Top 20 Geological Wonders you didn’t know

When we listen to the word wonder, there comes an idea of some tremendous and amazingly constructed building such as the Leaning Tower of Pisa, Tajmahal of India etc. They are really amazing, but there are not natural. besides these, there are some surprising natural wonders also. These wonders are not so popular but you must have a look at these. Today i described you some natural wonders around the globe. Have a look…

1. The Wave (between Arizona and Utah – USA)

The Wave is a sandstone rock formation located in the United States of America near the Arizona and Utah border on the slopes of the Coyote Buttes, in the Paria Canyon-Vermilion Cliffs Wilderness, on the Colorado Plateau. It is famous among hikers and photographers for its colorful, undulating forms, and the rugged, trackless hike required to reach it.

2. Antelope Canyon (Arizona – USA)

Antelope Canyon is the most-visited and most-photographed slot canyon in the American Southwest. It is located on Navajo land near Page, Arizona. Antelope Canyon includes two separate, photogenic slot canyon sections, referred to individually as Upper Antelope Canyon or The Crack; and Lower Antelope Canyon or The Corkscrew.

The Navajo name for Upper Antelope Canyon is Tsé bighánílíní, which means “the place where water runs through rocks.” Lower Antelope Canyon is Hazdistazí(advertised as “Hasdestwazi” by the Navajo Parks and Recreation Department), or “spiral rock arches.” Both are located within the LeChee Chapter of the Navajo Nation.

3. Great Blue Hole (Belize)

The Great Blue Hole is a large underwater sinkhole off the coast of Belize. It lies near the center of Lighthouse Reef, a small atoll 70 kilometers (43 mi) from the mainland and Belize City. The hole is circular in shape, over 300 meters (984 ft) across and 124 meters (407 ft) deep. It was formed during several episodes of Quaternary glaciation when sea levels were much lower – the analysis of stalactites found in Great Blue Hole shows that formation has taken place 153,000, 66,000, 60,000, and 15,000 years ago. As the ocean began to rise again, the caves were flooded. The Great Blue Hole is a part of the larger Belize Barrier Reef Reserve System, a World Heritage Site of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO).

4. Crystal Cave of the Giants (Mexico)

Cave of the Crystals or Giant Crystal Cave is a cave connected to the Naica Mine 300 meters (980 ft) below the surface in Naica,Chihuahua, Mexico. The main chamber contains giant selenite crystals, some of the largest natural crystals ever found. The cave’s largest crystal found to date is 11 m (36 ft) in length, 4 m (13 ft) in diameter and 55 tons in weight. The cave is extremely hot with air temperatures reaching up to 58 °C (136 °F) with 90 to 99 percent humidity. The cave is relatively unexplored due to these factors. Without proper protection people can only endure approximately ten minutes of exposure at a time. A group of scientists known as the Naica Project have been heavily involved in researching these caverns.

5. Eye of the Sahara (Mauritania)

The Richat Structure, also known as the Eye of the Sahara and Guelb er Richat,is a prominent circular feature in the Sahara desert of west – central Mauritania nearOuadane. This structure is a deeply eroded, slightly elliptical, 40-km in diameter,dome. The sedimentary rock exposed in this dome range in age from LateProterozoic within the center of the dome to Ordovician sandstone around its edges. The sedimentary rocks comprising this structure dip outward at 10°-20°. Differential erosion of resistant layers of quartzite has created high-relief circular cuestas. Its center consists of a siliceous breccia covering an area that is at least 3 km in diameter.

6. Blue Lake Cave (Brazil)

The Blue lake Cave is found in Mato Grosso do Sul region in Brazil and the little town of Bonito boasts many such caves. This is a natural monument and its interior is formed by stalactics, stalagmites and of course the beautiful lake. The Blue Lake Cave has a variety of geological formations but it’s the color of the deep blue water that gives it its spectacular view.

