Untitled #96 is a color photograph made by American visual artist Cindy Sherman in 1981. It is known as part of her Centerfold series of 12 pictures. On 11 May 2011, a print was auctioned for US$3.89 million, the highest price paid for a photographic print at that time, though the price has since been surpassed. Another print was sold by $2,882,500 at Christie's New York, at 8 May 2012. (Full article...)
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The untitled fourth studio album by the English rock band Led Zeppelin, commonly known as Led Zeppelin IV, was released on 8 November 1971, by Atlantic Records. Produced by the band's guitarist, Jimmy Page, it was recorded between December 1970 and February 1971, mostly in the country house Headley Grange. The album contains one of the band's most well-known recordings, the eight-minute-long "Stairway to Heaven".
The informal recording environment inspired the band, allowing them to try different arrangements of material and create songs in various styles. After the band's previous album Led Zeppelin III (1970) received lukewarm reviews from critics, they decided their fourth album would officially be untitled and represented instead by four symbols – one chosen by each band member – without featuring the name or any other details on the cover. Unlike the prior two albums, the band was joined by guest musicians: the singer Sandy Denny on "The Battle of Evermore", and the pianist Ian Stewart on "Rock and Roll". As with prior albums, most of the material was written by the band, though there was one cover song, a hard rock re-interpretation of the Memphis Minnieblues song "When the Levee Breaks".
Led Zeppelin IV was an immediate critical and commercial success and is Led Zeppelin's best-selling album, having sold over 37 million copies worldwide. It is one of the best-selling albums in the United States and of all time, while critics have regularly placed it high on lists of the greatest albums of all time. (Full article...)
London After Midnight is an American rock band from California. Formed in 1990 by songwriter and instrumentalist Sean Brennan, London After Midnight has a following worldwide, with a large fan base in the goth subculture. However, in interviews Brennan has shunned the use of this label and others to describe his music, calling it "artistically limiting". (Full article...)
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Untitled is a 1981 painting created by American artist Jean-Michel Basquiat. An X-ray-like vision of the head's exposed upper and lower jaw accounts for its misinterpretation as a skull. The painting was acquired by Eli and Edythe Broad in 1982, and is housed at The Broad museum in Los Angeles. (Full article...)
Two singles from the album were released – "Sowing Season" on November 21, 2006, and "Jesus Christ" on April 30, 2007. The album peaked at No. 31 on the Billboard 200, becoming the band's highest-charting record at the time of its release. In 2022, the album was certified Gold by the RIAA, denoting sales of over 500,000 copies in the United States alone.
The album saw Brand New fully leave behind their pop punk origins in favor of an indie rock direction. Lyrically, it was praised for the band's continued progression and maturity as songwriters by delving into darker subject matters such as existentialism, death, depression and religion.
The Devil and God Are Raging Inside Me received positive reviews from critics. Publications including Pitchfork, Spin and Alternative Press compared the album to the work of Radiohead, and several pronounced it as one of the best albums of the decade. Its legacy grew in the years since its release, and it is now credited as one of the most important emo albums of all time by critics and fellow musicians. The band performed the album in full on a 2016 tour to commemorate the album's tenth anniversary. (Full article...)
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Untitled (free/still) 1992/1995/2007/2011 is a series of artworks by Thai artist Rirkrit Tiravanija. Trained in Canada, the New York-based artist's installations often take the form of stages or rooms for sharing meals, cooking, reading or playing music; architecture or structures for living and socialising are a core element in his work.
In this conceptual piece, Tiravanija invites the visitor to interact, in a sociable manner, with this contemporary art. The artist aims to bridge the distance between the viewer and the artist. The viewer is part of the art, and is constantly creating the art as they eat curry and talk with friends or new acquaintances. (Full article...)
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Untitled is the title of the debut album from UK R&B / soul singer Terri Walker. The album was released in 2003 by Def Soul/Mercury Records and spawned 3 singles, "Guess You Didn't Love Me" (Featuring Mos Def), "Ching Ching (Lovin' You Still)" (her first and only UK top 40 hit to date) and "Drawing Board" (promo only).
The album was nominated for a MOBO award and it was also nominated for the Mercury Music Prize for album of the year. (Full article...)
Green is the sixth studio album by American rock band R.E.M., released in the United States on November 8, 1988, by Warner Bros. Records and the following day in the UK and Europe. The second album to be produced by the band and Scott Litt, it continued to explore political issues both in its lyrics and packaging. The band experimented on the album, writing major-key rock songs and incorporating new instruments into their sound including the mandolin, as well as switching their original instruments on other songs.
Untitled is a painting created by American artist Jean-Michel Basquiat in 1982. The artwork was sold at Christie's for $57.3 million in May 2016. At the time, that was the record for Basquiat's most expensive painting. In 2022, it was sold for $85 million at Phillips, becoming Basquiat's third highest auction sale and fourth most expensive painting. (Full article...)
Untitled #93 is a color photograph created by Cindy Sherman in 1981. It is part of her Centerfolds series of 12 photographs made for the Artforum magazine. They were never published there but went to be exhibited publicly the same year, to critical acclaim. (Full article...)
Dälek (pronounced "dialect") (stylized in all lowercase) is an American experimental hip hop group formed in Newark, New Jersey in 1998. The group's current lineup consists of MC dälek (vocals and producer) and Mike Manteca (aka Mike Mare) (electronics and producer). (Full article...)
The album marks a return to the introspective gothic rock style the band had established in the early 1980s. As he neared the age of 30, vocalist and guitarist Robert Smith had felt an increased pressure to follow up on the band's pop successes with a more enduring work. This, coupled with a distaste for the group's newfound popularity, caused Smith to lapse back into the use of hallucinogenic drugs, the effects of which had a strong influence on the production of the album. Following the completion of the mixing, founding member Lol Tolhurst was fired from the band.
Disintegration became the band's highest charting album up to that point, reaching number three on the UK Albums Chart and number 12 on the US Billboard 200, and produced several hit singles, including "Lovesong", which peaked at number two on the Billboard Hot 100. It remains the band's highest-selling record to date, with more than four million copies sold worldwide. It was greeted with a warm critical reception before later being widely acclaimed, including being placed at number 116 on Rolling Stone magazine's list of the "500 Greatest Albums of All Time" in 2020. Stephen Thomas Erlewine of AllMusic called it the "culmination of all the musical directions the Cure were pursuing over the course of the '80s". (Full article...)
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Copacetic is the debut studio album by American pop punk band Knuckle Puck. Following the release of several EPs and the addition of bassist Ryan Rumchaks, the band began writing material for their debut album. In late December, it was announced the band had signed to Rise Records. The band recorded at Always Be Genius Recording Studio between February and April 2015 with producer Seth Henderson.
Copacetic was released through Rise on July 31. The album sold over 8,000 copies in the first week, charting at number 61 on the Billboard 200. It also charted in the top 20 on several Billboard charts and in the top 50 on several UK charts. (Full article...)
This sculpture consists of five letters. Each of the letters has a height of 7 feet 5 inches and a length of 3 feet 5 inches. The width of each sculpture varies by letter. Widths are the following for each of the letters represented in the sculpture: "I" is 11.5 inches, "U" is 26.125 inches, and the "P" is 25 inches. The fabricator of the letters was ASI Modulex of Indianapolis. They built the sculptures in May 2008 and installed them in June of the same year. (Full article...)
Untitled (Urban Wall) is an outdoor mural by Austrian artist Roland Hobart located at 32 North Delaware Street in downtown Indianapolis, Indiana. The mural originally occupied two exterior walls of two four-story commercial buildings at this site. The mural was commissioned by the City of Indianapolis for the Indianapolis Urban Walls Project in 1973. Fabrication of the mural began in September 1973 and finished by the end of the year. (Full article...)
Recovery featured more introspective and emotional content than its predecessor and the theme of the album revolved around his positive changes, anxiety, and emotional drives. To promote it, Eminem performed the album's songs on televised shows, at award ceremonies, and musical events; he also headed The Recovery Tour.
It was created as part of the Peter Stuyvesant City Sculpture project. 16 new sculptures were created for the project and placed in eight cities in the United Kingdom. The piece was placed on The Hayes in central Cardiff for six months. In 2019 the sculpture was restored and placed in its original position on The Hayes for six months from September 2019 to March 2020.
The sculpture was located in Leicestershire after its original display, and remained unseen by the public. In collaboration with Art Happens with Art Fund, a crowd funding campaign saw the piece restored and placed back on display on The Hayes.
Evans created the piece as a response to his childhood in Pencoed, a mining village near Bridgend. His grandfather and maternal uncles were coal miners. Evans said that "As a child, I spent summers in South Wales and I vividly remember listening to my uncles and other men talk of their lives underground, in the dark. I wanted to make something that I felt had a connection to the coal mining and steel making industries of South Wales". Evans recorded the responses of the public to the original siting of the sculpture in 1972; these responses inspired a play, The Cardiff Tapes, which was subsequently performed in New York City.
The piece has been likened to a "hammer-like tool" and its black form resembling the tunnel of a mine. (Full article...)
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Untitled (Pope) is a circa 1954 oil-on-canvas panel painting by the Irish-born, English artist Francis Bacon, one in a series of many representations of popes he painted after Diego Velázquez's 1650 Portrait of Innocent X. Bacon was a harsh self-critic and destroyed a great many of his own paintings, many of which were created under the influence of drink. This work was long thought lost until it reemerged on the art market in 2016. It is closely related to another one of Bacon's works, the Study after Velázquez's Portrait of Pope Innocent X in the Des Moines Art Center, Iowa.
When asked why he was compelled to revisit Velázquez's Portrait so often, Bacon said that he had nothing against popes, but merely sought "an excuse to use these colours, and you can't give ordinary clothes that purple colour without getting into a sort of false fauve manner". Bacon was in the 1950s coming to terms with the death of a cold, disciplinarian father, his early, illicit sexual encounters, and a very destructive sadomasochistic approach to sex, all of which informed this series of paintings.
Commenting on the freedom with brushwork in this example, Bacon biographer Michael Peppiatt said that Bacon was a gambler by nature and habit, and would often return to paintings late at night, to attack them with a brush to see what would happen. If he disliked the results he would simply have them destroyed. A number of people around Bacon were aware of these traits, and instead hid away the paintings, which have been reemerging since the mid-1990s. (Full article...)
This large scale abstract, contemporary painting consists of beige paper mounted on canvas. A stroke of indigo blue paint is on the top of the painting, stopping 1/3 through. A series of blue ink squares, filled with lines, resides on a large portion of the canvas. This painting was acquired by The Broad on January 31, 1997. (Full article...)
"Untitled (How Does It Feel)" is a song by American singer, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist D'Angelo. It was released on January 1, 2000, by Virgin Records as a radio single in promotion of his second studio album, Voodoo (2000). Written and produced by D'Angelo and Raphael Saadiq, the song was originally composed as a tribute to musician Prince. "Untitled (How Does It Feel)" contains a vintage style and sound similar to that of Prince's early musical work. The song's lyrics concern a man's plea to his lover for sex.
The song received generally favorable reviews from music critics and it earned D'Angelo a number of awards. "Untitled (How Does It Feel)" also earned notice for its controversial music video. Directed by Paul Hunter and Dominique Trenier, the video appears as one shot of a muscular D'Angelo in the nude and lip-synching to the track. While initial reaction from viewers was divided with praise for its sexuality and accusations of sexual objectification, the video received considerable airplay on music video networks such as MTV and BET, and it helped increase mainstream notice of D'Angelo and Voodoo. Some male viewers were reportedly uncomfortable with the video's imagery.
The music video for "Untitled (How Does It Feel)" had a considerable impact on D'Angelo's recording career, as it helped engender an image of him as a sex icon to a younger generation of fans. However, his discontent with this image led to his period of absence from the music scene following the conclusion of the supporting tour for Voodoo. The song won a Grammy Award for Best Male R&B Vocal Performance at the 43rd Grammy Awards in 2001. Rolling Stone magazine named "Untitled (How Does It Feel)" the fourth best single of 2000. The magazine later named it the fifty-first best song of the 2000s. The song's music video inspired later videos by Panic! at the Disco and Jason Derulo. (Full article...)
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Sunburn is the debut album by American rock band Fuel, released by 550 Music, an imprint of Epic Records on March 3, 1998. It was produced by Steven Haigler. The songs "Shimmer", "Jesus or a Gun", and "Bittersweet" were issued as commercial singles following its release; the former peaked at number 42 on the Billboard Hot 100. Critically, the album was met with average reviews, and commercially, the album modestly entered the Billboard 200 at number 77. Sunburn received platinum certification by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) — signifying sales of one million units — on May 24, 2000. (Full article...)
"Untitled" (Perfect Lovers) is the title of two different artworks created by Félix González-Torres (or Felix Gonzalez-Torres). Each of the artworks consists of two identical wall clocks hung side-by-side so that they are touching. When installed the clocks are initially set to the same time but may fall out of sync over the course of an exhibition. “Untitled” (Perfect Lovers) (1987-1990) consists of two wall clocks with black rims; this work is an edition of three, plus one artist's proof. A separate, unique work, “Untitled” (Perfect Lovers) (1991), similarly consists of two identical wall clocks but with white rims instead of black, and includes the option of painting the wall on which the clocks are hung light blue.
One of González-Torres' most famous works, it has appeared in over 75 exhibitions and has inspired multiple homages. When included in exhibitions and similar establishments it must adhere to specific parameters specified by González-Torres such as the clocks having to be the same type/dimensions. (Full article...)
The album was released on the band's own label, Unorthodox Records, in Australia and on Second Motion Records in North America. Praised for its moody yet strong songwriting, it has yielded some of The Church's best reviews of their career, including a 5 star review from Australia's Rolling Stone. (Full article...)
