Saturday, 15 March 2014

Angel Falls Venezuela

                             Angel Falls Venezuela


                              Angel Falls Majestic-1

Angel Falls is the world’s highest free-falling, freshwater waterfall at 979 m (3,212 ft), with a clear drop of 807 m (2,648 ft). It is located in the Canaima National Park, in the Gran Sabana region of Bolivar State, Venezuela. The height of the falls is so great that before getting anywhere near the ground the water is buffeted by the strong winds and turned into mist. The base of the falls feeds into the Churun River, a tributary of the Carrao River.

Friday, 14 March 2014

Columbia Ice Fields Alberta, Canada

                          Columbia Ice Fields Alberta, Canada


                           Columbia-Icefields-Athabasca-Glacier


The Columbia Ice field is located in the Canadian Rockies, astride the Continental Divide of North America. The ice field lies partly in the northwestern tip of Banff and the southern end of Jasper National Park. It is about 325 km² in area, 100 to 365 metres (328′ to 1,197′) in depth and receives up to seven meters (23 feet) of snowfall per year. The ice field feeds eight major glaciers, including: Athabasca Glacier, Castleguard Glacier, Columbia Glacier, Dome Glacier, Stutfield Glacier, and the Saskatchewan Glacier

Monday, 10 March 2014

Lake Turkana National Parks Kenya

                               Lake Turkana National Parks Kenya



                              


Southern Island National Park has been added to Kenya’s Lake Turkana National Parks World Heritage site. The most saline of Africa’s large lakes, Turkana is an outstanding laboratory for the study of plant and animal communities. The three National Parks are a stopover point for migrant waterbirds and are important breeding grounds for Nile crocodile, hippopotamus and a range of venomous snakes. The Koobi Fora deposits, rich in mammalian, molluscan and other fossil remains, have contributed more to understanding paleoenvironments than any other site on the continent.


Saturday, 1 March 2014

Alejandro de Humboldt National Park Cuba

Alejandro de Humboldt National Park Cuba


1. Fauna present in the park includes various species of parrots, lizards, hummingbirds, the endangered Cuban Solenodon (endemic), hutia and snails.Complex geology and varied topography have led to a diversity of ecosystems and species unmatched in the insular Caribbean and created one of the most biologically diverse tropical island sites on earth. Many of the underlying rocks are toxic to plants and so species must adapt in order to survive in these hostile environments. This unique process of evolution has resulted in the development of many new species and the park is one of the most important sites in the Western Hemisphere for the conservation of endemic (characteristic of) flora. Endemism of vertebrates and invertebrates is also very high6 of Cuba's 28 endemic plant species are protected in the park including such fauna as Dracaena cubensis and Podocarpus ekman

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Alejandro de Humboldt National Park  is a national park in the Cuban provinces of Holguín and Guantánamo. It is named after the German scientist Alexander von Humboldt who visited the island in 1800 and 1801. The park was inscribed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2001 for of its size, altitude range, complex lithology, landform diversity, and wealth of endemic flora and fauna The rivers that flow off the peaks of the park are some of the largest in the insular Caribbean. The park is said to be the most humid place in Cuba and this causes a high biological diversity. The park has an area of 711.38 km2 (274.67 sq mi), of which 685.72 km2 (264.76 sq mi) land area and 22.63 km2 (8.74 sq mi) marine area. Elevation ranges from sea level to 1,168 m (3,832 ft) on El Toldo Peak.

Galápagos Islands Ecuador

                           Galápagos Islands Ecuador


                    Santafeislandgalapagos


Situated in the Pacific Ocean some 1,000km from the South American continent, the19 islands of the Galápagos have been called a unique ‘living museum and showcase of evolution’. Ongoing volcanic activity reflects the processes that formed the islands. Located at the confluence of three oceanic currents, the Galápagos is a “melting pot” of marine species. These processes, along with the isolation of the islands, led to the development of unusual animal life – such as the land iguana, the giant tortoise and the many types of finches – which inspired Charles Darwin’s theory of evolution, following his visit in 1835.