Lofoten – Arctic Circle Anomaly The archipelago of Lofoten in Norway is north of the Arctic Circle. Yet throughout the year it has temperatures which belie its position. This is because of the largest positive temperature anomaly in the world relative to latitude. It makes Lofoten an unexpected delight – its early settlers must have thought they had stumbled across an arctic paradise. Prepare to have your breath taken away. What they found there was a sea teeming with life and the largest deep water coral reef in the word. The settlers gave one of the islands (now known as Vestvågøya) the name Lofoten which is Norse for the foot of the lynx. The first settlers must have arrived here centuries before but the archipelago, because of its climate, has been the center of huge cod fisheries for over a millennia. People were drawn to the area mostly because of the sea life. As time went on Lofoten became the name for the whole chain of islands. The place is so far north that here you can experience the midnight sun.
It's A BEEautiful Life 10 Most Amazing Temples in the World More than a quarter of all people in the world belong to Eastern religions, which include Buddhism, Hinduism, Sikhism, and Taoism. These people worship in temples, which are architecturally as diverse as the religions are different from each other. From the ancient ruins of Ankor Wat to the distinctly modern Wat Rong Khun, there are hundreds if not thousands of amazing temples in the world. I have long been fascinated by the temples and sacred sites of Eastern religions. Tiger's Nest Monastery Tiger's Nest Monastery, perched precariously on the edge of a 3,000-feet-high cliff in Paro Valley, is one of the holiest places in Bhutan. The monastery, formally called Taktshang Goemba, was built in 1692 and reconstructed in 1998 after a fire. Image: Leo Palmer Photography Image: Douglas J. Wat Rong Khun Wat Rong Khun in Chiang Rai, Thailand is unlike any Buddhist temples in the world. Actually, the temple is still under construction. Wat Rong Khun, the White Temple. Details of the temple roof.
Watkins Glen State Park Watkins Glen State Park is the most famous of the Finger Lakes State Parks located on the edge of the village of Watkins Glen, New York, south of Seneca Lake in Schuyler County. The main feature of the park is the hiking trail that climbs up through the gorge, passing over and under waterfalls. The park has a lower part that is next to the village and an upper part that is open woodland. Watkins Glen State Park is in a 400-foot-deep narrow gorge cut through rock by a stream that was left hanging when glaciers of the Ice age deepened the Seneca valley, increasing the tributary stream gradient to create rapids and waterfalls wherever there were layers of hard rock. The rocks of the area are sedimentary of Devonian age that are part of a dissected plateau that was uplifted with little faulting or distortion. They consist mostly of soft shales, with some layers of harder sandstone and limestone The gorge path winds over and under waterfalls and through the spray of Cavern Cascade.
Most Fascinating Geological Wonders On Earth Mar 08, 2011 / Category : Misc / 37 Comments This planet we live on offers us beauty beyond words. Every country has its own special region that takes your breath away with the magnificence of it. Here we can see some places that are a geological wonder that you may know about already, or maybe not? Antelope Canyon, Arizona, USA Antelope Canyon is one of the world's most beautiful canyons. Pamukkale, Turkey These stunning terraces of water are found in Pamukkale Turkey and were shaped from a substance called travertine, which forms from the build-up of sediments of calcium carbonate deposited in water from hot springs. The Wave, Arizona, USA This incredible formation of sandstone rock is stunning in its colors. Moeraki Boulders, New Zealand The Moeraki Boulders are amazing boulders found on the New Zealand coast. Bungle Bungles, Australia Bungle Bungles are found in the the Purnululu National Park in Western Australia, also a World Heritage Site. Fantasy Cave, Bermuda Wave Rock, Australia
Amazing Places To Experience Around The Globe (Part 1) Preachers Rock, Preikestolen, Norway Blue Caves - Zakynthos Island, Greece Skaftafeli - Iceland Plitvice Lakes – Croatia Crystalline Turquoise Lake, Jiuzhaigou National Park, China Four Seasons Hotel - Bora Bora Ice skating on Paterswoldse Meer, a lake just South of the city of Groningen in the Netherlands. Marble Caves, Chile Chico, Chile The Gardens at Marqueyssac Ice Canyon - Greenland Capilano Suspension Bridge, Vancouver, British Columbia Valley of the Ten Peaks, Moraine Lake, Alberta, Canada Multnomah Falls, Oregon Seljalandsfoss Waterfall on the South Coast of Iceland Petra - Jordan (at night) Verdon, Provence, France Wineglass Bay, Freycinet National Park, Tasmania, Australia Norway Alesund Birdseye of City Benteng Chittorgarh, India Riomaggiore, Italy Keukenhof Gardens - Netherlands. Sky Lantern Festival - Taiwan. Mount Roraima - Venezuela. Seychelles East Iceland. Lucca, Tuscany, Italy. New York City.
