Of lakes and mountains

Featured picture Choice of the week: Wikipedian Ira Goldstein's panorama over Jökulsárlón, the largest proglacial lake in Iceland. Considered one of the country's natural wonders, the lake has expanded rapidly due to glacial retreat and is now four times larger than it was four decades ago.

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The Signpost welcomes VernoWhitney (nom) as our newest admin. Verno has been with us for almost a year, during which time he has become a central part of Wikipedia’s copyright cleanup. Among his contributions, he has contributed to work on suspected copyright violations and as been a conscientious clerk at WP:Contributor copyright investigations. He is an active volunteer for the permissions queue at OTRS, and runs User:VWBot, which handles much of the manual labor at various copyright points and helps to ensure that articles tagged for problems receive appropriate review.

• Edward Elgar (nom) (1857–1934), one of the most well-known English composers in the romantic tradition (nominated by Tim riley; picture at right).
• Talbot Baines Reed (nom), described by the acerbic critic and saxophone player Benny Green as a hereditary prig and religious huckster. Reed was a writer of fiction for boys, and his school stories were widely and enthusiastically read in middle-class households (Brianboulton).
• Mauna Kea (nom), a dormant Hawaiian volcano that by the count of dry elevation is higher than Mount Everest (Resident Mario, Iridia, and Hamiltonstone; picture at the bottom).
• Illinois (album) (nom), a 2005 concept album by American indie folk songwriter Sufjan Stevens (Jujutacular and Koavf).
• Benedict Arnold's expedition to Quebec (nom), the story of how in 1775, early in the American Revolutionary War, a force of 1,100 Continental Army troops went on an expedition from Cambridge, Massachusetts to the gates of Quebec City (Magicpiano).
• Pedro Álvares Cabral (nom), a major early Portuguese explorer who deserves wider recognition, according to nominator Astynax.

Choice of the week. The Signpost asked FA nominator and reviewer TonyTheTiger to select the best of the week.

"As the director of WP:CHICAGO, I disqualify Ilinois (album), which is part of the project, from contention. I must say that since every now and then I attempt to have an appreciation for culture I was quite pleased to see that Edward Elgar was raised to FA-quality. His Pomp and Circumstance Marches are heroic and recognized worldwide, and I view his article as the runner-up for the week. However, because of the international significance of the Mauna Kea Observatory region, I feel that Mauna Kea is the top choice. It is chock full of instructive links to educational articles. It is an exemplary model of encyclopedic content."

• List of Denver RTD light rail stations (nom) (nominated by Patriarca12)
• List of breastwork monitors of the Royal Navy (nom) (Sturmvogel 66)
• List of awards and nominations received by The Bill (nom) (HJ Mitchell, Courcelles, and JuneGloom07)
• List of National Treasures of Japan (ancient documents) (nom) (Bamse)
• List of 1936 Winter Olympics medal winners (nom) (Strange Passerby and Courcelles)

• Liquid chlorine (nom), the gas chlorine, liquefied under pressure. Reviewer Nergaal said it boils around the point where mercury freezes (−34 °C), and that to get it to liquefy at room temperature takes a pressure of more than eight atmospheres (Alchemist-hp).
• Helsinki Cathedral (nom), with a central green dome surrounded by four smaller domes (Lycaon).
• Christmas tree worm (nom) – well, pretty for a worm (Nhobgood).
• The Dogs of War (nom), The dogs of war, a Punch cartoon from 17 June 1876, showing Russia holding back the Balkan countries from attacking Turkey (Punch magazine; picture at right).
• Devastation in San Bruno after a gas pipeline explosion (nom) that occurred on 9 September 2010 in San Bruno, California, causing a fire that quickly engulfed nearby houses and cars. The numbers spray-painted on the burned cars indicate they were searched for bodies (Mbz1).
• Carambola starfruit (nom) from the Averrhoa carambola tree. The fruit in cross-section is a five-pointed star, hence its name (SMasters).
• Incahuasi Island (nom), a rocky island in Salar de Uyuni, a salt flat in Bolivia (Martin St-Amant).
• Common frog (nom), or the common European frog, found throughout much of Europe (Richard Bartz).
• Jokulsarlon (nom), a panorama over the Jökulsárlón glacial lake in Iceland (Ira Goldstein).

Choice of the week. Avenue, a regular reviewer and occasional nominator at featured picture candidates, told The Signpost:

"This week saw several seasoned FP contributors maintaining their high standards, including an intriguing addition to Alchemist-hp's chemical elements series, another delightful marine creature from Nick Hobgood, and Mbz1's sobering shot of what remained after a gas explosion. It's hard to choose between such a wide range of powerful illustrations. Lycaon's cathedral image shows impressive detail, and I love Richard Bartz's nice sharp frog photo. But for me, the pick of the bunch is from an FP newcomer, Ira Goldstein, who gave us his stunning panorama of Iceland's iceberg-studded Jökulsárlón. The strong visual contrasts in glacial landscapes can make them a challenging subject, but this photo, taken in a lovely soft light, captures the scene's peace and grandeur beautifully."

Information about new admins at the top is drawn from their user pages and RfA texts, and occasionally from what they tell us directly.

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15 November 2010 (all comments)

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...And also several times more massive!^{[citation needed]} ResMar 21:44, 16 November 2010 (UTC)[reply]

I'm not surprised. Is this apparently flattish shape a fixed ratio with tallness, I wonder? I mean, because we're looking at just the very top, and most of it is under water, it's to be expected? Tony (talk) 08:37, 17 November 2010 (UTC)[reply]

If you're asking whether the mountain has the same (lack of) steepness underwater, I believe the answer is no (see e.g. the cross-section at left). The lava cools down more quickly underwater and hence forms a steeper slope. --Avenue (talk) 13:44, 17 November 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Or if you're just wondering whether all volcanoes get less steep towards the top, stratovolcanoes like Mount Damavand show that's not the case. --Avenue (talk) 13:56, 17 November 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Ah, thanks. I was wondering about both of those issues. Tony (talk) 14:26, 17 November 2010 (UTC)[reply]