Geology of the Appalachian Mountains

The Appalachian Mountain range is one of the oldest continental mountain systems in the world. The tallest mountain in the range is the 6,684-foot Mount Mitchell, located in North Carolina. Compared with the Rocky Mountains of western North America, which have 50 plus peaks over 14,000 feet in elevation, the Appalachians are rather modest in height. At their tallest, however, they rose to Himalayan-scale heights before being weathered and eroded down over the past ~200 million years. A Physiographic Overview The Appalachian Mountains trend southwest to northeast from central Alabama all the way to Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada. Along this 1,500-mile path, the system is split up into 7 different physiographic provinces  that  contain distinct geologic backgrounds. In the southern section, the Appalachian Plateau and Valley and Ridge provinces make up the western border of the system and are composed of sedimentary rocks like sandstone, limestone, and shale. To the east lie the Blue Ridge Mountains and Piedmont, composed primarily of metamorphic and igneous rocks.  In some areas, like Red Top Mountain in northern Georgia or Blowing Rock in northern North Carolina, the rock has eroded down to where one can see basement rocks that formed over a billion years ago during the Grenville Orogeny.   The northern Appalachians are made up of two parts: the St. Lawrence Valley, a small region defined by the St. Lawrence River and St. Lawrence rift system, and the New England province, which formed hundreds of millions of years ago and owes much of its present topography to recent glacial episodes. Geologically speaking, the Adirondack Mountains are quite different than the Appalachian Mountains; however, they are included by the USGS in the Appalachian Highland region.   Geologic History To a geologist, the rocks of the Appalachian Mountains reveal a billion-year story of violent continental collisions and the subsequent mountain building, erosion, deposition and/or volcanism that came with. The geologic history of the area is complex but can be broken down into four major orogenies, or mountain building events. It is important to remember that between each of these orogenies, millions of years of weathering and erosion wore the mountains down and deposited sediment in the surrounding areas. This sediment was often subjected to intense heat and pressure as the mountains were uplifted again during the next orogeny.   Grenville Orogeny: This mountain-building event occurred around 1 billion years ago, creating the supercontinent Rodinia. The collision formed tall mountains along with the igneous and metamorphic rocks that make up the very core of the Appalachians. The supercontinent began to break apart around 750 million years ago and by 540 million years ago, an ocean (the Iapetus Ocean) existed between the paleocontinents.  Taconic Orogeny: Approximately 460 million years ago, as the Iapetus Ocean was closing, a volcanic island arc chain collided with the North American Craton.  The remnants of these mountains can still be seen in the Taconic Range of New York.Acadian Orogeny: Starting 375 million years ago, this mountain-building episode occurred as the Avalonian terrane collided with the North American Craton. The collision did not happen head on, as it struck the northern section of the protocontinent and then slowly moved southward. Index minerals show us that the Avalonian terrane stru ck the North American craton at different times and with different collisional forces.Alleghanian Orogeny: This event (sometimes referred to as the Appalachian orogeny) formed the supercontinent Pangea ~325 million years ago. The ancestral North American and African continents collided, forming Himalayan-scaled mountain chains known as the Central Pangean Mountains. The modern-day Anti-Atlas Mountains of northwestern Africa were part of this chain. The mountain building ended some 265 million years ago, and the ancestral North American and African continents began drifting apart ~200 million years ago (and continue to do so to this day). The Appalachians have weathered and eroded away over the past hundreds of millions of years, leaving only remnants of the mountain system that once reached record heights. The strata of the Atlantic Coastal Plain are made up of sediment from their weathering, transportation, and deposition.

