15 WEIRD Natural Formations

when you think of an amazing natural wonder the Grand Canyon maybe or Mount Everest may come to mind but there's many lesser known natural wonders that are also pretty cool so for today's video I'm counting down the 15 weirdest natural wonders starting with number 15 the denill depression it's located between Ethiopia and Eritrea the denill depression is at the triple Junction of three tectonic plates and for the past 20 million years the African plate has been slowly splitting from the other two this has caused the area to become very volcanically active and while tours are often expensive it is possible to be guided through the 260 km long bowl while the daily average temperature about 34° C is pretty damn hot all the colorful thermal pools and volcanoes make that trip totally worth it number 14 the marble Cathedral while St Peter's may be beautiful the world's coolest cathedral was made not by hand but by the elements carved into the Chilean side of the Patagonian Andes it's a sea cave that was formed by 6,000 years of waves from a remote glacial Lake it's only really accessible by boat the cavern walls reflect the bright blue Waters and as a result it's best to go early in the morning as it's then that the lighting is ideal and allows for the best possible pictures to be taken get your Instagram ready number 13 the pulpit Rock located in southern Norway Pulpit rock is a rock that leads to a cliff steeply dropping 600 m to the water down below now despite these dangers the Norwegian government has refused to install any fencing around it in a bid to preserve the site's natural beauty making it a stunning spot however if you want to visit you better be prepared to hike after all you have to Journey up a 7 km long foot path in order to get there however many tourists will tell you that that long Trek is totally worth it number 12 Lake Hill I better known as the pink lake lake hiler is Against All Odds colored completely naturally located on Australia's Middle Island in the Southern Ocean scientists are not entirely sure why the lake is pink however most believe that this pinkness is caused by the presence of red algae and microorganisms known as Duna Selena while this means that going for a dip is completely safe you may have a hard time doing so after all it's illegal to enter the lake without prior government permission and as a result if you want to visit I'd suggest booking a helicopter ride so you can see it from above number 11 the cave of crystals buried about 300 M below Mexico's Nik Mountain the Cave of the crystals was discovered by miners in April of 2000 nicknamed The cinee Chapel of crystals it's filled with massive milky white translucent gypsum beams they first formed about half a million years ago but because they've been left in near perfect condition they've been growing ever since making them the subject of scientific study unfortunately since the temperature of the cave is about 50° C and the humidity ranges from 90 to 100% human beings cannot survive inside for longer than 2 hours as a result no tourists are allowed inside anymore making it a beautiful yet inaccessible addition to this list number 10 the gota waterfalls on a trip to Peru most tourists will go to major areas such as Lima Cusco and Ma chup Picchu however one natural wonder that's often missed is the gaka waterfalls it's located in the far less traveled north of the country these waterfalls have been known about by the inhabitants of the village of kachimba since at least the 1950s after all their town is located practically right beneath it they knew it as GAA after the sound made by the howler monkeys in the region although their knowledge of it didn't lead to outside Discovery weirdly enough those in this remote Village mostly avoided the waterfall and failed to talk about it the reasons for this are somewhat unclear although it seems to be related to Superstition surrounding its alleged connection to the curse of a beautiful blonde mermaid now in any case the villagers simply allowed it to blend into the background of their daily life until a certain stegan zundorf showed up a zundorf is a German Economist who was working on a Wastewater project in the area in the middle of his work term he took a break to go hiking in Peru's utaka Valley in search of one of the Region's abundant pre-ink and ruins when he crossed into a blind ravine he suddenly came across the Towering two-tiered waterfall the following March he returned to the site with measuring equipment and after conducting some calculations discovered that gota was 770 M tall and by extension somewhere between the thir and 16th tallest waterfall in the world depending on how you calculate it in any case while the Falls are rather remote the small tourist industry has been set up to welcome visitors hoping to get a glimpse so if you want to travel through Peru and go down the path Less Traveled i' suggest taking a trip to this incredible natural wonder number nine the sheelin forest While most forests are green and full of trees the shein forest is on the grayer side that's because unlike its leafy counterparts it's entirely made out of rocks consisting of thousands of rocks that are densely packed together she Linn spans across an area of over 300 Square km the geological