Where in the World
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Where in the World...
In front of you is the largest free-standing mountain in the world; its summit is just over nineteen thousand feet. The mountain, which is actually made up of three separate extinct volcanoes, is located near the Indian Ocean, just two-hundred five miles from the equator. The mountain's tropical location makes it possible to climb year round with temperatures averaging 85ºF at the base and below freezing at the icy summit. More than eleven thousand ambitions climbers attempt to scale the mountain each year. Because of the extreme changes in elevation, climbers are urged to take their time climbing the mountain to allow the body to adjust to changes in oxygen levels to avoid altitude sickness. Successful climbers are greeted at the top by a sign, printed only in English, which congratulates them and welcomes them to this special place. The mountain has been drawing attention lately by climatologists who have been studying the rapid disintegration of the glaciers near the mountains summit. During the last one hundred years, the volume of the ice caps on the mountain has decreased by approximately eighty percent. At the current melting rate, the ice will be completely melted as soon as the year 2025. Based on studies of the current ice core, the mountain has not been free of ice for eleven thousand years. The impact of the loss of the ice caps will be significant. Many local towns and villages depend on the water from the ice on this mountain to help them to survive during times of drought.
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When Hernando De Soto, a Spanish explorer, arrived in 1541, this state was occupied by many Indian tribes. Some villages had populations as large as fifty thousand. The Indians hunted bison, deer, bear, and small animals that were native to the land and grew corn, squash, pumpkins, and beans near their villages. Although the Spanish explorers did not settle on the land and were only passing through the area, many people believe that the explorers carried European diseases with them which caused many of the Indians to become very sick or die. In any case, something caused the native population to dwindle. When the French explorer Robert La Salle arrived here in 1682, he observed that there were only a few Indians remaining in the area. The French explorers were very friendly to the Indians, and they began to trade goods between each other. The Indians showed the French people how to live in this new land. In 1686, the French set up a town along the Mississippi River. The town was the site of the only battle of the Revolutionary War that was fought west of the Mississippi River. The Indians protected the town and won the battle. The land was traded between France and Spain for several years before it was sold to the United States as a part of the Louisiana Purchase in 1803. After becoming a part of the United States, people began moving into the area, building cabins and towns along the rivers and near the Indian trails. Eventually, the settlers began forcing the Indians away from their land and sending them to Indian reservations to live on land that the settlers did not want. In 1836, this territory became the twenty-fifth state of the United States. By 1860, almost half-a-million people lived here, although one-fourth of the population was slaves working on cotton plantations near the Mississippi River. After the Civil War began, this state joined the Confederacy, and several battles were fought on the state's soil, including battles at Helena, Jenkin's Ferry, Devil's Backbone, Cane Hill, Prairie Grove, and Pea Ridge. Today, "The Natural State" is recognized as the birthplace of America's forty-second president, William Jefferson Clinton, and the famous legal writer John Grisham. The state is also the place where the ivory-billed woodpecker was recently spotted. The bird had been thought to be extinct for sixty years before one was spotted on the Cache River National Wildlife Refuge in 2004. Where in the United States is this place? Where in the World...
Hold on to your hats! This swinging contraption just became the tallest in the world of its kind. It's located in a downtown amusement park in the capital city of a peninsular country which includes over 400 islands. The amusement park opened over 150 years ago and remains a delicate balance of a quiet city park and bustling carnival. There are many activities at the park. A Ferris wheel, a roller coaster, and an arcade (along with the flying star pictured above) are combined with the flowers from over 100,000 bulbs which are planted in the park-but perhaps the most popular reason to visit the park is for the music. Each year around 100 free concerts are presented in the park. It has its own concert hall which remains open year round, even though the park is only open for just over 4 months of the year. Within the walls of the concert hall, such greats as Stravinsky and Count Basie, as well as many others, have held performances. Where in the World...
This is the view from Zabriskie Point near the eastern edge of a desert region which receives an average of only two inches of rain each year. It was established as a national park in 1933 and remains the largest national park in the contiguous United States. The park spans the border of two southwestern states and is almost completely surrounded by mountains. The mountains on the western border prevent virtually all rainfall from passing into the desert. Because the area receives so little rainfall, the air is very dry. Low humidity, in combination with high temperatures, causes any water on the surface to evaporate quickly. In fact, the rate of evaporation in this desert is seventy-seven times the rate of precipitation! This area was made famous in the late 1800's by its twenty mule team wagon trains, used to haul a multi-purpose mineral which was mined in the area. This mineral, considered to be "white gold," has been used over the years as a glaze for pottery, a food preservative, an antiseptic, and most famously as a laundry detergent. Although the mine was closed in 1890 because of the grueling one hundred and sixty-five mile journey to the nearest railroad, Borax detergent still advertises the twenty mule teams which were made famous in this desert.
