Wonders of the natural world - Photos of Amazing geological phenomena

Grand Prismatic Spring (Wyoming, USA)

Grand Prismatic Spring was noted by geologists working in the Hayden Geological Survey of 1871, and named by them for its striking coloration. Its colors match most of those seen in the rainbow dispersion of white light by an optical prism: red, orange, yellow, green, and blue. With a diameter of around 367 ft and a depth of 121 ft.

Mount Roraima (Venezuela, Brazil, and Guyana)

A characteristic large flat-topped mountain surrounded by cliffs 400 to 1,000 meters high. The highest point of Mount Roraima is located on the southern edge of the cliff at an altitude of 2,810 meters in Venezuela, and another protrusion at an altitude of 2,772 meters at the junction of the three countries in the north of the plateau is the highest point in Guyana. 

Salar de Uyuni (Bolivia)

Salar de Uyuni is the world's largest salt flat, or playa, at over 10,000 square kilometres in area.It is in the Daniel Campos Province in Potosí in southwest Bolivia, near the crest of the Andes at an elevation of 11,995 ft above sea level.

Pamukkale (Turkey)

The ancient Greek city of Hierapolis was built on top of the travertine formation which is in total about 8,860 ft long, 1,970 ft wide and 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. Known as Pamukkale (Cotton Castle) or ancient Hierapolis, this area has been drawing visitors to its thermal springs since the time of Classical antiquity. The area is famous for a carbonate mineral left by the flowing of thermal spring water.

Richat Structure (Mauritania)

Richat means feather and it also is known locally in Arabic as tagense. Tagense refers to the circular opening of the leather pouch used to draw water from local wells. It is an eroded geological dome, 40 kilometres in diameter, exposing sedimentary rock in layers which appear as concentric rings. Igneous rock is exposed inside and there are spectacular rhyolites and gabbros which have undergone hydrothermal alteration, and a central megabreccia.

Moeraki Boulders (New Zealand)

Located on Koekohe beach in New Zealand, the Meraki Boulders are round rocks measuring up to 3 m (10 ft) across that resemble giant dinosaur eggs or alien cocoons. In fact, they are concretions of marine sediment that have eroded over millennia. According to scientists, the Moeraki Boulders could be around 56 million years old.

China Danxia (China)

Characterized by spectacular red cliffs and a range of erosional landforms, including dramatic natural pillars, towers, ravines, valleys and waterfalls. These rugged landscapes have helped to conserve sub-tropical broad-leaved evergreen forests, and host many species of flora and fauna, about 400 of which are considered rare or threatened.

Antelope Canyon (Arizona, USA)

 It includes five separate, scenic slot canyon sections on the Navajo Reservation, referred to as Upper Antelope Canyon, Rattle Snake Canyon, Owl Canyon, Mountain Sheep Canyon and Lower Antelope Canyon. It is the primary attraction of Lake Powell Navajo Tribal Park, along with a hiking trail to Rainbow Bridge National Monument.