Tag Archives: Rocks

Salt

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Salt

Can you pass the salt, please?

  • ‘Salt’ is also known as ‘table salt’, ‘common salt’, and ‘sodium chloride’, and depending on where it was sourced, ‘rock salt’  or ‘sea salt’.
  • Salt is a chemical mineral that is produced in saltwater lakes, rivers and seas (sea salt), and it can also be found in the sedimentary layers of dried-up lakes, or ‘halite’ as the mineral is called (rock salt), from where it is mined.
  • Salt is made of the elements sodium and chlorine, and when combined they make ‘sodium chloride’ or ‘NaCl’.
  • Salt is an important ingredient in a balanced diet and in human health, although the recommended daily intake is no more than a teaspoonful, or 4 g (0.14 oz), but most people who eat processed food, will consume much more than that each day.
  • Too much salt can increase the risk of heart disease or the risk of stroke, as well as increase blood pressure and can cause other health issues.

Salt, cubic, ground, white, three types, medium, large, Ten Random facts, Seasoning, Australia

  • Salt can be used as a food preserver, and was commonly used for this purpose before refrigerators were invented and before canning became popular.
  • Salt is typically small, white or clear coloured cubes, that may be tinted purple, blue or other colours due to contaminants.
  • In history, salt was a vital commodity, and essential to many communities’ survival, due to the need to preserve food to get through winter and bad seasons, and for this reason it has been used as money, and at one stage, was worth as much as gold.
  • Table salt is a popular addition to processed foods and is a popular seasoning.
  • Out of the total salt production on earth, only 6% is consumed by humans, while 68% is used in manufacturing processes, which includes the making of plastics, detergents and soaps, and numerous other products.

 

Bibliography:
Salt, 2011, Better Health Channel, http://www.betterhealth.vic.gov.au/bhcv2/bhcarticles.nsf/pages/Salt
Salt, 2013, Wikipedia, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Salt

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The Wave

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The Wave

You cannot ride the Wave!

  • The Wave is a natural rock formation made of eroded sandstone, with the formation reaching 1,593 metres (5,275 feet) above sea level.
  • The Wave can be found on the borders of Arizona and Utah, in the United States, found in the Paria Canyon-Vermillion Cliffs Wilderness in the Coyote Buttes area.
  • The Wave is sloped ditches and ‘waves’ of sandstone.
  • The Wave has edges that break easily when a person steps on them so care must be taken to avoid damage to the rock edges.
  • The Wave is one of the most popular destinations of hikers and photographers, with the best photos at dawn, dusk and noon.

The Wave, Orange, Stunning, Sandstone, Coyote Buttes, America, Ten Random Facts, Flickr

A Wave
Image courtesy of Frank Kovalcheck/Flickr
  • The Wave has patterned lines of colours ranging from red, orange, yellow, pink, green and white.
  • Only 20 permits for entry to the Wave are given out for each day, with the receivers being decided by lottery.
  • After storms, the road to the Wave can become impassable, and puddles of water gather in the wave, attracting numerous tadpoles and fairy shrimps.
  • Erosion of the Wave has caused interesting structures, with some that appear to be castles or chutes.
  • The Wave can be a fatal hike without proper equipment, particularly a GPS and sometimes a tour guide.
Bibliography:
The Wave – Coyote Buttes, 2013, Utah.com, <http://www.utah.com/playgrounds/the_wave.htm>
The Wave, Arizona, 2013, Wikipedia, <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Wave,_Arizona>

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Preikstolen

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Preikstolen

Preikstolen is a high, high cliff.

  • Preikstolen is a flat plateau 25 x 25 m (82 x 82 feet) cliff that is situated 604 meters (1982 feet) above the Lysefjord, ‘light fjord’, in Ryfylke, Norway.
  • Preikstolen is also known as ‘Prekestolen’ in Norwegian and ‘Pulpit Rock’ or ‘Preacher’s Rock’ in English.
  • Preikstolen is the one of the most famous and most visited destinations in Norway.
  • It takes 1 to 3 hours to hike the 3.8 km (2.4 mile) walking distance to Preikstolen from the car park, one way.
  • In 2012, Preikstolen had 150,000 to 200,000 visitors, and this has led to a new path being constructed which should be completed by early 2014.

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Preikstolen
Image courtesy of L.C. Nøttaasen/Flickr
  • Preikstolen is not often visited in winter and spring as the hiking trail becomes frozen and can be dangerously slippery, so the most common time to visit is from April to October.
  • Although Preikstolen is so high up, there have been no accidents, and there has been no safety barrier constructed around the rock so as not to interrupt the amazing views of the surrounding areas and the beauty of the cliff.
  • Although Preikstolen could be regarded as a suicide destination, there have only been a few reported suicides and attempts, although it is believed that many have suicided there even though there has been no media coverage on it so as not to encourage others.
  • There is a large crack between Preikstolen and the mountain, which suggests that one day Preikstolen will fall away, although no-one can see this happening in their lifetime and is deemed safe at this stage.
  • Preikstolen was originally named ‘Hyvlatånnå’, meaning ‘planed tooth’.
Bibliography:
Preikstolen, 2013, Wikipedia, < http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Preikestolen>
Pulpit Rock – Preikstolen, 2013, Norway, < http://www.visitnorway.com/en/Product/?pid=31157>


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Rock Climbing

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Rock Climbing

Scale rocks like a lizard.

