February 17, 2011

Willandra Lakes Region, Australia, Woners Of Australia, 7 Wonders, Lakes Pics

The fossil remains of a series of lakes and sand formations that date from the Pleistocene can be found in this region, together with archaeological evidence of human occupation dating from 45-60,000 years ago.

It is a unique landmark in the study of human evolution on the Australian continent. Several well-preserved fossils of giant marsupials also have been found here.

The fossil remains of a series of lakes and sand formations that date from the Pleistocene can be found in this region, as well as archaeological proof of human occupation dating from 45-60,000 years ago.

It is a unique landmark in the study of human evolution on the Australian continent. Several well-preserved fossils of giant marsupials are also found here.

The Willandra Lakes Region is primarily a geological site, with fauna and flora of significant concern in an archaeological sense: the Willandra Lakes may be the best locality for establishing a link between the extinction of the giant marsupial fauna and predation by humans. The Australian geological environment, with its low topographic relief and low energy systems, is unique in the longevity of the landscapes it preserves. The site includes the entire lake and river system from Lake Mulurulu, the latest to hold water, to the Prungle Lakes, dry for more than 15,000 years, and the region is unique on earth.

The Willandra Lakes provide excellent conditions for recording the events of the Pleistocene epoch (when man evolved into his present form), demonstrating how non-glaciated zones responded to the major climatic fluctuations between glacial periods.

When Willandra Billabong Creek ceased to flow and so to replenish the lakes, this dried in series from the Prungle Lakes in the south to Lake Mulurulu in the north over several thousand years; as each lake evaporated, it became an independent system undergoing a basic transformation from fresh water to saline water to dry lake bed.

As long as water remained in a lake, dunes were accumulated along the eastern margins. It is this system of transverse crescent-shaped dunes, called ‘lunettes’, which contain evidence of past hydrological and geochemical environments.

The freshwater lakes concentrated clean quartz sands on eastern beaches, but the lakes became more saline as they dried out, and clay pellets were chipped from the exposed lake floor by high winds to form distinctive clay lunettes.

Such clay dunes are rare in world terms, and the well-preserved fossil examples in the Willandra Lakes region are an important geological resource; the 30 m high Lake Chibnalwood clay lunette is among the largest on the planet.

The Willandra Lakes Region is a remarkable illustration of a site where the economic life of Homo sapiens can be reconstructed, showing an amazing adaptation to local resources and a fascinating interaction between human culture and the changing environment. The fossil landscape remains largely unmodified since the end of the last Pleistocene ice age.

Archaeological discoveries made here are of remarkable value. They include a 26,000-year-old cremation site (the oldest known in the world), a 30,000-year-old ochre burial, the remains of giant marsupials in an excellent state of conservation, and grindstones from 18,000 years ago used to crush wild grass for flour whose age can be compared with that claimed for the earliest seed-grind economies. The region also contains the remains of hearths, some dated to 30,000 years ago.

The location also provides proof of the most distant point of dispersal reached during the course of the last glaciation by Homo sapiens and the earliest economic data in the world for human dependence on freshwater resources, in a pattern paralleled by Aborigines as recently as 100 years ago on the Darling River.

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• Kakadu National Park, Australia
• Mayan Ruins, Uxmal
• Tasmanian Wilderness, Australia
• Calakmul Mayan ruins-Campeche, Mexico

Kakadu National Park, 7 Wonders, Wonders Of Australia, Natures, Kakadu National Park Pics

This unique archaeological and ethnological reserve, located in the Northern Territory, has been inhabited continuously for more than 40,000 years.

The cave paintings, rock carvings and archaeological sites record the skills and way of life of the region’s inhabitants, from the hunter-gatherers of prehistoric times to the Aboriginal people still living there.

It is a unique example of a complex of ecosystems, including tidal flats, floodplains, lowlands and plateaux, and provides a habitat for a wide range of rare or endemic species of plants and animals.

This unique archaeological and ethnological reserve has been inhabited continuously for more than 40,000 years.

The cave paintings, rock carvings and archaeological sites record the skills and way of life of the region’s inhabitants, from the hunter-gatherers of prehistoric times to the Aboriginal people still living there.

