured pearls and natural pearls can be extracted from pearl oysters, though other molluscs, such as the freshwater mussels, the largest pearl-bearing oyster is the marine Pinctada maxima, which is roughly the size of a dinner plate. Not all individual oysters produce pearls naturally, in fact, in a harvest of two and a half tons of oysters, only three to four oysters produce what commercial buyers consider to be absolute perfect pearls. In nature, pearl oysters produce pearls by covering a minute invasive object with nacre, over the years, the irritating object is covered with enough layers of nacre to become a pearl. The many different types, colours and shapes of pearls depend on the pigment of the nacre. Pearl farmers can culture a pearl by placing a nucleus, usually a piece of polished mussel shell, in three to seven years, the oyster can produce a perfect pearl. These pearls are not as valuable as natural pearls, but look exactly the same, in fact, since the beginning of the 20th century, when several researchers discovered how to produce artificial pearls, the cultured pearl market has far outgrown the natural pearl market. A number of molluscs also have common names that include the word oyster, usually because they either taste like or look somewhat like true oysters. Examples include, Thorny oysters in the genus Spondylus Pilgrim oyster, another term for a scallop, because of its good flavor, it commands high prices. Oysters are filter feeders, drawing water in over their gills through the beating of cilia. Suspended plankton and particles are trapped in the mucus of a gill, and from there are transported to the mouth, where they are eaten, digested, Oysters feed most actively at temperatures above 10 °C
21.
Gorgonian
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Alcyonacea is an order of sessile colonial cnidarians found throughout the oceans of the world, especially in the tropics and subtropics. The name Gorgonacea is no longer considered valid and Alcyonacea is now the name for the order. Gorgonians are also known as sea whips and sea fans and are similar to the sea pen, gorgonians are closely related to coral. Individual tiny polyps form colonies that are erect, flattened, branching. Others may be whiplike, bushy, or even encrusting, a colony can be several feet high and across but only a few inches thick. They may be coloured, often purple, red, or yellow. Photosynthetic gorgonians can be kept in captive reef aquariums. Gorgonians are classified in the phylum Cnidaria, class Anthozoa, alongside the orders Alcyonacea and Pennatulacea, the structure of a gorgonian colony varies. In the suborder Holaxonia, skeletons are formed from a flexible, the suborder Scleraxonia variety of gorgonians are supported by a skeleton of tightly grouped calcareous spicules. There are also species which encrust like coral, most of Holaxonia and Sclerazonia, however, do not attach themselves to a hard substrate. Instead, they anchor themselves in mud or sand, each gorgonian polyp has eight tentacles which catch plankton and particulate matter that is consumed. This process, called feeding, is facilitated when the fan is oriented across the prevailing current to maximise water flow to the gorgonian. Some gorgonians contain algae, or zooxanthellae and this symbiotic relationship assists in giving the gorgonian nutrition via photosynthesis. Gorgonians possessing zooxanthellae are usually characterized by brownish polyps, gorgonians are found primarily in shallow waters, though some have been found at depths of several thousand feet. The size, shape, and appearance of gorgonians can be correlated with their location, the more fan-shaped and flexible gorgonians tend to populate shallower areas with strong currents, while the taller, thinner, and stiffer gorgonians can be found in deeper, calmer waters. Other fauna, such as hydrozoa, bryozoa, and brittle stars, are known to dwell within the branches of gorgonian colonies, the pygmy seahorse not only makes certain species of gorgonians its home, but closely resembles its host and is thus well camouflaged. Two species of seahorse, Hippocampus bargibanti and Hippocampus denise, are obligate residents on gorgonians. H. bargibanti is limited to two species in a single genus, gorgonians produce unusual organic compounds in their tissues, particularly diterpenes, and some of these are important candidates for new drugs
22.
Acorn worm
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The acorn worms or Enteropneusta are a hemichordate class of invertebrates consisting of one order of the same name. Their closest relatives are the echinoderms, there are about 90 species of acorn worm in the world, the main species for research being Saccoglossus kowalevskii. Until recently, it was thought that all species lived in the sediment on the seabed, some of these worms may grow to be very long, one particular species may reach a length of 2.5 metres, although most acorn worms are much smaller. Due to secretions containing elements like iodine, the animals have a iodoform-like smell, most acorn worms range from 9 to 45 centimetres in length, with the largest species, Balanoglossus gigas, reaching 1.5 metres or more. The body is made up of three parts, an acorn-shaped proboscis, a short fleshy collar that lies behind it. The creatures mouth is located at the collar behind the proboscis, the skin is covered with cilia as well as glands that secrete mucus. Some produce a compound that gives them a medicinal smell and might protect them from bacteria. Acorn worms move only sluggishly, using ciliary action and peristalsis of the proboscis, many acorn worms are detritus feeders, eating sand or mud and extracting organic detritus. Others feed on organic material suspended in the water, which they can draw into the mouth using the cilia on the gill bars, a groove lined with cilia lies just in front of the mouth and directs suspended food into the mouth and may allow the animal to taste. The mouth cavity is tubular, with a narrow diverticulum or stomochord extending up into the proboscis and this diverticulum was once thought to be homologous with the notochord of chordates, hence the name hemichordate for the phylum. The mouth opens posteriorly into a pharynx with a row of gill slits along either side, the remainder of the digestive system consists of an oesophagus and intestine, there is no stomach. In some families there are openings in the surface of the oesophagus connecting to the external surface, through which water from the food can be squeezed. Digestion occurs in the intestine, with material being pulled through by cilia. Acorn worms breathe by drawing in oxygenated water through their mouth, the water then flows out the animals gills which are on its trunk. Thus, the acorn worm breathes about the way as fish. Acorn worms have a circulatory system, in which the blood flows through the tissues sinuses. A dorsal blood vessel in the mesentery above the gut and delivers blood to a sinus in the proboscis that contains a muscular sac acting as a heart. Unlike the hearts of most other animals, however, this structure is a closed fluid-filled vesicle whose interior does not connect directly to the blood system, nonetheless, it does regularly pulsate, helping to push blood through the surrounding sinuses
23.
Endangered species
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An endangered species is a species which has been categorized as likely to become extinct. In 2012, the IUCN Red List featured 3079 animal and 2655 plant species as endangered worldwide, the figures for 1998 were, respectively,1102 and 1197. Many nations have laws that protect conservation-reliant species, for example, population numbers, trends and species conservation status can be found in the lists of organisms by population. The conservation status of a species indicates the likelihood that it will become extinct, the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species is the best-known worldwide conservation status listing and ranking system. Over 40% of the species are estimated to be at risk of extinction. Internationally,199 countries have signed an accord to create Biodiversity Action Plans that will protect endangered, in the United States, such plans are usually called Species Recovery Plans. Those species of Near Threatened and Least Concern status have been assessed and found to have relatively robust and healthy populations, though these may be in decline. The IUCN categories, with examples of animals classified by them, include, Extinct Extinct in the wild Captive individuals survive, critically endangered Faces an extremely high risk of extinction in the immediate future. Endangered Faces a high risk of extinction in the near future, vulnerable Faces a high risk of endangerment in the medium term. Near-threatened May be considered threatened in the near future, Least concern No immediate threat to species survival. A population size reduction of ≥ 50%, projected or suspected to be met within the next 10 years or three generations, whichever is the longer, based on any of to under A1. E) Quantitative analysis showing the probability of extinction in the wild is at least 20% within 20 years or five generations, there is data from the United States that shows a correlation between human populations and threatened and endangered species. Under the Endangered Species Act in the United States, species may be listed as endangered or threatened, the Salt Creek tiger beetle is an example of an endangered subspecies protected under the ESA. Some endangered species laws are controversial, also lobbying from hunters and various industries like the petroleum industry, construction industry, and logging, has been an obstacle in establishing endangered species laws. The Bush administration lifted a policy that required federal officials to consult an expert before taking actions that could damage endangered species. Under the Obama administration, this policy has been reinstated, being listed as an endangered species can have negative effect since it could make a species more desirable for collectors and poachers. This effect is potentially reducible, such as in China where commercially farmed turtles may be reducing some of the pressure to poach endangered species. Another problem with the species is its effect of inciting the use of the shoot, shovel
24.