record suggest that it Formed about 270 million years ago although it always wasn't so Rocky you see at this point in time it was covered in a shallow sea and it was thanks to the moving water in this sea that the Sandstone overlaid with Limestone and it was formed over time the region lifted itself above water level and the growing Stones created a large Rocky outcrop over time these exposed rocks were subjected to wind running water seismic activity and all these forces chipped away at the Limestone pillars the end result was a forest of pillars with very unique forms and shapes alongside a cool geological feature known as C caves underground rivers and waterfalls while every stone within shilin is unique none have quite as much Mystique as the Ashima Stone you see Legend has it that the stone is related to a beautiful s girl named Ashima The Story Goes that after being told that she wasn't allowed to marry the man she loved she ran to the shein forest and instead decided to turn into a stone in order to recognize this tragedy the local Sani people still go into the shein forest every June 24th in order to participate in the annual torch Festival this torch Festival features everything from wrestling to bull fighting and lighting up as otherwise gray stone cold Forest it's also worth noting that the forest has become more and more popular in recent years now while this has made it quite busy The increased development has also made it accessible nowadays it can easily be reached by Road or by tram and it's organized into eight separate sections for ease of access number eight The Blood Falls when you go on a cruise to Antarctica you probably expect to see icebergs penguins and research stations well with that being said a bloody waterfall is probably not on your radar yet that's exactly what you'll see if you swing by the Taylor Glacier located in Antarctica's famous McMurdo dry valleys geologists first discovered this five-story Frozen waterfall back in 1911 at the time they simply assumed that the strange red color came from a species of algae however the reality is is that its Origins are far more spectacular it turns out that roughly 2 million years ago a small body of water which contained an ancient community of microbes was trapped beneath the tailor Glacier because a 400 meter thick layer of ice froze over it the microbes have been unable to leave and have as a result remained isolated inside what amounts to a natural Time Capsule evolving in complete isolation their existence was marked by their environment With No Light No free oxygen and very little heat they essentially evolved into a primordial ooze since the Trap lake has a very high solidity the water doesn't freeze and because the water is high in sulfide ions it's got enough energy to sustain the microbes Additionally the high presence of iron in the water makes it a bright red color so when it escapes the glacial Lake and flows out of the waterfall it looks a lot like blood coming out of an iceberg now it is worth mentioning that Beyond simply looking awesome The Blood Falls also has implications for science at large after all the fact that it exists at all shows that life can exist in the most extreme conditions on Earth this could have implications surrounding our understanding the development of life during Earth's ice ages however as tempting as it may be to make the connection The Blood Falls does not prove that life could exist on other planets with similar environments and similar bodies of Frozen water this is because the actual cause of Life on another planet would have to be completely different than on Earth if you'd like to visit here though you can get to the falls by helicopter from McMurdo Station or Scott base if you'd rather not see it from above you can also see it from closer to sea level on a Cru sh ship in the Ross sea moving on to number seven the whiteo gloworm caves while worms aren't the main attraction at most natural sites the whiteo gloworm caves put those wriggly creatures into the spotlight located in New Zealand the cave was first discovered by the local Mai indigenous peoples in the late 1700s however it was in 1884 that they were first revealed to the outside world that's because it was in this year that the English surveyors Fred mace and Lawrence cussin were shown the entrance by local Mai Chief and in 1887 they conducted a series of thorough Explorations entering on a tiny raft from an above ground stream they lit their candles and descended into the depths they were soon amazed when through the darkness they noticed star-like lights scattered across the cave these lights were caused by a species of gloworm now it should be noted that they aren't worms in the traditional sense rather they are larva of the fungus Gat which cling to the rock walls and hunt with long strings of sticky mucus now worms are not because of their bioluminescence they light up the cave with a bluish green light making for an incredible sight as you might imagine these gloworms pequ the Curiosity of the explorers and the two Englishmen would return many times to explore further during this time period the mouy chief tenado would go on an independent trip find a land entrance into the cave in 1889 tenado and his wife began leading tours into the cave through