Dark Side of Science - Free Essay Example

Sample details Pages: 3 Words: 1014 Downloads: 6 Date added: 2017/09/18 Category Science Essay Type Argumentative essay Did you like this example? â€Å"Only guard yourself and guard your soul carefully, lest you forget the things your eyes saw, and lest these things depart your heart all the days of your life. And you shall make them known to your children, and to your children’s children. † Deuteronomy 4:9. (USHMM) Were the experiments that the Nazi’s conducted on the Jew’s beneficial or detrimental to the advancement of science? I think to understand the question we must understand the why, of the situation. For example Dr. Fritz Klein’s response to Dr. Ella Lingens-Reiner when she asked, â€Å"How can you reconcile that (the ash coming from the chimneys) with your oath as a doctor? His answer was, â€Å"Of course I am a doctor and I want to preserve life. And out of respect for human life, I would remove a gangrenous appendix from a diseased body. The Jew is the gangrenous appendix in the body of mankind. †(Lifton 12) Reichsfuhre Josef Mengle was known as the â€Å"Angel o f Death†. Mengle’s area of expertise was genetics and twins. He wrote his medical dissertation on how the structure of the lower jaw differed between the races. The twins he kept as pets, isolating them from the rest of the camp, giving them treats of candy and clothes, bribing them for before he would perform horrific experiments on them. The twins would endure daily blood draws and injections in the eye in hopes that he (Mengle) would be able to change their eye color. He even went so far as to sew a set of twins together to see if he could create â€Å"Siamese twins†. On Mengle’s orders, children suffering from noma were put to death in order for pathology investigations to be carried out. Organs and even complete heads of children were preserved and sent in jars to institutions including the Medical Academy in Graz, Austria. (Bard 1) More often than not, there was no real medical knowledge gained from any of his experiments. Sigmund Rascher howev er focused his experiments on high altitude sickness and hypothermia on Dachau camp prisoners. (Harvard) The experiments of high altitude were meant to push the limits of human endurance and existence. Prisoners were often placed in a low pressure chamber and the pressure was raised within. Most died, some did not. The hypothermia experiments were also meant to test the strength of the human body. The purpose behind these experiments, were to find the most effective way to re-warm a person who had been exposed to freezing temperatures. Bard 1) Carl Clauberg also had Auschwitz prisoners at his disposal; he injected chemical substances into women’s uterus’ and ovaries to find a â€Å"cheap and effective method of sterilization†. Herta Oberheuser, killed children with oil and evipan injections. Her â€Å"research† (and I use that term loosely) focused on deliberately inflicting wounds on prisoners, to simulate the combat wounds of German soldiers. Oberheuser would rub wood, rusty nails, slivers of glass, dirt and sawdust into the wounds of prisoners. (Bard 1) Karl Brandt preformed Sulfanilamide experiments at Ravensbrueck between July 1942 September 1943. These experiments were conducted for the benefit of the German soldiers. These experiments were to test the effectiveness of sulfanilamide and other drugs as treatments for infected wounds. (Sulfa drug testing was also going on in other parts of the world). Brant was also instrument in the study on bone, muscle, nerve regeneration, and bone transplant experiments. These also were preformed on inmates at the Ravensbrueck camp. (Harvard) The pro and cons of Germany’s bio-medical vision. The experiments that the Nazi’s preformed on the Jew’s were varied. But how has these crimes committed against man benefited or hurt the advancement of medicine. But what we have to understand is that science is amoral. (Orac 1) It is the people who use science, use it as a me thod, a tool for measuring things, it is these people whose morals the experiments reflect. For example a chainsaw is just that; a chainsaw, it has no notion of right or wrong, as a tool it can be used for evil or good. It is the person wielding the chainsaw one must worry about. The same can be said about the Nazi doctors, they were so focused on their Aryan bio-medical vision, they didn’t see the forest for the trees. However, they did produce some rather life altering inventions, such as: the electron microscope and they established the link between asbestos and lung cancer. â€Å"In addition Nazi Germany also forbid the use of the pesticide DDT on the grounds that it was a health hazard and instead used a german produced version known as cyclone-b. † (Kemp 1) â€Å"Also Nazi scientist were among the first in the world to warn of the dangers of radiation; asbestos, lead, cadmium, and mercury. † (Kemp 1) â€Å"Indeed German physicist and engineers develope d what was in essence the first cruise missile (V-1)† (Orac 1) In conclusion I believe that the Third Reich Regime did stumble upon some very amazing medical findings. However the results of the experiments are unreliable do to the poor health of the patients, in combination with their unhealthy living conditions. The