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After six years of laying in ruin, the Russians have begun reconstructing the Triumphal Arch of Palmyra in Syria that served as a gateway to a major pagan temple to Ba’al. Rebuilding the arch is predicted in the Talmud as preceding the Messiah. THE ARCH OF PALMYRA; TEMPLE TO BA’AL The ruins of the ancient city of Palmyra located about 135 miles north of Damascus were a huge tourist attraction, drawing 105,000 visitors a year until the devastating civil war broke out in Syria in 2011. The temple and much of the site were destroyed by the Islamic State (ISIS)...

Gozo's iconic Azure Window collapsed earlier this morning. The natural rock formation, which had been on the verge of collapse for months, had increasingly harsher warnings against hikers climbing up it.

In a press call to journalists, Canonical founder Mark Shuttleworth (accompanied at times by a rather excitable Labrador) explained that shortly after the Snap release several Linux developers, particularly from Arch and Gentoo, approached Canonical with an idea to make Snap a more universal system. Snap, originally developed for Ubuntu's mobile flavor of Linux, is a way of packaging an application with all the dependencies it needs to run in isolation. This means it's easier to run on any device, and the main operating system doesn't risk suffering a Total Inability To Support Usual Performance (TITSUP) if an application gets...

The plan to build a replica of the arch of the Temple of Baal in New York City and London has been abandoned and instead, the Arch of Triumph of Palmyra will rise. This was announced by the Institute for Digital Archaeology (IDA), which promotes the use of digital imaging and 3D printing in archaeology and conservation. A report in the New York Times last month said the Temple of Baal's entrance would be installed in New York and London as a tribute to the 2,000 year-old structure that was destroyed by the Islamic State last year in Palmyra, Syria....

Well, I'm slightly stumped. I lost the URL address where I found this (on Flickr - I just kept the URL for the picture itself). It's a nice sea arch, on the Island of Capri I think, but I'm not sure. So heck, if anyone can confirm that's where it's located, knock yourself out. Click for 2x. BONUS: I can't link to these in the grand tradition of the Geology Picture of the Week, but you can peruse them and save any of them that you like. Some of the lava lake surface pictures are very abstract. Nyiragongo lava lake,...

Veiled beneath the Persian Gulf, a once-fertile landmass may have supported some of the earliest humans outside Africa some 75,000 to 100,000 years ago, a new review of research suggests. At its peak, the floodplain now below the Gulf would have been about the size of Great Britain, and then shrank as water began to flood the area. Then, about 8,000 years ago, the land would have been swallowed up by the Indian Ocean, the review scientist said. The study, which is detailed in the December issue of the journal Current Anthropology, has broad implications for aspects of human history....

This one might be really easy, because I imagine if you've seen this one you wouldn't forget where it is. But that would mean somebody actually saw this (or at least a picture of it indicating where it is). Anyway, it's one of the most picturesque sea arches I've ever seen. The other arch (bottom 2 pictures) is located nearby. Click all for full-size.

I'll do this a bit differently; click the image and go to where you can click on a bigger version. Text accompanying the first: Etretat is well known for its cliffs, including a famous natural arch, which some call "The needle's eye." These cliffs and the beach next to them, attracted many artists (Eugène Boudin, Gustave Courbet, Claude Monet). Étretat was the birthplace of Elie Halévy (1870-1937), philosopher and historian. In the French coast in the department of Seine-Maritime, Upper Normandy, are the spectacular cliffs of Etretat, only two hours from Paris by car. These are two views of the...

If an arch falls in the desert... Sorry about last week, I literally lost track of time. So here are several images from another of those amazing state parks in America, this one called the Valley of Fire State Park in Nevada, which is within driving distance of Las Vegas (and you can apparently drive through part of it). The reason for this particular posting is that one of the many arches in the park fell down very recently. Erosion happens. When you see the arch that fell down, you can understand why; this one was pretty precarious. Article: Valley...

Park rangers said it appears Natural Arch was claimed by forces that will eventually destroy about 300 others in the park: gravity and erosion. They said horseback riders notified them about the damage Wednesday, and no one has reported seeing it fall. While it's unclear exactly why and when the arch collapsed, there's no evidence of vandalism, rangers added. "Maybe someone tried to take a picture on the rock, which we don't recommend.....

First, not totally exactly geology, but one of the more amazing iceberg pictures I've ever seen: Next, an offering from Patrick Smith Photography (I had one of these before): this one won some awards and was on the cover of a photography magazine: Finally, Marion Island from space: click for full-size

St. Louis Tea Party At the Arch -- Friday at 11:00 AM OK a St. Louis Tea Party is planned for Friday: St. Louis area conservatives will host a protest against the Obama Generational Theft Act this Friday at 11 AM at the steps of the St. Louis Gateway Arch. Bill Hennessey organized the rally. It was announced tonight on The Dana Show. Patrick Leahy of Top Conservatives on Twitter and Dana discussed this Tea Party wave. Time and Place Date: Friday, February 27, 2009 Time: 11:00am - 12:00pm Location: The Steps of Arch Street: Wharf Street City/Town: Saint Louis,...

I was digging through some old calendars (I can never throw them away) and found a month with Delicate Arch. I figured that sometimes you have to just have a beautiful picture to look at. Click for FULL size. Also see note in first comment (from me). Just for fun, this is what Delicate Arch looks like from the other side:

Never heard of this one before, and it's easy to get to. And impressive. Here's a different perspective. And this one is pretty nice. Click for full-size.

ARCHES NATIONAL PARK, Utah — One of the largest and most photographed arches in Arches National Park has collapsed. Paul Henderson, the park's chief of interpretation, said Wall Arch collapsed sometime late Monday or early Tuesday. The arch is along Devils Garden Trail, one of the most popular in the park. For years, the arch has been a favorite stopping point for photographers. Henderson said the arch was claimed by forces that will eventually destroy others in the park: gravity and erosion. "They all let go after a while," he said Friday. He said it's the first collapse of a...

Returning to one of my favorite places, picture-wise (which I'd actually like to return to in person again). Natural Arch of Kentucky, 100 foot span Another view of Natural Arch: Sky Bridge, from underneath: Note that it has a little pillar support forming a secondary arch. Sky Bridge, from the road: Natural Bridge

Accompanying text and location map: Mastodon Arch

Link post: Geology Picture of the Week, June 20-26, 2003: A WhereIsIt? super-challenge