wtorek, 29 kwietnia 2014

Rock pools, Canadian Mountains

Nahanni National Park Reserve in the Dehcho Region of the Northwest Territories, Canada, approximately 500 km west of Yellowknife, protects a portion of the Mackenzie Mountains Natural Region.

The Rabbitkettle Tufa Mounds are the largest of tufa mounds in Canada. The largest of the mounds is 27m high and 74m across. The source of the springs comes from deep in the earths crust, near the base of the granite batholiths that form the Ragged Range. The volcanic activity that raised the mountains still heats the water deep below the surface of the earth. The heated water percolates upwards, dissolving calcium carbonate from limestone deposits on its way by. When it reaches the surface springs, the water cools and the calcium carbonate particles are released. These microscopic particles settle to form porous calcite rims around the pools of water. These pools range in size from bathtub to fingernail size. This process takes a great deal of time, and it is believed that the mounds themselves are around 10, 000 years old, their creation beginning at the end of the last ice age. These rare and fragile features are protected as a Zone 1, Special Preservation Area, and all visitors must be accompanied by Parks Canada Staff in order to minimize impact.

wtorek, 22 kwietnia 2014

Atlanta Botanical Garden - Atlanta

Take a 600 foot-long canopy walk among the branches of oaks, hickories and poplars, while looking down on native azaleas, camellias, hydrangeas, perennials and bulbs.

That’s just one of the fantastic ways to experience Atlanta Botanical Garden. There is also an orchid center with the largest collection of species orchids on permanent display in the US, a garden pond filled with aquatic plants, and a children’s garden with fountains, sculptures and fun exhibits on botany and ecology.

poniedziałek, 21 kwietnia 2014

Petra - Jordan

Petra (Arabic: البتراء, Al-Batrāʾ; Ancient Greek: Πέτρα) is a historical and archaeological city in the southern Jordanian governorate of Ma'an that is famous for its rock-cut architecture and water conduit system.

The site suffers from a host of threats, including collapse of ancient structures, erosion due to flooding and improper rainwater drainage, weathering from salt upwelling, improper restoration of ancient structures, and unsustainable tourism.[21] The last has increased substantially, especially since the site received widespread media coverage in 2007 during the controversial New Seven Wonders of the World Internet and cell phone campaign.[22] In an attempt to reduce the impact of these threats, Petra National Trust (PNT) was established in 1989. Over this time, it has worked together with numerous local and international organizations on projects that promote the protection, conservation and preservation of the Petra site.[23] Moreover, UNESCO and ICOMOS recently collaborated to publish their first book on human and natural threats to these sensitive World Heritage sites. They chose Petra as its first, and most important example of threatened landscapes. A book released in 2012, Tourism and Archaeological Heritage Management at Petra: Driver to Development or Destruction?, represents the first in a series of important books to address the very nature of these deteriorating buildings, cities, sites, and regions. The next books in the series of deteriorating UNESCO World Heritage Sites will include Macchu Picchu, Angkor Wat, and Pompeii. (25).

niedziela, 20 kwietnia 2014

Toketee Falls, North Umpqua, Oregon

Toketee Falls is a breath taking two stage 113ft. waterfall located about 2-1/2 hours Southeast of Eugene (less than one hour east of Roseburg) just off of highway 138.

Adventure Specifics: Toketee Falls is accessed via a shady 0.7 mile graded dirt and gravel path from the parking lot. The trail is relatively smooth and easy with multiple sets of natural rock and built stairs. There are handrails in steeper places, but it is not handicap accessible due to the several sets of stairs. The trail was closed for several years due to damage, but was reopened in 2011.

środa, 16 kwietnia 2014

Royal Botanic Gardens in Kew, London

The Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, usually referred to as Kew Gardens, comprises 121 hectares of gardens and botanical glasshouses between Richmond and Kew in Richmond upon Thames in southwest London, England.

The Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew is the world's largest collection of living plants. The organisation employs more than 650 scientists and other staff. The living collections include more than 30,000 different kinds of plants, while the herbarium, which is one of the largest in the world, has over seven million preserved plant specimens. The library contains more than 750,000 volumes, and the illustrations collection contains more than 175,000 prints and drawings of plants. The Kew site includes four Grade I listed buildings and 36 Grade II listed structures in an internationally significant landscape.

poniedziałek, 7 kwietnia 2014

St. Michael's Mount, Cornwall, England.

St Michael's Mount (Cornish: Karrek Loos yn Koos,[1] meaning "grey rock in the woods", also known colloquially by locals as simply the Mount) is a tidal island 366 m (400 yd) off the Mount's Bay coast of Cornwall, England, United Kingdom.

The island has a mix of slate and granite (see Geology below). Its Cornish language name – literally, "the grey rock in the wood" — may represent a folk memory of a time before Mount's Bay was flooded. Certainly, the Cornish name would be an accurate description of the Mount set in woodland. Remains of trees have been seen at low tides following storms on the beach at Perranuthnoe, but radiocarbon dating established the submerging of the hazel wood at about 1700 BC.[2] Historically, St Michael's Mount was a Cornish counterpart of Mont Saint-Michel in Normandy, France (which shares the same tidal island characteristics and the same conical shape), when it was given to the Benedictines, religious order of Mont Saint-Michel, by Edward the Confessor in the 11th century.[5] St Michael's Mount is one of 43 (unbridged) tidal islands which can be walked to from mainland Britain.[6]

środa, 2 kwietnia 2014

Desert Botanical Garden, Phoenix, Ariz.

Desert Botanical Garden in Papago Park is not only a botanical garden, but it is also classified as a museum.

Desert Botanical Garden covers about 50 acres, and in addition to the the vast array of native plants on display, the garden is home to over 21,000 plants representing 3,931 plant classifications in 139 plant families. Nationally and internationally renowned for its plant collections, research, and educational programs, Desert Botanical Garden has been operating since 1939.