1.
Venice
–
Venice is a city in northeastern Italy and the capital of the Veneto region. It is situated across a group of 118 small islands that are separated by canals and these are located in the shallow Venetian Lagoon, an enclosed bay that lies between the mouths of the Po and the Piave Rivers. Parts of Venice are renowned for the beauty of their settings, their architecture, the lagoon and a part of the city are listed as a World Heritage Site. In 2014,264,579 people resided in Comune di Venezia, together with Padua and Treviso, the city is included in the Padua-Treviso-Venice Metropolitan Area, with a total population of 2.6 million. PATREVE is a metropolitan area without any degree of autonomy. The name is derived from the ancient Veneti people who inhabited the region by the 10th century BC, the city was historically the capital of the Republic of Venice. Venice has been known as the La Dominante, Serenissima, Queen of the Adriatic, City of Water, City of Masks, City of Bridges, The Floating City, and City of Canals. The City State of Venice is considered to have been the first real international financial center which gradually emerged from the 9th century to its peak in the 14th century and this made Venice a wealthy city throughout most of its history. It is also known for its several important artistic movements, especially the Renaissance period, Venice has played an important role in the history of symphonic and operatic music, and it is the birthplace of Antonio Vivaldi. Venice has been ranked the most beautiful city in the world as of 2016, the name Venetia, however, derives from the Roman name for the people known as the Veneti, and called by the Greeks Eneti. The meaning of the word is uncertain, although there are other Indo-European tribes with similar-sounding names, such as the Celtic Veneti, Baltic Veneti, and the Slavic Wends. Linguists suggest that the name is based on an Indo-European root *wen, so that *wenetoi would mean beloved, lovable, a connection with the Latin word venetus, meaning the color sea-blue, is also possible. The alternative obsolete form is Vinegia, some late Roman sources reveal the existence of fishermen on the islands in the original marshy lagoons. They were referred to as incolae lacunae, the traditional founding is identified with the dedication of the first church, that of San Giacomo on the islet of Rialto — said to have taken place at the stroke of noon on 25 March 421. Beginning as early as AD166 to 168, the Quadi and Marcomanni destroyed the center in the area. The Roman defences were again overthrown in the early 5th century by the Visigoths and, some 50 years later, New ports were built, including those at Malamocco and Torcello in the Venetian lagoon. The tribuni maiores, the earliest central standing governing committee of the islands in the Lagoon, the traditional first doge of Venice, Paolo Lucio Anafesto, was actually Exarch Paul, and his successor, Marcello Tegalliano, was Pauls magister militum. In 726 the soldiers and citizens of the Exarchate rose in a rebellion over the controversy at the urging of Pope Gregory II
Venice
–
A collage of Venice: at the top left is the
Piazza San Marco, followed by a view of the city, then the
Grand Canal, and (smaller) the interior of
La Fenice and, finally, the Island of San Giorgio Maggiore
Venice
–
UNESCO World Heritage Site
Venice
–
Photography of Venice at dusk
Venice
–
The Grand Canal seen from the bridge at
Ponte di Rialto
2.
Veneto
–
Veneto or Venetia is one of the twenty regions of Italy. Its population is five million, ranking fifth in Italy. The regions capital and largest city is Venice, Veneto was part of the Roman Empire until the 5th century AD. Later, after a period, it was part of the Republic of Venice until 1797. Venice ruled for centuries one of the largest and richest maritime republics. The Statute of Veneto describes Venetians as a people, besides Italian, most inhabitants also speak Venetian. The region is home to a notable nationalist movement, the regions largest party is the Venetist/Padanist Liga Veneta, a founding member of Lega Nord. The current President of Veneto is Luca Zaia, elected in 2010 with 60. 2% of the vote and the support of Lega Nord, The People of Freedom, Veneto is the 8th largest region in Italy, with a total area of 18,398.9 km2. At its northernmost corner it borders also on Austria, the north-south extension of Veneto is 210 km from the Austrian border to the mouth of the River Po. By area, 29% of its surface is mountainous, the highest massif in the Dolomites is the Marmolada-massif at 3,342 m. Other dolomitic peaks are the Tre Cime di Lavaredo and the Pale di San Martino, the Venetian Prealps are not as high and range between 700 m and 2,200 m. Fossil deposits are abundant there. The plain itself is subdivided into the plain and the lower plain. The lower plain is both a mainstay of production and the most populated part of the region. Several rivers flow through the region, the Po, Adige, Brenta, Bacchiglione, Livenza, Piave, the eastern shore of the largest lake in Italy, Lake Garda, belongs to Veneto. The coastline covers approximately 200 km, of which 100 km are beaches, the coasts of the Adriatic Sea are characterised by the Venetian Lagoon, a flat terrain with ponds, marshes and islands. The Po Delta to the south features sandbars and dunes along the coastline, the inland portion contains cultivable land recently reclaimed by a system of canals and dykes. Fish ponds have been created there as well, the delta and the lagoon are a stopping-point for migratory birds
Veneto
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Venice, the primary tourist destination and the capital of Veneto
Veneto
–
Veneto
Veneto
–
Lake Alleghe near
Belluno
Veneto
–
Tre Cime di Lavaredo
3.
Italy
–
Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a unitary parliamentary republic in Europe. Located in the heart of the Mediterranean Sea, Italy shares open land borders with France, Switzerland, Austria, Slovenia, San Marino, Italy covers an area of 301,338 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal and Mediterranean climate. Due to its shape, it is referred to in Italy as lo Stivale. With 61 million inhabitants, it is the fourth most populous EU member state, the Italic tribe known as the Latins formed the Roman Kingdom, which eventually became a republic that conquered and assimilated other nearby civilisations. The legacy of the Roman Empire is widespread and can be observed in the distribution of civilian law, republican governments, Christianity. The Renaissance began in Italy and spread to the rest of Europe, bringing a renewed interest in humanism, science, exploration, Italian culture flourished at this time, producing famous scholars, artists and polymaths such as Leonardo da Vinci, Galileo, Michelangelo and Machiavelli. The weakened sovereigns soon fell victim to conquest by European powers such as France, Spain and Austria. Despite being one of the victors in World War I, Italy entered a period of economic crisis and social turmoil. The subsequent participation in World War II on the Axis side ended in defeat, economic destruction. Today, Italy has the third largest economy in the Eurozone and it has a very high level of human development and is ranked sixth in the world for life expectancy. The country plays a prominent role in regional and global economic, military, cultural and diplomatic affairs, as a reflection of its cultural wealth, Italy is home to 51 World Heritage Sites, the most in the world, and is the fifth most visited country. The assumptions on the etymology of the name Italia are very numerous, according to one of the more common explanations, the term Italia, from Latin, Italia, was borrowed through Greek from the Oscan Víteliú, meaning land of young cattle. The bull was a symbol of the southern Italic tribes and was often depicted goring the Roman wolf as a defiant symbol of free Italy during the Social War. Greek historian Dionysius of Halicarnassus states this account together with the legend that Italy was named after Italus, mentioned also by Aristotle and Thucydides. The name Italia originally applied only to a part of what is now Southern Italy – according to Antiochus of Syracuse, but by his time Oenotria and Italy had become synonymous, and the name also applied to most of Lucania as well. The Greeks gradually came to apply the name Italia to a larger region, excavations throughout Italy revealed a Neanderthal presence dating back to the Palaeolithic period, some 200,000 years ago, modern Humans arrived about 40,000 years ago. Other ancient Italian peoples of undetermined language families but of possible origins include the Rhaetian people and Cammuni. Also the Phoenicians established colonies on the coasts of Sardinia and Sicily, the Roman legacy has deeply influenced the Western civilisation, shaping most of the modern world
Italy
–
The
Colosseum in Rome, built c. 70 – 80 AD, is considered one of the greatest works of
architecture and
engineering of ancient history.
Italy
–
Flag
Italy
–
The
Iron Crown of Lombardy, for centuries symbol of the
Kings of Italy.
Italy
–
Castel del Monte, built by German Emperor
Frederick II,
UNESCO World Heritage site
4.
Geographic coordinate system
–
A geographic coordinate system is a coordinate system used in geography that enables every location on Earth to be specified by a set of numbers, letters or symbols. The coordinates are chosen such that one of the numbers represents a vertical position. A common choice of coordinates is latitude, longitude and elevation, to specify a location on a two-dimensional map requires a map projection. The invention of a coordinate system is generally credited to Eratosthenes of Cyrene. Ptolemy credited him with the adoption of longitude and latitude. Ptolemys 2nd-century Geography used the prime meridian but measured latitude from the equator instead. Mathematical cartography resumed in Europe following Maximus Planudes recovery of Ptolemys text a little before 1300, in 1884, the United States hosted the International Meridian Conference, attended by representatives from twenty-five nations. Twenty-two of them agreed to adopt the longitude of the Royal Observatory in Greenwich, the Dominican Republic voted against the motion, while France and Brazil abstained. France adopted Greenwich Mean Time in place of local determinations by the Paris Observatory in 1911, the latitude of a point on Earths surface is the angle between the equatorial plane and the straight line that passes through that point and through the center of the Earth. Lines joining points of the same latitude trace circles on the surface of Earth called parallels, as they are parallel to the equator, the north pole is 90° N, the south pole is 90° S. The 0° parallel of latitude is designated the equator, the plane of all geographic coordinate systems. The equator divides the globe into Northern and Southern Hemispheres, the longitude of a point on Earths surface is the angle east or west of a reference meridian to another meridian that passes through that point. All meridians are halves of great ellipses, which converge at the north and south poles, the prime meridian determines the proper Eastern and Western Hemispheres, although maps often divide these hemispheres further west in order to keep the Old World on a single side. The antipodal meridian of Greenwich is both 180°W and 180°E, the combination of these two components specifies the position of any location on the surface of Earth, without consideration of altitude or depth. The grid formed by lines of latitude and longitude is known as a graticule, the origin/zero point of this system is located in the Gulf of Guinea about 625 km south of Tema, Ghana. To completely specify a location of a feature on, in, or above Earth. Earth is not a sphere, but a shape approximating a biaxial ellipsoid. It is nearly spherical, but has an equatorial bulge making the radius at the equator about 0. 3% larger than the radius measured through the poles, the shorter axis approximately coincides with the axis of rotation
Geographic coordinate system
–
Longitude lines are perpendicular and latitude lines are parallel to the equator.
5.
Discharge (hydrology)
–
In hydrology, discharge is the volume rate of water flow that is transported through a given cross-sectional area. It includes any suspended solids, dissolved chemicals, or biologic material in addition to the water itself, GH Dury and MJ Bradshaw are two hydrologists who devised the models showing the relationship between discharge and other variables in a river. The units that are used to express discharge include m³/s, ft³/s and/or acre-feet per day. For example, the discharge of the Rhine river in Europe is 2,200 cubic metres per second or 190,000,000 cubic metres per day. A commonly applied methodology for measuring, and estimating, the discharge of a river is based on a form of the continuity equation. In storm hydrology, an important consideration is the streams discharge hydrograph, the stream rises to a peak flow after each precipitation event, then falls in a slow recession. Because the peak flow also corresponds to the water level reached during the event. The amount of precipitation correlates to the volume of water that flows out of the river. The relationship between the discharge in the stream at a given cross-section and the level of the stream is described by a rating curve, average velocities and the cross-sectional area of the stream are measured for a given stream level. The velocity and the give the discharge for that level. After measurements are made for different levels, a rating table or rating curve may be developed. Once rated, the discharge in the stream may be determined by measuring the level, if a continuous level-recording device is located at a rated cross-section, the streams discharge may be continuously determined. Larger flows can transport more sediment and larger particles downstream than smaller flows due to their greater force, larger flows can also erode stream banks and damage public infrastructure
Discharge (hydrology)
–
Hydroelectricity generation
6.
Adriatic Sea
–
The Adriatic Sea /ˌeɪdriˈætᵻk/ is a body of water separating the Italian Peninsula from the Balkan peninsula and the Apennine Mountains from the Dinaric Alps and adjacent ranges. The Adriatic is the northernmost arm of the Mediterranean Sea, extending from the Strait of Otranto to the northwest, the countries with coasts on the Adriatic are Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Greece, Italy, Montenegro and Slovenia. The Adriatic contains over 1,300 islands, mostly located along its eastern, Croatian and it is divided into three basins, the northern being the shallowest and the southern being the deepest, with a maximum depth of 1,233 metres. The Otranto Sill, a ridge, is located at the border between the Adriatic and Ionian Seas. The prevailing currents flow counterclockwise from the Strait of Otranto, along the eastern coast, tidal movements in the Adriatic are slight, although larger amplitudes are known to occur occasionally. The Adriatics salinity is lower than the Mediterraneans because the Adriatic collects a third of the water flowing into the Mediterranean. The surface water temperatures range from 30 °C in summer to 12 °C in winter. The Adriatic Sea sits on the Apulian or Adriatic Microplate, which separated from the African Plate in the Mesozoic era, the plates movement contributed to the formation of the surrounding mountain chains and Apennine tectonic uplift after its collision with the Eurasian plate. In the Late Oligocene, the Apennine Peninsula first formed, separating the Adriatic Basin from the rest of the Mediterranean, all types of sediment are found in the Adriatic, with the bulk of the material transported by the Po and other rivers on the western coast. The western coast is alluvial or terraced, while the eastern coast is indented with pronounced karstification. There are dozens of protected areas in the Adriatic, designed to protect the seas karst habitats. The sea is abundant in flora and fauna—more than 7,000 species are identified as native to the Adriatic, many of them endemic, rare and threatened ones. The Adriatics shores are populated by more than 3.5 million people, the earliest settlements on the Adriatic shores were Etruscan, Illyrian, and Greek. By the 2nd century BC, the shores were under Romes control, following Italian unification, the Kingdom of Italy started an eastward expansion that lasted until the 20th century. Following World War I and the collapse of Austria-Hungary and the Ottoman Empire, the former disintegrated during the 1990s, resulting in four new states on the Adriatic coast. Italy and Albania agreed on their maritime boundary in 1992, Fisheries and tourism are significant sources of income all along the Adriatic coast. Adriatic Croatias tourism industry has grown faster economically than the rest of the Adriatic Basins, maritime transport is also a significant branch of the areas economy—there are 19 seaports in the Adriatic that each handle more than a million tonnes of cargo per year. The largest Adriatic seaport by annual cargo turnover is the Port of Trieste, in the southeast, the Adriatic Sea connects to the Ionian Sea at the 72-kilometre wide Strait of Otranto
Adriatic Sea
–
Bay of Kotor, a
ria in the Southern Adriatic
Adriatic Sea
–
Map of the Adriatic Sea
Adriatic Sea
–
Adriatic islands off
Croatia 's coast
Adriatic Sea
–
A
submarine spring near
Omiš, observed through sea surface rippling
7.