Dugong Dugon
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The dugong is a medium-sized marine mammal. It is one of four living species of the order Sirenia and it is the only living representative of the once-diverse family Dugongidae, its closest modern relative, Stellers sea cow, was hunted to extinction in the 18th century. The dugong is the strictly marine herbivorous mammal. The dugong is the only sirenian in its range, which spans the waters of some 40 countries and territories throughout the Indo-West Pacific, the northern waters of Australia between Shark Bay and Moreton Bay are believed to be the dugongs contemporary stronghold. Like all modern sirenians, the dugong has a body with no dorsal fin or hind limbs. The forelimbs or flippers are paddle-like, the dugong is easily distinguished from the manatees by its fluked, dolphin-like tail, but also possesses a unique skull and teeth. Its snout is sharply downturned, an adaptation for feeding in benthic seagrass communities, the molar teeth are simple and peg-like unlike the more elaborate molar dentition of manatees. The dugong has been hunted for thousands of years for its meat, traditional hunting still has great cultural significance in several countries in its modern range, particularly northern Australia and the Pacific Islands. The dugongs current distribution is fragmented, and many populations are believed to be close to extinction, the IUCN lists the dugong as a species vulnerable to extinction, while the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species limits or bans the trade of derived products. Despite being legally protected in many countries, the causes of population decline remain anthropogenic and include fishing-related fatalities, habitat degradation. With its long lifespan of 70 years or more, and slow rate of reproduction, the word dugong derives from the Tagalog term dugong which was in turn adopted from the Malay duyung, both meaning lady of the sea. Other common local names include sea cow, sea pig and sea camel, Dugong dugon is the only extant species of the family Dugongidae, and one of only four extant species of the Sirenia order, the others forming the manatee family. It was first classified by Müller in 1776 as Trichechus dugon and it was later assigned as the type species of Dugong by Lacépède and further classified within its own family by Gray and subfamily by Simpson. Dugongs and other sirenians are not closely related to marine mammals. Dugongs and elephants share a group with hyraxes and the aardvark. The fossil record shows sirenians appearing in the Eocene, where they most likely lived in the Tethys Ocean, the Stellers sea cow became extinct in the 18th century. No fossils exist of other members of the Dugongidae, molecular studies have been made on dugong populations using mitochondrial DNA. The results have suggested that the population of Southeast Asia is distinct from the others, Australia has two distinct maternal lineages, one of which also contains the dugongs from Africa and Arabia
25.
Whale
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Whales are a widely distributed and diverse group of fully aquatic placental marine mammals. They are a grouping within the infraorder Cetacea, usually excluding dolphins. Whales, dolphins and porpoises belong to the order Cetartiodactyla with even-toed ungulates and their closest living relatives are the hippopotamuses, the two parvorders of whales, baleen whales and toothed whales, are thought to have split apart around 34 million years ago. The whales comprise eight extant families, Balaenopteridae, Balaenidae, Cetotheriidae, Eschrichtiidae, Monodontidae, Physeteridae, Kogiidae, Whales are creatures of the open ocean, they feed, mate, give birth, suckle and raise their young at sea. So extreme is their adaptation to life underwater that they are unable to survive on land. Whales range in size from the 2.6 metres and 135 kilograms dwarf sperm whale to the 29.9 metres and 190 metric tons blue whale, the sperm whale is the largest toothed predator on earth. Several species exhibit sexual dimorphism, in that the females are larger than males, baleen whales have no teeth, instead they have plates of baleen, a fringe-like structure used to expel water while retaining the krill and plankton which they feed on. They use their throat pleats to expand the mouth to take in huge gulps of water, balaenids have heads that can make up 40% of their body mass to take in water. Toothed whales, on the hand, have conical teeth designed for catching fish or squid. Some species, such as whales, are well adapted for diving to great depths to catch squid. Whales have evolved from land-living mammals, as such they must breathe air regularly, though they can remain submerged for long periods. They have blowholes located on top of their heads, through air is taken in. They are warm-blooded, and have a layer of fat, or blubber, under the skin, with streamlined fusiform bodies and two limbs that are modified into flippers, whales can travel at up to 20 knots, though they are not as flexible or agile as seals. Whales produce a variety of vocalizations, notably the extended songs of the humpback whale. Although whales are widespread, most species prefer the waters of the Northern and Southern Hemispheres. Species such as humpbacks and blue whales are capable of travelling thousands of miles without feeding, males typically mate with multiple females every year, but females only mate every two to three years. Calves are typically born in the spring and summer months and females bear all the responsibility for raising them, mothers of some species fast and nurse their young for one to two years. Once relentlessly hunted for their products, whales are now protected by international law, the North Atlantic right whales nearly became extinct in the twentieth century, with a population low of 450, and the North Pacific gray whale population is ranked Critically Endangered by the IUCN
26.
Sea cucumber
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Sea cucumbers are echinoderms from the class Holothuroidea. They are marine animals with a skin and an elongated body containing a single. Sea cucumbers are found on the sea floor worldwide, the number of holothurian species worldwide is about 1,717 with the greatest number being in the Asia Pacific region. Many of these are gathered for consumption and some species are cultivated in aquaculture systems. The harvested product is referred to as trepang, bêche-de-mer or balate. Sea cucumbers serve a role in the marine ecosystem as they help recycle nutrients, breaking down detritus. Like all echinoderms, sea cucumbers have an endoskeleton just below the skin, in some species these can sometimes be enlarged to flattened plates, forming an armour. In pelagic species such as Pelagothuria natatrix, the skeleton is absent, the sea cucumbers are named after their resemblance to the fruit of the cucumber plant. Most sea cucumbers, as their name suggests, have a soft and cylindrical body, more or less lengthened, rounded off and occasionally fat in the extremities, and generally without solid appendages. Their shape ranges from almost spherical for sea apples to serpent-like for Apodida or the classic sausage-shape, the mouth is surrounded by tentacles, which can be pulled back inside the animal. Holothurians measure generally between 10 and 30 centimeters long, with extremes of some millimeters for Rhabdomolgus ruber and up to more than 3 meters for Synapta maculata. The largest American species, Holothuria floridana, which abounds just below low-water mark on the Florida reefs, has a volume of well over 500 cubic centimeters, and 25–30 cm long. Most possess five rows of feet, but Apodida lacks these and moves by crawling. The podia on the dorsal surface generally have no locomotive role, at one of the extremities opens a rounded mouth, generally surrounded with a crown of tentacles which can be very complex in some species, the anus is postero-dorsal. Holothurians do not look like other echinoderms at first glance, because of their tubular body, furthermore, the fivefold symmetry, classical for echinoderms, although preserved structurally, is doubled here by a bilateral symmetry which makes them look like chordates. However, a symmetry is still visible in some species through five radii. There is thus no oral or aboral face as for sea stars and other echinoderms, but the stands on one of its sides. A remarkable feature of animals is the catch collagen that forms their body wall
27.
