10 Alien-Looking Places on Earth!!!

Rabu, Februari 02, 2011

Dry Valleys (Antartica)
10 Alienlooking places on Earth

Antarctica'sDry Valleys, with their barren gravel-strewn floors, are said to be the most similar place on Earth to Mars. Its fascinating landscape, located within Victoria Land west of McMurdo Sound, get almost no snowfall, and except for a few steep rocks they are the only continental part of Antarctica devoid of ice. The terrain looks like something not of this Earth; the valleys floor occasionally contains a perennially frozen lake with ice several meters thick. Under the ice, in the extremely salty water, live mysterious simple organisms, a subject of on-going research.

Socotra Island (Indian Ocean)
10 Alienlooking places on Earth

This island simply blows away any notion about what is considered normal for a landscape on Earth, youâE™d be inclined to think you were transported to another planet - or traveled to another era of Earths history.Socotra Island, which is part of a group of four islands, has been geographically isolated from mainland Africa for the last 6 or 7 million years. Like the Galapagos Islands, the island is teeming with 700 extremely rare species of flora and fauna, a full 1/3 of which are endemic.
The climate is harsh, hot and dry, and yet - the most amazing plant life thrives there. Situated in the Indian Ocean 250 km fromSomalia and 340 km from Yemen, the wide sandy beaches rise to limestone plateaus full of caves (some 7 kilometers in length) and mountains up to 1525 meters high. The trees and plants of this island were preserved thru the long geological isolation, some varieties being 20 million years old.

Rio Tinto (Spain)
10 Alienlooking places on Earth

The giant opencast mines ofRio Tintocreate a surreal, almost lunar landscape. Its growth has consumed not only mountains and valleys but even entire villages, whosepopulations had to be resettled in specially built towns nearby. Named after the river which flows through the region-itself named for the reddish streaks that colour its water-Rio Tinto has become a landscape within a landscape. The river red water is highly acidic (pH 1.7âE"2.5) and rich in heavy metals.

Kliluk, the Spotted Lake (Canada)
10 Alienlooking places on Earth

In the hot sun of summer, the water ofSpotted Lake, located in British Columbia and Washington, evaporates and crystallizes the minerals, forming many white-rimmed circles: shallow pools that reflect the mineral content of the water in shades of blues and greens. It contains one of the worlds highest concentrations of minerals: magnesium sulphate (Epsom salts), calcium and sodium sulphates, plus eight other minerals and traces of four more, including silver and titanium.
The Indians soaked away aches and ailments in the healing mud and waters. One story cites a truce in a battle to allow both warring tribes to tend to their wounded in the Spotted Lake, "Kliluk".

Salar de Uyuni (Bolivia)
10 Alienlooking places on Earth

Bolivia's Salar de Uyuni is perhaps one of the most spectacular landscapes in the world. A magnificent area with an impressive salt desert (the world's largest), active volcanoes, tall cacti islands and geyser flats, it exists like an alien mirage, something completely out-of-this-world. Oddee's crew went there in July 2008, be sure tocheck it out.

Vale da Lua (Brazil)
10 Alienlooking places on Earth

Vale da Lua(Moon Valley) is a water eroded rock formation with natural swimming pools, placed on a river in the brazilian cerrado forest. Located at Chapada, 38 km from Alto ParaÃso de GoiÃ¡s, its rock formations are one of the oldest on the planet, made of quartz with outcrops of crystals.(Photo by:Alex)

Blood Pond Hot Spring (Japan)
10 Alienlooking places on Earth

Blood Pond Hot Spring is one of the "hells" (jigoku) of Beppu, Japan, nine spectacular natural hot springs that are more for viewing rather than bathing. The blood pond hell; features a pond of hot, red water, colored as such by iron in the waters. ItâE™s allegedly the most photogenic of the nine hells.(Photos:L Platerandphototravel).

The Stone Forest (China)
10 Alienlooking places on Earth

TheShilin(Chinese for stone forest) is an impressive example of karst topography. Its rocks are made of limestone and are formed by waterpercolating the groundâE™s surface and eroding away everything but the pillars. Its known since the Ming Dynasty as the 'First Wonder of the World.'

The Richat Structure (Mauritania)
10 Alienlooking places on Earth

This spectacular landform in Mauritania in the southwestern part of the Sahara desert, called theRichat Structure, is so huge with a diameter of 30 miles that it is visible from space. The formation was originally thought to be caused by a meteorite impact but now geologists believe it is a product of uplift and erosion. The cause of its circular shape is still a mystery.

Eisriesenwelt Ice Caves (Austria)
10 Alienlooking places on Earth

Ice caves are very different from normal caves. They have a strange feeling about them, as though they are not from this planet,and one has just temporarily stepped into their world when spelunking their depths.

10 Alien-Looking Places on Earth!!!

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