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India
Stampede at Religious Festival
At least least 30 pilgrims were killed, and over 60 injured, in a crowd rush at Maha Kumbh, India’s and the world’s largest religious festival, early this morning. The stampede began as worshippers broke through barricades to take ritual baths at the confluence of the Ganges and Yamuna Rivers, in Uttar Pradesh. The gathering began on January 13 and is set to conclude on February 26, with an estimated 400 million devotees expected over the six-week event. Authorities invested millions in managing the massive influx of people. The festival, held every 12 years at four sacred sites, aligns with key astrological dates and symbolises the victory of gods over demons.
This map depicts the area at the meeting of the Ganges and Yamuna Rivers where religious devotees at the Maha Kumbh festival stampeded to reach the water, killing 30 people and injuring many more. Click on the map to learn more.
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Graphic Source: The Hindu
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Burkina Faso, Mali, and Niger
Three Nations Exit ECOWAS
Burkina Faso, Mali, and Niger have officially left the West African regional bloc, the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), one year after they first announced plans to exit. The three military-ruled nations are forming their own bloc, the Alliance of the Sahel States (AES), with a joint military force of 5,000 troops. Issues of security and national sovereignty in the Sahel contributed to the split. Between 2020 and 2023, ECOWAS introduced economic sanctions on the nations after military juntas seized power, while the leaders of the new alliance accused ECOWAS of being under the influence of foreign powers like France and the United Kingdom. The sanctions were eventually lifted and ECOWAS tried to negotiate with the countries to stay, but they committed to the withdrawal.
This map depicts the respective membership of the major regional alliances in West Africa, ECOWAS and the newly-formed AES. Click on the map to learn more.
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Graphic Source: RFI
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United States
Lithosphere Peeling in California
A new study in Geophysical Research Letters shares evidence the Earth’s lithosphere – the bottom layer of the rocky crust immediately above the mantle – may be peeling off deep beneath California’s Sierra Nevada mountains. The research team behind the study made its observations in the Sierra Nevadas given the region’s high level of seismic activity, providing regular seismic waves to be recorded and analyzed. By observing how the waves change as they cross structures beneath the Earth’s surface, the researchers see evidence that the lower lithosphere may actually be more dense than the underlying mantle. Under these conditions, layers of the lithosphere, weighed down by heavier minerals like iron and magnesium, break away and sink, eventually melting in the magma currents running through the mantle. This process of recurring crustal formation and recycling into the mantle makes the mantle-lithosphere boundary beneath the Sierra Nevadas more of a gradient, or Moho, in contrast to other areas of the Earth where the separation between the two is more distinct.
This map depicts the process of the lower levels of the lithosphere peeling away into the mantle deep beneath California’s Sierra Nevada mountains. Click on the map to learn more.
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Q: The Strait of Hormuz connects the Persian Gulf with what body of water?
A: Gulf of Oman
The Gulf of Oman is a strategically significant body of water located in the Middle East, connecting the Arabian Sea with the Strait of Hormuz, which then leads into the Persian Gulf. The Gulf of Oman is particularly important for its role in global oil transportation. A large percentage of the world’s petroleum, as it is shipped from the oil-rich countries of the Persian Gulf, passes through the Strait of Hormuz into the Gulf of Oman and then to various destinations across the globe. Ecologically, the Gulf of Oman is diverse, hosting various species of marine life which support local fishing communities. However, the area faces the risk of oil spills and the impacts of industrialization and maritime traffic which threaten its marine ecosystems.
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Q: How many modern-day countries are within the greatest extent of the Inca Empire?
Stay tuned for the answer to today’s question in tomorrow’s DailyGeo.
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