The beautiful and almost perfectly cone-shaped structure of Mt. Fuji that we see today was formed after three generations of volcanic activity—the Mt. Ashitaka and Komitake volcanoes that are believed to have become extinct more than 100,000 years ago; the Older Fuji Volcano that is thought to be have been active up until about 10,000 years ago; and the Younger Fuji Volcano that started erupting about 10,000 years ago.There are several theories regarding the origin of the name Mt. Fuji.
Some assumptions are that it was derived from the Japanese word fuji-yama meaning a mountain “second to no other” in height; or from fujin-yama meaning “a mountain that surpasses all others in size”; or from funchi in the Ainu (an ethnic group indigenous to Northern Japan) language meaning “the god of fire” or a “volcano.” Another explanation traces the origin of the name to the Japanese folk tale The Moon Princess, in which the moon princess leaves the old couple that brought her up on Earth and returns to the moon.
When the heartbroken old man burnt the elixir she had left behind on the slopes of the mountain, he noticed smoke rising out from the top of the mountain.Thus the mountain came to be called Mt. Fuji, from the Japanese word for immortality, fushi
Geography
Geography, Mount fuj
Biosphere
The term “Biosphere” was coined by Russian scientist Vladimir Vernadsky in the 1929. The biosphere is the life zone of the Earth and includes all living organisms, including man, and all organic matter that has not yet decomposed. Life evolved on earth during its early history between 4.5 and 3.8 billion years ago and the biosphere readily distinguishes our planet from all others in the solar system. The chemical reactions of life (e.g., photosynthesis-respiration, carbonate precipitation, etc.) have also imparted a strong signal on the chemical composition of the atmosphere, transforming the atmosphere from reducing conditions to and oxidizing environment with free oxygen. The biosphere is structured into a hierarchy known as the food chain whereby all life is dependent upon the first tier (i.e. mainly the primary producers that are capable of photosynthesis). Energy and mass is transferred from one level of the food chain to the next with an efficiency of about 10%. All organisms are intrinsically linked to their physical environment and the relationship between an organism and its environment is the study of ecology. The biosphere can be divided into distinct ecosystems that represent the interactions between a group of organisms forming a trophic pyramid and the environment or habitat in which they live.
Geography
The Biosphere
Latitude
Imagine the Earth was a transparent sphere (actually the shape is slightly oval; because of the Earth’s rotation, its equator bulges out a little). Through the transparent Earth (drawing) we can see its equatorial plane, and its middle the point is O, the center of the Earth.
To specify the latitude of some point P on the surface, draw the radius OP to that point. Then the elevation angle of that point above the equator is its latitude λ–northern latitude if north of the equator, southern (or negative) latitude if south of it.
[How can one define the angle between a line and a plane, you may well ask? After all, angles are usually measured between two lines!
Good question. We must use the angle which completes it to 90 degrees, the one between the given line and one perpendicular to the plane. Here that would be the angle (90°-λ) between OP and the Earth's axis, known as the co-latitude of P.]
Lines of latitude
On a globe of the Earth, lines of latitude are circles of different size. The longest is the equator, whose latitude is zero, while at the poles–at latitudes 90° north and 90° south (or -90°) the circles shrink to a point.
Geography
Geography, latitude