Drainage basin
–
A drainage basin or catchment area is any area of land where precipitation collects and drains off into a common outlet, such as into a river, bay, or other body of water. Drainage basins connect into other drainage basins at elevations in a hierarchical pattern, with smaller sub-drainage basins. Other terms used to describe drainage basins are catchment, catchment basin, drainage area, river basin and water basin. In closed drainage basins the water converges to a point inside the basin, known as a sink, which may be a permanent lake. The drainage basin acts as a funnel by collecting all the water within the covered by the basin. Each drainage basin is separated topographically from adjacent basins by a perimeter, drainage basins are similar but not identical to hydrologic units, which are drainage areas delineated so as to nest into a multi-level hierarchical drainage system. Hydrologic units are defined to allow multiple inlets, outlets, or sinks, in a strict sense, all drainage basins are hydrologic units but not all hydrologic units are drainage basins. Drainage basins of the oceans and seas of the world. Grey areas are endorheic basins that do not drain to the oceans, the following is a list of the major ocean basins, About 48. 7% of the worlds land drains to the Atlantic Ocean. The two major mediterranean seas of the world also flow to the Atlantic, The Caribbean Sea and Gulf of Mexico basin includes most of the U. S. The Mediterranean Sea basin includes much of North Africa, east-central Africa, Southern, Central, and Eastern Europe, Turkey, and the areas of Israel, Lebanon. Just over 13% of the land in the world drains to the Pacific Ocean, the Indian Oceans drainage basin also comprises about 13% of Earths land. It drains the eastern coast of Africa, the coasts of the Red Sea and the Persian Gulf, the Indian subcontinent, Burma, antarctica comprises approximately eight percent of the Earths land. The five largest river basins, from largest to smallest, are the basins of the Amazon, the Río de la Plata, the Congo, the Nile, and the Mississippi. The three rivers that drain the most water, from most to least, are the Amazon, Ganga, endorheic drainage basins are inland basins that do not drain to an ocean. Around 18% of all land drains to endorheic lakes or seas or sinks, the largest of these consists of much of the interior of Asia, which drains into the Caspian Sea, the Aral Sea, and numerous smaller lakes. Some of these, such as the Great Basin, are not single drainage basins but collections of separate, in endorheic bodies of standing water where evaporation is the primary means of water loss, the water is typically more saline than the oceans. An extreme example of this is the Dead Sea, drainage basins have been historically important for determining territorial boundaries, particularly in regions where trade by water has been important
Drainage basin
–
Animation of
Latoriţa River drainage basin,
Romania
Drainage basin
–
Example of a drainage basin. The dashed line is the main water divide of the hydrographic basin.
Drainage basin
–
Endorheic basin in
Central Asia
Drainage basin
–
The
Mississippi River drains the largest area of any
U.S. river, much of it
agricultural regions. Agricultural runoff and other water pollution that flows to the outlet is the cause of the
hypoxic, or dead zone in the
Gulf of Mexico.
8.
Cavallino-Treporti
–
Cavallino-Treporti is a town and comune in the Metropolitan City of Venice, Veneto, northern Italy. The commune occupies a peninsula divides the Venetian Lagoon from the Adriatic Sea. The river Sile forms the boundary with the comune of Jesolo. The comune is composed of several boroughs, including Cavallino, Treporti, Punta Sabbioni, every year, about 6 million of visitors choose Cavallino Treporti for their holidays so the economy of the town is mostly based on tourism, in specific, summer tourism. Thanks to the number of the visitors, Cavallino is the second most popular seaside resort in Italy. The beach is 15 km long and near the seaside there are about 30 villages-camps, the hotels are full of tourists from Northern Europe - Germany, Austria, Denmark
Cavallino-Treporti
–
The church of Treporti.
9.
Chioggia
–
Chioggia is a coastal town and comune of the Metropolitan City of Venice in the Veneto region of northern Italy. The population of the comune is around 50,000, with the town proper accounting for half of that. The municipality, located in south of the province, close to the provinces of Padua and Rovigo, borders with Campagna Lupia, Cavarzere, Codevigo, Cona, Correzzola, Loreo, Rosolina and Venice. Chioggia and Sottomarina were not prominent in antiquity, although they are first mentioned in Pliny as the fossa Clodia, local legend attributes this name to its founding by a Clodius, but the antiquity of this belief is not known. The name of the town has been changing depending on the period, being Clodia, Cluza, Clugia, Chiozza. The most ancient documents naming Chioggia dates from the 6th century AD, Chioggia was destroyed by the King Pippin of Italy in the 9th century, but rebuilt around a new industry based on salt pans. In the Middle Ages, Chioggia proper was known as Clugia major, although the town remained largely autonomous, it was always thereafter subordinate to Venice. Until the 19th century, women in Chioggia wore an outfit based on an apron which could be raised to serve as a veil, Chioggia is also known for lace-making, like Pellestrina, but unlike Burano, this lace is made using bobbins. Chioggia served Carlo Goldoni as the setting of his play Le baruffe chiozzotte, one of the classics of Italian literature, a baruffa was a loud brawl, Goldoni took his setting seriously, the play is replete with lacemaking, fishermen, and other local color. Chioggia is a version of Venice, with a few canals, chief among them the Canale Vena. Chioggia has several churches, much reworked in the period of its greatest prosperity in the 16th and 17th centuries. The church of S. Maria, founded in the century, became a cathedral in 1110. The church of St. Andrew has a tower from the 11th-12th centuries. The interior has a Crucifixion by Palma the Elder, fishing is historically the livelihood of the port, and remains a significant economic sector. Other important modern industries include textiles, brick-making and steel, and Sottomarina, Chioggia is twinned with, Lamia Saint-Tropez Chioggia gives its name to a variety of Beetroot, Radicchio, and Pumpkin. Chioggia railway station A. C. Chioggia Sottomarina Official site Port of Chioggia Chioggia
Chioggia
–
Aerial view of Chioggia
10.
Jesolo
–
Jesolo is a seaside resort town and comune in the province of Venice, Italy. The town lies north of Venice, between Eraclea and Cavallino-Treporti, Jesolo gives its name to a lagoon of 22 square kilometres on the Adriatic Sea between the rivers Sile and Piave. The urbanized area lies on an island of sorts, delimited by the rivers Piave and Sile, in Roman times the lagoon extended over the area now occupied by the town. There were several islands in the lagoon, the biggest of which was known as Equilium and it is thought that Jesolo represents a corruption of this name. The citys economy is based on tourism. Jesolo is a resort with abundant holiday facilities and its 15-kilometre beach called Lido di Jesolo. At the height of its life, Jesolo was hosting 6 million tourists per year. Currently these have dropped to around 4.5 million tourists per year due to the competition from new resort towns, petrus de Natalibus, bishop of Equilio from 1370 to his death, and author who compiled the widely circulated book Legends of the Saints
Jesolo
–
The beach of Jesolo.
11.
Mira
–
Mira /ˈmaɪrə/, alternatively designated Omicron Ceti is a red giant star estimated to be 200–400 light years from the Sun in the constellation of Cetus. ο Ceti is a stellar system, consisting of a variable red giant along with a white dwarf companion. Mira A is a variable star and was the first non-supernova variable star discovered. ο Ceti is the stars Bayer designation and it was named Mira by Johannes Hevelius in his Historiola Mirae Stellae. In 2016, the International Astronomical Union organized a Working Group on Star Names to catalog, the WGSNs first bulletin of July 2016 included a table of the first two batches of names approved by the WGSN, which included Mira for this star. Evidence that the variability of Mira was known in ancient China, what is certain is that the variability of Mira was recorded by the astronomer David Fabricius beginning on August 3,1596. Observing what he thought was the planet Mercury, he needed a star for comparing positions. By August 21, however, it had increased in brightness by one magnitude, Fabricius assumed it was a nova, but then saw it again on February 16,1609. In 1638 Johannes Holwarda determined a period of the stars reappearances, eleven months, Johannes Hevelius was observing it at the same time and named it Mira in 1662, for it acted like no other known star. Ismail Bouillaud then estimated its period at 333 days, less one day off the modern value of 332 days. Bouillauds measurement may not have been erroneous, Mira is known to vary slightly in period, the star is estimated to be a 6-billion-year-old red giant. There is considerable speculation as to whether Mira had been observed prior to Fabricius, certainly Algols history suggests that Mira might have been known too. Karl Manitius, a translator of Hipparchus Commentary on Aratus, has suggested that certain lines from that second-century text may be about Mira. The other pre-telescopic Western catalogs of Ptolemy, al-Sufi, Ulugh Beg and this binary star system consists of a red giant undergoing mass loss and a high temperature white dwarf companion that is accreting mass from the primary. Such an arrangement of stars is known as a symbiotic system, examination of this system by the Chandra X-ray Observatory shows a direct mass exchange along a bridge of matter from the primary to the white dwarf. The two stars are separated by about 70 astronomical units. Mira A is currently an asymptotic giant branch star, in the thermally pulsing AGB phase, each pulse lasts a decade or more, and an amount of time on the order of 10,000 years passes between each pulse. With every pulse cycle Mira increases in luminosity and the pulses grow stronger and this is also causing dynamic instability in Mira, resulting in dramatic changes in luminosity and size over shorter, irregular time periods
Mira
–
Mira as seen by
Hubble.
NASA image
Mira
–
Mira as seen from the Earth
Mira
–
Ultraviolet mosaic of Mira's bow shock and tail obtained using NASA's
Galaxy Evolution Explorer (GALEX).
Mira
–
Mira in UV and Visible Light
12.
Italian language
–
By most measures, Italian, together with Sardinian, is the closest to Latin of the Romance languages. Italian is a language in Italy, Switzerland, San Marino, Vatican City. Italian is spoken by minorities in places such as France, Montenegro, Bosnia & Herzegovina, Crimea and Tunisia and by large expatriate communities in the Americas. Many speakers are native bilinguals of both standardized Italian and other regional languages, Italian is the fourth most studied language in the world. Italian is a major European language, being one of the languages of the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe. It is the third most widely spoken first language in the European Union with 65 million native speakers, including Italian speakers in non-EU European countries and on other continents, the total number of speakers is around 85 million. Italian is the working language of the Holy See, serving as the lingua franca in the Roman Catholic hierarchy as well as the official language of the Sovereign Military Order of Malta. Italian is known as the language of music because of its use in musical terminology and its influence is also widespread in the arts and in the luxury goods market. Italian has been reported as the fourth or fifth most frequently taught foreign language in the world, Italian was adopted by the state after the Unification of Italy, having previously been a literary language based on Tuscan as spoken mostly by the upper class of Florentine society. Its development was influenced by other Italian languages and to some minor extent. Its vowels are the second-closest to Latin after Sardinian, unlike most other Romance languages, Italian retains Latins contrast between short and long consonants. As in most Romance languages, stress is distinctive, however, Italian as a language used in Italy and some surrounding regions has a longer history. What would come to be thought of as Italian was first formalized in the early 14th century through the works of Tuscan writer Dante Alighieri, written in his native Florentine. Dante is still credited with standardizing the Italian language, and thus the dialect of Florence became the basis for what would become the language of Italy. Italian was also one of the recognised languages in the Austro-Hungarian Empire. Italy has always had a dialect for each city, because the cities. Those dialects now have considerable variety, as Tuscan-derived Italian came to be used throughout Italy, features of local speech were naturally adopted, producing various versions of Regional Italian. Even in the case of Northern Italian languages, however, scholars are not to overstate the effects of outsiders on the natural indigenous developments of the languages
Italian language
–
Dante Alighieri (above) and
Petrarch (below) were influential in establishing their
Tuscan dialect as the most prominent literary language in all of
Italy in the
Late Middle Ages
Italian language
–
The geographic distribution of the Italian language in the world: large Italian-speaking communities are shown in green; light blue indicates areas where the Italian language was used officially during the Italian colonial period.
Italian language
Italian language
–
Pietro Bembo was an influential figure in the development of the Italian language from the Tuscan dialect, as a literary medium, codifying the language for standard modern usage
13.
