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5 - Interesting to
know - Do You Know-1
World's Only
Equatorial Glacier
Mount Cotopaxi,
in Ecuador, South America. It supports the only glacier on the equator.
[www.livescience.com,
5/18/2008]
World's First
Man-made Island
This is the Palm-shaped island of Dubai. Its construction was begun in 2001.
One ton rocks cover the sand, and two layers of large rocks weighing up to
six tons each cap the structure. It also has two 328-foot openings on each
side to eliminate stagnation in the 16 narrow, deep channels. These gaps
allow water to completely circulate every 13 days. The Palm Islands
themselves are constructed from sand dredged from the sea floor.
Palm Jumeirah is made from
3,257,212,970.389 cubic feet of ocean sand vibro-compacted into place
[source: The Palm Jumeirah]. Vibro-compaction increases the density of
loose sand by saturating it with jets of water and vibrating it with
probes. To get the complex shape just right, designers and contractors use
Differential Global Positioning Systems (DGPS) to plot the palm and ensure
the sand placement within 0.39 of an inch. When the island is complete,
120,000 residents and workers plus as many as 20,000 tourists a day are
expected there.
Which Are the Two Major Gold
Producing Countries?
South Africa producing
5,300 metric tons per year, and United States 3,200 metric tons per year.
[www.livescience.com,
5/18/2008]
The Value of the
Metal in US Coins
The value of the metal in US coins is 1.7 cents for a current penny (about
2.3 cents for a pre-1986 penny) and about 7.5 cents for a nickel.
(as of April 24, 2008)
What Would a
100-Pound Person Weigh on Mars?
Mars gravity is 38% less of that of the Earth at sea level, so a man
weighing 100 pounds on Earth will weigh only 38 pounds on Mars.
[www.livescience.com,
5/18/2008]
How Long is a
Martian Year and a Martian Day?
Of course one year, only if you are from Mars; but if you are on Earth,
that year may be about twice as long as of the Earth - 687 days. its day
is only 1/2 hour longer than the Earth day - 24 hours 37 minutes, compared
to 23 hours and 56 minutes on Earth. (Because a day on any planet in our
solar system is measured by how long it takes to spin on its axis, making
the Sun rising in the morning.
[www.livescience.com,
5/18/2008]
What is the Origin
of the Word Volcano?
From "Vulcan" - the Roman "God of Fire".
[www.livescience.com,
5/18/2008]
Has the Moon Always
Been so Close?
It used to be much closer - a billion years ago. Then it took only 20 days
to go round the Earth making a month. At that time the day on Earth was
only 18 hours long. The Moon is still moving away - 1.6" (4 cms) a year;
while meanwhile the Earth's rotation is slowing down lengthening our days.
In the distant future our day will be 960 hours long.
[www.livescience.com,
5/18/2008]
What is Earth's Diameter?
&,926 miles (12,756 Kms).
[www.livescience.com,
5/18/2008]
What is the Earth's
Surface Area?
196,950,711 square Miles (510,100,000 square Kms).
[www.livescience.com,
5/18/2008]
How Far is the
Center of the Earth From Its Surface?
3,963 miles (6,378 Kms). Much of Earth is fluid. Its most solid part is
only 41 miles - thinner than the skin of an apple relatively speaking.
[www.livescience.com,
5/18/2008]
How Much Earth's
Area is Desert?
About one third.
[www.livescience.com,
5/18/2008]
How Hot is the
Earth's Inner Part?
The temperature of the
Earth increases about 36 degrees Fahrenheit (20 degree Celsius) for every
Kilometer (0.62 mile) you go down. Near the center it should be 7,000
degrees Fahrenheit (3,870 degree Celsius)
[www.livescience.com,
5/18/2008]
When Earth is
Mostly Liquid, Do Things Inside Earth Flow?
Sure. Only in 1999 the researchers found that the Earth's core moves in
swirling pockets like tornados and hurricanes over the surface.
[www.livescience.com,
5/18/2008]
Does All of the Earth Spin at the Same Rate?
No. Its innermost part which is a mass of iron and is about of Moon size,
spins faster than its outer portion of the iron core which is mostly
liquid. A study of 1996 showed that over the previous century, the extra
speed caused the inner core to gain a quarter-turn on the planet as a
whole. So the inner core made a complete revolution with respect to rest
of Earth in 400 years.
