Vänern
from Hjortens Udde
Detail map of the lake with surroundings
Coordinates	58°55′N 13°30′E / 58.917°N 13.5°E / 58.917; 13.5Coordinates: 58°55′N 13°30′E / 58.917°N 13.5°E / 58.917; 13.5
Primary inflows	Klarälven
Primary outflows	Göta älv
Basin countries	Sweden
Surface area	5,650 km²[1]
Average depth	27 m[1]
Max. depth	106 m[1]
Water volume	153 km³[1]
Surface elevation	44 m[1]
Islands	Brommö, Djurö, Fågelö, Hammarö, Kållandsö, Lurö
References	[1]

Map of Sweden; Vänern in the middle south.

Vänern (Swedish pronunciation: [ˈvɛːnəɳ]) is the largest lake in Sweden, the largest lake in the EU and the third-largest lake in Europe after Ladoga and Onega in Russia. It is located in the provinces of Västergötland, Dalsland, and Värmland in the southwest of the country.

History[link]

Geologically, the lake was formed after the last ice age about 10,000 years ago; when the ice melted, the entire width of Sweden was covered in water, creating a strait between Kattegat and the Gulf of Bothnia. Due to the ensuing isostatic rebound, lakes such as Vänern and Vättern became pursed off. As a result, there are still species remaining from the ice age not normally encountered in fresh water lakes, such as the amphipod Monoporeia affinis. A Viking ship was found on the lake's bottom on May 6, 2009.

A story told by the thirteenth-century Icelandic mythographer Snorri Sturluson in his Prose Edda about the origin of Lake Mälaren was probably originally about Lake Vänern: the Swedish king Gylfi promised a woman, Gefjun, as much land as four oxen could plough in a day and a night, but she used oxen from the land of the giants, and moreover uprooted the land and dragged it into the sea, where it became the island of Zealand. Snorra Edda says that 'the inlets in the lake correspond to the headlands in Zealand'^[2]; since this is much more true of Lake Vänern, the myth was probably originally about Vänern, not Mälaren.^[3]

Geography[link]

Lake Vänern covers an area of 5,655 km² (2,183 sq mi). It is located at 44 m (144 ft) above sea level and is on average 27 m (89 ft) deep. The maximum depth of the lake is 106 m (348 ft).^[4]

Geographically, it is situated on the border between the Swedish regions of Götaland and Svealand, divided into several Swedish provinces: The western body of water is known as the Dalbosjö, with its main part belonging to Dalsland; the eastern body is known as Värmlandsjön, its northern parts belonging to Värmland and the southern to Västergötland.

Its main tributary is Klarälven, which flows into the lake near the city of Karlstad, on the northern shore. It is drained to the south-west by Göta älv, which forms part of the Göta Canal waterway, to Lake Viken into Lake Vättern, southeast across Sweden.

The economic opportunities Lake Vänern offers are illustrated by the surrounding towns, having been located there for centuries, supporting themselves by fishing and allowing easy transportation to other cities or west by Göta älv to the sea of Kattegat. This directly includes: Karlstad (chartered in 1584), Kristinehamn (1642), Mariestad (1583), Lidköping (1446) Vänersborg (1644), Åmål (1643), Säffle (1951), and indirectly Trollhättan (1916).

Around the island Djurö, in the middle of the lake, lies the Djurö archipelago, which has been given national park status as Djurö National Park.

The ridge (plateau mountain) Kinnekulle is a popular tourist attraction located near the south-eastern shore of Lake Vänern. It has the best view over the lake (about 270 metres (890 ft) above the lake level). Another nearby mountain is Halleberg.

Environment[link]

Environmental monitoring studies are conducted annually. In a 2002 report, the data showed no marked decrease in overall water quality, but a slight decrease in visibility due to an increase of algae. An increasing level of nitrogen had been problematic during the 1970s through 1990s, but is now being regulated and is at a steady level.

Some bays also have problems with eutrophication and have become overgrown with algae and plant plankton.

Fish[link]

Lake Vänern has many different fish species. Locals and government officials try to enforce fishing preservation projects, due to various threats to the fish habitats. These threats include water cultivation in the tributaries, pollution and the M74 syndrome. Sport fishing in Lake Vänern is still free and unregulated, both from the shores and from boats (with some restrictions, e.g. a maximum of three salmon or trout per person per day). Only commercial fishing requires permission.

