1.
Pacific Ocean
–
The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of the Earths oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean in the south and is bounded by Asia and Australia in the west, the Mariana Trench in the western North Pacific is the deepest point in the world, reaching a depth of 10,911 metres. Both the center of the Water Hemisphere and the Western Hemisphere are in the Pacific Ocean, the oceans current name was coined by Portuguese explorer Ferdinand Magellan during the Spanish circumnavigation of the world in 1521, as he encountered favourable winds on reaching the ocean. He called it Mar Pacífico, which in both Portuguese and Spanish means peaceful sea, important human migrations occurred in the Pacific in prehistoric times. Long-distance trade developed all along the coast from Mozambique to Japan, trade, and therefore knowledge, extended to the Indonesian islands but apparently not Australia. By at least 878 when there was a significant Islamic settlement in Canton much of trade was controlled by Arabs or Muslims. In 219 BC Xu Fu sailed out into the Pacific searching for the elixir of immortality, from 1404 to 1433 Zheng He led expeditions into the Indian Ocean. The east side of the ocean was discovered by Spanish explorer Vasco Núñez de Balboa in 1513 after his expedition crossed the Isthmus of Panama and he named it Mar del Sur because the ocean was to the south of the coast of the isthmus where he first observed the Pacific. Later, Portuguese explorer Ferdinand Magellan sailed the Pacific East to West on a Castilian expedition of world circumnavigation starting in 1519, Magellan called the ocean Pacífico because, after sailing through the stormy seas off Cape Horn, the expedition found calm waters. The ocean was often called the Sea of Magellan in his honor until the eighteenth century, sailing around and east of the Moluccas, between 1525 and 1527, Portuguese expeditions discovered the Caroline Islands, the Aru Islands, and Papua New Guinea. In 1542–43 the Portuguese also reached Japan, in 1564, five Spanish ships consisting of 379 explorers crossed the ocean from Mexico led by Miguel López de Legazpi and sailed to the Philippines and Mariana Islands. The Manila galleons operated for two and a half centuries linking Manila and Acapulco, in one of the longest trade routes in history, Spanish expeditions also discovered Tuvalu, the Marquesas, the Cook Islands, the Solomon Islands, and the Admiralty Islands in the South Pacific. In the 16th and 17th century Spain considered the Pacific Ocean a Mare clausum—a sea closed to other naval powers, as the only known entrance from the Atlantic the Strait of Magellan was at times patrolled by fleets sent to prevent entrance of non-Spanish ships. On the western end of the Pacific Ocean the Dutch threatened the Spanish Philippines, Spain also sent expeditions to the Pacific Northwest reaching Vancouver Island in southern Canada, and Alaska. The French explored and settled Polynesia, and the British made three voyages with James Cook to the South Pacific and Australia, Hawaii, and the North American Pacific Northwest, one of the earliest voyages of scientific exploration was organized by Spain in the Malaspina Expedition of 1789–1794. It sailed vast areas of the Pacific, from Cape Horn to Alaska, Guam and the Philippines, New Zealand, Australia, and the South Pacific. Growing imperialism during the 19th century resulted in the occupation of much of Oceania by other European powers, and later, Japan, in Oceania, France got a leading position as imperial power after making Tahiti and New Caledonia protectorates in 1842 and 1853 respectively. After navy visits to Easter Island in 1875 and 1887, Chilean navy officer Policarpo Toro managed to negotiate an incorporation of the island into Chile with native Rapanui in 1888, by occupying Easter Island, Chile joined the imperial nations
2.
United States
–
Forty-eight of the fifty states and the federal district are contiguous and located in North America between Canada and Mexico. The state of Alaska is in the northwest corner of North America, bordered by Canada to the east, the state of Hawaii is an archipelago in the mid-Pacific Ocean. The U. S. territories are scattered about the Pacific Ocean, the geography, climate and wildlife of the country are extremely diverse. At 3.8 million square miles and with over 324 million people, the United States is the worlds third- or fourth-largest country by area, third-largest by land area. It is one of the worlds most ethnically diverse and multicultural nations, paleo-Indians migrated from Asia to the North American mainland at least 15,000 years ago. European colonization began in the 16th century, the United States emerged from 13 British colonies along the East Coast. Numerous disputes between Great Britain and the following the Seven Years War led to the American Revolution. On July 4,1776, during the course of the American Revolutionary War, the war ended in 1783 with recognition of the independence of the United States by Great Britain, representing the first successful war of independence against a European power. The current constitution was adopted in 1788, after the Articles of Confederation, the first ten amendments, collectively named the Bill of Rights, were ratified in 1791 and designed to guarantee many fundamental civil liberties. During the second half of the 19th century, the American Civil War led to the end of slavery in the country. By the end of century, the United States extended into the Pacific Ocean. The Spanish–American War and World War I confirmed the status as a global military power. The end of the Cold War and the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991 left the United States as the sole superpower. The U. S. is a member of the United Nations, World Bank, International Monetary Fund, Organization of American States. The United States is a developed country, with the worlds largest economy by nominal GDP. It ranks highly in several measures of performance, including average wage, human development, per capita GDP. While the U. S. economy is considered post-industrial, characterized by the dominance of services and knowledge economy, the United States is a prominent political and cultural force internationally, and a leader in scientific research and technological innovations. In 1507, the German cartographer Martin Waldseemüller produced a map on which he named the lands of the Western Hemisphere America after the Italian explorer and cartographer Amerigo Vespucci
3.
Guam
–
Guam is an unincorporated and organized territory of the United States. Located in the western Pacific Ocean, Guam is one of five American territories with a civilian government. The capital city is Hagåtña and the most populous city is Dededo, in 2015,161,785 people resided on Guam. Guamanians are American citizens by birth, Guam has an area of 210 sq mi and a population density of 770/sq mi. It is the largest and southernmost of the Mariana Islands and the largest island in Micronesia, among its municipalities, Mongmong-Toto-Maite has the highest density at 3, 691/sq mi, whereas Inarajan and Umatac have the lowest density at 119/sq mi. The highest point is Mount Lamlam at 406 meters above sea level, the Chamorros, Guams indigenous people, settled the island approximately 4,000 years ago. Portuguese explorer Ferdinand Magellan was the first European to visit the island on March 6,1521, Guam was colonized in 1668 with settlers, like Diego Luis de San Vitores, a Catholic missionary. Between the 16th century and the 18th century, Guam was an important stopover for the Spanish Manila Galleons, during the Spanish–American War, the United States captured Guam on June 21,1898. Under the Treaty of Paris, Spain ceded Guam to the United States on December 10,1898, Guam is among the seventeen Non-Self-Governing Territories of the United Nations. Before World War II, Guam and three other territories – American Samoa, Hawaii, and the Philippines – were the only American jurisdictions in the Pacific Ocean. On December 7,1941, hours after the attack on Pearl Harbor, Guam was captured by the Japanese, during the occupation, Guamanians were subjected to beheadings, forced labor, rape, and torture. Guam endured hostilities when American forces recaptured the island on July 21,1944, since the 1960s, the economy is supported by two industries, tourism and the United States Armed Forces. The original inhabitants of Guam and the Northern Mariana Islands are believed to be descendants of Austronesian people originating from Southeast Asia as early as 2000 BC and they evolved into the Chamorro people. The ancient-Chamorro society had four classes, chamorri, matua, achaot, the matua were located in the coastal villages, which meant they had the best access to fishing grounds, whereas the manachang were located in the interior of the island. Matua and manachang rarely communicated with other, and matua often used achaot as intermediaries. There were also makåhna, skilled in healing and medicine, belief in spirits of ancient Chamorros called Taotao mona still persists as a remnant of pre-European culture. Their society was organized along matrilineal clans, Latte stones are stone pillars that are found only in the Mariana Islands, and, they are a recent development in Pre-Contact Chamorro society. The latte-stone was used as a foundation on which thatched huts were built, Latte stones consist of a base shaped from limestone called the haligi and with a capstone, or tåsa, made either from a large brain coral or limestone, placed on top
4.
Northern Mariana Islands
–
The CNMI includes all islands in the Mariana Archipelago except Guam which is the southernmost island of the chain and a separate U. S. territory. The United States Department of the Interior cites a landmass of 183.5 square miles, according to the 2010 United States Census,53,883 people were living in the CNMI at that time. The vast majority of the population resides on Saipan, Tinian, the administrative center is Capitol Hill, a village in northwestern Saipan. However, most publications consider Saipan to be the capital because the island is governed as a single municipality, the first people of the Mariana Islands immigrated at some point between 4000 BC and 2000 BC from Southeast Asia. After first contact with Spaniards, they became known as the Chamorros, a Spanish word similar to Chamori. The ancient people of the Marianas raised colonnades of megalithic capped pillars called latte stones upon which they built their homes, the first European explorer of the area, the Portuguese navigator Ferdinand Magellan, arrived in 1521. He landed on Guam, the southernmost island of the Marianas, the Spanish ships were met offshore by the native Chamorros, who delivered refreshments and then helped themselves to a small boat belonging to Magellans fleet. This led to a clash, in Chamorro tradition, little property was private and taking something one needed, such as a boat for fishing. The Spanish did not understand this custom, and fought the Chamorros until the boat was recovered, three days after he had been welcomed on his arrival, Magellan fled the archipelago. Spain regarded the islands as annexed and later made part of the Spanish East Indies. In 1734, the Spanish built a palace in Guam for the governor of the islands. Its remains are visible even in the 21st century, see the Plaza de España article, Guam operated as an important stopover between Manila and Mexico for galleons carrying gold between the Philippines and Spain. Some galleons sunk in Guam remain, in 1668, Father Diego Luis de San Vitores renamed the islands Las Marianas in honor of his patroness the Spanish regent Mariana of Austria, widow of Felipe IV. Most of the native population died from Spanish diseases or married non-Chamorro settlers under Spanish rule. New settlers, primarily from the Philippines and the Caroline Islands, were brought to repopulate the islands, the Chamorro population gradually recovered, and Chamorro, Filipino, and Carolinian languages and other ethnic differences remain in the Marianas. During the 17th century, Spanish colonists forcibly moved the Chamorros to Guam, by the time they were allowed to return to the Northern Marianas, many Carolinians from present-day eastern Yap State and western Chuuk State had settled in the Marianas. Both languages, as well as English, are now official in the Commonwealth, the Northern Marianas experienced an influx of immigration from the Carolines during the 19th century. Both this Carolinian subethnicity and Carolinians in the Carolines archipelago refer to themselves as the Refaluwasch, the indigenous Chamoru word for the same group of people is gupalao
5.
Archipelago
–
An archipelago, sometimes called an island group or island chain, is a chain, cluster or collection of islands. The word archipelago is derived from the Greek ἄρχι- – arkhi-, in Italian, possibly following a tradition of antiquity, the Archipelago was the proper name for the Aegean Sea and, later, usage shifted to refer to the Aegean Islands. It is now used to refer to any group or, sometimes. Archipelagos may be isolated in large amounts of water or neighbouring a large land mass. For example, Scotland has more than 700 islands surrounding its mainland which form an archipelago, archipelagos are often volcanic, forming along island arcs generated by subduction zones or hotspots, but may also be the result of erosion, deposition, and land elevation. Depending on their origin, islands forming archipelagos can be referred to as oceanic islands, continental fragments. Oceanic islands are mainly of volcanic origin, continental fragments correspond to land masses that have separated from a continental mass due to tectonic displacement. Indonesia, Japan, Taiwan, the Philippines, New Zealand, Maldives, the Bahamas, Greece, Hawaii, the largest archipelagic state in the world by area and population is Indonesia. Island arc List of landforms List of archipelagos by number of islands List of archipelagos List of islands Chisholm, Hugh, ed. Archipelago
6.
