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Payún Matrú is a shield volcano in the Malargüe Department of Mendoza Province, Argentina. Activity in its volcanic field commenced at least 2.5 million years ago and continued until about 515 years ago. Payún Matrú lies in the Payenia volcanic province in the back-arc region of the Andean Volcanic Belt, formed by the subduction of the Nazca Plate beneath the South American Plate. The volcano developed over sediments and volcanic rocks ranging from Mesoproterozoic to Tertiary age. It consists of a large shield volcano capped off by a 7–8 km (4.3–5.0 mi) caldera that formed during a large explosive eruption between 168,000 and 82,000 years ago, along with a compound volcano 3,680–3,797 m (12,073–12,457 ft) high, and scoria cones and lava flows due west and east from the main shield volcano. One of these lava flows, the Pleistocene Pampas Onduladas flow, is the longest one in the world from the Quaternary, at 167–181 km (104–112 mi). (Full article...)

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Did you know ...

Topo Islet (background) off the coast of São Jorge

... that the whole of Topo Islet (pictured), in Portugal's Azores, is protected as a nature reserve?
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... that during the topping-out ceremony for 1 Wall Street, while workers hoisted an evergreen tree to its pinnacle, a hot rivet fell onto the street and caused a fire?
... that in R v Zora, the Supreme Court of Canada ruled that the offence of breaching bail conditions requires subjective mens rea?
... that Joseph Crews, who organized a militia to mobilize African-American voters in South Carolina, was assassinated by whites in the run-up to the 1876 gubernatorial election?
... that a kidney-transplantation scandal led to a 2011 amendment to the law on organ donation in India?
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In the news

COVID-19 pandemic

Presidential edition of the Russian constitution

Floods in Kyushu, Japan, kill more than 60 people.
The Russian electorate votes to amend the Russian constitution (pictured).
European police agencies infiltrate EncroChat, an alleged criminal chat system, leading to the arrests of more than 800 people.
More than 170 people are killed in a landslide at a jade mine in Hpakant, Myanmar.

On this day

July 11

Harper Lee

1801 – French astronomer Jean-Louis Pons co-discovered the first of his 37 comets, more than any other person in history.
1848 – London Waterloo station, Britain's busiest railway station by passenger usage, was opened by the London and South Western Railway.
1914 – USS Nevada, the United States Navy's first "super-dreadnought", was launched.
1960 – To Kill a Mockingbird, a novel by Harper Lee (pictured) featuring themes of racial injustice and the loss of innocence in the Deep South of America, was published.
2010 – The Islamist militia group Al-Shabaab carried out multiple suicide bombings in Kampala, Uganda, killing 74 people and injuring 85 others.

Rudolph II of Burgundy (d. 937)
H. M. Brock (b. 1875)
Kitty O'Brien Joyner (b. 1916)

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Today's featured picture

Pura Ulun Danu Bratan is a major Hindu Shaivite temple located on the shore of Lake Bratan in Bali, Indonesia. Built in 1633, the temple is used for the ceremony of offerings to the Balinese water, lake and river goddess Dewi Danu, due to the importance of Lake Bratan as a main source of water for irrigation in central Bali. The temple is laid out with three courtyards separated by low walls pierced by ornate gateways. The inner courtyard houses the shrines, which are square structures with brick bases and multiple pagoda-style thatched roofs, the number of roofs reflecting the status of the deity; it is always an odd number, and the eleven at this temple indicate the importance of Dewi Danu.

Photograph credit: Uwe Aranas

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