The Most Alien Looking Places On Earth!

The Dry Valleys of Antarctica

[atsimg]http://files.abovetopsecret.com/images/member/0077cb542b3a.jpg[/atsimg]



The Dry Valleys are strange in the fact that they are the only part of antartica that doesnt have ice! They're located in a certain part of the mountain area where evaporation is more important than snowfall, therefore all the ice disappears and leaves only the dry land. Geologists and microbiologists often explore this spot for the fact that it is the closest of any terrestial enviroment to Mars, making it an important source of study for extraterrestrial life! It also contains the Blood Falls, which at glance is exactly what it looks like! The unusal phenominon occurs because of a leak in the resevoir of ancient saltwater buried deep inside the glacier.Ferrous ions dissolved in the water oxodize soon as it hits contact with the atmosphere, and precipitate as insoluble reddish ferric salts.

[atsimg]http://files.abovetopsecret.com/images/member/325d32b2aed4.jpg[/atsimg]

[atsimg]http://files.abovetopsecret.com/images/member/6f0bc0a035b5.jpg[/atsimg]

[atsimg]http://files.abovetopsecret.com/images/member/50eb843abc67.jpg[/atsimg]


Socotra Island

[atsimg]http://files.abovetopsecret.com/images/member/3ac56f4eb9f6.jpg[/atsimg]

When visiting this amazing landscape, you cant help but to think you've been transported to a different planet completely. This Island is teaming with 700 extremely rare flora and fauna. Socotra Island is located in the Indian Ocean 250 km from Somalia and 340 km from Yemen. The glorious tree's from this island have been preserved through the long geological isolation,with some varieties being 20 million years old!

Perhaps one the most striking plants on this island would have to be the Dragons Blood tree, with a shape resembling an umbrella. Its red sap was the "dragons blood" of the ancients who lived there, in which they used as medicine and dye, and today used as paint and varnish. Other endmeic plants on this island would be the huge succulent tree Dorstenia gigas, the cucumber tree Dendrosicyos, and the rare Socotran pomegranate. Bats are the only mammals native to Socotra. There is also a concern that if goats are to ever be introduced to the island, they may eat the already endangered plant life.

[atsimg]http://files.abovetopsecret.com/images/member/285f72d936c8.jpg[/atsimg]


[atsimg]http://files.abovetopsecret.com/images/member/b56f044ef59c.jpg[/atsimg]

[atsimg]http://files.abovetopsecret.com/images/member/04f659825c93.jpg[/atsimg]

[atsimg]http://files.abovetopsecret.com/images/member/c6a8d55aeac8.jpg[/atsimg]



Rio Tinto ( Spain )

[atsimg]http://files.abovetopsecret.com/images/member/606a8e8919cd.jpg[/atsimg]

When going to Rio Tinto, your likely to first notice they're red stained rivers, resulting from the very high iron count in the water. In ancient times Rio Tinto was used to mine for copper, silver, and gold. As a result of this, it is know for its very high acid count. There is alot of scientific interest in the river due to extremophile aerobic bacteria that live in the water. These life forms are believed to be due to the high acid content that lives in the water.

This river is important because it provides scientists a place to research due to it being analogous to other locations in the solar system thought to contain liquid water, such as subterranean Mars. In February 2005, two NASA scientists reported that had very strong evidence that life was present on mars. Then later, NASA officials had denied the claim and one of the scientist backed off from her initial assertions.

[atsimg]http://files.abovetopsecret.com/images/member/aac65ae2f030.jpg[/atsimg]

[atsimg]http://files.abovetopsecret.com/images/member/733a9cc138c3.jpg[/atsimg]

[atsimg]http://files.abovetopsecret.com/images/member/33e56453477e.jpg[/atsimg]

[atsimg]http://files.abovetopsecret.com/images/member/2498be31baf7.jpg[/atsimg]



Kliluk ( The Spotted Canadian Lake )

[atsimg]http://files.abovetopsecret.com/images/member/d69b9ad875cf.jpg[/atsimg]

Definitely one of the strangest lakes that Ive ever seen. Rich in calcium, sodium and magnesium sulphate (Epsom salts) and even silver and titanium, the lake has been known for therapeutic powers by generations. This beautiful lake actually changes color through the seasons. But you have to visit from June to mid December to see the "spots" or "pools". The lake is located in one of Canada's hottest regions reaching 100 Fahrenheit regularly.

The lake is known to heal things such as warts, skin diseases, body aches and battle wounds.

