HOME





Drin Gulf
The Gulf of Drin or Bay of Drin ( or ''Pellgu i Drinit'') is an ocean basin of the Adriatic Sea within the Mediterranean Sea along the northern coast of Albania. Roughly scythe-shaped, it extends immediately from the Delta of the Buna in the north, across the port city of Shëngjin, to the Cape of Rodon in the south. The shoreline of the gulf is a shallow combination of sandy beaches, sand dunes, capes, salty and fresh water wetlands, estuaries, pine and coastal forests, reed beds and coastal meadows. The shoreline of the gulf has a length of approximately 60 kilometres and is dotted with cliffs and beaches fed by fluvial imputes. The region is drained by numerous rivers and has formed a characteristic ecosystem and biodiversity. It is named after the Drin River that runs through a mountainous area towards the coast, however, the Ishëm and Mat also drain into the gulf. In consideration to the flat landscape, the gulf's shoreline are dotted with extensive wetlands and lagoons ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


picture info

Albania
Albania ( ; or ), officially the Republic of Albania (), is a country in Southeast Europe. It is located in the Balkans, on the Adriatic Sea, Adriatic and Ionian Seas within the Mediterranean Sea, and shares land borders with Montenegro to the northwest, Kosovo to the northeast, North Macedonia to the east and Greece to the south. With an area of , it has a varied range of climatic, geological, hydrological and morphological conditions. Albania's landscapes range from rugged snow-capped mountains in the Accursed Mountains, Albanian Alps and the Korab, Central Mountain Range, Albania#Skanderbeg Mountains, Skanderbeg, Pindus and Ceraunian Mountains, to fertile lowland plains extending from the Albanian Adriatic Sea Coast, Adriatic and Albanian Ionian Sea Coast, Ionian seacoasts. Tirana is the capital and largest city in the country, followed by Durrës, Vlorë, and Shkodër. Albania was inhabited by several List of Illyrian peoples and tribes, Illyrian tribes, among them the A ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


picture info

Estuaries
An estuary is a partially enclosed coastal body of brackish water with one or more rivers or streams flowing into it, and with a free connection to the open sea. Estuaries form a transition zone between river environments and maritime environments and are an example of an ecotone. Estuaries are subject both to marine influences such as tides, waves, and the influx of saline water, and to fluvial influences such as flows of freshwater and sediment. The mixing of seawater and freshwater provides high levels of nutrients both in the water column and in sediment, making estuaries among the most productive natural habitats in the world. Most existing estuaries formed during the Holocene epoch with the flooding of river-eroded or glacially scoured valleys when the sea level began to rise about 10,000–12,000 years ago. Estuaries are typically classified according to their geomorphology, geomorphological features or to water-circulation patterns. They can have many different names, s ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


Buna River-Velipoja Protected Landscape
Buna may refer to: Places * Buna, Mostar, a village in Bosnia and Herzegovina at the confluence of the Buna and Neretva rivers * Buna, Kenya, a town in Wajir County * Buna, Ivory Coast, a town in Zanzan District * Buna, Papua New Guinea, a village in Oro Province, Papua New Guinea ** Buna Airfield, an aerodrome located near Buna, Papua New Guinea * Buna, Texas, a census-designated place in Jasper County * Buna concentration camp, a Nazi concentration camp run during WWII Rivers and other waterbodies * Buna (Adriatic Sea) The Buna () river, also known as Bojana ( cnr-Cyrl, Бојана), is a river in Albania and Montenegro which flows into the Adriatic Sea. An outflow of Lake Skadar measured from the source of the lake's longest tributary, the Morača River, Mor ..., a river in Albania and Montenegro (known as ''Bojana'' in Montenegro) * Buna (Neretva), a Neretva tributary in Bosnia and Herzegovina * Buna Bay, a bay and port of Papua New Guinea Languages * Buna langua ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