Philippine Sea
–
The Philippine Sea is a marginal sea east and northeast of the Philippines occupying an estimated surface area of 5 million km². of the western part of the North Pacific Ocean. The sea has a complex and diverse undersea relief, the floor is formed into a structural basin by a series of geologic faults and fracture zones. Island arcs, which are actually extended ridges protruding above the surface due to plate tectonic activity in the area, enclose the Philippine Sea to the north, east. The Philippine archipelago, Ryukyu Islands, and the Marianas are examples, another prominent feature of the Philippine Sea is the presence of deep sea trenches, among them the Philippine Trench and the Mariana Trench, containing the deepest point on the planet. The Philippine Sea is by the Philippines and Taiwan to the west, Japan to the north, the International Hydrographic Organization defines the Philippine Sea as that area of the North Pacific Ocean off the Eastern coasts of the Philippine Islands, bounded as follows, On the West. By the Eastern limits of the East Indian Archipelago, South China Sea, by the Southeast coast of Kyushu, the Southern and Eastern limits of the Inland Sea and the South coast of Honshu Island. By the ridge joining Japan to the Bonin, Volcano and Ladrone Islands, by a line joining Guam, Yap, Pelew and Halmahera Islands. The Philippine Sea Plate forms the floor of the Philippine Sea and it subducts under the Philippine Mobile Belt which carries most of the Philippine archipelago and eastern Taiwan. Between the two plates is the Philippine Trench, the Philippine Sea hosts an exotic marine ecosystem. About five hundred species of hard and soft corals occur in the waters and 20 per cent of the worldwide known shellfish species are found in Philippine waters. Sea turtles, sharks, moray eels, octopuses and sea snakes along with species of fish such as tuna can commonly be observed. Additionally, the Philippine Sea serves as spawning ground for Japanese eel, tuna, later it was discovered by other Spanish explorers from 1522 to 1565 and the site of the famous galleon trade route. Between June 19 and 20,1944, the Battle of the Philippine Sea took place in the eastern Philippine Sea, the aircraft carriers Taihō, Shōkaku, Junyō, Hiyō and Ryuho were bombed, torpedoed and sunk by American carrier-based planes and assaulted from other naval vessels. The aerial part of the Battle of the Philippine Sea was nicknamed the “Great Marianas Turkey Shoot” due to losses of Japanese aircraft. The battle facilitated the Allied conquests of Saipan, Guam and Tinian in the Marianas, Palau in the Southwest, following an escalation of the Spratly Islands dispute in 2011, various Philippine government agencies started using the neologism West Philippine Sea to refer to the South China Sea. However, a PAGASA spokesperson said that the sea to the east of the Philippines will continue to be called the Philippine Sea, Philippine Trench Philippine Sea Plate Benham Rise Devils Sea
7.
Oceania
–
Oceania, also known as Oceanica, is a region centred on the islands of the tropical Pacific Ocean. The term is used more specifically to denote a continent comprising Australia. The term was coined as Océanie circa 1812 by geographer Conrad Malte-Brun, the word Océanie is a French word derived from the Latin word oceanus, and this from the Greek word ὠκεανός, ocean. Natives and inhabitants of this region are called Oceanians or Oceanicans, as an ecozone, Oceania includes all of Micronesia, Fiji, and all of Polynesia except New Zealand. New Zealand, along with New Guinea and nearby islands, part of the Philippine islands, Australia, the Solomon Islands, Vanuatu, in geopolitical terms, however, New Zealand, the Solomon Islands, Vanuatu and New Caledonia are almost always considered part of Oceania. Australia and Papua New Guinea are usually considered part of Oceania along with the Maluku Islands, puncak Jaya in Papua is often considered the highest peak in Oceania. Oceania was originally conceived as the lands of the Pacific Ocean and it comprised four regions, Polynesia, Micronesia, Malaysia, and Melanesia. The area extends to Sumatra in the west, the Bonin Islands in the northwest, the Hawaiian Islands in the northeast, Rapa Nui and Sala y Gómez Island in the east, and Macquarie Island in the south. Not included are the Pacific islands of Taiwan, the Ryukyu Islands and the Japanese archipelago, all on the margins of Asia, and the Aleutian Islands of North America. The islands at the extremes of Oceania are Bonin, a politically integral part of Japan, Hawaii, a state of the United States. There is also a geographic definition that excludes land on the Sunda Plate. Biogeographically, Oceania is used as a synonym for either the Australasian ecozone or the Pacific ecozone, Oceania is one of eight terrestrial ecozones, which constitute the major ecological regions of the planet. The Oceania ecozone includes all of Micronesia, Fiji, and all of Polynesia except New Zealand, New Zealand, New Guinea, Melanesia apart from Fiji, and Australia constitute the separate Australasian ecozone. The Malay Archipelago is part of the Indomalaya ecozone, related to these concepts are Near Oceania, that part of western Island Melanesia which has been inhabited for tens of millennia, and Remote Oceania which is more recently settled. The term is used to denote a continent comprising Australia. New Zealand forms the corner of the Polynesian Triangle. Its indigenous Māori constitute one of the cultures of Polynesia. It is also, however, considered part of Australasia, the history of Oceania in the medieval period was synonymous with the history of the indigenous peoples of Australasia, Micronesia, Melanesia, Polynesia
8.
Micronesia
–
Micronesia is a subregion of Oceania, comprising thousands of small islands in the western Pacific Ocean. It has a cultural history with two other island regions, Polynesia to the east and Melanesia to the south. The region has a marine climate, and is part of the Oceania ecozone. There are four main archipelagos along with numerous outlying islands, Micronesia is divided politically among several sovereign countries. One of these is the Federated States of Micronesia, which is often called Micronesia for short and is not to be confused with the overall region, Micronesia began to be settled several millennia ago, although there are competing theories about the origin and arrival of the first settlers. The earliest known contact with Europeans occurred in 1521, when Ferdinand Magellan reached the Marianas, the coinage of the term Micronesia is usually attributed to Jules Dumont dUrvilles usage in 1832, however Domeny de Rienzi had used the term a year previously. Micronesia is a region that includes approximately 2100 islands, with a land area of 2,700 km2, the largest of which is Guam. The total ocean area within the perimeter of the islands is 7,400,000 km2, there are four main island groups in Micronesia, the Caroline Islands the Gilbert Islands the Mariana Islands the Marshall Islands Plus the island country of Nauru. The Caroline Islands are a widely scattered archipelago consisting of about 500 small coral islands, north of New Guinea, the Gilbert Islands are a chain of sixteen atolls and coral islands, arranged in an approximate north-to-south line. In a geographical sense, the equator serves as the line between the northern Gilbert Islands and the southern Gilbert Islands. The Republic of Kiribati contains all of the Gilberts, as well as the island of Tarawa, the Mariana Islands are an arc-shaped archipelago made up by the summits of fifteen volcanic mountains. Guam and the Northern Marianas are two of the five remaining U. S, the Marshall Islands is an island country, located north of Nauru and Kiribati, east of the Federated States of Micronesia, and south of the U. S. territory of Wake Island. The country consists of 29 low-lying atolls and 5 isolated islands, comprising 1,156 individual islands, the atolls and islands form two groups, the Ratak Chain and the Ralik Chain. All the islands in the chain are part of the Republic of the Marshall Islands, having few natural resources, the islands wealth is based on a service economy, as well as some fishing and agriculture. Of the 29 atolls,24 of them are inhabited, Bikini Atoll is an atoll in the Marshall Islands. There are 23 islands in the Bikini Atoll, the islands of Bokonijien, Aerokojlol, and Nam were vaporized during nuclear tests that occurred there. The islands are composed of low coral limestone аnd sand, the average elevation is only about 2.1 metres above low tide level. Nauru is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean,42 km south of the Equator, listed as the worlds smallest republic
9.
Mariana of Austria
–
Mariana of Austria was Queen consort of Spain as the second spouse of King Philip IV, who was also her maternal uncle. At the death of her husband in 1665, Queen Mariana became regent for her son Charles II, the last Spanish Habsburg, born as Maria Anna on 24 December 1634 in Wiener Neustadt, Austria, she was the granddaughter of Holy Roman Emperor Ferdinand II. Her parents were Ferdinand III and Maria Anna of Spain, the sister of Maria Annas future husband, King Philip IV of Spain. Her father, who would become emperor in 1637, was as yet only King of Hungary and Bohemia and her grandfather Emperor Ferdinand II died when she was 3 and her father became Holy Roman Emperor Ferdinand III. Maria Anna, was the second of six children, three of which died in early childhood and her oldest brother, Ferdinand IV of Hungary died young. Only Maria Anna and her brother, the future Holy Roman Emperor Leopold I. Maria Anna was destined from her years to continue the policy of intermarriage between the two branches of the Habsburg family, the Austrian and the Spanish. In 1646 Maria Anna, then eleven years old, was engaged to her Spanish Habsburg first cousin Balthasar Charles, Prince of Asturias, however, he died only three months later age 16. With Balthasar Charless death, Philip IV was left without a male heir, Philip was a widower, as his beautiful and beloved French wife, Elisabeth of France, had just died a few years prior. The forty-four-year-old Philip decided to marry his fourteen-year-old niece himself, after a marriage by proxy, they were wedded on 7 October 1649 in Navalcarnero, near Madrid, and spent their wedding night at El Escorial. From then on, she went by her name in Spanish, Mariana and Philips marriage was not a happy one due to both Philips infidelities and the age difference between them. Mariana had nothing to do with governance while her husband reigned, instead she buried herself in religion to an extent that was excessive even for her time and place. Mariana and Philips marriage produced five children, however, only two lived into adulthood. Their first child was Margaret Theresa, who was born on 12 July 1651, just as her mother did, she went on to marry her own maternal uncle Leopold I, Holy Roman Emperor. In 1655, Mariana then had another daughter, Maria Ambrosia de la Concepción, during this time, there were those at court who wanted Philip to officially name his eldest daughter, Maria Theresa, as his heir, as she was already heir presumptive according to Spanish tradition. Mariana began feeling the pressure to have a son, eventually, her first son, Philip Prospero, was born on 28 November 1657, who was joyously received. She then gave birth to the Infante Ferdinand Thomas in 1658, sadly, her son Philip Prospero died in 1661. But that same year, Mariana gave birth to her last child, Charles was born physically and mentally disabled
10.
