Planet earth is home to some remarkable natural sights – some of which might even have you questioning whether you are even on Earth at all or you have accidentally wandered onto an alien world!
From flames which seemingly burn eternally with no obvious reason why, to beaches of spectacular colours, and many more beautiful sights, the geology of the earth has created many stunning spectacles that look extraordinary and have sparked many ancient legends. Here are some of these outstanding natural wonders that have to be seen to be believed…
Eternal Flame Falls USA
In New York state USA there is a small waterfall in Chestnut ridge county park. To glance at it, you wouldn’t think it was anything particularly striking or unusual, however it is hiding something behind its flowing water. Behind the waterfall, known as Eternal Flame Falls, there is a small and shallow grotto in the rocks and here there is a small flame that flickers all the time.
You don’t expect to see the elements of water and fire peacefully co-existing together, yet here they are – you can sometimes see the flame glowing through the water making it a spectacular and beautiful place to visit.
As the natural gas flows through the cracks in the rocks surrounding the waterfall it escapes through an opening and is ignited producing a constantly burning flame. Most people are familiar with gas appliances in their own homes and are aware of how flammable natural gas is, which is why you must always get a professional like this boiler servicing Cheltenham based company to carry out any work that needs to be done to your home gas appliances.
Yanar Dag Azerbaijan
Azerbaijan is another place that has a natural spectacle of this nature although this is on a much larger scale – Yanar Dag, which translates as burning mountain is home to a stretch of fire that runs all the way along the hillside! With flames that can easily reach up to three metres high in the right conditions this is a particularly dramatic sight and is best witnessed at night.
These fires have burned in the area for thousands of years and have been the source of many legends and religious beliefs of the native people. Azerbaijan has a wealth of natural gases beneath it and there are other sites around the country.
Papakōlea Green Sand Beach Hawaii
When it comes to beaches Hawaii is a great place to go, whether you enjoy relaxing on the sand or surfing the waves – however, this particular beach at the south of Big Island is particularly special. Unlike most beaches with golden or white sands, this beach has an olive-green coloured sand making it particularly striking and unusual.
This rare colour comes from a mineral that is found commonly in volcanic rocks – olivine. The beach rests on an area that has eroded and then released these spectacular coloured crystals onto the beach. Because the olivine is more dense than other more common minerals that make up sand, the other particles tend to wash away more readily, leaving the green ones on the beach.
Papakōlea is one of only a handful of green sand beaches in the world. Its remarkable colour comes from olivine; a green silicate mineral commonly found in volcanic rocks. The beach lies within a roughly 49,000-year-old volcanic cinder cone, whose erosion has released olivine crystals into the surrounding bay.
This beach is not as easy to get to as many in Hawaii – if you plan to go there, you will need to walk across some of the island’s terrain, so make sure that you are up for the walk and prepared for it and also that you do not cause any damage to the fragile environment.
For another interesting shade of sand, head to harbour island in the Bahamas where you will encounter a beautiful pink sand beach. Contrasting beautifully with the turquoise waters surrounding the island, it is very striking to behold.
The colour on this beach comes from a type of organism that lives in the sea who tend to be red and pink tones – when they die, the shells break apart and mix with sand, creating this very attractive coloured beach!
Zhangye Danxia Geopark China
This enormous natural spectacle is known as the rainbow mountains and sits in central China. The rock formations striped with a range of colours from red and orange to yellow and green look otherworldly.
Millions of years of rocks sediment have created these striking patterns – various minerals with differing colours were squashed against each other into the layers that form these rocks and erosion then exposed them for all to see today.
As well as being beautiful, they are also a fantastic record of interest to scientist and geologists that tell the story of many environmental processes over the millions of years that they took to form.