Strange Earth

Geology, climate, unusual places.

Strange Earth
The Grand Canyon Is Missing an Entire Billion Years of Earth's History
New research shows the gap in the Grand Canyon's rock record opened hundreds of millions of years earlier than geologists believed for a century and a half.
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Strange Earth
These Rocks 'Walk' Across the Desert on Their Own — and No One Saw It Happen for Decades
Boulders on the dried-up Racetrack Playa in Death Valley leave long trails behind them, even though nobody ever moves them.
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Strange Earth
Blood-Red Water Is Pouring Out of a Glacier in Antarctica
Blood Falls is a natural spring where intensely red, salty water seeps out from beneath the Taylor Glacier.
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Strange Earth
This African Lake Can Naturally 'Turn' Dead Animals to Stone
The highly alkaline waters of Tanzania's Lake Natron preserve animal bodies in a way that looks like natural mummification.
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Strange Earth
The Mariana Trench Is So Deep You Could Drop Mount Everest In and Still Have Room to Spare
The deepest point in Earth's oceans sits almost 11 kilometers below the surface.
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Strange Earth
One Tree in California Weighs More Than an Entire Pod of Blue Whales
General Sherman, a giant sequoia in California, is recognized as the single organism with the largest wood volume on Earth.
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Strange Earth
Miners in Mexico Stumbled Into a Cave Full of Crystals the Size of a Bus
Mexico's Cave of Crystals in Naica hides gigantic selenite columns that grew for hundreds of thousands of years in perfectly stable conditions.
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Strange Earth
This Lake in Australia Is Permanently the Color of Strawberry Lemonade
Lake Hillier on an Australian island stays an intense shade of pink all year round, no matter which angle you view it from.
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Strange Earth
This Desert Crater Has Been Burning Nonstop for Over Fifty Years
The Darvaza crater in Turkmenistan, nicknamed the 'Gateway to Hell,' has been on fire for decades — and nobody's entirely sure when or why it started.
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Strange Earth
Lightning Strikes This Lake Up to 300 Times an Hour, Almost Every Single Night of the Year
Lake Maracaibo in Venezuela hosts some of the most frequent lightning storms on Earth — the phenomenon runs almost nonstop on most nights of the year.
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Strange Earth
In This Siberian Village, You Have to Leave Your Car Running Overnight — Or It Might Never Start Again
Oymyakon in Siberia is one of the coldest permanently inhabited places on Earth, where winter temperatures regularly drop below minus 50 degrees Celsius.
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Strange Earth
This Lake in Slovenia Just Disappears a Few Times a Year — Then Comes Back
Lake Cerknica in Slovenia regularly dries up and refills thanks to hidden underground karst channels beneath its bed.
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Strange Earth
This Island Looks Like Someone Airlifted an Alien Planet's Landscape Onto Earth
Socotra Island off the coast of Yemen has been isolated for so long that it evolved plants unlike anything else on the planet.
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Strange Earth
This Siberian Lake Holds More Water Than All the American Great Lakes Combined
Lake Baikal in Siberia is the deepest and one of the oldest lakes on Earth, holding a huge share of the world's unfrozen fresh water.
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Strange Earth
In Parts of This Desert, It Hasn't Rained in Hundreds of Years
Chile's Atacama Desert is one of the driest places on Earth — in some regions, rainfall has been practically nonexistent for decades.
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Strange Earth
This Cave in Vietnam Is So Massive It Has Its Own Clouds and Jungle Inside
Son Doong in Vietnam is one of the largest known caves on Earth — so enormous that trees grow and clouds form inside it.
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Strange Earth
This Island Literally Rose Out of the Sea in Front of Everyone's Eyes in the 1960s
Surtsey Island off Iceland's coast was born from an underwater volcanic eruption in the 1960s and has been watched ever since as a natural laboratory for how an ecosystem begins.
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Strange Earth
This Region of India Can Get More Rain in One Month Than Warsaw Sees in Over a Decade
The Cherrapunji and Mawsynram region in India ranks among the wettest places on Earth, where annual rainfall is measured in meters, not millimeters.
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Strange Earth
This Cave in Austria Hides Ice Formations That Have Been Growing for Thousands of Years
Eisriesenwelt in Austria is the world's largest ice cave open to visitors, with ice formations stretching many meters deep into the mountain.
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Strange Earth
This Giant 'Eye' in the Desert Is So Distinct That Astronauts Use It as a Landmark
The Richat Structure, known as the Eye of the Sahara, is a massive, concentric rock formation in the Sahara visible even from orbit.
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Strange Earth
These Thousands of Hexagonal Rock Columns Look Handmade — But Nobody Built Them
The Giant's Causeway in Northern Ireland is a formation of thousands of near-perfect hexagonal basalt columns created by ancient volcanic activity.
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Strange Earth
You Physically Can't Sink in This Sea — But You Can Get Salt Burns From It
The Dead Sea is so salty that the human body floats on its surface almost effortlessly, while the basin holding it keeps dropping lower every year.
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Strange Earth