In the open waters of Lake Vänern, the most common fish is the smelt, dominating in the eastern Dalbosjön, where the average is 2,600 smelt per hectare. The second most common fish is the vendace (Coregonus albula), also most prominently in Dalbosjön, with 200–300 fish per hectare. The populations may vary greatly between years, though, depending on temperature and the water level and quality.

The fish in Lake Vänern are important for the industry of the towns around it. In 2001, 165 tons (165,000 kg) of vendace, 100 tons of whitefish, and 25 tons of eel were caught.^{[citation needed]}

Salmon[link]

Lake Vänern has two sub-groups of lake salmon known as Vänern salmon. They are native to Lake Vänern and spawn in the adjacent lakes. The first sub-group is named after the eastern tributary Gullspångsälven as the Gullspång salmon. The second is the Klarälv salmon, mainly spawning in the Klarälven. These sub-groups are related to Baltic Sea salmon, and they have developed in Lake Vänern for over 9,000 years. They are notable in that they have never entered the ocean.

These large lake salmon are known to weigh some 18 kilograms (40 lb); the world's largest lake salmon, exceeding 20 kilograms (44 lb), was caught in Lake Vänern. There are also three other species of salmon-like fishes in the connecting rivers.

Other fish[link]

Basically all common fresh water fish are found in Lake Vänern. The most important large fish are trout and zander. The most important small fish is the stickleback.

Vänern has five distinguished species of whitefish:

• Coregonus pallasii (also common in Neva, Gulf of Finland, Baltic Sea)
• Lacustrine fluvial whitefish (Coreganus megalops)
• Coreganus maxillaris (population mainly known around Sweden)^[5]
• Coregoni nilssoni
• Valaam whitefish (Coreganus widegreni)
• Coregonus maxillaris

Birds[link]

The most common birds near Lake Vänern are terns and gulls of different kinds.

Cormorants vanished in the 19th century,^{[citation needed]} but have since returned and are flourishing. This has contributed to the increase in the population of sea eagles, who feed on cormorants. However, fishermen are not so happy, as cormorants raid their nets.

Rarer species are the Black-throated diver and the Turnstone (Arenaria interpres), with hardly a dozen nests around Vänern; and the Caspian tern with hardly a dozen specimens.^{[citation needed]}

References[link]

External links[link]

• Official site
• Lake Vanern guide
• Väner museum i Lidköping

Sean Paul
Sean Paul at the International Reggae and World Music Awards.
Background information
Birth name	Sean Paul Ryan Francis Henriques
Born	(1973-01-09) January 9, 1973 (age 39) Kingston, Jamaica
Genres	Dancehall, reggae, R&B, ragga
Occupations	Musician, singer-songwriter, producer, actor
Years active	1996–present
Labels	VP, Atlantic
Website	allseanpaul.com

Sean Paul Ryan Francis Henriques^[1] (born January 9, 1973),^[1][2] who performs under stage name Sean Paul, is a Jamaican dancehall and reggae artist.

Life and career[link]

1973–96: Early life[link]

Sean Paul was born in Kingston and spent his early years in Upper Andrew Parish, a few miles north of Kingston.^[2] His parents, Garth and Frances, were both talented athletes, and his mother is a well-known painter.^[3] His paternal grandfather was a Sephardic Jew whose family emigrated from Portugal, and his paternal grandmother was Afro-Caribbean; his mother is of English and Chinese Jamaican descent.^[4][5] Sean Paul was raised as a Catholic.^[6] Many members of his family are swimmers. His grandfather was on the first Jamaican men's national water polo team. His father also played water polo for the team in the 1960s, and competed in long-distance swimming, while Sean Paul's mother was a backstroke swimmer. Sean Paul played for the national water polo team from the age of thirteen to twenty-one, when he gave up the sport in order to launch his musical career. He attended the Wolmers High School for Boys, Belair School, Hillel Academy High School, and the College of Arts, Science, and Technology, now known as the University of Technology, where he was trained in commerce with a view to pursuing an occupation in hotel management.

[edit] 1998–2000: Stage One

Sean Paul's manager and producer Jeremy Harding first heard about the singer when his brother told him about seeing someone at a small open mic event in Kingston who sounded a lot like the popular dancehall DJ and toaster Super Cat.^[7] Harding eventually met the singer when Sean Paul came by his studio to ask for some advice. During the meeting Paul recorded a vocal over Harding's rhythm track and in the process created the song "Baby Girl".^[7] Sean Paul began hanging out at the studio every day, and the pair collaborated on several more tracks. When they recorded "Infiltrate" they decided they had something good enough to get on the radio. As Sean Paul started to attract local attention, Harding began looking after his affairs. He later told HitQuarters that his support of Paul's fledgling career initially led him assuming the roles of "DJ, manager, road manager and security guard."^[7] Sean Paul made a quick cameo appearance in the 1998 film Belly on stage performing. He made a very successful collaboration with DMX & Mr. Vegas (Top Shotter) as a soundtrack of the film. In 2000, Sean Paul released his debut album, Stage One with VP Records.

