Trees all over the world

Araucaria araucana

The Araucaria araucana is a tree in the genus Araucaria. Known as Monkey Puzzle, it grows to 40 metres tall with a 2 metres trunk diameter. Its native habitat is the Chilean and Argentinian slopes of the south-central Andes.

The leaves are thick, tough, triangular, with sharp edges and tip. What concerns the reproduction, it is usually dioecious, with the male and female cones on separate trees. The tree is wind pollinated.

In the genus Araucaria there are 19 extant species distributed in the south hemisphere, with species in New Guinea, Australia and Brazil, for example. For more information, click here.

Araucaria araucana. Source: http://www.elicriso.it/es/como_cultivar/araucaria/

Ficus sycomorus

The Ficus sycomorus is a fig species, called sycamore fig or just sycamore. It grows to 20 m tall and 6 m wide. The leaves are heart shaped. It is native to Africa and there the trees are usually found in rich soils along rivers and in mixed woodlands. The fruit is a large edible fig, with 2 to 3 cm in diameter. For more information, click here.

Ficus sycomorus. Source: http://www.flickriver.com/photos/oom_piet/3691645326/

Caesalpinia echinata (Pau brasil)

The Caesalpinia echinata is a famous brazilian tree known as Pau Brasil. It's a tree in the pea family. It has an orange-red heartwood, and it is used for making bows for stringed instruments. That's because of it Brazil received its name. When the Portuguese navigators arrived in 1500, the pau-brasil was extremely abundant in the whole brazilian coast. Because of its exploration since the 16th century, the specie is nearly extirpated. For more information, click here.

Caesalpinia echinata. Source: http://www.sabianatureza.com.br/wp-content/uploads/2013/09/pau_brasil_03.jpg

Ocmulgee River

During the field trip to the Ocmulgee River, in Macon-GA, a collection of data allowed us to estimate the transection's elevation of the Ocmulgee River.
Using the software Google Earth, we were able to see the area from above and extract the elevation profile, both seeing below.

Near the point studied, there is a trail all long the riverside, the Ocmulgee Heritage Greenway. The path is a must see ride. You can check more informations here.

The Mistery of the Megaflood

The  Mystery of the Megaflood is a documentery aired by PBS that investigate the unusual landscapes of Channeled Scablands, in the state of Washington.
The geologists worked as detectives, behind clues that could explain the bizarre features at the valley. At first, it seemed to be related to rivers that may have come through the valley. But there were somethings that could not be explained by a river action, like de giant puddles.
The other hypothesis that would explain that would be ice. A slow-moving ice originated from the last Ice Age would explain the valley formation. However, the ice sheets that flowed down from Canada during the last Ice Age never reached the Scablands.
The last theory, the most outrageous, said it was a result from an enormous catastrophe that happened almost overnight: a single giant flood, resulted from the rupture of a ice dam in the Glacial Lake Missoula.
More than one megaflood may be happened. Ice dams collapsed and re-formed in a cycle that rocked the Scablands again and again.

Drumheller Channels. Source: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/55/Drum-Heller-Channels.jpg