Category Ecology

WHICH Is JAPAN’S HIGHEST MOUNTAIN?

Japan’s highest mountain, peaking at 3776 m, is Mount Fuji, an active volcano that sits on a triple junction of tectonic activity. Interestingly, it is made up of three different volcanoes. At the base is Komitake, in the middle, Kofuji, and at the top is Mount Fuji. The volcano last erupted in December, 1707.

Mount Fuji is a symbol of Japan. The mountain contributes to Japan’s physical, cultural, and spiritual geography.

Mount Fuji is the tallest mountain in Japan, standing at 3,776 meters (12,380 feet). It is an active volcano, sitting on a “triple junction” of tectonic activity: the Amurian plate (associated with the Eurasian tectonic plate), the Okhotsk plate (associated with the North American plate) and the Filipino plate all converge in the region beneath Mount Fuji. It is only 100 kilometers (62 miles) from Tokyo, Japan’s capital and largest city. In fact, the last time Mount Fuji erupted, in 1707, volcanic ash fell on Tokyo.

Mount Fuji is the single most popular tourist site in Japan, for both Japanese and foreign tourists. More than 200,000 people climb to the summit every year, mostly during the warmer summer months. “Huts” on the route up the mountains cater to climbers, providing refreshments, basic medical supplies, and room to rest. Many people start climbing Mount Fuji at night, as better to experience sunrise from the summit—Japan, after all, is nicknamed “the Land of the Rising Sun.” The sunrise from Mount Fuji has a special name, Goraiko.

Mount Fuji has been a sacred site for practicers of Shinto since at least the 7th century. Shinto is the indigenous faith or spirituality of Japan, many Shinto shrines dot the base and ascent of Mount Fuji. Shinto shrines honor kami, the supernatural deities of the Shinto faith. The kami of Mount Fuji is Princess Konohanasakuya, whose symbol is the cherry blossom. Konohanasakuya has an entire series of shrines, called Segen shrines. The main Segen shrines are at the base and summit of Mount Fuji, but there are more than 1,000 across all of Japan.

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WHY ARE SOME MOUNTAINS SNOW-CAPPED?

As altitude increases, the air gets colder. There comes a certain height, called the snow line, above which it is always too cold for the snow to melt, which is why some mountaintops are snow-capped all year round. The snowline is at 5000m in the tropics, 2700 m in the Alps and at sea level at the poles.

The top of the mountain is actually its coldest spot. As you climb a mountain to a higher altitude (height), the atmosphere gets thinner and thinner. This is because air pressure decreases with altitude.

Even though warm air rises, as it does so the rising air expands and cools. When it expands and cools, it can’t absorb and retain heat the way it does at the bottom of the mountain.

Although mountaintops are closer to the Sun, they’re also farther away from the thermal heat of the Earth’s core that keeps the ground warm. So the top of the mountain can be much colder than the bottom.

In fact, the bottom of a mountain can be located in a tropical jungle while the top of the mountain has snow on it! That’s why it’s possible to have snow at the equator.

Cooler temperatures at the top of a mountain also mean that there’s less evaporation taking place. This leads to greater amounts of moisture in the air. More moisture means more rain and, at the very top of a mountain, more snow.

Not all mountains have snowcaps, and not all mountains that get snow have snowcaps all year. A lot depends upon their location and how tall they are. Mountains lower in altitude are less likely to have snowcaps or to have them all year long.

Many mountains, though, have snowcaps year-round. Above a certain point — called the snow line — it stays cold enough that the snow never melts.

The height of the snow line varies around the globe. It depends upon both altitude (height of the mountain) and latitude (where the mountain is located). The snow line is much higher near the equator (about 15,000 feet), for example, than it is near the poles (sea level or 0 feet in altitude).

The snow line can be affected by other factors, too. For example, in the Andes Mountains of South America, it is so dry that the mountains rarely see snow, despite their height and distance from the equator. Monte Pissis in Argentina is the tallest mountain in the world without a permanent snowcap.

Mountains that are near coastlines may have a lower snow line than other areas with the same altitude and latitude. As you get closer to a coastline, the amount of moisture in the air tends to produce more snowfall at higher altitudes.

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Why have beach sands different colors?

Sand is basically the small particles of eroded larger rocks. The erosion is caused by several factors, including water and wind. Depending on the geography, the composition and colours of the sand vary. For instance, beach sand could be lighter because of calcium carbonate desposits from shells and skeletons of marine creatures. Meanwhile, desert sand comprises fine, light-weight particles that have been brought in by wind. River sand is likely to be coarse, containing even bright-coloured stones.