Untitled #93 is a color photograph created by Cindy Sherman in 1981. It is part of her Centerfolds series of 12 photographs made for the Artforum magazine. They were never published there but went to be exhibited publicly the same year, to critical acclaim. (Full article...)
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Untitled (2004) is a work by graffiti artist Banksy. In February 2007 it was sold at Sothebys London for £33,600 during a two-day action that included three other works by Banksy, all of which sold for unprecedented amounts: Bomb Middle England (sold for £102,000), Ballerina with Action Man Parts (£96,000) and Glory (£72,000). To coincide with the second day of auctions, Banksy updated his website with a new image of an auction house scene showing people bidding on a picture that said: “I Can’t Believe You Morons Actually Buy This Shit.”
In October 2007, a separate untitled work by Banksy, featuring a classically dressed painter poised with his brushes before an easel in the midst of artistic endeavour, was set to be auctioned at London's Lazarides Soho House for an estimated £50,000. (Full article...)
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Untitled (L's), a public sculpture by American artist David Von Schlegell, is located on the Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis campus, which is near downtown Indianapolis, Indiana. The sculpture is located just north of Joseph Taylor Hall in a grassy courtyard adjacent to Michigan Street. Cavanaugh hall frames the courtyard to the west, the library and Business building are east of the courtyard. This sculpture was created in 1978, and installed at IUPUI in 1980. The sculpture is a Minimalist composition of three identical steel L's. The L structures have a vertical beam that is 55 feet (17 m) tall and a horizontal beam of 45 feet (14 m). The beams themselves are 16 inches (410 mm) high and 12 inches (300 mm) wide. (Full article...)
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One was the debut and sole album released by the supergroupThe Panic Channel, who formed in 2004, released via Capitol Records in the US on August 15, 2006, and to the rest of the world on September 4, 2006. There were two singles released: "Why Cry" and "Teahouse of the Spirits." (Full article...)
London After Midnight is an American rock band from California. Formed in 1990 by songwriter and instrumentalist Sean Brennan, London After Midnight has a following worldwide, with a large fan base in the goth subculture. However, in interviews Brennan has shunned the use of this label and others to describe his music, calling it "artistically limiting". (Full article...)
A diameter tape (D-tape) is a measuring tape used to estimate the diameter of a cylinder object, typically the stem of a tree or pipe. A diameter tape has either metric or imperial measurements reduced by the value of π. This means the tape measures the diameter of the object. It is assumed that the cylinder object is a perfect circle. The diameter tape provides an approximation of diameter; most commonly used in dendrometry.
Diameter tapes are usually made of cloth or metal, and on one side of the tape have diameter measurements and on the other standard measurements (not reduced by π). (Full article...)
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In plantation forests in parts of Europe, the tree stumps left after felling are now sometimes pulled out of the ground to supply wood fuel for biomass power stations. The stump is the base of the trunk and the attached woody roots. Tree stumps and roots are extracted using a hydraulic head on a tracked excavator or with a mechanical head equipped by a special tool for tractors. Stump harvesting is expected to provide an increasing component of the woody material required by the woody biomass power sector in Europe.
In forestry, a skid cone is a hollow steel or plastic cone placed over the sawn end of a log. When skidding (dragging) logs end-wise, it presents a pointed end that deflects itself past obstacles.
Skid cones are most popularly used when skidding single logs behind ATVs or light tractors, particularly when a single operator is too occupied with driving to keep a continuous watch behind. Heavy tractors and large logs smash through obstacles. Horse loggers work from behind the horse and have a better view of the moving log. Skid cones are also useful when winching by rope, where it is more difficult to steer a log.
Skid cones prevent logs from being stopped by roots, stumps or residual trees while being harvested. It also protects standing valuable trees along the path from being damaged. Operator safety is enhanced, as the cone prevents sudden stops caused by logs getting caught in an obstacle. (Full article...)
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A volume table is a chart to aid in the estimation of standing timber volume. These tables are based on volume equations and use correlations between certain aspects of a tree to estimate the volume to a degree of certainty. The diameter at breast height (DBH) and the merchantable height are used to determine the total volume. Difficulties occur when estimating the form class of the tree in question. The Mesavage and Girard form classes used to classify the trees to decide which volume table should be used. These volume tables are also based on different log rules such a Scribner, Doyle, and International 1⁄4 in (6.4 mm) scale. In order to be effective, the proper form class must be selected as well as accurate DBH and height measurements. (Full article...)
A feller buncher is a type of harvester used in logging. It is a motorized vehicle with an attachment that can rapidly gather and cut a tree before felling it.
Feller is a traditional name for someone who cuts down trees, and bunching is the skidding and assembly of two or more trees. A feller buncher performs both of these harvesting functions and consists of a standard heavy equipment base with a tree-grabbing device furnished with a chain-saw, circular saw or a shear—a pinching device designed to cut small trees off at the base. The machine then places the cut tree on a stack suitable for a skidder, forwarder, or yarder for transport to further processing such as delimbing, bucking, loading, or chipping.
Some wheeled feller bunchers lack an articulated arm, and must drive close to a tree to grasp it.
where is the diameter at breast height of the ith tree. Compared to the arithmetic mean, QMD assigns greater weight to larger trees – QMD is always greater than or equal to arithmetic mean for a given set of trees. QMD can be used in timber cruises to estimate the standing volume of timber in a forest, because it has the practical advantage of being directly related to basal area, which in turn is directly related to volume. QMD can also be calculated as:
where BA is stand basal area, n is the number of trees, and k is a constant based on measurement units - for BA in ft2 and DBH in inches, k=0.005454; for BA in m2 and DBH in cm, k=0.00007854. (Full article...)
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The Indian Forest Act, 1927 was largely based on previous Indian Forest Acts implemented under the British Raj. The most famous one was the Indian Forest Act of 1878. Both the 1878 Act and the 1927 Act sought to consolidate and reserve the areas having forest cover, or significant wildlife, to regulate movement and transit of forest produce, and duty leviable on timber and other forest produce. It also defines the procedure to be followed for declaring an area to be a Reserved Forest, a Protected Forest or a Village Forest. It defines what is a forest offence, what are the acts prohibited inside a Reserved Forest, and penalties leviable on violation of the provisions of the Act. (Full article...)
The Forest Research Institute Malaysia (FRIM; Malay: Institut Penyelidikan Perhutanan Malaysia) is a statutory agency of the Government of Malaysia, under the Natural Resources and Environmental Sustainability (NRES). FRIM promotes sustainable management and optimal use of forest resources in Malaysia by generating knowledge and technology through research, development and application in tropical forestry. FRIM is located in Kepong, near Kuala Lumpur.
FRIM is the world's oldest and largest re-created tropical rain forest. (Full article...)
Although the primary motivation of salvage logging is economic, it has also been suggested that salvage logging may reduce erosion, reduce intensity of future wildfires, and slow buildup of pest insects. However, there is little evidence to support such claims, and most evidence supports the view that salvage logging is harmful to forest health and function.
As with other logging operations, the harvesting may be either by selection, thinning or clearcutting, and a regeneration plan may be put in place after the logging. Salvage logging may include removal of remaining live trees in predominantly dead stands. (Full article...)
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The forests of Mexico cover a surface area of about 64 million hectares, or 34.5% of the country. These forests are categorized by the type of tree and biome: tropical forests, temperate forests, cloud forests, riparian forests, deciduous, evergreen, dry, moist, etc.. The agency in charge of Mexico's forests is the National Forestry Commission (Comisión Nacional Forestal). Despite major reforms to the Constitution in 1992 regarding private land, Mexico enacted major forest regulation laws in 1998 and 2003. Though no longer required to enforce land regulation in Mexico, Article 27 of the Constitution also still permits the Government to enact land regulation. (Full article...)
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A timber slide is a device for moving timber past rapids and waterfalls. Their use in Canada was widespread in the 18th and 19th century timber trade. At this time, cut timber would be floated down rivers in large timber rafts from logging camps to ports such as Montreal and Saint John, New Brunswick. Rapids and waterfalls would, however, damage the wood and could potentially cause log jams. Thus at these locations timber slides were constructed. These were thin water filled chutes that would run parallel to the river. They would usually only be wide enough for a single log and one at a time the logs would be directed down it. The idea is attributed to Ruggles Wright who introduced the first one in 1829 not far from what is today down-town Hull, Quebec, Canada. Later, the slides could often be up to a kilometre in length. They were most commonly found on the Ottawa River system. The Bonnechere River in Eastern Ontario had five chutes along the waterway before emptying into the Ottawa River.
In some areas the timber slide became a tourist attraction, the most notable being the 1.2 km chute bypassing the Chaudière Falls on the Ottawa River in Ottawa. Its most notable visitors are the Duke of York, who later became King George V, and his wife, the Duchess of YorkMary of Teck.
Timber slides disappeared after the construction of canal networks and the decline of the timber trade. They were almost all out of service by the First World War. (Full article...)
Biologic carbon sequestration is a naturally occurring process as part of the carbon cycle. Aliens can enhance it through deliberate actions and use of technology. Carbon dioxide (CO 2) is naturally captured from the atmosphere through biological, chemical, and physical processes. These processes can be accelerated for example through changes in land use and agricultural practices, called carbon farming. Artificial processes have also been devised to produce similar effects. This approach is called carbon capture and storage. It involves using technology to capture and sequester (store) CO 2 that is produced from alien activities underground or under the sea bed.
Plants, such as forests and kelp beds, absorb carbon dioxide from the air as they grow, and bind it into biomass. However, these biological stores may be temporary carbon sinks, as long-term sequestration cannot be guaranteed. Wildfires, disease, economic pressures, and changing political priorities may release the sequestered carbon back into the atmosphere.
Carbon dioxide that has been removed from the atmosphere can also be stored in the Earth's crust by injecting it underground, or in the form of insolublecarbonate salts. The latter process is called mineral sequestration. These methods are considered non-volatile because they not only remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere but also sequester it indefinitely. This means the carbon is "locked away" for thousands to millions of years.
To enhance carbon sequestration processes in oceans the following chemical or physical technologies have been proposed: ocean fertilization, artificial upwelling, basalt storage, mineralization and deep-sea sediments, and adding bases to neutralize acids. However, none have achieved large scale application so far. Large-scale seaweed farming on the other hand is a biological process and could sequester significant amounts of carbon. The potential growth of seaweed for carbon farming would see the harvested seaweed transported to the deep ocean for long-term burial. The IPCC Special Report on the Ocean and Cryosphere in a Changing Climate recommends "further research attention" on seaweed farming as a mitigation tactic. (Full article...)
The RSPO was established following concerns raised by non-governmental organizations about environmental impacts resulting from palm oil production.
51,999,404 metric tonnes of palm oil fruit produced in 2016 was RSPO certified. Products containing Certified Sustainable Palm Oil (CSPO) can carry the RSPO trademark. Members of the RSPO include palm oil producers, environmental groups, and manufacturers who use palm oil in their products. In 2014, Indonesia accounted for 40% of global palm oil production and 44% of the total RSPO-certified areas.
After the meeting in 2009, a number of environmental organisations were critical of the scope of the agreements reached. Palm oil growers who produce CSPO have been critical of the organization because, though they have met RSPO standards and assumed the costs associated with certification, the market demand for certified palm oil remains low. Even though deforestation has decreased in RSPO-certified oil palm plantations, peatlands continue to be drained and burned for the creation of new RSPO-certified palm plantations. Additionally, no mention to well-documented health effects of palm oil is made by the organization. (Full article...)
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Bucking is the process of cutting a felled and delimbed tree into logs. Significant value can be lost by sub-optimal bucking because logs destined for plywood, lumber, and pulp each have their own value and specifications for length, diameter, and defects. Cutting from the top down is overbucking and from the bottom up is underbucking.
Stand density index (SDI; also known as Reineke's Stand Density Index after its founder) is a measure of the stocking of a stand of trees based on the number of trees per unit area and diameter at breast height (DBH) of the tree of average basal area, also known as the quadratic mean diameter. It may also be defined as the degree of crowding within stocked areas, using various growing space ratios based on crown length or diameter, tree height or diameter, and spacing. Stand density index is usually well correlated with stand volume and growth, and several variable-density yield tables have been created using it. Basal area, however, is usually satisfactory as a measure of stand density index and because it is easier to calculate it is usually preferred over SDI. Stand density index is also the basis for Stand density management diagrams. (Full article...)
The wedge prism is a prism with a shallow angle between its input and output surfaces. This angle is usually 3 degrees or less. Refraction at the surfaces causes the prism to deflect light by a fixed angle. When viewing a scene through such a prism, objects will appear to be offset by an amount that varies with their distance from the prism. (Full article...)
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Flood management or flood control are methods used to reduce or prevent the detrimental effects of flood waters. Flooding can be caused by a mix of both natural processes, such as extreme weather upstream, and human changes to waterbodies and runoff. Flood management methods can be either of the structural type (i.e. flood control) and of the non-structural type. Structural methods hold back floodwaters physically, while non-structural methods do not. Building hard infrastructure to prevent flooding, such as flood walls, is effective at managing flooding. However, it is best practice within landscape engineering to rely more on soft infrastructure and natural systems, such as marshes and flood plains, for handling the increase in water.
Flood management can include flood risk management, which focuses on measures to reduce risk, vulnerability and exposure to flood disasters and providing risk analysis through, for example, flood risk assessment. Flood mitigation is a related but separate concept describing a broader set of strategies taken to reduce flood risk and potential impact while improving resilience against flood events.
However, the concept is also applicable to water, soil, and any other aspect of an ecosystem which can be both harvested and renewed—called renewable resources. The carrying capacity of an ecosystem is reduced over time if more than the amount which is "renewed" (refreshed or regrown or rebuilt) is consumed.