Chamorro people
–
Today, significant Chamorro populations also exist in several U. S. states including Hawaii, California, Washington, Texas, Tennessee, Oregon, and Nevada. According to the 2000 Census, approximately 65,000 people of Chamorro ancestry live on Guam, another 93,000 live outside the Marianas in Hawaii and the West Coast of the United States. The Chamorros are primarily Austronesian, but many also have European, East Asian, the Chamorro language is included in the Malayo-Polynesian subgroup of the Austronesian family. Because Guam was colonized by Spain for over 300 years, many derive from the Spanish language. The traditional Chamorro number system was replaced by Spanish numbers, Chamorro is often spoken in many homes, but is becoming less common. The most said phrase in Chamorro is, Hafa Adai, which means Hello in English, the Chamorro are commonly believed to have come from Southeast Asia at around 2000 BC. They are most closely related to other Austronesian-speaking natives to the west in the Philippines and Taiwan and they were expert seafarers and skilled craftspeople familiar with intricate weaving and detailed pottery-making. The latte, a rock pillar topped with a hemispherical capstone, was used by early Chamorros as foundation for buildings and has since been appropriated as a national symbol. Chamorro farmers were recorded during Spanish times to plant seeds according to the phases of the moon, for example, farmers on Guam often plant tuber crops such as sweet potatoes and yams at full moon during low tide. According to early Chamorro legend, the world was created by a brother and sister, Puntan. Upon dying, Puntan instructed his sister to make his body the ingredients for the universe and she used his eyes to create the sun and moon, his eyebrows to make rainbows, and most of the rest of his parts for various features of the Earth. After she had done, she turned herself into a rock on the island of Guahan/Guam, some believe that the rock was once located at the site of an Agat Church, while others believe it is the phallic-shaped Laso de Fua located in Fouha Bay in Umatac. Ancient Chamorus engaged in ancestor veneration, but did not practice religion in the sense that they worshipped deities, however, there is at least one account, provided by Christoph Carl Fernberger in 1623, that human sacrifice was practiced to curry the favor of a great fish. This claim may be related to a Chamoru legend about why the island of Guam is narrow in the middle, according to the legend, a massive fish was gradually eating away at the island from both sides. Although the ancient Chamoru supposedly had magical abilities, the huge creature eluded them, when the men were unsuccessful in hunting it down, the women used their hair to weave a net, which grew larger as they sang. The singing enchanted the fish, and lured it into the giant net, Chamorro society was divided into two main castes and continued to be so for well over a century after the Spanish first arrived. The Chamori caste was subdivided into the upper-middle class Achoti/Achaot and the highest, Achoti could graduate to Matua, and Matua could be reduced to Achoti, but Manachang were born and died as such and had no recourse to improve their status. Members of the Manachang and the Chamori were not permitted to intermingle, all three classes performed physical labor, but had different specified duties
11.
Tinian
–
Tinian is one of the three principal islands of the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands. Together with uninhabited neighboring Aguijan, it forms Tinian Municipality, one of the four constituent municipalities of the Northern Marianas, Tinians largest village is San Jose. Tinian is about 5 nautical miles southwest of Saipan, from which it is separated by the Saipan Channel and it has a land area of 39 square miles, with its highest elevation at Mount Lasso at 171 meters. The island has a variety of flora and fauna, and limestone cliffs, the Tinian monarch is the islands only endemic bird species and it is threatened by habitat loss. There is a variety of life and coral reefs surrounding the island. Its clear, warm waters are ideal for snorkeling, scuba diving, the population of Tinian was 3,136, which corresponds to less than 5 percent of all residents of the Northern Mariana Islands and a population density of 35 people per km2. Most of the inhabitants are Chamorros and members of other groups of islands in the Caroline Islands. There are also minorities of Filipino, Bangladeshi, East Asian, around 3000 years ago, Tinian was ruled by the Chamorro Chief Taga, who built the biggest stone home with latte stones. A beach on Tinian and the charter airline were named after him. Tinian, together with Saipan, was possibly firstly sighted by Europeans by the Spanish expedition of Ferdinand Magellan, when it made a landfall in the southern Marianas on 6 March 1521. Again, it is likely it was sighted by Gonzalo Gómez de Espinosa in 1522 on board of Spanish ship Trinidad and this would have happened after the sighting of the Maug Islands in between the end of August and end of September. The Spanish formally occupied Tinian in 1669, with the expedition of Diego Luis de San Vitores who named it Buenavista Mariana. From 1670, it became a port of call for Spanish and occasional English, Dutch and French ships as a station for food. The native population, estimated at 40,000 at the time of the Spanish arrival, shrank to less than 1400 due to European-introduced diseases, the survivors were forcibly relocated to Guam in 1720 for better control and assimilation. Under Spanish rule, the island was developed into ranches for raising cattle and pigs, after the Spanish–American War of 1898, Tinian was occupied by the United States. However, it was sold by Spain to the German Empire in 1899. In 1914, during World War I, the island was captured by the Empire of Japan, the island was settled by ethnic Japanese, Koreans and Okinawans, who developed large-scale sugar plantations. Initial efforts to settle the island met with difficulties, including an infestation of scale insects, by June 1944, some 15,700 Japanese civilians were resident on Tinian
12.
Mariana Trench
–
The Mariana Trench or Marianas Trench is the deepest part of the worlds oceans. It is located in the western Pacific Ocean, to the east of the Mariana Islands, the trench is about 2,550 kilometres long with an average width of 69 kilometres. At the bottom of the trench the water column above exerts a pressure of 1,086 bars, more than 1,000 times the standard atmospheric pressure at sea level. At this pressure, the density of water is increased by 4. 96%, the temperature at the bottom is 1 to 4 °C. The trench is not the part of the seafloor closest to the center of the Earth and this is because the Earth is not a perfect sphere, its radius is about 25 kilometres less at the poles than at the equator. As a result, parts of the Arctic Ocean seabed are at least 13 kilometres closer to the Earths center than the Challenger Deep seafloor. Xenophyophores have been found in the trench by Scripps Institution of Oceanography researchers at a depth of 10.6 kilometres below the sea surface. On 17 March 2013, researchers reported data that suggested microbial life forms thrive within the trench, the Mariana Trench is named for the nearby Mariana Islands. The islands are part of the arc that is formed on an over-riding plate, called the Mariana Plate. The Mariana Trench is part of the Izu-Bonin-Mariana subduction system that forms the boundary between two tectonic plates, in this system, the western edge of one plate, the Pacific Plate, is subducted beneath the smaller Mariana Plate that lies to the west. The deepest area at the boundary is the Mariana Trench proper. The movement of the Pacific and Mariana plates is also responsible for the formation of the Mariana Islands. These volcanic islands are caused by melting of the upper mantle due to release of water that is trapped in minerals of the subducted portion of the Pacific Plate. The trench was first sounded during the Challenger expedition in 1875, using a weighted rope, in 1877, a map was published called Tiefenkarte des Grossen Ozeans by Petermann, which showed a Challenger Tief at the location of that sounding. In 1899, USS Nero, a collier, recorded a depth of 5,269 fathoms. In 1951, Challenger II surveyed the trench using echo sounding, during this survey, the deepest part of the trench was recorded when the Challenger II measured a depth of 5,960 fathoms at 11°19′N 142°15′E, known as the Challenger Deep. In 1957, the Soviet vessel Vityaz reported a depth of 11,034 metres at a location dubbed the Mariana Hollow, in 1962, the surface ship M. V. Spencer F. Baird recorded a depth of 10,915 metres using precision depth gauges
13.
Mountain range
–
A mountain range is a geographic area containing numerous geologically related mountains. A mountain system or system of ranges, sometimes is used to combine several geological features that are geographically related. Mountain ranges are usually segmented by highlands or mountain passes and valleys, individual mountains within the same mountain range do not necessarily have the same geologic structure or petrology. They may be a mix of different orogenic expressions and terranes, for example thrust sheets, uplifted blocks, fold mountains, most geologically young mountain ranges on the Earths land surface are associated with either the Pacific Ring of Fire or the Alpide Belt. The Andes is 7,000 kilometres long and is considered the worlds longest mountain system. The Alpide belt includes Indonesia and southeast Asia, through the Himalaya, the belt also includes other European and Asian mountain ranges. The Himalayas contain the highest mountains in the world, including Mount Everest, mountain ranges outside of these two systems include the Arctic Cordillera, the Urals, the Appalachians, the Scandinavian Mountains, the Altai Mountains and the Hijaz Mountains. If the definition of a range is stretched to include underwater mountains. The mountain systems of the earth are characterized by a tree structure, the sub-range relationship is often expressed as a parent-child relationship. For example, the White Mountains of New Hampshire and the Blue Ridge Mountains are sub-ranges of the Appalachian Mountains, equivalently, the Appalachians are the parent of the White Mountains and Blue Ridge Mountains, and the White Mountains and the Blue Ridge Mountains are children of the Appalachians. The position of mountains influences climate, such as rain or snow, when air masses move up and over mountains, the air cools producing orographic precipitation. As the air descends on the side, it warms again and is drier. Often, a shadow will affect the leeward side of a range. Mountain ranges are constantly subjected to forces which work to tear them down. Erosion is at work while the mountains are being uplifted and long after until the mountains are reduced to low hills, rivers are traditionally believed to be the principle erosive factor on mountain ranges, with their ability of bedrock incision and sediment transport. The rugged topography of a range is the product of erosion. The basins adjacent to a mountain range are filled with sediments which are buried and turned into sedimentary rock. The early Cenozoic uplift of the Rocky Mountains of Colorado provides an example and this mass of rock was removed as the range was actively undergoing uplift
14.
Japan
–
Japan is a sovereign island nation in Eastern Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies off the eastern coast of the Asia Mainland and stretches from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea, the kanji that make up Japans name mean sun origin. 日 can be read as ni and means sun while 本 can be read as hon, or pon, Japan is often referred to by the famous epithet Land of the Rising Sun in reference to its Japanese name. Japan is an archipelago consisting of about 6,852 islands. The four largest are Honshu, Hokkaido, Kyushu and Shikoku, the country is divided into 47 prefectures in eight regions. Hokkaido being the northernmost prefecture and Okinawa being the southernmost one, the population of 127 million is the worlds tenth largest. Japanese people make up 98. 5% of Japans total population, approximately 9.1 million people live in the city of Tokyo, the capital of Japan. Archaeological research indicates that Japan was inhabited as early as the Upper Paleolithic period, the first written mention of Japan is in Chinese history texts from the 1st century AD. Influence from other regions, mainly China, followed by periods of isolation, from the 12th century until 1868, Japan was ruled by successive feudal military shoguns who ruled in the name of the Emperor. Japan entered into a period of isolation in the early 17th century. The Second Sino-Japanese War of 1937 expanded into part of World War II in 1941, which came to an end in 1945 following the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Japan is a member of the UN, the OECD, the G7, the G8, the country has the worlds third-largest economy by nominal GDP and the worlds fourth-largest economy by purchasing power parity. It is also the worlds fourth-largest exporter and fourth-largest importer, although Japan has officially renounced its right to declare war, it maintains a modern military with the worlds eighth-largest military budget, used for self-defense and peacekeeping roles. Japan is a country with a very high standard of living. Its population enjoys the highest life expectancy and the third lowest infant mortality rate in the world, in ancient China, Japan was called Wo 倭. It was mentioned in the third century Chinese historical text Records of the Three Kingdoms in the section for the Wei kingdom, Wa became disliked because it has the connotation of the character 矮, meaning dwarf. The 倭 kanji has been replaced with the homophone Wa, meaning harmony, the Japanese word for Japan is 日本, which is pronounced Nippon or Nihon and literally means the origin of the sun. The earliest record of the name Nihon appears in the Chinese historical records of the Tang dynasty, at the start of the seventh century, a delegation from Japan introduced their country as Nihon
15.