information the scientific community has learned is invaluable. And while the experiments themselves remain un-reproducible, and the lives are un-replaceable, we as a society are armed with a knowledge that no one can take away. â€Å"Never shall I forget that night, the first night in camp, which has turned my life into one long night, seven times cursed and seven times sealed. Never shall I forget that smoke. Never shall I forget the little faces of the children, whose bodies I saw turned into wreaths of smoke beneath a silent blue sky. Never shall I forget those flames which consumed my faith forever. Never shall I forget that nocturnal silence which de prived me, for all eternity, of the desire to live. Never shall I forget those moments which murdered my God and my soul and turned my dreams to dust. Never shall I forget these things, even if I am condemned to live as long as God Himself. Never. † (Wiesel 32) Don’t waste time! Our writers will create an original "Dark Side of Science" essay for you Create order

What Everybody Dislikes About Best Friend Essay Samples and Why

What Everybody Dislikes About Best Friend Essay Samples and Why What Best Friend Essay Samples Is - and What it Is Not There are an infinite number of quantities of tattoos that will get the job done for best friends. There are a number of places to have ideas for the best friend tattoos. In addition, a tattoo of the greatest friends face, birthday, name or initials might not be the ideal idea. As it is going to be in May, we would like to plant beautiful flowers in her garden. What Everybody Dislikes About Best Friend Essay Samples and Why Bridget's essay is extremely strong, but there continue to be a couple little things that could be made better. The fight becomes quite serious and we met the principal to address the matter. You ought to be proficient in the topic, have an overall idea about the chosen issue and figure out how to get the best arguments to show your thesis. In the principal body of the friendship essay it is possible to elaborate on the aforementioned su bjects, using them as cornerstones. Free Best Friend essay samples can be found FreeEssayHelp with no payment or registration. Inside this Book is my very best friend' essay, I'll demonstrate that books still remain our finest friends for the reason that they might be outdated as physical objects, but much less an idea. Therefore, before you pay to write essay for you, make certain that you have taken necessary measures to make sure that you my very best friend essays are choosing the appropriate professionals and service who can write quality my very best friend essays papers for you. Browsing our essay my very best friend essays writing samples can provide you an idea whether the standard of our essays is the quality you are searching for. New Questions About Best Friend Essay Samples Occasionally it's helpful to observe how others were able to get over the difficult first-line hump. It's a person who is always prepared to come to assist you, somebody who understands you and doesn't ask questions if you don't wi sh to. A friend will permit you to win sometimes especially if he's too fantastic that you beat in a for instance a game like chess. Someone is never likely to feel alone in the existence of books. The True Meaning of Best Friend Essay Samples Bear in mind however, that the choice to have a dog is a significant one that shouldn't be dismissed. The time and effort spent taking care of your dog is going to be returned to you in the shape of the lifelong loyalty and friendship that you are going to receive from your dog. You have to attempt to trace your friends' behavior to a particular event once you're confident that they're ignoring you. A friend also attempts to make you truly feel good about yourself especially whenever you have confidence problems and your ego is shattered. Let's take a better look at a number of the things that could demonstrate the real value of friendship. You have to be sure your friends are deliberately ignoring you before you jump to conclusions that may bring a stop to your friendship. A friend is a person who's with you in positive and negative times, somebody who shares your joys and sorrows. Carefully observe your friendship and watch out for a few of these obvious indications your friend could be ignoring you. A friend corrects you once you are in the incorrect. It's normal and at times inevitable to be attracted to your very best friend. Thus, what really makes a friend your very best friend. If your friend loves nature, you can present your friend a gift that is constructed of recycled materials of all sort. Make sure you're likely to watch your friend's beloved team. Generally, it's difficult to get a single and direct definition of the very best friend. You don't need to bow to fashion and purchase the most stylish and pricey clothes, but maybe a very simple move away from the too-short-pants and bright over-sized sweatshirt will aid your child be among the gang. In the realm of animals man's best friend is referred to as a dog. Friendship is having the capability to cry together. It is the relationship between two or many friends. They are not born overnight, but they can be lost almost as quickly. They are very important in life.

