11. The Cave of Crystals, Naica Mine, Mexico
Bamboos for: ourfunnyplanet , nicole_denise
The Naica Mine of the Mexican state of Chihuahua is a working mine that is best known for its extraordinary selenite crystals. The Cave of Crystals (Cueva de los Cristales) is a cave approximately 1,000 feet (300 m) below the surface in the limestone host rock of the mine. The chamber contains giant selenite crystals, some of the largest natural crystals ever found.T he selenite crystals were formed by hydrothermal fluids emanating from the magma chambers below. [2]
12. Moraine Lake, Canada
Bamboos for: A tea but no e , T.P Photographie
Moraine Lake is a glacially-fed lake in Banff National Park, 14 kilometres (8.7 mi) outside the Village of Lake Louise, Alberta, Canada. The lake does not reach its crest until mid to late June. When it is full, it reflects a distinct shade of blue. The color is due to the refraction of light off the rock flour deposited in the lake on a continual basis. [15]
13. Grand Canyon, USA
Bamboos for: carbonboy , paigeh
The Grand Canyon is a steep-sided canyon carved by the Colorado River in the United States in the state of Arizona. A powerful and inspiring landscape, the Grand Canyon overwhelms our senses through its immense size; 277 river miles (446km) long, up to 18 miles (29km) wide, and a mile (1.6km) deep. [16] Nearly two billion years of the Earth’s geological history have been exposed as the Colorado River and its tributaries cut their channels through layer after layer of rock while the Colorado Plateau was uplifted. [17]
14. Berry Head Arch, Canada
Bamboos for: Rexton
This magnificent sea arch is located on the Spurwink Trail, along the East Coast Trail. To get to the arch, find the East Coast Trail trailhead at Port Kirwan. From here, it is about a 4.75-mile one way hike to the arch. The hike is moderate but extreme caution is required at points where the trail skirts the edge of some rather high cliffs.[18]
15. Monument Valley, USA
Bamboos for: Wolfgang Staudt
Monument Valley (Navajo: Tsé Biiʼ Ndzisgaii, meaning valley of the rocks) is a region of the Colorado Plateau characterized by a cluster of vast sandstone buttes, the largest reaching 1,000 ft (300 m) above the valley floor.[19] Monument Valley provides perhaps the most enduring and definitive images of the American West. The isolated red mesas and buttes surrounded by empty, sandy desert have been filmed and photographed countless times over the years for movies, adverts and holiday brochures. Because of this, the area may seem quite familiar, even on a first visit, but it is soon evident that the natural colors really are as bright and deep as those in all the pictures. The valley is not a valley in the conventional sense, but rather a wide flat, sometimes desolate landscape, interrupted by the crumbling formations rising hundreds of feet into the air, the last remnants of the sandstone layers that once covered the entire region. [20]
16. Plitvice, Croatia
Bamboos for: korom , mpancha
The stunning Plitvice Lakes National Park lies in the Lika region of Croatia. The park is surrounded by the mountains Plješevica, Mala Kapela, and Medveđak, which are part of the Dinaric Alps. The 16 blue-green Plitvice Lakes, which are separated by natural dams of travertine, are situated on the Plitvice plateau. [21] The lakes are renowned for their distinctive colors, ranging from azure to green, grey or blue. The colors change constantly depending on the quantity of minerals or organisms in the water and the angle of sunlight. [22]
17. Preikestolen, Norway
Bamboos for: Today is a good day
Preikestolen or Prekestolen, also known by the English translations of Preacher’s Pulpit or Pulpit Rock, and by the old local name Hyvlatonnå (“the carpenter-plane’s blade”), is a massive cliff 604 metres (1982 feet) above Lysefjorden, opposite the Kjerag plateau, in Forsand, Ryfylke, Norway. The top of the cliff is approximately 25 by 25 metres (82 by 82 feet) square, almost flat, and is a famous tourist attraction in Norway. [23]
18. Pamukkale, Turkey
Bamboos for: Le Grand Portage , pic fix , RICCIO , sterol.andro
Pamukkale, meaning “cotton castle” in Turkish, is a natural site in Denizli Province in southwestern Turkey. The city contains hot springs and travertines, terraces of carbonate minerals left by the flowing water. [24] It is Turkey’s foremost mineral-bath spa because of its natural beauty: hot calcium-laden waters spring from the earth and cascade over a cliff. As they cool they form dramatic travertines of hard, brilliantly white calcium that form pools. [25]
19. Socotra Island, Yemen
Bamboos for: over-logging , Soqotra (Yemen)
Socotra is one of the most isolated landforms on Earth of continental origin. Socotra is considered the jewel of biodiversity in the Arabian Sea. The long geological isolation of the Socotra archipelago and its fierce heat and drought have combined to create a unique and spectacular flora. Botanical field surveys led by the Centre for Middle Eastern Plants indicate that 307 out of the 825 (37%) plant species on Socotra are endemic, i.e., they are found nowhere else on Earth. [26]
20. Carerra Lake
Bamboos for: Feffef
Shared by Argentina and Chile the deepest lake in South America is famous for its trout and salmon fishing. The waters of General Carrera Lake are beautiful, a glittering combination of emerald, turquoise, aquamarine and azure. The marble protrusions stretch along a beachside and are around 300 meters in length. The waters of the lake have slowly impacted upon the marble and, in their infinite patience, have created something of enormous, almost bewildering beauty. The rock manifests different tones which are dependent upon the natural impurities within the marble. Although the white banks, of immense purity are predominant blue and pink marble banks can also be seen due to the presence of other minerals within the rock. [27]
