Egypt Travel Nightmare

 

Place where two oceans meet?

A Facebook friend posted the following intriguing video.


It's a striking video depicting two different colors in a large body of water with a definitive separation between the two. The caption says that it's the place "where two oceans meet but do not mix." This of course doesn't make any sense. The ocean is just one large body of water which humans have subdivided into the five oceans for mapping purposes. So what is actually happening in the video?

In actuality, this has nothing to do with two oceans meeting. A little internet searching led me to this article which explains that it is the result of sediment rich water from glacial rivers pouring into the ocean around the Gulf of Alaska. Here's a small excerpt from the article:

"Glacier rivers in the summertime are like buzzsaws eroding away the mountains there," Bruland said. "In the process, they lift up all this material -- they call it glacial flour -- that can be carried out."

Once these glacial rivers pour out into the larger body of water, they're picked up by ocean currents, moving east to west, and begin to circulate there. This is one of the primary methods that iron -- found in the clay and sediment of the glacial runoff -- is transported to iron-deprived regions in the middle of the Gulf of Alaska.

It's also a falsehood that these two types of water don't mix at all, he said.

"They do eventually mix, but you do come across these really strong gradients at these specific moments in time," he said. Such borders are never static, he added, as they move around and disappear altogether, depending on the level of sediment and the whims of the water.

By Ken Bruland

Here's another video capturing the effect

Green Lake Park

Photo by Marc Henauer

Green Lake (Grüner See), located in Styria, Austria, where every spring the snowmelt from the nearby Hochschwab mountains causes the lake to nearly double in size, submerging a portion of the surrounding park.

Photo by Westend61 GmbH/Alamy

Photo by Marc Henauer

Photo by Andreas Neuburger

SubTropolis

Sub Tropolis is a 55,000,000 square-foot underground business complex located in Kansas City, Missouri. It currently rents space to 55 local, national and international businesses with more than 1,600 employees working at the facility.

In the late 1800s and early 1900s, limestone mining left millions of square feet of caves in Kansas City. After mining slowed down, late Kansas City Chiefs owner Lamar Hunt converted the caves into industrial space for lease.

Paris Brothers specialty foods

United States Postal Service

LightEdge data center

Behold SubTropolis: The Underground City Located In An Excavated Kansas Mine

Kansas City has a massive network of underground caves that houses over 400 businesses, including a paintball facility and a post office

Doing business 100 feet underground

Awaji Yumebutai

Awaji Yumebutai 100 step garden

Awaji Yumebutai is an area on the island of Awaji in the Hyōgo Prefecture of Japan which consists of a complex of buildings designed by architect Tadao Ando. The project was built on the remains of a hillside from which the soil had been removed and used for various projects in Osaka. In 1995, during the planning stages to restore the scarred land by turning it into a park, Awaji island was hit with a massive earthquake which claimed the lives of over 6,000 people. The devastation compelled the architect to revise his plans by turning a portion of the area into a memorial which includes the one hundred step garden (Hyakudan-en). In the words of the architect, it is "a symbol to calm the souls of those who lost their lives in the disaster."

Photo by Ken Conley

Photo by Jeffrey Friedl

Photo by Scott Hsu

Shell Garden

Shell Garden. Photo by Jack Chen via Ursula Zitting Pinterist

Shell Garden. Photo from 663highland

Photo from 663highland

Kiseki No Hoshi Greenhouse. Photo by Brodie Karel

Amphitheatre. Photo by Ken Conley

The 100 step garden at night. Photo by wata_masa

The 100 step garden
Wikipedia: Awaji Yumebutai

Waw An-Namus: Libya

Waw An-Namus is an extinct volcano located in the Sahara desert of south-central Libya. It's caldera is 4 km wide and 100 m deep with a central cone surrounded by three small salt lakes. Surrounding the caldera is 20 km of dark-black deposits of ash which causes Waw An-Namus to starkly standout against the light yellow sand of the Sahara.

Image of Waw an Namus taken from the International Space Station

A somewhat common phenomenon in the Sahara is the occurrence of reasonably potable (drinkable) water close to, and at nearly the same elevation as salt lakes. Due to the presence of this scarce source of water, Waw An-Namus was historically an important watering point for caravans travelling through South Libya.