The Mind-Blowing Mount Roraima Mount Roraima is the highest of the Pakaraima mountain chain in South America and one of the world’s most extraordinary natural geological formations. The 31 square kilometer summit area of Mount Roraima is defined by 400 meter tall cliffs on all sides and includes the borders of Brazil, Venezuela, and Guyana. The tabletop mountains of the Pakaraima’s are considered some of the oldest geological formations on Earth, dating back to over two billion years ago. The result is the staggering landscape of Mount Rariama which we tour below in photographs and video:
Amazing Places To Experience Around the Globe (Part 3) Devetashkata Cave - Bulgaria Ben Bulben at County Sligo, Ireland Shark Island - Sydney Baatara Gorge Waterfall, Tannourine - Lebanon Abel Tasman National Park - New Zealand Myrtos Beach, Kefalonia - Greece Sichuan - China In The Gardens of Prague Castle Neist Point, Isle of Skye - Scotland Aiguill e du midi, Chamonix, France The Hamilton Pool Nature Preserve in Texas, USA 4 Hands - Etretat, France Río Tampaón in San Luis Potosí -México Madeira, Portugal Six Senses Evason Ma’In Hot Springs, Jordan Méandre - En-Vau - Marseille (Bouches-du-Rhône) More Amazing Places To Experience Around The Globe (Part 1 - click here) More Amazing Places to Experience Around The Globe (Part 2 - click here ) Discovered a place we should include in Part 4 of Amazing Places? We'll be publishing Amazing Places as a book in late 2012
Novel Technique Reveals How Glaciers Sculpted Their Valleys Thermochronometry allows historical reconstruction of landform evolution during Pleistocene The beautiful and distinctive U-shaped glacial valleys typical of alpine areas from Alaska to New Zealand have fascinated and frustrated geologists for centuries. While it seems obvious that glaciers scoured the bedrock for millions of years, what the landscape looked like before glaciers appeared, and how the glaciers changed that landscape over time, have remained a mystery. The glaciers erased all the evidence. Now, University of California, Berkeley, and Berkeley Geochronology Center (BGC) scientists have employed a clever technique to reconstruct the landform history of a 300-square-mile area of Fiordland in New Zealand, from the early Pleistocene some 2.5 million years ago, when the world cooled and glaciers formed, through today’s warmer interglacial period. “The first question we asked was, how much of the current landscape and relief is a result of glacial erosion?” On the Net:
Seven Things to Do in Iceland (Why You Should Go Right Now!) – Nomadic Matt's Travel Site The world’s economy is crashing, and no country is feeling the pain of this global credit meltdown more than Iceland. The country’s overextended banking industry has collapsed, and the country has declared bankruptcy. Yes, I said the COUNTRY. So with the currency in the toilet, now is a great time to travel to Iceland — the country is finally cheap(er) to visit. Reykjavík This hip capital is awash in thriving cafes, high-energy clubs, friendly pubs, and a brightly-colored old town with rows of wooded houses clustered together. The Blue Lagoon Iceland’s most famous geothermal pool is the country’s top tourist attraction. Thingvellir National Park This national park and UNESCO World Heritage site is interesting for two reasons: It is the original site of the longest-running parliament in the world, and it’s also where the North American and European continental shelf plates are being torn apart. Watch the Northern Lights From September to April, the Northern Lights become more visible here.
Crystal River – The most beautiful river on earth « OpenFreak.Com Cano Cristales - Crystal River. River of five colors, as the locals call it, originates in the south of the mountain chain Macarena, Colombia, and flows eastward to its confluence with the Guayabero river. In the Cano Cristales found five colors: yellow, blue, green, black and red. All of them are waste product of many algae and, depending on time of year, color saturation, or weakened or strengthened. Share on Tumblr
How I Can Afford My Life Of Constant Travel I’m confused. I’m simply confused as to how it’s possible that I have so far failed to properly explain how I’ve managed to travel/live/work abroad nonstop for 12 years straight (and counting). The questions are still pouring in every single day: How do you do it? How is it possible to travel for so long? Where does the money come from? And while I thoroughly enjoy communicating with readers (I’m being completely serious and encourage you all to continue sending your emails to me as often as you wish), the fact that these very questions are on the minds of so many of you out there has led me to believe that I need to do a better job at providing the answers. While it’s true that I’ve already written plenty of posts on the matter, clearly all of these posts, even as one collective entity, still fall well short of proving that a life of travel is not some crazy fantasy but a perfectly reasonable and easily attainable lifestyle option instead. So what am I to do? December 25, 1999: March 2000
20 Must-See Places Before The World Ends Summit for the weekend Not all mighty mountains require you to hire a porter or reach for rope and tackle, as these craggy beauties go to prove. Don't take them too lightly, though... Mount Elbrus, Russia Far from the glory-grabbing summits of the European Alps are the shy twin peaks of Mt Elbrus (5642m), Europe's highest mountain. Straddling the Russia–Georgia border and bulging above the Caucasus Ridge, Elbrus looks a daunting prospect. It's nearly 1000m higher than any peaks around it, and glaciers chew at its edges, yet it offers no real technical difficulties – there's even a chairlift to 3800m, where most climbs begin. Mount Olympus, Greece Rub hiking boots with the gods as you ascend Greece's highest mountain, the legendary home of the Olympian gods. Gunung Bromo, Indonesia Emerging from the crater floor of Java's massive Tengger crater are three volcanic peaks. Jebel Toubkal, Morocco North Africa's highest mountain (4167m) is surprisingly kind on climbers. Table Mountain, South Africa Ben Nevis, Scotland