Whakarekarewa
Geysers are a kind of hot spring that gushes out a fountain of hot water every now and then. Whakarekarewa is one of the most interesting geysers in the world found in New Zealand. Boiling mud pools can also be found in the area.
Fingal's Cave
The basalt columns that built the island of Staffa off western Scotland are formed from lava which cracked into regular shapes as it cooled slowly, 60 million years ago.
Karum Salt Pillars
Rain weathers salt out from volcanic rocks, washing it into the Assale Lake in Ethiopia. The water is so salty that the surface crystallizes over, with salt pillars growing 10 ft. (3m) overnight.
The Valley of Ten Thousand Smokes
A huge ashy eruption blanketed this valley in Alaska in 1912. The first explorers to venture into the valley saw countless bubbling volcanic “smokes” rising from the ash. “The ash itself is up to 164 ft. (50m) deep in places.
Urgup Cones, Turkey
These pillars in Turkey are sculpted out of volcanic ash, from eruptions of long ago.
Le Puy, France
This church in France is built atop a volcanic rock 250 ft. (76 m) high. The rock hardened inside the volcano 2 million years ago. It was exposed when softer ashy rocks were eroded away from around it.
Reunion
One of the Earth's largest volcanoes is Reunion which rises from the deep ocean floors to its summit crater 10,068 ft. (3,069m) above sea level. It is located in the West Indian Ocean.
Lake Baikal
Lake Baikal is the deepest lake on Earth, holding 1/5 of the planet's fresh water. As India continues to barge northward, Baikal may one day become a new ocean which will split Siberia apart.
Pyrenees
0ne hundred million years ago Iberia and France crushed together and a mountain range began to grow.
Surtsey
Surtsey is a new volcanic island off the south coast of Iceland that was created in 1963. The island grew quickly, within 4 days it was more than 1,970 ft. long and 197 ft. high. Eighteen months later, green plants where found growing on it. By 1968, it was home to 40 species of insects and birds.
Port Royal
In the 17th century, Port Royal was a wealthy pirate city near Kingston, Jamaica. In 1692, the city disappeared into the sea. During this time, it gained a reputation as both the “richest and wickedest city in the world”. It had been hit by an earthquake and tsunami. The city and 2,000 of its inhabitants were drowned. Most of the city only lay about 33 ft. below surface and some of its treasures were salvaged. It was fully excavated bet 1265-68. Three buildings were discovered still intact.
Coral Reefs
Coral reefs are built by tiny creatures called polyps. A polyp grows in partnership with tiny plants called algae. Coral is formed very slowly. It takes about 20 years for a colony the sized of a basketball to build up.
