anyone who has traveled around could tell you that the earth is full of geological
oddities the sheer variety of terrains and ecosystems found across the planet lend us some
pretty bizarre and fascinating natural formations some of them are so weird
that they may as well exist on an alien planet with completely different conditions than ours
apart from being great traveling destinations these bizarre geological features found around
the world also give us a glimpse into the planet's dynamic and rapidly changing past
number 10. the bolton strid in england on first look the bolton street in yorkshire england
doesn't come across as anything frightening in fact it doesn't come across as anything at all
as it's easy to completely overlook it as a small totally crossable stream of water on
a casual hike in the english countryside try to cross it however and that may just be the last
stream you ever cross without properly checking what's inside the bolton street is actually a very
large river only turned on its side the seemingly harmless brick on the surface turns into an entire
network of vast cabins inside its vast depths and it's impossible to escape once
you go in according to local legends the brook has a 100 kill rate over the years
making it perhaps one of the most dangerous places in the world 9. siberian sinkholes we've
heard about the earth opening up and swallowing entire swaths of land in both apocalyptic fiction
and academic climate change reports in the yamal peninsula in siberia though exactly
that seems to have been happening for the past few years huge holes have been appearing in the
permafrost since at least 2013 mostly reported by locals in the remote region until 2016 scientists
had located about 15 of them though a 2017 report counted more than 7 000 across the
landscape they're made due to trapped methane and other greenhouse gases under the permafrost
as it gets weaker and thinner over time the gases have an easier time escaping leaving massive
life-threatening sinkholes behind number eight the kalamutu volcano in indonesia from afar the
kalamutu volcano in indonesia looks like any other one of the many volcanoes found across the region
it is too except for the three lakes found inside its crater on first look they look like normal
lakes formed inside a volcano's mouth over time if you track them over time though you'll see that
their color changes almost consistently and in no discernible pattern according to satellite images
taken over time the colors range from various shades of white to turquoise blue to blood red
the changing hues are a result of something called fumaroles volcanic vents that continuously release
minerals and gases into the lakes there may be some microbial processes involved in the process
too though due to the remoteness of the region the volcano has never been regularly monitored 7.
blood falls antarctica antarctica is home to quite a few bizarre geological features as the ice cover
melts due to the rising temperatures researchers have found quite a few natural formations that
are unique to the continent in the past few years perhaps the most startling of all of them though
is blood falls located in a glacier called the taylor glacier blood falls are exactly what you're
imagining them to be a natural formation that looks like a waterfall of blood it may look weird
though the explanation is even weirder studies have found that the colour comes from microbes
living in an ancient lake trapped underneath the glacier as they convert ferric iron into its
soluble form to break down organic matter it's a separate understudied class of organisms that uses
sulfates to survive rather than oxygen as they had to evolve in an environment completely devoid
of oxygen or light 6. fly geezer in the usa fly geezer falls inside a private property
called the fly ranch in nevada while the region known as the hula pai geothermal flats is full
of geezers of varying shapes and sizes this one is unique because of its peculiar look it's a
large multicolored almost cartoonish structure made of cones protruding out of the earth with
multiple streams of hot springs erupting out of them it looks like something straight out
of an over-the-top science fiction movie even if it's completely man-made the geese
was actually artificially made in 1916 for agricultural operations though its water was
found to be unsuitable it was abandoned when other better geezers were found nearby while the giza
remained officially shut the water still always found a way to reach the surface as the high
mineral content of the water deposited calcium carbonate at the site it accumulated into a
colorful 10 to 12 foot tall cone over time then in 1964 a drilling company decided to dig at the same
site for hot water though again it was found to be unsuitable the site was abandoned though with
many new openings than before over the years many new cones at the site have been added to the look
of the structure and it looks like the process is still ongoing 5. danical depression in ethiopia
you don't have to go to the danical depression in ethiopia to know that it's one of the world's
weirdest and most extreme places just take our word for it flying a bit over 330 feet below
sea level it's one of the world's lowest and most inhospitable environments the landscape is
dotted with numerous acidic ponds and geezers along with two highly active volcanoes that
occasionally spew ash into the air to complete the apocalypse look as we already said it's
hardly the best destination for a vacation though the danakil depression remains an active site for
biologists and other researchers the acid pond and lakes are surprisingly teeming with an array
of microorganisms not found anywhere else on earth number four the cave of crystals in mexico
the cape of crystals in chihuahua mexico was first discovered in 1910 during a mining dig
as the region had been a mining hot spot since the early 19th century due to its all deposits
back then it was named the cave of swords as it was full of large three-foot long crystals of
gypsum not found anywhere else at the time in 2000 however a group of miners stumbled upon another
even larger system of caves nearby the gypsum crystals here can grow as long as 40 feet long and
three feet wide and we have no idea if there are other caves with even bigger crystals if we dig
deeper these crystals are formed after years and years of mineral-rich waters seeping into
the caves due to high seismic activity in the region that allows calcium sulfate to accumulate
and their reacts with various elements to form a range of minerals gypsum being one of them due
to the many unique geographical features the caves attract experts like crystallographers
and geologists from all over the world 3. the gate to hell turkmenistan the caracam desert
in turkmenistan is a sparsely populated region mostly due to its extreme weather it's known
for the darwaza gas crater named after a nearby village of the same name to the locals the crater
is also known as the gate to hell and not without reason it's about 230 feet wide and has been on
fire for over 50 years now due to all of the gas that's still trapped underneath the hull came into
existence in 1971 when soviet drilling machines accidentally dug through a natural gas cabin
that caused the ground to collapse along with all of their drilling equipment to plug the hole and
stop poisonous gases from further polluting the area the rig operators decided to set them on
fire and let them burn out as you can tell that plan didn't really work out as they massively
underestimated the amount of gas inside that hole the hole has been continuously on fire ever since
number 2. cotton castle turkey if you travel to the southwest part of dennis lee province in
turkey you'll find a distinct structure dominating the landscape known as the pamikale turkish for
cotton castle is a set of 17 natural thermal pools on the side of a steep hill arranged in
the form of steps the cotton part comes from their pure white color making them shimmer if the light
is right while it looks artificial the cotton castle is actually a result of thousands possibly
millions of years of natural geological processes as the hot water from the springs recedes it
leaves behind a lot of calcium carbonate over the years that hardens into a white stone called
travertine which is what gives pamicale its unique look number one hydrothermal vents traditional
scientific and evolutionary wisdom suggests that life should get scarier in the more extreme parts
of the world however mounting research during the past few years points to the exact opposite
life it seems doesn't just exist in what we would consider in hospitable conditions it's
more diverse and thriving there than in most other places we know of just take hydrothermal vents
found near active volcanoes these are openings in the ocean floor that release a wide variety
of chemicals and minerals they also produce a lot of heat making them a source of energy for many
organisms that rely on it for survival according to a growing school of evolutionary science
life didn't originate in space but near hydrothermal vents inside our own oceans while
they're definitely one of the most fascinating geological formations on earth hydrothermal
vents remain poorly studied as we still find entirely new vents with new colonies of microbes
that we'd never seen before so i really hope you enjoyed this video don't forget to subscribe to
this channel and maybe some of my other channels while you're at it one particular one you might
want to check out if you enjoyed this video is geographics that channel covers extreme locations
on earth everything from super volcanoes and lost cities to prison islands and nuclear disaster
sites you can check it out there's a link in the description below and thank you for watching