Adventure Logger: December 2007

Thursday, December 27, 2007

The Seattle Space Needle

The Space Needle is a tower in Seattle, Washington. It is a major landmark of the Pacific Northwest region of the United States and the symbol of Seattle. Located in Seattle Center, it was built for the 1962 World's Fair, during which time nearly 20,000 people a day used the elevators — 2.3 million visitors in all for the World Fair. The Space Needle is 605 feet (184 m) high and 138 feet (42 m) wide at its widest point and weighs 9,550 tons.
The Space Needle features an observation deck at 520 feet (160 m), the SkyCity restaurant at 500 feet (152 m), and a gift shop. From the top of the Needle, one can see not only the Downtown Seattle skyline, but also the Olympic and Cascade Mountains, Mount Rainier, Mount Baker, Elliott Bay and surrounding islands.
The architecture of the Space Needle is the result of a compromise between designs. The two leading ideas for the World Fair involved businessman Edward Carlson's sketch of a giant balloon tethered to the ground (see the gently sloping base) and architect John Graham's concept of a flying saucer (see the halo that houses the restaurant and observation deck). Although Edward Carlson and John Graham most often get the credit, it was really Victor Steinbrueck who designed the Space Needle. It is built to withstand winds of up to 200 mph (320 km/h) and earthquakes up to 9.5 magnitude (which would protect the structure against an earthquake as powerful as the 1700 Cascadia earthquake) and has 25 lightning rods on the roof to prevent lightning damage....(more on www.wikipedia.com)

Wednesday, December 19, 2007

Antarctica

Well, this would be an adventure for the really brave ones and just as mad. I'm kidding, however this would be considered as an extreme travel. Antarctica is one of the cruelest places on Earth.
Antarctica is Earth's southernmost continent, overlying the South Pole. It is situated in the southern hemisphere, almost entirely south of the Antarctic Circle, and is surrounded by the Southern Ocean. At 14.4 million km² (5.4 million sq mi), it is the fifth-largest continent in area after Asia, Africa, North America, and South America. Some 98% of Antarctica is covered by ice, which averages at least 1.6 kilometres (1.0 mi) in thickness.
On average, Antarctica is the coldest, driest and windiest continent, and has the highest average elevation of all the continents. Since there is little precipitation, except at the coasts, the interior of the continent is technically the largest desert in the world. There are no permanent human residents and there is no evidence of any existing or pre-historic indigenous population. Only cold-adapted plants and animals survive there, including penguins, fur seals, mosses, lichen, and many types of algae.
Antarctica has no permanent residents, but a number of governments maintain permanent research stations throughout the continent. The number of people conducting and supporting scientific research and other work on the continent and its nearby islands varies from approximately 4,000 in summer to about 1,000 in winter. Many of the stations are staffed year-round.
Antarctica is divided in two by the Transantarctic Mountains close to the neck between the Ross Sea and the Weddell Sea. The portion west of the Weddell Sea and east of the Ross Sea is called Western Antarctica and the remainder Eastern Antarctica, because they roughly correspond to the Western and Eastern Hemispheres relative to the Greenwich meridian.
Antarctica has no government and belongs to no country. Various countries claim areas of it, although as a rule, no other countries recognize such claims. The area between 90° W and 150° W is the only part of Antarctica, indeed the only solid land on Earth, not claimed by any country...(more on www.wikipedia.org)

Monday, December 10, 2007

Aurora Borealis, The Northern Lignts

Auroras (or aurorae) are natural different colored light displays, which are usually observed in the night sky, particularly in the polar zone. Some scientists therefore call them "polar auroras" (or "aurorae polaris"). In northern latitudes, it is known as the aurora borealis, named after the Roman goddess of the dawn, Aurora, and the Greek name for north wind, Boreas.

It often appears as a greenish glow (or sometimes a faint red), as if the sun were rising from an unusual direction. The aurora borealis is also called the northern lights, as it is only visible in the North sky from the Northern Hemisphere. The aurora borealis most often occurs from September to October and from March to April.

Auroras are produced by the collision of charged particles, mostly electrons but also protons and heavier particles, from the magnetosphere, with atoms and molecules of the Earth's upper atmosphere (at altitudes above 80 km). When the trapped magnetic field of the solar wind is favourably oriented (principally southwards) it reconnects with that of the earth and solar particles then enter the magnetosphere and are swept to the magnetotail. Further magnetic reconnection accelerates the particles towards earth.(from www.wikipedia.org)

Click the images for a larger view.

Friday, December 7, 2007

Murphy's Haystacks, South Australia

Murphy's Haystacks are inselberg rock formations located between Streaky Bay and Port Kenny on the Eyre Peninsula in South Australia.

They obtained their name because a traveller in a coach saw the formation in the distance. He asked how a farmer could produce so much hay. As the farm was on a property owned by a man called Murphy, the rocks became known as Murphy's Haystacks.

The haystacks are formed from ancient granite inselbergs dating back 1,500 million years. [The name inselberg comes from German insel, meaning island and berg, mountain.]

The pillars and boulders in their present day form only go back as far as 100,000 years and have been formed by the uneven weathering of crystalline rock as densely fractured compartments break down through weathering more quickly than massive unfractured compartments. The distinction between the two forms is that pillars merge unknown with the underlying bedrock, but boulders are clearly detached.

The haystacks are of a pink granite named Hiltaba granite after the homestead of the same name in the Gawler Ranges. It is extensive over the north-western Eyre Peninsula. The mottled colours on the surface of the haystacks are caused by growth of lichen, a tough plant organism which thrives on exposed granite.

The granite hills of the district, including the haystacks, were buried by calcareous dune sand about 30,000 years ago. Subsequent erosion of the surrounding land surface has gradually revealed the forms we see today.

Source: www.murphys-haystacks.com, www.wikipedia.org