The Grand Canyon Is Missing an Entire Billion Years of Earth's History

These Rocks 'Walk' Across the Desert on Their Own — and No One Saw It Happen for Decades

Blood-Red Water Is Pouring Out of a Glacier in Antarctica

This African Lake Can Naturally 'Turn' Dead Animals to Stone

The Mariana Trench Is So Deep You Could Drop Mount Everest In and Still Have Room to Spare

One Tree in California Weighs More Than an Entire Pod of Blue Whales

Miners in Mexico Stumbled Into a Cave Full of Crystals the Size of a Bus

This Lake in Australia Is Permanently the Color of Strawberry Lemonade

This Desert Crater Has Been Burning Nonstop for Over Fifty Years

Lightning Strikes This Lake Up to 300 Times an Hour, Almost Every Single Night of the Year

In This Siberian Village, You Have to Leave Your Car Running Overnight — Or It Might Never Start Again

This Lake in Slovenia Just Disappears a Few Times a Year — Then Comes Back

This Island Looks Like Someone Airlifted an Alien Planet's Landscape Onto Earth

This Siberian Lake Holds More Water Than All the American Great Lakes Combined

In Parts of This Desert, It Hasn't Rained in Hundreds of Years

This Cave in Vietnam Is So Massive It Has Its Own Clouds and Jungle Inside

This Island Literally Rose Out of the Sea in Front of Everyone's Eyes in the 1960s

This Region of India Can Get More Rain in One Month Than Warsaw Sees in Over a Decade

This Cave in Austria Hides Ice Formations That Have Been Growing for Thousands of Years

This Giant 'Eye' in the Desert Is So Distinct That Astronauts Use It as a Landmark

These Thousands of Hexagonal Rock Columns Look Handmade — But Nobody Built Them

You Physically Can't Sink in This Sea — But You Can Get Salt Burns From It

Strange Earth

The Grand Canyon Is Missing an Entire Billion Years of Earth's History

These Rocks 'Walk' Across the Desert on Their Own — and No One Saw It Happen for Decades

Blood-Red Water Is Pouring Out of a Glacier in Antarctica

This African Lake Can Naturally 'Turn' Dead Animals to Stone

The Mariana Trench Is So Deep You Could Drop Mount Everest In and Still Have Room to Spare

One Tree in California Weighs More Than an Entire Pod of Blue Whales

Miners in Mexico Stumbled Into a Cave Full of Crystals the Size of a Bus

This Lake in Australia Is Permanently the Color of Strawberry Lemonade

This Desert Crater Has Been Burning Nonstop for Over Fifty Years

Lightning Strikes This Lake Up to 300 Times an Hour, Almost Every Single Night of the Year

In This Siberian Village, You Have to Leave Your Car Running Overnight — Or It Might Never Start Again

This Lake in Slovenia Just Disappears a Few Times a Year — Then Comes Back

This Island Looks Like Someone Airlifted an Alien Planet's Landscape Onto Earth

This Siberian Lake Holds More Water Than All the American Great Lakes Combined

In Parts of This Desert, It Hasn't Rained in Hundreds of Years

This Cave in Vietnam Is So Massive It Has Its Own Clouds and Jungle Inside

This Island Literally Rose Out of the Sea in Front of Everyone's Eyes in the 1960s

This Region of India Can Get More Rain in One Month Than Warsaw Sees in Over a Decade

This Cave in Austria Hides Ice Formations That Have Been Growing for Thousands of Years

This Giant 'Eye' in the Desert Is So Distinct That Astronauts Use It as a Landmark

These Thousands of Hexagonal Rock Columns Look Handmade — But Nobody Built Them

You Physically Can't Sink in This Sea — But You Can Get Salt Burns From It