Nature Voyagers

Nature  -  Latest posts  /  Geology  -  Latest posts  /  Caves  -  Latest posts  /  Stalagmites and Stalactites   Harrison’s Cave, An Underground Adventure in Barbados Stalagmites and Stalactites   Stalagmites  /   Stalactites Stalactites and stalagmites are formed by water dripping or flowing from fractures on the ceiling of a cave . They are the most common types of speleothems in caves. In caves, stalagmites grow rather slowly—0.00028–0.037 in/yr (0.007–0.929 mm/yr)—while in artificial tunnels and basements they grow much faster. Soda straw stalactites are the fastest growing (up to 1.57 in/yr, 40 mm/yr), but most fragile stalactites in caves. Soda straw stalactites form along a drop of water and continue growing down from the cave ceiling forming a tubular stalactite, which resembles a drinking straw in appearance. Their internal diameter is exactly equal to the diameter of the water drop. Formatio...

Nature  -  Latest posts  /  Geology  -  Latest posts Geology - Latest Posts Geology is the study of the Earth – its rocks, minerals, land forms, climates, life forms, and the processes that affect them now and in the past noun, plural ge·ol·o·gies. the science that deals with the dynamics and physical history of the earth, the rocks of which it is composed, and the physical, chemical, and biological changes that the earth has undergone or is undergoing. the study of this science. the geologic features and processes occurring in a given region on the earth or on a celestial body: the geology of Mars; the geology of eastern Kentucky.

Nature - Latest posts  /  Geology  -  Latest posts  / Caves - Latest posts /  Stalagmites and Stalactites Stalagmite ( Stalagmites and Stalactites ) A stalagmite is a type of rock formation that rises from the floor of a cave due to the accumulation of material deposited on the floor from ceiling drippings. Stalagmites may be composed of lava, minerals, mud, peat, pitch, sand, sinter and amberat (crystallized urine of pack rats). The corresponding formation hanging down from the ceiling of a cave is a stalactite. Mnemonics have been developed for which word refers to which type of formation; one is that stalactite has a C for "ceiling", and stalagmite has a G for "ground". Formation and type  Limestone stalagmites The most common stalagmites are speleothems, which usually form in limestone caves. Stalagmite formation occurs only under certain pH conditions within the cavern. They form through deposition of calcium carbonate and other minerals, whi...

Volcano - Latest Posts Volcano Alphabetical list of all active volcanoes in the world A volcano is a rupture in the crust of a planetary-mass object, such as Earth, that allows hot lava, volcanic ash, and gases to escape from a magma chamber below the surface. Earth's volcanoes occur because its crust is broken into 17 major, rigid tectonic plates that float on a hotter, softer layer in its mantle. Therefore, on Earth, volcanoes are generally found where tectonic plates are diverging or converging, and most are found underwater. For example, a mid-oceanic ridge, such as the Mid-Atlantic Ridge, has volcanoes caused by divergent tectonic plates whereas the Pacific Ring of Fire has volcanoes caused by convergent tectonic plates. Volcanoes can also form where there is stretching and thinning of the crust's plates, e.g., in the East African Rift and the Wells Gray-Clearwater volcanic field and Rio Grande Rift in North America. This type of volcanism falls under the umbrella of ...

Nature - Latest posts Nature Nature, in the broadest sense, is the natural, physical, or material world or universe. "Nature" can refer to the phenomena of the physical world, and also to life in general. The study of nature is a large, if not the only, part of science. Although humans are part of nature, human activity is often understood as a separate category from other natural phenomena. The word nature is derived from the Latin word natura, or "essential qualities, innate disposition", and in ancient times, literally meant "birth". Natura is a Latin translation of the Greek word physis (φύσις), which originally related to the intrinsic characteristics that plants, animals, and other features of the world develop of their own accord. The concept of nature as a whole, the physical universe, is one of several expansions of the original notion; it began with certain core applications of the word φύσις by pre-Socratic philosophers, and has steadily gained...

Nature : Volcanos  - Latest posts   ( list of all active volcanoes ) / Mountains : Mount Etna Mount Etna, or Etna (Italian: Etna or Mongibello, Sicilian: Mungibeddu  or â Muntagna; Latin: Aetna; Greek: Αίτνα), is an active stratovolcano on the east coast of Sicily, Italy, in the Metropolitan City of Catania, between the cities of Messina and Catania. It lies above the convergent plate margin between the African Plate and the Eurasian Plate.  It is the highest active volcano in Europe outside the Caucasus. It is currently 3,326 m (10,912 ft) high, though this varies with summit eruptions. It is the highest peak in Italy south of the Alps. Etna covers an area of 1,190 km2 (459 sq mi) with a basal circumference of 140 km (87 miles). This makes it by far the largest of the three active volcanoes in Italy, being about two and a half times the height of the next largest, Mount Vesuvius. Only Mount Teide on Tenerife in the Canary Islands surpasses it in the whole of the Eur...