this entrance and to date it's the primary way to get in and out of it now beyond the gloworms it's also worth noting that the cave itself is pretty impressive in its own right the limestone in the cave was formed about 30 million years ago when the cave was still under the ocean and today it consists of the composed fossilized remains of corals sea shells fish skeletons and many other small marine organisms over the millions of years these fossilized rocks have been layered upon each other and compressed to create Limestone and at points this layer of rock is over 200 M thick if you'd like to visit the area for yourself you can get a guided tour for a relatively reasonable price over about 45 bucks so yeah it's a great bucket list item if you're considering a trip to New Zealand I know I am number six Spider Rock the Grand Canyon is Arizona's most famous Canyon by a long shot however if you're willing to venture a little off the beaten path you can see a canyon that is a real treat known as the Kenyon de shell it's located about 4 hours away from its larger cousin although by many accounts it provides more bang for your buck beyond having beautiful nature to see it's been inhabited by the Navajo people for centuries and it's filled with Cliff Dwellings rock art panels and other archaeological remains yet the most impressive Thing by far is the one and only Spider Rock Rising nearly 230 m above the ground it seems to be a rather strange outcrop in the middle of an otherwise flat Canyon however its existence can be explained by erosion you see long ago Spider Rock was connected to the top of the canyon by well more rock and over the years Hill slope and stream erosion worked away at different parts of the ridge eventually bre breaking it apart and leaving Spider Rock isolated as you might imagine the local Navajo Nations place a lot of significance in this rock and according to the Navajo Spider Rock isn't just a rock but it's a home to a deity known as Spider Woman to the Navajo Spiderwoman was a source for good after all she's the one who gave the deities monster Slayer and child born of water the ability to reach the sun god this was important because the Sun God then taught them how to destroy all the Earth's monsters so the Navajo could live on their lands after this process was complete Spiderwoman then decided to make Spider Rock her home and it was not only a beautiful spot but also the perfect place to watch over and protect the Navajo and while Spiderwoman would sometimes get angry after all the Navajo would warn misbehaving children that Spiderwoman might use her webs to take them inside Spider Rock and eat them all in all she's a very well-respected figure in any case if you'd like to visit Spider Rock today you'll have to enlist in either a park ranger or a Navajo guide and in doing so one of the most popular methods of Transport is to go on horse back and while this all makes getting to Spider Rock quite a process by most accounts it's totally worth it number five precariously balanced rocks While most of the Wonders on this list can only be really enjoyed by traveling to a location precariously balanced rocks can be found across the planet they're known as pbrs for short and they've got nothing to do with the brand of subpar beer with the same name rather they're by definition large rocks balancing on top of smaller rocks notable examples can be found in vastly different areas for example in Finland there's a 7 m long Boulder known as the kumaki that lies on a convex Bedrock now while this PBR is mostly untouched out in Myanmar there's a far more dressed up example known as the kakao Pagoda perched on the edge of a cliff it's covered in Gold Leaf has a boted roof and is famous for being a pilgrimage site for Buddhist yet Perhaps the most fascinating place to see pbrs is Goblin Valley State Park in Utah it's filled with thousands of them they're known by locals as hudo and are in essence mushroom shaped Rock Pinnacles that are often several meters tall now not all pbrs are made equal some were created thousands of years ago when retreating glaciers placed them where they are today in other instances it's erosion that can be credited with their strange Balancing Act and some are also regular rocks in Disguise after all while many pbrs may look like they're caught in a dangerous Balancing Act some are in fact connected internally by a sling spine of rock making them far sturdier than they appear to be now Beyond being pretty pbrs are also important due to their scientific value their crazy positions mean that they inevitably will fall at some point due to either erosion changes in weight distribution an earthquake or other natural disaster as a result the fact that one exists at all tells a scientist that their location has not experienced a major disturbance event for as long as the rock formation has existed this can help these scientists determine other facts about the area's geography there is though one pervading issue with pbrs that's often not nature but humans that lead to their ultimate demise that's because there are some people out there that think that pushing them over is entertainment not realizing or caring that this has implications on scientific research and while jail sentences can be imposed if people are caught