Thoothukudi
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Tuticorin, also known as Thoothukudi, is a port city and a Municipal Corporation and an industrial city in Thoothukudi district next to tirunelveli city in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. The city lies in the Coromandel Coast off Bay of Bengal, Thoothukudi is the headquarters of Thoothukudi District. It is located about 590 kilometres south of Chennai and 190 kilometres northeast of Thiruvananthapuram, according to Confederation of Indian Industry, Thoothukudi has the second highest Human Development Index in Tamil Nadu next to Chennai. Tuticorin City serves as the headquarters of Tamilnad Mercantile Bank Limited, Major educational establishments in the city include Thoothukudi Government Medical College, Fisheries College and Research Institute, Marine Training Academy, V. O. C. Arts & Science College, Government Polytechnic College, and Anna University Tuticorin Campus. Tuticorin Port is one of the Fastest growing Major Ports in India, Tuticorin is an Emerging Energy and Industrial hub of South India. Thoothukudi is known as Pearl City due to the pearl fishing carried out in the town and it is a commercial seaport which serves the inland cities of Southern India and is one of the sea gateways of Tamil Nadu. It is also one of the seaports in India with a history dating back to the 6th century AD. Thoothukudi was settled by the Portuguese, Dutch and later by the British East India Company, the city is administered by a Thoothukudi Municipal Corporation covering an area of 353.07 km2 and had a population of 237,830 in 2011. The urban agglomeration had a population of 410,760 as of 2011, the majority of the people of the city are employed in salt pans, sea-borne trading, fishing, and tourism. A major attraction in the city is Our Lady of Snows Basilica, the 21 islands between Thoothukudi and Rameswaram shores in the Gulf of Mannar are noted as the first Marine Biosphere Reserve of India, and have around 36,000 species of flora and fauna. This protected area is called Gulf of Mannar Marine National Park and our Lady of Snows Basilica festival is celebrated annually during August. This and the Shiva temple festivals, e. g. Adi Amavasai, Sasti, roadways are the major mode of transport to Thoothukudi, while the city also has rail, air, and sea transport. Thoothukudi is also known by the name Muthu Kuzhithurai and it is also called as Sea Gateway of Tamil Nadu. Thoothukudi is part of the Pearl Fishery Coast, and is known for its fishing and shipbuilding industries. The ancient town of Korkai has been a centre for maritime trade, ptolemys geography refers to Korkai as a centre of pearl fishery while describing commercial relations between western India and Alexandria, the chief eastern emporium of the Roman Empire. The Periplus says that the Pandyan kingdom extended from Comari towards the north, including Korkai, Thoothukudi was the seat of Portuguese during the 16th century, and the Dutch occupied in the 17th century as evidenced by Pagoda coins. During the 18th century the British overpowered and occupied the town, being a port town, the town received attention from the rulers for improving their trade, and so it was brought to Municipal status in 1866. Rao Bahadur Cruz Fernandez and J. L. P, Roche Victoria as the chairmen of municipal corporation made significant contributions, laying the foundations for a modern Tuticorin
28.
Dhanushkodi
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Dhanushkodi is an abandoned town at the south-eastern tip of Pamban Island of the state of Tamil Nadu in India. It is situated to the South-East of Pamban and is about 18 miles west of Talaimannar in Sri Lanka, the town was destroyed during the 1964 Rameswaram cyclone and remains uninhabited in the aftermath. According to the Hindu epic Ramayana, Lord Rama built a bridge to connect India and Sri Lanka, Rama marked the spot for the bridge with one end of his bow which later became Dhanushkodi meaning end of the bow. The area around Rameswaram is prone to high-intensity cyclones and storms, as a result of this, a patch of land of about 0.5 kilometres in width, stretching 7 kilometres from north to south, submerged in the sea. On 17 December 1964, a depression formed at 5°N 93°E in the South Andaman Sea, on 19 December, it intensified into a cyclonic storm. After 21 December 1964, it moved westwards, almost in a straight line, on 22 December, it crossed Vavunia in Sri Lanka and made landfall at Dhanushkodi on the night of 22–23 December 1964. Estimated wind velocity was 280 kilometres per hour and tidal waves were 7 metres high, an estimated 1,800 people died in the cyclonic storm on 22 December including 115 passengers on board the Pamban-Dhanushkodi passenger train. The entire town was marooned and the Government of Madras declared Dhanushkodi as Ghost town, in December 2004, the sea around Dhanushkodi receded about 500 metres from the coastline, exposing the submerged part of the town for a while followed by massive tsunami waves that struck the coast. Dhanushkodi is located on the tip of Pamban island separated by mainland by Palk strait and it shares the only land border between India and Sri Lanka, which is one of the smallest in the world at 45 metres in length on a shoal in Palk Strait. A metre gauge line connected Mandapam on mainland India to Dhanushkodi. Boat mail express ran from Chennai Egmore to Dhanushkodi till 1964 when the branch line from Pamban to Dhanushkodi was destroyed during the 1964 Dhanushkodi cyclone. In 2003, Southern Railway sent a report to Ministry of Railways for re-laying a 16 kilometres railway line to Dhanushkodi from Rameswaram. The planning commission looked into the possibility of a new line between Dhanushkodi and Rameswaram in 2010. Until 2016, Dhanushkodi was reachable either on foot along the seashore or in jeeps, in 2016, a road was completed from the village of Mukundarayar Chathiram. Palk Strait bridge Ramanathaswamy Temple Travel article on Dhanushkodi
29.
Man and the Biosphere Programme
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As of March 2016,669 biosphere reserves in 120 countries, including 16 transboundary sites, have been included in the World Network of Biosphere Reserves. Biosphere reserves are areas comprising terrestrial, marine and coastal ecosystems, each reserve promotes solutions reconciling the conservation of biodiversity with its sustainable use. Biosphere reserves are nominated by governments and remain under the sovereign jurisdiction of the states where they are located. Their status is internationally recognized. The buffer zone surrounds or adjoins the core areas, and is used for activities compatible with sound ecological practices that can reinforce scientific research, monitoring, training and education. The transition area is the part of the reserve where the greatest activity is allowed, fostering economic, participating countries establish MAB National Committees that ensure maximum national participation in the international programme, defining and implementing each country’s activities. MAB currently operates through 158 National Committees established among the 195 Members States, the agenda of the MAB Programme is defined by its main governing body, the International Coordinating Council. The MAB Council consists of 34 member states elected by UNESCO’s General Conference, the council elects a chair and five vice-chairpersons from each of UNESCO’s geopolitical regions, one of which functions as a rapporteur. Its staff members draw on expertise in many and varied disciplines, the programme can grant seed funding to assist countries in developing projects and/or to secure appropriate partnership contributions. The latest World Congress of Biosphere Reserves took place in Lima, Peru and this will be the 4th World Congress of Biosphere Reserves and it shall develop a new vision for the decade 2016–2025. The World Network of Biosphere Reserves is supported by different regional, sub-regional or thematic networks and these are as follows, The African Biosphere Reserves Network was created in 1996 and comprises 33 African countries. The ArabMAB Network was officially launched in 1997 and represents 18 Arab countries, the East Asian Biosphere Reserve Network was launched in 1994. Today, it consists of China, the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, Japan, Kazakhstan, Mongolia, the Republic of Korea, euroMAB is the network of biosphere reserves in Europe and North America. Created in 1987, it is the largest MAB Regional Network with 53 countries, the Ibero-American MAB Network was created in 1992. It comprises 22 countries from Latin American and the Caribbean, Spain, the Pacific Man and the Biosphere Network was created in 2006 and comprises the Federated States of Micronesia, Kiribati, Palau, Papua New Guinea, Samoa and Tonga. The South and Central Asia MAB Network was created in 2002 and comprises Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Iran, Kazakhstan, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan, the Southeast Asian Biosphere Reserve Network was created in 1998. Today, it comprises Cambodia, China, Indonesia, Japan, Lao PDR, Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines, Thailand, the East Atlantic Biosphere Reserve Network was created in 1994. It comprises the Canary Islands, Cape Verde, Guinea Bissau, Madeira and Azores, Mauritania, Morocco, Sao Tomé and Principe, the World Network of Island and Coastal Biosphere Reserves was established in 2012 and comprises 22 countries. Agenda 21 Searchable list of UNESCO World Network of Biosphere Reserves Frequently Asked Questions on Biosphere Reserve A-Z of Areas of Biodiverity Importance, Biosphere Reserves
30.
