- Greece’s 3,000 islands and 15,000 kilometers (9,300 miles) of coastline highlight this image acquired on November 11, 2005. The rich texture produced by the topographic variation in this image reveal that it is the most mountainous of all the European countries, comprising about 80% of the country’s land surface. These mountains are the product of plate tectonics: the Eurasian plate, stretching from the Eastern portion of Siberia into the middle of the Atlantic Ocean, is converging with the African plate. The region is also known for its volcanic activity; the so-called Hellenic Arc of islands, which stretch from the eastern of Greece to western Turkey, is the result of subduction of the African plate under a portion of the Eurasian plate. This portion, or microplate, is called the Aegan plate is actually moving in a different direction than the rest of the Eurasia plate because it is being pushed by the Turkish microplate as well as the African plate. The most famous of these volcanoes is Santorini, which last erupted in 1950. It erupted in 1600 B.C., obliterating the city of Akroteri, an event which may have spawned the legend of city sinking under the ocean – Atlantis.
- The Turkish Microplate is also known as the Anatolian Sub-Plate.
- Yarrow Point — Thumbnail History (historylink.org)
Yarrow Point, a small peninsula located in King County on the east side of Lake Washington, extends a mile northward into the lake, forming the western shore of Yarrow Bay, just south of Kirkland. It is the farthest east of three fingers of land, the other two being Hunts Point and Evergreen Point. Clyde Hill and the SR-520 Highway edge Yarrow Point’s southern border. Residents of Yarrow Point can hear caroling bells sound on the quarter hour, echoing across Yarrow Bay from Carillon Point to the east. Pleasure and tour boats crisscross highways through the waters to and from Seattle and Kirkland’s harbor, reminders of the busy world across the bay. Before the late nineteenth century, Yarrow Point remained forested and unspoiled, only visited by shifting gray, soft fog, and frequent mists. William Easter filed the first homestead claim in 1886. Later came strawberry, vegetable, and holly farms. Yarrow Point incorporated as a town in 1959. Conserving the peninsula’s wetlands and woods has been a key focus of the town.
