In the early days of the world, the world was too full of wonders to require any other miracles. The whole world was a miracle and a revelation, there was no need for any special disclosure. At that time the heavens, the waters, the sun and moon, the stars of heaven, the showers and dew, the winds of God, fire and heat, winter and summer, ice and snow, nights and days, lightnings and clouds, the earth, the mountains and hills, the green things upon the earth, the wells, and seas and floods--all blessed the Lord, praised Him and magnified Him for ever. Can we imagine a more powerful revelation? Is it for us to say that for the children of men to join in praising and magnifying Him who revealed Himself in His own way in all the magnificence, the wisdom and order of nature, is mere paganism, polytheism, pantheism, and abominable idolatry? I have heard many blasphemies, I have heard none greater than this.
He noticed her eyes especially were beautiful, well-shaped and of an odd color. “I’ve never seen anybody with eyes the color of yours,” he said. “They are from my mother, I guess. Almost everyone in Jericho has dark eyes, but my mother was a slave. She used to tell me about her home where she was born. There was ice and snow there. Very cold. Her hair was light and her eyes were blue. She died some time ago.” Othniel could not help but admire the woman’s appearance. The lamp was burning, and the yellow light was kind to her, showing the full, soft lines of her body. He noticed also that her face was very expressive. Her feelings showed immediately on her face. She did not smile much, but when she did her whole expression lit up. He wanted to ask her about herself,
I say that the azure we see in the atmosphere is not its true colour, but is caused by warm moisture evaporated in minute and insensible atoms which the solar rays strike, rendering them luminous against the darkness of the infinite night of the fiery region which lies beyond and includes them. And this may be seen, as I saw it, by him who ascends Mounboso (Monte Rosa), a peak of the Alps which separates France from Italy. The base of this mountain gives birth to the four large rivers which in four different directions water the whole of Europe; and no mountain has its base at so great a height as this. It rises to such a height that it almost lifts itself up above the clouds; snow seldom falls on it, but only hail in summer, when the clouds are at their greatest height, and this hail is preserved there so that were it not for the absorption of the rising and falling clouds, which does not occur twice in an age, a great quantity of ice would be piled up there by the hail, which in the middle of July I found to be very considerable; and I saw above me the dark air, and the sun which struck the mountain shone far lighter than in the plains below, because a lesser quantity of atmosphere lay between the summit of the mountain and the sun.
3:70. O ye ice and snow, bless the Lord: praise and exalt him above all for ever.
"Love is a snowmobile racing across the tundra and then suddenly it flips
Be thou as chaste as ice, as pure as snow, thou shalt not escape calumny. Get thee to a nunnery, go.
Be thou as chaste as ice, as pure as snow, thou shalt not escape calumny.
The primary source of lake water is atmospheric precipitation, which may reach the lakes through rain, melting ice and snow, springs, rivers and immediate run-off from the land-surfaces. The surface of the earth, with which we are directly in touch, is composed of lithosphere, hydrosphere and atmosphere, and these interpenetrate. Lakes, rivers, the water-vapour of the atmosphere and the water of hydration of the lithosphere, must all be regarded as outlying portions of the hydrosphere, which is chiefly made up of the great oceans. Lakes may be compared to oceanic islands. Just as an oceanic island presents many peculiarities in its rocks, soil, fauna and flora, due to its isolation from the larger terrestrial masses, so does a lake present peculiarities and an individuality in its physical, chemical and biological features, owing to its position and separation from the waters of the great oceans. Entry: LAKE
"Love is a snowmobile racing across the tundra and then suddenly it flips over, pinning you underneath. At night, the ice weasels come." -- Matt Groening
