Since the arrival of literate European settlers in what is now KwaZulu-Natal in the second quarter of the nineteenth century, numerous stories about the Drakensberg region have made their way into print. But for every story which happens to have been written down, there are many others which have not, and which are therefore unavailable to us in our aim of wanting to establish a modern-day understanding of the history of the Drakensberg. This applies especially to the stories told by the unlettered San hunter-gatherers and their forebears during the several thousand years for which they inhabited these mountains, and by the isiNtu-speaking black farmers who have lived in the neighboring uplands for the past thousand years or so. But it also applies to the unwritten stories told by European colonizers and their descendants over the last century and a half. The declaration of the uKhahlamba-Drakensberg Park as a World Heritage Site provided an occasion for reflecting on the history and people of the region, from the earliest known times to the present. Constructed from archaeological and written sources, this book highlights the histories of the indigenous San hunter-gatherers and black farmers, as well as of the European colonisers. The accessible text is complemented by photographs of the landscape, rock art and archaeological finds.

Mountainous regions occupy a significant fraction of the Earth's continents and are characterized by specific meteorological phenomena operating on a wide range of scales. Being a home to large human populations, the impact of mountains on weather and hydrology has significant practical consequences. Mountains modulate the climate and create micro-climates, induce different types of thermally and dynamically driven circulations, generate atmospheric waves of various scales (known as mountain waves), and affect the boundary layer characteristics and the dispersion of pollutants. At the local scale, strong downslope winds linked with mountain waves (such as the Foehn and Bora) can cause severe damage. Mountain wave breaking in the high atmosphere is a source of Clear Air Turbulence, and lee wave rotors are a major near-surface aviation hazard. Mountains also act to block strongly stratified air layers, leading to the formation of valley cold air-pools (with implications for road safety, pollution, crop damage, etc.) and gap flows. Presently, neither the fine-scale structure of orographic precipitation nor the initiation of deep convection by mountainous terrain can be resolved adequately by regional-to global-scale models, requiring appropriate downscaling or parameterization. Additionally, the shortest mountain waves need to be parameterized in global weather and climate prediction models, because they exert a drag on the atmosphere. This drag not only decelerates the global atmospheric circulation, but also affects temperatures in the polar stratosphere, which control ozone depletion. It is likely that both mountain wave drag and orographic precipitation lead to non-trivial feedbacks in climate change scenarios. Measurement campaigns such as MAP, T-REX, Materhorn, COLPEX and i-Box provided a wealth of mountain meteorology field data, which is only starting to be explored. Recent advances in computing power allow numerical simulations of unprecedented resolution, e.g. LES modelling of rotors, mountain wave turbulence, and boundary layers in mountainous regions. This will lead to important advances in understanding these phenomena, as well as mixing and pollutant dispersion over complex terrain, or the onset and breakdown of cold air pools. On the other hand, recent analyses of global circulation biases point towards missing drag, especially in the southern hemisphere, which may be due to processes currently neglected in parameterizations. A better understanding of flow over orography is also crucial for a better management of wind power and a more effective use of data assimilation over complex terrain. This Research Topic includes contributions that aim to shed light on a number of these issues, using theory, numerical modelling, field measurements, and laboratory experiments.

Ride the trails and rails across the Wild West with Ferdinand Hayden through this first-ever detailed recounting of the first government-sponsored geological survey of the Wyoming and adjacent territories in 1868. The discovery of new archival material has helped bring the day-to-day adventures of this unique survey to life. Events of the survey are intertwined with one of the most noteworthy events in U.S. history—the building of the transcontinental railroad. Activities of the railroad led Hayden to have serendipitous and influential encounters with famous Civil War generals, railroad executives, politicians, photographers, prominent geologists, and thieves. The results of Hayden's survey provided the earliest descriptive stratigraphic-structural profile across the Rocky Mountains and the initial discovery of dinosaur tracks in western North America. Featuring more than 50 vintage photographs, this volume will appeal to a general audience as well as those interested in the history of geology.

With data by geographic region and for selected localities.

Queensland’s tropics provide numerous environments for enjoyable walking: lush rainforests, cloud-shrouded mountains, extinct volcanoes, savanna woodlands, and magnificent beaches on the coast and Great Barrier Reef islands. This book brings together more than 150 of the best walks, tracks or trails in Queensland’s tropics, located within the coastal strip between Rockhampton and Cooktown. Walks vary from short boardwalk strolls in the lowland rainforests of Daintree National Park to 4-6 day hiking and camping trips on Hinchinbrook Island. Other routes follow old gold miners’ and forestry tracks or coaching routes or feature historical sites, rivers, lagoons, geological and geographical formations or much earlier Aboriginal communication tracks where Dreamtime stories add a further dimension. Man-made environments of abandoned gold towns, heritage riverfronts, Art Deco streetscapes and Second World War installations also feature. Most routes are best completed during the ‘Dry’ season (May to October) and walked by moderately fit individuals. Most do not require specialist navigation or bushcraft skills. Walks, Tracks and Trails of Queensland’s Tropics highlights the best the region has to offer. Easy-to-interpret maps are included to help you navigate, and the book’s size makes it convenient to carry in the backpack.

Part natural history, part poetry, Mountains of the Heart is full of hidden gems and less traveled parts of the Appalachian Mountains Stretching almost unbroken from Alabama to Belle Isle, Newfoundland, the Appalachians are one of the oldest mountain ranges in the world. In Mountains of the Heart, renowned author and avid naturalist Scott Weidensaul shows how geology, ecology, climate, evolution, and 500 million years of history have shaped one of the continent's greatest landscapes into an ecosystem of unmatched beauty. This edition celebrates the book's 20th anniversary of publication and includes a new foreword from the author.