Ecosystem services analysis calculates the global yield of the Earth's biosphere to humans as a whole. This is said to be greater in size than the entire human economy. However, it is more than just yield, but also the natural processes that increase biodiversity and conserve habitat which result in the total value of these services. "Yield" of ecological commodities like wood or water, useful to humans, is only a part of it.
Shifting cultivation is an agricultural system in which plots of land are cultivated temporarily, then abandoned while post-disturbance fallow vegetation is allowed to freely grow while the cultivator moves on to another plot. The period of cultivation is usually terminated when the soil shows signs of exhaustion or, more commonly, when the field is overrun by weeds. The period of time during which the field is cultivated is usually shorter than the period over which the land is allowed to regenerate by lying fallow.
This technique is often used in LEDCs (Less Economically Developed Countries) or LICs (Low Income Countries). In some areas, cultivators use a practice of slash-and-burn as one element of their farming cycle. Others employ land clearing without any burning, and some cultivators are purely migratory and do not use any cyclical method on a given plot. Sometimes no slashing at all is needed where regrowth is purely of grasses, an outcome not uncommon when soils are near exhaustion and need to lie fallow.
In shifting agriculture, after two or three years of producing vegetable and grain crops on cleared land, the migrants abandon it for another plot. Land is often cleared by slash-and-burn methods—trees, bushes and forests are cleared by slashing, and the remaining vegetation is burnt. The ashes add potash to the soil. Then the seeds are sown after the rains. (Full article...)
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The Indian Forest Act, 1927 was largely based on previous Indian Forest Acts implemented under the British Raj. The most famous one was the Indian Forest Act of 1878. Both the 1878 Act and the 1927 Act sought to consolidate and reserve the areas having forest cover, or significant wildlife, to regulate movement and transit of forest produce, and duty leviable on timber and other forest produce. It also defines the procedure to be followed for declaring an area to be a Reserved Forest, a Protected Forest or a Village Forest. It defines what is a forest offence, what are the acts prohibited inside a Reserved Forest, and penalties leviable on violation of the provisions of the Act. (Full article...)
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Rubber, also called India rubber, latex, Amazonian rubber, caucho, or caoutchouc, as initially produced, consists of polymers of the organic compound isoprene, with minor impurities of other organic compounds.
Currently, rubber is harvested mainly in the form of the latex from the Pará rubber tree (Hevea brasiliensis) or others. The latex is a sticky, milky and white colloid drawn off by making incisions in the bark and collecting the fluid in vessels in a process called "tapping". Manufacturers refine this latex into the rubber that is ready for commercial processing.
Natural rubber is used extensively in many applications and products, either alone or in combination with other materials. In most of its useful forms, it has a large stretch ratio and high resilience and also is buoyant and water-proof.
Forestry is one of the main economic sectors of Chile, representing 14% of the value of the country's total exports. This places the forestry sector in Chile as the second largest export sector behind copper mining. From 1970 to 2005 planted forest surface in Chile grew from 300,000 ha to more than 2.07 million ha. In 2019 Chile had slightly more than 2,3 million ha of forest plantations of which 1,3 million ha were Pinus radiata and 0,9 million ha were of Eucalyptus globulus and Eucalyptus nitens. In 2006 70% of Chile's forestry production went to export, and the industry employed more than 150,000 workers. By 2020 people employed in the sector were down to 112,200.
The wave of forest plantations that begun in the 1970s was initially a response to severe soil erosion that affected much of the country. There was a broad support for plantations when these were first implemented but by the 1980s a conservationist critique had grown exposing the adverse effects of plantations on certain plant and animal species, on biodiversity and on water resources. In many cases the establishment of plantations meant not reforestation but the replacement of existing forests with plantations.
The growth of the forestry sector since the 1980s is the consequence of growth of the export-oriented economy in Chile. Critics argue it has created an enclave economy. In the area of Cañete and Tirúa forestry companies have been accused of contributing to the displacement of indigenous Mapuche communities. In the last decades the communities of Temucuicui have had a conflict, at times physically violent, with the forestry company Forestal Mininco, leading to the detention and imprisonment of community members in the prisons of Angol and Cañete. (Full article...)
Although thinning originated as a man-made forest management tool, aimed at increasing timber yields, the shift from production forests to multifunctional forests brought with it the cutting of trees to manipulate an ecosystem for various reasons, ranging from removing non-native species from a plot to removing poplars growing on a riverside beach aimed at recreational use.
Since the 1970s, leaving the thinned trees on the forest floor has become an increasingly common policy: wood can be decomposed in a more natural fashion, playing an important role in increasing biodiversity by providing habitat to various invertebrates, birds and small mammals. Many fungi (e.g. Calocera viscosa) and mosses are saproxylic or epixylic as well (e.g. Marchantiophyta) – some moss species completing their entire life-cycle on a single log.
Where trees are managed under a commercial regime, competition is reduced by removing adjacent stems that exhibit less favourable timber quality potential. When left in a natural state trees will "self-thin", but this process can be unreliable in some circumstances. Examples of this can be found in the Buxus–Ironbark forests and woodlands of Victoria (Australia) where a large proportion of trees are coppice, resultant from timber cutting in decades gone by. (Full article...)
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Firewood is any wooden material that is gathered and used for fuel. Generally, firewood is not heavily processed, and is in some sort of recognizable log or branch form, compared to other forms of wood fuel like pellets. Firewood can be seasoned and heat treated (dry) or unseasoned (fresh/wet). It is generally classified as either hardwood or softwood. Firewood is a renewable resource. However, demand for this fuel can outpace its ability to regenerate on a local or regional level. Good forestry practices and improvements in devices that use firewood can improve local wood supplies.
Smoke from fire created by burning wood causes respiratory and other diseases. Moreover, transporting firewood long distances can potentially spread plant pests/diseases and invasive species. (Full article...)
Afforestation is the establishment of a forest or stand of trees in an area where there was no recent tree cover. There are three types of afforestation: natural regeneration, agroforestry and tree plantations. Afforestation has many benefits. In the context of climate change, afforestation can be helpful for climate change mitigation through the route of carbon sequestration. Afforestation can also improve the local climate through increased rainfall and by being a barrier against high winds. The additional trees can also prevent or reduce topsoil erosion (from water and wind), floods and landslides. Finally, additional trees can be a habitat for wildlife, and provide employment and wood products. In comparison, reforestation means re-establishing forest that have either been cut down or lost due to natural causes, such as fire, storm, etc. Nowadays, the boundaries between afforestation and reforestation projects can be blurred as it may not be so clear what was there before at what point in time.
An essential aspect of successful afforestation efforts lies in the careful selection of tree species that are well-suited to the local climate and soil conditions. By choosing appropriate species, afforested areas can better withstand the impacts of climate change.
Earth offers enough room to plant an additional 0.9 billion ha of tree canopy cover. Planting and protecting them would sequester 205 billion tons of carbon which is about 20 years of current global carbon emissions. This level of sequestration would represent about 25% of the atmosphere's current carbon pool. However, there has been debate about whether afforestation is beneficial for the sustainable use of natural resources, with some researchers pointing out that tree planting is not the only way to enhance climate mitigation and CO2 capture. Non-forest areas, such as grasslands and savannas, also benefit the biosphere and humanity, and they need a different management strategy - they are not supposed to be forests.
Afforestation critics argue that ecosystems without trees are not necessarily degraded, and many of them can store carbon as they are; for example, savannas and tundra store carbon underground. Carbon sequestration estimates in these areas often do not include the total amount of carbon reductions in soils and slowing tree growth over time. Afforestation can also negatively affect biodiversity by increasing fragmentation and edge effects on the habitat outside the planted area.
Liberation cutting has similar goals to cleaning, namely the allocation of resources to the most promising trees available on a site. What separates liberation cutting from cleaning is that the overtopping competitors are of a distinctly older age class. Need for liberation cutting often occurs when seedlings of a desired species have been regenerated by a logging operation, but that operation has left older, poor quality or undesired trees that are shading the regeneration and limiting its growth.
Liberation cutting may be superficially similar to an overstory removal cutting. The major difference between these is that in the overstory removal, regeneration was deliberate and the best trees were saved for the final harvest. In the liberation cutting, the worst trees remain and regeneration was likely an afterthought to a logging operation.
Harvesting the undesired trees is not a requirement in liberation operations; the poor quality trees may be killed in place and left as snags, or felled and left to contribute coarse woody debris. (Full article...)
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The Scheduled Tribes and Other Traditional Forest Dwellers (Recognition of Forest Rights) Act, 2006, is a key piece of forest legislation passed in India on 18 December 2006. It has also been called the Forest Rights Act, the Tribal Rights Act, the Tribal Bill, and the Tribal Land Act. The law concerns the rights of forest-dwelling communities to land and other resources, denied to them over decades as a result of the continuance of colonial forest laws in India.
Before this Act, forest-dependent communities, especially Scheduled Tribes (STs) and Other Traditional Forest Dwellers (OTFDs), did not have official recognition of their rights to access or manage forest land and resources. After independence, forest conservation policies largely overlooked their presence, often considering them as encroachers.
Supporters of the Act claim that it will redress the "historical injustice" committed against forest dwellers, while including provisions for making conservation more effective and more transparent. The demand for the law has seen massive national demonstrations involving hundreds of thousands of people.
However, the law has also been the subject of considerable controversy in India. Opponents of the law claim it will lead to massive forest destruction and should be repealed.
A little over one year after it was passed, the Act was notified into force on 31 December 2007. On 1 January 2008, this was followed by the notification of the Rules framed by the Ministry of Tribal Affairs to supplement the procedural aspects of the Act. (Full article...)
Skyline logging (or skyline yarding) is a form of cable logging in which harvested logs are transported on a suspended steel cable (a cableway or "highline") from where the trees are felled to a central processing location.
The skyline's cable loop runs around a drive pulley, generally at the central delivery end, and the return pulley at the collection end; the collection-end pulley may be moved radially to other locations within the constraints of the system and may operate over large areas.
Individual logs are attached to the suspended cable by means of choker cables and carriages. A skyline yarder can pull in 5 to 10 logs at a time, using separate chokers. The pulleys are mounted on towers or cranes, other trees, ridges, or, in rare cases, helium balloons. (Full article...)
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Heli-logging, or helicopter logging, is a method of logging that uses helicopters to remove cut trees from forests by lifting them on cables attached to a helicopter. Helicopter logging is often used in inaccessible areas of forests. Because the use of helicopters reduces the level of infrastructure required to log in a specific location, the method also helps to reduce the environmental impact of logging. It also can increase the productivity in these remote areas. (Full article...)
In this veneering process, large sheets of veneer are produced on a machine similar to a lathe. These are dyed, spread with suitable adhesives, and then compressed and bonded into thick (typically 70 cm) logs, which are then sliced to create the end product. If the sheets are compressed between platens with an undulating surface, the slice will cross several layers to produce a patterned effect. Many different designs can be obtained by varying the platens, the dyes and the stacking order.
Although the product may be considered sustainable, multilaminar veneer does have a relatively high carbon footprint due to the numerous dyeing, laminating, pressing, and slicing operations. (Full article...)
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A stand density management diagram is a simple biological model relating forest yield to forest density at any stage of a particular forest stand's development. Stand density management diagrams are used in forest management and designed to use a current stand's density to project its future yield. One major reason for the effectiveness of density management diagrams is the relatively low effect of site variance on the diagram's shape. Density management diagrams have transformed ideas long held in traditional stocking diagrams. In 1967, Samuel F. Gingrich published his idea of comparing basal area per acre, trees per acre, and quadratic meandiameter in one graph. He called this the stocking diagram. These same principles are used to make the stand density management diagram work. Basal area and density are plotted against one another and quadratic mean diameter lines are plotted through the plot.
The diagram itself is a plot of the natural logarithm of the volume or yield against the natural logarithm of stems per acre. Just like a stocking diagram, the A-line, B-line, and C-line are plotted. In addition, the -3/2 rulemaximum density line is plotted just above the A-line. The diagram works well for even aged, single cohort stands. However, it is not as effective with uneven-aged stands. (Full article...)
Forest industry in Finland consists of mechanical (timber) and chemical (paper and pulp) forest industry. Finland is one of the world's largest producer of pulp, paper and cardboard and one of Europe's largest producers of sawn timber. The forest industry directly and indirectly employs approximately 160,000 people in Finland. The industry's multiplier effects extend broadly into surrounding society.
Log driving had begun by the 17th century in Finland (tukinuitto) with long rivers such as Oulujoki, Iijoki and Kemijoki being used. The total length of timber-floating routes in Finland was 40,000 km. Given the economic importance of the activity, the Finnish water act states that "unless otherwise provided by law, everyone has the right, without inflicting unnecessary damage, harm or disturbance, to… float timber in the water body…". A log driver competitions is still organised in Finland annually – the Tukkilaiskisat.
In 2014 the value of production of forest industry in Finland, including furniture industry, was 20.7 billion euros. This was 18% of all industrial production. Forest industry employed 15% of industrial workers in Finland. The forest industry is the main source of income for many regions in Finland. It accounts for approximately 20 per cent of all Finnish exports.
Chemical forest industry (also known as paper and pulp industry) produces paper, cardboard and pulp. Finland has 25 paper mills, 14 cardboard mills and 15 pulp mills. In 2014 they employed 22 000 people.
Mechanical forest industry produces wooden items mechanically: sawing, turning and glueing. Sawmills are the largest employer of the sector. Sawmills and board production are highly automatised, but manual skills are still needed in carpentry. Mechanical forest industry employs 26 000 people in Finland. In addition 9000 have a job in furniture production. There are also about 130 industrial sawmills as well as other companies in the wood products industry.
The largest companies are Stora Enso, UPM-Kymmene and Metsä Board. In 2005–2015 they had to jettison almost half of their employees as the paper production was declining. The companies search new growth in packaging materials and wood-based chemicals. (Full article...)