ARARAT (Armen. _Massis_, Turk. _Egri Dagh_, i.e. "Painful Mountain," Pers. _Koh-i-Nuh_, i.e. "Mountain of Noah,"), the name given to the culminating point of the Armenian plateau which rises to a height of 17,000 ft. above the sea. The _massif_ of Ararat rises on the north and east out of the alluvial plain of the Aras, here from 2500 ft. to 3000 ft. above the sea, and on the south-west sinks into the plateau of Bayezid, about 4500 ft. It is thus isolated on all sides but the north-west, where a _col_ about 6900 ft. high connects it with a long ridge of volcanic mountains. Out of the _massif_ rise two peaks, "their bases confluent at a height of 8800 ft., their summits about 7 m. apart." The higher, Great Ararat, is "a huge broad-shouldered mass, more of a dome than a cone"; the lower, Little Ararat, 12,840 ft. on which the territories of the tsar, the sultan, and the shah meet, is "an elegant cone or pyramid, rising with steep, smooth, regular sides into a comparatively sharp peak" (Bryce). On the north and west the slopes of Great Ararat are covered with glittering fields of unbroken _névé_. The only true glacier is on the north-east side, at the bottom of a large chasm which runs into the heart of the mountain. The great height of the snow-line, 14,000 ft., is due to the small rainfall and the upward rush of dry air from the plain of the Araxes. The middle zone of Ararat, 5000-11,500 ft., is covered with good pasture, the upper and lower zones are for the most part sterile. Whether the tradition which makes Ararat the resting-place of Noah's Ark is of any historical value or not, there is at least poetical fitness in the hypothesis, inasmuch as this mountain is about equally distant from the Black Sea and the Caspian, from the Mediterranean and the Persian Gulf. Another tradition--accepted by the Kurds, Syrians and Nestorians--fixes on Mount Judi, in the south of Armenia, on the left bank of the Tigris, near Jezire, as the Ark's resting-place. There so-called genuine relics of the ark were exhibited, and a monastery and mosque of commemoration were built; but the monastery was destroyed by lightning in 776 A.D., and the tradition has declined in credit. Round Mount Ararat, however, gather many traditions connected with the Deluge. The garden of Eden is placed in the valley of the Araxes; Marand is the burial-place of Noah's wife; at Arghuri, a village near the great chasm, was the spot where Noah planted the first vineyard, and here were shown Noah's vine and the monastery of St James, until village and monastery were overwhelmed by a fall of rock, ice and snow, shaken down by an earthquake in 1840. According to the Babylonian account, the resting-place of the Ark was "on the Mountain of Nizir," which some writers have identified with Mount Rowanduz, and others with Mount Elburz, near Teheran. Entry: ARARAT
Love is a snowmobile racing across the tundra, which suddenly flips over, pinning you underneath. At night the ice weasels come. -- Matt Groening, "Love is Hell"
_Climate._--Were it not for the high altitudes of western Colombia, high temperatures would prevail over the whole country, except where modified by the north-east trade winds and the cold ocean current which sweeps up the western coast. The elevated plateaus and summits of the Andes are responsible, however, for many important and profound modifications in climate, not only in respect to the lower temperatures of the higher elevations, but also in respect to the higher temperatures of the sheltered lowland valleys and the varying climatic conditions of the neighbouring plains. The republic lies almost wholly within the north torrid zone, a comparatively small part of the forested Amazonian plain extending beyond the equator into the south torrid zone. The great Andean barrier which crosses the republic from the south to north acts as a condenser to the prevailing easterly winds from the Atlantic, and causes a very heavy rainfall on their eastern slopes and over the forested Amazon plain. High temperatures as well as excessive humidity prevail throughout this region. Farther north, on the open llanos of the Orinoco tributaries, the year is divided into equal parts, an alternating wet and dry season, the sun temperatures being high followed by cool nights, and the temperatures of the rainy season being even higher. The rainfall is heavy in the wet season, causing many of the rivers to spread over extensive areas, but in the dry season the inundated plains become dry, the large rivers fed by the snows and rainfall of the Andes return within their banks, the shallow lagoons and smaller streams dry up, vegetation disappears, and the level plain becomes a desert. The northern plains of the republic are swept by the north-east trades, and here, too, the mountain barriers exercise a strongly modifying influence. The low ridges of the Sierra de Perijá do not wholly shut out these moisture-laden winds, but they cause a heavy rainfall on their eastern slopes, and create a dry area on their western flanks, of which the Vale of Upar is an example. The higher masses of the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta cover a very limited area, leaving the trade winds a comparatively unbroken sweep across the northern plains until checked by the Western Cordillera, the Panama ranges and the Sierra de Baudo, where a heavy precipitation follows. Farther south the coast ranges cause a very heavy rainfall on their western slopes, which are quite as uninhabitable because of rain and heat as are the coasts of southern Chile through rain and cold. The rainfall on this coast is said to average 73 in., though it is much higher at certain points and in the Atrato Valley. As a result the coastal plain is covered with swamps and tangled forests, and is extremely