The Secret History free essay sample

The prologue, as in many works of literature, is used as a way of gripping the reader – making one enthralled in the text, introducing themes that reoccur throughout the text (for example the narrator’s journey in this particular novel), along with characters, and the style of writing used. Within the first few lines of the prologue, we learn that ‘Bunny’ is dead, yet we are not told exactly who he is or why he was killed, which adds to the tension that builds up until the inevitable death of the character. Because the death is mentioned in the prologue, the reader progresses through the text bearing the chilling knowledge that this character that we as a reader become accustomed to is bound to die. This does in fact add to the overwhelming sense of fate that is forever present during the novel. We are told of â€Å"Henry’s modest plan†[1], which introduces the character of Henry as being probably a character that the others look up to and acknowledge as being their leader. To say that the plan was ‘modest’ comments on the narrator’s morality, giving one the impression that they didn’t think highly of Bunny enough to make a more reasonable alternative to his murder. The narrator himself does not seem so much resentful of the incident, as tormented by it. His mind is occupied by the events, yet he does not feel emotion for the death of Bunny – only sympathy for his own involvement. From this we can sense that the writing will be seen through a troubled perspective that will be biased and unjust at times. The writing style uses a lot of pathetic fallacy which is common in gothic thriller novels, for example, R.L. Stevenson’s Jekyll and Hyde, which uses the weather at numerous places throughout to set the mood and atmosphere that will represent the action in the coming chapter. The setting of the prologue is described in a vivid way giving the narrator’s memories a sort of ethereal delicacy to the scenery, and many of the aspects of the language present an oxymoronic metaphor, for example, the description of what would be a peaceful setting: â€Å"shivering apple blossoms†[1] is presented in a chilled and harrowing way, not unlike the obscure descriptions of setting in Anthony Burgess’ Clockwork Orange in which the narrator described often brutal and violent scenes as beautiful. This link is more obvious in Julian’s description of the â€Å"horror of love†[1] later in the novel. The prologue is written in a linear thought trail and sounds as if the narrator is musing over the events that have happened. Throughout the book, the narrator often branches off into tangents thought chains. He presents the story as if he was a stranger who happened to be overlooking the events – in the sense that he speaks with a large level of emotional distance. The scene that Richard paints is one of prolonged fear. As the prologue unfolds, his narrative becomes more cluttered, like the thought train of a troubled mind. He starts off by introducing the scene rather delicately and plain, but by the end of the prologue he is using vivid and harsh detail. This is mirrored in the events in the book. In the beginning the action is slow, but throughout it increases until it progresses to a helpless state that Richard cannot help or stop. The prologue introduces the growing state of anxiety that Richard is seen to emit during the book itself. This can also be linked to the journey that Richard takes from being at peace to in distress, the amount of pressure builds up on him until he can do nothing else but succumb to it. In a way, the prologue can be somewhat linked to that in Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet, in the sense that the actual focal point of tension in the stories, the deaths of the characters, are revealed in the opening of the text itself. The two lovers in this story are represented by pairs of characters – Charles and Camilla, Henry and Francis, with Richard and Bunny pairing with all of these characters (Bunny in a more-negative way). Essentially the book presents circumstances in which these pairs are in a constant state of tension, for example in the first half everyone’s growing hatred of Bunny and in the last half the disintegration of the bond between most, if not all, of the characters – and Richard’s struggle to maintain his â€Å"perfect† lifestyle. The prologue is written in a well thought out way. It seems as if the narrator has relayed the events over and over in his mind until the events have ceased to be a story in his mind. For instance, we can see this in the way the speech in the prologue has no speech marks; â€Å"Why, looking for new ferns, said Henry†[1]. In the narrator’s mind this mere sentence has stopped being merely words and is now a matter of fact – he can’t change what has happened, not even in his imagination. This also relates to Richard’s feelings that his tragic tale is â€Å"the only story†[1] that he will ever be able to tell. In conclusion, the prologue does have an immediate effect on the reader’s prejudgement of the novel, which in itself prepares the reader for the coming events in the book. Without the feeling of retrospect that the prologue introduces, the tension and dramatically irony that runs deep within the book’s story would not gain momentum throughout the novel, and the intrigue that the reader feels about the provocation of the murder would have been less. The prologue, in a way, acts as a glorified synopsis for the novel. Without it, I doubt that the reader’s interest would have been held more than the 200 word mark. But this is only because the author has written the book in a way that makes one feel for the characters, an actual emotion can’t be brought upon instantaneously.