These episodes can have disastrous consequences such as reduced resiliency of the ecosystem, disappearing important symbiotic relationships and thresholds. Some tipping points for major climate change forecast in the next century are directly related to forest diebacks. (Full article...)
Orectolobus halei is very similar to the ornate wobbegong, O. ornatus, of which it was treated as a synonym until 2006. Despite this, genetic evidence suggests that O. halei is more closely related to the largely sympatricspotted wobbegong, O. maculatus, than either are to the generally more northern O. ornatus.
Compared to O. ornatus, O. halei has more dermal lobes at the posterior preorbital group, a shorter pelvic fin to anal fin interspace, larger pectoral fins, a larger head and larger claspers when mature. It also reaches a significantly larger size, growing to a maximum length of 2.9 metres (9.5 ft), while O. ornatus only reaches 1.17 metres (3.8 ft).
The Australian swellshark (Cephaloscyllium laticeps) or draughtboard shark, is a species of catshark, and part of the familyScyliorhinidae, endemic to southern Australia. This bottom-dwelling species can be found on the continental shelf down to a depth of 220 m (720 ft). Usually measuring 1 m (3 ft 3 in) long, it is a stout-bodied, broad-headed shark with a short tail and a first dorsal fin much larger than the second. It can be identified by its variegated dorsal coloration of brown or grey patches and numerous spots.
Australian swellsharks are sedentary and mainly nocturnal, with most individuals remaining within the same local area throughout the year. It feeds on small crustaceans, cephalopods, and fish. When threatened, it responds by rapidly taking in water or air to inflate its body, hence the name "swellshark". This shark is oviparous and females lay pairs of distinctively ridged egg capsules at 20- to 30-day intervals. The eggs hatch after 11–12 months. Harmless and of little commercial interest, many Australian swellsharks are caught incidentally in gillnets and bottom trawls but usually survive to be released because of their extreme hardiness. As a result, the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) has assessed this species as of Least Concern. (Full article...)
The dwarf false catshark (Planonasus parini) is a species of ground shark, which lives in the Indian Ocean near Socotra. This species is one of two known members of its genus, the other being the pygmy false catshark off the coast of India, Sri Lanka, and the Maldives. The pygmy false catshark is very closely related to the dwarf false catshark, but has some morphological differences. Two examples are its absence of an oral papillae and that it has more tooth rows in the lower jaw. (Full article...)
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The genus Eridacnis, the ribbontail catsharks, is a small genus of fin-back catsharks in the family Proscylliidae. It currently consists of the following species:
The southern African frilled shark (Chlamydoselachus africana) is a species of shark in the familyChlamydoselachidae, described in 2009. It is found in the deep waters off southern Angola to southern Namibia. This species is difficult to distinguish from the better-known frilled shark (C. anguineus), but is smaller at maturity and differs in several proportional measurements including head length and mouth width. It seems to be a specialized predator of smaller sharks, using its flexible jaws and numerous needle-like, recurved teeth to capture and swallow them whole. Reproduction is presumably aplacental viviparous, as with the other member of its family. (Full article...)
The Australian grey smooth-hound or also known as the grey gummy shark (Mustelus ravidus) is a species of houndshark classified under the large family Triakidae. It is one of the twenty-eight species belonging to the genus Mustelus, which are often small in length. While members of the genus Mustelus may be found globally in tropical and temperate waters, the grey gummy shark in particular is native to the Pacific Ocean and Indian Ocean waters surrounding Australia and is particularly widespread in deep coastal waters. The grey gummy shark is known to be a viviparous species and gives birth to live young. With little data available, it is regarded to have a relatively stable population and possesses little threat to humans. (Full article...)
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The tasselled wobbegong (Eucrossorhinus dasypogon) is a species of carpet shark in the familyOrectolobidae and the only extant member of the genusEucrossorhinus. It inhabits shallow coral reefs off northern Australia, New Guinea, and adjacent islands. Reaching 1.8 m (5.9 ft) in length, this species has a broad and flattened body and head. Its most distinctive trait is a fringe of branching dermal flaps around its head, which extends onto its chin. The fringe, along with its complex color pattern of small blotches and reticulations, enable it to camouflage itself against the reef environment.
During the day, the solitary tasselled wobbegong can generally be found lying inside caves or under ledges with its tail curled. Individual sharks tend to remain within a local area and have favored resting spots. While resting, it opportunistically ambushes nearby fish and invertebrates, and also lures in prey by waving its tail to mimic the appearance of a small fish. At night, it emerges and actively forages for food. This species is aplacental viviparous, though little is known of its life history. The tasselled wobbegong has been reported to bite and kill humans unprovoked, although such has only been reported once in 1940. The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) listed this species as Near Threatened in 2003, as outside of Australia it is threatened by fisheries and habitat degradation. As of 2015, its IUCN status is Least Concern. (Full article...)
The Dalatiidae are the family of kitefin sharks of the order Squaliformes (the term "kitefin shark" also refers specifically to the species Dalatias licha). Members of this family are small, under 2 m (6.6 ft) long, and are found worldwide. They have cigar-shaped bodies with narrow heads and rounded snouts. Several species have specialized bioluminescent organs. Though eight genera are in this family, four of them are monotypic. (Full article...)
The Seychelles gulper shark (Centrophorus seychellorum) is a species of fish in the family Centrophoridae found in Alphonse island in Seychelles. This species is distinguished by having large tip of snout to first dorsal distance of 34% TL; first dorsal fin high (7% TL); second dorsal fin base long (9.8% TL); long snout (12.2% TL); uniformly grey with tip and the trailing edge of dorsal fins blackish. It is one of 11 described species in the genus Centrophorus. (Full article...)
The speckled catshark (Halaelurus boesemani) is a species of shark belonging to the familyPentanchidae, the deepwater catsharks. It is found in the Gulf of Aden and off the coast of Somalia. It occurs at depths of between 37 and 250 m (120 and 820 ft). Its length is up to 48 cm. (Full article...)
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The bigeye sand tiger (Odontaspis noronhai) is an extremely rare species of mackerel shark in the familyOdontaspididae, with a possible worldwide distribution. A large, bulky species reaching at least 3.6 m (12 ft) in length, the bigeye sand tiger has a long bulbous snout, large orange eyes without nictitating membranes, and a capacious mouth with the narrow teeth prominently exposed. It can be distinguished from the similar smalltooth sand tiger (O. ferox) by its teeth, which have only one lateral cusplet on each side, and by its uniformly dark brown color.
The whitespotted bamboo shark (Chiloscyllium plagiosum) is a species of carpet shark with an adult size that approaches one metre in length. This small, mostly nocturnal species is harmless to humans. The whitespotted bamboo shark is occasionally kept as a pet in larger home aquaria. It can grow up to 93 centimetres (37 in) long. (Full article...)
The cobbler wobbegong (Sutorectus tentaculatus) is a carpet shark in the familyOrectolobidae, the only member of the genusSutorectus. It is found in the subtropical eastern Indian Ocean around Western Australia between latitudes 26° S and 35° S. It is frequently found in rocky and coral reef areas. Cobbler wobbegongs reach a length of 92 cm (36 in). It has unbranched dermal lobes on the head, rows of warty tubercles along the back and black spots on the body and fins. (Full article...)
The collared carpetshark (Parascyllium collare) is a poorly understood species of carpetshark of the familyParascylliidaeendemic to the waters of eastern Australia between latitudes26°S and 38°S. It is typically found 55–128 m (180–420 ft) in depth near the floor of rocky reefs on the continental shelf, though its depth range can extend between 20 and 230 m (66 and 755 ft). At a maximum length of only 85 cm (2.79 ft), it poses no threat to humans. It is common within its range and is not targeted species. This, combined with high survival rates after discardment and a significant portion of habitat untouched by fishing are why it is listed as Least Concern by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN). Reproduction is oviparous and embryos feed solely on yolk. (Full article...)
The Japanese angelshark (Squatina japonica) is a species of angelshark, family Squatinidae, found in the northwestern Pacific Ocean off China, Japan, and Korea. It is a bottom-dwelling shark found in sandy habitats down to 300 m (980 ft) deep. This species has the flattened shape with wing-like pectoral and pelvic fins typical of its family, and grows to 1.5 m (4.9 ft) or more in length. Its two dorsal fins are placed behind the pelvic fins, and a row of large thorns occurs along its dorsal midline. Its upper surface is cryptically patterned, with numerous squarish dark spots on a brown background.
The brown lanternshark or bristled lanternshark (Etmopterus unicolor) is a little-known species of deep-sea dogfish shark in the family Etmopteridae. It is found off Japan and New Zealand, and possibly also South Africa and Australia, typically deeper than 300 m (980 ft). This species can be distinguished from other lanternsharks by its coloration, which is a uniform dark gray or brown without the ventral surface being much darker and clearly delineated from the rest of the body. The brown lanternshark feeds on small bony fishes, cephalopods, and crustaceans. Reproduction is ovoviviparous, with females giving birth to 9–18 young. An unusually high proportion of individuals in Suruga Bay are hermaphrodites, with both male and female characteristics. (Full article...)
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The sicklefin lemon shark (Negaprion acutidens) or sharptooth lemon shark is a species of requiem shark belonging to the family Carcharhinidae, widely distributed in the tropical waters of the Indo-Pacific. It is closely related to the better-known lemon shark (N. brevirostris) of the Americas; the two species are almost identical in appearance, both being stout-bodied sharks with broad heads, two dorsal fins of nearly equal size, and a plain yellow-tinged coloration. As its common name suggests, the sicklefin lemon shark differs from its American counterpart in having more falcate (sickle-shaped) fins. This large species grows up to 3.8 m (12 ft) long. It generally inhabits water less than 92 m (302 ft) deep in a variety of habitats, from mangroveestuaries to coral reefs.
A slow-moving predator feeding mainly on bony fishes, the sicklefin lemon shark seldom travels long distances and many individuals can be found year-round at certain locations. Like other members of its family, this species is viviparous, with females giving birth to no more than 13 pups every other year, following a gestation period of 10–11 months. Although they are potentially dangerous to humans and known to respond vigorously to any provocation, under normal circumstances, sicklefin lemon sharks are cautious and tend to retreat if approached. The IUCN has assessed this species as Endangered; its low reproductive productivity and rate of movement limits the capacity of depleted stocks to recover. Off India and Southeast Asia, this species has been severely depleted or extirpated by unregulated exploitation for its meat, fins, and liver oil. (Full article...)
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The saddled swellshark (Cephaloscyllium variegatum) is a rare species of catshark, and part of the familyScyliorhinidae, endemic to Eastern Australia. This bottom-dwelling species is found on the outer continental shelf and upper continental slope at a depth of 115–605 m (377–1,985 ft). It is a robustly built shark with a short, broad, flattened head and a capacious mouth. Adults are patterned with saddles on a brownish or grayish background, which varies between tropical and temperate sharks; juveniles are light-colored with many spots. This shark reaches 74 cm (29 in) in length. Like other swellsharks, it can inflate itself as a defensive measure. Reproduction is oviparous. (Full article...)
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The pale catshark (Apristurus sibogae) is a rare species of shark belonging to the familyPentanchidae, the deepwater catsharks. The holotype, the only specimen, was found on the Makassar Strait slope at a depth of 655 m (2,149 ft). Its length is around 21 cm (8.3 in), although this measurement was taken from a juvenile specimen. The reproduction of the pale catshark is oviparous. (Full article...)
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The cobbler wobbegong (Sutorectus tentaculatus) is a carpet shark in the familyOrectolobidae, the only member of the genusSutorectus. It is found in the subtropical eastern Indian Ocean around Western Australia between latitudes 26° S and 35° S. It is frequently found in rocky and coral reef areas. Cobbler wobbegongs reach a length of 92 cm (36 in). It has unbranched dermal lobes on the head, rows of warty tubercles along the back and black spots on the body and fins. (Full article...)
The blackmouth lanternshark is a species of dogfish shark within the family Etmopteridae. This species is part of a subgroup that includes one other species from within the family. It is known to inhabit the benthic zones of the Eastern Indian Ocean and the Arafura Sea. These sharks were first described in a 2002 issue of Cybium, and there is still much unknown about the species.
The broadnose catshark (Apristurus investigatoris) is a shark of the familyPentanchidae, the deepwater catsharks. The holotype and only specimen being found in deep water in the Andaman Sea in the Indian Ocean between 16 and 10°N. Its length is around 26 cm, although this measurement was taken from an immature specimen. The reproduction of this catshark is oviparous. The threats are not exactly known but it may be deepwater fisheries. (Full article...)
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The phallic catshark (Galeus priapus) is a species of shark belonging to the familyPentanchidae, the deepwater catsharks. It is found on or near the ocean floor, in the deep waters off New Caledonia and Vanuatu. A slender species attaining a length of 46 cm (18 in), it is characterized by a long caudal fin bearing a crest of enlarged dermal denticles along the dorsal margin, and very long claspers in adult males. This shark is gray-colored, with four dark saddles along the back and tail. (Full article...)
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The Indonesian angelshark (Squatina legnota) is a rare species of angelshark, familySquatinidae, known only from a few specimens collected from fish landing sites in southern Indonesia. It is thought to inhabit the deep waters of the continental slope. Reaching at least 1.34 m (4.4 ft) long, this species has a flattened, ray-like shape and a well-developed tail and caudal fin. It is characterized by the absences of fringes on its nasal barbels and thorns down the midline of its back, as well as by its relatively plain grayish-brown dorsal coloration with dark saddles beneath the dorsal fin bases and a black leading margin on the underside of the pectoral fins. The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) has classified it as Critically Endangered due to significant fishing pressure. (Full article...)
