Geological Wonders: Amazing Natural Holes
Fascinating holes sculpted through geological processes.
Holes created by nature are truly fascinating sights to behold .These geological wonders serve as tourist attractions in places where they are located or situated.
Hole-in-the-Ground
The astonishing Hole-in-the-Ground, located in the Fort Rock Basin of Lake County in Oregon, is a large maar. You might ask what a maar is. A maar is a broad, low-relief volcanic crater that is caused by phreatomagmatic eruption, an explosion caused by groundwater coming into contact with hot lava or magma.
Hole-in-the-Ground is located northeast of Crater Lake and is about 1.6 km across with a floor measuring about 150 meters below the surrounding ground level and has a rim that rises 35 to 65 meters above, the highest point on the east side. It is believed to have been formed 13,500 to 18,000 years ago.
Morning Glory Pool
Another geological wonder located in the US is the Morning Glory Pool. It is a hot spring in the Yellowstone National Park.
Morning Glory’s pool distinct color is due to bacteria which inhabit the water. It has also been observed on a few rare occasions that the Morning Glory Pool has erupted as a geyser, usually following an earthquake or other nearby seismic activity.
Giants Kettle
What is a giants kettle? A giants kettle is a cavity or a hole which appears to have been drilled in the surrounding rocks by eddying currents of water-bearing stones, gravel and other detrital matter. It is also known as giant cauldron or pothole.
This giants kettle is located in Rovaniemi, Finland. Rovaniemi is the administrative capital and the center of commerce of Lapland Province.
Bourke’s Luck Potholes
The amazing Bourke’s Luck Potholes are located in the Blyde River Canyon of South Africa. It is the result of erosion caused by pebbles, some of which are visible in this image.
Littoral Sinkhole
Chambers of Sea Caves sometimes collapse leaving a “littoral sinkhole”. Some littoral sinkholes are quite large. One remarkable example of this kind of sinkhole is Oregon’s Devil’s Punchbowl. Another notable example is the Queen’s Bath of Hawaii.
Devil’s Punch Bowl
The Devil’s Punch Bowl in Oregon, USA is thought to have been created when two caves carved by the ocean collapsed. The park where it is located is one of many popular areas to watch migrating whales, because its projection out into the Pacific provides 180-degree views of the ocean.
Ukinrek Maars
Ukinrek Maars in Alaska, USA was created by a 10-day volcanic eruption 32 years ago. This natural hole is about 300 meters in diameter.
Sacred Cenote
What is a cenote? The word cenote means well. It is a sinkhole with exposed rocky edges containing ground water. Yucatan Peninsula is the usual place where there are cenote and one of the most remarkable in the area is the Sacred Cenote.
The Sacred Cenote, also known as the “Well of Sacrifice” is located in Yucatan Peninsula. Human skeletons had been excavated in this cenote leading to the belief that it was used by Mayans for human sacrifices to their rain god Chaac during drought
Meteor Crater
The Meteor Crater, a meteorite impact crated, is located in Arizona, USA. This is formerly known as the Canyon Diablo Crater. Daniel Barringer suggested that the site was produced by meteorite impact that is why scientists generally refer to it as Barringer Crater.
The crater is about 1,200 meters in diameter and about 170 meters deep. It is surrounded by a rim that rises 45 meters above the surrounding plains. The owners of the Crater proclaim it to be “the first proven, best-preserved meteorite crater on earth”.
Nereo Cave
How about scuba diving in an underwater sea-cave? Then try the Nereo Cave, a huge sea-cave in Sardinia, Italy. It is located near the famous Neptune’s Grotto. This underwater cave is regarded the biggest marine cave in the Mediterranean Sea. This geological wonder has many entrances, arches and tunnels making it possible to dive from 0 to 35 m, through long and large tunnels, air chambers and different ways.
Dauner Maare
The municipality of Daun in Germany that offers wonderful landscape consists of volcanic hills is the location of the so-called Dauner Maare, volcanic crater lakes caused by ancient magma upwelling. The three maare lie close together, separated only by ramparts of tuff. The beautiful town of Daun is a popular health resort in the area with natural mineral water springs. In 2002, Daun recorded sales of 95 million liters of its trademark mineral water.
See also
World’s Most Captivating Lagoons and Blue Holes
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15 Responses to “Geological Wonders: Amazing Natural Holes”
On October 21, 2009 at 9:58 am
Wow! This was an interesting read. Liked the photos a lot.
On October 21, 2009 at 10:23 am
I have seen the one in Arizona. It is mind boggling. Thanks for this magnificent article Nobert!!!
On October 21, 2009 at 10:38 am
Another interesting read. Thank you, Nobert.
On October 21, 2009 at 7:05 pm
Been to a few of these and Meteor Crater is mind boggling in size.
On October 21, 2009 at 9:13 pm
Amazing holes around the world.
On October 21, 2009 at 10:23 pm
It is really wonder. Interesting.
On October 22, 2009 at 2:25 am
amazing holes! I like the Morning Glory hole.
On October 22, 2009 at 8:20 am
Really interesting and informative article . I would love to visit a few of them myself.
On October 22, 2009 at 11:17 am
Awesome! you never runs out of interesting articles. Thanks Bro.
On October 22, 2009 at 9:07 pm
Those are some weird and interesting holes.
On October 24, 2009 at 11:02 pm
Wow, those are some great holes. Interesting article with outstanding photos. Job well done, my friend.
On October 25, 2009 at 12:20 am
very amazing,I liked”Dauner Maare”
On October 31, 2009 at 5:25 pm
Very well written. Nice natural wonders, kabayan.
On November 1, 2009 at 10:04 am
This is just amazing! You have a wealth of information and the pictures are just perfect. Thanks for posting such great articles.
On November 2, 2009 at 10:24 pm
Good stuff….
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