There are boring rocks and then there are these rocks. Just when you think rocks couldn’t surprise you, we bring you 8 of the most breathtaking rock formations that will suddenly make you want to be a geologist.
Read also: The Cave of Hands is Real, and it’s on our Bucket List
#1 Puerto Tranquilo
Where: Chile, Puerto Rico
What: A sea cave that’s been created by the water currents against limestone. This is sometimes referred to as the “Marble Caves”, so don’t get confused.
#2 Coron
Where: Palawan, Philippines
What: An outcrop of rocks around the islands of Coron. There’s some good swimming and diving, so that’s another reason to visit.
#3 Svartifoss
Where: Skaftafell National Park, Iceland
What: Balsaltic formations are generally pretty, but this one takes the cake. A really dark cake. Nicknamed the Black Waterfall for its black, sharp outcrops.
#4 Wave Rock
Where: Perth, Western Australia
What: Basically a 47 ft-high, 350 ft-long monzogranite formation. The reason why it looks the way it does is due to a gradual erosion of softer rock beneath the upper edge over many centuries. #coolscience
#5 Bruce Canyon National Park
Where: Utah, United States
What: Also a product from the forces of erosion, the Bryce Canyon National Park is also home to one of the longest active astronomy program in the National Park service due to its lack of artificial light interference.
#6 Tsingy de Bemaraha
Where: Madagascar
What: A forest of karst, limestone needles, called Tsingys. Tsingy means “where one cannot walk barefoot”. Well, yeah, you don’t need to tell us twice.
#7 Göreme
Where: Cappadocia, Turkey
What: These -ahem- “fairy chimneys” are the work of master sculptor erosion, and actually have hotels carved into them. Other than that, we’re pretty sure the name “fairy chimneys” are to detract from the fact that these rocks are oddly phallic in shape. God bless Mother Nature, she’s a single woman, too.
#8 The Giant’s Causeway
Where: Ireland
What: Volcanic activity pushing basalt through chalk, making a vertical basaltic rock. Erosion has made sure that only the tops are visible, making for a very strange, yet beautiful cobblestone walkway.
Are there any other cool rock formations that we missed out, nomads?
Photo credits: Main, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, and 8
Beautiful!
However, the picture from “Wave rock” is incorrect. THe pic is from “the wave” in Utah.
Wave rock in Australia looks very different… more like a single surf wave.