Category: Terrain
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Island on an Island
Sometimes an island has a pond or lake that also happens to contain an island. Twelve Mile Circle likes to call that second, subsidiary island an “island-on-an-island.” Beaver Island, Michigan Beaver Island is the largest on Lake Michigan. It contains several lowlands, marshy areas, and ponds which makes it a perfect candidate for islands-on-an-island. We…
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Hydrological Apex of North America
Twelve Mile Circle has discussed watersheds and continental divides before. We’ve crossed the Great Divide in Colorado together. We’ve visited the Red River of the North in Fargo, North Dakota that drains to the Arctic Ocean. And we’ve even mentioned a small corner of Canada that drains into the Gulf of Mexico. So divides are…
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Lowest Elevation in Nepal
This is Mount Everest (map), a topic way to obvious for the Twelve Mile Circle to consider. What could I add? Everyone knows about it, every map of the area shows it, and resources galore focus on its magnificence. Its national attitudinal opposite, however — the lowest elevation in Nepal — is a different story…
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Geography as Pitcher Plant
A pitcher plant feeds carnivorously on unsuspecting insects. Bugs crawl, fly or fall into the plant. They cannot escape. Soon victims drown and slowly dissolve into a soup absorbed by the plant for nutrition. The Situation I read a great article in the Washington Post over the weekend that is still available online: “Drunk Drivers…
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To Hel and Back
Poland’s Hel Peninsula is an odd strip of sand jutting 35 kilometres into the Baltic Sea (map). It cradles the Bay of Puck along its inward side. At its widest point near the tip it reaches perhaps 3 kilometres. However, it slims down to a diminutive 300 metres or less across much of its length.…
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Ice Melts, Border Changes
Borders based on natural features cannot last forever. Topography changes over time, sometimes slowly, sometimes quickly, but invariably it happens. You may have seen a recent article that appeared in CNN, Melting glaciers in Alps forcing Italy and Switzerland to redraw their borders, that proves this point. It’s a fascinating account although the headline is…
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Delaware Trifecta
The Howder Clan found itself in northern Delaware this weekend. Indeed we traveled within the actual Twelve Mile Circle itself which inspired the name of this site. Of course I carved out some time for a few geo-oddities in this very rich concentration of such spots. Some of them I’ve discussed before and others I’ll…
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Wallace Redux
I’ve never been to Wallace, Idaho but I simply couldn’t get that place out of my head in spite of the controversy[1] surrounding its Center of the Universe claim. Seemingly, there is an odd story for each of its 960 residents. This one involves a stoplight. It all comes down to geography and in this…
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Colorado is NOT a Rectangle
Take a look at Colorado. Go ahead, stare at it for awhile. How would you describe its shape? Here’s the question: (a) It’s a rectangle. (b) It’s not a Rectangle I’ve already given you the answer and it’s not a trick question so there’s no way you can earn anything less than an A+ on…
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USA Time Zone Anomalies, Part I
Matthew of the prullmw blog[1] is a regular reader and commentator on the Twelve Mile Circle. Recently he wondered whether I might have an interest in time zone boundaries. Indeed I do! Hopi and Navajo Anomalies I mentioned the whole Arizona, Navajo, Hopi complexity in my response, but I’d been unable to find a decent…