Pros and Cons of Uk Joining the European Union Essay Example

Pros and Cons of Uk Joining the European Union Essay Will the United Kingdom Join the Euro Club? When the euro was introduced in January 1999, the United Kingdom was conspicuously absent from the list of European countries adopting the common currency. Although the current Labor government led by Prime Minister Tony Blair appears to be in favor of joining the euro club, it is not clear at the moment if that will actually happen. The opposition Tory party is not in favor of adopting the euro and thus giving up monetary sovereignty of the country. Public opinion is also divided on the issue. Whether the United Kingdom will eventually join the euro club is a matter of considerable importance for the future of the European Union as well as that of the United Kingdom. If the United Kingdom, with its sophisticated finance industry, joins, it will most certainly propel the euro into a global currency status rivaling the U. S. dollar. The United Kingdom for its part will firmly join the process of economic and political unionization of Europe, abandoning its traditional balancing role. Investigate the political, economic, and historical situations surrounding British participation in the European economic and monetary integration and write your own assessment of the prospect of Britain joining the euro club. In doing so, assess from the British perspective, among other things, (1) potential benefits and costs of adopting the euro, (2) economic and political constraints facing the country, and (3)the potential impact of British adoption of the euro on the international financial system, including the role of the U. We will write a custom essay sample on Pros and Cons of Uk Joining the European Union specifically for you for only $16.38 $13.9/page Order now We will write a custom essay sample on Pros and Cons of Uk Joining the European Union specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer We will write a custom essay sample on Pros and Cons of Uk Joining the European Union specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer S. dollar Answer: If UK adopts Euro it will have a Lower transaction costs for firms and consumers and a Greater certainty for firms as benefits but the cost would be the Loss of independent monetary policy, Loss of ability to depreciate currency in recession and No Lender of Last Resort. The main constraint would be that countries joining the Euro signed up initially to the fiscal stability pact which limited the scale of government borrowing to 3% of national income. The economics of monetary union suggests a better deal and wider choice for consumers because of intensified competition through increased trade. There should be greater investment by businesses because of the reduction of exchange rate risks and the likely reduction in the cost of capital through the integration of financial markets. There should also be greater efficiency in production through the exploitation of economies of scale. Growth should be higher through the consequent raising of the likely trend increase in capacity. Although there may be continued instability in some regional asset markets

Iraq Government, Facts, and History

Iraq Government, Facts, and History The modern nation of Iraq is built upon foundations that go back to some of humanitys earliest complex cultures. It was in Iraq, also known as Mesopotamia, that Babylonian king Hammurabi regularized the law in the Code of Hammurabi, c. 1772 BCE. Under Hammurabis system, society would inflict upon a criminal the same harm that the criminal had inflicted upon his victim. This is codified in the famous dictum, An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth. More recent Iraqi history, however, tends to support the Mahatma Gandhis take on this rule. He is supposed to have said that An eye for an eye makes the whole world blind. Capital and Major Cities Capital: Baghdad, population 9,500,000 (2008 estimate) Major cities: Mosul, 3,000,000 Basra, 2,300,000 Arbil, 1,294,000 Kirkuk, 1,200,000 Government of Iraq The Republic of Iraq is a parliamentary democracy. The head of state is the president, currently Jalal Talabani, while the head of government is Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki. The unicameral parliament is called the Council of Representatives; its 325 members serve four-year terms. Eight of those seats are specifically reserved for ethnic or religious minorities. Iraqs judiciary system consists of the Higher Judicial