‘Coastlines: Discover Earth’s amazing places’
‘Coastlines: Discover Earth’s amazing places’ by Susie Brooks
1. Where are the world’s biggest waves?
It depends where you’re looking. Scientists have discovered waves of up to 244m underneath the sea. Underwater waves look the same as the water around them, but they are a different temperature or have a different level of salt.
2. The deadliest waves are called tsunamis and they are shaken into action by earthquakes, landslides or volcanoes. They can crash several kilometres inland and wipe out buildings and anything else in their path.
3. Most sand is made of a mineral called quartz. Diamonds have been mined for years on beaches in Namibia, Africa. Other gems, such as sapphires, emeralds, and garnets, are found around the world as grains of sand.
4. If the tide can’t wash away all the sediment dumped by a river, new land called a delta builds up. Many deltas are so big that millions of people live on them.
5. Delta soil is rich and ideal for farming. About 40million people in Egypt live on the Nile river delta, and two thirds of the country’s crops are produced there.
6. Rivers pick up tiny amounts of mineral salts from the land and carry them to the sea. But seawater is about 220 times saltier than river water. Because the sun’s heat makes water evaporate from the massive ocean surface, leaving the salt behind.
7. Barnacles ooze a sticky glue to help them cling to rocks in the roughest surf. They can even hitch a ride on boats, turtles and whales.
8. Sea otters wrap themselves in kelp growing from the seabed, so they don’t drift off while they snooze. They have an unusual ability to eat prickly sea urchins.
Source: http://www.pierreaugusterenoir.net/jeanne-samary-in-a-low-necked-dress/
Source: https://www.impressionists.org/the-umbrellas-renoir.jsp