  • Rock climbing is when one climbs, up, over, or down large rock faces that can be real or fake, including especially designed indoor rock walls, to challenge one’s mind and body.
  • Rock climbing competitions usually involve trying to find the quickest way to scale a rock wall.
  • Rock climbing began as a recognised sport in the 1880s in England.
  • Rock climbing has its origins in mountaineering, and was and still is, a necessary skill for reaching some of the notable summits around the world.
  • Outdoor rock climbing is usually done when the weather is dry, as it is much more dangerous and difficult to rock climb when it is wet.

Rock Clombing, Climb, Gear, Lady, Women, Up, Squamish, Flickr, Ten Random Facts

Rock Climbing
Image courtesy of Iwona Erskine-Kellie/ Free Digital Photos
  • Many rock climbers wear special, tight, rubber soled, flexible shoes to easily grip and feel the rock beneath the climber’s feet.
  • Rock climbing usually requires special equipment, which can include gloves, a helmet, climbing ropes, harnesses, carabiners and belay devices.
  • Rock climbing can be very dangerous, however, with the right equipment and conditions, most injuries are generally minor and are related to the fingers, shoulders and elbows.
  • Rock climbers are often employed to fix or maintain wind turbines, as it is usually cheaper and more efficient than using machinery to reach the turbine.
  • Rock climbers often coat their hands in chalk (magnesium carbonate), to absorb the moisture on their hands, which is said to improve their grip on the rock.
Bibliography:
Rock climbing, 2013, Wikipedia, <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rock_climbing>

Alps

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Alps

Just a bunch of mountains.

  • The Alps is a range of mountains that form a crescent shape in Europe, that covers a distance of 1,200 km (750 miles).
  • The Alps can be found in Austria, Italy, Slovenia, Germany, France, Switzerland, Liechtenstein, and Monaco.
  • The Alps is the home of many glaciers.
  • There are 13,000 species of vegetation and 30,000 species of wildlife, many of which are native to the Alps.
  • A mummified man was found in the Alps at the Austrian/Italian border in 1991, said to be 5,000 years old.
Alps, Mountains, White, Snow, Winter, Many, Rock, Landscape, Ten Random Facts, Free Digital Photos
Alps
Image courtesy of Michal Marcol/ Free Digital Photos
  • Fourteen million people live in the Alps region, and the area attracts approximately 120 million visitors every year.
  • In the Alps there are 82 official summits that are at least 4,000 m (13,123 ft) high, and the  highest peak is Mont Blanc which is 4,810 meters (15, 780 feet) high and is on the French and Italian border.
  • The Alps have been the source of many minerals and crystals, which has included copper, gold, iron, cinnabar, quartz and amethyst.
  • It is suggested that between 40,000 to 80,000 men died in World War I due to avalanches on the Alps.
  • The Alps provide water that those in the region drink; use for irrigation purposes; and create hydroelectric power in over 500 power plants, that can produce up to 2900 kilowatts of electricity per hour.
Bibliography:
Alps, 2013 Wikipedia, <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alps>

Mount Rushmore National Memorial

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Mount Rushmore National Memorial

A sculpture in a mountain!

  • Mount Rushmore is in South Dakota, United States of America, and is controlled by the United States National Park Service.
  • Mount Rushmore National Memorial is a sculpture carved in the side of the granite mountain, Mount Rushmore.
  • The Mount Rushmore sculpture depicts four US president heads – George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Theodore Roosevelt and Abraham Lincoln.
  • Mount Rushmore National Memorial was carved in 1927-1941 by Gutzon Borglum, a notable sculptor, and a team of 400 workers.
  • Mount Rushmore’s carved heads are 18 meters (60 feet) high and make up the  largest sculpture ever carved.

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Mount Rushmore National Memorial
Image courtesy of Stock.Xching
  • The Mount Rushmore sculptor, Gutzon Borglum, made plaster models that were one twelfth the size of the finished sculpture so that the workers had a guide to follow.
  • Dynamite was used to carve 90% of the Mount Rushmore heads.
  • Around 3 million people visit Mount Rushmore every year.
  • After approximately two year’s work on the sculpted Thomas Jefferson, bad cracking was found in the granite, so Jefferson was removed and restarted on the other side of Washington.
  • Each day during construction, the Mount Rushmore workers had to climb 700 stairs before they could start work.
Bibliography:
Mount Rushmore 19 February 2013, Wikipedia, <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mount_Rushmore>
Grant, N 1994, People and Places, RD Press, Australia
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