Gulf of Mannar Biosphere Reserve
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The Gulf of Mannar is a large shallow bay forming part of the Laccadive Sea in the Indian Ocean. It lies between the tip of India and the west coast of Sri Lanka, in the Coromandel Coast region. A species known as dugong is found here, the estuaries of Thamirabarani River of South India and the Malvathu Oya of Sri Lanka drain into the Gulf. Located on the tip of the subcontinent, the Gulf of Mannar is known to harbour over 3,600 species of flora and fauna. 117 hard coral species have recorded in the Gulf of Mannar. Sea turtles are frequent visitors to the gulf as are sharks, dugongs, however, the combined effects of 47 villages, with a total population of around 50,000 has meant that overharvesting of marine species has become a problem. The decline of populations has been accompanied with reducing numbers of pearl oyster, gorgonian coral. Endangered species include dolphins, dugongs, whales and sea cucumbers, in 1986, a group of 21 islets lying off the Tamil Nadu coast between Thoothukudi and Dhanushkodi was declared the Gulf of Mannar Marine National Park. The park and its 10 km buffer zone were declared a Biosphere Reserve in 1989, the Gulf of Mannar Biosphere Reserve covers an area of 10,500 km² of ocean, islands and the adjoining coastline. The Gulf of Mannar is known for its banks of Pinctada radiata. Pliny the Elder praised the pearl fishery of the gulf as one of the most productive in the world, although extraction of natural pearls is considered too expensive in most parts of the world, it is still carried out in the gulf. The chief seaports on the Gulf of Mannar are Thoothukudi in Tamil Nadu, while these ports can accommodate deep-draft vessels, the shallow Palk Strait can only accommodate small shallow-draft vessels
31.
Beach
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A beach is a landform along a body of water. It usually consists of particles, which are often composed of rock, such as sand, gravel, shingle, pebbles. The particles comprising a beach are occasionally biological in origin, such as shells or coralline algae. Some beaches have man-made infrastructure, such as posts, changing rooms. They may also have hospitality venues nearby, wild beaches, also known as undeveloped or undiscovered beaches, are not developed in this manner. Wild beaches can be valued for their beauty and preserved nature. Beaches typically occur in areas along the coast where wave or current action deposits, although the seashore is most commonly associated with the word beach, beaches are also found by lakes and alongside large rivers. Beach may refer to, small systems where rock material moves onshore, offshore, or alongshore by the forces of waves and currents, the former are described in detail below, the larger geological units are discussed elsewhere under bars. There are several parts to a beach that relate to the processes that form. The part mostly above water, and more or less influenced by the waves at some point in the tide, is termed the beach berm. The berm is the deposit of material comprising the active shoreline, the berm has a crest and a face — the latter being the slope leading down towards the water from the crest. At the very bottom of the face, there may be a trough, at some point the influence of the waves on the material comprising the beach stops, and if the particles are small enough, winds shape the feature. Where wind is the force distributing the grains inland, the deposit behind the beach becomes a dune and these geomorphic features compose what is called the beach profile. The beach profile changes seasonally due to the change in energy experienced during summer and winter months. In temperate areas where summer is characterised by calmer seas and longer periods between breaking wave crests, the profile is higher in summer. The gentle wave action during this season tends to transport sediment up the beach towards the berm where it is deposited, onshore winds carry it further inland forming and enhancing dunes. Conversely, the profile is lower in the storm season due to the increased wave energy. The removal of sediment from the berm and dune thus decreases the beach profile
32.
Estuary
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An estuary is a partially enclosed coastal body of brackish water with one or more rivers or streams flowing into it, and with a free connection to the open sea. Estuaries form a zone between river environments and maritime environments. They are subject both to marine influences—such as tides, waves, and the influx of saline water—and to riverine influences—such as flows of fresh water and sediment. The inflows of sea water and fresh water provide high levels of nutrients both in the water column and in sediment, making estuaries among the most productive natural habitats in the world. Most existing estuaries formed during the Holocene epoch with the flooding of river-eroded or glacially scoured valleys when the sea began to rise about 10. Estuaries are typically classified according to their geomorphological features or to water-circulation patterns, the banks of many estuaries are amongst the most heavily populated areas of the world, with about 60% of the worlds population living along estuaries and the coast. The word estuary is derived from the Latin word aestuarium meaning tidal inlet of the sea, there have been many definitions proposed to describe an estuary. However, this definition excludes a number of water bodies such as coastal lagoons. This broad definition also includes fjords, lagoons, river mouths, an estuary is a dynamic ecosystem having a connection to the open sea through which the sea water enters with the rhythm of the tides. The sea water entering the estuary is diluted by the water flowing from rivers. The pattern of dilution varies between different estuaries and depends on the volume of water, the tidal range. Drowned river valleys are known as coastal plain estuaries. In places where the sea level is rising relative to the land, sea water progressively penetrates into river valleys and this is the most common type of estuary in temperate climates. Well-studied estuaries include the Severn Estuary in the United Kingdom and the Ems Dollard along the Dutch-German border, the width-to-depth ratio of these estuaries is typically large, appearing wedge-shaped in the inner part and broadening and deepening seaward. Water depths rarely exceed 30 m, examples of this type of estuary in the U. S. are the Hudson River, Chesapeake Bay, and Delaware Bay along the Mid-Atlantic coast, and Galveston Bay and Tampa Bay along the Gulf Coast. They are relatively common in tropical and subtropical locations and these estuaries are semi-isolated from ocean waters by barrier beaches. Formation of barrier beaches partially encloses the estuary, with only narrow inlets allowing contact with the ocean waters, bar-built estuaries typically develop on gently sloping plains located along tectonically stable edges of continents and marginal sea coasts. They are extensive along the Atlantic and Gulf coasts of the U. S. in areas with active coastal deposition of sediments, barrier beaches form in shallow water and are generally parallel to the shoreline, resulting in long, narrow estuaries
33.
Tropical and subtropical dry broadleaf forests
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The tropical and subtropical dry broadleaf forest biome, also known as tropical dry forest, vine thicket, and vine scrub is located at tropical and subtropical latitudes. These seasonal droughts have great impact on all living things in the forest, deciduous trees are predominate in most of these forests, and during the drought a leafless period occurs, which varies with species type. Because trees lose moisture through their leaves, the shedding of leaves allows trees such as teak, the newly bare trees open up the canopy layer, enabling sunlight to reach ground level and facilitate the growth of thick underbrush. Trees on moister sites and those with access to ground water tend to be evergreen, infertile sites also tend to support evergreen trees. Mammalian biomass tends to be higher in dry forests than in rain forests, many of these species display extraordinary adaptations to the difficult climate. This biome is alternately known as the tropical bane forest biome or the tropical and subtropical deciduous forest biome, locally some of these forests are also called monsoon forests, and they tend to merge into savannas. The most diverse dry forests in the occur in southern Mexico. The dry forests of the Pacific Coast of northwestern South America support a wealth of species due to their dry climate. The Maputaland-Pondoland bushland and thickets along the east coast of South Africa are diverse, the dry forests of central India and Indochina are notable for their diverse large vertebrate faunas. Madagascar dry deciduous forests and New Caledonia dry forests are highly distinctive for a wide range of taxa. Trees use underground water during the dry seasons, effective conservation of dry broadleaf forests requires the preservation of large and continuous areas of forest. Large natural areas are required to maintain larger predators and other vertebrates, the persistence of riparian forests and water sources is critical for many dry forest species. Large swathes of intact forest are required to allow species to recover from occasional large events, holdridge life zones in Guatemala Seasonal tropical forest Tropical vegetation WWF - Tropical and Subtropical Dry Broadleaf Forest Ecoregions. Much material in this article has been reworked from Tropical and Subtropical Dry Broadleaf Forests, the Tropical Dry Forest of Costa Rica
34.
