What are fossils?
Fossils are formed when plants or animals die and become covered by sediments. After millions of years they are petrified becoming rock or are outlined in rock.
#1 Fossil outlines found at Mesa Verde National Park, Colorado
#2 Petrified wood, Petrified Forest National Park, Arizona
#3 Petoskey Stones, Torch Bay Nature Preserve, Michigan
What are hot springs?
Underground water is heated and percolates to the earth’s surface. They are used for hot baths and geothermal energy.
How many states are in Mexico?
There are 31 states plus the Federal District of Mexico City. The largest state is Chihuahua in northern Mexico and the most populous is Mexico City with about 10 million people.
Boquillas Canyon was taken by me at Big Bend National Park, Texas. While I was not in Mexico the photo over looks the state of Coahuila.
The other three photos were taken by my daughter, Ashley.
The economy of nature, its checks and balances, its measurements of competing life-all this is its great marvel and has an ethnic of its own. Live in nature, and you will soon see… that nature has its unexpected and unappreciated mercies. Whatever attitude to human existence you fashion for yourself, know that it is valid only if it be in the shadow of an attitude to nature.
–Henry Beston, The Outermost House
Monday August 19, 1991 a category three hurricane struck the quaint islands of Cape Cod, Martha’s Vineyard, and Nantucket. Weekend news reports informed us of the possibility the Cape would be hit. CapeCodders are no stranger to hurricanes and other severe weather and actually most natives find the storms enjoyable. However, strong hurricanes rarely reach as far north as the Cape and when they do they are weak, causing little damage.
This time it was different. For the first time I made preparations to secure my home, little did I know many others felt it too and were spending their Sunday afternoon securing their homes and boats. Less than 24-hours later we would all know how different this storm would be. Very few people had seen such destruction and even fewer remember past storms such as Carol, Edna or the New England hurricane of ‘38.
Unfortunately, many did not heed the warnings and paid the price for their indifference to what they believed was yet another false alarm. By 10:30 Monday morning winds picked up. We listened to the radio and the announcer stated, “due to sustained wind speeds of 70-mph officials have closed the Bourne and Sagamore bridges”. Ferries and air traffic had already been halted. Traffic at this time was backed up on route 6 from the Cape Cod Canal to the Orleans Rotary, a distance of about 50 miles. By noon we were without power as was the rest of the Cape. This would last for up to two weeks. I would spend the next five hours protecting my home.
The destruction I saw was incredible. Storm surge flooded coastal homes not protected by seawalls and placed huge sailboats in yards, beaches and roads more than fifty yards from the bay. Huge trees had been uprooted completely, collapsed building, bridges swept away, and homes washed out to sea. And we were the lucky ones. Falmouth and the Buzzards Bay area received the brunt of the storm, flooding most low coastal areas and completely destroying several communities.
The cleanup took two months but before it was finished, before receiving promised federal aid the Cape was hit again this time by a nor’easter named the Perfect Storm which caused almost as much damage. The Cape would be declared a federal disaster area for the second time this season.
Hurricane Bob is currently ranked the 32nd costliest storm since 1900 with over two billion in costs, which included ten million to crops, 69 million to public facilities such as roads and bridges, and 900 million to insured property. This does not account for the loss to the tourist industry. The Cape is highly dependent on the tourist industry which is very short; a mere three months. One weekend of lost revenue can devastate a small business.
There are many hidden, unquantifiable costs that affect the human-environment relationship, as the vulnerability of Cape Cod rests as much on the socio-psychological effects as well as economic loss. The culture on Cape Cod is heavily influenced by history, ambiance and the beautiful geography which creates a special relationship between CapeCodders and their landscape. These cannot be quantified.
What is the difference between a bay and a gulf?
Lemon Bay, Florida
Gulf of Mexico
Cape Cod Bay
Gulf of Maine
Both are bodies of water partially surrounded by land. A bay is a smaller version of a gulf.
Famous bays: San Francisco Bay, Chesapeake Bay, Patmos Bay (Greece)
Famous gulfs: Gulf of Mexico, Gulf of Maine, Persian Gulf
What is the largest prehistoric earthwork in North America?
Monk’s Mound is part of the Cahokia Mounds complex in Illinois and is the largest earthen mound in the world. The base of the mound is roughly the size of the Great Pyramid of Giza in Egypt. Archaeologists believe the on top of the mound was the home of the society’s royal leaders. Cahokia was occupied from about 900A.D. to 1300A.D.
**To get perspective on the size of Monk’s Mound, notice the car at the base of the mound.
What was the first national park in the world?
Lower Yellowstone Falls
Yellowstone National Park in Wyoming, Idaho and Montana was established March 1, 1872. The park gets its name for the yellow rock of the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone. Yellowstone is known for its varied geologic and geographic features, wildlife and has the largest concentration of geothermal features.
What is the largest swamp in the United States?
The Atchafalaya Basin or swamp in Louisiana. The basin is comprised of 595,000 acres of wetlands and delta, which continues to grow.
What is a renewable resource?
A resource that can be replenished within a generation, such as: forests, solar energy, water energy, water, biomass and geothermal. These energies are green meaning they are sustainable for future generations.
The Geographic Lens 