picture info

Protected Area
Protected areas or conservation areas are locations which receive protection because of their recognized natural or cultural values. Protected areas are those areas in which human presence or the exploitation of natural resources (e.g. firewood, non-timber forest products, water, ...) is limited. The term "protected area" also includes marine protected areas and transboundary protected areas across multiple borders. As of 2016, there are over 161,000 protected areas representing about 17 percent of the world's land surface area (excluding Antarctica). For waters under national jurisdiction beyond inland waters, there are 14,688 Marine Protected Areas (MPAs), covering approximately 10.2% of coastal and marine areas and 4.12% of global ocean areas. In contrast, only 0.25% of the world's oceans beyond national jurisdiction are covered by MPAs. In recent years, the 30 by 30 initiative has targeted to protect 30% of ocean territory and 30% of land territory worldwide by 2030; this ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


picture info

Lagoon
A lagoon is a shallow body of water separated from a larger body of water by a narrow landform, such as reefs, barrier islands, barrier peninsulas, or isthmuses. Lagoons are commonly divided into ''coastal lagoons'' (or ''barrier lagoons'') and ''atoll lagoons''. They have also been identified as occurring on mixed-sand and gravel coastlines. There is an overlap between bodies of water classified as coastal lagoons and bodies of water classified as Estuary, estuaries. Lagoons are common coastal features around many parts of the world. Definition and terminology Lagoons are shallow, often elongated bodies of water separated from a larger body of water by a shallow or exposed shoal, reef, coral reef, or similar feature. Some authorities include fresh water bodies in the definition of "lagoon", while others explicitly restrict "lagoon" to bodies of water with some degree of salinity. The distinction between "lagoon" and "estuary" also varies between authorities. Richard A. Davis J ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


picture info

Mat (Adriatic Sea)
The Mat ( sq-definite, Mati) is a river in north-central Albania. Its overall length is , while its catchment surface is . Its average discharge is . The main tributary is the Fan, flowing from the northeast, while the Mat flows from the southwest down to the confluence with Fan and then towards the Adriatic Sea. Etymology The Albanian name ''mat'' originally meant "elevated location", "mountain place". Today's meaning in Albanian, "river bank, river shore", is a consequence of a secondary change through the common use of both the terms ''mal'', "mountain" and ''breg'', "shore", giving the meaning of "elevation". The river was recorded by Roman writer Vibius Sequester (4th or 5th century AD) as ''Mathis'', following a hellenized graphic mode of the term ''mat''. It appeared in written records also as ''Mathia'' in 1380. Overview The Mat originates from the confluence of several streams within the karstic mountains in Martanesh, where it forms deep gorges and canyons. Ris ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


Ishëm (river)
The Ishëm (or Ishmi; ) is a river in western Albania, which brings water to the area north of the Albanian capital, Tirana. It forms part of a watercourse (Tiranë- Gjole-Ishëm), but only the lower third of the watercourse is known as the Ishëm. The Ishëm proper is formed at the confluence of the rivers Gjole and Zezë, a few km northwest of Fushë-Krujë. It flows into the Adriatic Sea near the town of Ishëm. The length of the watercourse is recorded in different sources as between 74 and 79 km.Alqiviadh Cullaj, Agim Hasko, Aleko Miho, Ferdinand Schanz, Helmut Brandl, Reinhard Bachofen: ''The quality of Albanian natural waters and the human impact'', in: '' Environment International'' 31 (2005) Etymology The name of the river was recorded for the first time by Vibius Sequester (4th or 5th century AD) as ''Isamnus''. Albanian ''Ishëm'' derives from the ancient name through Albanian phonetic changes, however it has been noted that the accentual pattern found in ''� ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


