Wiki Categories: Map Features

Mount Teide

  • Mount Teide is an active Volcano on the island of Tenerife in the Canary Islands.
  • Mount Teide casts the world’s largest shadow over the sea, at dawn and dusk, stretching for 25 miles (40km) in the shape of a perfect triangle.

Dimensions

  • Mount Teide reaches a height of 12,198 feet (3,718 m), and its peak is often covered in snow.
  • It is the highest Island in the Atlantic, and a navigation mark to shipping. The other Canary Islands can all be seen from the top of Mount Teide.

Description

  • Mount Teide and its surrounding area is part of the Teide National Park, a UNESCO World Heritage Sites, located on the island of Tenerife.
  • Tenerife is part of the Spanish Canary Islands, which makes Mount Teide the highest mountain in Spain.
  • The last eruption on Mount Teide was in 1909 CE, from a side vent.
  • The Black lava that covers the sides of the volcano are from a summit eruption in c. 850 CE.

Roman Prime Meridian

  • In Ptolemy's Geographia (c.150 CE), the Roman Prime Meridian or Zero Degrees Longitude was located in the Canary Islands and centred on Mount Teide in Tenerife.
  • The Netherlands used Mount Teide as the Prime Meridian from the 1640’s until 1826.
  • However, El Hierro is the furthest island west of the Canary Islands and of the ‘Old World’ before the discovery of America in 1492. El Hierro was used as the Prime Meridian for over 500 years by various European nations, including France from 1634.

Active Volcanoes

 

Mt. Teide, Tenerife

Inner Hebrides

  • The Inner Hebrides are an Archipelago of islands close to the western coast of Scotland, which are distinct from the Outer Hebrides which lie further to the west.
  • There consist of 35 inhabited Islands and 43 uninhabited Islands.

Description

  • The Inner Hebrides consists of three large Islands:
  • And many smaller islands such as:

 

Inner Hebrides, Isle of Mull

Staffa

  • Staffa is an uninhabited island located 6 miles (10 km) west of Mull in the Inner Hebrides. Staffa was named by the Vikings, and meant ‘pillar island’ in Old Norse.
  • It differs from the other islands geologically, as it consists of vertical hexagonal Basalt columns underneath a mass of Paleocene Lava.

Fingal’s Cave

  • Fingal’s Cave is a sea cave inside Staffa, the interior of which is lined by the vertical hexagonal Basalt columns. It has similar acoustics to that of a cathedral.
  • In 1829 Felix Mendelssohn visited Staffa and Fingal’s Cave and was inspired to write an overture ‘The Hebrides’ Op. 26, which is also called the ‘Fingal’s Cave Overture’ or the ‘Hebridean Overture’.
  • Jules Verne visited Fingal’s Cave and used it in his novels ‘The Green Ray’ written in 1882, and ‘Journey to the centre of the earth’ written in 1864.
  • In 1832 J.M.W. Turner visited the island and painted ‘Staffa: Fingal’s Cave’.
  • Queen Victoria also visited Staffa and Fingal’s Cave, as did the poets Keats, Tennyson, Wordsworth and Sir Walter Scott.

Similar Geological Structures

  • Ulva, another island nearby to Mull and Staffa, also has some similar Hexagonal Basalt columns.
  • Giant's Causeway in Northern Ireland consists of similar Hexagonal Basalt columns of varying heights.
  • Drumadoon Point on the Isle of Arran.
  • Studlagil Canyon in Iceland.

 

Staffa

Opone

Description

The Archeological Site

  • The archeological site of Opone was found near the modern day port of Hafun in Somalia.
  • It was excavated by the British Archeologist Neville Chittick, on behalf of the Somali Government, between October to December in 1975 CE.

 

Hafun, Somalia

Lead

  • The Romans mined Lead from Mines in Britannia, Germania, Baetica and Sardinia.
  • The Lead Ingots were stamped with the Emperor’s name and the name of the Mine or franchisee and sent to Rome where they were then sold to buyers throughout the Empire.

