Hawai’I Volcanoe

Hawai’I Volcanoe

Executive summary by darmansjah

Erupting since 1983, Kilauea has added nearly 600 acres (243 ha) to Hawai’I sout shore

Fire at The Water’s Edge

Tourists’ flashlights stripe the foreground as lava and a steam cloud illuminate the background at Hawaii Volcanoes National Park, Lava from the Hawaiian volcanoes can reach 2100ᵒF (1200ᵒC)

Keeping an Eye on Pele

An observer monitors the activity at Halemaumau Crater, part of Kilauea’s large summit caldera. The crater periodically explodes with gases, ash, and fragments of volcanic glass known as Pele’s tears and Pele’s hair.

HAWAI’I Volcanoes National Park is varied, changeable, and literally explosive. It s 333,000 acres (135,000 ha) encompass two active volcanoes-Mauna Loa and Kilauea-on the southeast coast of the Big Island of Hawaii. Like the rest of the archipelago, the island formed over a hot spot, an upwelling of magma that repeatedly punched through a drifting tectonic plate. The park’s seven ecological zones, ranging from seacoast to alpine, shelter rare species such as the Nene (Hawaii goose), ‘lo (Hawaiian hawk), and Mauna Loa silverswood plant. But the volcanoes put on the biggest show. Kilauea is the world’s most active volcano, with ongoing eruptions that paint the sky like sunset at midnight.

Blue Lagoon

Blue Lagoon

Seawater from 6,500 feet (1,981 m) below the surface feeds into the lagoon.

Executive summary by darmansjah

ICELAND straddles the Mid-Atlantic Ridge, where the North American and Eurasian tectonic plates are pulling apart. Upwelling magma built the island and heats its vast reservoirs of water, creating a geothermal paradise. First among the country’s many simmering geothermal pools is the Blue Lagoon, a turquoise vision in a black basaltic moonscape. The geothermal spa is fed by seawater 6,500 feet (1,981 m) beneath the surface, where it reaches a searing 464ᵒF (240ᵒC). capturing silica and other minerals on its way to the surface, it mereges fro mthe ground at a balmy 100ᵒF (38ᵒC), just right for pampering visitors.

BLUE OASIS The Blue Lagoon’s intense colour comes from a combination of blue-green algae and white silica mud. Visitors often rub the chalky mud into their skin, believing it has healthful properties.

A GEOTHERMAL GIFT A woman relaxes in the blue lagoon’s steamy waters. Averaging 100ᵒF (38ᵒC) at the edges, and warmer in the center, the lagoon is fed by Iceland’s abundant supply of heated groundwater

WATER

Executive summary by darmansjah between people and water in hi submerged sculptures of human

EARTH’s great storyteller – “water is the driving force of all nature” – Leonardo da Vinci

It’s a water world, our planet, blanketed by an ocean, capped by ice, and carved by rivers and lakes and glaciers. Though it’s all H₂O, water takes an almost infinite variety of forms and hues. The steaming turquoise pools of Iceland’s Blue Lagoon, trapped in volcanic rock, present an otherworldly vision. Victorian Falls, thundering across a one-mile expanse, embody the sheer massive power of water plus gravity. The gigantic breaking waves of Oahu’s North Shore tell of the power of  storms at sea. And the sheer walls of Norway’s crystalline fjord stand as reminders of the ancient grinding passage of glaciers.

Water captivates us not only with its manifestation but also with the life it nurtures. Around Australia’s Great Barrier Reef, thousands of species make their homes, from dugongs to cuttlefish to poisonous cone shells. Drenched by monsoons, the rain forests of central Borneo are a biologist’s fever dream. They hold pygmy elephants and flying snakes, not to mention the thousands of insects and mosses and lichens that form the base of the pyramid of life here. Kelp forest off California’s coast are forests of the deep, sheltering crabs and sea urchins at their base and rockfish and leopard sharks in their canopies. In some watery environments, we may even find clues to the shape of life on other planets. The blue holes of the Bahamas, for instance, nurture rare bacteria that can live without oxygen.

And as for humans: Though we are drawn to the water, this does not prevent us from polluting it. Sculptor Jason deCaries Taylor has created his own artistic commentary on the relationship between people and water in his submerged sculptures of human for human forms, gradually worn away and colonized by the sea and its creatures.

