Tag: the signature of time

The highest active volcano in the world is Ojos del Salado on the Chile-Argentina border in the Central Andes. It rises to 6887 m / 22,595 ft. It has not erupted in recorded history but is an active volcano.

Volcanic crater is a circular depression in the ground caused by volcanic activity. It's typically a basin, circular in form within which occurs a vent from which magma erupts as gases, lava, and ejecta. A crater can be of large dimensions, and sometimes of great depth.

Volcanic activity frequently occurs at the boundaries of the Earth's tectonic plates which are a series of large moving blocks. The movement of these plates plays a significant role in the type of volcano formed, which influences its shape. If the movement is smaller, they leads to volcanic eruptions. Larger movements may lead to earthquakes.

Aconcagua is the highest mountain outside Asia, at 6,961 metres and by extension the highest point in both the Western Hemisphere and the Southern Hemisphere. Aconcagua is of volcanic origin, but it is not an active volcano and cab be considered as extinct.

When a volcano ejects acid lava, they are loud and violent usually because of the explosive pressures building up in magma. They eject acid lava, ash, gases and rock fragments. They are dangerous as materials can rain down on settlements. Ex: Eruptions at Krakatoa in Indonesia.

An oxbow is a crescent-shaped lake lying alongside a winding river. The oxbow lake is created over time as erosion and deposition of soil change the river's course.

Moraines are ridge-like depositional features of glacial tills. They are long but narrow ridge with height more 30 meters. Moraines are consist of rock materials of heterogeneous shapes and size.

Sea beaches are not the erosional feature of sea waves. They are formed due to the depositional activities of sea waves.

The seasons are caused by the tilt of the Earth's rotational axis away or toward the sun as it travels through its year-long path around the sun.

Latitude is a measure of the distance you are located from the equator.  It is commonly shown as an imaginary horizontal line that goes across the earth on maps and is used along with longitude as a reference point to determine location. The tilt of the earth affects the seasons we experience throughout the year.

The earth moves around the sun in an elliptical fashion, and one complete orbit around the sun take one year. An interesting fact is that it is not the proximity of the earth to the sun that determines the season; we are actually closest to the sun in January, not July.  Instead, the tilt of the earth is the key. When the Northern Hemisphere is tilted towards the sun, the Southern Hemisphere is tilted away from the sun. This leads to summer in the Northern Hemisphere and winter in the Southern Hemisphere as the Northern Hemisphere experiences the most direct sunlight and solar heating.