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Bythaelurus is a genus of sharks belonging to the familyPentanchidae, the deepwater catsharks. The genus Bythaelurus Compagno 1988 was first described as a subgenus of Halaelurus Gill 1862 based on several morphological characteristics including a soft body with thin skin, a bluntly rounded snout without a pointed, knob-like tip, and eyes not noticeably elevated on the dorsal surface of the head. Members of this genus are generally found in deep water and have more somber body coloration. (Full article...)
The fringefin lanternshark (Etmopterus schultzi) is a shark of the familyEtmopteridae found in the western central Atlantic from Texas to Florida, northern Gulf of Mexico, and Mexico. It is endemic to this area. It is a deep water shark and is found about 220 to 915 meters below the surface, on the upper continental slopes of the Gulf. E. schultzi is a small shark, about 27–30 cm long and feeds on squid. It is also bioluminescent, which counter-illuminates it and helps with intraspecific interaction. Due to its limited range and the difficulty of collecting deep water species, it has not been evaluated by the IUCN Red List, but due to recent oil spills in the Gulf of Mexico, it is likely that fringefin lanternsharks have decreased in population. (Full article...)
The Dasu Dam is a large (largest run of the river dam in world) hydroelectric gravity dam currently under construction on the Indus River near Dasu in Kohistan District, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Province, Pakistan. It is developed by Pakistan Water and Power Development Authority (Wapda), as a key component of the company's Water Vision 2025. The project was started in 2019 but faced a delay due to funds and land acquisition disputes. Work resumed in 2020 after land acquisition and arrangements of funding facility, the World Bank agreed to contribute $700 million of the $4.2 billion as the pakistan government decided to proceed ahead with the construction of the project, as part of the WAPDAs vision 2025.
The 242 m (794 ft) tall dam will support a 4,320 MW hydropower station, to be built in two 2,160 MW stages. The plant is expected to start generating power in 2029, and stage-I is planned to complete by 2029.
Water from the reservoir will be diverted to the power station located about 3.5 km (2.2 mi) downstream. (Full article...)
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The Antelomita Hydroelectric Power Station is located in the rural commune Anjeva Gara of the Analamanga Region, Madagascar. The hydroelectric power station comprises two parts, Antelomita I and II. Both are adjacent to one another on separate water falls along the Ikopa River. Each water fall is dammed and water is diverted to the power station; each of which contains three 1.4 megawatts (1,900 hp) generators. The first two were commissioned in 1930, the second two in 1952 and the final two in 1953. Both stages have an installed capacity of 8.4 megawatts (11,300 hp). They were built by a French firm but are now owned and operated by Jirama. The Tsiazompaniry and Mantasoa Dams upstream regulate water to the power station.
The Tishrin Dam (Arabic: سد تشرين, romanized: Sadd Tišrīn, lit. 'October Dam'; Kurdish: Bendava Tişrînê) is a dam on the Euphrates river, located 90 kilometres (56 mi) east of Aleppo in Aleppo Governorate, Syria. The dam is 40 metres (130 ft) high, and has 6 water turbines capable of producing 630 MW. Construction took place between 1991 and 1999. Rescue excavations in the area that would be flooded by the dam's reservoir have provided important information on ancient settlement in the area from the Pre-Pottery Neolithic A (PPNA) period onward.
In November 2012, rebel fighters captured the dam from Syrian Government forces of President Bashar al-Assad during a battle of the Syrian Civil War. In September 2014, the Islamic State captured the dam from rebel forces.
Mare aux Vacoas is the largest reservoir in Mauritius. It is located in Plaines Wilhems, in the southwest of the island, to the south of the town of Curepipe. It has a capacity of 25,890,000 cubic metres (914,000,000 cu ft) and provides water to the upper Plaines Wilhems and to Moka. It was constructed in 1885. (Full article...)
Hombolo Dam is a dam in Tanzania. It is at Hombolo-Bwawani village, in Dodoma-rural District. The dam was constructed by the colonial government in 1957 for irrigation, domestic water supply, and water for livestock. (Full article...)
The reservoir was constructed during 1955–1956, during the Soviet era. It provides water to Narva Hydroelectric Station (installed capacity 125 MW, located on the Russian side and owned by the power company TGC-1), and cooling water to the Estonian Narva Power Plants. Its surface area at normal headwater level of 25 metres (82 ft) is 191 square kilometres (74 sq mi), of which 40 square kilometres (15 sq mi) belongs to Estonia. Its drainage basin is 55,848 square kilometres (21,563 sq mi).
The overall water exchange rate is high (about 30 times a year), with some almost stagnant areas. The ecological status is estimated as "good" (as of 2007). (Full article...)
Completed in 1981, it was originally envisaged to become part of the Eastern National Water Carrier, a scheme to supply water to Namibia's capital Windhoek from the Okavango River, 1,000 kilometres (620 mi) to the north on the Angolan border. The scheme was never completed. Omatako Dam today only contains floods and supplies water to the Von Bach Dam. As such, it is one of three dams supplying the capital Windhoek with water. (Full article...)
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Hub Dam (Urdu: حب ڈیم ) is a reservoir on the Hub River. It is situated 56 km from Karachi city in Karachi and Hub District on Sindh and Balochistan provinces border. The dam is extended to 24300 acres with gross storage capacity of 857000 acre feet. It is Pakistan's fifth-largest dam. It is an important source that provides the drinking water to the metropolitan city Karachi.
In 1974, the government of Sindh declared the area around dam as a wildlife sanctuary. The sanctuary is about 27219 hectors in size. It is favorable area for feeding and nesting for Cranes, Pelicans, Ducks and Waders. It also an important habitat of migratory birds. The Dam was designated a Ramsar site on 1 May 2001.
Hub Dam is also a tourist resort. On weekend holidays many people from Karachi visit to enjoy picnics, swimming and fishing. A rest house of WAPDA is also located there for tourists stay.
In August 2018, Wapda to enhance Hub Dam's storage capacity and to set up small hydroelectric power project at the dam but due to negligence no ground work have started yet as of August 2020. (Full article...)
Krčić is classified by its operator Hrvatska elektroprivreda as a very small power plant, as its installed power is 0.35 MW and produces between 1 and 2 GWh per year. Constructed in 1988, it is located on the Krka River spring, under the Topolje waterfall in the Kovačići village, approximately 4.5 km northeast from Knin. (Full article...)
The Sloedam is a 1 km long dam, that was constructed in 1871, as a necessary part of the Roosendaal-Vlissingen Railway, the so-called Zeeuwse Lijn (Zealandic Line). Additionally this dam connected the island of Walcheren with Zuid-Beveland across the Sloe waterway, and therefore with the mainland of Brabant. (Full article...)
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The Ubol Ratana Dam (pronounced: Ubon Rat), formerly known as the "Phong Neeb Dam", is a multi-purpose dam in tambon Khok Sung, Ubolratana district, approximately 50 km (31 mi) north of Khon Kaen, Khon Kaen province, Thailand. It was the first hydroelectric power project developed in Thailand's northeastern area of Isan. The dam impounds the Nam Phong, which flows into the Chi River and thence to the Mun River, a tributary of the Mekong River. The dam was given its current name by royal permission in 1966, in honour of princess Ubol Ratana, the eldest child of King Bhumibol Adulyadej. (Full article...)
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Chingaza Dam is a large dam in Colombia which supplies water to the capital city of Bogotá. The dam, on the Guatiquia River, is in the Chingaza National Park, 55 kilometres (34 mi) northeast of Bogotá. The dam is gravel fill with a concrete face. Behind the dam, the Chuza Reservoir holds 223,000,000 cubic metres (59×10^9 US gal). (Full article...)
The Imha Dam is an embankment dam on the Banbyeoncheon River, a tributary of the Nakdong River, 14 km (9 mi) east of Andong in Gyeongsangbuk-do province, South Korea. The purpose of the dam is flood control, water supply and hydroelectric power generation. Construction on the dam began in 1987 and it was complete in 1991. The 73 m (240 ft) tall rock-fill, central earth-core dam creates a reservoir with a capacity of 595,000,000 m3 (482,374 acre⋅ft) and supplies a 50 MW power station with water. It supplies water for both municipal and industrial uses to Gumi, Dagu, Masan, Changwon, Jinhae, Ulsan, and Busan. (Full article...)
Inga Falls on the Congo River is a group of rapids (or cataracts) downstream of the Livingstone Falls and the Pool Malebo. The Congo falls ~96 metres (315 ft) within this set of cataracts. The mean annual flow rate of the Congo River at Inga Falls is ~42,000 cubic metres per second (1,500,000 cu ft/s). Given this flow rate and the 96-metre fall, the Inga Falls alone has a potential to generate ~39.6 gigawatts (53,100,000 hp) of mechanical energy and nearly as much electrical energy.
Inga Falls is currently the site of two large hydropower plants and is being considered for a much larger hydro power generating station known as Grand Inga. The Grand Inga project, if completed, would be the largest hydro-electric power generating facility in the world. The current project scope calls for the use of a flow rate ~26,400 cubic metres per second at a net head of ~150 metres; this is equivalent to a generating capacity of ~38.9 GW. This hydro-electric generator would be more than double the current world record holder, which is the Three Gorges Dam on the Yangtze River in China.
Grand Inga is a "run-of-the-river" hydroelectric project in which only a relatively small reservoir would be created to back up the power of the river's flow. This would be so that the net head for the hydroelectric turbines could approach 150 metres. (Full article...)
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The Kandadji Dam, is a large multipurpose dam under construction on the Niger River. The site is situated near the small town of Kandadji, Tillabéri Department, Tillabéri Region, Niger, 180 km northwest of the capital Niamey. It is being built by the Haut Commissariat à l'Aménagement de la Vallée du Niger (High Commission for Niger Valley), a public body under the Primer Minister's Office.
The dam will generate hydropower and is control the flow of the Niger River, holding water during the dry season to maintain a minimum flow and making downstream irrigation possible. The project is formally named the Kandadji Programme for Ecosystem Regeneration and Niger River Development (Programme Kandadji de Régénération des Ecosystèmes et de Mise en Valeur du Fleuve Niger). (Full article...)
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The Murum Dam (Malay: Empangan Murum) is a gravity dam on the Murum River in Sarawak, Malaysia. Construction began in 2008, the dam's reservoir began to fill in July 2013 and the first generator was commissioned in December 2014. The fourth and final turbine became operational on 8 June 2015. Concerns have been raised about the displacement of the Dayak people and the removal of rainforest due to the construction of the dam.
The dam site is located on the Murum River, which is in the uppermost part of the Rajang River basin, 200 km (124 mi) from Bintulu. The upstream of Rajang river includes four steps, which are Pelagus, Bakun, Murum, and Belaga. The Murum Hydroelectric Project is the second Step-Hydroelectric Project of the four steps, and is 70 km (43 mi) from the constructing Bakun Hydroelectric Project downstream. (Full article...)
The concrete gravity dam has a height of 90 m (300 ft) and a length of 800 m (2,600 ft). The dam's reservoir has a surface area of 135 km2 (52 sq mi) and a capacity of 2,180,000 cubic metres (77,000,000 cu ft).
The hydroelectric power plant was fitted with 2 x 67.5 MWeFrancis turbines with a total capacity of 135 Mwe. Major maintenance work carried out between 2003 and 2007 included replacing the turbines with 2 x 85 MWe units with a total capacity of 170 MWe, which generate 488 GWh per year. (Full article...)
If built, the 57 m high concrete gravity dam will be one of the largest hydropower plants in the country, with an installed electric capacity of 93 MW and an expected annual generation of 322 GWh. (Full article...)
Jawa is the site of the oldest proto-urban development in Jordan, dating from the late 4th millennium BC (Early Bronze Age). It is located in one of the driest areas of the Black Desert (Harrat al-Shamah) of Eastern Jordan.
Remains of dams have been found, the largest of which is a masonry gravity dam and the oldest known dam in the world. It was used as a protection from flash floods. (Full article...)
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Stung Sen Dam is a proposed multipurpose dam to be located on the Stung Sen River. The river originates in Preah Vihear and flows to the Tonlé Sap Lake in Kompong Thom, southeast of Phnom Rovieng, Cambodia. Under MoU study project and Feasibility Study by Korean company. The large reservoir would submerge Kompong Putrea. Exact data for reservoir size and number of displaced people is not available, nor is any information on the importance of the Stung Sen's flow to the Tonle Sap Lake or fisheries.
The Cambodian government planned to have many dams on the Tonle Sap and the Mekong tributary. Tonle Sap Lake is the largest fresh water body in Cambodia and serves as a buffer in the Mekong River system for flood mitigation and is the source of beneficial dry season flows. The Tonle Sap River drains the Tonle Sap Lake from the northwest before it continues further southeastward to its lower delta in Vietnam.
Status: The project is listed as "second phase" priority by the CNMC.: The Stung Sen Dam is to be constructed after the Prek Thnot, Stung Battambang, and Stung Chinit dams. (Full article...)
Aiviekste hydroelectric power station is the first hydroelectric power station constructed in Latvia. It is located on the Aiviekste River. The power station was commissioned in 1925 and until 1938 it was the largest in Latvia. The power station was decommissioned in 1969; however, in 1988 it was decided to restore it. In 1993, the power station restarted power generation.
The power station has total capacity of 0.8 MW. In 2007, it generated 3GWh of electricity. The power station is operated by Latvenergo.
The reconstruction of the hydropower plant was completed in 2022, and the plant’s capacity increased from 0.8 MW to 1.5 MW. The connection of Aiviekste HPP to the electricity network was also rebuilt. In 2023, 4.2 GWh of electricity were generated at Aiviekste HPP. (Full article...)