Seaweed
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Seaweed refers to several species of macroscopic, multicellular, marine algae. The term includes some types of red, brown, and green algae, seaweed can also be classified by use. Seaweed is a term and lacks a formal definition. A seaweed may belong to one of groups of multicellular algae, the red algae, green algae. As these three groups do not have a common ancestor, the seaweed are in a polyphyletic group. In addition, some tuft-forming bluegreen algae are sometimes considered to be seaweed, seaweeds appearance somewhat resembles non-arboreal terrestrial plants. Two specific environmental requirements dominate seaweed ecology and these are the presence of seawater and the presence of light sufficient to drive photosynthesis. Another common requirement is an attachment point, although some genera such as Sargassum. As a result, seaweed most commonly inhabit the part of a sea that is close to the shore, seaweed occupy a wide range of ecological niches. The highest elevation is only wetted by the tops of sea spray, in some areas, littoral seaweed can extend several miles out to sea. The limiting factor in such cases is sunlight availability, the deepest living seaweed are some species of red algae. Others have adapted to live in rock pools. In this habitat seaweed must withstand rapidly changing temperature and salinity, seaweed has a variety of purposes, for which it is farmed or foraged from the wild. At the beginning of 2011, Indonesia produced 3 million tonnes of seaweed and surpassed the Philippines as the worlds largest seaweed producer, by 2011, the production was estimated to have reached 10 million tonnes. Seaweed is consumed by people, particularly in East Asia, e. g. Japan, China, Korea, Taiwan. In Asia, Gim, nori, zicai are sheets of dried Porphyra used in soups, chondrus crispus is another red alga used in producing food additives, along with Kappaphycus and gigartinoid seaweed. Porphyra is a red alga used in Wales to make laver, laverbread, made from oats and the laver, is a popular dish there. In northern Belize, edible seaweed are mixed with milk, nutmeg, cinnamon, seaweed are also harvested or cultivated for the extraction of alginate, agar and carrageenan, gelatinous substances collectively known as hydrocolloids or phycocolloids
35.
Seagrass
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Seagrasses are flowering plants belonging to four families, all in the order Alismatales, which grow in marine, fully saline environments. There are 12 genera with some 60 species known, like all autotrophic plants, seagrasses photosynthesize so are limited to growing in the submerged photic zone, and most occur in shallow and sheltered coastal waters anchored in sand or mud bottoms. Most species undergo submarine pollination and complete their life cycle underwater. Seagrasses form extensive beds or meadows, which can be either monospecific or in mixed beds where more than one species coexist. In temperate areas, usually one or a few species dominate, whereas tropical beds usually are more diverse, some fish species that visit/feed on seagrasses raise their young in adjacent mangroves or coral reefs. Also, seagrasses trap sediment and slow down water movement, causing suspended sediment to fall out, the trapping of sediment benefits coral by reducing sediment loads in the water. Their importance for associated species is due to provision of shelter. Seagrass meadows account for more than 10% of the total carbon storage. Per hectare, it twice as much carbon dioxide as rain forests. Yearly, seagrasses sequester about 27.4 million tons of CO2, global warming models suggest, some seagrasses will go extinct – Posidonia oceanica is expected to go extinct, or nearly so, by 2050. This would result in CO2 release, historically, seagrasses were collected as fertilizer for sandy soil. This was an important use in the Ria de Aveiro, Portugal and it was also used for bandages and other purposes. Currently, seagrass is used in furniture, and woven like rattan, natural disturbances, such as grazing, storms, ice-scouring, and desiccation, are an inherent part of seagrass ecosystem dynamics. Seagrasses display a high degree of phenotypic plasticity, adapting rapidly to changing environmental conditions. Seagrasses are in decline, with some 30,000 km2 lost during recent decades. The main cause is human disturbance, most notably eutrophication, mechanical destruction of habitat, excessive input of nutrients is directly toxic to seagrasses, but most importantly, it stimulates the growth of epiphytic and free-floating macro- and micro-algae. This weakens the sunlight, reducing the photosynthesis that nourishes the seagrass, decaying seagrass leaves and algae fuels increasing algal blooms, resulting in a positive feedback. This can cause a regime shift from seagrass to algal dominance
36.
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
37.
Salt marsh
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It is dominated by dense stands of salt-tolerant plants such as herbs, grasses, or low shrubs. These plants are terrestrial in origin and are essential to the stability of the marsh in trapping and binding sediments. Salt marshes play a role in the aquatic food web. They also support terrestrial animals and provide coastal protection, salt marshes occur on low-energy shorelines in temperate and high-latitudes which can be stable or emerging, or submerging if the sedimentation rate exceeds the subsidence rate. Commonly these shorelines consist of mud or sand flats which are nourished with sediment from inflowing rivers and these typically include sheltered environments such as embankments, estuaries and the leeward side of barrier islands and spits. In the tropics and sub-tropics they are replaced by mangroves, an area that differs from a marsh in that instead of herbaceous plants. Most salt marshes have a low topography with low elevations but a vast wide area, salt marshes are located among different landforms based on their physical and geomorphological settings. Such marsh landforms include deltaic marshes, estuarine, back-barrier, open coast, embayments, deltaic marshes are associated with large rivers where many occur in Southern Europe such as the Camargue, France in the Rhone delta or the Ebro delta in Spain. They are also extensive within the rivers of the Mississippi Delta in the United States, in New Zealand, most salt marshes occur at the head of estuaries in areas where there is little wave action and high sedimentation. Such marshes are located in Awhitu Regional Park in Auckland, the Manawatu Estuary, back-barrier marshes are sensitive to the reshaping of barriers in the landward side of which they have been formed. They are common along much of the eastern coast of the United States, large, shallow coastal embayments can hold salt marshes with examples including Morecambe Bay and Portsmouth in Britain and the Bay of Fundy in North America. They have a big impact on the biodiversity of the area, salt marsh ecology involves complex food webs which include primary producers, primary consumers, and secondary consumers. The low physical energy and high grasses provide a refuge for animals, many marine fish use salt marshes as nursery grounds for their young before they move to open waters. Saltmarshes across 99 countries were mapped by Mcowen et al, a total of 5,495,089 hectares of mapped saltmarsh across 43 countries and territories are represented in a Geographic Information Systems polygon shapefile. This estimate is at the low end of previous estimates. Mats of filamentous blue-green algae can fix silt and clay sized sediment particles to their sticky sheaths on contact which can increase the erosion resistance of the sediments. This assists the process of sediment accretion to allow colonising species to grow, as a result, competitive species that prefer higher elevations relative to sea level can inhabit the area and often a succession of plant communities develops. Coastal salt marshes can be distinguished from terrestrial habitats by the tidal flow that occurs
38.
Mangrove
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A mangrove is a shrub or small tree that grows in coastal saline or brackish water. The term is used for tropical coastal vegetation consisting of such species. Mangroves are salt tolerant trees, also called halophytes, and are adapted to life in coastal conditions. They contain a complex filtration system and complex root system to cope with salt water immersion. They are adapted to the low oxygen conditions of waterlogged mud, the saline conditions tolerated by various mangrove species range from brackish water, through pure seawater, to water concentrated by evaporation to over twice the salinity of ocean seawater. The term mangrove comes to English from Spanish, and is likely to originate from Guarani and it was earlier mangrow, but this word was corrupted via folk etymology influence of the word grove. Mangrove swamps are found in tropical and subtropical tidal areas, areas where mangal occurs include estuaries and marine shorelines. The intertidal existence to which trees are adapted represents the major limitation to the number of species able to thrive in their habitat. High tide brings in water, and when the tide recedes. The return of tide can flush out these soils, bringing back to salinity levels comparable to that of seawater. At low tide, organisms are exposed to increases in temperature and desiccation. About 110 species are considered mangroves, in the sense of being a tree grows in such a saline swamp, though only a few are from the mangrove plant genus. However, a mangrove swamp typically features only a small number of tree species. It is not uncommon for a mangrove forest in the Caribbean to feature three or four tree species. For comparison, the tropical rainforest biome contains thousands of tree species, though the trees themselves are few in species, the ecosystem that these trees create provides a home for a great variety of other organisms. Mangrove plants require a number of adaptations to overcome the problems of anoxia, high salinity. Each species has its own solutions to problems, this may be the primary reason why, on some shorelines. Small environmental variations within a mangal may lead to greatly differing methods for coping with the environment, once established, mangrove roots provide an oyster habitat and slow water flow, thereby enhancing sediment deposition in areas where it is already occurring
39.
