Ships Graveyard in the Desert of Moynaq, Uzbekistan

In Uzbekistan, an eerie ship graveyard filled with hauntingly beautiful shipwrecks beckons, is literally a ghost town in the middle of the desert. Moynaq ship Graveyard — Mo‘ynoq also spelled as Muynak and Moynaq, is a city in northern Karakalpakstan in western Uzbekistan. It was formerly a sea port, now home to only a few thousand residents at most. Mo‘ynoq's population has been abating precipitously since the 1980s due to the recession of the Aral Sea. Because in the last 30 years Moynaq was one of two biggest Soviet fishing harbors at the Aral Sea. As the scarce few travelers who have traversed this most barren and isolated of landscapes will tell you, it’s perhaps the last place on earth you’d expect to find a flotilla of abandoned ships. Except this isn’t a mirage you’ve reached the Graveyard Ships of Mo’ynaq, a surreal collection of rusting fishing vessels in Uzbekistan, stranded nearly 100 miles from the nearest shoreline.

The Aral Sea has been gradually declining since the 1960s, as the waters of the two rivers feeding it, the Amu Darya and Syr Darya, were aimed at irrigating agricultural areas. Actually formerly one of the four largest lakes in the world with an area of 68,000 km2 or 26,300 sq mi. Aral Sea has been steadily shrinking since in 1960s after the rivers that fed it were diverted by Soviet irrigation projects.  In 2007, it had dropped to 10% of its original size, splitting into four lakes! the North Aral Sea, the eastern and western basins of the once far larger South Aral Sea, and one smaller lake between the North and South Aral Seas. Though, in 2009, the southeastern lake had disappeared and the southwestern lake had retreated to a thin strip at the extreme west of the former southern sea.

Moreover, the maximum depth of the North Aral Sea is 42 meter or 138 ft in 2008.The lessening of the Aral Sea has been called "one of the planet's worst environmental disasters". The region's once-prosperous fishing industry has been basically destroyed, bringing unemployment and economic adversity. The Aral Sea region was also heavily polluted, with following serious public health problems. The retreat of the sea has reportedly also caused local climate change, with summers becoming hotter and drier, and winters colder and longer.In an ongoing effort in Kazakhstan to save and replenish the North Aral Sea, a dam project was completed in 2005; in 2008, the water level in this lake had risen by 12 m or 39 ft compared to 2003. Salinity has dropped, and fish are again found in sufficient numbers for some fishing to be viable.

The Aral Sea watershed covers Uzbekistan and parts of Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Kyrgyzstan and Kazakhstan. Nowadays Mo‘ynoq's is a major tourist attractions are the armada of rusting hulks that once made up the proud fishing fleet during the Soviet era. Even a one-room museum devoted to Mo‘ynoq's heritage as a center of the fishing industry. Though, poisonous dust storms kicked up by strong winds across the dried and polluted seabed give rise to a multitude of chronic and acute illnesses between the few residents who have selected to remain, most of them ethnic Karakalpaks, and weather unmoderated by the sea now buffets the town with hotter-than-normal summers and colder-than-normal winters. Let's take a closer look and see how these ships came to be stranded in the middle of the desert.

The Giant Barringer Meteor Crater in Arizona

The Giant Crater is formed after the fall of the meteorite crater Meteor or Barringer, is located almost 69 kilometers east of the city of Flagstaff and near the town of Winslow, in the northern Arizona desert, USA. It is also called - Meteor Crater, originated about 50,000 years ago in a fall on the Earth meteorite vesivshego 300,000 tons and flying at a speed of about 45-60 thousand km / h. According to some calculations, the explosion at the fall of the meteorite was three times more powerful than the Tunguska explosion, which can be compared with a thousand Hiroshimas. Berrenzhera crater is one of the most popular attractions of Arizona. 

In the district of Arizona crater were found fragments of nickel-iron meteorite. Few meteorites, such as the Tunguska meteorite, have left behind a crater. While Berringer Crater impeccably preserved and has a shape akin to lunar craters. It is an enormous cavity width of 1200 meters and a depth of 200 meters. Moreover local Indian tribes have long been aware of the giant crater and collected scattered around the metal fragments of the meteorite. There are plentiful legends associated with this sacred place.

The existence of the crater became known in 1891, and it was thought a volcanic crater. However, in 1902, it has been recommended meteorite, and researchers involved a mining engineer Daniel Moreau Barringer. He has spent 26 years on their life, but could not prove unequivocally meteoritic origin of the crater. Although strong evidence was found specialist comets and meteorites Eugene ShoemakerIn Arizona crater trained astronauts who had to go to the moon. The local landscape is well-thought-out to be the most akin to the moon. The locals often talk about the appearance of UFOs in these places. This is not the largest meteorite that fell to Earth.