Council, the Federal Supreme Court, the Federal Court of Cassation, and lower courts. (Cassation literally means to quash - it is another term for appeals, evidently taken from the French legal system.) Population Iraq has a total population of about 30.4 million. The population growth rate is an estimated 2.4%. About 66% of Iraqis live in urban areas. Some 75-80% of Iraqis are Arabs. Another 15-20% are Kurds, by far the largest ethnic minority; they live primarily in northern Iraq. The remaining roughly 5% of the population is made up of Turkomen, Assyrians, Armenians, Chaldeans and other ethnic groups. Languages Both Arabic and Kurdish are official languages of Iraq. Kurdish is an Indo-European language related to Iranian languages. Minority languages in Iraq include Turkoman, which is a Turkic language; Assyrian, a Neo-Aramaic language of the Semitic language family; and Armenian, an Indo-European language with possible Greek roots. Thus, although the total number of languages spoken in Iraq is not high, the linguistic variety is great. Religion Iraq is an overwhelmingly Muslim country, with an estimated 97% of the population following Islam. Perhaps, unfortunately, it is also among the most evenly divided countries on Earth in terms of Sunni and Shia populations; 60 to 65% of Iraqis are Shia, while 32 to 37% are Sunni. Under Saddam Hussein, the Sunni minority controlled the government, often persecuting Shias. Since the new constitution was implemented in 2005, Iraq is supposed to be a democratic country, but the Shia/Sunni split is a source of much tension as the nation sorts out a new form of government. Iraq also has a small Christian community, around 3% of the population. During the nearly decade-long war following the US-led invasion in 2003, many Christians fled Iraq for Lebanon, Syria, Jordan, or western countries. Geography Iraq is a desert country, but it is watered by two major rivers - the Tigris and the Euphrates. Only 12% of Iraqs land is arable. It controls a 58 km (36 miles) coast on the Persian Gulf, where the two rivers empty into the Indian Ocean. Iraq is bordered by Iran to the east, Turkey and Syria to the north, Jordan and Saudi Arabia to the west, and Kuwait to the southeast. Its highest point is Cheekah Dar, a mountain in the north of the country, at 3,611 m (11,847 feet). Its lowest point is sea level. Climate As a subtropical desert, Iraq experiences extreme seasonal variation in temperature. In parts of the country, July and August temperatures average over 48 °C (118 °F). During the rainy winter months of December through March, however, temperatures drop below freezing not infrequently. Some years, heavy mountain snow in the north produces dangerous flooding on the rivers. The lowest temperature recorded in Iraq was -14 °C (7 °F). The highest temperature was 54 °C (129 °F). Another key feature of Iraqs climate is the sharqi, a southerly wind that blows from April through early June, and again in October and November. It gusts up to 80 kilometers per hour (50 mph), causing sandstorms that can be seen from space. Economy The economy of Iraq is all about oil; black gold provides more than 90% of government revenue  and accounts for 80% of the countrys foreign exchange income. As of 2011, Iraq was producing 1.9 million barrels per day of oil, while consuming 700,000 barrels per day domestically. (Even as it exports almost 2 million barrels per day, Iraq also imports 230,000 barrels per day.) Since the start of the US-led War in Iraq in 2003, foreign aid has become a major component of Iraqs economy, as well. The US has pumped some $58 billion dollars worth of aid into the country between 2003 and 2011; other nations have pledged an additional $33 billion in reconstruction aid. Iraqs workforce is employed primarily in the service sector, although about 15 to 22% work in agriculture. The unemployment rate is around 15%, and an estimated 25% of Iraqis live below the poverty line. The Iraqi currency is the dinar. As of February 2012, $1 US is equal to 1,163 dinars. History of Iraq Part of the Fertile Crescent, Iraq was one of the early sites of complex human civilization and agricultural practice. Once called Mesopotamia, Iraq was the seat of the Sumerian and Babylonian cultures c. 4,000 - 500 BCE. During this early period, Mesopotamians invented or refined technologies such as writing and irrigation; the famous King Hammurabi (r. 1792- 1750 BCE) recorded the law in the Code of Hammurabi, and over a thousand of years later, Nebuchadnezzar II (r. 