[www.livescience.com, 5/18/2008]
How Much Oxygen in
Earth's Environment?
Most part, 80% of the air on Earth is Nitrogen, most of the rest (less
that 20%) is Oxygen along with tiny bits of other stuff thrown in.
[www.livescience.com,
5/18/2008]
How Much Water of
the Earth is in Oceans?
97%.
[www.livescience.com,
5/18/2008]
Where is the Most
Fresh Water Supply?
In Antarctia and Greenland - 70% - remaining is in atmosphere, lakes,
rivers, streams or groundwater etc which is merely 1% of the Earth's
total. Even among groundwater, rivers and lakes, the groundwater contains
about 30 times greater volume than all freshwater lakes; and more than
3,000 times more than all streams and rivers at any given time.
[www.livescience.com,
5/18/2008]
Of
World's
How Many Minerals
Are Known in the World?
4,000, although only 200 are of major importance. Approximately 50-100 new
minerals are added each year.
[www.livescience.com,
5/18/2008]
What Are the the Softest and the
Hardest Minerals
The softest mineral is the Talcum (which is used to make talcum powder);
and the hardest mineral is the Diamond.
[www.livescience.com,
5/18/2008]
Is Ice a Mineral?
Yes, and it is described as such in Dana's System of Mineralogy.
[www.livescience.com,
5/18/2008]
How the Ice Was Introduced
in India?
The first ice arrived in Calcutta was from New England, USA in 1833.
Frederick Tudor of Boston discovered that it would remain frozen if
covered in sawdust. So Tudor organized the cutting and storing the ice
blocks during the New England winter and transported them all over the
world.
How Much Would Sea
Level Rise If The Whole Antarctica Ice Sheet Melted?
Can You Guess? Antarctica Ice Sheet holds nearly 90% of the world's ice
and 70% of freshwater. If the entire ice melted, it would rise the sea
level by 220 feet (almost 10-story building high. Scientists say that by
2100 the sea would rise above 3 feet.
[www.livescience.com,
5/18/2008]
The Highest Tides
They are in
Burntcoast Head, Minas Basin, part of the Bay of Fundy in Nova Scotia,
Canada. Tides can range up to 38.4 feet (11.7 meters or about three
stories) high. The Bay is funnel shaped. Its bottom slopes upward
continuously from the ocean inlet This results in "tidal bore",
a wave-like phenomenon. Bores in Fundy can travel up the feeder rivers at
the speed of 8 mph and be more than 3 feet high.
[www.livescience.com,
5/18/2008]
The Highest,
Driest, and Coldest Continent
Antarctica.
[www.livescience.com,
5/18/2008]
The Largest
Mountain Chain on the Earth
It is the
Mid-Atlantic Ridge, which splits nearly the entire Atlantic Ocean
spreading from north to south. Iceland is one place where this submarine
mountain chain rises above the sea surface.
[www.livescience.com,
5/18/2008]
The World's Highest
Waterfall
Angel Falls in Venezuela (South America), 3,212 feet (797 meters) high.
[www.livescience.com,
5/18/2008]
The Highest Volcano
on the Earth?
The Mauna Loa in Hawaii (USA). It rises more than 50,000 feet (9.5 miles
or 15.2 Kms) above its base which sits under the surface of the sea. But
on Mars, Olympus Mons, rises 16 miles (25 Kms) into the Martian sky - its
base covering almost the entire state of Arizona.
[www.livescience.com,
5/18/2008]
The Deadliest and
the Strongest Earthquake of the World?
The deadliest earthquake occurred in central China, in 1557. There people
were living in caves carved from soft rocks. An estimated 830,000 people
were killed in it. The strongest earthquake came in Chile (South America),
off the coast, at the scale of 9.5, which broke 1,000 mile long fault in
the sea.
The strongest earthquake
occurred on the ground was in Anchorage, Alaska (USA) in 1964 - at the
scale of 9.2, which was felt on 500,000 square Miles (1,295,000 square Kms)
area; while the most destructive earthquake was in California, at the
scale of 7.8, where it caused over 700 deaths and property damage.
[www.livescience.com,
5/18/2008]
What Volcano Killed
the Most People?