Pliny the Elder
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In the latter number will be my uncle, by virtue of his own and of your compositions. Pliny is referring to the fact that Tacitus relied on his uncles now missing work on the History of the German Wars. The wind caused by the sixth and largest pyroclastic surge of the eruption would not allow his ship to leave the shore, and Pliny probably died during this event. Plinys dates are pinned to the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in AD79 and a statement of his nephew that he died in his 56th year, Pliny was the son of an equestrian, Gaius Plinius Celer, and his wife, Marcella. Neither the younger nor the elder Pliny mention the names and their ultimate source is a fragmentary inscription found in a field in Verona and recorded by the 16th century Augustinian monk Onofrio Panvinio at Verona. The reading of the inscription depends on the reconstruction, but in all cases the names come through, whether he was an augur and whether she was named Grania Marcella are less certain. Jean Hardouin presents a statement from a source that he claims was ancient, that Pliny was from Verona. Hardouin also cites the conterraneity of Catullus, additional efforts to connect Celer and Marcella with other gentes are highly speculative. Hardouin is the scholar to use his unknown source. He kept statues of his ancestors there, a statue of Pliny on the facade of the Duomo of Como celebrates him as a native son. He had a sister, Plinia, who married into the Caecilii and was the mother of his nephew, Pliny the Younger, whose letters describe his work and study regimen in detail. In one of his letters to Tacitus, Pliny the Younger details how his uncles breakfasts would be light and simple following the customs of our forefathers. This shows that Pliny the Younger wanted it to be conveyed that Pliny the Elder was a good Roman and this statement would have pleased Tacitus. Two inscriptions identifying the hometown of Pliny the Younger as Como take precedence over the Verona theory, one commemorates the youngers career as imperial magistrate and details his considerable charitable and municipal expenses on behalf of the people of Como. Another identifies his father Lucius village as Fecchio near Como and it is likely therefore that Plinia was a local girl and Pliny the Elder, her brother, was from Como. Gaius was a member of the Plinii gens and he did not take his fathers cognomen, Celer, but assumed his own, Secundus. As his adopted son took the same cognomen, Pliny founded a branch, no earlier instances of the Plinii are known. In 59 BC, only about 82 years before Plinys birth, Julius Caesar founded Novum Comum as a colonia to secure the region against the Alpine tribes, whom he had been unable to defeat
40.
Colombo
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Colombo is the commercial capital and largest city of Sri Lanka. According to the Brookings Institution, Colombo metropolitan area has a population of 5.6 million and it is the financial centre of the island and a popular tourist destination. It is located on the west coast of the island and adjacent to Sri Jayawardenepura Kotte, Colombo is often referred to as the capital since Sri Jayawardenepura Kotte is within the urban area of, and a satellite city of, Colombo. It is also the capital of Western Province, Sri Lanka. Colombo is a busy and vibrant place with a mixture of life and colonial buildings. It was the capital of Sri Lanka until 1982. Due to its harbour and its strategic position along the East-West sea trade routes. It was made the capital of the island when Sri Lanka was ceded to the British Empire in 1815, in 1978, when administrative functions were moved to Sri Jayawardenepura Kotte, Colombo was designated as the commercial capital of Sri Lanka. The main city is home to a majority of Sri Lankas corporate offices, restaurants, the name Colombo, first introduced by the Portuguese in 1505, is believed to be derived from the classical Sinhalese name කොලොන් තොට Kolon thota, meaning port on the river Kelani. Another belief is that the name is derived from the Sinhalese name කොල-අඹ-තොට Kola-amba-thota which means Harbour with leafy mango trees, the author of the oldest Sinhalese grammar, Sidatsangarava, written in the 13th century wrote about a category of words that exclusively belonged to early Sinhalese. It lists naramba and kolamba as belonging to an indigenous source, kolamba may also be the source of the name of the commercial capital Colombo. As Colombo possesses a harbour, it was known to Indian, Greeks, Persians, Romans, Arabs. Traveller Ibn Batuta who visited the island in the 14th century and their descendants now comprise the local Sri Lankan Moor community. Portuguese explorers led by Dom Lourenço de Almeida first arrived in Sri Lanka in 1505, as part of the treaty, the Portuguese were given full authority over the coastline in exchange for the promise of guarding the coast against invaders. They were allowed to establish a trading post in Colombo, within a short time, however, they expelled the Muslim inhabitants of Colombo and began to build a fort in 1517. Following the fall of the kingdom in 1593, the Portuguese were able to complete control over the coastal area. This part of Colombo is still known as Fort and houses the presidential palace, the area immediately outside Fort is known as Pettah and is a commercial hub. In 1638 the Dutch signed a treaty with King Rajasinha II of Kandy which assured the king assistance in his war against the Portuguese in exchange for a monopoly of the major trade goods
41.
Sethusamudram Shipping Canal Project
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Sethusamudram Shipping Canal Project is a proposed project to create a shipping route in the shallow straits between India and Sri Lanka. This would provide a navigable sea route around the Indian Peninsula. The channel would be dredged in the Sethusamudram sea between Tamil Nadu and Sri Lanka, passing through the shoals of Adams Bridge. The project involves digging a 44.9 nautical miles long deepwater channel linking the shallow Palk Strait with the Gulf of Mannar, conceived in 1860 by Alfred Dundas Taylor, it recently received approval of the Indian government. The proposed route through the shoals of Adams Bridge is opposed by groups on religious. Five alternative routes were considered that avoid damage to the shoals, the most recent plan is to dig the channel roughly in the middle of the straits to provide the shortest course and the course requiring least maintenance. This plan avoids the demoltion of Ram Setu, because of its shallow waters, Sethusamudram—the sea separating Sri Lanka from India—presents a hindrance to navigation through the Palk Strait. Though trade across the India-Sri Lanka divide has been active since at least the first millennium BCE, it has limited to small boats. Larger oceangoing vessels coming from the West have had to navigate around Sri Lanka to reach India eastern coast, eminent British geographer Major James Rennell surveyed the region in late 18th century, he suggested that a navigable passage could be maintained by dredging the of Ramisseram. Little notice was given to his proposal, perhaps because it came from so young and an officer. Efforts were made in 1838 to dredge the canal, but the passage did not remain navigable for any vessels except those with a shallow draft. The project was conceived in 1860 by Commander A. D. Taylor of the Indian Marines. It has been part of the manifestos of all political parties during elections. The Government of India appointed the Sethu Samudram Project Committee in 1955—headed by Dr. A. Ramasamy Mudaliar—which was charged with examining the desirability of the project, after evaluating the costs and benefits, this committee found the project feasible and viable. However it strongly recommended an overland passage instead of a cutting through Ramas Bridge. A land passage would have advantages, such as avoiding shifting sandbanks. Several reviews of the proposals followed until the United Progressive Alliance Government of India headed by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh announced the inauguration of the project on 2 July 2005. In 2008, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh appointed Rajendra K. Pachauri as the head of a committee to look at an alternative alignment avoiding the sensitive Ramar Sethu stretch
42.
