Rare Wonders of Nature

[GTfan]

1) Sailing Stones<?: prefix = o />

 

The mysterious moving stones of the packed-mud <?: prefix = st1 />desert of Death Valley

have been a center of scientific controversy for decades. Rocks weighing

up to hundreds of pounds have been known to move up to hundreds of yards

at a time. Some scientists have proposed that a combination of strong

winds and surface ice account for these movements. However, this theory

does not explain evidence of different rocks starting side by side and

moving at different rates and in disparate directions. Moreover, the

physics calculations do not fully support this theory as wind speeds of

hundreds of miles per hour would be needed to move some of the stones.

 

 

2) Columnar Basalt

 

When a thick lava flow cools it contracts vertically but cracks

perpendicular to its directional flow with remarkable geometric

regularity - in most cases forming a regular grid of remarkable

hexagonal extrusions that almost appear to be made by man. One of the

most famous such examples is the Giant's Causeway on the coast of

Irelandon> (shown above) though the largest and most widely recognized

would be Devil's Tower in Wyoming. Basalt also forms different but

equally fascinating ways when eruptions are exposed to air or water.

 

 

3) Blue Holes

 

Blue holes are giant and sudden drops in underwater elevation that get

their name from the dark and foreboding blue tone they exhibit when

viewed from above in relationship to surrounding waters. They can be

hundreds of feet deep and while divers are able to explore some of them

they are largely devoid of oxygen that would support sea life due to

poor water circulation - leaving them eerily empty. Some blue holes,

however, contain ancient fossil remains that have been discovered,

preserved in their depths.

 

 

 

 

 

4) Red Tides

 

Red tides are also known as algal blooms - sudden influxes of massive

amounts of colored single-cell algae that can convert entire areas of an

ocean or beach into a blood red color. While some of these can be

relatively harmless, others can be harbingers of deadly toxins that

cause the deaths of fish, birds and marine mammals. In some cases, even

humans have been harmed by red tides though no human exposure are known

to have been fatal.

While

they can be fatal, the constituent phytoplankton in ride tides are not

harmful in small numbers.

 

 

5) Ice Circles

 

While many see these apparently perfect ice circles as worthy of

conspiracy theorizing, scientists generally accept that they are formed

by eddies in the water that spin a sizable piece of ice in a circular

motion. As a result of this rotation, other pieces of ice and flotsam

wear relatively evenly at the edges of the ice until it slowly forms

into an essentially ideal circle.

Ice circles have been seen with diameters of over 500 feet and can also

at times be found in clusters and groups at different sizes as shown

above.

 

 

6) Mammatus Clouds

 

True to their ominous appearance, mammatus clouds are often harbingers

of a coming storm or other extreme weather system. Typically composed

primarily of ice, they can extend for hundreds of miles in each

direction and individual formations can remain visibly static for ten to

fifteen minutes at a time. While they may appear foreboding they are

merely the messengers - appearing around, before or even after severe

weather.

 

 

7) Fire Rainbows

 

 

[AndreZA]

It would have been so nice if the pics were visible.

[intern]

Surely you muppets have heard of Google? ha ha 

[GTfan]

K let's try it this way....

[AndreZA]

Surely you muppets have heard of Google? ha ha?

 

 

 

 

Okay, I'll start a thread about Keira Knightly; "Hey guys , check this hot pic of KN" and leave out the pics. Why, why not, you can Google it.

[GTfan]

[GTfan]

[GTfan]

[GTfan]

[GTfan]

[GTfan]

[intern]

 

Surely you muppets have heard of Google? ha ha 

 

 

 

 

Okay' date=' I'll start a thread about Keira Knightly; "Hey guys , check this hot pic of KN" and leave out the pics. Why, why not, you can Google it.[/quote']

 

Good thinking Mampara, give it a click then!

 

[jugheaddave]

I have been to giant causeway!!!!!

[Candz]

wow..awesome pics...thanks..never too old to learn.

[_BBi]

Lovely pics.

[Serendipity]

Great pics.