10 Amazing Places Created By Earth

Over the years nature has done a fine job of creating wonderful and exciting spectacles all over the planet for the likely adventurer to discover and explore. This is a list of ten of our favorite places on earth that are a truly amazing sight to see (so what if one got a helping hand from humans!)

US Meteor Crater

Meteor Crater

Meteor Crater is located in the northern region of the Arizona desert, United States. Approximately 45 miles easy of Flagstaff this massive crater is the handy work of a 50 meter wide meteorite that broke the atmosphere and smashed into our planet sometime around 50, 000 years ago. Although now a desert, this area was once grassy plains dotted with woodlands that ancient beasts like the wholly mammoth and ground sloths would have inhabited.

Don Juan Pond

Don Juan Pond

Located in Antarctica, the Don Juan Pond is a seriously salty body of water. To put things in perspective, compared with the dead sea which is 8 times saltier than sea water, the Don Juan Pond is a staggering 18 times saltier than sea water! Although not very deep, the Don Juan Pond never freezes thanks to its high salt content even when temperatures drop as low as -30 degrees. This intriguing body of water was first discovered in 1961.

The Great Dune of Pyla

The Great Dune of Pyla

When you think of sand dunes you mostly think of deserts, right? Well there are no deserts in Europe however the Great Dune of Pyla is indeed Europe’s largest sand dune. Located in France, the Great Dune of Pyla is a massive tourist attraction and a favorite spot of para gliders. The dune comes in from the coast with the steep side facing a forest, such a strange sight! Running along 3km of coastline the dune peaks of a height of around 100 meters and covers 500 meters from coast to forest, truly spectacular!

83 – 42

83-42

83-42 does have a strange name and certainly doesn’t seem extraordinary at first glance, however this small piece of land which is only 35 x 15 meters is the northernmost piece of permanent land on the earth which measures at around 400 miles from the North Pole. 83-42 was discovered in 1998 and was confirmed to be a permanent land formation after the discovery of lichen on the island. Only 5 people have ever stepped foot on 83-42.

Iceberg B – 15

Iceberg B-15

Iceberg B-15 was first created back in 2000 when part of the Ross Ice Shelf detached, although today the iceberg has broken up into many smaller pieces of which some are still around today. When Iceberg B-15 first broke from the Ross Ice Shelf is was the largest iceberg ever recorded with measuring in at 3, 100 km squared making Iceberg B-15 even larger than Jamaica in its day.

The Door to Hell

Door to Hell

The Door to Hell is the only item on this list that has direct human involvement, however the creation of the Door to Hell certainly wasn’t the intended outcome. The Door to Hell is located in Turkmenistan, close to the town of Darvaza. The name ‘Door to Hell’ comes from the fact that this hole has been burning for over 35 years without stopping! The Door to Hell was initially discovered while drilling for gas deposits but the cavern caved in, took a lot of expensive equipment with it and filled with poisonous gas so it was decided the best course of action would be to burn the gas out – it has still yet to burn out.

Mount Roraima

Mount Roraima

Mount Roraima is a massive tabletop mountain that is found in Venezuela/Brazil/ Guyana. The side facing Brazil and the side facing Guyana are both vertical cliffs that reach 400 meters in height, whereas the side facing Venezuela is a steep incline and although steep it is accessible. This unique mountain boats a variety of plant life, much of it unique and also creates some of the largest and most spectacular waterfalls in the world.

Socotra

Socotra

Socotra is a world heritage sight that is located within the Republic of Yemen and is widely considered the most bio-diverse place in the Arabian Sea. This alien land boats some of the most unusual looking plant life found in the world, most of which is unique to Socotra due to its harsh climate. As well as plant life Socotra is home to a host of creatures ranging from spiders to birds and even spectacular coral reefs that are entirely unique to Socotra.

Rotorua

Rotorua

Rotorua is a very interesting city found in northern New Zealand. What makes Rotorua so special is all the geothermal activity that takes places there providing locals and tourists with many fantastic features such as hot springs and boiling mud piles like the spectacular ones found in the picture above. If you do decide to visit Rotorua in your lifetime just be aware that the whole area smells like rotten eggs due to the high sulfur content!

Guaira Falls

Guaíra Falls

The Guaíra Falls was once located on the border between Brazil and Paraguay and was the largest waterfall in the world, dwarfing waterfalls like the acclaimed Niagara Falls. Unfortunately this spectacle of nature is no more due to flooding caused by the creation of dams in the area.