Wednesday, January 02, 2008

Where on (Google) Earth #84



The following picture illustrates a tectonically-controlled climactic process. Name that process along with the location. The Schott Rule is in effect. Obviously, a picture with this much cloud in it is going to go wonky in an oblique view, so we will use the traditional approach.

6 comments:

C W Magee said...

Okay... can anyone tell me where it *isn't*?

Or are y'all content to let the clock run out for Ron?

ScienceWoman said...

I'm too lazy to go hunting for the location, but the process is obviously orographic precipitation.

Ron Schott said...

Don't panic, Chuck. I haven't looked for it yet and I probably won't for another 12 hours at least.

C'mon newbies! You can find this!

Ron Schott said...

Well, ScienceWoman certainly nailed the orographic precipitation angle. Next obvious observation is that the mountain range is trending east-west and the windward side (facing a large, warm body of water) appears to be the south flank. A youthful mountain range probably means an active collisional plate boundary. Throw in the abundance of the vegetation which suggests a location in the tropics. That pretty much rules out the western hemisphere - only candidates there would've been Central America or possibly Cuba or HispaƱola. The range is oriented right for parts of the Alpine-Himalayan chain, but doesn't really resemble those peaks. That pretty much leaves Indonesia and Papua New Guinea, which - based on my familiarity with the imagery - is what popped into my head first anyhow, before deconstructing the reasoning. Starting from the east I found WoGE #84 after about 10 minutes of sightseeing. Sorry newbs!

Ron Schott said...

WoGE #85 is up.

ScienceWoman said...

Damn. Last night I decided that it was probably Papua New Guinea because of the abundant vegetation (i.e., tropical), orientation of the mountain range, and the only correctly oriented tropical mountains high enough to have glacial features were in Papua. But with a baby and the impending start of classes, I am no match for Ron.