Venetian language
–
It is sometimes spoken and often well understood outside Veneto, in Trentino, Friuli, Venezia Giulia, Istria, and some towns of Dalmatia, Croatia, Slovenia, Montenegro, Brazil, Mexico, and Romania. Although referred to as an Italian dialect even by its speakers and its precise place within the Romance language family is controversial, see below. Like all Italian dialects in the Romance language family, Venetian is descended from Vulgar Latin, Venetian is attested as a written language in the 13th century. There are also influences and parallelisms with Greek and Albanian in words such as pirón, inpiràr, caréga, the language enjoyed substantial prestige in the days of the Venetian Republic, when it attained the status of a lingua franca in the Mediterranean. Notable Venetian-language authors include the playwrights Ruzante, Carlo Goldoni and Carlo Gozzi, following the old Italian theatre tradition, they used Venetian in their comedies as the speech of the common folk. They are ranked among the foremost Italian theatrical authors of all time, other notable works in Venetian are the translations of the Iliad by Casanova and Francesco Boaretti, and the poems of Biagio Marin. However, as a literary language Venetian was overshadowed by Dantes Tuscan dialect and languages of France like Occitan, virtually all modern Venetian speakers are diglossic with Italian. The present situation raises questions about the medium term survival. Despite recent steps to recognize it, Venetian remains far below the threshold of inter-generational transfer with younger generations preferring standard Italian in many situations, the dilemma is further complicated by the ongoing large-scale arrival of immigrants, who only speak or learn standard Italian. In the past, however, Venetian spread to other continents as a result of migration from the Veneto region between 1870 and 1905 and 1945 and 1960. Tens of thousands of peasants and craftsmen were thrown off their lands or out of their workshops, Venetian migrants created large Venetian-speaking communities in Argentina, Brazil, and Mexico, where the language is still spoken today. Internal migrations under the Fascist regime also sent many Venetian speakers to other regions of Italy, currently, some firms have chosen to use the Venetian language in advertising as a famous beer did some years ago. Venetian is spoken mainly in the Italian regions of Veneto and Friuli-Venezia Giulia, smaller communities are found in Lombardy, Trentino, Emilia-Romagna, Sardinia, Lazio, and formerly in Romania. It is also spoken in North and South America by the descendants of Italian immigrants, in Mexico, the Chipilo Venetian dialect is spoken in the state of Puebla and the town of Chipilo. The town was settled by immigrants from the Veneto region, people from Chipilo have gone on to make satellite colonies in Mexico, especially in the states of Guanajuato, Querétaro, and State of Mexico. Venetian has also survived in the state of Veracruz, where other Italian migrants have settled from the late 1800s, the people of Chipilo preserve their dialect and call it chipileño and it has been preserved as a variant since the 19th century. The variant of the Venetan language spoken by the Cipiłàn is northern Trevisàn-Feltrìn-Belumàt, in 2009, the Brazilian city of Serafina Corrêa, in the state of Rio Grande do Sul, gave Talian a joint official status alongside Portuguese. Until the middle of the 20th century, Venetian was also spoken on the Greek Island of Corfu, which had long been under the rule of the Republic of Venice
Venetian language
–
A sign in Venetian reading "Here we also speak Venetian".
Venetian language
–
Venetian
Venetian language
–
A street sign in Venice using the Venetian calle, as opposed to the Italian via.
Venetian language
–
"Lasa pur dir" (Let them speak), an inscription on the Venetian House in
Piran, southwestern Slovenia
14.
Embayment
–
A bay is a recessed, coastal body of water that directly connects to a larger main body of water, such as an ocean, lake, or another bay. A large bay may be called a gulf, sea, sound, a cove is a type of smaller bay with a circular inlet and narrow entrance. A fjord is a particularly steep bay shaped by glacial activity, bays can be the estuary of a river, such as the Chesapeake Bay, an estuary of the Susquehanna River. Bays may also be nested within each other, for example, some large bays, such as the Bay of Bengal and the Hudson Bay, have varied marine geology. The land surrounding a bay often reduces the strength of winds, bays were significant in the history of human settlement because they provided a safe place for fishing. Later they were important in the development of sea trade as the safe anchorage they provide encouraged their selection as ports, there are various ways from which bays can be created. The largest bays have developed as a result of plate tectonics, as the super-continent Pangaea broke up along curved and indented fault lines, the continents moved apart and the worlds largest bays formed. These include the Gulf of Guinea, Gulf of Mexico and the Bay of Bengal, another way bays form is via glacial and river erosion. A bay formed by a glacier is a fjord, rias are created by rivers and are characterised by more gradual slopes. Currents can make waves more constant, and soft rocks speed erosion, hard rock eroded less quickly, leaving headlands. The Gulf of California is an example of a bay created by plate tectonics as Baja California peninsula moves away from the Mexican mainland, Bay platform Great capes Headlands and bays
Embayment
–
Looking towards the
Beachy Head cliffs and bay
Embayment
15.
Lagoon
–
A lagoon is a shallow body of water separated from a larger body of water by barrier islands or reefs. Lagoons are commonly divided into coastal lagoons and atoll lagoons and they have also been identified as occurring on mixed-sand and gravel coastlines. There is an overlap between bodies of water classified as coastal lagoons and bodies of water classified as estuaries, lagoons are common coastal features around many parts of the world. Lagoons can also be man-made and used for treatment, as is the case for e. g. aerated lagoons. Lagoons are shallow, often elongated bodies of water separated from a body of water by a shallow or exposed shoal, coral reef. Some authorities include fresh water bodies in the definition of lagoon, the distinction between lagoon and estuary also varies between authorities. Richard A. Davis Jr. restricts lagoon to bodies of water with little or no fresh water inflow, and little or no tidal flow, Davis does state that the terms lagoon and estuary are often loosely applied, even in scientific literature. Timothy M. Kusky characterizes lagoons as normally being elongated parallel to the coast, while estuaries are usually drowned river valleys, coastal lagoons are classified as inland bodies of water. Many lagoons do not include lagoon in their common names, in England, The Fleet at Chesil Beach has also been described as a lagoon. In Latin America, the term laguna in Spanish, which translates to. However, sometimes it is used to describe a full-sized lake, such as Laguna Catemaco in Mexico. The brackish water lagoon may be explicitly identified as a coastal lagoon. In Portuguese the same usage is found, lagoa may be a body of sea water. Lagoon is derived from the Italian laguna, which refers to the waters around Venice, Laguna is attested in English by at least 1612, and had been Anglicized to lagune by 1673. In 1697 William Dampier referred to a Lagune or Lake of Salt water on the coast of Mexico, captain James Cook described an island of Oval form with a Lagoon in the middle in 1769. Atoll lagoons form as coral reefs grow upwards while the islands that the reefs surround subside, unlike the lagoons that form shoreward of fringing reefs, atoll lagoons often contain some deep portions. Coastal lagoons form along gently sloping coasts where barrier islands or reefs can develop off-shore, coastal lagoons do not form along steep or rocky coasts, or if the range of tides is more than 4 metres. Due to the slope of the coast, coastal lagoons are shallow
Lagoon
–
Balos coastal lagoon of northwestern
Crete. The shallow lagoon is separated from the Mediterranean sea by narrow shoals connecting to a small, rocky mountain.
Lagoon
–
Garabogaz-Göl lagoon in
Turkmenistan
Lagoon
–
Coastal lagoon landscapes around the island of
Hiddensee near
Stralsund,
Germany. Many similar coastal lagoons can be found around the
Western Pomerania Lagoon Area National Park.
Lagoon
–
Aerial photograph of the Rakaia river-mouth and associated hapua
16.
Torcello
–
Torcello is a sparsely populated island at the northern end of the Venetian Lagoon, in north-eastern Italy. It is the oldest continuously populated region of Venice, and once held the largest population of the Republic of Venice. In 638, Torcello became the bishop’s official see for more than a thousand years, in pre-Medieval times, Torcello was much a more powerful trading center than Venice. It now has a population of 10 people, including the parish priest. Torcello is the background for Daphne du Mauriers short story, Dont Look Now, torcellos numerous palazzi, its twelve parishes and its sixteen cloisters have almost disappeared since the Venetians recycled the useful building material. The only remaining medieval buildings form an ensemble of four edifices, todays main attraction is the Cathedral of Santa Maria Assunta, founded in 639. It is of basilica-form with side aisles but no crossing, and has much 11th and 12th century Byzantine work, another noteworthy sight for tourists is an ancient stone chair, known as Attila’s Throne. It has, however, nothing to do with the king of the Huns, Torcello is also home to a Devils Bridge, known as the Ponte del Diavolo or alternatively the Ponticello del Diavolo. Ernest Hemingway spent some time there in 1948, writing parts of Across the River, the novel contains representations of Torcello and its environs. In addition, numerous famous artists, musicians, and movie stars have spent time on the island, a quiet refuge. Torcello is the background for Daphne du Mauriers short story, Dont Look Now
Torcello
–
View of Torcello
Torcello
–
Central Torcello, with the Cathedral of Santa Maria Assunta and the Church of Santa Fosca
Torcello
–
Last Judgement. 12th-century Byzantine mosaic from Torcello Cathedral
Torcello
–
Ponte del Diavolo
17.
Brenta (river)
–
The Brenta is an Italian river that runs from Trentino to the Adriatic Sea just south of the Venetian lagoon in the Veneto region, in the north-east of Italy. It is 174 kilometres long and was first channelled in the 16th century when a canal was built from the village of Stra to the Adriatic Sea. A branch of the Brenta, named Naviglio del Brenta, was left to connect directly Venice and it runs through Stra, Fiesso dArtico, Dolo, Mira, Oriago and Malcontenta to Fusina. Starting in the 16th century, many villas were built along the shores of the Naviglio del Brenta. Three of these villas are open to the public, the massive baroque Villa Pisani in Stra, Villa Widmann-Foscari in Mira, Villa Ferretti-Angeli in Dolo is also on the Riviera. Northwest of Padua, near the village of Piazzola sul Brenta, not far from the river, the Venetian aristocracy used to cruise along the canal on a type of boat known as a burchiello, while cargo was carried on traditional barges known as burci. In Bassano del Grappa, the river is crossed by the Ponte Vecchio, or Ponte degli Alpini, the bridge is pontoon-style and is built completely of wood. It was destroyed several times in its history, and was last rebuilt by the Alpini in 1948
Brenta (river)
–
The Brenta at
Bassano del Grappa
18.
Canal
–
Canals and navigations are human-made channels for water conveyance, or to service water transport vehicles. In the vernacular, both are referred to as canals, and in most cases, the works will have a series of dams. These areas are referred to as water levels, often just called levels. In contrast, a canal cuts across a drainage divide atop a ridge, many canals have been built at elevations towering over valleys and others water ways crossing far below. Cities need a lot of water and many canals with sources of water at a higher level can deliver water to a destination where there is a lack of water. The Roman Empires Aqueducts were such water supply canals, a navigation is a series of channels that run roughly parallel to the valley and stream bed of an unimproved river. A navigation always shares the drainage basin of the river, a vessel uses the calm parts of the river itself as well as improvements, traversing the same changes in height. A true canal is a channel that cuts across a drainage divide, most commercially important canals of the first half of the 19th century were a little of each, using rivers in long stretches, and divide crossing canals in others. This is true for many canals still in use, there are two broad types of canal, Waterways, canals and navigations used for carrying vessels transporting goods and people. These can be subdivided into two kinds, Those connecting existing lakes, rivers, other canals or seas and oceans and those connected in a city network, such as the Canal Grande and others of Venice Italy, the gracht of Amsterdam, and the waterways of Bangkok. Aqueducts, water canals that are used for the conveyance and delivery of potable water for human consumption, municipal uses, hydro power canals. Historically canals were of importance to commerce and the development, growth. In 1855 the Lehigh Canal carried over 1.2 million tons of burning anthracite coal, by the 1930s the company which built. By the early 1880s, canals which had little ability to compete with rail transport, were off the map. In the next couple of decades, coal was diminished as the heating fuel of choice by oil. Later, after World War I when motor-trucks came into their own, Canals are built in one of three ways, or a combination of the three, depending on available water and available path, Human made streams A canal can be created where no stream presently exists. Either the body of the canal is dug or the sides of the canal are created by making dykes or levees by piling dirt, stone, the water for the canal must be provided from an external source, like streams or reservoirs. Where the new waterway must change elevation engineering works like locks, lifts or elevators are constructed to raise, examples include canals that connect valleys over a higher body of land, like Canal du Midi, Canal de Briare and the Panama Canal
Canal
–
The Alter Strom, in the sea resort of
Warnemünde, Germany.
Canal
–
The
Royal Canal in Ireland.
Canal
–
Small boat canals such as the
Basingstoke Canal fueled the industrial revolution in much of Europe and the United States.
Canal
–
Loading
Anthracite on the
Lehigh Canal to feed the early United States industries in the pioneer-era.
19.
Mud flat
–
Mudflats or mud flats, also known as tidal flats, are coastal wetlands that form when mud is deposited by tides or rivers. They are found in sheltered areas such as bays, bayous, lagoons, mudflats may be viewed geologically as exposed layers of bay mud, resulting from deposition of estuarine silts, clays and marine animal detritus. Most of the sediment within a mudflat is within the intertidal zone, in the past tidal flats were considered unhealthy, economically unimportant areas and were often dredged and developed into agricultural land. Several especially shallow mudflat areas, such as the Wadden Sea, are now popular among those practising the sport of mudflat hiking. On the Baltic Sea coast of Germany in places, mudflats are exposed not by tidal action and these wind-affected mudflats are called windwatts in German. Tidal flats, along with salt marshes and mangrove forests, are important ecosystems. They are often of importance to migratory birds, as well as certain species of crabs, mollusks. In the United Kingdom mudflats have been classified as a Biodiversity Action Plan priority habitat, the maintenance of mudflats is important in preventing coastal erosion. However, mudflats worldwide are under threat from predicted sea level rises, land claims for development, dredging due to shipping purposes, in some parts of the world, such as East and South-East Asia, mudflats have been reclaimed for aquaculture, agriculture, and industrial development. For example, around the Yellow Sea region of East Asia, mudflat sediment deposits are focused into the intertidal zone which is composed of a barren zone, marsh and salt pan. Within these areas are various ratios of sand and mud that make up the sedimentary layers, the associated growth of coastal sediment deposits can be attributed to rates of subsidence along with rates of deposition and changes in sea level. Barren zones extend from the lowest portion of the zone to the marsh areas. Beginning in close proximity to the bars, sand dominated layers are prominent. Common bedding types include laminated sand, ripple bedding, and bay mud, bioturbation also has a strong presence in barren zones. Marshes contain an abundance of plants while the sediment layers consist of thin sand. Mudcracks are a common as well as wavy bedding planes, marshes are also the origins of coal/peat layers because of the abundant decaying plant life. Salt pans can be distinguished in that they contain thinly laminated layers of clayey silt, the main source of the silt comes from rivers. Dried up mud along with wind erosion forms silt dunes, when flooding, rain or tides come in, the dried sediment is then re-distributed
Mud flat
–
Mudflats near
Oban on
Stewart Island,
New Zealand
Mud flat
–
General sketch-map of a tidal plain, showing the typical tripartition in
supratidal,
intertidal and
subtidal zones. The most apparent character of the area is the development of tidal channels, affecting mainly the
intertidal zone. In this case, the tidal flat is protected seaward by a
beach barrier, but in many cases (low-energy
waves and
longshore currents) the tidal flats may directly pass into a shallow marine environment.