unhealthy, except at a few favoured points on the coast. High temperatures prevail throughout the greater part of the Magdalena and Cauca valleys, because the mountain ranges which enclose them shut out the prevailing winds. At Honda, on the Magdalena, 664 ft. above sea-level, the mean temperature for the year is 82° F., and the mercury frequently rises to 102° in the shade. These lowland plains and valleys comprise the climatic tropical zone of Colombia, which is characterized by high temperatures, and by excessive humidity and dense forests, an exception to the last-named characteristic being the open llanos where dry summers prevail. Above this tropical zone in the mountainous regions are to be found all the varying gradations of climate which we are accustomed to associate with changes in latitude. There are the subtropical districts of the valleys and slopes between 1500 and 7500 ft. elevation, which include some of the most fertile and productive areas in Colombia; the temperate districts between 7500 and 10,000 ft., the cold, bleak and inhospitable _paramos_ between 10,000 and 15,000 ft., and above these the arctic wastes of ice and snow. The temperate and subtropical regions cover the greater part of the departments traversed by the Eastern Cordillera, the northern end of the Central Cordillera, the Santa Marta plateaus, and the Upper Cauca Valley. They include the larger part of the white population and the chief productive industries of the country. There is no satisfactory record of temperatures and rainfall in these widely different climatic zones from which correct averages can be drawn and compared. Observations have been made and recorded at Bogotá and at some other large towns, but for the greater part of the country we have only fragmentary reports. The mean annual temperature on the eastern plains, so far as known, ranges from 87° F. on the forested slopes to 90° and 91° on the llanos of the Meta and Arauca. On the Caribbean coastal plain it ranges from 80° to 84°, but at Tumaco, on the Pacific coast, within two degrees of the equator, it is only 79°. At Medellin, in the mountainous region of Antioquia, 4950 ft. above sea-level, the mean annual temperature is 70°, and the yearly rainfall 55 in., while at Bogotá, 8563 ft., the former is 57° and the latter 44 in. At Tuquerres, near the frontier of Ecuador, 10,200 ft. elevation, the mean annual temperature is said to be 55°. The changes of seasons are no less complicated and confusing. A considerable part of the republic is covered by the equatorial belt of calms, whose oscillations divide the year into a wet and dry season. This division is modified, however, by the location of mountain ranges and by elevation. In the Amazon region there is no great change during the year, and on the northern plains the so-called dry season is one of light rains except where mountain ranges break the sweep of the north-east trades. The alternating wet and dry seasons are likewise to be found on the Pacific coastal plain, though this region is not entirely dry and vegetation never dries up as on the _llanos_. Above the lowland plains the seasons vary in character according to geographical position and elevation. The two-season division rules in the departments of Santander and Antioquia, but without the extremes of humidity and aridity characteristic of the eastern plains. Farther south, at elevations between 800 and 9500 ft., the year is divided into four distinct seasons--two wet and two dry--the former called _inviernos_ (winters) and the latter _veranos_ (summers). These seasons are governed by the apparent movements of the sun, the winters occurring at the equinoxes and the summers at the solstices. The _sabana_ of Bogotá and neighbouring districts are subject to these changes of season. At higher altitudes long, cold, wet winters are experienced, with so short and cold a summer between them that the bleak _paramos_ are left uninhabited except by a few shepherds in the short dry season. Entry: COLOMBIA
_Glaciers_.--An area of 5170 sq. m. is covered with snowfields and glaciers. This extraordinary development of ice and snow is due to the raw, moist climate, the large rainfall and the low summer temperature. The snow-line varies greatly in different parts of the island, its range being from 1300 to 4250 ft. It is highest on the tableland, on the north side of Vatnajökull, and lowest on the north-west peninsula, to the south of North Cape. Without exception the great _névés_ of Iceland belong to the interior tableland. They consist of slightly rounded domes or billowy snowfields of vast thickness. In external appearance they bear a closer resemblance to the glaciers of the Polar regions than to those of the Alps. The largest snowfields are Vatnajökull (3280 sq. m.), Hofsjökull (520) Langjökull (500) and Mýrdalsjökull (390). The glaciers which stream off from these snowfields are often of vast extent, e.g. the largest glacier of Vatnajökull has an area of 150 to 200 sq. m., but the greater number are small. Altogether, more than 120 glaciers are known