picture info

Biodiversity
Biodiversity is the variability of life, life on Earth. It can be measured on various levels. There is for example genetic variability, species diversity, ecosystem diversity and Phylogenetics, phylogenetic diversity. Diversity is not distributed evenly on Earth. It is greater in the tropics as a result of the warm climate and high primary productivity in the region near the equator. Tropical forest ecosystems cover less than one-fifth of Earth's terrestrial area and contain about 50% of the world's species. There are latitudinal gradients in species diversity for both marine and terrestrial taxa. Since Abiogenesis, life began on Earth, six major mass extinctions and several minor events have led to large and sudden drops in biodiversity. The Phanerozoic aeon (the last 540 million years) marked a rapid growth in biodiversity via the Cambrian explosion. In this period, the majority of Multicellular organism, multicellular Phylum, phyla first appeared. The next 400 mil ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


picture info

Ecosystem
An ecosystem (or ecological system) is a system formed by Organism, organisms in interaction with their Biophysical environment, environment. The Biotic material, biotic and abiotic components are linked together through nutrient cycles and energy flows. Ecosystems are controlled by external and internal Environmental factor, factors. External factors—including climate—control the ecosystem's structure, but are not influenced by it. By contrast, internal factors control and are controlled by ecosystem processes; these include decomposition, the types of species present, root competition, shading, disturbance, and succession. While external factors generally determine which Resource (biology), resource inputs an ecosystem has, their availability within the ecosystem is controlled by internal factors. Ecosystems are wikt:dynamic, dynamic, subject to periodic disturbances and always in the process of recovering from past disturbances. The tendency of an ecosystem to remain clo ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


picture info

Fluvial
A river is a natural stream of fresh water that flows on land or inside caves towards another body of water at a lower elevation, such as an ocean, lake, or another river. A river may run dry before reaching the end of its course if it runs out of water, or only flow during certain seasons. Rivers are regulated by the water cycle, the processes by which water moves around the Earth. Water first enters rivers through precipitation, whether from rainfall, the runoff of water down a slope, the melting of glaciers or snow, or seepage from aquifers beneath the surface of the Earth. Rivers flow in channeled watercourses and merge in confluences to form drainage basins, or catchments, areas where surface water eventually flows to a common outlet. Rivers have a great effect on the landscape around them. They may regularly overflow their banks and flood the surrounding area, spreading nutrients to the surrounding area. Sediment or alluvium carried by rivers shapes the landscape a ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


picture info

Cliff
In geography and geology, a cliff or rock face is an area of Rock (geology), rock which has a general angle defined by the vertical, or nearly vertical. Cliffs are formed by the processes of weathering and erosion, with the effect of gravity. Cliffs are common on coasts, in mountainous areas, escarpments and along rivers. Cliffs are usually composed of rock that is resistant to weathering and erosion. The sedimentary rocks that are most likely to form cliffs include sandstone, limestone, chalk, and Dolomite (rock), dolomite. Igneous rocks such as granite and basalt also often form cliffs. An escarpment (or scarp) is a type of cliff formed by the movement of a geologic fault, a landslide, or sometimes by rock slides or falling rocks which change the differential erosion of the rock layers. Most cliffs have some form of scree slope at their base. In arid areas or under high cliffs, they are generally exposed jumbles of fallen rock. In areas of higher moisture, a soil slope may ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


Coastal Meadow
Coastal meadows are meadows in the coastal zone, influenced by the sea. Under this definition, the salinity of the air and wind is usually high and the flora is dominated by salt-tolerant species. Some coastal meadows may be flooded by seawater occasionally, increasing the demands on the flora even further. These conditions however, do not make a meadow. To be categorized as a meadow in the first place, the plant growth has to be low in height, and normally this can only be achieved from wear by general traffic or grazing of the landscape (artificially or by livestock). Coastal meadows are therefore usually thought of as cultural landscapes or biotopes, requiring some degree of intervention and not being able to sustain themselves on their own. If left alone, coastal meadows would often transform into a transitional meadow and eventually a shrubby or bushy seashore habitat. Depending on the geology, climate and local conditions, coastal meadows can take on different expressions, ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]