Meteors hardly ever fall to the ground; however a few cases still recorded. In 1908 over Tunguska taiga, about 10 km from the surface of the Earth, the explosion occurred. Its sound was heard nearly 1,000 km, and the trees knocked down on an area of about 2000 square kilometers. This massive explosion could have been caused by an asteroid or comet fragment. Some scholars suggest that this meteorite caused mass death of the dinosaurs that occurred 65 million years ago. According to this theory, a huge piece of space pierced the Earth’s atmosphere and reaching the surface, leaves a crater depth of 50 km, 200 km in diameter, on the seafloor. Volcanic products and hot gases joined millions of tons of dust and rocks thrown into the air.

Thus, dust rose into the upper atmosphere and blocked the way of the life-giving solar energy, initiating impaired development of the plant and decreases the amount of food that has caused the death of several animals, including dinosaurs. Moreover, a big crater, just found off the coast of Mexico, maybe confirm this theory. Presently Arizona meteorite crater is a popular tourist destination, privately owned family Barringer. On the northern edge of the meteorite crater is a visitor center, which presents interactive exhibits, and where everyone talk about meteorites, asteroids, space, solar system and comets. We can see the 637 pound meteorite found in the area, as well as fragments of the meteorite crater found in Arizona, they can even touch it. Visitor Center, formerly known as the Museum astrogeology includes theater, gift shop and observation point overlooking the inner edge of the crater, with daily excursions. In the Antarctic, on the island of Wilkes in 1962 discovered a meteor crater 241 km and a depth of 800 m in Canada on the coast of Hudson Bay has a crater with a diameter of 443 km.

The Mysterious “The Longyou Caves”

Longyou caves is located near the village of Shiyan Beicun in Zhejiang province, is an extensive, magnificent and rare ancient underground world considered in China are an enduring mystery that have perplexed experts from every discipline that has examined them. In 1992, an eccentrically curious man named Wu Anai, near the Chinese village of Shiyan Beicun in Longyou County, based on a hunch, started to pump water out of a pond in his village. He had strong belief the pond isn’t natural, nor was it substantially deep as the local lore went, and one day he stepped up to decides to prove it. Anai convinced some of his villagers and together they bought a water pump and started to siphon water out of the pond. Therefore, after exorbitant  hardworking of 17 days of pumping, the water level fell enough to disclose the flooded entrance to an ancient, man-made cave, confirming Anai’s suspicion. This discovery has called the attention of many specialists from China, Japan, Poland, Singapore and USA. One of the most interesting and challenging questions is how the caverns have been able to keep their integrity for more than 2000 years.

This cave, now called the “Longyou Caves”, represent one of the largest underground excavation made during ancient times. A total of 24 hand-dug caves were ultimately discovered, each with an average floor area of a thousand square meters and ceilings that reaches heights of up to 30 meters. The cave total area covered exceeds 30,000 square meters. We know the caves are not natural because the interior walls are covered with chisel marks. The chiseling was also done in a way so as to leave uniform patterns of parallel grooves which some people rely on are symbolic. Moreover, the markings are alike to those found on pottery housed in a nearby museum, which is dated between 500 and 800 BC. There are also staircases, pillars and exquisitely carved figures.

According to some approximation the caves were dug more than 2500 years ago, possibly in 200 BCE. A rough estimation reveals that approximately a million cubic meters of rock were removed to make the caves. This was a mega project so large would surely have been mentioned by historians and travelers, but no documents at all have been found, which is particularly odd considering the ancient Chinese were meticulous record-keepers. However, one cannot rule out the possibility that the ancient cave builders were just enlarging an existing natural cave which would explain a lot of things, such as how they were constructed and what happened to the excavated rocks. Nevertheless, the excavation of the caves was a monumental project executed by man and will continue to be a lasting mystery. At present there is no explanation for their existence. They represent one of the largest underground excavations of ancient times. They are considered by Chinese to be the 'Ninth Wonder of the Ancient World'

 

 

 

 

 

Dead Sea, Jordan and Israel

Dead Sea is fascinated by the magic and healing power to create state-of-the-art cosmetics based on the minerals, plants and aromas. Dead Sea is a marvelous pantry of sea minerals and salts is the lowest point of the planet has depth of 377 meters. Dead Sea is an incredibly beautiful oasis in the desert and mountain terrain. Dead Sea is a closed lake, which lies between Jordan and Israel, located 394 meters below the sea level. Dead Sea length is 67 kilometers and the width at the maximum point amounts 18 kilometers. It is called a hypersaline lake which has no outlet to the sea. Its healing properties entice tourists from all over the world to see the mysteriousness, legendary and truly uniqueness! Though, each year the water level decreases by 1 meter. So, specialists predict that in the coming 800 years the Dead Sea would turn into Dead Valley. Moreover Dead Sea is deepest salt lake in the world. It contains the concentration of salt and other minerals, the level of salinity of which is superior the ocean water.