605 - 562 BCE) built the incredible Hanging Gardens of Babylon. After about 500 BCE, Iraq was ruled by a succession of Persian dynasties, such as the Achaemenids, the Parthians, the Sassanids and the Seleucids. Although local governments existed in Iraq, they were under Iranian control until the 600s CE. In 633, the year after the Prophet Muhammad died, a Muslim army under Khalid ibn Walid invaded Iraq. By 651, the soldiers of Islam had brought down the Sassanid Empire in Persia  and began to Islamicize the region that is now Iraq and Iran. Between 661 and 750, Iraq was a dominion of the Umayyad Caliphate, which ruled from Damascus (now in Syria). The Abbasid Caliphate, which ruled the Middle East and North Africa from 750 to 1258, decided to build a new capital closer to the political power hub of Persia. It built the city of Baghdad, which became a center of Islamic art and learning. In 1258, catastrophe struck the Abbasids and Iraq in the form the Mongols under Hulagu Khan, a grandson of Genghis Khan. The Mongols demanded that Baghdad surrender, but the Caliph Al-Mustasim refused. Hulagus troops laid siege to Baghdad, taking the city with at least 200,000 Iraqi dead. The Mongols also burned the Grand Library of Baghdad and its wonderful collection of documents - one of the great crimes of history. The caliph himself was executed by being rolled in a carpet and trampled by horses; this was an honorable death in Mongol culture  because none of the caliphs noble blood touched the ground. Hulagus army would meet defeat by the Egyptian Mamluk slave-army in the Battle of Ayn Jalut. In the Mongols wake, however, the Black Death carried away about a third of Iraqs population. In 1401, Timur the Lame (Tamerlane) captured Baghdad  and ordered another massacre of its people. Timurs fierce army only controlled Iraq for a few years  and was supplanted by the Ottoman Turks. The Ottoman Empire would rule Iraq from the fifteenth century through 1917  when Britain wrested the Middle East from Turkish control and the Ottoman Empire collapsed. Iraq Under Britain Under the British/French plan to divide the Middle East, the 1916 Sykes-Picot Agreement, Iraq became part of the British Mandate. On November 11, 1920, the region became a British mandate under the League of Nations, called the State of Iraq. Britain brought in a (Sunni) Hashemite king from the region of Mecca and Medina, now in Saudi Arabia, to rule over the primarily Shia Iraqis and Kurds of Iraq, sparking widespread discontent and rebellion. In 1932, Iraq gained nominal independence from Britain, although the British-appointed King Faisal still ruled the country and the British military had special rights in Iraq. The Hashemites ruled until 1958  when King Faisal II was assassinated in a coup led by Brigadier General Abd al-Karim Qasim. This signaled the beginning of a rule by a series of strongmen over Iraq, which lasted through 2003. Qasims rule survived for just five years, before being overthrown in turn by Colonel Abdul Salam Arif in February of 1963. Three years later, Arifs brother took power after the colonel died; however, he would rule Iraq for just two years before being deposed by a Baath Party-led coup in 1968. The Baathist government was led by Ahmed Hasan Al-Bakir at first, but he was slowly elbowed aside over the next decade by Saddam Hussein. Saddam Hussein formally seized power as president of Iraq in 1979. The following year, feeling threatened by rhetoric from the Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, the new leader of the Islamic Republic of Iran, Saddam Hussein launched an invasion of Iran that led to the eight-year-long Iran-Iraq War. Hussein himself was a secularist, but the Baath Party was dominated by Sunnis. Khomeini hoped that Iraqs Shiite majority would rise up against Hussein in an Iranian Revolution-style movement, but that did not happen. With support from the Gulf Arab states and the United States, Saddam Hussein was able to fight the Iranians to a stalemate. He also took the opportunity to use chemical weapons against tens of thousands of Kurdish and Marsh Arab civilians within his own country, as well as against the Iranian troops, in blatant violation of international treaty norms and standards. Its economy ravaged by the Iran-Iraq War, Iraq decided to invade the small but wealthy neighboring nation of Kuwait in 1990. Saddam Hussein announced that he had annexed Kuwait; when he refused to withdraw, the United Nations Security Council voted unanimously to take military action in 