Bay of Bengal
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The Bay of Bengal, the largest bay in the world, forms the northeastern part of the Indian Ocean. Roughly triangular, it is bordered mostly by India and Sri Lanka to the west, Bangladesh to the north, and Myanmar, the Bay of Bengal occupies an area of 2,172,000 square kilometres. Among the important ports are Chennai, Chittagong, Colombo, Kolkata, Mongla, Paradip, Tuticorin, Visakhapatnam, on the south, Adams Bridge and from the southern extreme of Dondra Head to the north point of Poeloe Bras. The bay gets its name from the historical Bengal region, in ancient Hindu scriptures, this water body is referred to as Mahodadhi while it appears as Sinus Gangeticus or Gangeticus Sinus, meaning Gulf of the Ganges, in ancient maps. The other Sanskrit names for Bay of Bengal are Vangopasagara, also called as Vangasagara. Even today in Bengali, it is known as Bongoposagor, many major rivers of the Indian subcontinent flow west to east before draining into the Bay of Bengal. The Ganga is the northernmost of these and its main channel enters and flows through Bangladesh, where it is known as the Padma River, before joining the Meghna River. However, the Brahmaputra River flows from east to west in Assam before turning south and this joins the Padma whereupon the Padma joins the Meghna River that finally drains into Bay of Bengal. The Sundarbans mangrove forest at the delta of the Ganges, Brahmaputra and Meghna rivers lies partly in West Bengal, the Brahmaputra at 2,948 km is the 28th longest River in the world. The Hooghly River, another channel of the Ganga that flows through Calcutta drains into Bay of Bengal in India itself, the Ganga–Brahmaputra rivers deposits nearly 1000 million tons of sediment per year. The Bay of Bengal used to be deeper than the Mariana Trench, the fan has buried organic carbon at a rate of nearly 1.1 trillion mol/yr since the early Miocene period. The two rivers currently contribute nearly 8% of the organic carbon deposited in the worlds oceans. Due to high TOC accumulation in the sea bed of the Bay of Bengal. Bangladesh can reclaim land substantially and economically from the sea area by constructing sea dikes, bunds, causeways and by trapping the sediment from its rivers. Further south of Bengal, the Mahanadi, Godavari, Krishna and Kaveri Rivers are the rivers that flow from west to east in the Indian subcontinent. Many small rivers drain directly into the Bay of Bengal. The Irrawaddy River in Myanmar flows into the Andaman Sea of the Bay of Bengal, some of the biggest ports in the world — Chennai, Visakhapatnam, Paradip, Kolkata in India as well as Chittagong and Mongla in Bangladesh — are on the bay. Other Indian ports on the bay include Kakinada, Pondicherry, Dhamra, the islands in the bay are numerous, including the Andaman Islands, Nicobar and Mergui groups of India
43.
International Standard Book Number
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The International Standard Book Number is a unique numeric commercial book identifier. An ISBN is assigned to each edition and variation of a book, for example, an e-book, a paperback and a hardcover edition of the same book would each have a different ISBN. The ISBN is 13 digits long if assigned on or after 1 January 2007, the method of assigning an ISBN is nation-based and varies from country to country, often depending on how large the publishing industry is within a country. The initial ISBN configuration of recognition was generated in 1967 based upon the 9-digit Standard Book Numbering created in 1966, the 10-digit ISBN format was developed by the International Organization for Standardization and was published in 1970 as international standard ISO2108. Occasionally, a book may appear without a printed ISBN if it is printed privately or the author does not follow the usual ISBN procedure, however, this can be rectified later. Another identifier, the International Standard Serial Number, identifies periodical publications such as magazines, the ISBN configuration of recognition was generated in 1967 in the United Kingdom by David Whitaker and in 1968 in the US by Emery Koltay. The 10-digit ISBN format was developed by the International Organization for Standardization and was published in 1970 as international standard ISO2108, the United Kingdom continued to use the 9-digit SBN code until 1974. The ISO on-line facility only refers back to 1978, an SBN may be converted to an ISBN by prefixing the digit 0. For example, the edition of Mr. J. G. Reeder Returns, published by Hodder in 1965, has SBN340013818 -340 indicating the publisher,01381 their serial number. This can be converted to ISBN 0-340-01381-8, the check digit does not need to be re-calculated, since 1 January 2007, ISBNs have contained 13 digits, a format that is compatible with Bookland European Article Number EAN-13s. An ISBN is assigned to each edition and variation of a book, for example, an ebook, a paperback, and a hardcover edition of the same book would each have a different ISBN. The ISBN is 13 digits long if assigned on or after 1 January 2007, a 13-digit ISBN can be separated into its parts, and when this is done it is customary to separate the parts with hyphens or spaces. Separating the parts of a 10-digit ISBN is also done with either hyphens or spaces, figuring out how to correctly separate a given ISBN number is complicated, because most of the parts do not use a fixed number of digits. ISBN issuance is country-specific, in that ISBNs are issued by the ISBN registration agency that is responsible for country or territory regardless of the publication language. Some ISBN registration agencies are based in national libraries or within ministries of culture, in other cases, the ISBN registration service is provided by organisations such as bibliographic data providers that are not government funded. In Canada, ISBNs are issued at no cost with the purpose of encouraging Canadian culture. In the United Kingdom, United States, and some countries, where the service is provided by non-government-funded organisations. Australia, ISBNs are issued by the library services agency Thorpe-Bowker
44.
Great Soviet Encyclopedia
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The Great Soviet Encyclopedia is one of the largest Russian-language encyclopedias. Published by the Soviet state from 1926 to 1990, and again since 2002 by Russia, the GSE claimed to be the first Marxist-Leninist general-purpose encyclopedia. The idea of the Great Soviet Encyclopedia emerged in 1923 on the initiative of Otto Schmidt, also involved was Anatoly Lunacharsky, Commissar of Enlightenment, who had previously been involved with a proposal by Alexander Bogdanov and Maxim Gorky to produce a Workers Encyclopedia. The first edition of 65 volumes was published during 1926–1947, the editor being Otto Schmidt. The second edition of 50 volumes was published in 1950–1958, chief editors, Sergei Vavilov and Boris Vvedensky, the third edition of 1969–1978 contains 30 volumes. Volume 24 is in two books, one being a book about the USSR, all with about 21 million words. In the third edition, much attention was paid to the problems of natural sciences, physical and chemical sciences. From 1957 to 1990, the Yearbook of the Great Soviet Encyclopedia was released annually with up-to-date articles about the Soviet Union, the first online edition, an exact replica of text and graphics of the third edition, was published by Rubricon. com in 2000. With exhaustive completeness it must show the superiority of socialist culture over the culture of the capitalist world, operating on Marxist-Leninist theory, the encyclopedia should give a party criticism of contemporary bourgeois tendencies in various provinces of science and technics. The third edition of the GSE subsequently expanded on the role of education, Education is essential to preparing for life and it is the basic means by which people come to know and acquire culture, and it is the foundation of cultures development. A. Vvedensky stating their compliance with the 1949 decree of the Council of Ministers and they are working under a government directive that orders them to orient their encyclopedia as sharply as a political tract. The encyclopedia was planned to provide the intellectual underpinning for the Soviet world offensive in the duel for mens minds. The Soviet government ordered it as a propaganda weapon. And the government attaches such importance to its political role that its board of editors is chosen by and is only to the high Council of Ministers itself. The third edition was translated and published into English in 31 volumes between 1974 and 1983 by Macmillan Publishers, not all entries were translated into English, these are indicated in the index. Articles from the English edition are available online by TheFreeDictionary. com. The third edition was translated into Greek and published in 34 volumes between 1977 and 1983, all articles that were related to Greece or Greek history, culture and society were expanded and hundreds of new ones were written especially for the Greek edition. Thus the encyclopedia contains, for example, both the Russian entry on Greece as well as a larger one prepared by Greek contributors
45.