Mud flat
–
Mudflats in
Brewster, Massachusetts,
United States, extending hundreds of yards offshore at the low tide. The line of seashells in the foreground indicates the
high-water mark.
Mud flat
–
Gulls feeding on mudflats in
Skagit Bay,
Washington.
20.
Salt marsh
–
It is dominated by dense stands of salt-tolerant plants such as herbs, grasses, or low shrubs. These plants are terrestrial in origin and are essential to the stability of the marsh in trapping and binding sediments. Salt marshes play a role in the aquatic food web. They also support terrestrial animals and provide coastal protection, salt marshes occur on low-energy shorelines in temperate and high-latitudes which can be stable or emerging, or submerging if the sedimentation rate exceeds the subsidence rate. Commonly these shorelines consist of mud or sand flats which are nourished with sediment from inflowing rivers and these typically include sheltered environments such as embankments, estuaries and the leeward side of barrier islands and spits. In the tropics and sub-tropics they are replaced by mangroves, an area that differs from a marsh in that instead of herbaceous plants. Most salt marshes have a low topography with low elevations but a vast wide area, salt marshes are located among different landforms based on their physical and geomorphological settings. Such marsh landforms include deltaic marshes, estuarine, back-barrier, open coast, embayments, deltaic marshes are associated with large rivers where many occur in Southern Europe such as the Camargue, France in the Rhone delta or the Ebro delta in Spain. They are also extensive within the rivers of the Mississippi Delta in the United States, in New Zealand, most salt marshes occur at the head of estuaries in areas where there is little wave action and high sedimentation. Such marshes are located in Awhitu Regional Park in Auckland, the Manawatu Estuary, back-barrier marshes are sensitive to the reshaping of barriers in the landward side of which they have been formed. They are common along much of the eastern coast of the United States, large, shallow coastal embayments can hold salt marshes with examples including Morecambe Bay and Portsmouth in Britain and the Bay of Fundy in North America. They have a big impact on the biodiversity of the area, salt marsh ecology involves complex food webs which include primary producers, primary consumers, and secondary consumers. The low physical energy and high grasses provide a refuge for animals, many marine fish use salt marshes as nursery grounds for their young before they move to open waters. Saltmarshes across 99 countries were mapped by Mcowen et al, a total of 5,495,089 hectares of mapped saltmarsh across 43 countries and territories are represented in a Geographic Information Systems polygon shapefile. This estimate is at the low end of previous estimates. Mats of filamentous blue-green algae can fix silt and clay sized sediment particles to their sticky sheaths on contact which can increase the erosion resistance of the sediments. This assists the process of sediment accretion to allow colonising species to grow, as a result, competitive species that prefer higher elevations relative to sea level can inhabit the area and often a succession of plant communities develops. Coastal salt marshes can be distinguished from terrestrial habitats by the tidal flow that occurs
Salt marsh
–
An
estuarine salt marsh along the
Heathcote River,
Christchurch,
New Zealand
Salt marsh
–
Salt marsh during
low tide, mean low tide,
high tide and very high tide (
spring tide).
Salt marsh
–
Salt marsh on
Sapelo Island, Georgia, USA
Salt marsh
–
An
Atlantic coastal salt marsh in
Connecticut.
21.
Wetland
–
A wetland is a land area that is saturated with water, either permanently or seasonally, such that it takes on the characteristics of a distinct ecosystem. The primary factor that distinguishes wetlands from other forms or water bodies is the characteristic vegetation of aquatic plants. Wetlands play a number of roles in the environment, principally water purification, flood control, carbon sink, Wetlands are also considered the most biologically diverse of all ecosystems, serving as home to a wide range of plant and animal life. Wetlands occur naturally on every continent except Antarctica, the largest including the Amazon River basin, the West Siberian Plain, the water found in wetlands can be freshwater, brackish, or saltwater. The main wetland types include swamps, marshes, bogs, and fens, and sub-types include mangrove, carr, pocosin, the UN Millennium Ecosystem Assessment determined that environmental degradation is more prominent within wetland systems than any other ecosystem on Earth. International conservation efforts are being used in conjunction with the development of rapid assessment tools to people about wetland issues. Constructed wetlands can be used to treat municipal and industrial wastewater as well as stormwater runoff and they may also play a role in water-sensitive urban design. A patch of land that develops pools of water after a storm would not be considered a wetland. Wetlands have unique characteristics, they are distinguished from other water bodies or landforms based on their water level. Specifically, wetlands are characterized as having a table that stands at or near the land surface for a long enough period each year to support aquatic plants. A more concise definition is a community composed of hydric soil, Wetlands have also been described as ecotones, providing a transition between dry land and water bodies. In environmental decision-making, there are subsets of definitions that are agreed upon to make regulatory and policy decisions. A wetland is an ecosystem that arises when inundation by water produces soils dominated by anaerobic processes, There are four main kinds of wetlands – marsh, swamp, bog and fen. Some experts also recognize wet meadows and aquatic ecosystems as additional wetland types, the largest wetlands in the world include the swamp forests of the Amazon and the peatlands of Siberia. Under the Ramsar international wetland conservation treaty, wetlands are defined as follows, Article 2.1, may incorporate riparian and coastal zones adjacent to the wetlands, and islands or bodies of marine water deeper than six metres at low tide lying within the wetlands. Although the general definition given above applies around the world, each county, Wetlands generally include swamps, marshes, bogs and similar areas. This definition has been used in the enforcement of the Clean Water Act, some US states, such as Massachusetts and New York, have separate definitions that may differ from the federal governments. It is not uncommon for a wetland to be dry for long portions of the growing season, the most important factor producing wetlands is flooding
Wetland
–
Laguna de Rocha, the largest wetland in the urban area in
Esteban Echeverría Partido,
Argentina
Wetland
–
Mangrove
swamps are coastal wetlands. This swamp is in the
Florida Everglades.
Wetland
–
Peat bogs are freshwater wetlands that develop in areas with
standing water and low
soil fertility.
Wetland
–
Marshes develop along the edges of rivers and lakes.
22.
Mediterranean Basin
–
As a rule of thumb, the Mediterranean Basin is the Old World region where olive trees grow. The Mediterranean basin covers portions of three continents Africa, Asia, and Europe and it has a varied and contrasting topography. Contrary to the sandy beach images portrayed in most tourist brochures. Mountains can be seen from almost anywhere, the Mediterranean Basin extends into Western Asia, covering the western and southern portions of the peninsula of Turkey, excluding the temperate-climate mountains of central Turkey. It includes the Mediterranean climate Levant at the end of the Mediterranean, bounded on the east and south by the Syrian. The northern portion of the Maghreb region of northwestern Africa has a Mediterranean climate, separated from the Sahara Desert, Europe lies to the north, and three large Southern European peninsulas, the Iberian Peninsula, Italian Peninsula, and the Balkan Peninsula, extend into the Mediterranean-climate zone. The Mediterranean Basin was shaped by the ancient collision of the northward-moving African-Arabian continent with the stable Eurasian continent, as Africa-Arabia moved north, it closed the former Tethys Sea, which formerly separated Eurasia from the ancient super continent of Gondwana, of which Africa was part. At about the time,170 mya in the Jurassic period. The collision pushed up a vast system of mountains, extending from the Pyrenees in Spain to the Zagros Mountains in Iran and this episode of mountain building, known as the Alpine orogeny, occurred mostly during the Oligocene and Miocene epochs. The Neotethys became larger during these collisions and associated folding and subduction, about 6 mya during the late Miocene, the Mediterranean was closed at its western end by drifting Africa, which caused the entire sea to evaporate. There followed several episodes of sea drawdown and re-flooding known as the Messinian Salinity Crisis, recent studies, however, show that repeated desiccation and re-flooding is unlikely from a geodynamic point of view. The end of the Miocene also marked a change in the Mediterranean Basins climate, fossil evidence shows that the Mediterranean Basin had a relatively humid subtropical climate with summer rainfall during the Miocene, which supported laurel forests. The shift to a Mediterranean climate occurred within the last 3. 2–2.8 million years, during the Pliocene epoch, much of these forests and shrublands have been altered beyond recognition by thousands of years of human habitation. There are now very few relatively intact natural areas in what was once a wooded region. The Mediterranean Region was first proposed by German botanist August Grisebach in the late 19th century, drosophyllaceae, recently segregated from Droseraceae, is the only plant family endemic to the region. Among the endemic plant genera are, The genera Aubrieta, Sesamoides, Cynara, Dracunculus, moreover, many plant taxa are shared with one of the four neighboring floristic regions only. The Mediterranean Basin is the largest of the worlds five Mediterranean forests, woodlands and it is home to a number of plant communities, which vary with rainfall, elevation, latitude, and soils. Scrublands occur in the driest areas, especially areas near the seacoast where wind, low, soft-leaved scrublands around the Mediterranean are known as garrigar in Catalan, garrigue in French, phrygana in Greek, tomillares in Spanish, and batha in Hebrew
Mediterranean Basin
–
Potential distribution over the Mediterranean Basin of the olive tree—one of the best biological indicators of the Mediterranean Region (Oteros, 2014)
Mediterranean Basin
–
Political Map of the Mediterranean Basin
23.
Inlet
–
An inlet is an indentation of a shoreline, usually long and narrow, such as a small bay or arm, that often leads to an enclosed body of salt water, such as a sound, bay, lagoon, or marsh. In sea coasts, an inlet usually refers to the connection between a bay and the ocean and is often called an entrance or a recession in the shore of a sea, lake. A certain kind of created by glaciation is a fjord, typically but not always in mountainous coastlines. Complexes of large inlets or fjords may be called sounds, e. g. Puget Sound, Howe Sound, Karmsund. Some fjord-type inlets are called canals, e. g. Portland Canal, Lynn Canal, Hood Canal, and some are channels, e. g. Dean Channel and Douglas Channel. Tidal amplitude, wave intensity, and wave direction are all factors that influence sediment flux in inlets Alaska Panhandle British Columbia Coast Calanque Inside Passage Ria Bruun, Per, stability of Tidal Inlets, Theory and Engineering. Amsterdam, Elsevier Scientific Pub. Co. p.510, be pub co Coastal Inlets Research Program Hood Canal on Google Maps
Inlet
–
Bay at the
Gulf of Salerno
Inlet
24.
Lido di Venezia
–
The Lido, or Venice Lido, is an 11-kilometre long sandbar in Venice, northern Italy, it is home to about 20,000 residents. The Venice Film Festival takes place at the Lido every September, the island is home to three settlements. The Lido itself, in the north, is home to the Film Festival, the Grand Hotel des Bains, the Venice Casino, malamocco, in the centre, was the first and, for a long time, the only settlement. It was at one home to the Doge of Venice. Alberoni at the end is home to the golf course. Frequent public buses run the length of the island along the main street, at least half the Adriatic side of the island is a sandy beach, much of it belonging to the various hotels that house the summer tourists. These include the renowned Excelsior and the Des Bains, setting for Thomas Manns classic novel Death in Venice and these beaches are private, though towards the northern and southern ends of the island there are two enormous public beaches. The Adriatic Sea is fairly clean and warm, ideal for children, the heart of the island is the Gran Viale Santa Maria Elisabetta, a wide street approximately 700 m long that leads from the lagoon and vaporetto stop on one side across to the sea on the other. It houses hotels, shops, and tourist-centric restaurants, Venezia Lido, a public airport suitable for smaller aircraft, is found on the NE end of Lido di Venezia. It has a 1000 m grass runway, in 1177, Emperor Frederick Barbarossa and Pope Alexander III signed the Treaty of Venice here following Fredericks defeat at the Battle of Legnano in 1176. In 1857, the first sea bathing facility was set up and this was the first time that anything like it had been seen in Europe and soon, the lido became The Lido, a byword for a beach resort. The Lidos success and the fascination of Venice nearby made the Lido famous worldwide, Lido was also famous for its brothels in the first half of the 20th century. Major beach facilities, hotels and private summer villas have remained the heart of an island that is known as the Golden Island. In the 1960s, the improving post-war Italian economy created a boom in the island. The term Lido, originally coming from this island, is used to refer to types of outdoor swimming pools especially in Great Britain. It also forms the first part of many names in coastal locations throughout Italy. The British travel writer Robin Saikia has written a history, The Venice Lido, charting the islands story from its early beginnings to the present day. Satellite image of the Venetian Lido from Google Maps Venice Lido Beaches Lido di Venezia The Venice Lido by Robin Saikia
Lido di Venezia
–
Lido
Vaporetto terminal, seen from the Lagoon
Lido di Venezia
–
Santa Maria Elisabetta Square
Lido di Venezia
–
Hotel des Bains
Lido di Venezia
–
Hotel Hungaria Ausonia
25.
Malamocco
–
Malamocco was the first, and for a long time, the only settlement on the Lido of Venice barrier island. It was the location of the home of the Doge of Venice. Located just south of the center, it is part of the Lido-Pellestrina borough of the Comune of Venice. It is sometimes mis-identified as Metamaucum, though the town was located on a nearby island. Malamocco also refers to one of the three channels in the barrier island chain that separates the Venetian Lagoon with the Adriatic Sea. The Malamocco Channel, with a depth of 14 meters, is dedicated to ships making use of the Marghera commercial/industrial port facilitites of the Port of Venice. Malamocco has a church now devoted to Santa Maria Assunta. The church dates from the 12th century and is built in Veneto-Byzantine style and it underwent modifications in 1339 and 1557. The belltower has a peal of four bells in the chord of F major and it can be found in Piazza Maggiore in the picturesque district of Malamocco on Lido. In Malamocco there is also the ponte Borgo, the Palazzo Pretorio, the Pisani governed Malamocco around the middle of 1537. The interior of the church is based on one nave and with dates in part to the 12th century. The 15th-century Palazzo del Podestà is in Gothic style, during the period of the Republic, Malamocco was one of nine districts of the Dogado. It was ruled by a podestà elected for a sixteen-month term
Malamocco
–
Santa Maria Assunta
26.