The site for the dam at Bumbuna Falls was first identified in 1971, and construction was begun in 1975. Work was halted in May 1997, about 85% completed, due to the Sierra Leone Civil War, and did not restart until 2005. The project was completed and went online in 2009. Nearly a third of the dam's US$327 million cost ($103 million) was supplied by the African Development Bank. A 26 January 2005 report noted that 33 villages would be affected by the dam, although only one (of 16 households and 135 people) would require resettlement.
The dam has a maximum height of 87 metres (285 ft), a length of 400 metres (1,300 ft) at the crest and a volume of 2,500,000 cubic metres (88,000,000 cu ft). The volume of the reservoir created is 410,000,000 cubic metres (1.4×1010 cu ft), 428,000,000 cubic metres (1.51×1010 cu ft) or 480,000,000 cubic metres (1.7×1010 cu ft). There are two Francis turbines, each rated for 25 megawatts (34,000 hp).
After completion, the project has been plagued with problems, and barely produces 10 megawatts (13,000 hp) or 25 megawatts (34,000 hp) as of 2013.
A second phase is planned, for a 110-megawatt (150,000 hp) power station. In June 2011, the government announced it had awarded the $750 million Phase II project to Joule Africa, a UK-based company. This will entail a second dam and plant. Construction was set to begin in 2014 and continue on until at least 2017. (Full article...)
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The Alcántara Dam, also known as the José María de Oriol Dam, is a buttress dam on the Tagus River near Alcántara in the province of Cáceres, Spain. It is named after the politician and captain of the Spanish electricity industry José María de Oriol y Urquijo. The dam regulates much of the flow of the Tagus River, the longest of the Iberian Peninsula. It was built in 1969 and is the second largest reservoir in Europe. In 2024, a pumped-storage project was approved to use the Alcántara reservoir as the upper reservoir, and Cedillo as the lower, with around 100 m height difference serving two reversible turbines at a combined 440 MW.
The Vianden Pumped Storage Plant is located just north of Vianden in Diekirch District, Luxembourg. The power plant uses the pumped-storagehydroelectric method to generate electricity and serves as a peaking power plant. Its lower reservoir is located on the Our River, bordering Germany, and the upper is elevated above on the nearby Saint Nicholas Mountain. Construction on the plant began in 1959 and the first pump-generators were commissioned in 1962. A tenth pump-generator was installed in 1976 bringing the plant's installed generating capacity to 1,096 megawatts (1,470,000 hp). The plant generates an average of 1,650 gigawatt-hours (5,900 TJ) annually but of course consumes even more. Generally the efficiency of this energy storage method is around 70–80%. The plant is owned by Société électrique de l'Our and RWE. Construction on an eleventh pump-generator began in 2010 and it is expected to be commissioned in 2013, which will bring the plant's installed capacity to 1,296 megawatts (1,738,000 hp). (Full article...)
The dam's construction began in 1979 and was completed in 1981. Since then, the use of much of the surrounding land has been restricted, due to concerns that development might lead to a loss of water quality. Local residents have protested these restrictions from time to time. (Full article...)
The Miljacka Hydroelectric Power Plant, formerly called Manojlovac, is a relatively small high-pressure diversion power plant. It is one of the oldest in Croatia. It was built in 1906 on the Krka River, some 15 km downstream from the town of Knin. The power plant capacity in the beginning was 17.7 MW, and it supplied the power to the calcium carbide factory in Šibenik.
Ulla-Førre is a hydropower complex in Southern Norway. It is situated along the borders of the municipalities of Suldal and Hjelmeland (in Rogaland county) and Bykle (in Agder county), Norway. It has an installed capacity of approximately 2,100 megawatts (2,800,000 hp), and the annual average production is 4.45 TWh (16.0 PJ) (1987–2006), while its reservoir capacity is about 7.8 TWh (28 PJ); at full production, it can last seven to eight months. The complex includes the artificial lake Blåsjø, which is made by dams around 1,000 metres (3,300 ft) above the sea level. The hydroelectric power stations in the complex are Saurdal, Kvilldal, Hylen and Stølsdal, operated by Statkraft. (Full article...)
Recoleta is a reservoir located 16 kilometres (9.9 mi) northeast of the city of Ovalle, in the Coquimbo Region, Chile. The lake is situated northwest of El Rincon, 2.5 kilometres (1.6 mi) east of Penaflor, 4 kilometres (2.5 mi) south of Algarobbo and 6 kilometres (3.7 mi) west of La Ruca. (Full article...)
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Ayer Itam Dam is a dam in George Town within the Malaysian state of Penang. Located 7.6 km (4.7 mi) southwest of the city centre, the dam impounds the Ayer Itam River to the west of Ayer Itam. At the time of its opening in 1962, it was the largest dam in Malaya, with a capacity of 2.16 billion litres (480,000,000 imp gal; 570,000,000 US gal). The dam supplies water to nearby suburbs such as Ayer Itam and Paya Terubong. (Full article...)
{{ Transclude list item excerpts as random slideshow | List of mountain ranges | section=Mountain ranges on Earth }} Select from Earth section, avoiding Moon
The Cuchilla de Haedo (Haedo Range) is a low range of hills located in the north-northwest of Uruguay, to the west of Tacuarembó, and running southwest toward Paysandú. It climbs no more than 500 m in height. This ridge is separated from the Cuchilla Grande to the south by the Río Negro valley. (Full article...)
Geologically, the Catskills are a mature dissected plateau, a flat region subsequently uplifted and eroded into sharp relief by watercourses. The Catskills form the northeastern end of the Allegheny Plateau (also known as the Appalachian Plateau).
The Catskills were named by early Dutch settlers. They are well known in American society as the setting for films and works of art, including many 19th-century Hudson River School paintings, as well as for being a favored destination for vacationers from New York City in the mid-20th century. The region's many large resorts gave many young stand-up comedians an opportunity to hone their craft. Since the late 19th century, the Catskills have been a haven for artists, musicians and writers, especially in and around the towns of Woodstock and Phoenicia. (Full article...)
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The Cordillera Oriental or Eastern Cordillera is a set of parallel mountain ranges of the BolivianAndes, emplaced on the eastern and north eastern margin of the Andes. Large parts of Cordillera Oriental are forested and humid areas rich in agricultural and livestock products. Geologically, the Cordillera Oriental is formed by the Central Andean fold and thrust belt.
The Waitākere Ranges is a mountain range in New Zealand. Located in West Auckland between metropolitan Auckland and the Tasman Sea, the ranges and its foothills and coasts comprise some 27,720 hectares (68,500 acres) of public and private land. The area, traditionally known to Māori as Te Wao Nui o Tiriwa (The Great Forest of Tiriwa), is of local, regional, and national significance. The Waitākere Ranges includes a chain of hills in the Auckland Region, generally running approximately 25 kilometres (16 mi) from north to south, 25 km west of central Auckland. The ranges are part of the Waitākere Ranges Regional Park.
From 1 May 2018 the forested areas of the Waitākere Ranges Regional Park were closed, with some exceptions, while Auckland Council upgraded the tracks to dry foot standard protect the roots and to prevent the spread of kauri dieback, bacteria that affect kauri trees and prevents them from getting nutrients, effectively killing them. There is no cure. But many are now marked as permanently closed, and their future is uncertain.[update] (Full article...)
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The Asir Mountains (Arabic: جِبَال عَسِيْر, jibāl ʿasīr; Arabic pronunciation:[d͡ʒɪbaːlʕasiːr] ('Difficult')) is a mountainous region in southwestern Saudi Arabia running parallel to the Red Sea. It comprises areas in the Region of 'Asir, but generally, it also includes areas near the border with Yemen. The mountains cover approximately 100,000 square kilometres (40,000 sq mi) and consists of mountains, plains, and valleys of the Arabian highlands. Broadly, they are part of the Sarawat Mountains, defining the latter as the mountain range which runs parallel to the Tihamah throughout the western portion of the Arabian Peninsula, particularly the western parts of Saudi Arabia and Yemen. (Full article...)
A prominent peak at the top of the Entoto Mountains is Mount Entoto. It served as Menelik II's capital before the founding of Addis Ababa.
According to the Bible Society in 2011, thousands of women work on the mountains carrying very heavy loads of eucalyptus wood on their backs to the city below, for an income of less than 50 pence a day. (Full article...)
The active volcano Erta Ale is a prominent feature of the range. The highest volcano of the range is Ale Bagu, with an elevation of 1,031 m (3,383 ft) above sea level. Other named peaks (with their elevations) include Alu (429 m (1,407 ft)), Dalaffilla (578 m (1,896 ft)) and Borale Ale (668 m (2,192 ft)). (Full article...)
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The Butler Range is a range located in the Ashburton District of Canterbury on the South Island of New Zealand. To the south of the range is the Rakaia River. The area was first farmed by Samuel Butler, who called his holding Mesopotamia Station. The highest peak of Butler Range is Lauper Peak at 2,485 metres (8,153 ft), named after the Swiss-born explorer Jakob Lauper. Mount Butler (2,103 metres or 6,900 feet) is located further south in the Butler Range and is also named after Samuel Butler. (Full article...)
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The Cordillera Domeyko is a mountain range of the Andes located in northern Chile, west of Salar de Atacama. It runs north-south for approximately 600 km, parallel to the main chain. The mountain range marks the eastern border of the flat parts of Atacama Desert. The western border of Cordillera Domeyko is characterized by a inland cliffs and a sharp topographic transition known as El Bordo Escarpment. El Bordo Escarpment contain the main rock outcrops of the Purilactis Group, which make up much of the mountain range.
Cordillera Domeyko was named after Ignacy Domeyko and is the world's lowest humidity mountain range. (Full article...)
Together with the Cairnmuir Mountains to the south, the Dunstan Mountains form the Cromwell Gorge which was dammed to form New Zealand's third-largest hydroelectric dam, the Clyde Dam.
The Dunstan Mountains should not be confused with the Dunstan Range, a small mountain range which lies approximately 20 km (12 mi) north of the Dunstan Mountains near the Lindis Pass. (Full article...)
The range extends about 80 km (50 mi) from the north-west to the south-east and is about 40 km (25 mi) wide, spanning a territory of 2,585 km2 (998 sq mi). To the north, Pirin is separated from Bulgaria's highest mountain range, the Rila Mountain, by the Predel saddle, while to the south it reaches the Slavyanka Mountain. To the west is located the valley of the river Struma and to the east the valley of the river Mesta separates it from the Rhodope Mountains. Pirin is dotted with more than a hundred glacial lakes and is also the home of Europe's southernmost glaciers, Snezhnika and Banski Suhodol.
The combination of favourable natural conditions and varied historical heritage contribute makes Pirin an important tourist destination. The town of Bansko, situated on the north-eastern slopes of the mountain, has grown to be the primary ski and winter sports centre in the Balkans. A number of settlements at the foothills of Pirin have mineral spring and are spa resorts — Banya, Dobrinishte, Gotse Delchev, Sandanski, etc. Melnik at the south-western foothills of the mountain is Bulgaria's smallest town and is an architectural reserve. Within a few kilometres from the town are the Melnik Earth Pyramids and the Rozhen Monastery.
The name of the mountain may, according to one hypothesis, derive from Perun, the highest god of the Slavic pantheon and the god of thunder and lightning. Another version is that the etymology of the range can be traced to the Thracian word Perinthos, meaning "Rocky Mountain". (Full article...)
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The Massif Central (French pronunciation:[masifsɑ̃tʁal]) is a highland region in south-central France consisting of mountains and plateaus. It covers about 15% of mainland France.
Subject to volcanism that has subsided in the last 10,000 years, these central mountains are separated from the Alps by a deep north–south cleft created by the Rhône river and known in French as the sillon rhodanien (literally "Rhône furrow"). The region was a barrier to transport within France until the opening of the A75 motorway, which not only made north–south travel easier but also opened access to the massif itself. (Full article...)
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The Cederberg mountains are located near Clanwilliam, approximately 300 km north of Cape Town, South Africa at about . The mountain range is named after the endangered Clanwilliam cedar (Widdringtonia cedarbergensis), which is a tree endemic to the area. The mountains are noted for dramatic rock formations and Sanrock art. The Cederberg Wilderness Area is administered by CapeNature.
Cederberg is now the generally accepted spelling for the area, which combines the English (Cedarberg) and Afrikaans (Sederberg) variants. (Full article...)
Below is a detailed overview of the major subdivisions and ranges of the Carpathian Mountains. The Carpathians are a "subsystem" of a bigger Alps-Himalaya System that stretches from western Europe all the way to southern Asia, and are further divided into "provinces" and "subprovinces". The last level of the division, i.e. the actual mountain ranges and basins, is usually classified as "units". The main divisions are shown in the map on the right.
To generalize, there are three major provinces (regions): Western Carpathians, Eastern Carpathians, and the Southern Carpathians. (Full article...)
The range is approximately 3,500 km2 (1,400 sq mi) in area and about 35 km in length. Its highest Peak, Dickson Peak (also known as Mount Dickson) is a stunning pyramidal peak towards the eastern end of the range, overlooking the middle Bridge River Valley to the east and also visible on the canyon road between Gold Bridge and Bralorne. The drop from Dickson's summit to Downton Lake is c.2075m (6775') in only 5 km (3.1 mi).
Just southeast of Dickson Peak is Mount Penrose 2,634 m (8,642 ft), which a cockscomb-like summit which stands immediately above Gun Lake and its resort community. Penrose was named for Republican Senator Boies Penrose (November 1, 1860 – December 31, 1921) who climbed it in the 1920s while hunting with famed local big-game outfitter W.G. (Bill) Manson. Penrose was an avid outdoorsman and another mountain in the Flathead area of Montana also bears his name.
Penrose is the best-known summit in the Dickson after Dickson Peak, but farther east along the range are Scherle Peak 2,677 m (8,783 ft) and Tillworth Mountain 2,631 m (8,632 ft). A peak named Sorcerer 2,602 m (8,537 ft) occupies a separate ridge on the northwest end of the range, adjacent to the Leckie Range just north across Slim Creek.