Wayback Machine
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The Internet Archive launched the Wayback Machine in October 2001. It was set up by Brewster Kahle and Bruce Gilliat, and is maintained with content from Alexa Internet, the service enables users to see archived versions of web pages across time, which the archive calls a three dimensional index. Since 1996, the Wayback Machine has been archiving cached pages of websites onto its large cluster of Linux nodes and it revisits sites every few weeks or months and archives a new version. Sites can also be captured on the fly by visitors who enter the sites URL into a search box, the intent is to capture and archive content that otherwise would be lost whenever a site is changed or closed down. The overall vision of the machines creators is to archive the entire Internet, the name Wayback Machine was chosen as a reference to the WABAC machine, a time-traveling device used by the characters Mr. Peabody and Sherman in The Rocky and Bullwinkle Show, an animated cartoon. These crawlers also respect the robots exclusion standard for websites whose owners opt for them not to appear in search results or be cached, to overcome inconsistencies in partially cached websites, Archive-It. Information had been kept on digital tape for five years, with Kahle occasionally allowing researchers, when the archive reached its fifth anniversary, it was unveiled and opened to the public in a ceremony at the University of California, Berkeley. Snapshots usually become more than six months after they are archived or, in some cases, even later. The frequency of snapshots is variable, so not all tracked website updates are recorded, Sometimes there are intervals of several weeks or years between snapshots. After August 2008 sites had to be listed on the Open Directory in order to be included. As of 2009, the Wayback Machine contained approximately three petabytes of data and was growing at a rate of 100 terabytes each month, the growth rate reported in 2003 was 12 terabytes/month, the data is stored on PetaBox rack systems manufactured by Capricorn Technologies. In 2009, the Internet Archive migrated its customized storage architecture to Sun Open Storage, in 2011 a new, improved version of the Wayback Machine, with an updated interface and fresher index of archived content, was made available for public testing. The index driving the classic Wayback Machine only has a bit of material past 2008. In January 2013, the company announced a ground-breaking milestone of 240 billion URLs, in October 2013, the company announced the Save a Page feature which allows any Internet user to archive the contents of a URL. This became a threat of abuse by the service for hosting malicious binaries, as of December 2014, the Wayback Machine contained almost nine petabytes of data and was growing at a rate of about 20 terabytes each week. Between October 2013 and March 2015 the websites global Alexa rank changed from 162 to 208, in a 2009 case, Netbula, LLC v. Chordiant Software Inc. defendant Chordiant filed a motion to compel Netbula to disable the robots. Netbula objected to the motion on the ground that defendants were asking to alter Netbulas website, in an October 2004 case, Telewizja Polska USA, Inc. v. Echostar Satellite, No.02 C3293,65 Fed. 673, a litigant attempted to use the Wayback Machine archives as a source of admissible evidence, Telewizja Polska is the provider of TVP Polonia and EchoStar operates the Dish Network
46.
Indian subcontinent
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Geologically, the Indian subcontinent is related to the land mass that rifted from Gondwana and merged with the Eurasian plate nearly 55 million years ago. Geographically, it is the region in south-central Asia delineated by the Himalayas in the north, the Hindu Kush in the west. Politically, the Indian subcontinent usually includes Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan, sometimes, the term South Asia is used interchangeably with Indian subcontinent. There is no consensus about which countries should be included in each and it is first attested in 1845 to refer to the North and South Americas, before they were regarded as separate continents. Its use to refer to the Indian subcontinent is seen from the twentieth century. It was especially convenient for referring to the region comprising both the British India and the states under British Paramountcy. The term Indian subcontinent also has a geological significance and it was, like the various continents, a part of the supercontinent of Gondwana. A series of tectonic splits caused formation of basins, each drifting in various directions. The geological region called the Greater India once included the Madagascar, Seychelles, Antartica, as a geological term, Indian subcontinent has meant that region formed from the collision of the Indian basin with Eurasia nearly 55 million years ago, towards the end of Paleocene. The Indian subcontinent has been a particularly common in the British Empire. The region, state Mittal and Thursby, has also labelled as India, Greater India. The BBC and some sources refer to the region as the Asian Subcontinent. Some academics refer to it as South Asian Subcontinent, the terms Indian subcontinent and South Asia are sometimes used interchangeably. There is no accepted definition on which countries are a part of South Asia or Indian subcontinent. In dictionary entries, the term subcontinent signifies a large, distinguishable subdivision of a continent, the region experienced high volcanic activity and plate subdivisions, creating Madagascar, Seychelles, Antartica, Austrolasia and the Indian subcontinent basin. The Indian subcontinent drifted northeastwards, colliding with the Eurasian plate nearly 55 million years ago and this geological region largely includes Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka. The zone where the Eurasian and Indian subcontinent plates meet remains one of the active areas. The English term mainly continues to refer to the Indian subcontinent, physiographically, it is a peninsular region in south-central Asia delineated by the Himalayas in the north, the Hindu Kush in the west, and the Arakanese in the east
47.
Beas River
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The Beas River also known as the Biás or Bias, is a river in north India. The river rises in the Himalayas in central Himachal Pradesh, India and its total length is 470 kilometres and its drainage basin is 20,303 square kilometres large. The river was known as Arjikuja of the Vedas, or Vipasa to the ancient Indians. It is said that Beas is a misnomer for Vyasa and is named after Veda Vyasa, the patron of the river, he is said to have created it from its source lake. The Beas River marks the eastern-most border of Alexander the Greats conquests in 326 BC and it was one of the rivers which created problems in Alexanders invasion of India. His troops mutinied here in 326 BCE, refusing to go any further, Alexander shut himself in his tent for three days, but when his men did not change their desires he gave in, raising twelve colossal altars to mark the limit and glory of his expedition. According to the Kavyamimansa of Rajasekhara, the kingdom-territories of the Gurjara-Pratihara monarch Mahipala I extended as far as the course of the river Beas in the north-west. In the 20th century, the river was developed under the Beas Project for irrigation, the second-phase Pong Dam was completed in 1974 followed by the first-phase 140 kilometres upstream, Pandoh Dam in 1977. The Pong Dam served initially to provide irrigation below Talwara but was soon developed as well for power generation. The Pandoh Dam diverts the river through a system of tunnels and channels to the 990 MW Dehar Power Station on the Sutlej River, the river rises 4,361 metres above sea-level on the southern face of Rohtang Pass in Kullu. It traverses the Mandi District and enters the Kangra District at Sandhol,590 metres above sea-level, during its lower course the Beas is crossed by numerous ferries, many of which consist of inflated skins. Near Reh in Kangra District it divides into three channels, which reunite after passing Mirthal,300 metres above sea-level, on meeting the Sivalik Hills in Hoshiarpur, the river sweeps sharply northward, forming the boundary with Kangra District. Then bending round the base of the Sivalik Hills, it takes the southerly direction, after touching the Jullundur district for a short distance, the river forms the boundary between Amritsar and Kapurthala. Finally the Beas joins the river Sutlej at the boundary of Kapurthala district of Punjab after a total course of 470 kilometres. The chief tributaries are Bain, Banganga, Luni and Uhal, the Sutlej continues into Pakistani Punjab and joins the Chenab River at Uch near Bahawalpur to form the Panjnad River, the latter in turn joins the Indus River at Mithankot. The water of the Beas river is allocated to India under the terms of the Indus Waters Treaty between India and Pakistan. On 8 June 2014,24 engineering students, and one operator, were drowned when the flood gates of the Larji dam were opened, allegedly without proper warnings. The water level rose suddenly to 5 to 6 feet, and the surge carried the students away
48.
Betwa River
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The Betwa or Betravati is a river in Northern India, and a tributary of the Yamuna. Also known as the Vetravati, the Betwa rises in the Vindhya Range just north of Hoshangabad in Madhya Pradesh and flows north-east through Madhya Pradesh, nearly half of its course, which is not navigable, runs over the Malwa Plateau. The confluence of the Betwa and the Yamuna Rivers is Hamirpur town in Uttar Pradesh, the Indian navy named one of its frigates INS Betwa in honour of the river Betwa. This river is mentioned in the epic Mahabharata along with the Charmanwati river, Vetravati was also known as Shuktimati. In accordance with an agreement between the states of Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh in 1973, Betwa River Board was constituted under the Betwa River Board Act,1976. The Betwa River is being linked with the Ken River as a part of the linking project in Madhya Pradesh. Another noteworthy project on the Betwa River is the construction of the Matatila Dam, the region is important for migratory waterbirds. An ambitious pro-ject to link Ken and Betwarivers has become a stage foraunique man-animal con-flict, proponents of the pro-ject, led by the Union WaterMinistry, say that the pro-posed Daudhan dam and the2. Rajghat Dam Matatila Dam Parichha Dam Dhurwara Dam Yamuna Ganga INS Betwa frigate Betwa River Ken-Betwa river link project to cost Rs 4,500 cr Business Line Chisholm, Hugh, ed. Betwa
