Highest cold water geyser

27 September 2014 by admin
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The highest ‘cold water’ geyser is the Geysir Andernach, which typically blows water to heights of 30-60 m (98-196 ft), and is located in Andernach, Germany. Unlike naturally-occurring hot water geysers, so-called ‘cold-water’ geysers are formed by cold ground water dissolving large amounts of carbon dioxide (released through cracks from the Earth’s upper mantle) and effectively ‘charging’ the water (similar to a soda bottle); this charged underground water then erupts from a drilled well. The Andernach well is 350 m (1,148 ft) deep and was Continue reading →

Highest commercial decelerator descent

27 September 2014 by admin
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The highest commercial decelerator descent facility is Sky Jump Las Vegas at the Stratosphere Casino, Hotel & Tower, measuring 252 m (829 ft) in Las Vegas, Nevada, USA, opened on 20 April 2010. Jumpers leap off a platform outside the 108th floor of the Stratosphere’s iconic tower at the north end of the Las Vegas strip. The average speed per rider is between 40-50 mph on the way down before deceleration begins shortly before the landing point.

Highest concentration of lightning

27 September 2014 by admin
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The highest concentration of lightning, according to NASA´s Global Hydrology and Climate Center is 158 lightning bolts per km² (409 per mi²) every year, received by an area near the town of Kikuka, in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. According to NASA’s Global Hydrology and Climate Center, an area near the town of Kifuka, Democratic Republic of the Congo, receives 158 lightning bolts per km² (409 per mi²) every year. Year round activity occurs as the climate in central Africa changes only slightly with the seasons. Continue reading →

Highest concentration of Eocene whales

27 September 2014 by admin
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Wadi Al-Hitan (Valley of the Whales), is a protected area of some 20,015 ha in the Western Desert of Egypt. Fossil whales were first discovered here in 1905 and, since then, some 379 have been discovered, dating from the Eocene period, 56 to 34 million years ago. These whales cover an evolutionary period of 4 million years, from when the valley was beneath the Tethys Sea. Many of these fossils reveal that, during this period, ancient whales were in the process of losing their hind Continue reading →

Highest commercially navigable lake

27 September 2014 by admin
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The highest commercially navigable lake is Lake Titicaca, which lies in the Altiplano at a height of 3,810 m (12,500 ft) above sea level on the Andean border between Peru and Bolivia. Its surface area covers approximately 8,300 km² (3,200 miles²) and has an average depth of between 140-180 m (460-590 ft), i.e. deep enough for the safe passage of commercial vessels. The freshwater lake also sustains an archipelago of over 40 floating islands made entirely from boyant totora reeds, and which are home to Continue reading →

Highest consumption of cigarettes (country)

27 September 2014 by admin
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The world’s largest consumer of cigarettes, in terms of volume purchased, is China with 1.69 trillion cigarettes sold in 2002. With a global consumption in 2000 of 5.5 trillion this means that approximately one in every three cigarettes smoked today is smoked in China. The 1998 list from WHO & 2002 update from The Economist (18/10/03): 1. China 1,643 billion (1998); 1.69 trillion (2002) 2. USA 451 billion (1998); 410 billion (2002) 3. Japan 328 billion (1998); 310 billion (2002) 4. Russia 258 billion (1998); 300 Continue reading →

Highest concentration of uncontacted tribes

27 September 2014 by admin
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According the human rights organisation Survival International, there are approximately 100 uncontacted tribes in the world today. More than half of these are believed to live in the Amazon rain forest in the Brazil-Peru region. Many of these tribes choose to have no contact with the outside world, sometimes by exhibiting hostility to outsiders, including neighbouring tribes.