United States territory
–
United States territory is any extent of region under the sovereign jurisdiction of the federal government of the United States, including all waters and all U. S. naval vessels. The United States asserts sovereign rights for exploring, exploiting, conserving and this extent of territory is all the area belonging to, and under the dominion of, the United States federal government for administrative and other purposes. The United States total territory includes a subset of political divisions, the United States territory includes any geography under the control of the United States federal government. Various regions, districts, and divisions are under the supervision of the United States federal government, the United States territory includes clearly defined geographical area and refers to an area of land, air, or sea under jurisdiction of United States federal governmental authority. The extent of territory is all the area belonging to, and under the dominion of, under Article IV of the U. S. Constitution, territory is subject to and belongs to the United States. This includes tracts of land or water not included within the limits of any State, Congress possesses power to set territorial governments within the boundaries of the United States. The power of Congress over such territory is exclusive and universal, congressional legislation is subject to no control, unless in the case of ceded territory. The U. S. Congress is granted the exclusive and universal power to set a United States territorys political divisions, all territory under the control of the federal government is considered part of the United States for purposes of law. From 1901–1905, the U. S. Supreme Court in a series of known as the Insular Cases held that the Constitution extended ex proprio vigore to the territories. However, the Court in these cases also established the doctrine of territorial incorporation, a Supreme Court ruling from 1945 stated that the term United States can have three different meanings, in different contexts, The term United States may be used in any one of several senses. It may be merely the name of a sovereign occupying the position analogous to that of sovereigns in the family of nations. It may designate the territory over which the sovereignty of the United States extends, or it may be the name of the states which are united by. The United States Department of the Interior is charged with managing federal affairs within U. S. territory, the Interior Department has a wide range of responsibilities. The contiguous United States, Hawaii, and Alaska are divided into administrative regions. These are called counties in 48 of the 50 states, and they are called boroughs in Alaska, a county can include a number of cities and towns, or just a portion of either type. These counties have varying degrees of political and legal significance, a township in the United States refers to a small geographic area. Territories are subdivided into legally administered tracts—e. g, geographic areas that are under the authority of a government. The District of Columbia and territories are under the authority of Congress
16.
Saipan
–
Saipan /saɪˈpæn/ is the largest island of the Northern Mariana Islands, a commonwealth of the United States in the western Pacific Ocean. According to the 2010 United States Census, Saipans population was 48,220, the Commonwealths center of government is located in the village of Capitol Hill on the island. Since the entire island is organized as a municipality, most publications term Saipan as the Commonwealths capital. The current Mayor of Saipan is David M. Apatang, who was sworn into office on June 12,2015, Saipan is the second-largest island in the Mariana Islands archipelago, after Guam. It is located about 120 mi north of Guam and 5 nautical miles northeast of Tinian, Saipan is about 12 mi long and 5.6 mi wide, with a land area of 115.38 km2. The western side of the island is lined with sandy beaches, the eastern shore is composed primarily of rugged rocky cliffs and a reef. A narrow underwater bank of Marpi Reef lies 28 mi north of the Saipan, the highest elevation on Saipan is a limestone-covered mountain called Mount Tapochau at 1,560 ft. Unlike many of the mountains in the Mariana Islands, it is not an extinct volcano, to the north of Mount Tapochau towards Banzai Cliff is a ridge of hills. Mount Achugao, situated about 2 miles north, has interpreted to be a remnant of a stratified composite volcanic cone whose Eocene center was not far north of the present peak. Saipans flora is predominantly limestone forest, some developed areas on the island are covered with Leucaena leucocephala, also known as tangan-tangan trees, that were spread broadly some time after World War II. Tangan-Tangan trees were introduced, primarily, as an erosion-prevention mechanism, remaining native forest occurs in small isolated fragments on steep slopes at low elevations and highland conservation areas of the island. Coconuts, papayas, and Thai hot peppers – locally called donni såli or boonie peppers – are among the fruits grow wild. Mango, taro root, breadfruit, and bananas are a few of the many foods cultivated by local families, Saipan is home to a number of endemic bird species. Among them, the Mariana fruit dove, white-throated ground dove, bridled white-eye, golden white-eye, Micronesian myzomela and the endangered nightingale reed warbler. The island used to have a population of giant African land snails, introduced either deliberately as a food source, or accidentally by shipping. In the last few decades, its numbers have been controlled by an introduced flatworm. Unfortunately, possibly due to the flatworm, the native tree-snails also became extinct, Saipan has a tropical marine climate moderated by seasonal trade winds from the northeast from November to March, and easterly winds from May to October. Average year-round temperature is 84 °F, there is little seasonal temperature variation, and Saipan has been cited by the Guinness Book of World Records as having the least fluctuating temperatures in the world
17.
Rota (island)
–
Rota also known as the Friendly Island, is the southernmost island of the United States Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands and the second southernmost of the Marianas Archipelago. It lies approximately 40 nautical miles north-northeast of the United States territory of Guam, Sinapalo village is the largest and most populated followed by Songsong village. Rota is 12.3 miles long and 4.2 mi wide and its coastline is about 38 mi long. The highest point on Rota is Mt. Sabana which is 495.56 meters, Rota is 47 nmi north of Guam,63 nmi south of Tinian and 73 nmi south of Saipan. Rota has diverse flora and fauna, in 1521, the first European to see Rota was the lookout on Ferdinand Magellans ship Victoria, Lope Navarro. As with the islands of the northern Marianas, Rota was sold to the German Empire under the German–Spanish Treaty of 1899. In World War I, the islands were occupied by the Japanese Empire, in 1919, the League of Nations formally recognized Japanese control under the South Pacific Mandate. The refinery was not economical, and it was closed three years later, during the final stages of the war, Rota was occasionally bombed by aircraft of the U. S. On September 2,1945, one hour after the surrender of Japan, marines arrived on Rota to accept the surrender of the Japanese garrison, which numbered 947 Imperial Japanese Army and 1853 Imperial Japanese Navy. After the end of World War II, Rota became part of the Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands, since 1978, the island has been a part of the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands. The current mayor is Efraim Manglona Atalig, Rota has an airport, Rota International Airport. Since its inception in August 1986, the Rota Instructional Site has assisted people who chose to pursue college education locally over the high cost of post-secondary education elsewhere. The results are positive, and the community has depended on NMC for quality education, Rota has two public schools, Dr. Rita Hocog Inos Junior & Senior High School. In August 2011, Rotas junior and senior schools were merged due to budget concerns. They are now Dr. Rita Hocog Inos Junior & Senior High School, with this merger, the junior high now consists only of the 7th and 8th grades. The 6th grade was moved to Sinapalo Elementary in Sinapalo Village, RHIJSHS is located on the former junior high school campus in Songsong Village. Sinapalo Elementary School is located in Sinapalo village, Rotas elementary school and junior high school were formerly located in the same area and shared class buildings at Songsong village. After the new school was built in Sinapalo, the Songsong village school ground was reopened as Rota Junior High
18.
Aguigan
–
Aguigan is a small bean-shaped coralline island in the Northern Mariana Islands chain in the Pacific Ocean. It is situated 8 kilometers southwest of Tinian, from which it is separated by the Tinian Channel, Aguigan and neighboring Tinian Island together form Tinian Municipality, one of the four main political divisions that comprise the Northern Marianas. Aguigan is only 7.09 square kilometers in size, with a length of 4.7 km and it is nicknamed “Goat Island” due to the large number of feral goats present there. Much of the vegetation on Aguigan has been destroyed by goats. Aguigan is uninhabited and is seldom visited because it is surrounded by steep cliffs. However, a 2002 survey of the island did find a handful of native species there, including the Mariana fruit bat, the Polynesian sheath-tailed bat and the Micronesian megapode Megapodius laperouse. It is likely that first sighting by Europeans occurred during the Spanish expedition of Ferdinand Magellan and it was visited by the Spanish missionary Diego Luis de San Vitores in 1669. Aguigan was administered as part of the Spanish Mariana Islands from the 16th century to 1899, under Germany, it administered as part of German New Guinea. During World War I, Aguigan came under the control of the Empire of Japan and was administered as part of the South Pacific Mandate, during World War II, the Imperial Japanese Army maintained a garrison on Aguigan. This garrison is noteworthy because of its surrender to Allied forces September 4,1945, the surrender is unique because it was the only surrender hosted by a U. S. Coast Guard Cutter, USCG83525. US Navy Admiral Marshall R. Greer received the surrender of the Japanese Second Lieutenant Kinichi Yamada, following World War II, Aguigan came under the control of the United States and was administered as part of the Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands. Since 1978, the island has been part of the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, coral reef ecosystem monitoring report of the Mariana Archipelago, 2003–2007
19.
Structural geology
–
Structural geology is the study of the three-dimensional distribution of rock units with respect to their deformational histories. The study of structures has been of prime importance in economic geology. Folded and faulted rock strata commonly form traps that accumulate and concentrate fluids such as petroleum, similarly, faulted and structurally complex areas are notable as permeable zones for hydrothermal fluids, resulting in concentrated areas of base and precious metal ore deposits. Veins of minerals containing various metals commonly occupy faults and fractures in structurally complex areas and these structurally fractured and faulted zones often occur in association with intrusive igneous rocks. They often also occur around geologic reef complexes and collapse features such as ancient sinkholes, deposits of gold, silver, copper, lead, zinc, and other metals, are commonly located in structurally complex areas. Structural geology is a part of engineering geology, which is concerned with the physical and mechanical properties of natural rocks. Geotechnical risk, including earthquake risk can only be investigated by inspecting a combination of geology and geomorphology. In addition, areas of karst landscapes which reside atop underground caverns, potential sinkholes, in addition, areas of steep slopes are potential collapse or landslide hazards. Environmental geologists and hydrogeologists need to apply the tenets of structural geology to understand how geologic sites impact groundwater flow and penetration. For instance, a hydrogeologist may need to determine if seepage of toxic substances from waste dumps is occurring in an area or if salty water is seeping into an aquifer. Plate tectonics is a theory developed during the 1960s which describes the movement of continents by way of the separation and collision of crustal plates. It is in a structural geology on a planet scale, and is used throughout structural geology as a framework to analyze and understand global, regional. Structural geologists use a variety of methods to measure rock geometries, reconstruct their deformational histories, primary data sets for structural geology are collected in the field. Structural geologists measure a variety of features, and linear features. The inclination of a structure in geology is measured by strike. For example, striking 25 degrees East of North, dipping 45 degrees Southeast, recorded as N25E, alternatively, dip and dip direction may be used as this is absolute. Dip direction is measured in 360 degrees, generally clockwise from North, for example, a dip of 45 degrees towards 115 degrees azimuth, recorded as 45/115. Note that this is the same as above, the term hade is occasionally used and is the deviation of a plane from vertical i. e. Fold axis plunge is measured in dip and dip direction
20.