Falling Free

Long known to locals, Angel Falls became internationally famous in the 1930s after American flier Jimmie Angel crash-landed nearby. The Venezuelan falls, on the Churun River ,drop free of the cliff face for 3,212 feet (979 m), making them the highest in the world.

VICTORIA FALLS

VICTORIA FALLS

Executive summary by darmansjah

The largest curtain of falling water in the world

ZAMBIA AND ZIMBABWE They were ‘the most wonderful sight I had witnessed in Africa,’ said Scottish explorer David Livingstone. Victoria Falls, which Livingstone named for his queen, were known more aptly by the local people as Mosi oa Tunya, ‘the smoke that thunders.’ Located on the border between Zambia and Zimbabwe, the falls of the Zambezi River are among the world’s largest, spanning more than a mile (nearly 2 km) and dropping 355 feet (108 m)-twice as wide and twice as deep as Niagara Falls. The rainbow-infused cloud that rises from the gorge can be seen 12 miles (20 km) away. Narrow gorges downstream show earlier locations of the lip of the falls, which has been eating away at its basalt basin for thousands of years.

THE Smoke that Thunders In full flood, the Zambesi River drops 132 million gallons (500 million l) of water a minute over the 5,600-foot (1,700 m) span of Victoria Falls, the torrent is then funneled into a series of narrow gorges downstream.

Flipping for the Falls Not quite as risky as it looks, a Zambian man’s somersault drops him into a pool alongside the main cascade of Victoria Falls, 355 feet (108 m) high.

By the end of the 1990s almost 300,000 people were visiting the falls annually, and this was expected to rise to over a million in the next decade. Unlike the game parks, Victoria Falls has more Zimbabwean and Zambian visitors than international tourists; the attraction is accessible by bus and train, and is therefore comparatively inexpensive to reach.

The two countries permit tourists to make day trips from each side and visas can be obtained at the border posts. Costs vary from US$20-US$50. Visitors with single entry visas will need to purchase a visa each time they cross the border. Regular changes in visa regulations mean visitors should check the rules before crossing the border.

A famous feature is the naturally formed Devil's Pool, near the edge of the falls on Livingstone Island on the Zambian side. When the river flow is at a certain level, usually between September and December, a rock barrier forms an eddy with minimal current, allowing adventurous swimmers to splash around in relative safety a few feet from the point where the water cascades over the falls. Occasional deaths have been reported when people have slipped over the rock barrier.

The numbers of visitors to the Zimbabwean side of the falls has historically been much higher than the number visiting the Zambia side, due to the greater development of the visitor facilities there. However, the number of tourists visiting Zimbabwe began to decline in the early 2000s as political tensions between supporters and opponents of president Robert Mugabe increased. In 2006, hotel occupancy on the Zimbabwean side hovered at around 30%, while the Zambian side was at near-capacity, with rates in top hotels reaching US$630 per night.The rapid development has prompted the United Nations to consider revoking the Falls' status as a World Heritage Site.In addition, problems of waste disposal and a lack of effective management of the falls' environment are a concern.
 

TONGARIRO

Executive summary by darmansjah

BUILT by 250,000 years of volcanism

NEW ZEALAND’s Maori people say their legenday ancestor Ngatoroirangi was caught in a blizzard while exploring the North island. Close to death, he called to his sisters to send him the sacred fire of their homeland. A blazing trail burst forth from under the island as volcanoes. Three of these peaks. Tongariro, Nagurhoe, and Ruapehu (a location for Mordor in the Lord of the Rings films), now form the heart of Tongariro National Park, a natural wonder with spiritual significance for the Maori. The park includes waterfalls, emerald lakes, and misty fern-filled tracks. It provides shelter for native kakas (parrots), kererus (pigeons), and New Zealand’s national symbol, the kiwi.

Volcanic Emeralds

Smoth jewels in a gritty landscape, explosive craters atop Mount Tongariro hold emeralds-green water, curtesy of minerals that leach in from surrounding thermal areas.

On Top of Middle Earth

A skier enjoys the pristine conditions of Mount Ruapehu. One of three andesitic volcanoes that make up Tongariro National Park, Ruapehu is still active, periodically covering the snow with a thick layer of ash.

Standing on Thin Ice

Born on land, polar bears-like this one in the Svalbard archipelago in Norway-spend most of their lives at sea. Like almost all life on Earth, they depend upon the delicate balance between ice and water, now threatened by a changing climate.