This is probably quibbling, but the Channel Islands and all of coastal California up to San Francisco are on the Pacific plate. The mountain ranges here are all due to interactions between that and the North American plate, and not at all related to the Yellowstone hotspot.
The Appalachian mountains are actually a part of a mountain range that, when the continents were all still stuck together, extended into what is now Africa. So mountains in Morocco are part of the same mountain range as places in Alabama.
There are claims that the Scottish Highlands were there as well but I can’t seem to find anything solid to back them up.
I thought a lot of the accreted terranes that forced up the land around those western states was formed either by the Yellowstone hotspot or a spreading ridge (now swallowed up under North America). Anyway, the geology around that part of the world is fascinating.
Oh, for anything interior, you’re right. It’s just the coastal regions of California that are dominated by the San Andreas and other faults along the plate boundaries.
I love looking at the landforms as I drive through California. Coastal vs high desert vs low desert vs Owens valley vs Sierras–it’s all very different and interesting to see. And then up into Nevada and Utah…
The link between mountains of eastern North America and the Scottish Highlands was likely earlier than the Central Pangean Mountains:
The Caledonians, in fact, seem to be the specific mountains that @Fiendish_Astronaut posted about. They preceded the Central Pangean Mountains which formed when Laurussia ** and Gondwana crashed into each other to form Pangea.
** easily confused with Laurasia, which was a product of Pangea’s later breakup.
Near Harper’s Ferry, WV, if you drive east on US 340 from Loudon Heights Overlook across the Potomac River towards the little village of Sandy Hook, MD, you’ll drive from WV through VA to MD in less than one mile. In fact, you’re in Maryland as soon as you get on the bridge, because the border is on the south side of the river.
Loudoun Heights Overlook
I didn’t even know Carmen Miranda came from a Portuguese speaking country. I’d always assumed she was from one of the Spanish speaking countries, and that it was in the Americas.
I’ve been watching this geologist’s YouTube lectures about mostly the Pacific northwest but it’s so interesting: Nick Zentner - YouTube
Worth checking out his Downtown lectures or 101 series.
When we went to High Cliff State Park on the north eastern corner of Lake Winnebago, I learned that the formation was part of the Niagara Escarpment. Which seemed disorienting, because we were a hell of a long way away from Buffalo.
TIL that the Netherlands has 4 volcanoes, two of them active. Admittedly, the active ones are in the Netherlands West Indies, but the other two (extinct for the last ~150 million years) are in the European territory - on in the Zuider Zee and the other in the Dutch area of the North Sea. List of volcanoes in the Netherlands - Wikipedia
She was born in Portugal and spoke Portuguese, but she was brought up in the Americas because her family moved to Brazil when she was very young.
Today I learned that the name of the dog on the famous National Lampoon “If you don’t buy this magazine, we’ll shoot this dog” cover was named Cheeseface. And that three years after that magazine cover, someone actually tracked the dog down and shot him.
A different telling of the events, from here:
However, sadly enough, someone later found Cheeseface in his house, thinking it was an intruder and shot him by accident.
This appears to be a more thorough account:
I guess that means there is no such thing as a vegan traditional Japanese calligrapher.
If one-eighth of a pie isn’t enough but one-sixth would be too much- or if maybe you have exactly seven people- they sell one-seventh pie dividers.
I just learned about Alnwick Gardens in England, a conservatory featuring the most daugerous plantlife in the world, founded by a duchess who inherited the estate and started the deadly garden because she was bored.
We used these way back in the 70s when I waitressed during high school. What I found interesting is that our restaurant had a couple of pie cutters that allowed you to adjust the size, presumably based on whether or not the person was either a friend, or looked like they needed an extra large slice.
The Montreal Botanical Gardens has a toxic plants garden. Nothing so fancy, though.
https://espacepourlavie.ca/en/gardens-and-greenhouses/toxic-plants-garden
The 18-hour New York-Singapore non-stop flight flies eastward over Europe and Asia. The return flight (Singapore-New York) also flies eastward - over the Pacific and North America. This is due to the tailwinds.
A YouTuber did the round trip in 41 hours - i.e. circling the globe.
Flying on the World’s LONGEST Flight TWICE IN A ROW - 37 Hours in the air - YouTube