Portal:Geography
The Geography Portal
Geography (from Ancient Greek γεωγραφία geōgraphía; combining gê 'Earth' and gráphō 'write') is the study of the lands, features, inhabitants, and phenomena of Earth. Geography is an all-encompassing discipline that seeks an understanding of Earth and its human and natural complexities—not merely where objects are, but also how they have changed and come to be. While geography is specific to Earth, many concepts can be applied more broadly to other celestial bodies in the field of planetary science. Geography has been called "a bridge between natural science and social science disciplines."
Origins of many of the concepts in geography can be traced to Greek Eratosthenes of Cyrene, who may have coined the term "geographia" (c. 276 BC – c. 195/194 BC). The first recorded use of the word γεωγραφία was as the title of a book by Greek scholar Claudius Ptolemy (100 – 170 AD). This work created the so-called "Ptolemaic tradition" of geography, which included "Ptolemaic cartographic theory." However, the concepts of geography (such as cartography) date back to the earliest attempts to understand the world spatially, with the earliest example of an attempted world map dating to the 9th century BCE in ancient Babylon. The history of geography as a discipline spans cultures and millennia, being independently developed by multiple groups, and cross-pollinated by trade between these groups. The core concepts of geography consistent between all approaches are a focus on space, place, time, and scale.
Today, geography is an extremely broad discipline with multiple approaches and modalities. There have been multiple attempts to organize the discipline, including the four traditions of geography, and into branches. Techniques employed can generally be broken down into quantitative and qualitative approaches, with many studies taking mixed-methods approaches. Common techniques include cartography, remote sensing, interviews, and surveying. (Full article...)
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Hoodoo Mountain, sometimes referred to as Hoodoo Volcano, is a potentially active stratovolcano in the Northern Interior of British Columbia, Canada. It is located 25 kilometres (16 miles) northeast of the Alaska–British Columbia border on the north side of the Iskut River opposite of the mouth of the Craig River. With a summit elevation of 1,850 metres (6,070 feet) and a topographic prominence of 900 metres (3,000 feet), Hoodoo Mountain is one of many prominent peaks within the Boundary Ranges of the Coast Mountains. Its flat-topped summit is covered by an ice cap more than 100 metres (330 feet) thick and at least 3 kilometres (1.9 miles) in diameter. Two valley glaciers surrounding the northwestern and northeastern sides of the mountain have retreated significantly over the last hundred years. They both originate from a large icefield to the north and are the sources of two meltwater streams. These streams flow along the western and eastern sides of the volcano before draining into the Iskut River.
Much of Hoodoo Mountain was formed beneath glacial ice and it has been overlain by glaciers or an ice cap throughout much of its history. The main rock types composing the volcano are phonolite and trachyte, which were deposited during six periods of eruptive activity beginning about 85,000 years ago. Most of these eruptive periods were characterized by steady flows of lava but at least one period of explosive activity occurred as indicated by the presence of pyroclastic rocks. The latest eruptive period began about 10,000 years ago with the eruption of extensive lava flows that cover the north–central, northwestern and southeastern mountain slopes. A lava flow covering the southwestern slope may have been produced by a more recent eruption within the last couple of hundred years. Although no historical eruptions are known at Hoodoo Mountain, there have been periods of seismic activity since at least the mid-1980s, indicating possible future eruptions and volcanic hazards. (Full article...)
Capon Chapel ( /ˈkeɪpən/ KAY-pən), also historically known as Capon Baptist Chapel and Capon Chapel Church, is a mid-19th century United Methodist church located near to the town of Capon Bridge, West Virginia, in the United States. Capon Chapel is one of the oldest existing log churches in Hampshire County, along with Mount Bethel Church and Old Pine Church.
A Baptist congregation was gathering at the site of the present-day church by at least 1756. Primitive Baptist minister John Monroe (1750–1824) is credited for establishing a place of worship at this site; he is interred in the church's cemetery. The land on which Capon Chapel was built originally belonged to William C. Nixon (1789–1869), a member of the Virginia House of Delegates; later, it was transferred to the Pugh family. The first documented mention of a church at the Capon Chapel site was in March 1852, when Joseph Pugh allocated the land to three trustees for the construction of a church and cemetery. (Full article...)
Shapinsay (/ˈʃæpɪnziː/, Scots: Shapinsee) is one of the Orkney Islands off the north coast of mainland Scotland. With an area of 29.5 square kilometres (11.4 sq mi), it is the eighth largest island in the Orkney archipelago. It is low-lying and, with a bedrock formed from Old Red Sandstone overlain by boulder clay, fertile, causing most of the area to be used for farming. Shapinsay has two nature reserves and is notable for its bird life. Balfour Castle, built in the Scottish Baronial style, is one of the island's most prominent features, a reminder of the Balfour family's domination of Shapinsay during the 18th and 19th centuries; the Balfours transformed life on the island by introducing new agricultural techniques. Other landmarks include a standing stone, an Iron Age broch, a souterrain and a salt-water shower.
There is one village on the island, Balfour, from which roll-on/roll-off car ferries sail to Kirkwall on the Orkney Mainland. At the 2011 census, Shapinsay had a population of 307. The economy of the island is primarily based on agriculture with the exception of a few small businesses that are largely tourism-related. A community-owned wind turbine was constructed in 2011. The island has a primary school but, in part due to improving transport links with mainland Orkney, no longer has a secondary school. Shapinsay's long history has given rise to various folk tales. (Full article...)