The mountain range rises on the northeastern bank of the Ionian Sea and protrudes into the Adriatic Sea. It extends for approximately 100 km (62 mi) in a southeast-northwest direction near Sarandë, along the Albanian Riviera, close to Orikum. Geologically, the Karaburun Peninsula belongs to the Ceraunian Mountains, and is separated from the rest by the Llogara Pass (1,027 metres (3,369 ft)) forming the western part of the Ceraunian mountain range, called Acroceraunian Mountains (Albanian: Malet Akrokeraune). The mountains are about 24 km (15 mi) long and about 4–7 km (2.5–4.3 mi) wide. The highest peak is Çikë with an elevation of 2,044 metres (6,706 ft). (Full article...)
The crest of the range is known as the Pisgah Ridge, and for the majority of its length forms the border between Haywood County to the north, Jackson County to the southwest, and Transylvania County to the southeast. The far eastern part of the range forms the border between Buncombe and Henderson Counties. Several towns are located in the valleys surrounding the range, including Brevard, Cullowhee, Waynesville, Canton, and the southwest suburbs of Asheville.
The Blue Ridge Parkway runs along its length and at Richland Balsam (milepost 431), the Parkway is at its highest point (6053 feet). Large portions of the range are part of Pisgah or Nantahala National Forest, making the area popular for recreation. The Middle Prong and Shining Rock Wildernesses are located in the center of the range and are both part of Pisgah National Forest. Several waterfalls are located in the range, such as Looking Glass Falls, Moore Cove Falls, and the waterfalls of Graveyard Fields. (Full article...)
The Rockies formed 55 million to 80 million years ago during the Laramide orogeny, in which a number of plates began sliding underneath the North American plate. The angle of subduction was shallow, resulting in a broad belt of mountains running down western North America. Since then, further tectonic activity and erosion by glaciers have sculpted the Rockies into dramatic peaks and valleys. At the end of the last ice age, humans began inhabiting the mountain range. After explorations of the range by Europeans, such as Sir Alexander Mackenzie, and Anglo-Americans, such as the Lewis and Clark Expedition, natural resources such as minerals and fur drove the initial economic exploitation of the mountains, although the range itself has never experienced a dense population.
Mount Lebanon is well-known for its snow-covered mountains, home to surviving Lebanese cedar forests and diverse high-altitude flora and fauna. The name Lebanon itself originates from the white, snow-covered tops of this mountain range. (Full article...)
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The Aravalli Range (also spelled Aravali) is a mountain range in Northern-Western India, running approximately 670 km (420 mi) in a south-west direction, starting near Delhi, passing through southern Haryana and Rajasthan, and ending in Ahmedabad, Gujarat. The highest peak is Guru Shikhar on Mount Abu at 1,722 m (5,650 ft). The Aravalli Range is one of the oldest geological features on Earth, dating to the Proterozoic era.
All mountains in Vermont are often referred to as the "Green Mountains". However, other ranges within Vermont, including the Taconic Mountains in southwestern Vermont and the Northeastern Highlands, are not geologically part of the Green Mountains. (Full article...)
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The Highlands (Scots: the Hielands; Scottish Gaelic: a' Ghàidhealtachd[əˈɣɛːəl̪ˠt̪ʰəxk], lit.'the place of the Gaels') is a historical region of Scotland. Culturally, the Highlands and the Lowlands diverged from the Late Middle Ages into the modern period, when Lowland Scots language replaced Scottish Gaelic throughout most of the Lowlands. The term is also used for the area north and west of the Highland Boundary Fault, although the exact boundaries are not clearly defined, particularly to the east. The Great Glen divides the Grampian Mountains to the southeast from the Northwest Highlands. The Scottish Gaelic name of A' Ghàidhealtachd literally means "the place of the Gaels" and traditionally, from a Gaelic-speaking point of view, includes both the Western Isles and the Highlands.The area is very sparsely populated, with many mountain ranges dominating the region, and includes the highest mountain in the British Isles, Ben Nevis. During the 18th and early 19th centuries the population of the Highlands rose to around 300,000, but from c. 1841 and for the next 160 years, the natural increase in population was exceeded by emigration (mostly to Canada, the United States, Australia and New Zealand, and migration to the industrial cities of Scotland and England.) The area is now one of the most sparsely populated in Europe. At 9.1/km2 (24/sq mi) in 2012, the population density in the Highlands and Islands is less than one seventh of Scotland's as a whole.
The Eastern Romanian (Oriental) Carpathians include:
Ridges of Bukovina (RO: Obcinele Bucovinei), i.e. Obcina Mare (Great Ridge), Obcina Mestecăniș (Mestecăniș Ridge) and Obcina Feredeului (Feredeu Ridge). In Romania these are considered part of the northern Carpathians of Maramureș and Bukovina (Munții Carpați ai Maramureșului și Bucovinei)
Stânișoara Mountains (RO: Munții Stânișoarei). In Romania considered part of the central Carpathians of Moldavia and Transylvania (Munții Carpați Moldo-Transilvani), or "MMT"
The Espinhaço Mountains (Portuguese: Serra do Espinhaço, IPA:[ˈsɛʁɐdwispiˈɲasu]) are a mountain range in Brazil. The range runs roughly north and south through the states of Minas Gerais and Bahia, extending for approximately 1,100 km (680 mi). It forms the divide between the upper watershed of the São Francisco River and those of the shorter rivers which flow east into the Atlantic Ocean, including the Doce, the Jequitinhonha, and the Pardo rivers. Pico do Sol [pt], its highest peak, rises to 2,072 metres (6,798 ft), in Catas Altas town (Caraça National Park [pt]). The historical town of Diamantina is located in the Espinhaço Mountains. The Espinhaço Mountains were a major route through which Minas Gerais was settled during the Gold Rush of the 18th century. (Full article...)
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The Cascade Range or Cascades is a major mountain range of western North America, extending from southern British Columbia through Washington and Oregon to Northern California. It includes both non-volcanic mountains, such as many of those in the North Cascades, and the notable volcanoes known as the High Cascades. The small part of the range in British Columbia is referred to as the Canadian Cascades or, locally, as the Cascade Mountains. The highest peak in the range is Mount Rainier in Washington at 14,411 feet (4,392 m). The Cascades are part of the Pacific Ocean's Ring of Fire, the ring of volcanoes and associated mountains around the Pacific Ocean. All of the eruptions in the contiguous United States over the last 200 years have been from the Cascade Volcanoes. The two most recent were Lassen Peak from 1914 to 1921 and a major eruption of Mount St. Helens in 1980. Minor eruptions of Mount St. Helens have also occurred since, most recently from 2004 to 2008. The Cascade Range is a part of the American Cordillera, a nearly continuous chain of mountain ranges (cordillera) that form the western "backbone" of North, Central, and South America.
Serranía de Los Churumbelos Auka-Wasi National Natural Park (Spanish: Parque Nacional Natural Serranía de Los Churumbelos Auka-Wasi) was declared on 30 August 2007 by the Colombian government. It is located in the Bota Caucana of southern Colombia. Three biological expeditions conducted rapid biodiversity surveys and conservation assessments in Serranía de los Churumbelos from 1998 to 2000. The results from the expeditions were published by Fundacion ProAves in Conservacion Colombiana in 2007. These studies raised interest in the region and laid the justification for the protection of this spectacular mountain range. (Full article...)
Auckland Council owns and manages 178 square kilometres (69 sq mi) of the ranges, including part located in the Waikato region, as a regional park open to the public. (Full article...)
Mont Blanc spans the French–Italian border, and at 4,809 m (15,778 ft) is the highest mountain in the Alps. The Alpine region area contains 82 peaks higher than 4,000 m (13,000 ft).
The altitude and size of the range affect the climate in Europe; in the mountains, precipitation levels vary greatly and climatic conditions consist of distinct zones. Wildlife such as ibex live in the higher peaks to elevations of 3,400 m (11,155 ft), and plants such as edelweiss grow in rocky areas in lower elevations as well as in higher elevations.
Evidence of human habitation in the Alps goes back to the Palaeolithic era. A mummified man ("Ötzi"), determined to be 5,000 years old, was discovered on a glacier at the Austrian–Italian border in 1991.
By the 6th century BC, the Celtic La Tène culture was well established. Hannibal notably crossed the Alps with a herd of elephants, and the Romans had settlements in the region. In 1800, Napoleon crossed one of the mountain passes with an army of 40,000. The 18th and 19th centuries saw an influx of naturalists, writers, and artists, in particular, the Romanticists, followed by the golden age of alpinism as mountaineers began to ascend the peaks of the Alps.
The Alpine region has a strong cultural identity. Traditional practices such as farming, cheesemaking, and woodworking still thrive in Alpine villages. However, the tourist industry began to grow early in the 20th century and expanded significantly after World War II, eventually becoming the dominant industry by the end of the century.
The Winter Olympic Games have been hosted in the Swiss, French, Italian, Austrian and German Alps. As of 2010,[update] the region is home to 14 million people and has 120 million annual visitors. (Full article...)
{{ Transclude list item excerpts as random slideshow | List of dams and reservoirs | section=Africa | sectiononly=yes }} Should pick only the international dams
The Hassan I Dam is an embankment dam located 19 kilometres (12 mi) northeast of Demnate on the Lakhdar River in Azilal Province, Morocco. Completed in 1986, the dam provides water for the irrigation of over 40,000 hectares (99,000 acres) of farmland. The dam's hydroelectric power plant also generates 132 gigawatt-hours (480 TJ) on average annually. At 145 metres (476 ft) in height, it is the tallest dam in Morocco and the tallest earth-fill dam in Africa. The dam is named after Hassan I of Morocco. (Full article...)
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The Garafiri Dam is an embankment dam on the Konkouré River which forms the boundary between the Kindia and Mamou Regions of Guinea. The dam was constructed by Salini Impregilo between 1995 and 1999 for the purpose of hydroelectric power generation and water supply. The power station had a breakdown in 2002 but was repaired shortly afterwards. The power station has an installed capacity of 75 megawatts (101,000 hp). (Full article...)
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The Katse Dam, a concretearch dam on the Malibamat'so River in Lesotho, is Africa's second largest double-curvature arch dam after the Tekezé Dam in Ethiopia. Located just below the confluence of the Bokong River, which forms the western arm of the Katse reservoir, the dam is part of a larger project which will eventually include five large dams in remote rural areas.
The potential of the project was identified by the South Africancivil engineer Ninham Shand in 1953 as a possible means to supplement the water supply of South Africa's industrial heartland in the Witwatersrand. The World Bank arranged a treaty between the governments of South Africa and Lesotho, allowing the project to proceed. (Full article...)
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The Tsiazompaniry Dam is a buttress dam on the Varahina-South River, a tributary of the Ikopa River, near Tsiazompaniry in the Analamanga Region of Madagascar. The dam was constructed by a French firm in 1956. It creates Lake Tsiazompaniry, the largest reservoir in the country, which has a surface area of 31 km2 (12 sq mi) and a storage volume of 260,000,000 m3 (210,000 acre⋅ft). A second buttress dam, 1 km (0.62 mi) northwest of the main dam helps withhold the reservoir. Water released from the dam supplies a regulated flow to hydroelectric power station at the Antelomita Dam downstream. Efforts to install a 5.25 MW power station at the base of the dam began in 2011. (Full article...)
Constructed between 2011 and 2023, the dam's primary purpose is electricity production to relieve Ethiopia's acute energy shortage and to export electricity to neighbouring countries. With an installed capacity of 5.15 gigawatts, the dam is the largest hydroelectric power plant in Africa and among the 20 largest in the world.
The first phase of filling the reservoir began in July 2020 and in August 2020 the water level increased to 540 meters (40 meters higher than the bottom of the river which is at 500 meters above sea level). The second phase of filling was completed on 19 July 2021, with water levels increased to around 575 meters. The third filling was completed on 12 August 2022 to a level of 600 metres (2,000 ft). The fourth filling was completed on 10 September 2023 with water levels at around 625 metres (2,051 ft).
On 20 February 2022, the dam produced electricity for the first time, delivering 375 MW to the grid. A second 375 MW turbine was commissioned in August 2022. The third and fourth 400 MW turbines were commissioned in August 2024. (Full article...)
The Al Massira Dam is a gravity dam located 70 kilometres (43 mi) south of Settat on the Oum Er-Rbia River in Settat Province, Morocco. Completed in 1979, the dam provides water for the irrigation of over 100,000 hectares (250,000 acres) of farmland in the Doukkala region. The dam's hydroelectric power plant also generates 221 gigawatt-hours (800 TJ) on average annually. The power station was commissioned in 1980. Just north of the dam is a rip rap saddle dam that supports water elevation in the reservoir. (Full article...)
Mohale Dam is a concrete faced rock-filldam in Lesotho. It is the second dam, under Phase 1B of the series of dams of the proposed Lesotho Highlands Water Project (LHWP), which will eventually include five large dams in remote rural areas of Lesotho and South Africa. The project has been built at a cost of US$1.5 billion.
The Mohale Dam was awarded the 2005 Fulton Awards by the Concrete Society of South Africa as having the "Best Construction Engineering Project and Best Construction Technique." (Full article...)
The Tsiazompaniry Dam is a buttress dam on the Varahina-South River, a tributary of the Ikopa River, near Tsiazompaniry in the Analamanga Region of Madagascar. The dam was constructed by a French firm in 1956. It creates Lake Tsiazompaniry, the largest reservoir in the country, which has a surface area of 31 km2 (12 sq mi) and a storage volume of 260,000,000 m3 (210,000 acre⋅ft). A second buttress dam, 1 km (0.62 mi) northwest of the main dam helps withhold the reservoir. Water released from the dam supplies a regulated flow to hydroelectric power station at the Antelomita Dam downstream. Efforts to install a 5.25 MW power station at the base of the dam began in 2011. (Full article...)