Spring tide
–
Tides are the rise and fall of sea levels caused by the combined effects of the gravitational forces exerted by the Moon and the Sun and the rotation of the Earth. Some shorelines experience a semi-diurnal tide—two nearly equal high and low tides each day, other locations experience a diurnal tide—only one high and low tide each day. A mixed tide—two uneven tides a day, or one high, Tides vary on timescales ranging from hours to years due to a number of factors. To make accurate records, tide gauges at fixed stations measure water level over time, gauges ignore variations caused by waves with periods shorter than minutes. These data are compared to the level usually called mean sea level. Tidal phenomena are not limited to the oceans, but can occur in other systems whenever a gravitational field varies in time. For example, the part of the Earth is affected by tides. Tide changes proceed via the following stages, Sea level rises over several hours, covering the intertidal zone, the water rises to its highest level, reaching high tide. Sea level falls over several hours, revealing the intertidal zone, the water stops falling, reaching low tide. Oscillating currents produced by tides are known as tidal streams, the moment that the tidal current ceases is called slack water or slack tide. The tide then reverses direction and is said to be turning, slack water usually occurs near high water and low water. But there are locations where the moments of slack tide differ significantly from those of high, Tides are commonly semi-diurnal, or diurnal. The two high waters on a day are typically not the same height, these are the higher high water. Similarly, the two low waters each day are the low water and the lower low water. The daily inequality is not consistent and is small when the Moon is over the equator. From the highest level to the lowest, Highest Astronomical Tide – The highest tide which can be predicted to occur, note that meteorological conditions may add extra height to the HAT. Mean High Water Springs – The average of the two high tides on the days of spring tides, mean High Water Neaps – The average of the two high tides on the days of neap tides. Mean Sea Level – This is the sea level
Spring tide
–
High tide,
Alma, New Brunswick in the
Bay of Fundy, 1972
Spring tide
–
Low tide at the same fishing port in
Bay of Fundy, 1972
Spring tide
–
In
Maine (U.S.) low tide occurs roughly at moonrise and high tide with a high moon, corresponding to the simple gravity model of two tidal bulges; at most places however, moon and tides have a phase shift.
Spring tide
–
Low tide at Bangchuidao Scenic Area,
Dalian,
Liaoning Province,
China
27.
Acqua Alta
–
Acqua alta is the term used in Veneto for the exceptional tide peaks that occur periodically in the northern Adriatic Sea. The phenomenon occurs mainly between autumn and spring, when the tides are reinforced by the prevailing seasonal winds that hamper the usual reflux. The main winds involved are the sirocco, which blows northbound along the Adriatic Sea, and the bora, precise scientific parameters define the phenomenon called acqua alta, the most significant of which is measured by the hydrographic station located nearby the Basilica di Santa Maria della Salute. Because of their complex interrelations and quasi-stochastic behavior, these variables cannot be modeled in statistical terms. Consequently, this component can only be forecast for the short run and is the principal determinant of acqua alta emergencies that catch Venetians unprepared. Two further contributing natural factors are the subsidence, i. e. the natural sinking of the level, to which the lagoon is subject. Venices Tide Monitoring and Forecast Center evaluates that the city has lost 23 cm, the long and narrow rectangular shape of the Adriatic Sea is the source of an oscillating water motion along the basins minor axis. A secondary oscillation is also present, with a period of 12 hours and 11 minutes. Because the timeframe of both oscillations is comparable to naturally occurring astronomical tides, the two overlap and reinforce each other. The combined effects are significant at the perigees, which correspond to new moons, full moons. Should meteorological conditions hamper the natural outflow of excess tidal water, when this occurs, the ebb is factually prevented inside the lagoon, so that the following high tide overlaps with the previous one, in a perverse self-supporting cycle. These islands, called barene, acted as natural sponges when high tides occurred, second, a navigable channel was carved through the lagoon to allow oil tankers to reach the piers. This Oil Channel factually linked the sea to the line, running through the harbor in Malamocco. This direct connection to the sea, which was obviously non-existent at the time of Venices foundation, has subjected the city to more severe high tides, porto Marghera and its facilities are not the only human-made contributors to higher tides. The study provided Venetians with the reference guide, To assist pedestrian circulation during floods. This gangway system is set at 120 cm above the conventional sea level. The Tide Monitoring and Forecast Centre of the City of Venice is fed information via a network of hydrographic stations, located in both the lagoon and the Adriatic Sea. Forecasts are then announced to the population via the website and dedicated phone lines, through local newspapers, on electronic displays
Acqua Alta
–
Venice: acqua alta in
Piazza San Marco.
Acqua Alta
–
Satellite image of the Adriatic Sea, highlighting the long and narrow
rectangular shape which is the source of an oscillating water motion (called
seiche) along the minor axis. The oscillation, which has a period of 21 hours and 30 minutes and an amplitude around 0.5 meters at the axis' extremities, supplements the natural tidal cycle, so that the Adriatic sea experiences much more extreme tidal events than the rest of the Mediterranean.
Acqua Alta
–
Venice: the fondamenta Venier flooded on December 1, 2008.
Acqua Alta
–
The reference hydrographic station at Punta della Salute.
28.
Marano lagoon
–
Marano lagoon is a huge lagoon in northeastern Italy. It has an area of around 160 square kilometres. Marano lagoon stretches from Lignano Sabbiadoro to the east for nearly 90 km and it is considered the twin of the Venice Lagoon, that is located a few km to the west. Sometimes it is called Marano-Grado lagoon, but geographically it is divided in two sections, lagoon of Marano and lagoon of Grado. This lagoon, which covers an area of about 90 square kilometers and has nearly 120 islands, is divided into an eastern sector, the origins of this lagoon are relatively recent. Characteristic of the Grado lagoon is the presence of houses called casoni, the typical boat of the inhabitants of the lagoon is the batèla, that has a flat bottom and is operated by rowing. The batèla is usually 5 to 10 meters long, and is guided by a standing in the stern. Laguna West The Laguna West is the largest and has many islands, there are nearly one hundred like the beautiful Martignano island. It is crossed by canals, which are arranged along the main islands. The westernmost island is Anfora, which acquired strategic importance in 1866, today it houses the small island-town of Porto Buso. Laguna East The Laguna East is the most recent and less deep, after the land reclamation of the Fossalon island, realized in the first half of last century, its surface is substantially halved. Inside this land now is located the Valle Cavanata Nature Reserve. Compared to the lagoon, it is less rich in islands. Anyway, between those islands stands out Barbana, which is home to the 1500 years old Sanctuary of Mary, in the eastern lagoon there it is even the island called Schiusa, recently created with fill material, and now entirely urbanized and integrated with Grado. Of course, the island-town of Grado is the biggest of the Grado Lagoon and is located just 20 km from the mouth of the Isonzo river, the section of Marano covers an area of 70 square kilometres and has less islands than the section of Grado. However the Marano Lagoon is under the administration of the Comune di Marano Lagunare, the Marano section of the lagoon is crossed longitudinally by the Venetian coast waterway, a waterway that connects Venice with the mouth of the Isonzo river. This section starts on the side with Lignano Sabbiadoro, a resort city developed mainly after World War II. The Marano section goes until the Palud de Soto near Porto Buso, the mooring complex of Lignano Sabbiadoro is the largest in Italy and among the largest in Europe, having more than 5,000 berths
Marano lagoon
–
Marano lagoon near Lignano Sabbiadoro
Marano lagoon
–
Boat Procession "Perdòn di Barban" near the Barbana island, inside the Marano-Grado Lagoon
Marano lagoon
–
The island of "Porto Buso" inside the Marano-Grado Lagoon
Marano lagoon
–
Barbana island, with the Marian sanctuary
29.
Estuary
–
An estuary is a partially enclosed coastal body of brackish water with one or more rivers or streams flowing into it, and with a free connection to the open sea. Estuaries form a zone between river environments and maritime environments. They are subject both to marine influences—such as tides, waves, and the influx of saline water—and to riverine influences—such as flows of fresh water and sediment. The inflows of sea water and fresh water provide high levels of nutrients both in the water column and in sediment, making estuaries among the most productive natural habitats in the world. Most existing estuaries formed during the Holocene epoch with the flooding of river-eroded or glacially scoured valleys when the sea began to rise about 10. Estuaries are typically classified according to their geomorphological features or to water-circulation patterns, the banks of many estuaries are amongst the most heavily populated areas of the world, with about 60% of the worlds population living along estuaries and the coast. The word estuary is derived from the Latin word aestuarium meaning tidal inlet of the sea, there have been many definitions proposed to describe an estuary. However, this definition excludes a number of water bodies such as coastal lagoons. This broad definition also includes fjords, lagoons, river mouths, an estuary is a dynamic ecosystem having a connection to the open sea through which the sea water enters with the rhythm of the tides. The sea water entering the estuary is diluted by the water flowing from rivers. The pattern of dilution varies between different estuaries and depends on the volume of water, the tidal range. Drowned river valleys are known as coastal plain estuaries. In places where the sea level is rising relative to the land, sea water progressively penetrates into river valleys and this is the most common type of estuary in temperate climates. Well-studied estuaries include the Severn Estuary in the United Kingdom and the Ems Dollard along the Dutch-German border, the width-to-depth ratio of these estuaries is typically large, appearing wedge-shaped in the inner part and broadening and deepening seaward. Water depths rarely exceed 30 m, examples of this type of estuary in the U. S. are the Hudson River, Chesapeake Bay, and Delaware Bay along the Mid-Atlantic coast, and Galveston Bay and Tampa Bay along the Gulf Coast. They are relatively common in tropical and subtropical locations and these estuaries are semi-isolated from ocean waters by barrier beaches. Formation of barrier beaches partially encloses the estuary, with only narrow inlets allowing contact with the ocean waters, bar-built estuaries typically develop on gently sloping plains located along tectonically stable edges of continents and marginal sea coasts. They are extensive along the Atlantic and Gulf coasts of the U. S. in areas with active coastal deposition of sediments, barrier beaches form in shallow water and are generally parallel to the shoreline, resulting in long, narrow estuaries
Estuary
–
Estuary of the
Klamath River in
Northern California
Estuary
–
River Exe estuary
Estuary
–
River Nith estuary
Estuary
–
Estuary mouth located in
Darwin,
Northern Territory,
Australia
30.
Ravenna
–
Ravenna is the capital city of the Province of Ravenna, in the Emilia-Romagna region of Northern Italy. It was the city of the Western Roman Empire from 402 until that empire collapsed in 476. It then served as the capital of the Kingdom of the Ostrogoths until it was re-conquered in 540 by the Eastern Roman Empire. Afterwards, the city formed the centre of the Byzantine Exarchate of Ravenna until the invasion of the Lombards in 751, although an inland city, Ravenna is connected to the Adriatic Sea by the Candiano Canal. It is known for its well-preserved late Roman and Byzantine architecture, the origin of the name Ravenna is unclear, although it is believed the name is Etruscan. Some have speculated that ravenna is related to Rasenna, the term that the Etruscans used for themselves, the origins of Ravenna are uncertain. Ravenna consisted of houses built on piles on a series of islands in a marshy lagoon – a situation similar to Venice several centuries later. The Romans ignored it during their conquest of the Po River Delta, in 49 BC, it was the location where Julius Caesar gathered his forces before crossing the Rubicon. Later, after his battle against Mark Antony in 31 BC and this harbor, protected at first by its own walls, was an important station of the Roman Imperial Fleet. Nowadays the city is landlocked, but Ravenna remained an important seaport on the Adriatic until the early Middle Ages, during the German campaigns, Thusnelda, widow of Arminius, and Marbod, King of the Marcomanni, were confined at Ravenna. Ravenna greatly prospered under Roman rule, Emperor Trajan built a 70 km long aqueduct at the beginning of the 2nd century. During the Marcomannic Wars, Germanic settlers in Ravenna revolted and managed to seize possession of the city, for this reason, Marcus Aurelius decided not only against bringing more barbarians into Italy, but even banished those who had previously been brought there. In AD402, Emperor Honorius transferred the capital of the Western Roman Empire from Milan to Ravenna, at that time it was home to 50,000 people. However, in 409, King Alaric I of the Visigoths simply bypassed Ravenna, after many vicissitudes, Galla Placidia returned to Ravenna with her son, Emperor Valentinian III and the support of her nephew Theodosius II. The late 5th century saw the dissolution of Roman authority in the west, Odoacer ruled as King of Italy for 13 years, but in 489 the Eastern Emperor Zeno sent the Ostrogoth King Theoderic the Great to re-take the Italian peninsula. After losing the Battle of Verona, Odoacer retreated to Ravenna, Theoderic took Ravenna in 493, supposedly slew Odoacer with his own hands, and Ravenna became the capital of the Ostrogothic Kingdom of Italy. Both Odoacer and Theoderic and their followers were Arian Christians, but co-existed peacefully with the Latins, Ravennas Orthodox bishops carried out notable building projects, of which the sole surviving one is the Capella Arcivescovile. Theoderic allowed Roman citizens within his kingdom to be subject to Roman law, the Goths, meanwhile, lived under their own laws and customs
Ravenna
–
Collage of Ravenna
Ravenna
–
Mosaic of the Emperor Justinian from the Basilica of San Vitale.
Ravenna
–
The Mausoleum of Theoderic.
Ravenna
–
Basilica of San Vitale - triumphal arch mosaics.
31.