Mauna Kea (/ˌmɔːnə ˈkeɪə, ˌmaʊnə -/, Hawaiian: [ˈmɐwnə ˈkɛjə]; abbreviation for Mauna a Wākea) is dormant shield volcano on the island of Hawaiʻi. Its peak is 4,207.3 m (13,803 ft) above sea level, making it the highest point in Hawaii and the island with the second highest high point, behind New Guinea, the world's largest tropical island with multiple peaks that are higher. The peak is about 38 m (125 ft) higher than Mauna Loa, its more massive neighbor. Mauna Kea is unusually topographically prominent for its height: its prominence from sea level is fifteenth in the world among mountains, at 4,207.3 m (13,803 ft); its prominence from under the ocean is 9,330 m (30,610 ft), rivaled only by Mount Everest. This dry prominence is greater than Everest's height above sea level of 8,848.86 m (29,032 ft), and some authorities have labeled Mauna Kea the tallest mountain in the world, from its underwater base. Mauna Kea is ranked 8th by topographic isolation.
It is about one million years old and thus passed the most active shield stage of life hundreds of thousands of years ago. In its current post-shield state, its lava is more viscous, resulting in a steeper profile. Late volcanism has also given it a much rougher appearance than its neighboring volcanoes due to construction of cinder cones, decentralization of its rift zones, glaciation on its peak, and weathering by the prevailing trade winds. Mauna Kea last erupted 6,000 to 4,000 years ago and is now thought to be dormant. (Full article...)
T5 was a sea-going torpedo boat operated by the Royal Yugoslav Navy between 1921 and 1941. Originally 87 F, a 250t-class torpedo boat of the Austro-Hungarian Navy built in 1914–1915, she was armed with two 66 mm (2.6 in) guns and four 450 mm (17.7 in) torpedo tubes, and could carry 10–12 naval mines. She saw active service during World War I, performing convoy, patrol, escort and minesweeping tasks, anti-submarine operations and shore bombardment missions. In 1917 the suffixes of all Austro-Hungarian torpedo boats were removed, and thereafter she was referred to as 87. She was part of the escort force for the Austro-Hungarian dreadnought Szent István during the action that resulted in the sinking of that ship by Italian torpedo boats in June 1918, and rescued many of her crew.
Following Austria-Hungary's defeat in 1918, 87 was allocated to the Navy of the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes, which later became the Royal Yugoslav Navy, and was renamed T5. At the time, she and the seven other 250t-class boats were the only modern sea-going vessels of the fledgling maritime force. During the interwar period, T5 and the rest of the navy were involved in exercises of training and cruises to friendly ports, but activity was limited by reduced naval budgets. The boat was captured by the Italians during the German-led Axis invasion of Yugoslavia in April 1941. After her main armament was modernised, she served with the Royal Italian Navy under her Yugoslav designation, conducting coastal and second-line escort duties in the Adriatic Sea. Following the Italian capitulation in September 1943, she was returned to the Royal Yugoslav Navy-in-exile and continued serving as T5. At the end of the war, she was transferred to the new Yugoslav Navy and served as Cer in guard ship, patrol ship and training ship roles until she was stricken off the naval register in 1963 and scrapped soon after. (Full article...)
Keswick (/ˈkɛzɪk/ KEZ-ik) is a market town and civil parish in the Cumberland unitary authority area of Cumbria, England. Historically, until 1974, it was part of the county of Cumberland. It lies within the Lake District National Park, just north of Derwentwater and four miles (six kilometres) from Bassenthwaite Lake. The parish had a population of 5,243 at the 2011 census.
There is evidence of prehistoric occupation of the area, but the first recorded mention of the town dates from the 13th century, when Edward I of England granted a charter for Keswick's market, which has maintained a continuous 700-year existence. The town was an important mining area, and from the 18th century has been known as a holiday centre; tourism has been its principal industry for more than 150 years. Its features include the Moot Hall; a modern theatre, the Theatre by the Lake; one of Britain's oldest surviving cinemas, the Alhambra; and the Keswick Museum and Art Gallery in the town's largest open space, Fitz Park. Among the town's annual events is the Keswick Convention, an Evangelical gathering attracting visitors from many countries. (Full article...)
Harry R. Truman (October 1896 – May 18, 1980) was an American businessman, bootlegger, and prospector. He
lived near Mount St. Helens, an active volcano in the state of Washington, and was the owner and caretaker of Mount St. Helens Lodge at Spirit Lake near the base of the mountain. Truman came to fame as a folk hero in the weeks leading up to the volcano's 1980 eruption after refusing to leave his home despite evacuation orders. He was killed by a pyroclastic flow that overtook his lodge and buried the site under 150 ft (46 m) of volcanic debris.
After Truman's death, his family and friends reflected on his love for the mountain. In 1981, Art Carney portrayed Truman in the docudrama film St. Helens. He was commemorated in a book by his niece, and also in various pieces of music, including songs by Headgear, Billy Jonas, and Shawn Wright and the Brothers Band. (Full article...)
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