The Seven Natural Wonders Of The World
Mount Everest, China and Nepal
Mount Everest is the highest mountain in the world at 8,848 meters. The summit is the border of Nepal to south and Tibet on the north. The local Tibetan people, called Sherpa, call it “Chomolungma” which means “Mother Goddess of the Universe” and in Nepal, it is called “Sagarmatha” which means “Goddess of the Sky“. It is over 60 million years old. Everest was formed by movement of the Indian tectonic plate pushing up and against the Aisan plate. It grows about 4 milimeters (0.15 inches) every year. Mount Everest shrank one inch (2.5 cm) due to the 2015 earthquake in Nepal. The temperature on the mountain gets well below freezing at – 62°C (- 80°F) and the wind can blow at speeds of 322 Km/h (200 mph). Mt. Everest is always covered in snow and ice. Many successful climbs to the summit happen in May. This is because the weather conditions are more favorable.
Harbor of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
The Harbor of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, is recognized as one of the “seven natural wonders of the world.” Also known as Guanabara Bay, the harbor is easily accessible by ships and surrounded by tall mountains. The Harbor of Rio de Janeiro is 31 kilometers long and 28 kilometers wide at its maximum. It is the second largest bay in area in Brazil, at 412 square kilometers, with a perimeter of 143 kilometers. The Harbor is surrounded by gorgeous granite monolith mountains that include the famous Sugar Loaf Mountain at 395 meters, Corcovado Peak at 704 meters, and the hills of Tijuca at 1021 meters.
Paricutin Volcano, Michoacan, Mexico
Parícutin is one of the seven natural wonders in the world and is located in Michoacan state, Mexico. It is the youngest volcano in the Western Hemisphere and the reason for being named a “wonder” – its birth was witnessed and studied by people. Parícutin is a scoria-cone volcano. Scoria-cone volcano is a steep, conical hill of volcanic fragments that accumulate around and downwind from a vent. The volcano surged suddenly from the cornfield of local farmer Dionisio Pulido in 1943, attracting both popular and scientific attention. It stayed active until 1952.
Aurora borealis, various location
The aurora borealis or northern lights is a natural light display in the Earth‘s sky. It occurs most frequently in a belt of radius 2500 km (1550 mi) centered on the magnetic north pole. This zone extends over northern Scandinavia, Iceland, the southern tip of Greenland and continuing over northern Canada, Alaska and along the northern coast of Siberia. The activity that creates auroras begins on the sun. The sun is a ball of superhot gases made up of electrically charged particles called ions. The ions, which continuously stream from the sun’s surface, are called the solar wind.
As solar wind approaches the Earth, it meets the Earth’s magnetic field. Without this magnetic field protecting the planet, the solar wind would blow away Earth’s fragile atmosphere, preventing all life. The aurora occur in a region of the atmosphere 100 km above the earth, while rays can extend from this level to 500 km. It is most often seen in a striking green color, but it also occasionally shows off its many colors ranging from red to pink, blue to purple, white to yellow to orange. The reason that the aurora is seen in so many colors is that our atmosphere is made up of many different compounds like oxygen and nitrogen. When the charged particles that come from the sun hit the atoms and molecules of the Earth’s atmosphere, they excite those atoms, giving off light. Different atoms give off different colors of the spectrum when they are excited.
Grand Canyon, Arizona, U.S
The Grand Canyon is an immense geologic wonder that was forged by glaciers millions of years ago. Its red rocks change color with the position of the sun, making for a stunning backdrop to any photo. Hiking the mile down into the canyon or rafting along the Colorado River are both popular activities among visitors.
The Grand Canyon is a steep-sided canyon carved by the Colorado River in the state of Arizona in the United States. The Grand Canyon is 446 kilometers long, up to 29 kilometers wide and attains a depth of 1,800 meters. At its narrowest, at Marble Canyon, the Grand Canyon is only 548 meters across. Around 20 million years ago the Colorado River begins to carve into the Grand Canyon at its eastern end, Marble Canyon, and probably exiting via Kanab Canyon. At 17 million years ago the Colorado Plateau begins to uplift and causes the river to cut deeper.
Great Barrier Reef, Queensland, Australia
The Great Barrier Reef is the largest coral reef system in the world. It is found in the Coral Sea, off the coast of Queensland, Australia. This incredible eco-system is 2,300 km (1430 miles) long. The Great Barrier Reef is the largest living thing on Earth and is visible from outer space! The Great Barrier Reef is composed of over 2,900 individual reef. The Great Barrier Reef has over 900 islands stretching for over 2,600 kilometers. Corals play an important role in the formation of the Great Barrier Reef.
There are 600 types of soft and hard corals, more than 100 species of jellyfish, 3000 varieties of molluscs, 500 species of worms, 1625 types of fish, 133 varieties of sharks and rays, and more than 30 species of whales and dolphins. Around 10% of the world’s total fish species can be found just within the Great Barrier Reef. The reef contains some of the deadliest animals in the ocean, including Box Jellyfish, the Blue Ringed Octopus, and Stone Fish.
Victoria Falls, Zambia and Zimbabwe, Africa
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