They look like scenes straight out of the latest sci-fi blockbuster, futuristic landscapes from a distant alien world. But this is planet Earth at its most magnificent, the spectacular quirks of mother nature that continue to astound and delight in equal measure. From the vivid colours of a beautiful hot spring to a random rock formation that looks just like an elephant, the incredible landscapes have formed over millions of years.
Take Beauty Pool, a much visited site in the Yellowstone National Park in Wyoming, where the hot spring has allowed algae and bacteria to flourish creating a staggeringly beautiful array of luminous colours.
The Beauty Pool: (Yellowstone National Park, USA) The hot spring allows luminous algae and bacteria to flourish creating a vivid array of colours
Or the incredible sliding stones of Death Valley, California – the movement of which continues to baffle experts, who remain at a loss to explain how these enormous boulders, weighing up to 700 pounds each, have slid across a perfectly flat bed. The Wave in Utah, USA, is a swooping curve of sandstone rock, 190 million years old, that has been gradually eroded by wind and rain to create a spectacular natural display.
The Moeraki Boulders: (New Zealand) The gigantic boulders started forming on the ocean floor and can now been seen sitting mysteriously on the coastline thanks to centuries of erosion
The sliding stones: (Death Valley, California, USA) The movement of the rocks continues to baffle experts who are at a loss to explain why they have moved across a perfectly flat bed despite weighing up to 700 pounds each
The Peculiar Pinnacles: (Nambung National Park, Western Australia) These amazing natural limestone structures, some standing as high as five metres, were formed approximately 25,000 to 30,000 years ago after the sea receded and left deposits of shells
Crater Lake: (Oregon, USA) Formed about 150 years ago by the collapse of the volcano Mount Mazama
Elephant Rock: ( Valley of Fire State Park, Nevada, USA) A strange natural sandstone rock formation which looks like an elephant
Balls Pyramid: (Lord Howe Island, New South Wales, Australia) The world’s tallest sea stack, at 562 metres formed through processes of coastal geomorphology, which are entirely natural. Time, wind, and water are the only factors involved
Hiller Lake: (Western Australia) Scientists cannot explain the pink colour although they have proven it is not due to the presence of algae
The peculiar pinnacles at Nambung National Park, Western Australia – amazing natural limestone structures, some standing as high as five metres, were formed approximately 25,000 to 30,000 years ago after the sea receded and left deposits of sea shells.
Over time, coastal winds removed the surrounding sand leaving the pillars exposed.
The Champagne Pool: (Waiotapu Geothermal area of New Zealand) A colourful hot spring with a surface temperature of 74 degrees celsius. It bubbles due to uprising carbon dioxide
Rainforest sinkhole: (Jaua-Sarisarinama National Park, Venezuela) A sinkhole is the natural depression of or hole in the Earth’s surface