Izu-Bonin-Mariana Arc
–
The Izu-Bonin-Mariana arc system is a tectonic-plate convergent boundary. The IBM arc system lies along the margin of the Philippine Sea Plate in the Western Pacific Ocean. It is most famous for being the site of the deepest gash in Earths solid surface, the IBM arc system formed as a result of subduction of the western Pacific plate. The IBM arc system now subducts mid-Jurassic to Early Cretaceous lithosphere, with younger lithosphere in the north and older lithosphere in the south, Subduction rates vary from ~2 cm per year in the south to 6 cm in the north. The IBM arc system is an excellent example of a convergent margin. IOCMs are built on oceanic crust and contrast fundamentally with island arc built on continental crust, because IOCMs are far removed from continents they are not affected by the large volume of alluvial and glacial sediments. The consequent thin sedimentary cover makes it easier to study arc infrastructure and determine the mass. Active hydrothermal systems found on the parts of IOCMs give us a chance to study how many of earths important ore deposits formed. Crust and lithosphere produced by the IBM arc system during its ~50 Ma history are found today as far west as the Kyushu-Palau Ridge, the IBM arc system is the surficial expression of the operation of a subduction zone and this defines its vertical extent. The intersection of the IBM, Japan, and Sagami trenches at the Boso Triple Junction is the only trench-trench-trench triple junction on Earth. The IBM arc system is bounded on the east by a deep trench. The southern boundary is found where the IBM Trench meets the Kyushu-Palau Ridge near Belau, thus defined, the IBM arc system spans over 25° of latitude, from 11°N to 35°20’N The IBM arc system is part of the Philippine Sea Plate, at least to the first approximation. The Philippine Sea Plate has four neighboring plates, Pacific, Eurasian, North American, there is minor relative motion between PH and CR, furthermore, CR does not feed the IBM Subduction Factory, so it is not discussed further. The North American plate includes northern Japan, but relative motion between it and Eurasia is sufficiently small that relative motion between PH and EU explains the motion of interest. The Euler pole for PH-PA as inferred from the NUVEL-1A model for current plate motions lies about 8°N137. 3°E, PA rotates around this pole CCW ~1°/Ma with respect to PH. This means that relative to the southernmost IBM, PA is moving NW and being subducted at about 20–30 mm/y, whereas relative to the northernmost IBM, PA is moving WNW and twice as fast. At the south end of IBM, there is almost now convergence between the Caroline Plate and the Philippine Sea Plate and it should be noted that the IBM arc is not experiencing trench ‘roll-back’, that is, the migration of the oceanic trench towards the ocean. The trench is moving towards Eurasia, although a strongly extensional regime is maintained in the IBM arc system because of rapid PH-EU convergence, the nearly vertical orientation of the subducted plate beneath southern IBM exerts a strong “sea-anchor” force that strongly resists its lateral motion
21.
Pacific Plate
–
The Pacific Plate is an oceanic tectonic plate that lies beneath the Pacific Ocean. At 103 million square kilometres, it is the largest tectonic plate, the Pacific Plate contains an interior hot spot forming the Hawaiian Islands. Hillis and Müller are reported to consider the Birds Head Plate to be moving in unison with the Pacific Plate, bird considers them to be unconnected. The north-eastern side is a divergent boundary with the Explorer Plate, the Juan de Fuca Plate and the Gorda Plate forming respectively the Explorer Ridge, the Juan de Fuca Ridge and the Gorda Ridge. In the middle of the side is a transform boundary with the North American Plate along the San Andreas Fault. The south-eastern side is a divergent boundary with the Nazca Plate forming the East Pacific Rise, the southern side is a divergent boundary with the Antarctic Plate forming the Pacific-Antarctic Ridge. The Alpine Fault marks a boundary between the two plates, and further south the Indo-Australian Plate subducts under the Pacific Plate forming the Puysegur Trench. The southern part of Zealandia, which is to the east of this boundary, is the plates largest block of continental crust, the northern side is a convergent boundary subducting under the North American Plate forming the Aleutian Trench and the corresponding Aleutian Islands. The Pacific Plate is almost entirely oceanic crust, but it contains some continental crust in New Zealand, Baja California, the Pacific Plate has the distinction of showing one of the largest areal sections of the oldest members of seabed geology being entrenched into eastern Asian oceanic trenches. The oldest member disappearing by way of the Plate Tectonics cycle is early-Cretaceous, all maps of the Earths ocean floor geology show ages younger than 145 million years, only about 1/30 of the Earths 4.55 billion year history
22.
Mariana Plate
–
The Mariana Plate is a small tectonic plate located west of the Mariana Trench and forms the basement of the Mariana Islands. It is separated from the Philippine Sea Plate by a divergent boundary with numerous transform fault offsets. The boundary between the Mariana and the Pacific Plate to the east is a zone with the Pacific Plate subducting beneath the Mariana. The Mariana Trench forms the boundary and the Izu-Ogasawara Trench the northeastern boundary
23.
Subduction
–
Subduction is a geological process that takes place at convergent boundaries of tectonic plates where one plate moves under another and is forced or sinks due to gravity into the mantle. Regions where this occurs are known as subduction zones. Rates of subduction are typically in centimeters per year, with the rate of convergence being approximately two to eight centimeters per year along most plate boundaries. Plates include both oceanic crust and continental crust, stable subduction zones involve the oceanic lithosphere of one plate sliding beneath the continental or oceanic lithosphere of another plate due to the higher density of the oceanic lithosphere. That is, the lithosphere is always oceanic while the overriding lithosphere may or may not be oceanic. Subduction zones are sites that have a rate of volcanism, earthquakes. Subduction zones are sites of convective downwelling of Earths lithosphere, subduction zones exist at convergent plate boundaries where one plate of oceanic lithosphere converges with another plate. The descending slab, the plate, is over-ridden by the leading edge of the other plate. The slab sinks at an angle of approximately twenty-five to forty-five degrees to Earths surface and this sinking is driven by the temperature difference between the subducting oceanic lithosphere and the surrounding mantle asthenosphere, as the colder oceanic lithosphere is, on average, denser. At a depth of approximately 80–120 kilometers, the basalt of the oceanic crust is converted to a rock called eclogite. At that point, the density of the oceanic crust increases and provides additional negative buoyancy and it is at subduction zones that Earths lithosphere, oceanic crust, sedimentary layers and some trapped water are recycled into the deep mantle. Earth is so far the only planet where subduction is known to occur, subduction is the driving force behind plate tectonics, and without it, plate tectonics could not occur. Subduction zones dive down into the mantle beneath 55,000 kilometers of convergent plate margins, subduction zones burrow deeply but are imperfectly camouflaged, and geophysics and geochemistry can be used to study them. Not surprisingly, the shallowest portions of subduction zones are known best, subduction zones are strongly asymmetric for the first several hundred kilometers of their descent. They start to go down at oceanic trenches and their descents are marked by inclined zones of earthquakes that dip away from the trench beneath the volcanoes and extend down to the 660-kilometer discontinuity. Subduction zones are defined by the array of earthquakes known as the Wadati–Benioff zone after the two scientists who first identified this distinctive aspect. Subduction zone earthquakes occur at greater depths than elsewhere on Earth, such deep earthquakes may be driven by deep phase transformations, thermal runaway, the subducting basalt and sediment are normally rich in hydrous minerals and clays. Additionally, large quantities of water are introduced into cracks and fractures created as the slab bends downward
24.
Serpentinite
–
Serpentinite is a rock composed of one or more serpentine group minerals. Minerals in this group are formed by serpentinization, a hydration, the mineral alteration is particularly important at the sea floor at tectonic plate boundaries. Serpentinization is a geological low-temperature metamorphic process involving heat and water in which low-silica mafic and ultramafic rocks are oxidized and hydrolyzed with water into serpentinite. Peridotite, including dunite, at and near the seafloor and in mountain belts is converted to serpentine, brucite, magnetite, and other minerals — some rare, such as awaruite, and even native iron. In the process large amounts of water are absorbed into the increasing the volume. The density changes from 3.3 to 2.7 g/cm3 with a concurrent volume increase on the order of 30-40%, the reaction is highly exothermic and rock temperatures can be raised by about 260 °C, providing an energy source for formation of non-volcanic hydrothermal vents. The magnetite-forming chemical reactions produce hydrogen gas under anaerobic conditions prevailing deep in the mantle, carbonates and sulfates are subsequently reduced by hydrogen and form methane and hydrogen sulfide. The hydrogen, methane, and hydrogen sulfide provide energy sources for deep sea chemotroph microorganisms, serpentinite is formed from olivine via several reactions, some of which are complementary. Olivine is a solution between the magnesium-endmember forsterite and the iron-endmember fayalite. Serpentinite reaction 1a and 1b, below, exchange silica between forsterite and fayalite to form serpentine group minerals and magnetite, Reaction 1c describes the hydration of olivine with water only to yield serpentine and Mg2. Talc and magnesian chlorite are possible products, together with the serpentine minerals antigorite, lizardite, the final mineralogy depends both on rock and fluid compositions, temperature, and pressure. Antigorite forms in reactions at temperatures that can exceed 600 °C during metamorphism, lizardite and chrysotile can form at low temperatures very near the Earths surface. In the presence of carbon dioxide, however, serpentinitization may form either magnesite or generate methane and it is thought that some hydrocarbon gases may be produced by serpentinite reactions within the oceanic crust. Or, in balanced form, Reaction 2a is favored if the serpentinite is Mg-poor or if there isnt enough carbon dioxide to promote talc formation, Reaction 2b is favored in highly magnesian compositions and low partial pressure of carbon dioxide. If an olivine composition contains sufficient fayalite, then olivine plus water can completely metamorphose to serpentine, serpentinitization of a mass of peridotite usually destroys all previous textural evidence because the serpentine minerals are weak and behave in a very ductile fashion. Serpentine is the product of the reaction between water and fayalites ferrous ions, the process is effected by bacteria under anaerobic conditions. The two unoxidised ferrous ions still available in the three units of fayalite finally combine with the four ferric cations and oxide anions to form two formula units of magnetite. Serpentinization has been proposed as an alternative source for the observed methane traces
25.
Farallon de Medinilla
–
Farallon de Medinilla is an uninhabited small island in the Northern Mariana Islands in the Pacific Ocean. It is located 45 nautical miles north of Saipan, and is the smallest island in the archipelago, politically, it is part of the Northern Islands Municipality. Farallon de Medinilla is roughly wedge-shaped, with a length of 2.8 kilometers, at its narrowest location, the island is only 20 m wide. The highest elevation on the island is 81 m, the shores are rimmed with cliffs containing caves and its tableland has some brush and savanna grass. Satellite imagery of the shows three X-shaped figures and one Y-shaped figure in its northern half, built out of metal shipping containers. These arrangements of shipping containers were left by the U. S. Navy for bomb targeting practice, uninhabited at the time, later archaeological investigations have found blackened caves and pottery fragments indicating prior habitation by the Chamorros. The island was visited by Louis de Freycinet in 1819, it was named for Don Jose de Medinilla y Pifieda, following World War II, the island came under the control of the United States and was administered as part of the Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands. Since 1978, the island has been part of the Northern Islands Municipality of the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, for years, the U. S. Navy has used Farallon de Medinilla for military and bombing exercises. In a 2002 lawsuit, the Center for Biological Diversity charged the Navy with the destruction of habitat on the island. A subsequent court ruling ordered the U. S. Defense Department to cease bombing exercises on Farallon de Medinilla until they came in compliance with the Migratory Bird Treaty Act. Negative impacts of military activities on local fauna and flora including both terrestrial and oceanic species had pointed out. These include such as Micronesian megapodes, migratory birds and cetaceans such as boobies, terns, frigatebirds, humpback whales, coral reef ecosystem monitoring report of the Mariana Archipelago, 2003–2007. NOAA Fisheries, Pacific Islands Fisheries Science Center 2012
26.