[edit] 2001–02: Dutty Rock

In 2002, he began working extensively with a team of producers and choreographers from Toronto, namely Jae Blaze and Blaze Entertainment and announced the release of his second album, Dutty Rock. Pushed by the success of the singles "Gimme the Light" and the Billboard Hot 100 topper, "Get Busy", the album was a worldwide success, eventually selling over six million copies. Simultaneously, Sean Paul was heard on Beyoncé's U.S. #1 single "Baby Boy" and Blu Cantrell's "Breathe", a chart hit in Europe. Both helped to push his reputation further still in the United States. He appeared on Punk'd, 106 & Park, Sean Paul Respect, Making the Video ("Get Busy", "Gimme the Light", and "Like Glue") and his music videos have been broadcast on MTV and BET. Paul's biggest hits included "Get Busy", "Like Glue", "Gimme the Light", "Baby Boy", and "I'm Still in Love with You".

[edit] 2003–05: The Trinity

Sean Paul in September 2005.

Sean Paul's third album The Trinity was released in on September 27, 2005. The album produced five big hits, "We Be Burnin'", "Ever Blazin'", "Give It Up to Me", "Never Gonna Be The Same" and the U.S. chart-topping smash hit "Temperature". The video of "Give It Up to Me" (featuring Keyshia Cole) was also featured in the movie Step Up in 2006. He was nominated for four awards at the 2006 Billboard Music Awards, including male artist of the year, rap artist of the year, hot 100 single of the year, and pop single of the year for his hit "Temperature".^[8] He also won an American Music Award for "(When You Gonna) Give It Up To Me" beating Kanye West and Nick Lachey who were also nominated for the award. His song "Send It On" from "The Trinity" featured on the 2005 Vauxhall Corsa advert. Sean Paul often contributes his songs to various Riddim Driven albums (by VP Records). In March 2007, he returned to his native Jamaica to perform at the Cricket World Cup 2007 opening ceremony. Sean Paul appears on the game Def Jam: Fight for NY as part of Snoop Dogg's crew and again in the game's sequel, Def Jam Icon.

[edit] 2006–10: Imperial Blaze

The newest Sean Paul album entitled "Imperial Blaze" was released on August 18, 2009. The lead single, “So Fine”, which was produced by Stephen “Di Genius” McGregor, premiered on Sean Paul's official website on April 26, 2009.^{[9][dead link][10]} Speaking to Pete Lewis of 'Blues & Soul' magazine in August 2009, Sean Paul stated that 'Imperial Blaze' "Actually signifies 'The King's Fire'. It's that thing inside of you that gives you the desire to do whatever you do, and be the best in the world at it."^[11] The new album consists of 20 tracks including "So Fine", "Press it Up", "She Want Me", "Private Party" which are party tracks and also love songs such as "Hold My Hand" (feat Keri Hilson), "Lately", "Now That I've Got Your Love" among others. Producers on the album include Don Corleone, Jeremy Harding, and Sean's brother Jason 'Jigzagula' Henriques.^[11] All the full songs of the album have been added to Sean Paul's Myspace page^[12] on the day of release of the album.

Up until now there have been eight music videos: "Always On My Mind (with Da'Ville)", "Give It To You (with Eve)", "Watch Them Roll", "Back It Up" (with Left Side/Mr. Evil), "(I Wanna See You) Push It Baby" (with Pretty Ricky), "Hit 'Em" (with Fahrenheit and his brother Jason "Jigzagula" Henriques), "Come Over" with Estelle,^[13] and also the video of his first single, "So Fine" from the new album. He has recently been featured in Shaggy's video, "Save A Life", which also includes appearances from Elephant Man and Da'Ville, among others. In an effort to raise money for a children's hospital, Shaggy, Sean Paul and others will be having a benefit concert. All proceeds will go towards getting new equipment and technology 'For Aid to the Bustamante Hospital for Children'. In an interview in 2009 he says he is planning to release a new album in 2011. During the premiere for MNET's Big Brother Africa 5: All-Stars on July 18, 2010, he performed his songs "Temperature", "Hold My Hand", and "So Fine".

