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Check Out Some of Nature's Most Amazing Tricks

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Ever heard of the Seven Wonders of the World? If you have always wanted to come face to face with the Great Pyramid of Giza, roam the Colosseum halls in Rome, and attempt to walk across the entire Great Wall of China, then you’re at the right place. We’re about to let you in on a few secrets about our world. Secrets that not many are aware of. We’re going to talk about some of the most amazing natural phenomena occurring in the world as we speak. Phenomena that goes beyond manmade wonders that hold the history of our world. These wonders are amazing! They're like magic tricks! They will make you feel like you’re living on a planet straight out of a fantasy movie!

Fly Geyser in Gerlach, Nevada

Fly Geyser is more than the most beautiful geyser in the world. It holds phenomena that man can’t even explain. This little mystery can be found in Washoe County, Nevada.

The geyser itself is just 5 feet high, by 12 feet wide. But it is given a deep red tone due to the heat from an extremely deep pool of pure rock. To tell you the truth, this isn’t 100% natural; it happened when 200-degree water was hit below the surface. In 1964, a little incident with a well caused minerals to start magnetizing to the surface where a mound was formed by them. The thing is, the mound grows every single year, and in a few thousand years, who knows, it may take over the state of Nevada.

YouTube
YouTube

Challenger Deep Off the Coast of Guam

What happens at the Earth's deepest seabed hydrosphere? No one knows because only four people have ever dared to go that deep. The maximum depth is still uncertain because no one has ever succeeded in exploring it for very long.

James Cameron made the last attempt in 2012. But his sub began to malfunction. Which is what happens every time someone ventures there. Surely there are unique indigenous creatures and plants in Challenger Deep. But it seems whatever is lurking down there doesn’t want to be discovered.

Gizmodo
Gizmodo

Son Doong Cave in Vietnam

What can you expect from the largest cave in the world, home of the largest cave pearls in existence, other than greatness? Another cave that wasn’t discovered until just a few years ago. In 1991, a man trudged inside despite the warning of the locals. Yeah, the locals knew of the cave, but none dared to go inside. But since the cave entrance was so steep and a loud sound inside scared the locals, they never entered.

It wasn’t until 2009 that the British Cave Research Association surveyed the cave. But when they met a 200ft calcite wall now known as the Great Wall of Vietnam they were halted as they couldn’t pass it.

Today, you can visit the cave, but it’s about $3000, and there are only about 800 passes available each year.

Vietnam Tour Booking
Vietnam Tour Booking

Lake Vostok in Antarctica

With hundreds of lakes in Antarctica, you wouldn’t think the largest of them would be thousands of feet below the surface. But a lake called Lake Vostok, located at the southern Pole of Cold proves that it’s true. Far beneath Russia's Vostok Station, 13,000ft below it actually, stands this mysterious lake.

The lake is just 2,000ft below sea level, but since the station is 11,000ft above it, that’s 13,000ft of drilling to reach it. According to science, no one had touched the lake in almost half a million years until 2012. It was done when they created the longest ever ice core and finally pierced through to the surface of the lake. But as soon as it happened, water gushed out and instantly froze with Freon and kerosene. Three years later, they finally grabbed a sample, but we still have no idea what creatures lurk beneath if any.

NY Daily News
NY Daily News

Hidden Beach in Mexico

Can you name one person who wouldn’t want their own private beach? If they owned this little beach, all of their dreams would come true. It’s known to those residing in Mexico as Playa Del Amor and is located on the Marieta Islands. Its beauty is unlike any other, but to tell you the truth. This was an accidental beach. It was created when a bomb testing went wrong, and one of the bombs hit the island. This left a giant hole in the surface, a hole that is now used as a secluded beach after the tides filled it with water and sand.

Wild Luxe
Wild Luxe

Pink Lake in Western Australia

Ask anyone whose favorite color is pink, and they will tell you what a dream it would be to see a pink lake. To us, Lake Hillier looks like someone spilled the Pepto-Bismol, but to others, it looks like a magical pond full of mermaids. The lake is seen surrounded by sand like a humanmade beach. Now you’re probably wondering why it’s pink and the truth is that no one even knows. It could be algae or some odd plant we’re unaware of. But we just don’t know, so we simply enjoy the pinkness in all its glory.

Family Parks
Family Parks

Fairy Circles, Namibia

If you thought pink lakes were fantastical, just wait till you see the Fairy Circles of the Namib Desert. Of course, it gets its name due to the appearance of the circles. It seems fairies either created or have lived in these babies. Each of these circles is anywhere between 2 and 15 meters across. The funny thing is that these are located on grasslands, and nature isn’t known for eating through the grass.

