7 geological wonders of the world

The face of the Earth is constantly changing under the influence of various factors: water, wind, human actions, volcanic eruptions, impacts of meteorites. Sometimes this leads to amazing geological formations. We picked seven of the most unusual.

1. The Gates Of Hell (Darvaza), Turkmenistan

In 1971, during the drilling of an exploration well near the village of Darvaza have failed a large plot of land — with a diameter of 60 meters and a depth of 20 meters. In the pit, which was filled with gas, failed rig and all equipment. To protect people from the nearby towns of harmful gases, they had decided to set fire to. As scientists thought, the flame was to fade over several days.

The calculations of the geologists were wrong, and a huge fire burns to this day.

2. Chocolate hills, Philippines

This is an unusual geological formation located on the Philippine island of Bohol. In area of 50 square kilometers there are about 1500 hills, covered with grass. In the summer the grass dries up and turns brown — chocolate color.

There are several versions of the appearance of these hills. Some scientists believe that it is the result of volcanic activity, others that it is the consequences of erosion of the bottom of an ancient ocean.

Local residents believe that the hills is the result of the battle of the two giants, throwing at each other rocks and sand.

Chocolate hills are included in the list of world heritage of UNESCO.

3. Giant's Causeway, Ireland

Another area included in the UNESCO world heritage site is the giant's Causeway, or the Trail of a giant, in Northern Ireland. The coastal strip consists of 40,000 basalt columns resulting from a volcanic eruption. Most of these columns is hexagonal. The highest of them is 12 meters high.

The formation of these columns can be compared to the cracks in drying mud: molten basalt, which appeared during the eruption of the volcano, rapidly cooled, causing a rapid reduction of its volume and the appearance of the characteristic structure. Scientists from Canada were able even to calculate the conditions necessary for the emergence of such columns. To do this, the researchers conducted experiments with ordinary corn starch. It turned out that the faster a substance cools, the smaller the cell size, which cracks the surface.

7. The great blue hole, Belize

In the center of one of the atolls, part of the Belize barrier reef, is a huge sinkhole.

Its diameter of 305 meters and a depth of 120 meters.

According to scientists, this formation appeared after the last ice age the water flooded limestone cave, and the arch collapsed, forming a sinkhole.

4. Structure Richat, Mauritania

The diameter of this geological formation — about 50 kilometers, so you can see it even from space. Some time the astronauts even used it as a reference point: the structure is in the middle of the Sahara desert.

Previously it was thought that the structure is the result of a meteorite impact, but scientists now inclined to believe that education came under the influence of erosion.

5. The wave, USA

A unique geological formation known as the Wave, located in the United States, on the border of Utah and Arizona. Unusual formations are composed of Sandstone of the Jurassic period, about 200 million years. Affected by water and wind, Sandstone acquired an unusual shape, which now attract tourists from around the world.

Nature monument strictly protected by the government. To prevent destruction of fragile structure of the Wave flow of tourists is strictly limited to 20 people per day.

6. Cave of crystals, Mexico

At a depth of 300 meters below the Mexican city of Nike is a horseshoe-shaped cave. It is completely filled with crystals of Selenite. The size of the formations reach 11 meters. The biggest of them weighs about 11 tons. In the cave is very hot (up to +58) and wet — 80-100 %.

The crystal formation process is simple: for hundreds of thousands of years of magma, located in the cavity under the cave, heated water, rich in minerals, to a temperature of +54 to+58, it has created ideal conditions for the formation of such crystals. Unfortunately, the water from the cave is constantly pumped out, which leads to the degradation of formations.

Translated by «Yandex.Translator»