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Fajã Mata Sete
The Fajã Mata Sete (literally, "fajã that kills seven") is a debris field (fajã) formed over time by collapsing cliffs on the northern coast of the civil parish of Rosais, in the municipality of Velas, on the island of São Jorge in the Portuguese archipelago of the Azores. History Unlike many other Azorean fajãs, Fajã Mata Sete has never had a permanent human population. However, the area has several small homes and outbuildings supporting seasonal visitors. The fajã's fertility and favorable microclimate allowed cultivation of wine grapes, potatoes, corn, fruit, and taro in small garden plots. Owners of these plots would descend the cliff-face between the months of March and April to cultivate the land and return in September for the harvest. For efficiency, they pressed the wine grapes in the fajã using rudimentary stone presses: liquid wine in jugs is easier to transport than fragile and perishable grapes. On the fajã is a cave locally called ''Furna'' ("fumarole" o ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Rosais
Rosais (literally, archaic Portuguese for "rosaries") is a civil parish in the municipality of Velas in the Portuguese archipelago of the Azores. The population in 2011 was 743, in an area of 24.23 km². History Although Rosais was first mentioned in written documents in 1568, it existed as a settlement before then. It was considered the "granary" or "breadbasket" of São Jorge, due to the area's fertility. To this day the area supports rich pastures. Geography The parish of Rosais is located on the island of São Jorge and extends approximately from Figueiras to Ponta dos Rosais. The parish had approximately 820 inhabitants according to the 2001 census. It contains the localities Arrifana, Canada da Trás, Canada das Faias, Fajã de João Dias, Quarteiro, and Rosais. The western corner of the island is essentially a plateau, with tall cliffs extending until the Ponta dos Rosais, where the Ponta dos Rosais Lighthouse stands as a beacon. The rest of the parish consist ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Lighthouse Of Ponta Dos Rosais
The Ponta dos Rosais Lighthouse ( pt, Farol da Ponta dos Rosais) is a beacon/lighthouse located along the 200 m cliffs of Ponta dos Rosais near Rosais in the extreme northwest of the island of São Jorge, in the Archipelago of the Azores, Portugal. It includes the main tower and several living quarters and auxiliary buildings constructed for the maintenance and operation of the lighthouse, currently abandoned and in ruins. This includes structures such as a motor-pool, a communal hearth and a series of concrete lavoirs for washing, as well as the larger block devoted to administration and private residences. History There was already a notion, by 1890, that a beacon was necessary on the western coast of São Jorge, and a lighthouse was planned for the region. In 1956, the project was continued by the ''Comissão Administrativa das Novas Instalações'' (''Administrative Commission for New Installations''), an arm of the Portuguese Navy (with a completion predicted for 1957). Y ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tern
Terns are seabirds in the family Laridae that have a worldwide distribution and are normally found near the sea, rivers, or wetlands. Terns are treated as a subgroup of the family Laridae which includes gulls and skimmers and consists of eleven genera. They are slender, lightly built birds with long, forked tails, narrow wings, long bills, and relatively short legs. Most species are pale grey above and white below, with a contrasting black cap to the head, but the marsh terns, the Inca tern, and some noddies have dark plumage for at least part of the year. The sexes are identical in appearance, but young birds are readily distinguishable from adults. Terns have a non-breeding plumage, which usually involves a white forehead and much-reduced black cap. Terns are long-lived birds and are relatively free from natural predators and parasites; most species are declining in numbers due directly or indirectly to human activities, including habitat loss, pollution, disturbance, an ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Gull
Gulls, or colloquially seagulls, are seabirds of the family Laridae in the suborder Lari. They are most closely related to the terns and skimmers and only distantly related to auks, and even more distantly to waders. Until the 21st century, most gulls were placed in the genus ''Larus'', but that arrangement is now considered polyphyletic, leading to the resurrection of several genera. An older name for gulls is mews, which is cognate with German ''Möwe'', Danish ''måge'', Swedish ''mås'', Dutch ''meeuw'', Norwegian ''måke''/''måse'' and French ''mouette'', and can still be found in certain regional dialects. Gulls are typically medium to large in size, usually grey or white, often with black markings on the head or wings. They typically have harsh wailing or squawking calls; stout, longish bills; and webbed feet. Most gulls are ground-nesting carnivores which take live food or scavenge opportunistically, particularly the ''Larus'' species. Live food often includes crustac ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Cory's Shearwater
Cory's shearwater (''Calonectris borealis'') is a large shearwater in the seabird family Procellariidae. It breeds colonially of rocky islands in the eastern Atlantic. Outside the breeding season it ranges widely in the Atlantic. It was formerly considered to be conspecific with Scopoli's shearwater. Taxonomy Cory's shearwater was formally described in 1881 by the American ornithologist Charles B. Cory from a specimen collected off Chatham Island, Massachusetts. He coined the binomial name ''Puffinus borealis''. Cory's shearwater is now placed in the genus ''Calonectris'' that was introduced in 1915 by the ornithologists Gregory Mathews and Tom Iredale. The genus name combines the Ancient Greek ''kalos'' meaning "good" or "noble" with the genus name ''Nectris'' that was used for shearwaters by the German naturalist Heinrich Kuhl in 1820. The name ''Nectris'' comes from the Ancient Greek ''nēktris'' meaning "swimmer". The specific epithet ''borealis'' is Latin and means "north". ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
1980 Azores Islands Earthquake