7. Giants Causeway (Ireland)

The Giant’s Causeway is an area of about 40,000 interlocking basalt columns, the result of an ancient volcanic eruption. It is located in County Antrim on the northeast coast of Northern Ireland, about three miles (4.8 km) northeast of the town of Bushmills. It was declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 1986, and a National Nature Reserve in 1987 by the Department of the Environment for Northern Ireland. In a 2005 poll of Radio Times readers, the Giant’s Causeway was named as the fourth greatest natural wonder in the United Kingdom.The tops of the columns form stepping stones that lead from the cliff foot and disappear under the sea. Most of the columns are hexagonal, although there are also some with four, five, seven and eight sides. The tallest are about 12 meters (39 ft) high, and the solidified lava in the cliffs is 28 meters thick in places. The Giant’s Causeway is today owned and managed by the National Trustand it is the most popular tourist attraction in Northern Ireland.

8. Hell Gate (Turkmenistan)

Called by locals The Door to Hell, this place in Turkmenistan is situated near the small town of Darvaz. When geologists were drilling for gas, 35 years ago, they suddenly found an underground cavern that was so big, all the drilling site with all the equipment and camps got deep deep under the ground. None dared to go down there because the cavern was filled with gas, so they ignited it so that no poisonous gas could come out of the hole, and since then, it has been burning. Nobody knows how many tons of excellent gas has been burned for all those years but it just seems to be infinite.

9. Wave Rock (Australia)

Wave Rock is a natural rock formation located east of the small town of Hyden inWestern Australia that is shaped like a tall breaking ocean wave. Wave Rock has cultural significance to Aborigines. More than 140,000 tourists visit wave rock every year.

A retaining wall about halfway up the rock that follows the contours of the wall and allows rainwater to be collected in a storage dam was constructed in 1951 by the Public Works Department. Such walls are common on many similar rocks in theWheatbelt.

10. Chocolate Hills (Philippines)

The Chocolate Hills are an unusual geological formation in Bohol province, Philippines. According to the latest accurate survey done,there are 1,776 hills spread over an area of more than 50 square kilometers (20 sq mi). They are covered in green grass that turns brown during the dry season, hence the name.

The Chocolate Hills are a famous tourist attraction of Bohol. They are featured in the provincial flag and seal to symbolize the abundance of natural attractions in the province.They are in the Philippine Tourism Authority’s list of tourist destinations in the Philippines;they have been declared the country’s third National Geological Monument and proposed for inclusion in the UNESCO World Heritage List.

11. Pamukkale (Turkey)

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. It is located in Turkey’s Inner Aegean region, in the River Menderes valley, which has a temperate climate for most of the year.

The ancient Greco-Roman and Byzantine city of Hierapolis was built on top of the white “castle” which is in total about 2,700 meters (8,860 ft) long, 600 m (1,970 ft) wide and 160 m (525 ft) high. It can be seen from the hills on the opposite side of the valley in the town of Denizli, 20 km away.

12. Ice Towers of Mount Erebus (Antarctica)

Mount Erebus in Antarctica is the southernmost historically active volcano on Earth, the second highest volcano in Antarctica (after Mount Sidley), and the 6th highest ultra mountain on an island. With a summit elevation of 3,794 meters (12,448 ft), it is located on Ross Island, which is also home to three inactive volcanoes, notably Mount Terror. Mount Erebus is part of the Pacific Ring of Fire, which includes over 160 active volcanoes.

The volcano has been observed to be continuously active since 1972 and is the site of the Mount Erebus Volcano Observatory run by the New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology.

13. Fly Geyser (Nevada, US)

Fly Geyser, also known as Fly Ranch Geyser is a small geothermal geyser that is located approximately 20 miles (32 km) north of Gerlach, in Washoe County, Nevada. The Geyser is located in Hualapai Flat less than a mile from State Route 34. The Geyser is about 1/3 miles from the road and is large enough to be seen from the road. Fly Geyser is located on the private Fly Ranch and is accessible only by a small private dirt road. The ranch is currently owned by Todd Jaksick.

14. Kasha Katuwe Tent Rocks (New Mexico, US)

Kasha-Katuwe Tent Rocks National Monument, located 40 miles southwest of Santa Fe, New Mexico(near Cochiti), is a Bureau of Land Management (BLM) managed site that was established as a U.S. National Monument by President Bill Clinton in January 2001 shortly before leaving office.

The area owes its remarkable geology to layers of volcanic rock and ash deposited by a volcanic explosion. Over time, weathering and erosion of these layers has created canyons and tent rocks. The tent rocks themselves are cones of soft pumice and tuff beneath harder caprocks.