[edit] 2011–present: Tomahawk Technique

The first single Got 2 Luv U features vocals from American singer Alexis Jordan. It was released on the July 19, 2011 by Atlantic Records. The song was written by Sean Paul, Ryan Tedder and Stargate, and it was produced by Stargate.^[14][15][16]

She Doesn't Mind is the second single from the album. It was written by Sean Paul, Shellback and Benny Blanco and was produced by Shellback and Benny Blanco. It was released on the September 29, 2011 on NRJ & Skyrock (French radios), and to iTunes on October 31.^[17] Like its proceeder, "Got 2 Luv U", featuring Alexis Jordan, it topped the charts in Switzerland, but it debuted at that spot. Sean appeared on the Never Mind the Buzzcocks episode which aired on November 21, 2011.

Sean Paul is featured in the music video for the Simple Plan song Summer Paradise.

Discography[link]

Studio albums

• Stage One (2000)
• Dutty Rock (2002)
• The Trinity (2005)
• Imperial Blaze (2009)
• Tomahawk Technique (2012)

Mixtapes

• The Odyssey Mixtape (2009)

Filmography[link]

Vladimir Vernadsky
Born	Vladimir Ivanovich Vernadsky 12 March 1863 Saint Petersburg, Russia
Died	6 January 1945 (age 81) Moscow, Soviet Union
Residence	Russian Empire Soviet Union
Nationality	Ukrainian
Fields	Geology, crystallography, mineralogy, geochemistry, nuclear geology, biology, biogeochemistry, philosophy
Institutions	Moscow State University National Academy of Science of Ukraine
Alma mater	Saint Petersburg State University
Known for	Noosphere biogeochemistry

Vladimir Ivanovich Vernadsky (Russian: Влади́мир Ива́нович Верна́дский, Ukrainian: Володимир Іванович Вернадський; 12 March [O.S. 28 February] 1863 – 6 January 1945) was a Russian and Soviet mineralogist and geochemist who is considered one of the founders of geochemistry, biogeochemistry, and of radiogeology.^[1] His ideas of noosphere were an important contribution to Russian cosmism. He also worked in Ukraine, where he founded the Ukrainian Academy of Sciences (now National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine). He is most noted for his 1926 book The Biosphere in which he inadvertently worked to popularize Eduard Suess’ 1885 term biosphere, by hypothesizing that life is the geological force that shapes the earth. In 1943 he was awarded the Stalin Prize.

Biography[link]

Vernadsky was born in Saint Petersburg, Russian Empire, on 12 March 1863, of mixed Russian and Ukrainian parents. His father, a descendent of Ukrainian Cossacks,^[2] had been a professor of political economy in Kiev before moving to Saint Petersburg, and his mother was a noblewoman of Russian ethnicity^[3] (Vernadsky considered himself both Russian and Ukrainian, and had some knowledge of the Ukrainian language.)^[4]

Vernadsky graduated from Saint Petersburg State University in 1885. As the last mineralogist had died in 1887 in Russia, and Vasily Dokuchaev, a soil scientist, and Alexey Pavlov, a geologist, had been teaching Mineralogy for a while, Vernadsky chose to enter Mineralogy. He wrote to his wife Natasha on 20 June 1888 from Switzerland:

...to collect facts for their own sake, as many now gather facts, without a program, without a question to answer or a purpose is not interesting. However, there is a task which someday those chemical reactions which took place at various points on earth; these reactions take place according to laws which are known to us, but which, we are allowed to think, are closely tied to general changes which the earth has undergone by the earth with the general laws of celestial mechanics. I believe there is hidden here still more to discover when one considers the complexity of chemical elements and the regularity of their occurrence in groups...

While trying to find a topic for his doctorate, he first went to Naples to study with crystallographer Arcangelo Scacchi, who was senile by that time. Scacchi's condition led Vernadsky to go to Germany to study under Paul Groth. Vernadsky learned how to use the modern equipment of Groth who had developed a machine to study the optical, thermal, elastic, magnetic and electrical properties of crystals. He also gained access to the physics lab of Leonhard Sohncke (Direcktor, Physikalischen Institut der Universität Jena, 1883–1886; Professor der Physik an der Technischen Hochschule München 1886 -1897), who was studying crystallisation during that period.

Vernadsky first popularized the concept of the noosphere and deepened the idea of the biosphere to the meaning largely recognized by today's scientific community. The word 'biosphere' was invented by Austrian geologist Eduard Suess, whom Vernadsky met in 1911.