The Dead Sea one of the most saline water bodies in the world (33.7%). Such a remarkably high salt concentration lets people to effortlessly float on the surface of the water in a natural way. Even a person can read a newspaper or a book, without fear to wet it. This water is not suitable for living beings, though tiny bacteria and microfungi are present here. The main tributary of the lake is the Jordan River, located above the Rift Valley area. The Dead Sea represents two reservoirs, the north one which is wider and less salty, and the south one a small, near the shores of which people extract potash, bromine and numerous salts for chemical companies that produce the world famed cosmetics.

The Dead Sea area has become a major research center in the field of health for some good reason. Because the mineral content in the water is distinctive; as no pollen and other allergens in the atmosphere, due to the large depth there is less ultraviolet in sunlight radiation and the atmospheric pressure is higher, which has a beneficial effect on the human health. A distinctive benefit of this place lies in healing mineral mud, has a wound-healing effect, strengthens hair roots, and eliminates dandruff and seborrhea. After the mud application the wrinkles are smoothed out and usually the aging course is slowed down.

Furthermore, the Dead Sea water is very effectively helps in the treatment of allergies, psoriasis, eczema, acne. It also improves the blood circulation and enhance metabolism, calms the nervous system, cleanses skin and improves its appearance and elasticity. Thus, the low humidity and high evaporation at high levels of bromide in the air proliferations metabolism, increases bronchial tubes and blood vessels, normalizes the activity of the nervous system. Hence, this combination of rich mineral water, sunlight filtered by the troposphere and dry air of the desert attracts many people. And it is far from the whole list of useful properties of this place. The water of Dead Sea is having the density of 1.240kg/L due to which swimming in Dead Sea is almost synonymous to floating. That is why it is said that nobody ever drowns in the Dead Sea. It is worthy of mentioning in this connection that the Great Salt Lake in America is also similar to Dead Sea in this respect.Source: Charismatic Planet

The Irish Sky Garden Crater

The Irish Sky Garden Crater is strange thing in first glance. The massive in scale landscape composition was created by American artist James Turrell. This exclusive minimalistic garden is situated in the Irish county of Cork. It is a kind of natural observatory, and anyone can become a visitor. However, the artist’s concept implies privacy, surveillance and meditative immersion. You won’t believe that this is an artificial landmark; however, it mightily attracts the eye! James Turrell refers to the pleiad of the Californian conceptualists, in the late 1960s have declared that an object as a piece of art was a passed stage. They started to develop space projects based on the optical effects.

They were interested, in the phenomenon of the direct or the flowing in time visual perception, feelings of pure sensory experience and instantaneous discovery through the monitoring process, and a mechanical search of the facet where the reality differs from the visibility. Therefore, the Irish Sky Garden is one of a conceptual series of installations formed on the principle of “open sky” called Skyspaces. The essence of the installation offers visitors to get inside through the black tunnel, going towards the bright light, symbolizes birth and gives the spectators a charge of optimism. The Irish crater has depth of 13 meters.

The henge type stone arch signifying the first transition or birth, from a gladed wood with a pond through a long womb like structural passage before a steep climb up some steps into the still and silent, oval, bowl shaped interior which measures 50 mtrs x 25.  Thus, upon entrance, the bottom of the crater has a stone in the center, and one can actually lie on the stone and watch the horizon, appreciate and enjoy the “celestial vault”. The walls of the crater overlap your peripheral vision, and thus it emphasizes the “infinity and variability of the sky.” James Turrell considered to be the greatest American Land Art Artist, actually likes the manipulation of light, because it is his main tool and material. The talented artist has turned the crater into a huge naked – eye observatory, has made the studio from the sky. His mastermind lies in the fact that he sees the beauty in the simplicity of the idea and the complexity of the construction at the same time. Every element has been prudently designed to seem natural.

Therefore, not a one element was left to chance everything was done by human hands. Such attention to details shows that each item was performed due to the large labor and experience of the author. Thus, in contrast to the background of soft green grass and the evenly clipped top edge of the crater, visitors can see only the Irish sky. It is a promise that visitors can enjoy the afternoon time or the nocturnal sky without the slightest interference. It is presumed that a very small group of people is expected to attend the Irish Sky Garden Crater, and ideally it should be just two people. The stone plinth in the center, the “Vault Purchase”, according to the inkling of James Turrell, was intended for two people. It would be romantic and dreamy to come here and relish the moments with your loved ones. Don’t you think so? The acoustics are such that not a sound can be heard from outside and visitors are encouraged to explore in silence. The Sky Garden is very different, clever and beautiful, would normally to ‘go see it’ but in this instance it's ‘go feel it’! Source: CP