Over the past couple of decades, Waw An-Namus has become a somewhat popular tourist attraction for travelers visiting this part of the Sahara. Unfortunately, this has led to negative impacts on the landscape as well as the rare plant and animal life. Tour guides often drive there vehicles down the caldera so the tourist can picnic by the lakes. A few years ago, some careless visitors caused a fire burning a large area of reeds and date palms.

Libya Herald: Waw An-Namus: A prehistoric volcano and natural heritage attraction

Viralnova: There's Something Very Different About This Crater In The Desert. When You Go Inside... WOW.

The Paradise Ghost Town of Varosha

Beautiful sandy beaches adjoin dilapidated high rise hotels making Varosha one of the more intriguing ghost towns. To understand why it was abandoned we have to start with a quick history lesson.

Varosha is a section of the city of Famagusta on the east coast of Northern Cyprus. Cyprus is a Mediterranean island whose population consists of two ethnic communities: Greek and Turkish. The island was under the control of the Ottoman empire from 1571 to 1878 and then under British control from 1878 to 1960.  During British rule there was a growing nationalist movement by the majority Greek Cypriots for union with Greece (enosis). The British opposed the enosis movement which lead to numerous protest, riots and acts of violence. In the late 1950's, Turkish Cypriots responded to the enosis demand by calling for partition (taksim) of the island. In an attempt to deal with increased violence between the two ethnic groups, the London and Zurich Agreements resulted in Cyprus gaining its independence from Britain in 1960. Almost immediately the new government began to fall apart as cooperation between the two sides could not be achieved.

In 1974 there was a coup d'état of the government by the Cypriot National Guard assisted by the military junta which at that time ruled Greece. Then President Makarios III was replaced with a pro-Enosis nationalist dictator named Nikos Sampson. In response to the coup, Turkey invaded the island, taking control of the north. Just hours before the Turkish and Greek Cypriot armies met in Varosha, the entire population fled. Once Turkish forces gained control of the area, it was fenced off and became part of of the Green Line, which is the present day border between the two communities.

To this day the area remains barricaded and patrolled by the Turkish military. Though most items of value were stolen long ago by Turkish soldiers and other marauders, the majority of the areas buildings still exist in various states of decay.

Here are images of Varosha before the 1974 invasion.

Update: This 2018 video shows that the empty city is vastly larger than the beach front property typically shown.

Atomium

An icon of Brussels, the Atomium is truly a marvelous feat of modern architecture. It's futuristic design is a representation of the unit cell of an iron crystal magnified 165 billion times. 

Designed by engineer André Waterkeyn, the Atomium was built for the 1958 World's Fair. After years of neglect and decay, it underwent a major renovation which was completed in February of 2006. Currently three spheres are closed to the public for safety reasons while the other six house exhibit spaces, a kid's world, an area for special events and a restaurant.

Rory Hyde

Photo by Harald Hoyer

Photo from joellpc

Ben Heine Atomium

Treehotel

Treehotel is certainly not your typical 'cabin in the woods' resort. Located in Harads, near the Lule river in Northern Sweden, Treehotel combines contemporary design with the tranquility of nature. Currently, there are five unique rooms available with plans to build twenty four in total.

Mirrorcube
Most would agree that Treehotel's spotlight room is the Mirrorcube. Designed by architects Tham & Videgård, this cozy 4x4x4 meter room provides a double bed, small bathroom, living space and rooftop terrace.

Bird's Nest
Covered in branches and sticks, the Bird's Nest, as the name implies, looks like it is home to some enormous  feathered creature. Designed by Inredningsgruppen, the room is 17 square meters and can accommodate up to four guests with a double bed, two bunk beds, small bathroom and living space.

Cabin
At 24 square feet, the Cabin is the second largest room available at Treehotel. Designed by Cyrén & Cyrén, the Cabin is located at the top of a steep slope which provides for an amazing view. It has a double bed, small bathroom, living space and rooftop deck.

Blue Cone
Designed by SandellSandberg, the Blue Cone is certainly the most traditional room at Treehotel. Based on simplicity and accessibility the 22 square meters room has four beds, separate sleeping loft, bathroom and living room.

UFO
The UFO is Treehotel's most recent addition. Creatively designed by Inredningsgruppen to provide an otherworldly experience, it has a double bed, two smaller curved beds, bathroom, and living area. At 30 square meters it is the largest room currently available.

http://twistedsifter.com/2012/10/treehotel-in-sweden-for-nature-lovers/

http://www.treehotel.se/?pg=rooms

http://www.arcspace.com/travel/hotels-tree-hotel/