Category Archives: bizarre

Waw an Namus – An Oasis in a Volcanic Crater

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photo by George Steinmetz

Waw an Namus, Oasis of Mosquitoes, is a volcanic field, cone and caldera in southern Libya, deep in the Sahara Desert. The inside of the caldera houses an oasis of rich foliage and three small salt lakes of variable color which are the reason for the volcano’s name. A volcanic field of dark basaltic tephra flow extends 10–20 kilometres (6.2–12.4 mi) around the caldera. The dark field’s vast size allows it to be easily seen from space. Due to the fresh water at the volcano, Waw An-Namus was always an important watering point for the caravans.
info: wikipedia

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Spotted Lake in Canada

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Jack Borno [CC BY-SA 3.0], via Wikimedia Commons

Spotted Lake is a saline alkali lake located northwest of Osoyoos in the eastern Similkameen Valley of British Columbia, Canada. The lake is richly concentrated with various minerals. Most of the water in the lake evaporates over the summer, revealing colorful mineral deposits. Large “spots” on the lake appear and are colored according to the mineral composition and seasonal amount of precipitation. Magnesium sulfate, which crystallizes in the summer, is a major contributor to spot color. In the summer, remaining minerals in the lake harden to form natural “walkways” around and between the spots.
info wikipedia

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Eternal Flame Falls

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By Mpmajewski – Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0, Link

The Eternal Flame Falls is a small waterfall located in the Shale Creek Preserve, a section of Chestnut Ridge Park in Western New York. A small grotto at the waterfall’s base emits natural gas, which can be lit to produce a small flame. This flame is visible nearly year round, although it can be extinguished and must occasionally be re-lit.
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Impressive Bulgarian cave with eye-shaped holes in ceiling

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image source

Prohodna is a cave in north central Bulgaria, popular tourist attraction for the two eye-like holes in its ceiling that create an eerie effect.  Prohodna is 262 meters (860 ft) long, and has two entrances which lie opposite one another, known respectively as the Small Entrance and the Big Entrance. The cave owes its name, which literally means Thoroughfare Cave or Passage Cave, to this feature.  Prohodna is most notable for the two equal-sized holes in the ceiling of its middle chamber. The holes, formed through erosion, let in light into the cave and are locally known as the Eyes of God or Oknata.
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Ultra Slim Buildings

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You can find such buildings in big cities where real estate is prohibitively expensive or there is not enough space. To live in a house so narrow would not be very pleasant and definitely not for claustrophobics.

River Side House in Horinouchi, Tokyo by Mizuishi Architect Atelier

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The Valley of Balls in Kazakhstan

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image source

Torysh, also known as the “Valley of Balls”, is located close to the town of Shetpe in Western Kazakhstan. The rounded  concretions are 120-180 million years old and their size reaches 4 m in diameter. Geologists do not have a single opinion about the processes that created these mysterious formations. The balls are believed to be concretions —a hard, compact mass formed by the precipitation of minerals. The phenomenon is not rare — examples of such concretions are found all over the globe.
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