Uracas
–
Farallón de Pájaros, also known as Urracas, is a small uninhabited volcanic island, the northernmost island in the Northern Mariana Islands chain. Farallón de Pájaros is the northernmost island of the Marianas chain and it is located 65 kilometers northwest of the Maug Islands and 591 km north of Saipan, the main island of the Northern Mariana Islands. Its northern neighbor is South Iwo Jima of the Ogasawara Islands of Japan, Farallón de Pájaros is nearly circular, with a length of 1.8 km, a width of 1.6 km and has an area of 2.3 km2. Farallón de Pájaros is the top of a stratovolcano with a height of 360 meters above sea level. The base of this stratovolcano is about 2,000 feet below sea level, between 1864 and 1953,15 volcanic eruptions have been recorded. In the area of Farallón de Pájaros are two volcanoes, The Makhahnas Seamount located about 10 km southwest, reaching a height of 640 m below sea level. The Ahyi Seamount located about 18 km south-east and reached a height of 137 m below sea level and it is associated with a possible eruption in 1979, and an eruption in 2001. Presumably Farallon de Pajaros was never permanently inhabited, from 1899 to 1914, Farallón de Pájaros was controlled by the German Empire and was administered as part of the colony of German New Guinea. In 1903 the island was leased to a Japanese company, which hunted birds whose feathers exported to Japan, after World War I, the island was awarded to the Empire of Japan, by the League of Nations as part of the South Pacific Mandate. In 1985, per the Constitution of the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, since 2009, the island has been part of Marianas Trench Marine National Monument of the United States. Horst Lehne and Christoph Gäbler, Über die Marianen, coral reef ecosystem monitoring report of the Mariana Archipelago, 2003–2007. NOAA Fisheries, Pacific Islands Fisheries Science Center 2012, Farallon de Pajaros at the Global Volcanism Program
27.
Farallon de Pajaros
–
Farallón de Pájaros, also known as Urracas, is a small uninhabited volcanic island, the northernmost island in the Northern Mariana Islands chain. Farallón de Pájaros is the northernmost island of the Marianas chain and it is located 65 kilometers northwest of the Maug Islands and 591 km north of Saipan, the main island of the Northern Mariana Islands. Its northern neighbor is South Iwo Jima of the Ogasawara Islands of Japan, Farallón de Pájaros is nearly circular, with a length of 1.8 km, a width of 1.6 km and has an area of 2.3 km2. Farallón de Pájaros is the top of a stratovolcano with a height of 360 meters above sea level. The base of this stratovolcano is about 2,000 feet below sea level, between 1864 and 1953,15 volcanic eruptions have been recorded. In the area of Farallón de Pájaros are two volcanoes, The Makhahnas Seamount located about 10 km southwest, reaching a height of 640 m below sea level. The Ahyi Seamount located about 18 km south-east and reached a height of 137 m below sea level and it is associated with a possible eruption in 1979, and an eruption in 2001. Presumably Farallon de Pajaros was never permanently inhabited, from 1899 to 1914, Farallón de Pájaros was controlled by the German Empire and was administered as part of the colony of German New Guinea. In 1903 the island was leased to a Japanese company, which hunted birds whose feathers exported to Japan, after World War I, the island was awarded to the Empire of Japan, by the League of Nations as part of the South Pacific Mandate. In 1985, per the Constitution of the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, since 2009, the island has been part of Marianas Trench Marine National Monument of the United States. Horst Lehne and Christoph Gäbler, Über die Marianen, coral reef ecosystem monitoring report of the Mariana Archipelago, 2003–2007. NOAA Fisheries, Pacific Islands Fisheries Science Center 2012, Farallon de Pajaros at the Global Volcanism Program
28.
Caroline Islands
–
The Caroline Islands are a widely scattered archipelago of tiny islands in the northwestern Pacific Ocean, to the north of New Guinea. Politically they are divided between the Federated States of Micronesia in the part of the group, and Palau at the extreme western end. Historically, this area was also called Nuevas Filipinas or New Philippines as they were part of the Spanish East Indies, the Carolines span a distance of approximately 3540 kilometers, from Tobi, Palau at the westernmost point to Kosrae at the easternmost. The group consists of about 500 small coral islands, east of the Philippines, in the Pacific Ocean, most of the islands comprise low, flat coral atolls, but some rise high above sea level. Other significant populations include Filipinos and Japanese, the natives live mainly on horticulture and fishing, also supplementing their diet with many different varieties of bananas and taro, either of the swamp or purple varieties. On some islands housing continues to be built with materials including coconut thatch. The language spoken in commerce is English, but there are several indigenous languages and they traditionally believe in a Supreme Being and in a bad spirit, yet they have hardly any religious rites. Due to extensive work, Christianity is the primary religion practiced in this region of Micronesia. Master Micronesian Navigator Mau Piailug was from the Carolinian island of Satawal and he learned the traditional navigation techniques of the Weriyeng school. These techniques had been preserved while similar techniques had been forgotten partly due to the remoteness of the Carolinian Islands. In 1985 a study was made on the origin of the sidereal compass used in the Caroline Islands, different islands and island groups in the Carolines passed down unique and variant oral legends recounting the origins and early histories of their peoples. On Pohnpei, for example, pre-colonial history is divided into three eras, Mwehin Kawa or Mwehin Aramas, Mwehin Sau Deleur, and Mwehin Nahnmwarki, Pohnpeian legend recounts that the Saudeleur rulers, the first to bring government to Pohnpei, were of foreign origin. The Saudeleur centralized form of rule is characterized in Pohnpeian legend as becoming increasingly oppressive over several generations. Arbitrary and onerous demands, as well as a reputation for offending Pohnpeian deities, the Saudeleur Dynasty ended with the invasion of Isokelekel, another semi-mythical foreigner, who replaced the Saudeleur rule with the more decentralized nahnmwarki system in existence today. The Spanish explorers Toribio Alonso de Salazar and Diego de Saavedra arrived on August 22,1526, on 1 January 1528 the discoverer Álvaro de Saavedra took possession of the Uluti Islands on behalf of the King of Spain. Spanish explorers visited the archipelago in 1542,1543, and 1545, in 1565 Miguel Lopez de Legazpi, the first Governor-General of the Philippines, passed through. The name was extended to include the Palau Islands and the archipelagos which were named the Gilbert Islands, the occupation of the Caroline Islands had, as in most of the Spanish colonies, a marked religious character. A royal decree of October 19,1707 granted authorization for the sending of missionaries in several expeditions to the islands, one such expedition was made by Father Juan Antonio Cantova, who was killed
29.
Cryptogam
–
A cryptogam is a plant that reproduces by spores, without flowers or seeds. Cryptogamae means hidden reproduction, referring to the fact that no seed is produced, other names, such as thallophytes, lower plants, and spore plants are also occasionally used. As a group, Cryptogamae are the opposite of the Phanerogamae or Spermatophyta, the classification is now deprecated in Linnaean taxonomy. At one time, the cryptogams were formally recognised as a group within the plant kingdom, in his system for classification of all known plants and animals, Carl Linnaeus divided the plant kingdom into 24 classes, one of which was the Cryptogamia. This included all plants with concealed reproductive organs and he divided Cryptogamia into four orders, Algae, Musci, Filices, and Fungi. Therefore, in plant systematics, Cryptogamae is not a taxonomically coherent group. Plant, to see how cryptogams are distributed across modern classification systems
30.
Trade winds
–
Trade winds also transport African dust westward across the Atlantic Ocean into the Caribbean Sea, as well as portions of southeastern North America. Shallow cumulus clouds are seen within trade wind regimes, and are capped from becoming taller by a trade wind inversion, the weaker the trade winds become, the more rainfall can be expected in the neighboring landmasses. The term trade winds originally derives from the fourteenth century late Middle English word trade. The Portuguese recognized the importance of the winds in navigation in both the north and south Atlantic ocean as early as the 15th century. From West Africa, the Portuguese had to sail away from continental Portugal and they could then turn northeast, to the area around the Azores islands, and finally east to mainland Europe. They also learned that to reach South Africa, they needed to go far out in the ocean, head for Brazil, following the African coast southbound means upwind in the Southern hemisphere. In the Pacific ocean, the wind circulation, which included both the trade wind easterlies and higher-latitude Westerlies, was unknown to Europeans until Andres de Urdanetas voyage in 1565. The captain of a sailing ship seeks a course along which the winds can be expected to blow in the direction of travel, for example, Manila galleons could not sail into the wind at all. Between 1847 and 1849, Matthew Fontaine Maury collected enough information to create wind, as part of the Hadley cell circulation, surface air flows toward the equator while the flow aloft is towards the poles. A low-pressure area of calm, light winds near the equator is known as the doldrums, near-equatorial trough, intertropical front. When located within a region, this zone of low pressure. Around 30° in both hemispheres, air begins to descend toward the surface in subtropical high-pressure belts known as subtropical ridges. The subsident air is dry because as it descends, the temperature increases, but the absolute humidity remains constant. This warm, dry air is known as an air mass. An increase of temperature with height is known as a temperature inversion, when it occurs within a trade wind regime, it is known as a trade wind inversion. The surface air flows from these subtropical high-pressure belts toward the Equator is deflected toward the west in both hemispheres by the Coriolis effect. These winds blow predominantly from the northeast in the Northern Hemisphere, the trade winds of both hemispheres meet at the doldrums. As they blow across tropical regions, air masses heat up over lower latitudes due to direct sunlight
31.
Agrihan
–
Agrihan is an island in the Northern Mariana Islands in the Pacific Ocean. Agrihan is located 62 kilometers to the north of Pagan, Agrihan is a densely forested island, roughly elliptical in shape, with a length of 9 kilometers and a width of 6 km and an area of 44 km2. The entire island is a stratovolcano which rises over 4,000 meters from the ocean floor. At 965 m, its summit is the highest point in Micronesia, the volcano is topped by a large caldera,1 x 2 km in size and about 500 m deep. The caldera floor has several lava flows and two cones, which were probably created during the April 1917 eruption. The only relatively flat land on the island is along the southeast shoreline, from a European perspective Agrihan was discovered on June 11,1522 by Gonzalo Gómez de Espinosa and named Cyco or La Griega. Espinosa was on the Trinidad as part of Ferdinand Magellans expedition, the resident Chamorros were hostile and he could not anchor, but kidnapped an islander for information. The Spanish missionary Diego Luis de San Vitores visited Agrihan in 1669 calling it San Francisco Javier, in 1695, the natives were forcibly removed to Saipan, and three years later to Guam. In 1810, settlers from the Kingdom of Hawaii attempted to establish a settlement on Agrihan, in the 1870s, the first coconut plantations were established. Adolph Capelle, a merchant from Brunswick in Germany, leased the island and exported copra, following the sale of the Northern Marianas by Spain to the German Empire in 1899, Agrihan was administered as part of German New Guinea. During this time, a firm, the Pagan Society, owned by a German. However, severe typhoons in September 1905 and September 1907 destroyed the plantations, during World War I, Agrihan came under the control of the Empire of Japan and was administered as the South Pacific Mandate. Following World War II, the island came under the control of the United States and was administered as part of the Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands, in 1967, the population was 94 people. Since 1978, the island has been part of the Northern Islands Municipality of the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, due to increased volcanic activity, the islanders were evacuated in August 1990 when an eruption was feared. However, by 1992, although there were 25 solfataras, a hot spring and several steam vents. In 2000, six returned to live in one of the original four settlements on the island. However, per the 2010 census, Agrihan was uninhabited, list of stratovolcanoes Pascal Horst Lehne and Christoph Gäbler, Über die Marianen. Marianas Archipelago Reef Assessment and Monitoring Program Oceandots. com, Agrihan, archived from the original on 2010-12-23
32.