The monument is open for day use only and may be closed by order of the Cochiti Pueblo Tribal Governor. A 1.2 mile (1.9 km) recreation trail leads up through a slot canyon to a lookout point where the tent rocks may be viewed from above. A 1.3 mile (2 km) loop trail leads past their base. The park is located between 5700 and 6400 feet above sea level. The monument is closed to dogs.

15. The Valley of the Moon (Argentina)

Ischigualasto, meaning “the place where you put the moon” is a remote valley in Argentina. It is studded with geological formations left by wind erosion, amazing standing stones and boulders that are so rounded they look like enormous marbles. The valley’s once-fertile ground is now arid and contains so many plant and animal fossils that paleontologists come from all over the world to study them.

Erosion over the millennia unearths the fossils as well as other geological formations such as a host of almost spherical concretions. The wind, inexorable and patient, has pounded the local bedrock for an age. Revealed, the boulders that mudstone – in its original wet form, helped to form look as if giants have been playing marbles.

16. Danxia Landform (China)

The Danxia landform refers to various landscapes found in southeast and southwest China that “consist of a red bed characterized by steep cliffs”. It is a unique type of petrographic geomorphology found in China. Danxia landform are formed from red-colored sandstones and conglomerates of largely Cretaceous age. The landforms look very much like karst topography that forms in areas underlain by limestones, but since the rocks that form Danxia are sandstones and conglomerates, they have been called “pseudo-karst” landforms. Danxia landforms cover several provinces in southeast China. Taining County, Fujian Province, has very good examples of “young” danxia landforms wherein deep, narrow valleys have been formed. As the landform gets older, valleys widen and one gets isolated towers and ridges.

17. Enchanted Well – Chapada Diamantina National Park(Brazil)

Poço Encantado, or Enchanted Well, is located in the Chapada DiamantinaNational Park in Bahia state, approximately 400 kilometers inland from Salvador, the capital city of Bahia. This giant sunken pool is 120 feet deep and the water is so transparent the rocks and ancient tree trunks are visible on the bottom. When the sun is just right, light comes through a crevice and creates a blue reflection on the water. Access to this pond is highly controlled for environmental protection of its rare and delicate ecosystem.

18. The Stone Forest (China)

The Stone Forest or Shilin is a notable set of karst formations located in Shilin Yi Autonomous County, Yunnan Province, People’s Republic of China, approximately 120 kilometres (75 mi) from the provincial capital Kunming. The tall rocks seem to emanate from the ground in the manner of stalagmites, with many looking like petrified trees thereby creating the illusion of a forest made of stone. Since 2007, two parts of the site, the Naigu Stone Forest and Suogeyi Village, have been UNESCO World Heritage Sites as part of the South China Karst.

19. Wulingyan, Hunan (China)

Wulingyuan is a scenic and historic interest area in Hunan Province, China, noted for its approximately 3,100 tall quartzite sandstone pillars, some of which are over 800 metres (2,600 ft) in height and are a type of karst formation. The site is in the Zhangjiajie City and lies about 270 kilometers (170 mi) from Changsha, the capital of Hunan Province. It was designated a UNESCO World Heritage Sitein 1992.Wulingyuan forms part of the Wuling Range. The scenic area comprises of several national parks, one of which is the Zhangjiajie National Forest Park.

20. Salar de Uyuni (Bolivia)

Salar de Uyuni (or Salar de Tunupa) is the world’s largest salt flat at 10,582 square kilometers (4,086 sq mi). It is located in the Potosí and Oruro departments in southwest Bolivia, near the crest of the Andes, and is elevated 3,656 meters (11,995 ft) above the mean sea level. The Salar was formed as a result of transformations between several prehistoric lakes. It is covered by a few meters of salt crust, which has an extraordinary flatness with the average altitude variations within one meter over the entire area of the Salar. The crust serves as a source of salt and covers a pool of brine, which is exceptionally rich in lithium. It contains 50 to 70% of the world’s lithium reserves,[2] which is in the process of being extracted. The large area, clear skies and exceptional surface flatness make the Salar an ideal object for calibrating the altimeters of the Earth observation satellites.The Salar serves as the major transport route across the Bolivian Altiplano and is a major breeding ground for several species of pink flamingos.