Trieste
–
Trieste is a city and seaport in northeastern Italy. It is situated towards the end of a strip of Italian territory lying between the Adriatic Sea and Slovenia, which lies almost immediately south and east of the city. It is also located near Croatia some further 30 kilometres south, Trieste is located at the head of the Gulf of Trieste and throughout history it has been influenced by its location at the crossroads of Latin, Slavic, and Germanic cultures. In 2009, it had a population of about 205,000 and it is the capital of the autonomous region Friuli-Venezia Giulia, Trieste was one of the oldest parts of the Habsburg Monarchy. In the 19th century, it was the most important port of one of the Great Powers of Europe, as a prosperous seaport in the Mediterranean region, Trieste became the fourth largest city of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. In the fin de siècle period at the end of the 19th century it emerged as an important hub for literature, Trieste underwent an economic revival during the 1930s, and Trieste was an important spot in the struggle between the Eastern and Western blocs after the Second World War. Today, the city is in one of the richest regions of Italy, Roman authors also transliterated the name as Tergestum. Modern names of the city include, Italian, Trieste, Slovene, Trst, German, Triest, Hungarian, Trieszt, Croatian, Trst, Serbian, Трст/Trst, Trieste lies in the northernmost part of the high Adriatic in northeastern Italy, near the border with Slovenia. The city lies on the Gulf of Trieste, built mostly on a hillside that becomes a mountain, Triestes urban territory lies at the foot of an imposing escarpment that comes down abruptly from the Karst Plateau towards the sea. The karst landforms close to the city reach an elevation of 458 metres above sea level and it lies on the borders of the Italian geographical region, the Balkan Peninsula, and the Mitteleuropa. The territory of Trieste is composed of different climate zones depending on the distance from the sea. The average temperatures are 5.4 °C in January and 23.3 °C in July, the climatic setting of the city is humid subtropical climate. On average, humidity levels are low, while only two months receive slightly less than 60 mm of precipitation. Trieste along with the Istrian peninsula has evenly distributed rainfall above 1,000 mm in total, snow occurs on average 0 –2 days per year. Temperatures are very mild - lows below zero are somewhat rare, winter maxima are lower than in typical Mediterranean zone with quite high minima. Summer is very warm with maxima about 28 °C and lows above 20 °C, the absolute maximum of the last fifty years is 37.2 °C in 2003, whereas the absolute minimum is −14.6 °C in 1956. Since the second millennium BC, the location was an inhabited site, originally an Illyrian settlement, the Veneti entered the region in the 10th-9th c. BC and seem to have given the town its name, Tergeste, still later, the town was later captured by the Carni, a tribe of the Eastern Alps, before becoming part of the Roman republic in 177 BC during the Istrian War
Trieste
–
A collage of Trieste showing the
Piazza Unità d'Italia, the Canal Grande (Grand Canal), the Serbian Orthodox church, a narrow street of the Old City, the Castello Miramare and the city seafront.
Trieste
–
Remains of a Roman arch in Trieste's Old City
Trieste
–
Trieste in the 17th century, in a contemporary image by the
Carniolan historian
Johann Weikhard von Valvasor
Trieste
–
The Stock Exchange Square in 1854
32.
Huns
–
The Huns were a nomadic people who lived in Eastern Europe, the Caucasus, and Central Asia between the 1st century AD and the 7th century AD. In 91 AD, the Huns were said to be living near the Caspian Sea, by 370, the Huns had established a vast, if short-lived, dominion in Europe. In the 18th century, the French scholar Joseph de Guignes became the first to propose a link between the Huns and the Xiongnu people, who were neighbours of China in the 3rd century BC. Since Guignes time, considerable effort has been devoted to investigating such a connection. However, there is no consensus on a direct connection between the dominant element of the Xiongnu and that of the Huns. Numerous other ethnic groups were included under Attilas rule, including very many speakers of Gothic and their main military technique was mounted archery. The Huns may have stimulated the Great Migration, a factor in the collapse of the Western Roman Empire. They formed an empire under Attila the Hun, who died in 453. Variants of the Hun name are recorded in the Caucasus until the early 8th century, the Huns were a confederation of warrior bands, ready to integrate other groups to increase their military power, in the Eurasian Steppe in the 4th to 6th centuries AD. Most aspects of their ethnogenesis are uncertain, walter Pohl explicitly states, All we can say safely is that the name Huns, in late antiquity, described prestigious ruling groups of steppe warriors. Jerome associated them with the Scythians in a letter, written four years after the Huns invaded the eastern provinces in 395. The equation of the Huns with the Scythians, together with a fear of the coming of the Antichrist in the late 4th century. This demonization of the Huns is also reflected in Jordaness Getica, written in the 6th century, otto J. Maenchen-Helfen was the first to challenge the traditional approach, based primarily on the study of written sources, and to emphasize the importance of archaeological research. Thereafter the identification of the Xiongnu as the Huns ancestors became controversial among some, the similarity of their ethnonyms is one of the most important links between the two peoples. A Sogdian merchant described the invasion of northern China by the Xwn people in a letter, Étienne de la Vaissière asserts both documents prove that Huna or Xwn were the exact transcriptions of the Chinese Xiongnu name. Christopher P. Atwood rejects that identification because of the very poor match between the three words. For instance, Xiongnu begins with a velar fricative, Huna with a voiceless glottal fricative, Xiongnu is a two-syllable word. However, according to Zhengzhang Shangfang, Xiongnu was pronounced in Late Old Chinese, the Chinese Book of Wei contain references to the remains of the descendants of the Xiongnu who lived in the region of the Altai Mountains in the early 5th century AD
Huns
–
Huns in battle with the
Alans. An 1870s engraving after a drawing by
Johann Nepomuk Geiger (1805–1880).
Huns
–
Hunnish set of
horse trappings, 4th century;
chamfron, bridle mounts and whip handle,
Walters Art Museum
Huns
–
Hun cauldrons
Huns
–
Detail of Hunnish gold and garnet bracelet, 5th century,
Walters Art Museum
33.
Venetian Republic
–
It was based in the lagoon communities of the historically prosperous city of Venice. It was a leading European economic and trading power during the Middle Ages, the Venetian city state was founded as a safe haven for people escaping persecution in mainland Europe after the fall of the Roman Empire. In its early years, it prospered on the salt trade, in subsequent centuries, the city state established a thalassocracy. It dominated trade on the Mediterranean Sea, including commerce between Asia, Europe and North Africa, the Venetian navy was used in the Crusades. Venice achieved territorial conquests along the Adriatic Sea, the city became home to an extremely wealthy merchant class, who patronized renowned art and architecture along the citys lagoons. Venetian merchants were influential financiers in Europe, the city was also the birthplace of great European explorers, including Marco Polo, as well as the classical music composer Vivaldi. The republic was ruled by the Doge, who was elected by members of the Great Council of Venice, the ruling class was an oligarchy of merchants and aristocrats. Venice and other Italian maritime republics played a key role in fostering capitalism, Venetian citizens generally supported the system of governance. The city-state enforced strict laws and employed ruthless tactics in its prisons, the opening of new trade routes to the Americas and the East Indies via the Atlantic Ocean marked the beginning of Venices decline as a maritime republic. The city state suffered defeats from the navy of the Ottoman Empire, in 1797, the country was colonized by Austria and France, following an invasion by Napoleon Bonaparte. Venice became a part of a unified Italy in the 19th century and it was formally known as the Most Serene Republic of Venice and is often referred to as La Serenissima, in reference to its title as one of the Most Serene Republics. He was the first historical Doge of Venice, whichever the case, the first doges had their power base in Heraclea. Ursuss successor, Deusdedit, moved his seat from Heraclea to Malamocco in the 740s and he was the son of Ursus and represented the attempt of his father to establish a dynasty. Such attempts were more commonplace among the doges of the first few centuries of Venetian history. They desired to remain well-connected to the Empire, another faction, republican in nature, believed in continuing along a course towards practical independence. The other main faction was pro-Frankish, supported mostly by clergy, they looked towards the new Carolingian king of the Franks, Pepin the Short, as the best provider of defence against the Lombards. A minor, pro-Lombard faction was opposed to close ties with any of these further-off powers, the successors of Obelerio inherited a united Venice. By the Pax Nicephori, the two emperors had recognised that Venice belonged to the Byzantine sphere of influence, many centuries later, the Venetians claimed that the treaty had recognised Venetian de facto independence, but the truth of this claim is doubted by modern scholars
Venetian Republic
–
Sack of Constantinople
Venetian Republic
–
Flag
Venetian Republic
–
Voyage of
Marco Polo into the Far East during the
Pax Mongolica
Venetian Republic
–
The
Piraeus Lion in
Venice - a spoil from Constantinople
34.
Thalassocracy
–
A thalassocracy is a state with primarily maritime realms, an empire at sea or a seaborne empire. Traditional thalassocracies seldom dominate interiors, even in their territories, Phoenician Tyre, Sidon and Carthage or Srivijaya. Compare to tellurocracy - land-based hegemony, the term thalassocracy can also simply refer to naval supremacy, in either military or commercial senses of the word supremacy. The Ancient Greeks first used the word thalassocracy to describe the government of the Minoan civilization, herodotus distinguishes sea-power from land-power and spoke of the need to counter the Phoenician thalassocracy by developing a Greek empire of the sea. There are many ancient examples besides those mentioned above, such as the Delian League, nearly contemporaneous, the Republic of Ragusa can be seen as a thalassocracy, a competitor to Venice. These include the variously Greek and Lombard duchies of Gaeta, Naples, Salerno, later, northern Italy developed its own trade empires based on Pisa and especially the powerful Republic of Genoa, that rivaled with Venice. It was with the age, the Age of Exploration. Anchored in their European territories, several nations established colonial empires held together by naval supremacy, with naval arms races and the end of colonialism and the granting of independence to these colonies, European thalassocracies, which had controlled the worlds oceans for centuries, ceased to be
Thalassocracy
–
The Phoenician trade routes in the Mediterranean.
35.
Seaport
–
A port is a location on a coast or shore containing one or more harbors where ships can dock and transfer people or cargo to or from land. Port locations are selected to optimize access to land and navigable water, for commercial demand, Ports with deeper water are rarer, but can handle larger ships. Since ports throughout history handled every kind of traffic, support and storage facilities vary widely, may extend for miles, some ports have an important military role. One of the worlds oldest known artificial harbors is at Wadi al-Jarf on the Red Sea, along with the finding of harbor structures, ancient anchors have also been found. Guangzhou was an important port during the ancient times as far back as the Qin Dynasty, canopus was the principal port in Egypt for Greek trade before the foundation of Alexandria. Athens port of Piraeus was the base for the Athenian fleet, lothal is one of the most prominent cities of the ancient Indus valley civilisation, located in the Bhāl region of the modern state of Gujarāt and dating from 3700 BCE. Ostia Antica was the port of ancient Rome with Portus established by Claudius, Ports often have cargo-handling equipment, such as cranes and forklifts for use in loading ships, which may be provided by private interests or public bodies. Often, canneries or other processing facilities will be located nearby, some ports feature canals, which allow ships further movement inland. Access to intermodal transportation, such as railroads and highways, is critical to a port, so that passengers, Ports with international traffic have customs facilities. Harbor pilots and tugboats may maneuver large ships in tight quarters when near docks, the terms port and seaport are used for different types of port facilities that handle ocean-going vessels, and river port is used for river traffic, such as barges and other shallow-draft vessels. An inland port is a port on a lake, river, or canal with access to a sea or ocean. An example of this is the St. Lawrence Seaway which allows ships to travel from the Atlantic Ocean several thousand kilometers inland to Great Lakes ports like Duluth-Superior, a fishing port is a port or harbor for landing and distributing fish. It may be a facility, but it is usually commercial. A fishing port is the port that depends on an ocean product. In recent decades, regulations to save fishing stock may limit the use of a fishing port, a dry port is an inland intermodal terminal directly connected by road or rail to a seaport and operating as a centre for the transshipment of sea cargo to inland destinations. A warm-water port is one where the water does not freeze in wintertime, because they are available year-round, warm-water ports can be of great geopolitical or economic interest. A seaport is further categorized as a port or a cargo port. Additionally, cruise ports are known as a home port or a port of call
Seaport
–
The
Port of New York and New Jersey grew from the original
harbor at the convergence of the
Hudson River and the
East River at the
Upper New York Bay.
Seaport
–
Seaport, a 17th-century depiction by
Claude Lorrain, 1638
Seaport
–
Shanghai Port is the
world's busiest container port
Seaport
–
Port of Hamburg
36.
Venetian Arsenal
–
The Venetian Arsenal is a complex of former shipyards and armories clustered together in the city of Venice in northern Italy. Owned by the state, the Arsenal was responsible for the bulk of the Venetian republics naval power during the part of the second millennium AD. It was one of the earliest large-scale industrial enterprises in history, construction of the Arsenal began around 1104, during Venices republican era. It became the largest industrial complex in Europe before the Industrial Revolution, spanning an area of about 45 hectares, surrounded by a 2-mile rampart, laborers and shipbuilders regularly worked within the Arsenal, building ships that sailed from the citys port. These parts could then be assembled into a ship in as little as one day, an exclusive forest owned by the Arsenal navy, in the Montello hills area of Veneto, provided the Arsenals wood supply. It is located in the Castello district of Venice, and it is now owned by the state and it definitely existed by the early 13th century. Initially the state dockyard worked merely to maintain privately built naval ships and it enabled all the states navy and the larger merchant ships to be both constructed and maintained in one place. The Arsenal incidentally became an important center for manufacture. Venice developed methods of mass-producing warships in the Arsenal, including the frame-first system to replace the Roman hull-first practice and this new system was much faster and required less wood. The muzzle velocity of handguns was improved beyond that of the crossbow, the Arsenals main gate, the Porta Magna, was built around 1460 and was the first Classical revival structure built in Venice. It was perhaps built by Antonio Gambello from a design by Jacopo Bellini, two lions taken from Greece situated beside it were added in 1687. One of the lions, known as the Piraeus Lion, has runic defacements carved in it by invading Scandinavian mercenaries during the 11th century, in the late 16th century, the Arsenals designers experimented with larger ships as platforms for heavy naval guns. The largest was the galleass, already used at the Battle of Lepanto against the Ottoman Turks and it was huge, propelled by both sails and oars, with guns mounted on wheeled carriages along the sides in the modern fashion. It was slow and unwieldy in battle, however, and few were ever built, the galleon, also developed at the Arsenal, was an armed sailing ship, a slimmer version of the merchant round ship. It was useful in naval battles, but not in the small bays. Significant parts of the Arsenal were destroyed under Napoleonic rule, and it is also used as a research center and an exhibition venue during the Venice Biennale, and is home to a historic boat preservation center. The Arsenal was something different, a harbinger of future times, the Venetian Arsenal was not the mass production facility that it was to be until about 1320 with the creation of the Arsenale Nuovo. The Arsenale Nuovo was simply a larger and more efficient version of the original, prior to this time the Arsenal had served mainly as a place to maintain privately built ships
Venetian Arsenal
–
The Porta Magna at the Venetian Arsenal.