So no one knows what creates the circles. It could be radioactive soil, or it could be termites. Others suggest aliens. As for us, we may never know.

CNN
CNN

East Scotia Ridge in the South Atlantic

Out in the Atlantic is a place known as the Scotia Plate. This is a tectonic plate where strange life exists at 8000ft below sea level. Because of the hydrothermal vents that run through the area, temperatures often reach 700 degrees Fahrenheit. This is near Antarctica where it is tens of degrees below freezing.

Along this plate, new creatures are often found. Such as a furry Yeti Crab in 2010 as well as a “ghost-pale” octopus. It’s amazing how so much of the earth is still undiscovered. There are still thousands of flora and fauna that humans have no idea even exist!

Wikimedia
Wikimedia

McMurdo Valleys in Antarctica

Known as the McMurdo Dry Valleys, these crevices are a row of valleys in Antarctica. But what makes them different than the millions of others on the continent? Well, they’re kind of snow-free. That’s right, a place with no snow in Antarctica.

The reason that there is no snow is that there is such a low humidity rate. There are small rocks along the beds, but no snow or even ice. But it isn’t just snow-free, but it’s an official desert. One of the most extreme in the entire world. It’s so dry that it’s the only source of water are saline lakes. The place is so tragic that no constant form of life can be found. But why would anything wish to live in a place with 200pmh winds? Yep, this place keeps getting more and more strange. As a backup plan, that wind would melt any snow or ice that dared to stick.

YouTube
YouTube

Bimini Road in the Bahamas

What’s so strange about this underwater road is that no one even knows if it’s natural or not. Out in the Bahamas is a limestone road is half a mile long. Many believe this is how the fish travel to each other’s houses.

Though it is very, very old, humans didn’t know about it until 1968. Some believe it’s pre-flood era structures and others believe that nature has created a natural pathway. And the rest of the gang thinks that there are bigger buildings underneath and this is really the tip of Atlantis.

Ancient Origins
Ancient Origins

Volcanic Lightning at Sakurajima, Japan

What if volcanoes could magically produce lightning? Well, they can! It happens most often nowhere other than Mount Sakurajima in Japan. No one really knows why there is lightning at this volcano, but scientists say, “during an eruption, ash picks up so much friction that the build-up of static electricity causes lightning.”

What an interesting little party trick for a volcano to show all of his friends.

Reddit
Reddit

Sima Humboldt and Sima Martel in Venzuela

What is known by the locals as Cerro Sarisariñama is a tepui (or flattop) mountain range in Jaua-Sarisariñama National Park, Venezuela. The name comes from folklore about an evil spirit that lives in the caves and enjoys devouring human flesh. He does so with a sound, sound ”Sari... sari...”

If that’s not creepy enough, how about two large sinkholes known as Sima Humboldt & Sima Martel. Sima Humboldt is the larger of the two at 1000ft deep and over 1000ft wide. What’s so unique about these other than the size is that inside, they each have their own ecosystem, independent from the rest of the world. No one is allowed inside aside from governmental researchers.

Hobby Earth
Hobby Earth

Penitente in South America

Imagine little forests of “snow cones” that some elf would go all haywire over. These little forests are known as penitente and are found in many parts of South America during the winter months. They are only found at high altitudes and always point toward the sun.

The smallest of these spikes are a few centimeters are the largest are 16ft. Though they may seem rather complicated, they are really just the result of continuously freezing dew.

A Little Bit Higher
A Little Bit Higher

Fire Whirls in Dry Places

Is there anything more frightening than a fire tornado? That’s what a fire whirl is. It’s a whirlwind created by a fire that usually contains ash. It all begins with a whirl of smoke that gets just a little too hot. The winds are so strong that they can suck debris inside just like a tornado. However, scientifically they are called vortexes, not tornadoes. Although real, scientific fire tornadoes do exist, they are so rare that they are nearly unheard of.

YouTube
YouTube

Mount Roraima in the Canaima National Park, South America

Ever wished to visit Hallelujah Mountains in James Cameron’s Avatar’s Pandora? In this life, Mount Roraima is the closest you’ll get. For us, it looks majestic, but for the indigenous people of the region, it is. The natives believe that Mount Roraima is the stump of a mighty tree that once held all the fruits and tuberous vegetables in the world. It remained that way until Makunaima, their mythical trickster, knocked the tree down and flooded the world with disaster.

Even without the backstory, the mountain is like the tip of an iceberg sticking out of the waters in Antarctica.

