IN FOCUS
W HI T E SPO T S OF T HE BL UE PL A NE T HUMANITY IS RESTLESSLY ADVANCING INTO THE OUTER SPACE. IT DRAWS DETAILED MAPS OF THE SOLAR SYSTEM, TRIES TO STUDY THE PLANETS AND STARS OF THE NEIGHBOURING GALAXIES AND LOOK INTO THE HEART OF OUR UNIVERSE. AT THE SAME TIME, OUR EARTH, LUCKILY, HAS LOTS OF WHITE SPOTS, MYSTERIOUS PLACES THAT WISH TO REMAIN UNTOUCHED.
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et’s start with general geographical notions that can be understood by any educated person. For instance, the World Ocean, which occupies 70% of the globe. Humanity has certain understanding of the bottom landscape, its main ridges, basins, troughs and trenches; however, for the time being, we are unable to study the depths of the ocean in detail. The level of modern technologies does not allow to conduct regular submarine researches at large depths. There is a fact to prove it: each year biologists discover hundreds of new animal species and tens of unique ecosystems at the bottom of the ocean, but all that knowledge on the oceans is currently related only to the coastal seas and surface layers of the waters. The dark abyss of the Blue Planet still remains largely an intrigue, a mystery for researchers.
A stone’s throw away from the mystery-veiled ocean depths is a series of «white spots» — glaciers. More precisely, not glaciers proper, but the land expanses covered by them. They are impossible to study due to difficult weather conditions. Antarctica, which is practically entirely under ice, is considered to be the most high-mountain continent. It lies around the South Pole. A layer of ice that is many kilometers deep conceals the unexplored ground in Greenland as well, in a region with a severe Arctic climate. That giant island is known to have 81% of its area covered with ice. It is extremely problematic to carry out researches in Greenland not only because of its location, but also due to its everlasting companions — the wind, the snow and the cold. Therefore the conceptions of the modern science as to the topography of the lands hidden by ice are very relative. One can find out what is really obscured by the centuries-long formation of frozen water only with the help of innovative technologies of the future or, God forbid, in case of the global warming, when the glaciers will start melting. THE UNSTUDIED THICKETS of the Amazon forests are spread with a green dotted line over the white glades of the geographical map of the Earth. The Amazon basin stretches from the Andes to the Atlantic Ocean, between the Guiana Shield and the Brazilian Highlands, in the drainage basin of the river with the highest discharge in the world — the Amazon. Unfortunately, because of continuous climate changes and deforestation, the
area of forestlands shrinks here all the time; the civilization attacks rapaciously in its constant need of traffic arteries, mineral deposits and valuable wood species. Nevertheless there are still virgin places in the depths of Amazonia, which lies at the foot of the Andes. Dense forest and a large number of poisonous animals make that location difficult to approach, this being the reason why scientific expeditions get here quite rarely. Those brave adventurers, however, who manage to reach the jungles of Amazonia, always achieve scientific success. New geographical objects, unknown species of living forms, wild isolated tribes that live unaffected by the evil influence of the modern civilization. Thus the subject matters for studies would suffice for representatives of many scientific disciplines. Let’s move now gradually from the hidden green treasuries of the Amazon forests to deserts. One might think there is nothing to be discovered in a desert. But it turns out, there’s much of it — and even not in the remote corners, but right next to settlements. For example, already in the 21st century an unknown part of the Great Wall of China was found in the South East of the Gobi Desert. Ancient cities and traces of old Indian civilizations are continuously discovered in South American deserts. Therefore we can only guess what wonders and secrets are still kept in other deserts: Sahara, Thar, Karakum, Kyzylkum. Perhaps several thousand years ago in place of