It is a unique example of a complex of ecosystems, including tidal flats, floodplains, lowlands and plateaux, and provides a habitat for a wide range of rare or endemic plant and animal species.

The park comprises four major landforms: Arnhem land plateau and escarpment complex; southern hills and basins; Koolpinyah surface; and coastal riverine plains. The western rim of the Arnhem land plateau comprises escarpments ranging in height from about 30-330 m over a distance of some 500 km.

In addition to the four major landforms, almost 500 km2 of intertidal and estuarine areas and two islands lie within the park. The tropical monsoonal climate, with its marked wet and dry seasons, is the major factor determining the top water hydrology, vegetation and, over time, the landforms of the park region.

The vegetation can be classified into 13 broad categories, seven of which are dominated by a distinct species of Eucalyptus. Other categories comprise mangrove; samphire; lowland rainforest; paper bark swamp; seasonal flood plain and sandstone rainforest. Floristically it is the most diverse and most basic area of northern Australia with 46 species of plant considered rare or threatened, and nine limited to the park.

Due to its diversity of land systems from marine and coastal habitats (which support substantial turtle and dugong populations) through to the arid sandstone escarpment, Kakadu is one of the world’s richest wildlife parks. One-third of Australia’s bird species and one quarter of its freshwater and estuarine species of fish species are found in Kakadu.

Huge concentrations of waterbirds (2.5 million) make seasonal use of the floodplains of the park and there are a diversity of invertebrates including 55 species of termite and 200 species of ant (10% of the total world number) as well as a wide diversity of small mammals. It also contains the most important breeding habitat on the planet for the saltwater crocodile and the pig-nosed turtle – both threatened reptiles.

Crocodiles, Kakadu National Park, Australia, 7 Wonders, Natures

All the major landforms are incorporated in the park, which therefore provides an outstanding example of both ancient and recent geological changes to the continent.

The park also contains many examples of relict species and species that represent the various periods of the biological evolution of the Australian fauna. The coastal rivers and flood plains illustrate the ecological results of sea-level change in this part of Australia, as such; the park provides a special opportunity to investigate large-scale evolutionary processes in an intact landscape.

The region has been little affected by European settlement, compared with the remainder of the continent, hence the natural vegetation remains extensive in area and relatively unmodified, and its faunal composition is largely intact.

Approximately 300 Aboriginal people reside in the park, including traditional owners and Aboriginals with recognized social and traditional attachments to the area. The park contains many Aboriginal archaeological, sacred and art sites.

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• Great Barrier Reef, Australia
• Barrier Reef Reserve System, Belize
• Tasmanian Wilderness, Australia
• Lord Howe Island Group, Australia

November 6, 2010

topkapi palace, topkapi museum, ottomans, ottoman, istanbul

The Topkapı Palace ( Turkish: Topkapı Sarayı ) or in Ottoman Turkish: طوپقپو سرايى, usually spelled  “ Topkapi ”  in English ) is a palace in Istanbul, Turkey, which was the official and primary residence in the city of the Ottoman Sultans for 400 years of their 624-year reign, from 1465 to 1856.

The palace was a setting for state occasions and royal entertainments and is a major tourist attraction today, containing the most holy relics of the Muslim world such as the Prophet Muhammed’s cloak and sword. Topkapı Palace is among those monuments belonging to the “Historic Areas of Istanbul”, which became a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1985, and is described in Criterion iv as “ the best example(s) of ensembles of palaces of the Ottoman period.”

Initial construction began in 1459, ordered by Sultan Mehmed II, the conqueror of Byzantine Constantinople. The palace is a complex made up of four main courtyards and many smaller buildings. At the height of its existence as a royal residence, the palace was home to as many as 4,000 people, formerly covering a larger area with a long shoreline. The complex has been expanded over the centuries, with many renovations such as after the 1509 earthquake and 1665 fire. It held mosques, a hospital, bakeries, and a mint. The name directly translates as “Cannon gate Palace”, from the palace being named after a nearby, now destroyed, gate.

Topkapı Palace gradually lost its importance at the end of the 17th century,

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• Description of Words
• Calakmul Mayan ruins-Campeche, Mexico
• Tulum Ruins, Mexico
• Maya Civilization