All That Is Interesting
All That Is Interesting

Lake Natron in Tanzania

We’ve talked about pink lakes, but how about red lakes? Somehow it’s less mystical and more creepy. Lake Natron is located in Tanzania and is pure red. The lake can reach 140 degrees Fahrenheit and has as much alkaline as ammonia.

Hardly any animal can survive near it, and those that try to, don’t make it. Any animal that does die ends up coated in alkaline and turning to stone. For real.

Pando Trip
Pando Trip

Spotted Lake in Canada

This lake in Canada may look like something out of Signs, but it’s really something far more scientific. Fact rather than fiction. It’s known as Canada's Spotted Lake and is only polka dotted in the summer. This is because when the water evaporates, it leaves deposits behind that differ in color.

Scientists believe that the Spotted Lake is exactly how Martian lakes looked long before humans ever took a glance at the red planet.

New York Times
New York Times

Melville Range in Australia

What if I told you that on the Cape York Peninsula in Australia there was a field of rocks? Sound far too standard and boring? It’s far from it. Cape Melville is a range that is chock full of unique endemic creatures that need nothing but what is found on the little crook to live. But what’s really special is that field of boulders. Not just any boulders, but granite boulders that have naturally prevented fires from destroying the flora in the area for as long as anyone knows. The area is the moistest little area in the country. Who knew a bunch of rocks could be so important?

72805 2
National Geographic

The Richat Structure in The Sahara

Known as the Eye of the Sahara, this formation is so mysteriously that even scientists have no idea what it really is. All they know is that it’s a deeply eroded, slightly elliptical dome that is 25 miles wide. It’s so large and dome-like that they once believed it was an impact structure from an asteroid from thousands of years ago.

However, today, they are so lost as to what it is that they have begun “extra-terrestrial” studies.

Unbelievable Info
Unbelievable Info

Eternal Flame in New York

What hides behind the waterfall? Well, you wouldn’t generally think that it was a fireball. But in upstate New York, that’s exactly what you’ll find. Behind what is known as Eternal Flame Falls is an eight-inch fireball that never stops burning. More or less. Humans have relighted it, but most of the time, it is naturally burning.

It is fueled by a natural gas seeping from the rocks. Since it’s hidden behind the water, it’s shielded from the wind or cold of winter.

YouTube
YouTube

Palawan Highlands in the Philippines

Palawan is definitely one of the strangest areas on earth! For those who are unaware, Palawan is a province of the Philippines. But the Highlands are where the mysteries truly reside. As late as 2007, people have found endemic creatures there, hiding in a little corner of Palawan that no one had ever touched. Mystical plants like pink ferns, purple crabs, bearded pigs, blue mushrooms and a carnivorous pitcher plant that could eat a chihuahua were found.

There were even once-thought extinct creatures that were simply just hiding in the highlands of Palawan!

The World Around Us
The World Around Us

Blood Falls in Antarctica

Not somewhere you’d take the children for multiple reasons. Antarctica is cold, and this site looks like somewhere Jason Voorhees drops his victims. Although it looks like blood pouring down this crevice, it’s actually just salt. According to scientists, long ago, a hypersaline lake was trapped beneath the glacier. Without any light, heat, or oxygen things get crazy. Whenever the saltwater is released into the air, it is turned a red color due to its first meeting with oxygen.

Blood_Falls_by_Peter_Rejcek
National Geographic

The Door to Hell in Derweze, Turkmenistan

With a name like Gates of Hell (or Door to Hell), we can’t help but shy away. But with curiosity getting the best of us, we can’t help but know. What we call a “door” is actually a natural gas field in Turkmenistan.

If you happen to get close enough to the crater, you’ll see that fire, and boiling water is there to greet you. But that water is so dirty; it’s more like mud in reality. At over 200ft wide and over 60ft deep, it can be pretty intimidating.

Soviet engineers first discovered the crater in 1971; the Soviets began drilling. Because you know it’s a mysterious crater, so that seems like the most intelligent thing to do. Sure enough, they hit the gas pocket and fissures began to cause cracks in the earth that would soon release gas into the atmosphere.

Getting scared, the men tried to burn the gas away to salvage the nearby towns. They thought it would only take a few days, but now forty years later, it’s still burning.

Huffington Post
Huffington Post

Kawah Ijen Lake in Indonesia

Kawah Ijen is a volcano. You might have thought it was a lake and you’re right. It is. But the lake is located nowhere else than the summit of the volcano. The lake is mystically bright and turquoise. An ironic place to put a volcano but we don’t question nature. The reason for the color is indeed because of the volcano. The sulphuric gasses emitted from the volcano mix with dissolved metals to shock the water into a beautiful blue submission.