the present deserts magnificent old cities were towering. At first sight those sandy wide spaces seem to be «dead zones» nowadays; but in reality, most of the deserts are expanding and live a life of their own. A LITTLE ASIDE FROM THE RESTLESS sun and desert winds, the silent caves are sleeping. It does not matter that caves are not marked on most maps: they are still important mountain geographical objects and the subject of thorough study by speleologists. The ecosystems of caves in densely populated and touristic regions have already been explored. Yet the interior of the Earth still hides a host of enormous, practically inaccessible worlds, populated by unknown animals. Scientists regularly discover new caves, and at times it happens in the most unexpected places: for example, in the Namib Desert or on the volcanic landscapes of Cappadocia. The Land of Beautiful Horses (that is how Cappadocia is translated from the Old Persian) was formerly known for the titanic stone pillars — the geological remnants having the look of stone mushrooms of bizarre forms and silhouettes. However nowadays Cappadocia also attracts visitors by its underground kingdoms. That is because this region of Asia Minor has almost
200 underground cities created several millennia ago. Most of them have been found during the last five decades; hence, at present archaeologists have been actively conducting excavations here. ANOTHER DIRECTION of meticulous scientific studies is underwater caves. The labyrinths of waterways inside rocks are among the most extreme types of explorations. As distinguished from the traditional caves, where the mastery of handling the equipment plays the main role, underwater caves are full of surprises and deadly dangers. Anyhow, humanity is only about to really face the world of caves. IN FACT, THE EARTH BODY bears more than enough white spots. Those are the grand Southern mountains of Colombia, formed out of pre-Cambrian crystalline rocks; the expanses of Papua New Guinea, with its incredible flora and fauna, which remain underexplored because of the wild tribes of cannibals; the sky-high mountains of Gangkhar Puensum on the border of Tibet, China and Bhutan, where, apart from a handful of monks, few people can find their ways around. They are not explored both because of their remoteness and as a result of political and social differences between the three countries. Here also belongs Tristan da Cunha archipelago, where there are practically no reptiles, butterflies and mammals, except for coastal seals and mice that were brought by the people to Gough Island. Although, on that archipelago, namely on Inaccessible Island, one can come across a crested penguin and a peculiar creature, the smallest flightless bird on Earth — the Inaccessible Island rail. «SEVENTY THOUSAND YEARS AGO», as an Israeli historian Yuval Noah Harari writes in his book Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind, «Homo sapiens still was an insignificant animal minding its own business in a corner of Africa. In the following millennia it transformed itself into the master of the entire planet and the terror of the ecosystem». White on azure background is so poetic. The indefinite colour mix in the darkness is much more prosaic. This is the look that the Great Pacific Garbage Patch may acquire in several years. The Patch we are responsible for, which can absorb the ocean, the Earth and us all.
6/2017
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У джунглях Амазонки розсіяні племена, що по сьогодні живуть в кам'яному столітті
У ФОКУСІ
ОКРЕМИХ ВІДЧАЙДУХІВ, ЩО ТАКИ ПОТРАПЛЯЮТЬ У ДЖУНГЛІ АМАЗОНКИ, НЕЗМІННО СУПРОВОДЖУЄ НАУКОВИЙ УСПІХ. НОВІ ГЕОГРАФІЧНІ ОБ’ЄКТИ, НЕВІДОМІ ВИДИ ЖИВИХ ОРГАНІЗМІВ, ДИКІ ІЗОЛЬОВАНІ ПЛЕМЕНА, ЩО ЖИВУТЬ ПОЗА ЗГУБНИМ ВПЛИВОМ СУЧАСНОЇ ЦИВІЛІЗАЦІЇ
THOSE BRAVE ADVENTURERS, HOWEVER, WHO MANAGE TO REACH THE JUNGLES OF AMAZONIA, ALWAYS ACHIEVE SCIENTIFIC SUCCESS. NEW GEOGRAPHICAL OBJECTS, UNKNOWN SPECIES OF LIVING FORMS, WILD ISOLATED TRIBES THAT LIVE UNAFFECTED BY THE EVIL INFLUENCE OF THE MODERN CIVILIZATION
«Кільця відьми» в пустелі Наміб, Намібія
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Антарктика не поспішає здавати позицію останньої terra incognita на планеті