Venetian Arsenal
–
View of the Entrance to the Arsenal by
Canaletto, 1732.
Venetian Arsenal
–
Statue of Galileo Galilei.
Venetian Arsenal
–
The
Venetian arsenal at Govino Bay,
Corfu
37.
Fishing
–
Fishing is the activity of trying to catch fish. Fish are normally caught in the wild, techniques for catching fish include hand gathering, spearing, netting, angling and trapping. Fishing may include catching aquatic animals other than fish, such as molluscs, cephalopods, crustaceans, the term is not normally applied to catching farmed fish, or to aquatic mammals, such as whales where the term whaling is more appropriate. According to United Nations FAO statistics, the number of commercial fishermen. Fisheries and aquaculture provide direct and indirect employment to over 500 million people in developing countries, in 2005, the worldwide per capita consumption of fish captured from wild fisheries was 14.4 kilograms, with an additional 7.4 kilograms harvested from fish farms. In addition to providing food, modern fishing is also a recreational pastime, Fishing is an ancient practice that dates back to at least the beginning of the Upper Paleolithic period about 40,000 years ago. Isotopic analysis of the remains of Tianyuan man, a 40. Archaeology features such as middens, discarded fish bones, and cave paintings show that sea foods were important for survival. During this period, most people lived a lifestyle and were, of necessity. However, where there are examples of permanent settlements such as those at Lepenski Vir. The British dogger was a type of sailing trawler from the 17th century. The Brixham trawler that evolved there was of a build and had a tall gaff rig. They were also sufficiently robust to be able to tow large trawls in deep water, the great trawling fleet that built up at Brixham, earned the village the title of Mother of Deep-Sea Fisheries. The small village of Grimsby grew to become the largest fishing port in the world by the mid 19th century, an Act of Parliament was first obtained in 1796, which authorised the construction of new quays and dredging of the Haven to make it deeper. It was only in the 1846, with the expansion in the fishing industry. The foundation stone for the Royal Dock was laid by Albert the Prince consort in 1849, the dock covered 25 acres and was formally opened by Queen Victoria in 1854 as the first modern fishing port. The elegant Brixham trawler spread across the world, influencing fishing fleets everywhere, by the end of the 19th century, there were over 3,000 fishing trawlers in commission in Britain, with almost 1,000 at Grimsby. These trawlers were sold to fishermen around Europe, including from the Netherlands, twelve trawlers went on to form the nucleus of the German fishing fleet
Fishing
–
Stilts fishermen, Sri Lanka
Fishing
–
Fishing with nets, Mexico
Fishing
–
Stone Age
fish hook made from bone
Fishing
–
Painting of A Brixham trawler by
William Adolphus Knell. The painting is now in the
National Maritime Museum.
38.
Hunting
–
Hunting is the practice of killing or trapping animals, or pursuing or tracking them with the intent of doing so. Hunting wildlife or feral animals is most commonly done by humans for food, recreation, to predators that are dangerous to humans or domestic animals. Lawful hunting is distinguished from poaching, which is the killing, trapping or capture of the hunted species. The species that are hunted are referred to as game or prey and are usually mammals, Hunting can also be a means of pest control. However, hunting has also contributed to the endangerment, extirpation and extinction of many animals. The pursuit, capture and release, or capture for food of fish is called fishing, the practice of foraging or gathering materials from plants and mushrooms is also considered separate from hunting. The word hunt serves as both a noun and a verb, the noun has been dated to the early 12th century, act of chasing game, from the verb hunt. The meaning of a body of persons associated for the purpose of hunting with a pack of hounds is first recorded in the 1570s, meaning the act of searching for someone or something is from about 1600. The verb, Old English huntian to chase game, perhaps developed from hunta hunter, is related to hentan to seize, from Proto-Germanic huntojan, the general sense of search diligently is first recorded c. Hunting has a history and may well pre-date the rise of the species Homo sapiens. Evidence from western Kenya suggests that hunting has been occurring for more two million years. Furthermore, evidence exists that hunting may have one of the multiple environmental factors leading to the Holocene extinction of megafauna. North American megafauna extinction was coincidental with the Younger Dryas impact event, however, in other locations such as Australia, humans are thought to have played a very significant role in the extinction of the Australian megafauna that was widespread prior to human occupation. The closest surviving relatives of the species are the two species of Pan, the common chimpanzee and bonobos. Common chimpanzees have a diet that includes troop hunting behaviour based on beta males being led by an alpha male. Bonobos have also observed to occasionally engage in group hunting. With the establishment of language, culture, and religion, hunting became a theme of stories and myths, as well as such as dance. Hunting was a component of hunter-gatherer societies before the domestication of livestock
Hunting
–
Boar hunting,
Tacuinum Sanitatis (a medieval handbook on health and wellbeing) (14th century)
Hunting
–
Mughal aristocrats hunting a
blackbuck alongside an
Asiatic cheetah.
Hunting
–
Saharan rock art
Hunting
–
Inuit walrus hunters
39.
Fish farming
–
Fish farming or pisciculture involves raising fish commercially in tanks or enclosures, usually for food. It is the form of aquaculture, while other methods may fall under mariculture. A facility that releases juvenile fish into the wild for recreational fishing or to supplement a species numbers is generally referred to as a fish hatchery. Worldwide, the most important fish species used in farming are carp, tilapia, salmon. Demand is increasing for fish and fish protein, which has resulted in widespread overfishing in wild fisheries, china provides 62% of the worlds farmed fish. As of 2016, more than 50% of seafood was produced by aquaculture, Farming carnivorous fish, such as salmon, does not always reduce pressure on wild fisheries, since carnivorous farmed fish are usually fed fishmeal and fish oil extracted from wild forage fish. The 2008 global returns for fish farming recorded by the FAO totaled 33.8 million tonnes worth about $US60 billion, Aquaculture makes use of local photosynthetic production or fish that are fed with external food supply. Growth is limited by food, commonly zooplankton feeding on pelagic algae or benthic animals, such as crustaceans. Tilapia filter feed directly on phytoplankton, which makes higher production possible, photosynthetic production can be increased by fertilizing pond water with artificial fertilizer mixtures, such as potash, phosphorus, nitrogen, and microelements. Another issue is the risk of algal blooms, when temperatures, nutrient supply, and available sunlight are optimal for algal growth, algae multiply at an exponential rate, eventually exhausting nutrients and causing a subsequent die-off. The decaying algal biomass depletes the oxygen in the water because it blocks out the sun and pollutes it with organic and inorganic solutes. An alternate option is to use a system such as that of Veta la Palma in Spain. Despite these limitations, significant fish farming industries use these methods, in the Czech Republic, thousands of natural and seminatural ponds are harvested each year for trout and carp. The large ponds around Trebon built from around 1650 are still in use, in these kinds of systems fish production per unit of surface can be increased at will, as long as sufficient oxygen, fresh water and food are provided. Because of the requirement of sufficient fresh water, a water purification system must be integrated in the fish farm. One way to achieve this is to combine hydroponic horticulture and water treatment, the exception to this rule are cages which are placed in a river or sea, which supplements the fish crop with sufficient oxygenated water. Some environmentalists object to this practice, however, these higher protein level requirements are a consequence of the higher feed efficiency of aquatic animals. Fish such as salmon have an FCR around 1.1 kg of feed per kg of salmon whereas chickens are in the 2.5 kg of feed per kg of chicken range
Fish farming
–
Koi farming indoors in Israel
Fish farming
–
Salmon farming in the sea (
mariculture) at Loch Ainort,
Isle of Skye
Fish farming
–
Aqua-Boy, a Norwegian live fish carrier used to service the
Marine Harvest fish farms on the West coast of Scotland
Fish farming
–
Expressing eggs from a female rainbow trout
40.
Ice Age
–
An ice age is a period of long-term reduction in the temperature of Earths surface and atmosphere, resulting in the presence or expansion of continental and polar ice sheets and alpine glaciers. Within a long-term ice age, individual pulses of cold climate are termed glacial periods, in the terminology of glaciology, ice age implies the presence of extensive ice sheets in both northern and southern hemispheres. In 1742 Pierre Martel, an engineer and geographer living in Geneva, two years later he published an account of his journey. He reported that the inhabitants of that valley attributed the dispersal of erratic boulders to the glaciers, later similar explanations were reported from other regions of the Alps. In 1815 the carpenter and chamois hunter Jean-Pierre Perraudin explained erratic boulders in the Val de Bagnes in the Swiss canton of Valais as being due to glaciers previously extending further. An unknown woodcutter from Meiringen in the Bernese Oberland advocated a similar idea in a discussion with the Swiss-German geologist Jean de Charpentier in 1834, comparable explanations are also known from the Val de Ferret in the Valais and the Seeland in western Switzerland and in Goethes scientific work. Such explanations could also be found in parts of the world. When the Bavarian naturalist Ernst von Bibra visited the Chilean Andes in 1849–1850, meanwhile, European scholars had begun to wonder what had caused the dispersal of erratic material. From the middle of the 18th century, some discussed ice as a means of transport, the Swedish mining expert Daniel Tilas was, in 1742, the first person to suggest drifting sea ice in order to explain the presence of erratic boulders in the Scandinavian and Baltic regions. In 1795, the Scottish philosopher and gentleman naturalist, James Hutton, two decades later, in 1818, the Swedish botanist Göran Wahlenberg published his theory of a glaciation of the Scandinavian peninsula. He regarded glaciation as a regional phenomenon, only a few years later, the Danish-Norwegian geologist Jens Esmark argued a sequence of worldwide ice ages. In a paper published in 1824, Esmark proposed changes in climate as the cause of those glaciations and he attempted to show that they originated from changes in Earths orbit. During the following years, Esmarks ideas were discussed and taken over in parts by Swedish, Scottish, at the University of Edinburgh Robert Jameson seemed to be relatively open to Esmarks ideas, as reviewed by Norwegian professor of glaciology Bjørn G. Andersen. Jamesons remarks about ancient glaciers in Scotland were most probably prompted by Esmark, in Germany, Albrecht Reinhard Bernhardi, a geologist and professor of forestry at an academy in Dreissigacker, since incorporated in the southern Thuringian city of Meiningen, adopted Esmarks theory. In a paper published in 1832, Bernhardi speculated about former polar ice caps reaching as far as the zones of the globe. When he read his paper before the Schweizerische Naturforschende Gesellschaft, most scientists remained sceptical, finally, Venetz convinced his friend Jean de Charpentier. De Charpentier transformed Venetzs idea into a theory with a limited to the Alps. In fact, both men shared the same volcanistic, or in de Charpentiers case rather plutonistic assumptions, about the Earths history, in 1834, de Charpentier presented his paper before the Schweizerische Naturforschende Gesellschaft
Ice Age
–
An artist's impression of ice age Earth at glacial maximum. Based on: Crowley, T.J. (1995). "Ice age terrestrial carbon changes revisited". Global Biogeochemical Cycles 9 (3): 377–389.
Bibcode: 1995GBioC...9..377C.
doi: 10.1029/95GB01107.
Ice Age
–
The
Antarctic ice sheet. Ice sheets expand during an ice age.
Ice Age
–
Timeline of glaciations, shown in blue.
Ice Age
–
Scandinavia exhibits some of the typical effects of ice age glaciation such as
fjords and lakes.
41.
Po River
–
The Po is a river that flows eastward across northern Italy. The Po flows either 652 km or 682 km – considering the length of the Maira, the headwaters of the Po are a spring seeping from a stony hillside at Pian del Re, a flat place at the head of the Val Po under the northwest face of Monviso. The Po ends at a delta projecting into the Adriatic Sea near Venice and it has a drainage area of 74,000 km² in all,70,000 in Italy, of which 41,000 is in montane environments and 29,000 on the plain. The Po is the longest river in Italy, at its widest point its width is 503 m, the Po extends along the 45th parallel north. The river flows through many important Italian cities, including Turin, Piacenza and it is connected to Milan through a net of channels called navigli, which Leonardo da Vinci helped design. Near the end of its course, it creates a delta at the southern part of which is Comacchio. The Po valley was the territory of the Roman Cisalpine Gaul, divided into Cispadane Gaul, the Po begins in the Alps, and is in Italy, and flows eastward. The river is subject to heavy flooding, consequently, over half its length is controlled with argini, or dikes. The slope of the valley decreases from 0. 35% in the west to 0. 14% in the east and it is characterized by its large discharge. The vast valley around the Po is called the Po Basin or Po Valley, in 2002, more than 16 million people lived there, at the time nearly ⅓ of the population of Italy. The two main uses of the valley are for industry and for agriculture, both major uses. The industrial centres, such as Turin and Milan, are located on higher terrain and they rely for power on the numerous hydroelectric stations in or on the flanks of the Alps, and on the coal/oil power stations which use the water of the Po basin as coolant. Drainage from the north is mediated through several large, scenic lakes, the streams are now controlled by so many dams as to slow the rivers sedimentation rate, causing geologic problems. The main products of the farms around the river are cereals including – unusually for Europe – rice, the latter method is the chief consumer of surface water, while industrial and human consumption use underground water. The Po Delta wetlands have been protected by the institution of two parks in the regions in which it is situated, Veneto and Emilia-Romagna. The Po Delta Regional Park in Emilia-Romagna, the largest, consists of four parcels of land on the bank of the Po. Executive authority resides in an assembly of the presidents of the provinces, the mayors of the comuni and they employ a Technical-Scientific Committee and a Park Council to carry out directives. In 1999 the park was designated a World Heritage Site by UNESCO and was added to Ferrara, City of the Renaissance, the 53,653 ha of the park contain wetlands, forest, dunes and salt pans
Po River
–
Old iron bridge over the Po, Cremona, Lombardy
Po River
–
The Po along the city of
Turin.
Po River
–
Horse riding along the Po Delta.
Po River
–
Map of the Po Delta.
42.