Pagan (island)
–
Pagan is a volcanic island in the Mariana Islands archipelago in the Pacific Ocean, belonging to the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands. Formerly inhabited, the inhabitants were evacuated due to eruptions in 1981. Pagan is located about 320 kilometers north of Saipan, the island of the Northern Mariana Islands. With an area of 47.23 km2, it is the fourth largest island of the Northern Marianas, the island is a double island consisting of two stratovolcanoes joined by a narrow strip of land with a width of only 600 meters. The southern volcano 18. 075°N145. 725°E /18.075,145.725, is 548 m high with a caldera approximately 4 km in diameter, although several fumaroles were active in 1992, the southern volcano last erupted in 1864. The northern volcano, also known as Mount Pagan,18. 13°N145. 8°E /18.13,145.8, has a height of 570 m. The volcano is in the center of a caldera with a diameter of approximately 6 km, laguna Sanhalom had an area of 17 hectares and depth of 23 m in the 1970s. Laguna Sanhiyon on the west coast of the island had an area of 16 hectares. Archaeological finds indicate that Pagan was settled several centuries BC. The first European contact was in 1669, when the island was sighted by the Spanish missionary Diego Luis de San Vitores who named it San Ignacio, the native Chamorro population was forcibly deported to Saipan in 1695, and then three years later to Guam. The Chamorros began to return to Pagan in the early 19th century, in the 1870s, first coconut plantations were established. The company was a partnership between a German and a Japanese, the island was devastated by typhoons in July and September 1905, September 1907 and in December 1913 which destroyed the coconut plantations and bankrupted the Pagan Society. In 1914, during World War I, the island was captured by the Empire of Japan, the island was settled by ethnic Japanese and Okinawans, who restored the coconut plantations and raised cotton and sweet potatoes for export. In addition, the Japanese developed commercial fishing for bonito and tuna, an airfield was constructed in 1935, and the Imperial Japanese Navy established a garrison in 1937. In 1942 the Japanese civilian population was 413 persons, with another 229 Chamorro residents, in June 1944 a garrison force of 2,150 men of the Imperial Japanese Army arrived, only to be cut off and isolated by the ongoing Allied offensive. Receiving supplies only occasionally by submarine, the garrison soon faced starvation, after World War II and under United States occupation, Pagan became part of the UN Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands until being granted U. S. After the war the United States Navy maintained a small establishment on Pagan and during the 1950s built public institutions, including a church, a warehouse, an infirmary. However the civilian population was under 100 people by the end of the 1970s, on May 15,1981, Mount Pagan erupted, with lava flows covering a large part of the islands arable land and part of the airfield runway, the islands inhabitants were evacuated to Saipan
33.
House of Taga
–
The House of Taga is an archeological site located near San Jose Village, on the island of Tinian, United States Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, in the Marianas Archipelago. The site is the location of a series of prehistoric latte stone pillars which were quarried about 4,000 feet south of the site, only one of which is left standing erect due to past earthquakes. The name is derived from a chief named Taga, who is said to have erected the pillars as a foundation for his own house. The prehistoric latte stone pillars at House of Taga stood 15 feet high, the original megaliths consisted of a base and a hemispherical cap. When uprighted in spaced rows, it is believed a house was built on top. Of the twelve upright stones sketched by British explorer George Anson during his 1742 visit to Tinian, the As Nieves Rota Latte Stone Quarry is believed to be the Marianas origin of the period of these megalith structures. According to legend collected by Spoehr, a 10 feet tall Guam chief named Taga married a Rota woman, the chief began the Rota Latte Stone Quarry to carve stone for their home. Mid-way through, he changed his mind and instead built the house on Tinian, one variation on that story also puts Tagas origins at Guam. As a child, he began demonstrating such super-human strength that his own father was jealous, Taga escaped from his father by jumping off a cliff on Guam and landing on Rota, almost 50 miles away. On Rota, Taga grew to adulthood and became a braggart about his prowess, according to the legend, it was Taga who began the As Nieves Quarry on Rota and abandoned it for reasons that are unclear. Taga married and had a family, and they sailed to Tinian and his reputation had preceded him, and the chief of Tinian presented several challenges to test Tagas strength. The chief was subsequently so impressed with Tagas abilities that he named Taga the chief of the island, Taga carved the latte stones to single-handedly build his Tinian house and a village for his people. He carried the multi-ton pillars all by himself, as the years passed, while on a trip to Saipan, Tagas wife gave birth to a son that Taga bragged about to no end. Tagas brother tired of all the bragging and challenged Taga to a contest and this was the end of Tagas bragging. Eventually, Taga and his wife were the parents of twelve children, when Taga realized that his youngest son had greater strength than he, Taga flew into a jealous rage and murdered his son. His youngest daughter then speared Taga to death and died of a broken heart, as each of Tagas twelve children died, their spirits inhabited the latte stones of his house. Each spirit was released by the individual latte stone falling to the ground, the lone standing megalith today is said to imprison the spirit of the daughter who murdered Taga
34.
Geology
–
Geology is an earth science concerned with the solid Earth, the rocks of which it is composed, and the processes by which they change over time. Geology can also refer generally to the study of the features of any terrestrial planet. Geology gives insight into the history of the Earth by providing the evidence for plate tectonics, the evolutionary history of life. Geology also plays a role in engineering and is a major academic discipline. The majority of data comes from research on solid Earth materials. These typically fall into one of two categories, rock and unconsolidated material, the majority of research in geology is associated with the study of rock, as rock provides the primary record of the majority of the geologic history of the Earth. There are three types of rock, igneous, sedimentary, and metamorphic. The rock cycle is an important concept in geology which illustrates the relationships between three types of rock, and magma. When a rock crystallizes from melt, it is an igneous rock, the sedimentary rock can then be subsequently turned into a metamorphic rock due to heat and pressure and is then weathered, eroded, deposited, and lithified, ultimately becoming a sedimentary rock. Sedimentary rock may also be re-eroded and redeposited, and metamorphic rock may also undergo additional metamorphism, all three types of rocks may be re-melted, when this happens, a new magma is formed, from which an igneous rock may once again crystallize. Geologists also study unlithified material which typically comes from more recent deposits and these materials are superficial deposits which lie above the bedrock. Because of this, the study of material is often known as Quaternary geology. This includes the study of sediment and soils, including studies in geomorphology, sedimentology and this theory is supported by several types of observations, including seafloor spreading, and the global distribution of mountain terrain and seismicity. This coupling between rigid plates moving on the surface of the Earth and the mantle is called plate tectonics. The development of plate tectonics provided a basis for many observations of the solid Earth. Long linear regions of geologic features could be explained as plate boundaries, mid-ocean ridges, high regions on the seafloor where hydrothermal vents and volcanoes exist, were explained as divergent boundaries, where two plates move apart. Arcs of volcanoes and earthquakes were explained as convergent boundaries, where one plate subducts under another, transform boundaries, such as the San Andreas Fault system, resulted in widespread powerful earthquakes. Plate tectonics also provided a mechanism for Alfred Wegeners theory of continental drift and they also provided a driving force for crustal deformation, and a new setting for the observations of structural geology
35.
Europe
–
Europe is a continent that comprises the westernmost part of Eurasia. Europe is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, yet the non-oceanic borders of Europe—a concept dating back to classical antiquity—are arbitrary. Europe covers about 10,180,000 square kilometres, or 2% of the Earths surface, politically, Europe is divided into about fifty sovereign states of which the Russian Federation is the largest and most populous, spanning 39% of the continent and comprising 15% of its population. Europe had a population of about 740 million as of 2015. Further from the sea, seasonal differences are more noticeable than close to the coast, Europe, in particular ancient Greece, was the birthplace of Western civilization. The fall of the Western Roman Empire, during the period, marked the end of ancient history. Renaissance humanism, exploration, art, and science led to the modern era, from the Age of Discovery onwards, Europe played a predominant role in global affairs. Between the 16th and 20th centuries, European powers controlled at times the Americas, most of Africa, Oceania. The Industrial Revolution, which began in Great Britain at the end of the 18th century, gave rise to economic, cultural, and social change in Western Europe. During the Cold War, Europe was divided along the Iron Curtain between NATO in the west and the Warsaw Pact in the east, until the revolutions of 1989 and fall of the Berlin Wall. In 1955, the Council of Europe was formed following a speech by Sir Winston Churchill and it includes all states except for Belarus, Kazakhstan and Vatican City. Further European integration by some states led to the formation of the European Union, the EU originated in Western Europe but has been expanding eastward since the fall of the Soviet Union in 1991. The European Anthem is Ode to Joy and states celebrate peace, in classical Greek mythology, Europa is the name of either a Phoenician princess or of a queen of Crete. The name contains the elements εὐρύς, wide, broad and ὤψ eye, broad has been an epithet of Earth herself in the reconstructed Proto-Indo-European religion and the poetry devoted to it. For the second part also the divine attributes of grey-eyed Athena or ox-eyed Hera. The same naming motive according to cartographic convention appears in Greek Ανατολή, Martin Litchfield West stated that phonologically, the match between Europas name and any form of the Semitic word is very poor. Next to these there is also a Proto-Indo-European root *h1regʷos, meaning darkness. Most major world languages use words derived from Eurṓpē or Europa to refer to the continent, in some Turkic languages the originally Persian name Frangistan is used casually in referring to much of Europe, besides official names such as Avrupa or Evropa
36.
Kingdom of Portugal
–
The Kingdom of Portugal was a monarchy on the Iberian Peninsula and the predecessor of modern Portugal. It was in existence from 1139 until 1910, after 1248, it was also known as the Kingdom of Portugal and the Algarves and between 1815 and 1822, it was known as the United Kingdom of Portugal, Brazil and the Algarves. The name is often applied to the Portuguese Empire, the realms extensive overseas colonies. The nucleus of the Portuguese state was the County of Portugal, established in the 9th century as part of the Reconquista, by Vímara Peres, a vassal of the King of Asturias. The county became part of the Kingdom of León in 1097, the kingdom was ruled by the Alfonsine Dynasty until the 1383–85 Crisis, after which the monarchy passed to the House of Aviz. During the 15th and 16th century, Portuguese exploration established a vast colonial empire, from 1580 to 1640, the kingdom of Portugal was in personal union with Habsburg Spain. After the Portuguese Restoration War of 1640–1668, the passed to the House of Braganza and after to the House of Braganza-Saxe-Coburg. From this time, the influence of Portugal declined, but it remained a major due to its most valuable colony. Portugal was an absolute monarchy before 1822. It rotated between absolute and constitutional monarchy from 1822 until 1834, and was a constitutional monarchy after 1834. The Kingdom of Portugal finds its origins in the County of Portugal, the Portuguese County was a semi-autonomous county of the Kingdom of León. Independence from León took place in three stages, The first on 26 July 1139 when Afonso Henriques was acclaimed King of the Portuguese internally, the second was on 5 October 1143, when Alfonso VII of León and Castile recognized Afonso Henriques as king through the Treaty of Zamora. The third, in 1179, was the Papal Bull Manifestis Probatum, once Portugal was independent, D. Afonso Is descendants, members of the Portuguese House of Burgundy, would rule Portugal until 1383. Even after the change in houses, all the monarchs of Portugal were descended from Afonso I, one way or another. With the start of the 20th century, Republicanism grew in numbers and support in Lisbon among progressive politicians, however a minority with regard to the rest of the country, this height of republicanism would benefit politically from the Lisbon Regicide on 1 February 1908. When returning from the Ducal Palace at Vila Viçosa, King Carlos I, with the death of the king and his heir, Carlos Is second son would become king as King Manuel II of Portugal. Manuels reign, however, would be short-lived, ending by force with the 5 October 1910 revolution, sending Manuel into exile in England, on 19 January 1919, the Monarchy of the North was proclaimed in Porto. The monarchy would be deposed a month later and no other monarchist counterrevolution in Portugal has happened since, after centuries of Portuguese dominion in Angola, the Kingdom of Kongo was made a vassal state of the Portuguese kingdom, its king pledging allegiance to the King of Portugal
37.
