Geological Wonders Of The World

Geological Wonders Of The World

Socotra Island, Yemen

Socotra - one of the most isolated archipelagos in the world of the continental (or non-volcanic origin). It is located 240 kilometers from the Horn of Africa and 380 kilometers from the Arabian Peninsula. Due to this geological and biological containment and the climate of the archipelago formed its unique flora and fauna. For this reason, Socotra has been listed as World Heritage by UNESCO.

Moeraki Boulders - New Zealand

These unusually large stone spheres with a diameter of one to two meters lie along the east coast of New Zealand in a place called Moeraki. About where they came from, the people there are many Maori legends, but scientists claim that these boulders - the result of coastal erosion.

White Desert - Egypt

White Desert - a small area in the east of the Sahara desert about 10 km x 30 km, located 45 kilometers from the town of Farafra. This place is famous creamy white color and bizarre limestone formations. Once it was the bottom of the ocean, and the white race - the remains of marine organisms. Over the centuries, sandstorms have made these limestone mountains in such a alien landscape.

Giants - Northern Ireland

The trail is a giant 40,000 interconnected basalt columns formed as a result of an ancient volcanic eruption. The tops of the columns form a sort of stone road going off into the sea. In 1986 this place was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Reed flute cave - Province Guilin, China

Reed flute cave is more reminiscent of the fantastic scenery of the film. Once upon a time this place was the ocean, but then the water gradually went away, exposing these amazing mountains with strange gorges, caves and caverns. This is a magical spectacle attracts people for more than 12 centuries. The name of the cave gave a special cane growing at its entrance, from which the masters did particularly melodious flute.

Mono Lake - California

Mono - extensive and shallow lake that has no outlet to the ocean. This has led to the isolation of a high concentration of salt in water. Although the abundance of alkali fish is not found, the lake has a surprisingly productive ecosystem - with brine shrimp that lives in the water and provides food to about two million migratory birds. One of the wonders of the lake are considered calc-tuff towers that were exposed after the decline of the water level in the lake.

Devils Tower - Wyoming

This monolith of volcanic origin is the oldest "national monument" of the U.S.. Devils Tower was formed about 200 million years ago from molten magma that rose from the depths of the earth, and stood in the form of elegant columns. Native American legend has it that once the seven little girls climbed on a flat rock, trying to escape from a grizzly bear. They desperately begged stone to save them, and then he began to grow, reached the sky and girls have become the Pleiades. A deep vertical furrows-string - it's a huge bear claw marks.

The Twelve Apostles - Great Ocean Road, Australia

The Twelve Apostles - a group of limestone rocks in the ocean near the coast in the National Park of Port Campbell, located on the so-called Great Ocean Road in Victoria, Australia. Rocks were formed by erosion - strong ocean winds gradually wore away the soft rock, turning the cave into an arch. Then arches collapsed and were these amazing structures up to 45 meters high.

Cave of Crystals - Nike, Mexico

Crystal Cave is located at a depth of 300 meters below the Mexican city of Nike. The cave is famous for the giant selenite crystals, the largest of which reaches 11 meters in length, 4 wide, and weighs 55 tons. The cave is constantly heat up to 58 ° C at a humidity of about 100 percent. Because of this, it is very difficult to explore the cave. Even people with special equipment may be in the Crystal Cave no more than 20 minutes.

The Gates of Hell - Turkmenistan

The gates of hell called the gas crater in Turkmenistan. The history of this place is: v1971 year near the village Darwaza Soviet geologists discovered an underground accumulation of gas. The land in this place failed and formed a large, gas-filled hole. To bad for people and livestock gases do not go outside, they decided to set fire to. Geologists think that the fire was soon extinguished, but made a mistake. Since 1971, natural gas and continues to burn.

Chocolate Hills - Philippines

Chocolate Hills - a geological formation in the Philippine province of Bohol. On an area of 50 square kilometers is, at least 1,260 of these hills. During the dry season green grass covering the hills changed to chocolate brown - hence the name.

Salar de Uyuni - Bolivia

Salar de Uyuni is the largest salt marsh in the world - with an area of 10,582 square kilometers. This is a dried salt lake is located near the town of Uyuni in southwestern Bolivia. In the rainy season salt marsh covered with a thin layer of water and turns into the world's largest mirror surface. Salar de Uyuni, according to experts, contains a reserve of 10 billion tons of salt are produced annually about 25,000 tons.