You are looking into what is possibly America's most famous natural landmark. Almost five million people come here each year to hike, sightsee, and camp. More adventurous travelers can ride a horse or mule down to the bottom of the canyon or go whitewater rafting on the river that flows through it. A river has carved a two hundred and seventy- seven mile path into the rock on its way from the Rockies to the Gulf of California. Over many years, some say up to forty million, the river has eroded the rock, wearing it down so that the river now lies as much as six thousand feet below the canyon rim. The canyon, now a national park, covers over nineteen hundred square miles of land. It is a protected home for a variety of endangered fish, birds, and plants, as well as eighty- seven species of mammals, many of them rodents. Where in the World...
These cars driving along Route 93 just crossed over the tallest concrete arch dam in the United States. Before the dam was built, melting snow from the Rocky Mountains would sometimes cause the Colorado River to overflow its banks. Downstream farms were threatened and crops were destroyed by occasional flooding while upstream farms were difficult to sustain because of limited water supplies. A commission was formed in 1922 to discuss the building of a dam along the Colorado River and how to fairly distribute the accumulated water among six neighboring states. The commission was headed by Calvin Coolidge's Secretary of Commerce, a man who would soon become president himself, and who is also the namesake of the dam. Construction of the dam took almost five years to complete and cost forty-nine million dollars. In addition to preventing flooding and providing irrigation for upstream farmland, the dam also serves as a hydroelectric power plant which produces enough electricity to power over one million homes. The water that is retained by the dam has created Lake Mead, the largest man-made lake in the United States. An oasis in a dry, desert-like environment, Lake Mead is a popular spot for boating, fishing, and swimming and sees more than eight million visitors each year.
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Although there are over nine hundred of these rock formations on the island, the one shown here is undoubtedly the most famous. While no one knows exactly why these rings of stone were built, crowds currently gather twice a year at these rocks to watch the sun rise (in the summer) and set (in the winter). On the solstices, the sun is perfectly aligned with the rock formations-an amazing feat when you consider that these stones were set in place over three thousand years ago. Almost nothing is known about the people who built this site, but much has been learned about the construction process. It has been determined that the site was built in four stages within a span of fifteen hundred years. In the first stage, a large circular ditch, or henge, was dug. The circle had a diameter of three hundred and twenty feet and had only one entrance. Around the perimeter of the henge were fifty-six holes which were found to contain cremated human remains. At the center of the circle was a wooden sanctuary. The circle aligned with the sunrise of the summer solstice, the sunset of the winter solstice, and the most northerly setting and southerly rising of the moon. During the second stage, the wooden sanctuary was replaced by two circles of bluestones. The circles were formed using eighty different bluestones, some weighing as much as four tons, which were brought to the site from a distance of almost two hundred and fifty miles. In addition to the smaller bluestones, a thirty-five ton "Heel Stone" was placed just outside of the bluestone circles. In the third stage, the bluestones were taken down and replaced with the large Sarsen stones that still stand today. On average, each of the stones was eighteen feet in height and weighed over twenty-five tons! It is estimated that more than five hundred men would have had to help move each of the stones. In the final stage, sixty of the previously used bluestones were placed in circular patterns inside the large Sarsen stone circles. Although the site has not been intentionally changed for over three thousand years, many of the stones have been broken or removed. Today the site is located in the largely unpopulated region of Salisbury, more than eighty miles from the nations' capital city. Despite its remote location, the site manages to bring in almost three-quarters of a million visitors each year. Not bad for a bunch of rocks!
This pyramid, "the castle," is just one part of a large archaeological site that was a major city almost fifteen hundred years ago. It is believed that two groups of people, the Mayans and the Toltecs, called this city their home. The city included a marketplace, a plaza, a church, and an observatory, as well as a ball court, a temple for sacrifices, and a sinkhole which provided water for the people. The pyramid has four sides, each with ninety-one stairs; the four sets of stairs combine with the platform at the top to equal 365 three hundred sixty-five stairs-one for each day of the year. In addition, at sunrise and sunset on the spring and autumn equinoxes, the sun casts the shadow of a serpent moving down the pyramid toward the sinkhole. The observatory, used to study the sun, moon, and stars, provides further evidence of the Mayans' and Toltecs' interest in astronomy. Today this former city is one of the most popular in this south of the border country, seeing almost three million visitors each year. Where in the World....
You are looking at the skyline of a northwestern city famous for its rainy weather and devotion to coffee. Although it is not the capital city, it is the largest city in the Evergreen State. The city is sheltered by mountains on its east and west and sits between a freshwater lake and Puget Sound, making the city a nature lover's paradise. The tall, futuristic-looking tower shown in the picture was built for the 1962 World's Fair-its theme was "Century 21." The tower was built in less than a year, with construction crews working twenty-four hours a day to ensure that the structure was finished in time for the fair. A hole was dug thirty feet into the ground to guarantee that the tower would be able to withstand the earthquakes which frequently shake this city, built on top of an active fault line. It took an army of concrete trucks an entire day to fill the hole with the concrete that became the base of the tower. Today, the top of the tower features an observation deck which provides breathtaking views of the city and the mountains in the distance, a gift shop, and restaurant which slowly rotates to ensure that each customer has the best view in the city.
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