Incredible places: A window onto extraordinary landscapes on Earth
Earth is home to some truly mind-boggling landscapes, from salt-covered deserts to giant, underwater waterfalls. Geological and biological processes, together with climates and inevitable wear-and-tear, have shaped these natural landscapes over the eons into the awe-inspiring features we see today. Every week, we open a window onto an incredible place and highlight the fantastic history and science behind it.
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Latest about incredible places
![Aerial image of Vostok Station in Antarctica.](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/F4RadBYH35FYMrtqoLkHBY-320-80.jpg)
Lake Vostok: The 15 million-year-old lake buried miles beneath Antarctica's ice
By Sascha Pare published
Buried several miles beneath East Antarctica's ice, Lake Vostok is one of the largest freshwater lakes on Earth, rivaling Lake Ontario in terms of size and volume.
![A photo of the Trovants, bulbous stones emerging from the earth](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/3RXQhuF3CtxpcRos67LuLA-320-80.jpg)
Romania's trovants: The bulbous 'living' rocks that inspired folkloric tales of dinosaur eggs and aliens
By Sascha Pare published
Trovants are rocks that grow by absorbing minerals from rainwater. Romania is home to a cluster of trovants that inspired folklore of dinosaur eggs, plant fossils and alien creations.
![Satellite image of Upheaval Dome in Utah. We see a structure with concentric circles of rock surrounded by barren relief.](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/psdoCXRetPsawL3siDPp69-320-80.jpg)
Upheaval Dome: Utah's 'belly button' that has divided scientists since its discovery
By Sascha Pare published
Upheaval Dome is a giant rock formation in southeastern Utah with two potential origin stories, although most scientists think it was created by an ancient meteor strike.
![View of the Pamukkale travertines in orange-pink light. We see rocky mountains in the background and pools of spring water in the foreground.](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/4Wyp5ZqeyHzKgvX6MVMXue-320-80.jpg)
Pamukkale: Turkey's 'cotton castle' of white limestone that inspired an ancient cult
By Sascha Pare published
The Pamukkale travertines are limestone slopes and thermal water pools that have attracted visitors since before the days of Ancient Greece, when the spa town of Hierapolis was founded at the top.
![Aerial view of the Bungle Bungles in Western Australia. We see towers of orange and gray striped stone with vegetation growing in between.](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/BaTzfbUyxZke9FXy2Jabz8-320-80.jpg)
The Bungle Bungles: Towering domes in the Australian outback that contain traces of the earliest life-forms on Earth
By Sascha Pare published
The Bungle Bungle Range in Western Australia is a collection of rock domes forged from ancient seabeds and flanked to the northeast by a prehistoric meteor impact crater.
![Aerial view of a pyramid-shaped peak in the Ellsworth Mountains of Antarctica. The peak is visible among a deep field of snow.](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/gX9gyRTJmRZV6vGr6fBDxf-320-80.png)
Antarctica 'pyramid': The strangely symmetrical mountain that sparked a major alien conspiracy theory
By Sascha Pare published
Antarctica is home to a peak shaped like a perfect pyramid — but contrary to what conspiracy theorists say, the mountain's four symmetrical faces were forged through natural processes.
![View of Tristan da Cunha from the ocean with Edinburgh of the Seven Seas on the shore. A seabird flies in the image's foreground.](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/PrPgtPbgb68vvLQNDHNyoN-320-80.jpg)
Tristan da Cunha: The most remote inhabited island on Earth, forged from a supercontinent breakup
By Sascha Pare published
Tristan da Cunha is a group of islands in the South Atlantic that formed from the breakup of the supercontinent Gondwana. Today, it's home to a tiny and extremely isolated farming community.
![View of Kawah Ijen crater lake from the top of the volcano. The lake's waters are bright turquoise and there is a plume of gas rising to the left.](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/PAqFuajf7rmSACeFB2tedV-320-80.jpg)
Kawah Ijen: The volcano in Indonesia that holds the world's largest acidic lake at its heart
By Sascha Pare published
Kawah Ijen is an active volcano on the island of Java with an extremely acidic crater lake and gas emissions that produce blue flames upon contact with oxygen in Earth's atmosphere.
![A reconstruction of the North Atlantic Ocean showing patterns of water circulation in the Nordic Seas and off the coast of Greenland.](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/r9ZR6FhX52MiPyjcxwDhYe-320-80.jpg)
Denmark Strait cataract: The world's largest waterfall, hidden underwater and unlike any other on land
By Sascha Pare published
The Denmark Strait cataract is a sloping portion of the seafloor between Iceland and Greenland that funnels cold water from the Nordic Seas into the Irminger Sea, fueling Atlantic Ocean currents.
![Inside the Marble Caves in southern Chile.](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/JeM4A9mXhxhnqyToQFVvPH-320-80.jpg)
Marble Caves: Chile's ethereal turquoise caverns with 'mineral ice cream' on the walls
By Sascha Pare published
The Marble Caves sit on the shores of a turquoise glacial lake in southern Chile. Light bounces off the water onto the walls, creating a magical, ever-changing display inside the caverns.
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