Aquifer
–
An aquifer is an underground layer of water-bearing permeable rock, rock fractures or unconsolidated materials from which groundwater can be extracted using a water well. The study of flow in aquifers and the characterization of aquifers is called hydrogeology. Related terms include aquitard, which is a bed of low permeability along an aquifer, and aquiclude, if the impermeable area overlies the aquifer, pressure could cause it to become a confined aquifer. Aquifers may occur at various depths and those closer to the surface are not only more likely to be used for water supply and irrigation, but are also more likely to be topped up by the local rainfall. Many desert areas have limestone hills or mountains within them or close to them that can be exploited as groundwater resources, overexploitation can lead to the exceeding of the practical sustained yield, i. e. more water is taken out than can be replenished. The beach provides a model to help visualize an aquifer, if a hole is dug into the sand, very wet or saturated sand will be located at a shallow depth. This hole is a well, the wet sand represents an aquifer. In 2013 large freshwater aquifers were discovered under continental shelves off Australia, China, North America and they contain an estimated half a million cubic kilometers of “low salinity” water that could be economically processed into potable water. The reserves formed when ocean levels were lower and rainwater made its way into the ground in areas that were not submerged until the ice age ended 20,000 years ago. The volume is estimated to be 100x the amount of extracted from other aquifers since 1900. The above diagram indicates typical flow directions in a view of a simple confined or unconfined aquifer system. The system shows two aquifers with one aquitard between them, surrounded by the bedrock aquiclude, which is in contact with a gaining stream, the water table and unsaturated zone are also illustrated. An aquitard is a zone within the earth that restricts the flow of groundwater from one aquifer to another, an aquitard can sometimes, if completely impermeable, be called an aquiclude or aquifuge. Aquitards are composed of layers of clay or non-porous rock with low hydraulic conductivity. Groundwater can be found at every point in the Earths shallow subsurface to some degree. Saturated means the head of the water is greater than atmospheric pressure. The definition of the table is the surface where the pressure head is equal to atmospheric pressure. Unsaturated conditions occur above the table where the pressure head is negative
Aquifer
–
Center-pivot irrigated fields in
Kansas covering hundreds of square miles watered by the
Ogallala Aquifer
Aquifer
–
Typical aquifer cross-section
Aquifer
–
Diagram of a
water balance of the aquifer
Aquifer
–
Air
43.
Subsidence
–
Subsidence is the motion of a surface as it shifts downward relative to a datum such as sea level. The opposite of subsidence is uplift, which results in an increase in elevation, ground subsidence is of concern to geologists, geotechnical engineers and surveyors. Subsidence frequently causes problems in karst terrains, where dissolution of limestone by fluid flow in the subsurface causes the creation of voids. If the roof of these voids becomes too weak, it can collapse and this type of subsidence can result in sinkholes which can be many hundreds of meters deep. Several types of mining, and specifically methods which intentionally cause the extracted void to collapse will result in surface subsidence. Mining-induced subsidence is relatively predictable in its magnitude, manifestation and extent, mining-induced subsidence is nearly always very localized to the surface above the mined area, plus a margin around the outside. Where mining activity is planned, mining-induced subsidence can be successfully managed if there is co-operation from all of the stakeholders and this is accomplished through a combination of careful mine planning, the taking of preventive measures, and the carrying out of repairs post-mining. If natural gas is extracted from a gas field the initial pressure in the field will drop over the years. The gas pressure also supports the soil layers above the field, if the pressure drops, the soil pressure increases and this leads to subsidence at the ground level. Since exploitation of the Slochteren gas field started in the late 1960s the ground level over a 250 km² area has dropped by a current maximum of 30 cm, the Geospatial Information Authority of Japan reported immediate subsidence caused by the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake. In Northern Japan, subsidence of 0.50 m was observed on the coast of the Pacific Ocean in Miyako, Tōhoku, while Rikuzentakata, in the south at Sōma, Fukushima,0.29 m was observed. The maximum amount of subsidence was 1.2 m, coupled with horizontal diastrophism of up to 5.3 m on the Oshika Peninsula in Miyagi Prefecture, the habitation of lowlands, such as coastal or delta plains, requires drainage. The resulting aeration of the leads to the oxidation of its organic components, such as peat. This applies especially when water levels are periodically adapted to subsidence, in order to maintain desired unsaturated zone depths. In addition to this, drained soils consolidate as a result of increased effective stress, in this way, land subsidence has the potential of becoming self-perpetuating, having rates up to 5 cm/yr. Water management used to be tuned primarily to such as crop optimisation but, to varying extents. When differential stresses exist in the Earth, these can be accommodated either by geological faulting in the brittle crust, or by flow in the hotter. Where faults occur, absolute subsidence may occur in the wall of normal faults
Subsidence
–
Subsided house, called
The Crooked House, the result of 19th century mining subsidence.
Subsidence
–
A
road destroyed by subsidence and
shear, near
Castleton,
Derbyshire.
Subsidence
–
San Joaquin Valley subsidence
44.
Mestre
–
Mestre is the center and the most populated urban area of the mainland of Venice, part of the territory of the Metropolitan City of Venice, in Veneto, northern Italy. Administratively speaking, Mestre forms the Municipalità di Mestre-Carpenedo, one of the six boroughs of the commune of Venice, sometimes considered as a frazione, it is Italys most populated, with 89,373 inhabitants. The mainland of Venice is the territory of the city based on normal land connected to the center by a long rail and road bridge over the Venetian lagoon. Since the end of World War II, Mestre had a quick and disordered urban growth, Mestre being the center and the most populated area of the mainland, in common language the toponym Mestre is very often used, incorrectly, to define the whole Venetian mainland. Mestre received the title of city in 1923 and maintained it briefly till 1926, public transport is managed by Azienda del Consorzio Trasporti Veneziano. There are several bus routes and one tramway line, according to legends, Mestre was founded by Mesthles, a companion of the hero Antenor, a fugitive from Troy who founded Padua. The true origins of the city are uncertain, although it is known that a Roman oppidum existed here, though this was destroyed by Attila and probably rebuilt in the 10th century. The first historical mention is from an Imperial diploma by Otto III, by which Rambald, count of Treviso, received land in the area named Mestre. In 1152 a papal bull by Pope Eugene III recognized the bishop of Treviso as lord of Mestre, citing the existence of the church of St. Lawrence, a castle, in 1257 the bishops ceded it to Alberico da Romano, podestat of Treviso. The port benefited from the growth of Venice, constituting its main connection to the Italian mainland. In 1274 a fire destroyed the castle, and the moved to a location nearby. No traces remain today of the old castle, the Scaliger family from Verona conquered Mestre and Treviso in 1323. The Venetians, fearing the excessive Veronese power in the mainland, an artificial channel was built to facilitate the transport of goods. The Venetian domination ended on July 16,1797, in 1808 Mestre, following the French practice, constituted itself into a free commune. It remained such under the subsequent Austrian and Italian rules, receiving the title of city in 1923, three years later, however, a Royal Decree annexed Mestre and some other neighbouring comuni to the comune of Venezia. Since that moment there has been several attempts to regain independence. In the 1960s and 1970s Mestre experienced a boom, fuelled mainly by the construction of the nearby huge industrial district of Marghera. The city already has experience as host of major international basketball tournaments such as the EuroBasket 1979
Mestre
–
The Clock tower in Piazza Ferretto
Mestre
–
Il Palazzo Podestarile.City Hall from Mestre
Mestre
–
Duomo of St. Lawrence
Mestre
–
Bus in Mestre
45.
Dune
–
In physical geography, a dune is a hill of loose sand built by wind or the flow of water. Dunes occur in different shapes and sizes, formed by interaction with the flow of air or water, most kinds of dunes are longer on the windward side where the sand is pushed up the dune and have a shorter slip face in the lee of the wind. The valley or trough between dunes is called a slack, a dune field is an area covered by extensive sand dunes. Dunes occur, for example, in deserts and along some coasts. Some coastal areas have one or more sets of dunes running parallel to the shoreline directly inland from the beach, in most cases, the dunes are important in protecting the land against potential ravages by storm waves from the sea. Although the most widely distributed dunes are those associated with coastal regions, Dunes can form under the action of water flow, and on sand or gravel beds of rivers, estuaries and the sea-bed. The modern word dune came into English from French c,1790, which in turn came from Middle Dutch dūne. Crescent-shaped mounds are generally wider than they are long, the slipfaces are on the concave sides of the dunes. These dunes form under winds that blow consistently from one direction, some types of crescentic dunes move more quickly over desert surfaces than any other type of dune. A group of dunes moved more than 100 metres per year between 1954 and 1959 in Chinas Ningxia Province, and similar speeds have been recorded in the Western Desert of Egypt. The largest crescentic dunes on Earth, with mean crest-to-crest widths of more than three kilometres, are in Chinas Taklamakan Desert. They may be composed of clay, silt, sand, or gypsum, eroded from the floor or shore, transported up the concave side of the dune. Examples in Australia are up to 6.5 km long,1 km wide and they also occur in southern and West Africa, and in parts of the western United States, especially Texas. Straight or slightly sinuous sand ridges typically much longer than they are wide are known as linear dunes and they may be more than 160 kilometres long. Some linear dunes merge to form Y-shaped compound dunes, many form in bidirectional wind regimes. The long axes of these dunes extend in the resultant direction of sand movement, linear loess hills known as pahas are superficially similar. These hills appear to have formed during the last ice age under permafrost conditions dominated by sparse tundra vegetation. Radially symmetrical, star dunes are pyramidal sand mounds with slipfaces on three or more arms that radiate from the center of the mound
Dune
–
Erg Chebbi, Morocco
Dune
–
Sand blowing off a crest in the
Kelso Dunes of the
Mojave Desert, California.
Dune
–
Wind ripples on crescent-shaped sand dunes (Barchans) in Southwest Afghanistan (Sistan).
Dune
–
Fronting the
Mediterranean Sea in
Oliva, a
municipality in the
comarca of
Safor in the
Valencian Community,
Spain.
46.
Pellestrina
–
Pellestrina is an island in northern Italy, forming a barrier between the southern Venetian Lagoon and the Adriatic Sea, lying south west of the Lido. The island is 11 kilometres long and has since the eighteenth century been bounded to its side by large embankments. There are four villages, San Pietro in Volta, Porto Secco, Sant Antonio di Pellestrina and Pellestrina. The main industries of the island are market gardening, fishing, tourism, like that in Chioggia but unlike that in Torcello, the local lace is made with a needle. Attractions on the island included the Lido of Ca Roman, known for its pine trees, donna Leons crime fiction novel A Sea of Troubles takes place on Pellestrina. Though a native of Venice, which is a boat ride away
Pellestrina
–
Southern part of the Venetian Lagoon (Pellestrina highlighted)
Pellestrina
–
Plan of the wall
Pellestrina
–
View of the wall
Pellestrina
–
Pellestrina view from the boat dock
47.
Treporti
–
Cavallino-Treporti is a town and comune in the Metropolitan City of Venice, Veneto, northern Italy. The commune occupies a peninsula divides the Venetian Lagoon from the Adriatic Sea. The river Sile forms the boundary with the comune of Jesolo. The comune is composed of several boroughs, including Cavallino, Treporti, Punta Sabbioni, every year, about 6 million of visitors choose Cavallino Treporti for their holidays so the economy of the town is mostly based on tourism, in specific, summer tourism. Thanks to the number of the visitors, Cavallino is the second most popular seaside resort in Italy. The beach is 15 km long and near the seaside there are about 30 villages-camps, the hotels are full of tourists from Northern Europe - Germany, Austria, Denmark
Treporti
–
The church of Treporti.
48.
Western Roman Empire
–
Theodosius I divided the Empire upon his death between his two sons. As the Roman Republic expanded, it reached a point where the government in Rome could not effectively rule the distant provinces. Communications and transportation were especially problematic given the vast extent of the Empire, for this reason, provincial governors had de facto rule in the name of the Roman Republic. Antony received the provinces in the East, Achaea, Macedonia and Epirus, Bithynia, Pontus and Asia, Syria, Cyprus and these lands had previously been conquered by Alexander the Great, thus, much of the aristocracy was of Greek origin. The whole region, especially the cities, had been largely assimilated into Greek culture. Octavian obtained the Roman provinces of the West, Italia, Gaul, Gallia Belgica and these lands also included Greek and Carthaginian colonies in the coastal areas, though Celtic tribes such as Gauls and Celtiberians were culturally dominant. Lepidus received the province of Africa. Octavian soon took Africa from Lepidus, while adding Sicilia to his holdings, upon the defeat of Mark Antony, a victorious Octavian controlled a united Roman Empire. While the Roman Empire featured many distinct cultures, all were often said to experience gradual Romanization, minor rebellions and uprisings were fairly common events throughout the Empire. Conquered tribes or cities would revolt, and the legions would be detached to crush the rebellion, while this process was simple in peacetime, it could be considerably more complicated in wartime, as for example in the Great Jewish Revolt. In a full-blown military campaign, the legions, under such as Vespasian, were far more numerous. To ensure a commanders loyalty, an emperor might hold some members of the generals family hostage. To this end, Nero effectively held Domitian and Quintus Petillius Cerialis, governor of Ostia, the rule of Nero ended only with the revolt of the Praetorian Guard, who had been bribed in the name of Galba. The Praetorian Guard, a sword of Damocles, were often perceived as being of dubious loyalty. Following their example, the legions at the increased participation in the civil wars. The main enemy in the West was arguably the Germanic tribes behind the rivers Rhine, Augustus had tried to conquer them but ultimately pulled back after the Teutoburg reversal. The Parthian Empire, in the East, on the hand, was too remote. Those distant territories were forsaken to prevent unrest and also to ensure a more healthy, the Parthians were followed by the Sasanian Empire, which continued hostilities with the Roman Empire
Western Roman Empire
–
Tremissis depicting
Flavius Julius Nepos (474-480), the de jure last Emperor of the Western Court
Western Roman Empire
–
The organization of the Empire under the
Tetrarchy.
Western Roman Empire
–
Europe in 477 AD. Highlighted areas are Roman lands that survived the deposition of
Romulus Augustulus.
