Friday, October 27, 2006

Concrete

In construction, concrete is a composite building material made from the mixture of aggregate and a cement binder.
The most common form of concrete consists of Portland cement, mineral aggregates and water.
Concrete does not solidify from drying after mixing and placement, the water reacts with the cement in a chemical process known as hydration. This water is absorbed by cement, which hardens, gluing the other components together and eventually creating a stone-like material. When used in the generic sense, this is the material referred to by the word concrete.
Concrete is used more than any other man-made material on the planet. It is used to construct pavements, building structures, foundations, and motorways/roads, overpasses, parking structures, brick/block walls and bases for gates, fences and poles.

Tuesday, October 17, 2006

The Mouflon

The Mouflon is a species of wild sheep and as such is one of the Caprinae or "goat antelopes". It is thought to be one of the two ancestors for all modern domestic sheep breeds. It is red-brown with a dark back-stripe, light colored saddle patch and underparts. The males are horned and the females are horned or polled.
They originated in Southwest Asia, where the species known as Asiatic mouflon lives. They were introduced to the islands of Corsica, Sardinia, and Cyprus during the neolithic period, perhaps as feral domesticated animals, where they naturalized to the mountainous interiors of these islands over the past few thousand years, giving rise to the species known as European mouflon . They are now rare on the islands, but have been successfully introduced into central Europe, including Germany, Austria, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary, and Romania, even in some northern European countries, such as Finland.
The scientific classification of the Mouflon is disputed but the European Mouflon may be considered as either Ovis musimon or Ovis ammon musimon.

Monday, October 09, 2006

Erosion is the displacement of solids by the agents of wind, water or ice, by downward or down-slope movement in response to gravity or by living organisms . Erosion is distinguished from weathering, which is the decomposition of rock and particles through processes where no movement is involved, although the two processes may be concurrent.

Erosion is an intrinsic natural process but in many places it is increased by human land use. Poor land use practices include deforestation, overgrazing, unmanaged construction activity and road or trail building. However, improved land use practices can limit erosion, using techniques like terrace-building and tree planting.A certain amount of erosion is natural and, in fact, healthy for the ecosystem. For example,
gravels continually move downstream in watercourses. Excessive erosion, however, can cause problems, such as receiving water sedimentation, ecosystem damage and outright loss of soil.