Category: photography

Dramatic tufa towers emerge from the surface of Mono Lake

By sam garza from Los Angeles, USA – mono lake serenity, CC BY 2.0, Link

Mono Lake Tufa State Natural Reserve is located near Yosemite National Park within Mono County, in eastern California. The lack of an outlet to the ocean causes high levels of salts to accumulate in the lake. Many columns of limestone rise above the surface of Mono Lake. These limestone towers consist primarily of calcium carbonate minerals. This type of limestone rock is referred to as tufa, which is a term used for limestone that forms in low to moderate temperatures. The tufa originally formed at the bottom of the lake. It took many decades or even centuries to form the well-recognized tufa towers. When lake levels fell, the tufa towers came to rise above the water surface and stand as the majestic pillars seen today.
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Billow clouds look like ocean waves in the sky

By GRAHAMUK at the English language Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 3.0, Link

Kelvin-Helmholtz clouds, also known as  ‘billow clouds’, look like rolling ocean waves in the sky. The clouds often form on windy days, when two air currents of varying speeds meet in the atmosphere. It’s believed that this kind of clouds inspired the swirls in van Gogh’s ‘Starry Night‘.

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Enchanting Fjaðrárgljúfur canyon in Iceland

By Wojciech Strzelecki “Wojtrix” – Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, Link

Fjaðrárgljúfur is a canyon in south east Iceland. The Fjaðrá river flows through it. The canyon has steep walls and winding water. It is up to 100 m deep and about 2 kilometers long. Its origins date back to the cold periods of the Ice Age, about two million years ago. The canyon was created by progressive erosion by flowing water from glaciers through the rocks and palagonite over millennia. A waterfall flows down the western side of the canyon, visible from an observation platform at the end of a one-mile hike up the eastern edge.
In May 2019, authorities closed the canyon to visitors after it appeared in a music video by Justin Bieber. The resulting stream of visitors threatened to damage the canyon’s environment.
info: wikipedia

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Hashima, the Battleship Island

By Flickr user: kntrty https://www.flickr.com/photos/kntrty/ – Flickr: https://www.flickr.com/photos/kntrty/3720075234/, CC BY 2.0, Link

Hashima Island , commonly called Gunkanjima (meaning Battleship Island), is an abandoned island lying about 15 kilometers (9 miles) from the city of Nagasaki, in southern Japan. The island’s most notable features are its abandoned concrete buildings, undisturbed except by nature, and the surrounding sea wall. The  island established in 1887 during the industrialization of Japan and was known for its undersea coal mines. In 1974, with the coal reserves nearing depletion, the mine was closed and all of the residents departed soon after,  Interest in the island re-emerged in the 2000s on account of its undisturbed historic ruins, and it gradually became a tourist attraction. Certain collapsed exterior walls have since been restored, and travel to Hashima was re-opened to tourists in  2009. While the island is a symbol of the rapid industrialization of Japan, it is also a reminder of its history as a site of forced labor prior to and during the Second World War.
info: wikipedia
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Torres del Paine National Park – Towering spires of rock standing over crystalline lakes

By Karen Chan 16 y Miguel.v ( local | logs | global ) (originales), y Jorge Morales Piderit (montaje). – Own work, CC BY 4.0, Link

Torres del Paine National Park  encompasses mountains, glaciers, lakes, and rivers in southern Chilean Patagonia. The Torres del Paine are the distinctive three granite peaks of the Paine mountain range. The landscape of the park is dominated by the Paine massif, which is an eastern spur of the Andes located on the east side of the Grey Glacier, rising dramatically above the Patagonian steppe. Small valleys separate the spectacular granite spires and mountains of the massif.
info: wikipedia

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Meoto Iwa – the wedded rocks

Public Domain, Link

Meoto Iwa , or the Married Couple Rocks, are two rocky stacks in the sea off Futami, Japan. They are joined by a shimenawa (a heavy rope of rice straw) and are considered sacred by worshippers at the neighboring Futami Okitama Shrine.  According to Shinto, the rocks represent the union of the creator of kami, Izanagi and Izanami. The rope, which weighs over a ton, must be replaced several times a year in a special ceremony.
At dawn during the summer, the sun appears to rise between the two rocks. Mount Fuji is visible in the distance. At low tide, the rocks are not separated by water. Numerous frog sculptures can be seen in the vicinity of the Futami Okitama Shrine as they are believed to be a type of charm for bringing people or things back.
info: wikipedia
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