doing it in the ACT their location in rural areas makes enforcement pretty difficult as a result people pushing over pbrs were likely to continue to be a problem for years making it all the more important that if you do go to visit some please do it before it's too late and don't push them over Number Four The Chocolate Hills in recent years the Philippines has become a popular spot for Beach enthusiasts Foodies and those seeking some adventure and there are thousands of cool things to see and do across these islands The Chocolate Hills are a beautiful spot that's often overlooked they're made up of a grand total of about 1776 Hills spread across an area of more than 50 kilometers they've got nothing to do with chocolate or cacao plants rather they get their name from the grass and while it's Lush and green in the wet season it turns brown and Barren during the dry season making the area look like lump after lump of chocolate these hilly lumps are an impressive 30 to 50 m in height with the highest of them coming in at a whopping 120 M it's because of this that they've been proposed for inclusion in the UNESCO world heritage list and on my end yeah I say they deserve that title however despite being such a large part of the landscape incredibly enough the cause of their creation is still a mystery one of the leading theories suggests that the area used to be covered in water and that the hills are eroded formations of a type of marine Limestone others contend that their creation was far more explosive one popular Theory suggests that the hills were created after an ancient volcano self-destructed and dispersed itself across the region in fact there's even a chance that tidal movements may have had a hand in their creation yet the reality is that while the first Theory sounding erosion is most widely accepted we still don't know for sure it's also worth mentioning that in the past there was some controversy around the hills you see before they were designated as a National Geological Monument many of them were owned by private land owners many of whom used them for either farming or mining operations this meant that the Declaration of protected status posed a threat to their profits and for a Time armed militias formed to oppose government control of the area however these forces were eventually dealt with and now the Chocolate Hills are a safe and incredible spot to visit on a tour through the Philippines number three the Lasco caves when it comes to human Heritage few places are quite as important or as mysterious as the Lasco caves now these caves themselves were more or less forgotten for thousands of years however in 1940 they were discovered completely by chance The Story Goes that on September 12th of that year 18-year-old Marcel ravida was outside with his dog robot when the dog investigated a hole left by an uprooted tree this hole appeared to lead deep into the ground below and after returning with a few friends they began exploring originally they entered through a 15 M deep shaft that they might believe lead to a secret passage to the nearby Lasco Manor however to their surprise the walls around them were covered with depictions of animals as they moved through the caves they began to name the galleries with these including the so-called Hall of the Bulls the passageway the shaft the Nave the apps and the Chamber of felon they returned along with the Abbey Andre Bru on September 21st of 1940 and he would in turn bring in experts to the caves to conduct thorough studies in the following years several in-depth studies of the caves were conducted and in 1948 they were open to the public it turns out that the caves are about 17,000 years old and depict many of the animals and realities that were seen and experienced by prehistoric humans in fact there are a grand total of nearly 6,000 figures on the walls and for the most part they were made using an early version of paint now exactly why they were made is unclear though to date theories such as paintings being a record of past hunting successes or a representation of a mystical ritual have all been suggested however what is clear is that these caves are of immense importance to human Heritage unfortunately many of the visitors who ventured into the caves didn't see it this way after all just 7 years after opening the carbon dioxide heat and humidity produced by the daily visitors many of whom smoked while walking through had caused massive damage in 1963 the caves were partially closed to the public in order to combat the fungi and lyans that begun to infest the walls and destroy the paintings by the early 2000s infestations of mold had become common place and the site has since been completely closed to the public now while you can no longer visit the natural part of the cave an extremely faithful reproduction has been built right beside it this ensures that visitors can learn about the cave and see replicas of the art while not damaging what is already a quickly disappearing selection of cave art number two the song cave well some caves may have a reputation for being dark dank and dingy the song cave is anything but it's located in central Vietnam for Millennia it was a complete mystery to the outside world however in only 1991 that all changed when a local Man by the name of hokan