The Tambora Volacno
eruption in Indonesia in 1815 - 90,000 people. Though most people dies
because of starvation, contamination of water and disease.
[www.livescience.com,
5/18/2008]
Which is the
Highest Mountain?
Mount Everest, situated at the border of Nepal and Tibet, rises up to
29,035 feet (nearly 9 Kms) above sea level. Its height was revised by 7
feet in 1998 using the satellite based system - Global Positioning System.
[www.livescience.com,
5/18/2008]
The Lowest Dry
Point on Earth?
The shore of Dead Sea in the Middle East - 1,300 feet (400 meter) below
sea level. Not even close is the Bad Water in Death Valley (in California,
USA) at a mere 282 feet below sea level.
[www.livescience.com,
5/18/2008]
The Longest Rivers
of the World?
River Nile in northern Africa - 4,160 miles (6,695 Kms) long.
[www.livescience.com,
5/18/2008]
The Largest Ocean
on the Earth?
The Pacific Ocean - 64 million square miles (165 million square Kms) with
an average of depth of 2.4 miles (3.9 Kms) - more than the double of
Atlantic Ocean.
[Yahoo, 5/17/2008]
The Deepest Part of
the Ocean?
36,198 feet (6.9 Miles
or 11 Kms), at the Mariana Trench, in the Pacific Ocean, well South of
Japan, near the Marina Islands.
[www.livescience.com,
5/18/2008]
The Largest Lake of
the World?
By size and volume, it is the Caspian Sea - although it is names sea, but
it is a lake - located between Europe and West Asia.
[www.livescience.com,
5/18/2008]
The Deepest Lake of
the World?
Lake Baikal, in South
Central part of Siberia (Russia) - 5,712 feet (1.7 Kms) deep. IT is about
20 million years old and contains about 20% of Earth's fresh liquid water.
[www.livescience.com,
5/18/2008]
The Largest Desert
of the World?
The Sahara Desert in
Northern Africa.
[www.livescience.com,
5/18/2008]
Where Was the
Fastest Surface Wind Ever Recorded?
231 mph (372 Kms per
hour) at Mount Washington, New Hampshire (USA) on April 12, 1934. But
during May 1999 tornado in Oklahama researchers recorded 318 mph (512 Kms
per hour) wind.
[www.livescience.com,
5/18/2008]
The Driest and the
Wettest Parts of the Earth?
A place called Africa, in Chile (South America) with only 0.03" (0.76 mm)
rains a year. At that rate it will take a year to fill a coffee cup. While
Lloro, in Columbia (South America), averages 523.6" (more than 40 feet or
13 meters) rainfall a year - that is about 10 times more than any wettest
part of Europe or the United States of America.
[www.livescience.com,
5/18/2008]
What is the Largest
Canyon in the Solar System?
The Grand Canyon is the largest Canyon on the Earth - its mail ranch
is 277 miles (446 Kms) long. BUT Velles Marineris on Mars is 3,000 miles
(4,800 Kms) long - if it is kept on the US map, it would extend from New
York city to Los Angeles. At places it is about 5 miles (8 Kms) deep.
[www.livescience.com,
5/18/2008]
What is the World's
Largest Island?
Greenland - 840,000
square Miles (2,176,000 square Kms). It is one third the size of
Australia. Some say it is an island, while others count it as a continent.
[www.livescience.com,
5/18/2008]
The Highest Fall
Yosemite Falls in California - 2,425 feet (739 Meters).
[www.livescience.com,
5/18/2008]
The Deepest Canyon
in the United States?
The Snake River dug "Hell's Canyon" along the Oregon-Idaho border - it is
more than 8,000 feet (2.4 Kms) deep. In contrast the Grand Canyon is less
than 6,000 feet - a bit more than a mile, deep.
[www.livescience.com,
5/18/2008]
What North America
Plant Can Live for Thousands of Years?
The creosote bush, which
grows in the Mojave, Sonoran, and Chihuahuan deserts, has been shown by
radiocarbon dating to have lived since the birth of Christ. Some of these
plants can live for 10,000 years.
[www.livescience.com,
5/18/2008]
Which is the
Highest, Coldest and Driest Continent on Earth?
Antarctica.
[www.livescience.com,
5/18/2008]
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