Travelling
Travelling

Underwater River in Mexico

The mysteries surrounding this strange river located underwater has yet to be delved into. Located in Mexico’s Yucatan Peninsula, Cenote Angelita as they call it is a water-filled caved. But how can you fill a cave with water that should already be filled with water?

Well, this is found in a lake, a freshwater settlement. Whereas the cenote is a saltwater river. The two are separated by a layer of hydrogen sulfate which you may swim through without any trouble. The layer is foggy and murky, but the river beneath is clear as day. Even stranger, the river is much warmer than the freshwater surrounding it as well.

This is Colossal
This is Colossal

Sailing Stones in Death Valley

Pretty much everything in Death Valley is creepy. But nothing is creepier than this phenomenon. You know when a little kid drags their shovel across the sand at the beach only to tire of it and drop it? That pattern that’s left is similar to that of the Sailing Stones in Death Valley. Nature somehow moves these rocks along a dry lake bed without anyone noticing. Looking online, you assume that the rocks are 20lbs, but the truth is that some of them are more like 600lbs! These boulders are low key moved sometimes 800ft across the sands.

For years, everyone thought it was aliens. But in 2006, we found out the truth. When the lake fills with water, the stones are frozen in ice in the winter. Since the ice is so buoyant, whenever the wind blows, the large stones are easily moved along. They are so heavy that the bottoms drag the ground, leaving racetrack trails! Case closed!

Discover Magazine
Discover Magazine

Movile Cave in Mangalia, Romania

Imagine a cave being undiscovered by humanity for thousands and thousands of years. That’s what happened to Movile Cave. The cave in Romania was untouched by us until 1986. When they found it, they realized the reason no one ever ventured forth. The oxygen levels are nearly negligent. Humans couldn’t survive down there long before suffocating. However, that didn’t stop nearly fifty species of mostly unique wildlife from living in the cave.

Ironically, the lack of air, complete lack of light, and toxic gasses are what the animals need to live. To get into the cave, you must be lowered through a dark, narrow passageway 65ft underground. Since there is no light, the animals are born without eyes or skin pigment because neither are needed. As for humans, first you’d have breathing trouble, then your kidneys would shut down, and then, well, let’s not find out.

Geek
Geek

Bosavi Crater in Papua New Guinea

Long ago near Mount Bosavi, there was a volcano spurting with life. But soon enough, that volcano collapsed, leaving us with the Bosavi crater. That crater, once a volcano, created its own rainforest with its own plants and animals that have migrated there. Now it contains over 40 endemic creatures of its own.

For thousands of years, it was left alone. Then, in 2009 researchers could finally reach it. And it was not pretty. The natives were forced to guide the researchers to keep them safe. They warned the newcomers of the dangers of going inside, and yet the newcomers didn’t heed their warnings. Thankfully, no one was hurt, but the scientists were trapped in the crater because weather conditions prevented helicopters from retrieving them for days.

Urban Host Media
Urban Host Media

Travertine Pools in Antarctica

These pools are often called Pamukkale, which means ”cotton castle” in Turkish. Oddly enough, these hot springs embedded in the icy travertines do look a lot like cotton castles. Everybody wants a chance to bathe in these majestic springs. The fact that these icy pools are actually hot is one of the most mysterious geographical wonders of the world. What a relief it must be for Antarcticians to dip into one of these babies.

Visiting-pamukkale-old-pam-1
YouTube

Methane Pools in Canada

Frozen methane bubbles? That doesn’t sound good. But it sure is pretty. Way out in Lake Abraham in Alberta, you can see frozen methane bubbles that appear to be magical discs just begging for you to collect them. But in reality, they are extremely dangerous. If you got a lighter anywhere near the lake, the entire thing would combust, destroying anything in its path.

However, when it’s spring, and the bubbles start melting, they “pop” and fizz out like a can of coke being opened. This creates a beautiful, though dangerous, site.

Canadian Geographic
Canadian Geographic
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Charlie, Heywise Staff

Article WriterCharlie, Heywise Staff

Charlie took to the written word like a fish takes to water. That is to say; they found themselves immersed in literature from before they were born. They've been known to tell their friends how they can still remember the passages their parents read to them when they were in utero - Emily Dickinson, Jane Austen, and a bit of Hunter S. Thompson thrown in to balance it out. Charlie keeps their feet wet, whether they're whipping up pithy one-liners to tease your brain or busy working on their second novel (the first one is available on Amazon under a pen name they refuse to disclose). You’re sure to get a kick out of giggle-worthy explanations and outrageous hints, and still come away feeling like you’ve just expanded your knowledge base.

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