in Iceland. It is on the south side of Vatnajökull that they descend lowest; the lower end of Breidamerkurjökull was in the year 1894 only 30 ft. above sea-level. The glaciers of the north-west peninsula also descend nearly to sea-level. The great number of streams of large volume is due to the moist climate and the abundance of glaciers, and the milky white or yellowish-brown colour of their waters (whence the common name Hvítá, white) is due to the glacial clays. The majority of them change their courses very often, and vary greatly in volume; frequently they are impetuous torrents, forming numerous waterfalls. Iceland also possesses a great number of lakes, the largest being Thingvallavatn[3] and Thorisvatn, each about 27 sq. m. in area. Mývatn, in the north, is well known from the natural beauty of its surroundings. Above its surface tower a great number of volcanoes and several craters, and its waters are alive with water-fowl, a multitude of ducks of various species breeding on its islands. The lakes of Iceland owe their origin to different causes, some being due to glacial erosion, others to volcanic subsidence. Mývatn fills a depression between lava streams, and has a depth of not more than 8¾ ft. The group of lakes called Fiskivötn (or Veidivötn), which lie in a desolate region to the west of Vatnajökull, consist for the most part of crater lakes. The groups of lakes which lie north-west from Langjökull occupy basins formed between ridges of glacial gravel; and in the valleys numerous lakes are found at the backs of the old moraines. Entry: ICELAND
GIANT'S KETTLE, GIANT'S CAULDRON or POT-HOLE, in physical geography, the name applied to cavities or holes which appear to have been drilled in the surrounding rocks by eddying currents of water bearing stones, gravel and other detrital matter. The size varies from a few inches to several feet in depth and diameter. The commonest occurrence is in regions where glaciers exist or have existed; a famous locality is the Gletscher Garten of Lucerne, where there are 32 giant's kettles, the largest being 26 ft. wide and 30 ft. deep; they are also common in Germany, Norway and in the United States. It appears that water, produced by the thawing of the ice and snow, forms streams on the surface of the glacier, which, having gathered into their courses a certain amount of morainic débris, are finally cast down a crevasse as a swirling cascade or _moulin_. The sides of the crevasse are abraded, and a vertical shaft is formed in the ice. The erosion may be continued into the bed of the glacier, and, the ice having left the district, the giant's kettle so formed is seen as an empty shaft, or as a pipe filled with gravel, sand or boulders. Such cavities and pipes afford valuable evidence as to the former extent of glaciers (see J. Geikie, _The Great Ice Age_). Similar holes are met with in river beds at the foot of cascades, and under some other circumstances. The term "pot-hole" is also sometimes used synonymously with "swallow-hole" (q.v.). Entry: GIANT
The temperatures at the South Pole itself furnish an interesting subject for speculation. It is likely that near the South Pole will prove to be the coldest point on the earth's surface for the year, as the distribution of insolation would imply, and as the conditions of land and ice and snow there would suggest. The lowest winter and summer temperatures in the southern hemisphere will almost certainly be found in the immediate vicinity of the pole. It must not be supposed that the isotherms in the antarctic region run parallel with the latitude lines. They bend polewards and equatorwards at different meridians, although much less so than in the Arctic. Entry: S
_Climate._--Climatic conditions in Ecuador are very largely contingent on altitude, and the transition from one climate to another is a matter of only a few hours' journey. Although the equator crosses the northern part of the republic, only 15 m. north of the city Of Quito, a very considerable part of its area has the temperature of the temperate zone, and snow-crowned summits are to be seen every day in the year from its great central plateau. In addition to the climatic changes due to altitude, there are others caused by local arid conditions, by volcanic influences and by the influence of mountain ranges on the temperature and rainfall of certain districts. These influences are not general; on the contrary, they often affect very limited areas. For instance, Guayaquil has a hot humid climate and mangrove swamps line the shores of Guayas down to the gulf; at Santa Élena, about 60 m. due west, arid conditions prevail and vegetation is scanty and dwarfed; at Salango island, 50 m. north of Santa Élena, there is an abundance of moisture and vegetation is luxuriant; 33 m. farther north, at Manta, the country is a desert; and at Atacames bay, 135 m. north of Manta, the rainfall and vegetation are again favourable. On the plateau similar conditions prevail. There is no great display of arboreal vegetation anywhere except in the valleys and lower