Description

  • Metal was the Property of the State, and so of the Roman Emperor.
  • The Mines were run by a Franchisee who paid the State a Lump Sum, then had to recover his Investment.
  • The Finished Product was turned into Lead Ingots, which were then stamped with the Emperor’s Stamp and sent to Rome.
  • Lead Ingots have been found at Docksides in both London and Arles awaiting transhipment. Britain had Lead Mines in Charterhouse in the Mendips and Carmel in Flintshire
  • It seems the Mines in the West, sent the Ingots to Rome where it was exported elsewhere in the Roman Empire.
  • There was probably a commodities market in Rome, where the State sold the Ingots it received.

Use

  • Lead was used in sheets for lining the interior of aqueducts and to sheath the hulls of sea going vessels.
  • It was used to make lead pipes for the distribution of water in towns and cities.
  • Lead was also used to make dishes, pots, coins and as a base in paint manufacture.

Ingots found from Mines in Britannia:

  • LONDON, Britannia Lead Ingot in the Museum of London.
    • “IMP VESPASIAN AVG” (top)”EMPEROR VESP AUGUSTUS”.
    • “BRIT EX ARG VEB” (side) “BRITISH SILVER MINES” –
  • BROUGH, BRITANNIA LEAD INGOT:
    • “SOC LUT BRIT EX ARG” – “SOCIETY OF LUTUDARUM” . This was the name of the company that mined the Lead.
  • CARMEL, BRITANNIA LEAD INGOT:
    • “G (gaius) NIPI P(product) ASCANI”, from Carmel in Flintshire, bearing the merchant’s name.

Ingots found from Mines in Germania:

  • Found in ARLES, GAUL, a LEAD INGOT, now in the Musee de Arles Antique.
    • “IMP CAES PLUM GERM” – “EMPEROR CAESAR LEAD FROM GERMANIA”
    • “ILUCIUS FLAVIUS VERUCLA” – “AN OFFICIAL IN LOWER GERMANY” meaning the Merchant who extracted and shipped the lead
  • Found in CORINTH, ACHAEA (GREECE) a LEAD INGOT found near a breakwater at Aigera, Gulf of Corinth, Greece.
    • “IMP DOMT CAESARIS AVG GER”  ‘EMPEROR DOMITIAN FROM GERMANIA’

Ingots found from Mines in Hispania:

  • HISPANIA LEAD INGOT, probably from the Lead Mines located near the Rio Tinto.
    • “SOC M C PONTILIENI ORUM M F” ‘MARCUS AND CAIUS PONTILIENI AND SERVANT PHILIP’.

 

Tropical Cyclones

Description

  • They develop over warm water, can have a diameter of between 60-1,240 miles (100-1,100km) and are characterised by heavy rain and squalls with wind speeds between 64 to over 140 knots.
  • There are almost no Cyclones south of Latitude 5° North, and they usually lose strength when they pass over land.

Northern Indian Ocean

  • Cyclones occur in the Northern Indian Ocean, east of the Horn of Africa and west of the Malay Peninsula.
  • This area divides into two main Seas, the Arabian Sea up to Sri Lanka, and the Bay of Bengal from Sri Lanka to the Malay Peninsular.

Cyclone Season

  • The Season varies, but usually operates between May to December, with the worst month for cyclones being November.
  • The direction of a cyclone varies, but tends to develop in the Bay of Bengal, and then track North, Northwest or West, occasionally turning unexpectedly. The cyclone usually makes landfall in Eastern India and Bangladesh, but they occasionally track across the Arabian Sea to Somalia and Socotra.

During the Age of Sail

Going East

  • Sailing ships used the South West Monsoon (May to September).
    • Aden to Sri Lanka, the Arabian Sea.
      • Sailing ships departed in July as there are no cyclones in the Arabian Sea during August.
      • They returned with the Northwest Monsoon in starting in October.
    • Sri Lanka to Singapore, the Bay of Bengal.
      • Sailing vessels had to leave Sri Lanka no later than early October to avoid the worst cyclone month of November. May or June being the best months to cross as cyclones are rare.
      • Calms can be encountered at any time of year.
      • In the event of encountering a cyclone, the vessel turned due south, as below Five Degrees Latitude North, there are no cyclones.
    • Singapore to Hong Kong, the South China Sea.
      • There is no safe month during the cyclone season of May to December. However, below the Five Degree Latitude North there are no cyclones. The best months to sail are May and June as destructive cyclones are rare. Sailing during January, February and March wa safe, but the vessel had to tack against the North Westerly Monsoon.