1991 in order to oust the Iraqis. An international coalition led by the United States (which had been allied with Iraq just three years earlier) routed the Iraqi Army in a matter of months, but Saddam Husseins troops set fire to Kuwaiti oil wells on their way out, causing an ecological disaster along the Persian Gulf coast. This fighting would come to be known as the First Gulf War. Following the First Gulf War, the United States patrolled a no-fly zone over the Kurdish north of Iraq to protect civilians there from Saddam Husseins government; Iraqi Kurdistan began to function as a separate country, even while nominally still part of Iraq. Throughout the 1990s, the international community was concerned that Saddam Husseins government was trying to develop nuclear weapons. In 1993, the US also learned that Hussein had made a plan to assassinate President George H. W. Bush during the First Gulf War. The Iraqis allowed UN weapons inspectors into the country, but expelled them in 1998, claiming that they were CIA spies. In October of that year, US President Bill Clinton called for regime change in Iraq. After George W. Bush became president of the United States in 2000, his administration began to prepare for a war against Iraq. Bush the younger resented Saddam Husseins plans to kill Bush the elder and made the case that Iraq was developing nuclear weapons despite the rather flimsy evidence. The September 11, 2001 attacks on New York and Washington DC gave Bush the political cover he needed to launch a Second Gulf War, even though Saddam Husseins government had nothing to do with al-Qaeda or the 9/11 attacks. Iraq War The Iraq War began on March 20, 2003, when a US-led coalition invaded Iraq from Kuwait. The coalition drove the Baathist regime out of power, installing an Iraqi Interim Government in June of 2004, and organizing free elections for October of 2005. Saddam Hussein went into hiding  but was captured by US troops on December 13, 2003. In the chaos, sectarian violence broke out across the country between the Shia majority and the Sunni minority; al-Qaeda seized the opportunity to establish a presence in Iraq. Iraqs interim government tried Saddam Hussein for the killing of Iraqi Shiites in 1982  and sentenced him to death. Saddam Hussein was hanged on December 30, 2006. After a surge of troops to quell violence in 2007-2008, the US withdrew from Baghdad in June of 2009  and left Iraq completely in December of 2011.

ARTICLE CRITIQUES Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

ARTICLE CRITIQUES - Essay Example Another aspect covered by the article is sources of information for the recognition of potential threats arising from hazardous materials. These include location and site occupancy; placards, labels and other markings on mode of transportation, buildings and containers; as well as information about the physical and chemical properties. All these information provide HAZMAT professionals with knowledge and guidance in the handling of hazardous materials and in responding to HAZMAT incidents. Finally, the article tackles personal protective equipment or PPE’s which help reduce risks from hazardous materials encountered by HAZMAT professionals. All the initial information provided in the article should be well-known to the emergency responder of incidents involving hazardous materials. Moreover, all the inputs provided by the article should be further studied by individuals who deal with these materials. Lack of appropriate knowledge about hazardous materials not only run the risk of exacerbating the incident but also fatal risks for the HAZMAT professionals. They should be well-versed in the laws and regulations concerning such materials to be able to prevent untoward incidents. Emergency responders should also be able to recognize the presence of these materials and must know how to safely handle them. Additionally, in responding to emergency situations involving hazardous materials, HAZMAT professionals should be equipped with appropriate PPEs and should be well-trained in their use. The article provides an introduction to laws, regulations and regulating bodies concerned with hazardous materials. It gives examples of regulating bodies such as the EPA, OSHA, DOT, NFPA; as well as examples of regulation such as SARA-EPCRA, HAZWOPER, and NFPA standards. Even from the examples presented, the reader is made to realize that many entities are concerned with safety as related to hazardous materials. Although the examples are not explained at length, mere mention