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Geography Portal!!

Geography Action Week - Mystery Images

Here is some information about each photo - did you guess correctly??

This image was taken in Kent (southeast England) in late August. The farmer has harvested a field of wheat leaving just the stubble (the bottom of the stalks). The ground is badly cracked due to the extremely dry summer in this area. Many farmers have also had a low yield (the amount of grain they harvest) due to the lack of rain needed by the wheat as it grows. It is unusual to see ground so badly cracked in this country. An additional problem is that on many farms the seed sown in the early autumn (September/October) has failed to germinate and this may now affect next years early wheat crop.

This image was taken in Iceland and shows a small geyser. The water is very hot and every so often a fountain of hot water shoots up into the air. The water is heated by the hot magma which is underground. In Iceland they pipe the hot water into schools, hospitals and homes to provide cheap, environmentally-friendly energy. It is called geothermal energy.

This image was taken on a glacier in the Alps. It is a photo of what glaciologists call an erratic (a large boulder carried by ice). As the glacier moves very slowly downhill, the boulder is carried with it. When the ice eventually melts, the boulder will be deposited, perhaps miles away from where it first fell on to the ice. It is looking a little like a 'mushroom' because the sun cannot melt the ice directly under the boulder!

This image was taken in London Docklands (near to where 'Eastenders' is based). It is a derelict flour mill. About 30 years ago, ships came up the River Thames with grain from America and here it was turned into flour. Now the docks are all closed and the land is being used for houses and offices (have you heard of 'Canary Wharf'?)

This image was taken on a farm in Kent (southeast England). The farmer has used old tyres to weigh down the black plastic. Underneath the black plastic sheets is silage. In the late summer, the farmer cuts the tall grass from one of his fields and quickly brings it to this area where it is covered up and all the air squeezed out. It will provide fodder (food) for the cattle on the farm in the winter months when the grass no longer grows and the cattle are mainly kept indoors.

This image was taken outside the United Nations building in New York, USA. A possible clue is the line of flags in the background. The gun is one of several sculptures in the grounds that have been donated by different countries. This photo shows a sculpture entitled 'Non-Violence' - it was donated to the United Nations by Luxembourg. The gun is several metres long and very realistic!