Ferdinand Magellan
–
Commanding a fleet of five vessels, he headed south through the Atlantic Ocean to Patagonia, passing through the Strait of Magellan into a body of water he named the peaceful sea. Despite a series of storms and mutinies, the reached the Spice Islands in 1521. Magellan did not complete the voyage, as he was killed during the Battle of Mactan in the Philippines in 1521. Magellan had already reached the Malay Archipelago in Southeast Asia on previous voyages traveling east, by visiting this area again but now travelling west, Magellan achieved a nearly complete personal circumnavigation of the globe for the first time in history. The Magellanic penguin is named after him, as he was the first European to note it. Magellan was born in northern Portugal in around 1480, either at Vila Nova de Gaia, near Porto, in Douro Litoral Province, or at Sabrosa, near Vila Real, in Trás-os-Montes e Alto Douro Province. He was the son of Rodrigo de Magalhães, Alcaide-Mor of Aveiro and wife Alda de Mesquita and brother of Leonor or Genebra de Magalhães, in March 1505 at the age of 25, Magellan enlisted in the fleet of 22 ships sent to host D. Francisco de Almeida as the first viceroy of Portuguese India, although his name does not appear in the chronicles, it is known that he remained there eight years, in Goa, Cochin and Quilon. He participated in battles, including the battle of Cannanore in 1506. In 1509 he fought in the battle of Diu and he later sailed under Diogo Lopes de Sequeira in the first Portuguese embassy to Malacca, with Francisco Serrão, his friend and possibly cousin. In September, after arriving at Malacca, the expedition fell victim to an ending in retreat. Magellan had a role, warning Sequeira and saving Francisco Serrão. In 1511, under the new governor Afonso de Albuquerque, Magellan, after the conquest their ways parted, Magellan was promoted, with a rich plunder and, in the company of a Malay he had indentured and baptized Enrique of Malacca, he returned to Portugal in 1512. Serrão departed in the first expedition sent to find the Spice Islands in the Moluccas and he married a woman from Amboina and became a military advisor to the Sultan of Ternate, Bayan Sirrullah. His letters to Magellan would prove decisive, giving information about the spice-producing territories, after taking a leave without permission, Magellan fell out of favour. Serving in Morocco, he was wounded, resulting in a permanent limp and he was accused of trading illegally with the Moors. The accusations were proved false, but he received no offers of employment after 15 May 1514. Later on in 1515, he got an employment offer as a member on a Portuguese ship
38.
Umatac
–
Umatac, formerly called Umata, is a village on the southwestern coast of the United States territory of Guam. The month of March in the Chamorro language is Umatalaf, or to catch guatafi, the villages population has decreased since the islands 2000 census. Nearby is Mount Bolanos, the 3rd highest peak of Guam, in 1521, the Portuguese Explorer Ferdinand Magellan arrived on Guam while circumnavigating the globe. Umatac Bay is traditionally cited as the location of the Spanish landing, another explorer, Miguel López de Legazpi, arrived in Umatac in 1565 and claimed the island of Guam for Spain. When Guam was colonized in the 17th century, the Spanish made Umatac a parish so the Chamorro people in the area could be converted to Christianity, remains of two Spanish forts built on hills on either side of the village are still visible today. In 1898, Guam was taken by the United States during the Spanish–American War, under the U. S. administration, the small village has grown gradually. Today, the Discovery Day festival is held every year in the village, while the holiday was first established in memory of Magellans discovery of the island, it is now a celebration of Chamorro culture. The Guam Department of Education serves the island, Sanchez Elementary School in Umatac has closed at the end of summer 2011 due to budget cuts. Students have shifted to a nearby Merizo Elementary School, the unused facility was then cleared for use by the Umatac Mayors Office. Southern High School in Santa Rita serves the village, senator Thomas Tommy Morrison Jesus T. Quinata Jesus S. Quinata Albert T. Topasna Albert T. Topasna Cecilia Q. Morrison Albert T. Topasna Dean D. Sanchez Jose T. Quinata Jesus A. Aquiningoc Tony A. Quinata Daniel Q. Sanchez Dean D. Sanchez Johnny A. Quinata Villages of Guam Rogers, Robert F. Destinys Landfall, A History of Guam, guahan, Guam, The History of our Island, Sanchez Publishing House. Umatac - article on Guampedia. com Umatac - Guams Cradle of Creation by Anthony P. Sanchez, Pacific Daily News,26 April 2007 Village Map, Pacific Daily News Municipalities of Guam
39.
Philippines
–
The Philippines, officially the Republic of the Philippines, is a sovereign island country in Southeast Asia situated in the western Pacific Ocean. It consists of about 7,641 islands that are categorized broadly under three main geographical divisions from north to south, Luzon, Visayas, and Mindanao, the capital city of the Philippines is Manila and the most populous city is Quezon City, both part of Metro Manila. The Philippines has an area of 300,000 square kilometers, and it is the eighth-most populated country in Asia and the 12th most populated country in the world. As of 2013, approximately 10 million additional Filipinos lived overseas, multiple ethnicities and cultures are found throughout the islands. In prehistoric times, Negritos were some of the archipelagos earliest inhabitants and they were followed by successive waves of Austronesian peoples. Exchanges with Chinese, Malay, Indian, and Islamic nations occurred, then, various competing maritime states were established under the rule of Datus, Rajahs, Sultans or Lakans. The arrival of Ferdinand Magellan in Homonhon, Eastern Samar in 1521 marked the beginning of Hispanic colonization, in 1543, Spanish explorer Ruy López de Villalobos named the archipelago Las Islas Filipinas in honor of Philip II of Spain. With the arrival of Miguel López de Legazpi from Mexico City, in 1565, the Philippines became part of the Spanish Empire for more than 300 years. This resulted in Roman Catholicism becoming the dominant religion, during this time, Manila became the western hub of the trans-Pacific trade connecting Asia with Acapulco in the Americas using Manila galleons. Aside from the period of Japanese occupation, the United States retained sovereignty over the islands until after World War II, since then, the Philippines has often had a tumultuous experience with democracy, which included the overthrow of a dictatorship by a non-violent revolution. It is a member of the United Nations, World Trade Organization, Association of Southeast Asian Nations, the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum. It also hosts the headquarters of the Asian Development Bank, the Philippines was named in honor of King Philip II of Spain. Spanish explorer Ruy López de Villalobos, during his expedition in 1542, named the islands of Leyte, eventually the name Las Islas Filipinas would be used to cover all the islands of the archipelago. Before that became commonplace, other such as Islas del Poniente. The official name of the Philippines has changed several times in the course of its history, during the Philippine Revolution, the Malolos Congress proclaimed the establishment of the República Filipina or the Philippine Republic. From the 1898 Treaty of Paris, the name Philippines began to appear, since the end of World War II, the official name of the country has been the Republic of the Philippines. The metatarsal of the Callao Man, reliably dated by uranium-series dating to 67,000 years ago is the oldest human remnant found in the archipelago to date and this distinction previously belonged to the Tabon Man of Palawan, carbon-dated to around 26,500 years ago. Negritos were also among the archipelagos earliest inhabitants, but their first settlement in the Philippines has not been reliably dated, there are several opposing theories regarding the origins of ancient Filipinos
40.
Cocos Island (Guam)
–
Cocos Island is an island 1 mile off the southern tip of the United States territory of Guam, located within the Merizo Barrier Reef, part of the municipality of Merizo. The island is uninhabited,1,600 meters long in a southwest-northeast direction and it sits atop the southwestern coral reef rim of Cocos Lagoon. The east coast of the island is a day resort with a pool, volleyball court, cafe, ice cream parlor, restaurant and bar, visitors to the resort can snorkel, dive, kayak, dolphin watch, parasail, jet ski and bike. The west side is public land, part of the Territorial Park System, during the Spanish times, the island was owned by Don Ignacio Mendiola Dela Cruz. In the late 1920s, the US Government acquired ⅔ of the island via Eminent Domain, in the mid-1930s Don Ignacio sold the remaining ⅓ to a Businessman named Gottwald. A Coast Guard long-range navigation station was built and operated on Cocos Island from 1944-1963, in the late 80s to early 90s, the US Govt. returned the larger portion of the island to the Guam Government, who then turned it into a Park. Military tests on soil from Cocos Island in late 2005 showed levels of polychlorinated biphenyls contamination 4,900 times higher than the recommended level. Tests on twelve species of fish in the lagoon showed all, one had 265 times the acceptable level. The contamination most likely originated from transformers and other equipment at the Coast Guard station. Cocos Island is one of the few locations to have had the endangered Guam rail reintroduced to it, health effects of PCBs Pacific Daily News article Bendure, G. & Friary, N. Micronesia, A travel survival kit
41.
Dededo
–
Dededo is the most populated village in the United States territory of Guam. According to the U. S. Census Bureau, Dededos population was just under 45,000 in 2010, the village is located on the coral plateau of Northern Guam. The origin of the name Dededo is not clear and it is speculated that it is derived from the Chamorro word for two inches, dededo, or it is a modification of the word dedeggo, meaning heel of the foot, or deggo, which refers to the tiptoes. Before World War II, Dededo Village was at the bottom of Macheche Hill, Dededo grew into a major village after the war when the U. S. Navy constructed housing for displaced Guamanians and for laborers coming from off-island to help in Guams development. Following Typhoon Karen in 1962, Kaiser Subdivision in Dededo was constructed for islanders displaced by the storm, further housing subdivisions were constructed increasing the villages population. Dededo is located at the central part of the island roughly at the center of population. It encompasses an area of about 30 square miles of Guam’s 209 square miles, the headquarters for the Guam National Wildlife Refuge are in Dededo. Guam Public School System serves the island, before 2008 rezoning, some Dededo students continued on to John F. Kennedy High School in Tamuning and some continued on to Simon Sanchez High School in Yigo. On August 21,2008 Okkodo High School opened, Santa Barbara Catholic School is in Dededo. Guam Public Library System operates the Dededo Library at 283 West Santa Barbara Avenue, senator Michael San Nicolas Stephen J. Guerrero - board chairman of Coast 360. Benavente Patricia S. Quinata Jose A. Rivera Scott Duenas Melissa B, Benavente Patricia S. Quinata Jose A. Rivera Doris Palacios Melissa Savares Andrew A. Benavente Rogers, Robert F. Destinys Landfall, A History of Guam. ISBN 0-8248-1678-1 Guampedia, Guams Online Encyclopedia Dededo Village Dededo Guam at Guam Portal
![[icon]](/wiki/File:Wiki_letter_w_cropped.svg){kind=small}
This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Marianas, an archipelago in the north-western Pacific Ocean". Encyclopædia Britannica (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press.
This article incorporates text from a publication now in the 