On some beaches, sand grain size composition varies with distance from the water. A greater proportion of finer, smaller sand grains may be pushed higher up the beach by waves or by wind, whereas larger, coarser grains are deposited closer to the water. However, beaches are complex and highly variable environments, and there are many areas where this distribution is not found because there are many conditions that affect sand size and distribution. Additional factors influencing sand grain size include the nearshore and offshore seafloor features, substrate type, sand source, currents, wind exposure, and coastline shape.

Beach sand can appear fairly uniform, but it is actually a complex mixture of substances with various dimensions. When scientists study sand, some qualities are particularly useful in characterizing the type of sand. These qualities include the colors, texture, and size of the sand grains and their material origins. In general, sand observations can be divided into three broad categories:

observations about size,

observations about shape, and

observations about the probable source of the sand.

 From these three characteristics scientists can learn about the physical, chemical, and biological processes at the beach from which the sand came.

The Wentworth scale is one system used to classify sediments, including sand, by grain size. The word sediment is a general term for mineral particles, for example individual sand grains, which have been created by the weathering of rocks and soil and transported by natural processes, like water and wind. In decreasing order of size, sediments include boulders, gravel, sand, and silt.

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WHO STUDIES ROCKS AND MINERALS?

A geologist is a scientist who studies the solid, liquid, and gaseous matter that constitutes Earth and other terrestrial planets, as well as the processes that shape them. Geologists usually study geology, although backgrounds in physics, chemistry, biology, and other sciences are also useful. Field research (field work) is an important component of geology, although many subdisciplines incorporate laboratory and digitalised work.

Geologists work in the energy and mining sectors searching for natural resources such as petroleum, natural gas, precious and base metals. They are also in the forefront of preventing and mitigating damage from natural hazards and disasters such as earthquakes, volcanoes, tsunamis and landslides. Their studies are used to warn the general public of the occurrence of these events. Geologists are also important contributors to climate change discussions.

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WHAT IS FLUORITE?

Fluorite is a very popular mineral, and it naturally occurs in all colors of the spectrum. It is one of the most varied colored minerals in the mineral kingdom, and the colors may be very intense and almost electric. Pure Fluorite is colorless; the color variations are caused by various impurities. Some colors are deeply colored, and are especially pretty in large well-formed crystals, which Fluorite often forms. Sometimes coloring is caused by hydrocarbons, which can be removed from a specimen by heating. Some dealers may apply oil treatment upon amateur Fluorite specimens to enhance luster.

Fluorite has interesting cleavage habits. The perfect cleavage parallel to the octahedral faces can sometimes be peeled off to smooth out a crystal into a perfect octahedron. Many crystals, especially larger ones, have their edges or sections chipped off because of the cleavage.

Fluorite is one of the more famous fluorescent minerals. Many specimens strongly fluoresce, in a great variation of color. In fact, the word “fluorescent” is derived from the mineral Fluorite. The name of the element fluorine is also derived from Fluorite, as Fluorite is by far the most common and well-known fluorine mineral.

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WHY ARE AMETHYSTS PURPLE?

The color in amethyst comes from color centers in the quartz. These are created when trace amounts of iron are irradiated ( from the natural radiation in the rocks).

The purple color in ghost town glass comes from small amounts of manganese in the glass when it has been exposed to ultraviolet light. The manganese was used as a clarifying ingredient in glass from 1860 to 1915. Prior to that, lead was used, and subsequently, selenium is used.

Quartz will commonly contain trace amounts of iron ( in the range of 10’s to 100’s parts per million of iron). Some of this iron sits in sites normally occupied by silicon and some is interstitial (in sites where there is normally not an atom). The iron is usually in the +3 valence state.

Gamma ray radiation can knock an electron from an iron lattice site and deposit the electron in an interstitial iron. This +4 iron absorbs certain wavelengths (357 and 545 nanometers) of light causing the amethyst color. You need to have quartz that contains the right amounts of iron and then is subjected to enough natural radiation to cause the color centers to form.

The color of amethyst has been demonstrated to result from substitution by irradiation of trivalent iron (Fe+3) for silicon in the structure, in the presence of trace elements of large ionic radius, and, to a certain extent, the amethyst color can naturally result from displacement of transition elements even if the iron concentration is low.

Amethyst occurs in primary hues from a light pinkish violet to a deep purple. Amethyst may exhibit one or both secondary hues, red and blue. The best varieties of amethyst can be found in Siberia, Sri Lanka, Brazil and the far East. The ideal grade is called “Deep Siberian” and has a primary purple hue of around 75–80%, with 15–20% blue and (depending on the light source) red secondary hues.

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