passes where the rainfall is abundant, but in general terms it may be said that the rainfall and vegetation which characterize the Quito basin soon disappear as one proceeds southward, and are substituted by arid conditions. Even here there are local modifications, as at Ambato, where a shallow depression, surrounded by barren, dust-covered ridges exposed to cold winds, is celebrated for its warm, equable climate and its fruit. It is to be noted that the Gulf of Guayaquil separates the humid, forest-covered coastal plain of Ecuador from the arid, barren coast of Peru, the two regions being widely dissimilar. The mean annual temperature, on this plain, according to an official publication, is 82.4° F., and the range is from 66° to 95°. The heat is modified at many points on the coast, however, by the cold Humboldt current which sweeps up the west coast of South America from the Antarctic seas. The year is divided into a wet and dry season--the former running from December to June, and the latter from July to December. The rainy season, or _invierno_, is broken by a short period of dry weather, called the _veranillo_ (little summer), shortly after the December solstice; otherwise it rains every day, the streams overflow, land traffic is suspended, and the air is drenched with moisture and becomes oppressive and pestiferous. The dry season, which is called the _verano_, or summer, is also broken by a short rainy spell called the _inviernillo_ (little winter) or "cordonazo de San Francisco," which follows the September equinox. Apart from these the two seasons are sometimes broken by cloudless skies in winter, and a drizzling mist, called the _garua_, in summer. In the inter-andine region the variations in temperature are frequent and the averages comparatively low. An official estimate gives the mean annual temperature as 64° to 68° between 6000 and 11,000 ft. In Quito the mean annual temperature is 58.8°, the diurnal variation 10°, the annual maximum 70°, and the annual minimum 45°. Other returns give the mean annual temperature at 55°. It is said that pulmonary tuberculosis is unknown in these altitudes, though it is common in the coast districts. Catarrhal complaints are common, however, and leprosy is widely prevalent, it being necessary to maintain three large hospitals for lepers. In the higher altitudes there are wide variations in the snow-fall and intensity of the cold even on the same mountain. The line of permanent snow is much higher on the plateau side in both ranges, the precipitation being greater on the outer sides--those facing the forested lowlands--and the terrestrial radiation being greater from the barren surfaces of the plateau. In some instances the difference in the elevation of the snow-line has been found to be fully 1000 ft. Moreover, no two summits seem to retain the snow permanently at the same altitude. For instance, in 1880 Whymper found permanent snow on Cotocachi at 14,500 ft., while near by Imbabura was bare to its summit (15,033 ft.); Antisana was permanently covered at 16,000 ft., and near by Sara-Urcu, which is drenched with rains and mists from the Amazon valley all the year round, at 14,000 ft.; Sincholagua had large beds of permanent snow at 15,300 ft., Cotopaxi was permanently covered at 15,500 ft. on its western side, Corazon had daily snowstorms down to 14,500 ft., but no permanent beds of snow on its east side (elevation 15,871 ft.); and Chimborazo had deep snow at 15,600 ft. on its north-east and south sides in June--July. The eastern range was found to receive the heaviest snowfall. The elevation at which human residence is possible seems to be unusually high in Ecuador. Many of the towns and villages of central Ecuador lie at altitudes ranging from 8606 ft. (Ambato) to 9839 ft. (Machachi). The capital city of Quito is 9343 ft. above the sea, and is celebrated for its agreeable temperature, and also for its healthiness in spite of prevailing unsanitary conditions. Above these towns are a number of farms and herdsmen's habitations, where men live the whole or a part of the year with less discomfort from low temperature than is experienced in northern Europe and northern United States. According to Whymper, the _tambo_ of Chuquipoquio, at the foot of Chimborazo, is 11,704 ft., and the _hacienda_ of Pedregal, near Iliniza, 11,629 ft., both being permanently occupied. The _hacienda_ of Antisana, 13,306 ft., and the herdsmen's hut of Cunayaco on Chimborazo, 13,396 ft., are occupied only for a part of the year. The highest elevations are generally covered with ice and snow, and glaciers, according to Whymper, are to be found upon no less than nine of the culminating peaks, and possibly upon two or three more. These serve to modify the temperatures of the plateau, which is swept by cold winds at all seasons of the year. The prevailing wind is that of the north-east and south-east trade winds, broken and modified on the plateau and western lowlands by mountain barriers. Westerly and north-west winds are sometimes experienced, but are not permanent. Entry: ECUADOR