Going West

  • In the reverse direction, going West, sailing vessels used the Northeast Monsoon (October to March).

 

The Indian Ocean and the South China Sea

Vindobona

  • Vindobona was a Roman Legionary Fortress now located in Vienna in Austria. Its Remains are in the Roemer Museum in Vienna.
  • It was founded in c.15 BCE as a Roman Legionary Fortress on the Danube in the Province of Pannonia Superior.

Roman Site and Museum

  • Roemer Museum
    • Located at Hoher Markt 3, 1010 Vienna.
    • This is part of the Vienna Museums and is built over the ruins of the Roman Fortress.
    • The museum holds the Remains of Buildings from the Fortress and objects found in excavations.

Legions

 

Romermuseum, Vienna

Zero Meridian

Zero Meridian (Prime Meridian)

The Zero Meridian, also known as the Prime Meridian, is the zero degree of Longitude that passes through Greenwich in London.

The Roman Prime Meridian

Roman Prime Meridian

In Ptolemy's Geographia (c. 150 CE), the Roman Prime Meridian, also known as Zero Degrees Longitude, was based in the Canary Islands and centred on Mount Teide in Tenerife.

This meridian served as the reference point for longitude in the ancient Roman world long before the modern Greenwich standard was adopted.

Roman Astronomy and Ptolemy

Roman Astronomy

The greatest Roman astronomer was Ptolemy (c. 90–168 CE), who produced a revolutionary star catalogue known as the Almagest. This work predicted the position of any planet at any time of day or night on any day of the year and identified 48 Constellations.

Legacy of Ptolemy’s Astronomical System

Despite modelling the Solar System with the Earth at the centre rather than the Sun, Ptolemy’s ideas dominated astronomy for nearly 1,400 years. His geocentric system remained authoritative until 1543 CE, when Copernicus introduced the heliocentric system, fundamentally changing humanity’s understanding of the cosmos.

 

 

Greenwich Prime Meridian

Land of Punt

  • Queen Hatshepsut, the Pharaoh of Egypt between c.1479-1458 BCE, sent a fleet of 5 ships to the Land of Punt, which returned with Myrrh and Frankincense.
  • The expedition was recorded on the walls of Hatshepsut’s Temple at the Deir ei-Bahari complex of Mortuary Temples. The location of the Land of Punt has not been confirmed but was probably Somalia.

 

Puntland, Somalia

Hesperides

  • The Hesperides, or ‘Ladies of the West’, were a group of islands in the Atlantic whose location is unknown but is referred to by Roman Historians.
  • Pliny the Elder stated that the time taken to sail from the Gorgades to the Hesperides was 40 days.

Possible Locations in the Atlantic

  • The Hesperides may have been further around the Cape of West Africa in the Gulf of Guinea, or across the Atlantic in the Caribbean:
  • Sao Tome and Principe
    • These islands lie in the Gulf of Guinea to the east of the Cape Verde Islands.
  • Caribbean Islands
    • These islands lie to the west of the Cape Verde Islands.

Gorgades

  • Cape Verde Islands (Gorgades)
    • Pliny the Elder also quotes the Greek Zenophon of Lampsacus sas saying that the Gorgades were two days sail from Hesperu Ceras (Cap-Vert, the most western point of Africa).
    • This would tend to identify them with the Cape Verde Islands.

Fortunate Islands

  • Known to the Romans as the ‘Insulae Canarius’, they were also thought to be the ‘Fortunate Islands‘ or ‘Islands of the Blessed’ in Greek Mythology.
  • During 1 BCE Augustus planned a circumnavigation of Africa from Egypt to Mogador, but it was not undertaken.
  • According to Pliny the Elder, ten years later in 10 CE during the reign of Augustus, a Roman Expedition from Mogador in Morocco, explored the Canary Islands, Madeira and possibly the Cape Verde Islands.
  • Pliny the Elder wrote that they found no people only dogs. ‘Canarius’ is dog in Latin, and so he called them the ‘Insulae Canarius’.
  • Ptolemy used Mount Teide, in the Canary Islands as the Roman Prime Meridian or Zero Meridian of the Roman World Chart in c. 150 CE.

 

Sao Tome and Principe