stumbled across it while searching for wood he initially wanted to venture inside and he was discouraged after hearing the sound of Rushing Water and strong wind at the entrance not thinking much of it he returned home and over time forgot about its exact location however by chance in 2008 two members of the British cave research Association were in the area and had a conversation with hokan with his help they were able to ReDiscover the entrance and an expedition in 2009 revealed some incredible results Untouched by human hands song turned out to be the world's largest natural cave at a height of about 200 m a width of about 150 M and a length of of about 9 km this 1 1/2 million square met Cavern is absolutely massive for reference it's large enough to easily fit an entire New York City Block inside of it including the skyscrapers well in any case it should come as a little surprise that a cave as big as song is full of natural wonders you see due to it being so large and cut off from the rest of the world it's filled with jungles that have developed their own contained ecosystem thanks to millions of years of secluded Evolution it has its own endemic plants monkeys flying foxes frogs insects and hairs that are found nowhere else in the world yet the real showstopper here is the caves geology that's because it's home to a row of 70 to 90 M long stalagmites that makes them some of the largest on earth and the ones at sdun Cave are so immense they've been nicknamed The Great Wall of Vietnam but if you'd like a tour you better be willing to pay up you see the cave is limited to just a thousand visitors per year and to date the Vietnamese government has given a monopoly on all travel to the cave to a company called Oxalis Adventures at about three grand per ticket the prices are pretty steep however for that price you get to go on a guided five night and Six-Day Journey Through the cave with many Necessities such as camping gear boots and food all being included and while this massive Monopoly may seem unfair in many ways having just one company administering the tourism in the caves helps with conservation and ensures that high quality standards are met number one salard de uuni now when you think of cool natural wonders salt flats are probably not what first comes to mind however at the 11,000 square km salard auni is the largest in the world and it's a beautiful example of this incredible natural wonder located in southwestern Bolivia on the crest of the Andes it is in essence a seemingly endless plane of hexagonal salt tiles that Sports the occasional salt pyramid lying about 3600 m above sea level their formation dates back to about 40,000 years ago now according to the geologic record at one point in time almost all of Southwest Bolivia was covered with a massive 120 M deep Salt Lake however at around the 40,000 year mark it essentially dried up leaving behind a few meters of salt crust in its wake now during the Dy season between April and October the salt plane is dry and walkable and resembles a science fiction movie however in the wet season from November to March the flats transform into a massive mirror as the water-covered ground acts as a reflector surface despite being a maximum of just about 50 cm deep it almost perfectly mirrors the sky and allows visitors to feel as though they're walking through the clouds Beyond being pretty though what makes this place even cooler is that Against All Odds what should be a sparse landscape is teaming with life Pink Flamingos ancient cacti and rare hummingbirds all live in the area as during the rainy season the lake is apparently teeming with Plankton too it's also worth noting that if you visit here you can stay at a quirky little hotel well that's quite naturally made out of salt created from Salt bricks held together with salt mortar the hotel and everything inside it including the chairs and tables are made from this white substance while this means that it's got no electricity and little in the way of amenities it is a Cool vibe utter silence and all-encompassing auster Beauty makes it an incredible place to relax in any case if you do want to visit most people come from either the small Bolivian town of uuni which is about 10 hours away from the capital city of laaz the Bolivian town of t or if you're across the border from San Pedro de atakama in Chile and while all have their pros and cons what is guaranteed is that you'll have a great time at uuni once you get there oh yeah as an interesting side note it's also worth mentioning that salard de uuni has been on The Cutting Edge of the Green Revolution turns out that the area has large quantities of lithium which is a substance that's vital for the creation of new electric batteries and by extension new technologies to date the mine is one of the largest lithium mines in Bolivia and given the high price of the material it may make sense for opportunities to develop Sal Deo Yi to continue so long as they don't detract too much from its ecological function or its natural beauty thanks for watching guys I'll see you tomorrow thank you to our channel members

Channel: Top Fives

Views: 452,541

Keywords: nature, natural formations, rock, rocks, cliff, cliffs

Id: ToSQGbUea2k

Length: 25min 14sec (1514 seconds)

Published: Sat Apr 20 2024