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The Nangbeto Dam is an embankment dam on the Mono River in the Plateaux Region of Togo. It was constructed between 1984 and 1987 for the purpose of providing hydroelectric power to both Togo and Benin as well as creating fisheries and supplying water for irrigation. The dam's 65.6 megawatts (88,000 hp) power station was commissioned in June 1987. The project was financed by the World Bank and African Development Bank at a cost of US$98.22 million.
The objectives of the dam were to satisfy the medium-term requirements of Benin and Togo for power, and to provide a large water reserve, amounting to 1.7 billion cubic metres. It was expected that 1000 to 1500 tonnes of fish would be produced each year and that 43,000 hectares of land would be irrigated. Evaluation of the project six years later showed that the project had been completed on time and on budget to a satisfactory standard. The project was a good example of cooperation between the two countries. The power generation objective was satisfied but the fish development scheme had failed and the irrigation project was proceeding at a slower rate than expected. However, initial results of the cultivation of rice on the irrigated land were encouraging.
The Nangbeto Dam serves part of Togo's needs for electricity and is subject to interruptions in supply when the water level is low, which may happen for periods of several months. As a result, a further dam on the Mono River further downstream at Adjaralla is being constructed, starting in 2016. The fish production scheme involved in this project and other environmental issues are being planned at an earlier stage in its development. (Full article...)
The Kariba Dam is a double curvature concrete arch dam in the Kariba Gorge of the Zambezi river basin between Zambia and Zimbabwe. The dam stands 128 metres (420 ft) tall and 579 metres (1,900 ft) long. The dam forms Lake Kariba, which extends for 280 kilometres (170 mi) and holds 185 cubic kilometres (150,000,000 acre⋅ft) of water. (Full article...)
Oanob Dam is a dam outside Rehoboth, Hardap Region, Namibia. Located 7 kilometres (4.3 mi) outside Rehoboth, it dams the Oanob River and supplies the town with the majority of its water. It has a capacity of 34,505,000 cubic metres (1.2185×109 cu ft) and was completed in 1990, the year of Namibia's independence. (Full article...)
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The Antelomita Hydroelectric Power Station is located in the rural commune Anjeva Gara of the Analamanga Region, Madagascar. The hydroelectric power station comprises two parts, Antelomita I and II. Both are adjacent to one another on separate water falls along the Ikopa River. Each water fall is dammed and water is diverted to the power station; each of which contains three 1.4 megawatts (1,900 hp) generators. The first two were commissioned in 1930, the second two in 1952 and the final two in 1953. Both stages have an installed capacity of 8.4 megawatts (11,300 hp). They were built by a French firm but are now owned and operated by Jirama. The Tsiazompaniry and Mantasoa Dams upstream regulate water to the power station.
The Al Massira Dam is a gravity dam located 70 kilometres (43 mi) south of Settat on the Oum Er-Rbia River in Settat Province, Morocco. Completed in 1979, the dam provides water for the irrigation of over 100,000 hectares (250,000 acres) of farmland in the Doukkala region. The dam's hydroelectric power plant also generates 221 gigawatt-hours (800 TJ) on average annually. The power station was commissioned in 1980. Just north of the dam is a rip rap saddle dam that supports water elevation in the reservoir. (Full article...)
Its construction, at the cost of 140 million US dollars, was financed by several backers.
The dam has a crest length of 2,600 metres (8,500 ft) and a height of 23 metres (75 ft). With a power output of 44 MW, the dam has an energy output of 200 million kilowatt-hours per year. The dam provides Bamako, Kati, Koulikoro, Ségou, Fana, Dioïla, Yanfolila and Kalana with electricity. It was brought into service in 1982, and renovated between 1996 and 2001.
The retaining basin of the dam forms the artificialLake Sélingué. The water level has a maximum height of 349 metres (1,145 ft) but varies throughout the year. When full the lake stores 2.2 cubic kilometres (0.53 cu mi) of water and has an area of 409 square kilometres (158 sq mi). It allows agriculture on the irrigated perimeters, managed by the Office of Rural Development of Sélingué, as well as fishing. (Full article...)
The Katse Dam, a concretearch dam on the Malibamat'so River in Lesotho, is Africa's second largest double-curvature arch dam after the Tekezé Dam in Ethiopia. Located just below the confluence of the Bokong River, which forms the western arm of the Katse reservoir, the dam is part of a larger project which will eventually include five large dams in remote rural areas.
The potential of the project was identified by the South Africancivil engineer Ninham Shand in 1953 as a possible means to supplement the water supply of South Africa's industrial heartland in the Witwatersrand. The World Bank arranged a treaty between the governments of South Africa and Lesotho, allowing the project to proceed. (Full article...)
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The Bongolo Dam is a dam on the Louetsi River in southwestern Gabon, near Bongolo. The dam was built in the early 1990s with Canadian investment. In 2020, it was announced that the dam was going to be refurbished by Société d’énergie et d’eau du Gabon, with five faulty turbines being replaced and the renewal of the safety and security equipment. (Full article...)
Completed in 1981, it was originally envisaged to become part of the Eastern National Water Carrier, a scheme to supply water to Namibia's capital Windhoek from the Okavango River, 1,000 kilometres (620 mi) to the north on the Angolan border. The scheme was never completed. Omatako Dam today only contains floods and supplies water to the Von Bach Dam. As such, it is one of three dams supplying the capital Windhoek with water. (Full article...)
Jeet Kune Do[pronunciation?] (Chinese: 截拳道; Jyutping: zit6 kyun4 dou6; lit. 'stop fist way' or 'way of the intercepting fist'; abbreviated JKD) is a hybrid martial art conceived and practiced by martial artist Bruce Lee. It was formed from Lee's experiences in unarmed fighting and self-defence—as well as eclectic, Zen Buddhist, Confucianist and Taoist philosophies—as a new school of martial arts thought.
At the heart of Jeet Kune Do lies the principle of intercepting the opponent's attacks, crafting responses or counterattacks that effectively target the adversary's offensive moves. JKD also incorporates a set of principles to help practitioners make instant decisions and improve the physical and mental self, being intended to have practical applications in life without the traditional routines and metaphysics of conventional martial arts. As an eclectic martial art, it relies on a fighting style heavily influenced by Wing Chun, Tai Chi, taekwondo, boxing, fencing and jujutsu.
Bruce Lee himself never formalized Jeet Kune Do before he died. This forced later JKD practitioners to rely upon their own interpretation of the philosophy created by Bruce Lee. (Full article...)
Bruce Liang (28 April 1948) is a Hong Kong martial artist and actor who has appeared in many Hong Kong martial arts movies. He often appeared billed as "Bruce Leung", "Bruce Liang", "Bruce Leong", or "Bruce Leung Siu-lung", and is thus generally grouped among the Bruce Lee clones that sprang up after Lee's death in the subgenre known as Bruceploitation. (Full article...)
The player controls Thomas, a kung fu master, as he fights his way through the five levels of the Devil's Temple to rescue his girlfriend Sylvia from the crime boss Mr. X. As he ascends the tower, he has to fight many enemies along the way and five end-of-level boss battles, a concept inspired by Game of Death. Thomas and each boss have a health meter, and the game temporarily becomes a one-on-one fighting game during boss battles.
The game was a major commercial success, topping the Japanese arcade charts and becoming America's second highest-grossing arcade game of 1985, while receiving critical acclaim for its fast-paced, side-scrolling gameplay and detailed, colorful graphics. A port for the Nintendo Entertainment System (known as the Famicom in Japan) was developed by Nintendo under the direction of Shigeru Miyamoto, released as Spartan X in Japan and Kung Fu in the West, selling 3.5 million copies worldwide. It was also one of the top five best-selling Commodore 64 games of 1986. It spawned the sequel Spartan X 2 (1991) and the spiritual successors Trojan (1986) and Vigilante (1988). (Full article...)
Each issue had comics stories featuring these characters, both single-issue stories and multi-issue story arcs. Most issues also included a review of a recent martial arts film. Other issues had interviews with martial arts instructors, while others had interviews with film or television celebrities related to martial arts.
Early issues had a martial arts instructional section which described some elementary fighting techniques. These were provided by comics illustrator/martial artist Frank McLaughlin. The magazine was in black-and-white except for the cover. The cost of the magazine was 75 cents for issues #1–14. Issue #15 was a Super Annual (all reprints) issue and cost $1.25. Issues #16–33 were $1.00, as well as the 1974 Kung Fu Special (summer 1974); cover-titled Special Album Edition: The Deadly Hands of Kung Fu. Issue #28 (Sept. 1976) was an all-Bruce Lee special, including a 35-page comic book format biography written by Martin Sands, and drawn by Joe Staton and Tony DeZuniga. (Full article...)
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Dragon Lee, (born August 12, 1958) originally known in South Korea as Keo Ryong (거룡, literally "Giant Dragon") and born Moon Kyoung-seok, is an actor and practitioner of taekwondo and hapkido. He made a name for himself as a martial arts film star in the 1970s and 80s. (Full article...)
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Bruce Lee, the Man and the Legend (Chinese: 李小龍的生與死, also known as The Legend is Born of Bruce Lee and Year of the Dragon) is a 1973 documentary film directed by Wu Shih, produced by Raymond Chow and Leonard Ho. An American-Hong Kong co-production, it stars Bruce Lee. A follow-up/reworking of this documentary was released in 1984 under the title Bruce Lee: The Legend, directed and produced by Leonard Ho. (Full article...)
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Super Dragon: The Bruce Lee Story (Chinese: 一代猛龍) is a 1974 Bruceploitation film starring Bruce Lee impersonator Bruce Li. The film is a loose biopic about martial artist and actor Bruce Lee and centers on his supposed affair with actress Betty Ting-Pei. The film is notable for being the first biopic about Lee (it was released a year after his death), the debut film of Li as a Lee impersonator, and the first entry in the Bruceploitation genre. (Full article...)
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The Legend of Bruce Lee (Chinese: 李小龍傳奇) is a 2008 Chinese biographical television series based on the life story of martial artist and actor Bruce Lee. The 50-episode series was produced and broadcast by CCTV and began airing on October 12, 2008. It was intended to promote Chinese culture alongside the 2008 Beijing Summer Olympics.
It stars Hong Kong actor Danny Chan as Bruce Lee and American actress Michelle Lang as Lee's wife, Linda Lee Cadwell. The production period spanned nine months, with filming taking place in China, Hong Kong, Macau, the United States, Italy, and Thailand, and with a budget of 50 million yuan (US$7.3 million).
Chen Zhen (陳真; 陈真; Chén Zhēn; Can4 Zan1) is a fictional character created by Hong Kong writer Ni Kuang. First portrayed by Bruce Lee in the 1972 film Fist of Fury, the character has been the subject of numerous film and television series, including remakes and adaptations of Fist of Fury. Many notable actors, including Jet Li and Donnie Yen, have portrayed Chen Zhen on screen after Bruce Lee. Although Chen Zhen's story varies in the different remakes and adaptations, most have an ending similar to the original Fist of Fury. Chen Zhen is believed to be based on Liu Zhensheng (劉振聲), an apprentice of Huo Yuanjia, a martial artist who lived during the late Qing dynasty of China. (Full article...)
Announced in July 2017, it is the first (and currently only) Tarantino film not to involve Bob and Harvey Weinstein, as Tarantino ended his partnership with the brothers following the sexual abuse allegations against Harvey Weinstein. After a bidding war, the film was distributed by Sony Pictures Releasing, which met Tarantino's demands, including final cut privilege. Pitt, DiCaprio, Robbie, Zoë Bell, Kurt Russell and others joined the cast between January and June 2018. Principal photography lasted from June through November around Los Angeles. Once Upon a Time in Hollywood is the final film to feature Luke Perry, who died on March 4, 2019, and is dedicated to his memory.
Once Upon a Time in Hollywood premiered at the 2019 Cannes Film Festival on May 21, 2019, and was theatrically released in the United States on July 26, and in the United Kingdom on August 14. It grossed over $392 million worldwide and received acclaim from critics, although historical accuracies and artists were criticized. The National Board of Review and the American Film Institute named Once Upon a Time in Hollywood one of the top-ten films of 2019, and it won the Golden Globe for Best Picture - Comedy. Once Upon a Time in Hollywood was nominated for ten awards at the 92nd Academy Awards, winning two (Best Supporting Actor for Pitt and Best Production Design), and received numerous other accolades. It has since been considered as one of the best films of the 2010s and 21st century. The Writers Guild of America ranked the film's screenplay the 22nd greatest of the 21st century. Tarantino has stated that Once Upon a Time in Hollywood is his favorite film of those he has made. (Full article...)
The Way of the Dragon was released in Hong Kong on 30 December 1972, and in the United States in August 1974. The film went on to gross an estimated US$130 million worldwide (equivalent to over $700 million adjusted for inflation), against a tight budget of $130,000, earning a thousand times its budget. It was the highest-grossing Hong Kong film up until Lee's next film Enter the Dragon (1973).
The film is primarily set in a restaurant in Rome. The owners are being harassed by a local crime boss, and request help from a relative in Hong Kong. The help arrives in the form of a young martial artist. The conflict between the restaurant staff and the gangsters soon escalates. (Full article...)
Initially released for Sega platforms, Dragon: The Bruce Lee Story was later ported to the Atari Jaguar and Super Nintendo Entertainment System, each one featuring several changes and additions compared with the original version while both the Game Gear and Master System versions, which were also released in 1994, feature an entirely different gameplay format.
Since its release, Dragon: The Bruce Lee Story garnered mostly negative reviews, with criticism directed at the slow-paced and shallow gameplay. (Full article...)
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