Stone Forest - China

Stone Forest "grows" in China's Yunnan Province and covers an area of 350 square kilometers. Numerous limestone structures were formed by centuries of erosion and leaching of sea waters. High cliffs resemble stalagmites growing up from the ground, many of them look like petrified trees, and this creates the illusion of the forest of stone.

Antelope Canyon, Arizona, USA

Antelope Canyon’s undulating sandstone walls have been smoothed and polished to perfection by years of rainwater and flooding. The slot canyon is still prone to flash floods on occasion, but visit on a fair weather day and you’ll be in for a treat, as the walls turn burning shades of amber, bronze and gold in the shafts of sunlight that peek through from above.

The Blue Hole, Belize

Staring out of Belize’s Lighthouse Reef atoll like the pupil of an enormous aquatic eye, it’s hard to imagine that this giant sinkhole once sat above sea level. Perfectly spherical, the Blue Hole is full of stalactites and stalagmites that were initially created above-ground, and has become a popular site for divers, including the likes of Jacques Cousteau.

Kilauea Volcano, Hawaii, USA

Sitting as it does in the middle of the Pacific Ocean, above an intense volcanic hotspot, the rocks beneath Hawaii are constantly simmering away, and continuously creating new land. Kilauea is a shallow-profile shield volcano from which ropey, pahoehoe lava meanders overland and through subterranean tunnels all the way to the ocean, where it drips and sizzles into the waters below like pancake batter.

Knockan Crag, Scotland

Huge geological forces once pummelled and folded the mountains around Knockan like puff pastry. A huge section of young rocks (a mere 500 million years old) were squeezed on top of some of the world’s oldest (which had over 1.5 billion candles to blow out on their last birthday). Scoured by glaciers and gnawed at by the sea, the resulting scenery is bleak but beautifully striking.

Mount Roraima, Brazil/Guyana/Venezuela

It’s not hard to see why Roraima has been cited as the inspiration for Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s The Lost World. One of the oldest rock formations on earth, it’s hard to believe that this mist-shrouded table-top mountain (or tepui) is made up of sediments that used to sit on the seabed. Almost 3000m tall, Roraima is threaded with stunning silvery waterfalls and lush jungle.

Mingsha singing sand dunes, China

While you probably won’t see them appearing on X Factor any time soon, the Gobi Desert’s singing sand dunes are still a captivating curiosity. As visitors camel trek along the spine of the dunes and the wind whips up the towering sands they emit an unmistakable humming sound; the phenomenon is thought to be the result of avalanching grains bouncing off each other.

Underground river, Palawan, The Philippines

A secret world all of its own, the Cabayugan snakes along for 8.2km underneath the karst landscape of the Puerto Princesa Subterranean River National Park. The waterway has eroded a series of vast chambers on its journey, which are full of stalactites and stalagmites – not to mention more than 400,000 bats – before it eventually flows out into the open South China Sea.

Colca Canyon, Peru

More than twice as deep as the Grand Canyon and thought to be the second-deepest canyon in the world, Peru’s Colca Canyon is totally breathtaking. Created by a massive geological fault between two huge volcanoes, there is still evidence of pre-Inca terracing on its slopes. The Mirador Cruz del Condor is the most popular spot to take in the views and watch soaring condors.

Parc National de l’Ankarana, Madagascar

Arriving at Parc National de l’Ankarana feels not unlike taking your first steps onto another planet. Gangly-limbed lemurs bounce effortlessly from ridge to ridge of this intricate rocky maze, comprised of spiky limestone pinnacles that have been eroded by water. Down below, scorpions take refuge in hidden crevices and crocodiles cruise the underground rivers that flow between secret pockets of forest.

The Danakil Depression, Ethiopia

From Tanzania to Eritrea, the earth is being wrenched apart along the Great Rift Valley and will one day form a new ocean. Volcanic activity abounds along this rift, particularly in the Danakil Depression. This dramatic region is home to more than thirty young volcanoes, sulphurous yellow hot springs and otherworldly salt plains. Check with the Foreign Office before travelling, as this is a geologically and politically volatile area.