Striking the Autonomous Region of Azores on 1 January, the 1980 Azores Island earthquake killed 61 people and injured over 400, causing severe damage on the islands of Terceira and São Jorge. Measuring 6.9 on the moment magnitude scale, it also shook the islands of Pico and Faial, and resulted from a strike slip fracture, typical of other historical Azorean earthquakes. In response to the earthquake, Portuguese president António Ramalho Eanes announced three days of national mourning, while relief efforts, initiated by agents of the local Air Force, were soon accompanied by government-supported agencies. Geology Background In 1950, another strong earthquake had rocked the Azores Islands region, and this was the largest earthquake since.Western Newspapers (2 January 1980) Description Volcanic in origin, the Azores lie in a tectonically complex area on either side of the Mid-Atlantic Ridge, between the European, American and African plate boundaries, forming thei ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tephra
Tephra is fragmental material produced by a volcanic eruption regardless of composition, fragment size, or emplacement mechanism. Volcanologists also refer to airborne fragments as pyroclasts. Once clasts have fallen to the ground, they remain as tephra unless hot enough to fuse into pyroclastic rock or tuff. Tephrochronology is a geochronological technique that uses discrete layers of tephra—volcanic ash from a single eruption—to create a chronological framework in which paleoenvironmental or archaeological records can be placed. When a volcano explodes, it releases a variety of tephra including ash, cinders, and blocks. These layers settle on the land and, over time, sedimentation occurs incorporating these tephra layers into the geologic record. Often, when a volcano explodes, biological organisms are killed and their remains are buried within the tephra layer. These fossils are later dated by scientists to determine the age of the fossil and its place within the geolo ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Basalt
Basalt (; ) is an aphanite, aphanitic (fine-grained) extrusive igneous rock formed from the rapid cooling of low-viscosity lava rich in magnesium and iron (mafic lava) exposed at or very near the planetary surface, surface of a terrestrial planet, rocky planet or natural satellite, moon. More than 90% of all volcanic rock on Earth is basalt. Rapid-cooling, fine-grained basalt is chemically equivalent to slow-cooling, coarse-grained gabbro. The eruption of basalt lava is observed by geologists at about 20 volcanoes per year. Basalt is also an important rock type on other planetary bodies in the Solar System. For example, the bulk of the plains of volcanism on Venus, Venus, which cover ~80% of the surface, are basaltic; the lunar mare, lunar maria are plains of flood-basaltic lava flows; and basalt is a common rock on the surface of Mars. Molten basalt lava has a low viscosity due to its relatively low silica content (between 45% and 52%), resulting in rapidly moving lava flo ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ponta Dos Rosais
Ponta dos Rosais (''Rosais Point'', or literally, ''Point of the Rosaries'') is a promontory located along the northwestern coast of the parish of Rosais, municipality of Velas, on the island of São Jorge in the Portuguese archipelago of the Azores. Geography Ponta dos Rosais is situated above sea level on the extreme northwestern tip of the island of São Jorge. The waters around Ponta dos Rosais consist of an oceanic plateau known as Baixa da Ponta dos Rosais: this plateau extends out north-northwest from the promontory. The islands of Faial, Pico, and Graciosa are often visible from Ponta dos Rosais. Faial and Pico are located approximately from Ponta dos Rosais. On the promontory stands the isolated, mid-century Nationalist lighthouse complex of Ponta dos Rosais. Ponta dos Rosais and the surrounding area are within a locally protected area of the Azores known as the ''Monumento Natural da Ponta dos Rosais'' (Ponta dos Rosais Natural Monument), a nature reserve ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Hot Spring
A hot spring, hydrothermal spring, or geothermal spring is a spring produced by the emergence of geothermally heated groundwater onto the surface of the Earth. The groundwater is heated either by shallow bodies of magma (molten rock) or by circulation through faults to hot rock deep in the Earth's crust. In either case, the ultimate source of the heat is radioactive decay of naturally occurring radioactive elements in the Earth's mantle, the layer beneath the crust. Hot spring water often contains large amounts of dissolved minerals. The chemistry of hot springs ranges from acid sulfate springs with a pH as low as 0.8, to alkaline chloride springs saturated with silica, to bicarbonate springs saturated with carbon dioxide and carbonate minerals. Some springs also contain abundant dissolved iron. The minerals brought to the surface in hot springs often feed communities of extremophiles, microorganisms adapted to extreme conditions, and it is possible that life on Earth had its ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
São Jorge Island
São Jorge () is an island in the central group of the Azores archipelago and part of the autonomous region of Portugal. Separated from its nearest neighbours (Pico and Faial islands) by the Pico-São Jorge Channel, the central group is often referred colloquially as part of the ''Triângulo'' ("Triangle") group or just "The Triangle". São Jorge is a relatively long thin island with tall cliffs, whose 8,381 inhabitants are concentrated on various geological debris fields (''fajãs'') along the north and south coasts; from east to west, the island is long and, north to south, wide: its area is . History It is unclear when the first explorers discovered the island of São Jorge; as part of the politics of human occupation, the Azores were populated after 1430 (probably 1439) through the initiative of Prince Henry the Navigator. 23 April, known as the feast day of Saint George, has been cited by historians as the reason for the island's name, although this is likely conjec ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Fumarole
A fumarole (or fumerole) is a vent in the surface of the Earth or other rocky planet from which hot volcanic gases and vapors are emitted, without any accompanying liquids or solids. Fumaroles are characteristic of the late stages of volcanic activity, but fumarole activity can also precede a volcanic eruption and has been used for eruption prediction. Most fumaroles die down within a few days or weeks of the end of an eruption, but a few are persistent, lasting for decades or longer. An area containing fumaroles is known as a fumarole field. The predominant vapor emitted by fumaroles is steam, formed by the circulation of groundwater through heated rock. This is typically accompanied by volcanic gases given off by magma cooling deep below the surface. These volcanic gases include sulfur compounds, such as various sulfur oxides and hydrogen sulfide, and sometimes hydrogen chloride, hydrogen fluoride, and other gases. A fumarole that emits significant sulfur compounds is some ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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