In Vernadsky's theory of the Earth's development, the noosphere is the third stage in the earth's development, after the geosphere (inanimate matter) and the biosphere (biological life). Just as the emergence of life fundamentally transformed the geosphere, the emergence of human cognition fundamentally transformed the biosphere. In this theory, the principles of both life and cognition are essential features of the Earth's evolution, and must have been implicit in the earth all along. This systemic and geological analysis of living systems complements Charles Darwin's theory of natural selection,^{[citation needed]} which looks at each individual species, rather than at its relationship to a subsuming principle.

Vernadsky's visionary pronouncements were not widely accepted in the West. However, he was one of the first scientists to recognize that the oxygen, nitrogen and carbon dioxide in the Earth's atmosphere result from biological processes. During the 1920s he published works arguing that living organisms could reshape the planets as surely as any physical force. Vernadsky was an important pioneer of the scientific bases for the environmental sciences.^[5]

Vernadsky was a member of the Russian and Soviet Academies of Sciences since 1912 and was a founder and first president of the Ukrainian Academy of Sciences in Kiev, Ukraine (1918). He was a founder of the National Library of Ukrainian State and worked closely with the Tavrida University in Crimea. During the Russian Civil War, he hosted gatherings of the young intellectuals who later founded the émigré Eurasianism movement.^[6] He was opposed to Ukrainian independence.^[4]

In the late 1930s and early 1940s Vernadsky played an early advisory role in the Soviet atomic bomb project, as one of the most forceful voices arguing for the exploitation of nuclear power, the surveying of Soviet uranium sources, and having nuclear fission research conducted at his Radium Institute. He died, however, before a full project was pursued.

Vernadsky's son George Vernadsky (1887–1973) emigrated to the United States where he published numerous books on medieval Russian history, medieval Ukrainian history, and modern Russian history.

A main street in Moscow, and the Tavrida National University in Crimea, are named in honor of Vladimir Vernadsky.

Works (selected)[link]

• Geochemistry, published in Russian 1924
• The Biosphere, first published in Russian in 1926. English translations:
  • Oracle, AZ, Synergetic Press, 1986, ISBN 0-907791-11-5, 86 pp.
  • tr. David B. Langmuir, ed. Mark A. S. McMenamin, New York, Copernicus, 1998, ISBN 0-387-98268-X, 192 pp.
• Essays on Geochemistry & the Biosphere, tr. Olga Barash, Santa Fe, NM, Synergetic Press, ISBN 0-907791-36-0, 2006

Diaries[link]

• Dnevniki 1917-1921: oktyabr 1917-yanvar 1920 (Diaries 1917-1921), Kiev, Naukova dumka, 1994, ISBN 5-12-004641-X, 269 pp.
• Dnevniki. Mart 1921-avgust 1925 (Diaries 1921-1925), Moscow, Nauka, 1998, ISBN 5-02-004422-9, 213 pp.
• Dnevniki 1926-1934 (Diaries 1926-1934), Moscow, Nauka, 2001, ISBN 5-02-004409-1, 455 pp.
• Dnevniki 1935-1941 v dvukh knigakh. Kniga 1, 1935-1938 (Diaries 1935-1941 in two volumes. Volume 1, 1935-1938), Moscow, Nauka, 2006,ISBN 5-02-033831-1,444 pp.
• Dnevniki 1935-1941 v dvukh knigakh. Kniga 2, 1939-1941 (Diaries 1935-1941. Volume 2, 1939-1941), Moscow, Nauka, 2006, ISBN 5-02-033832-X, 295 pp.

See also[link]

• Gaia theory (science)
• Noosphere
• Pierre Teilhard de Chardin
• Russian philosophy

References[link]

• "Science and Russian Cultures in an Age of Revolutions" ISBN 0-253-31123-3
• Lapo, Andrei V. (March 2001). "Vladimir I. Vernadsky (1863-1945), founder of the biosphere concept". Int. Microbiol. 4 (1): pp. 47–9. DOI:10.1007/s101230100008. PMID 11770820. http://www.im.microbios.org/13march01/09%20Lapo%20(P).pdf. 

External links[link]

• The grave of Vernadsky
• Behrends, Thilo, The Renaissance of V.I. Vernadsky, Newsletter of the Geochemical Society, #125, October 2005, http://www.geochemsoc.org/downloads/gn125.pdf retrieved Aug. 22, 2010
• Vernadsky, Vladimir Ivanovich, GEOCHEMISTRY AND THE BIOSPHERE. http://www.synergeticpress.com/vernadsky.html
• Electronic archive of writings from and about Vernadsky (Russian) http://vernadsky.lib.ru/