When the Mississippi River Went Backwards

Photo courtesy 123rf.com

A series of earthquakes in 1812 caused the mighty Mississippi to flow backwards!  For more information click here.  What did you learn today?

That's Some Salty Water!

Photo courtesy 123rf.com

Earth's oceans have different levels of salinity due to rainfall, evaporation, river runoff, and ice formation.  For more information and lists of oceans' salinity levels click here, and click here.  What did you learn today?

First White-Water Rafting Expedition

Photo courtesy 123rf.com

My favorite summer sport is white-water rafting, and my favorite places to do this are the North Island of New Zealand.  For an action-packed day, try rafting the Tongariro River.  For riverside beauty and a little more relaxed day, try rafting the Mokau River.

The first organized white-water rafting expedition took place in 1842, and was organized by topographer and explorer Lieutenant John Fremont (1813-1890) of the U.S. Army on Nebraska's Platte River.    Among other things, Fremont went on to be the 5th Territorial Governor of Arizona.  For more information click here and click here.

What did you learn today?

Flooding of the Kalahari Desert

Map showing Botswana in blue, courtesy 123rf.com

Every year from June through August the Kalahari Desert in Botswana, South Africa is flooded with water.  Prior to June, the rain in the Angola highlands causes the Okavango River to flood.  Since this river has no outlet to the sea, the overflow rushes down to the desert land and stalls, saturating more than 4,000 square miles (10,359 square kilometers) of the desert floor.  Then the rains stop, and the desert sun dries up the flooded desert again.  During those three months, that area of the desert becomes a lush green, and animals come from miles around to drink and eat and breed.  For more information click here and click here.