உலகின் மிக அழகான ( அபூர்வமான ) இடம்

[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]Chinstrap penguins (Pygoscelis antarctica) ride out

high surf on blue-ice icebergs near Candlemas Island

in the South Sandwich Islands




[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]For trees that grow on mountaintops near Cape Town,

South Africa, wind can be a magnificent sculptor.

Trees that can handle the wind's effects

best will alter their shape to deal with the load of the wind.




[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]Silhouetted by the sun, the Hand of Fatima rock formations

near Hombori village stretch toward the sky in Mali.

The tallest tower rises 2,000 feet (610 meters)

from the desert floor. Lore has it that the formations'

name stems from the five towers' resemblance to a hand

from the sky.




[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]Erosion's force becomes clear in these limestone cliffs

in Port Campbell National Park, Australia.

About five million years ago the area was a

limestone plateau, but as sea levels rose the effects

of surf and rain began to carve out these

magnificent cliffs, along with stacks and arches


[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]A storm passes over Yellow Mounds Overlook in South Dakotas

Badlands, casting light and shadow below. Although

the regions name derives from the Oglala Sioux




[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]Travertine chimneys near Lake Abbe, Djibouti,

were created by hot springs depositing

calcium carbonate the same process that creates stalactites

and stalagmites. Some of the formations reach

165 feet (50 meters) near the lake located

on the Ethiopia-Djibouti border.




[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]A thick blanket of snow covers West Thumb Geyser Basin

in Yellowstone National Park. There are more

geysers in this park than anywhere else

in the world.






[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]Towers of salt and a riverbed colored by crystallized salt

create an otherworldly landscape in Ethiopias Danakil Desert.

Sitting more than 300 feet (90 meters) below sea level,

with temperatures reaching 120 degrees Fahrenheit

(49 degrees Celsius), local inhabitants prize the

Danakil for one thing: its salt deposits.




[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]A deep gorge drops some 650 feet (198 meters)

near the abandoned city of Araden, Crete. Visitors

can descend into the gorge and walk a little

more than 4 miles (6.4 kilometers) to the Mediterranean Sea.

In addition to magnificent scenery, the gorge provides

a 2,460-foot (750-meter) descent to the sea.




[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]Towering in close symmetry, these basalt

columns near Fingals Cave form the base of the

Scottish island of Staffa. The columns formed

when cooling lava flows met bedrock and the regions

cold weather. The island contains three main caves.