Geographics
Or National Geographic to be more precise.
Most of you that know me, will know of my affection for the National Geographic website (and the magazine). Those of you from M2 have probably seen posts in the past about it and the thread, 200 great National Geographic photos in OT, from the vast collection of wallpapers and article images I have accumulated over the years.
The photography is just sensational, but its not just about the photography - its the incredible visionary; the breathtaking scenes and inspiring sights from all around the globe. Thus is combines two of my favourite interests, photography and the amazing world we live in.
April 10, 2007—Residents of Ranongga island in the South Pacific Ocean sit on a massive coral reef that was exposed by the magnitude 8.1 earthquake that struck in the Solomon Islands last week, sparking a deadly tsunami.
The quake lifted Ranongga ten feet (three meters) out of the sea, widening beaches by up to 230 feet (70 meters), according to news reports. The uplift has left some of the island’s pristine coral reefs fatally exposed.
Source: Quake lifts island ten feet out of Ocean
Just incredible. Until today I never knew this could happen - or even that it was a common occurrence after Earthquake’s of that magnitude. Imagine waking up in the morning to see the coral reef outside, above water, fatally bleaching in the Sun..
Then there’s the cave in Mexico full of giant gypsum crystals.
April 9, 2007—Geologist Juan Manuel GarcÃa-Ruiz calls it “the Sistine Chapel of crystals,” but Superman could call it home.
A sort of south-of-the-border Fortress of Solitude, Mexico’s Cueva de los Cristales (Cave of Crystals) contains some of the world’s largest known natural crystals—translucent beams of gypsum as long as 36 feet (11 meters).
Source: Giant crystal cave comes to light
Absolutely incredible.
Things you would probably never see or even hear about if it wasn’t for the Internet and websites and magazines like National Geographic. It is so easy to spend hours wandering their website and following up links, or heading to Google with a new search string, finding galleries and forums where this sort of stuff pops up.
‘Tis an amazing World we live in.
I really do love the Internet.
vanwall said,
April 13, 2007 @ 2:29 pm
I don’t know if you ever saw “The Monolith Monsters”, an old sci-fi movie from the 1950s, but it had these giant crystal structures all over the place, and that cave picture is just too damn close to parts of that old film!