[atsimg]http://files.abovetopsecret.com/images/member/44a893df61c7.jpg[/atsimg]

[atsimg]http://files.abovetopsecret.com/images/member/e255831faab1.jpg[/atsimg]

[atsimg]http://files.abovetopsecret.com/images/member/1947377b68b9.jpg[/atsimg]

[atsimg]http://files.abovetopsecret.com/images/member/e9665721312e.jpg[/atsimg]


Eisriesenwelt Ice Caves (Austria)

[atsimg]http://files.abovetopsecret.com/images/member/640b0493d00f.jpg[/atsimg]

The Eisriesenwelt Ice Caves are some of the biggest ice caves known on earth. Though the cave's length is 42 km, tourists are only allowed to visit the first kilometer, as the rest of the cave is covered in limestone. The cave was formed by the Salzach river that eroded the passageways in the mountain, so the formations were formed by the ice that had thawed and drained into the cave and froze during the winter.

Anton Posselt was the first person to officially discover the cave, only exploring the first two hundred meters. Before that, only the locals knew of the cave, and thought it to be the entrance of hell, therefor refusing to explore it.

[atsimg]http://files.abovetopsecret.com/images/member/196577c61efe.jpg[/atsimg]

[atsimg]http://files.abovetopsecret.com/images/member/7217b72818de.jpg[/atsimg]

[atsimg]http://files.abovetopsecret.com/images/member/f8955f18b00b.jpg[/atsimg]


[atsimg]http://files.abovetopsecret.com/images/member/87d6418e2309.jpg[/atsimg]

Continued on next page




en.wikipedia.org...
en.wikipedia.org...
en.wikipedia.org...(river)
atlasobscura.com...
en.wikipedia.org...
en.wikipedia.org...
en.wikipedia.org...(Stone_Forest)
en.wikipedia.org...(geothermal_spa)

The Richat Structure (Mauritania)

[atsimg]http://files.abovetopsecret.com/images/member/fb2800e1a140.jpg[/atsimg]

The Richat Structure is definitely an alien looking formation. It is located in the Sahara desert with a diameter of 30 miles. It has become a landmark for space shuttle crews because of the bull's eye shape is has. It was first thought to have been caused by a meteor because of the circular indentation, but has now be concluded its a result of erosion.

[atsimg]http://files.abovetopsecret.com/images/member/19d3247668e1.jpg[/atsimg]

[atsimg]http://files.abovetopsecret.com/images/member/884760c0dabb.jpg[/atsimg]

The Stone Forest (China)

[atsimg]http://files.abovetopsecret.com/images/member/ddb1cc4b6f7b.jpg[/atsimg]

The Shilin ( meaning Stone Structure ),is a set of karst formations in Shilin Yi Autonomous County, in the Yunnan province of southwest China. Upon seeing the structures, they look like tree's made of stone, looking like a stone forest. The park covers an amazing 350 km. Each year around the 24th and 25th day of the sixth lunar month, many Yi people celebrate the Torch Festival, which features folk dances and wrestling competitions. The structures are believed to be over 270 million years old!

[atsimg]http://files.abovetopsecret.com/images/member/8086d49f539c.jpg[/atsimg]

[atsimg]http://files.abovetopsecret.com/images/member/edd883ef9762.jpg[/atsimg]

[atsimg]http://files.abovetopsecret.com/images/member/a32986098eb2.jpg[/atsimg]

The Blue Lagoon (Iceland)

[atsimg]http://files.abovetopsecret.com/images/member/3e27f1407b46.jpg[/atsimg]

The blue lagoon is a geothermal spa located in Iceland and one of the most visited attractions there. The warm waters of the lagoon are very rich in minterals like sulphur and silica and its believes that bathing in it helps some people who suffer from skin diseases such as psoriasis. The water temperature averages 104 F. The warm water is due to the lava flow that comes under the ground.

[atsimg]http://files.abovetopsecret.com/images/member/d9081277c646.jpg[/atsimg]

[atsimg]http://files.abovetopsecret.com/images/member/a39127113267.jpg[/atsimg]

[atsimg]http://files.abovetopsecret.com/images/member/447806759b5c.jpg[/atsimg]

[atsimg]http://files.abovetopsecret.com/images/member/5d82d83b7a81.jpg[/atsimg]













en.wikipedia.org...
en.wikipedia.org...
en.wikipedia.org...(river)
atlasobscura.com...
en.wikipedia.org...
en.wikipedia.org...
en.wikipedia.org...(Stone_Forest)
en.wikipedia.org...(geothermal_spa)

S&F These pictures are so amazing! Think about it, those weird looking trees are alive! Very very impressive!

Gorgeous! thank you for the tinme you put into this

Thank you guys for checking this out! I worked really hard on it. I was hoping you would all like photos.

I REALLY want to go to this Blue Lagoon and The Spotted Lake. Those are my favorite two.

Very cool...

I'm going to have to peruse my book oc "Natural Wonders of the World" and add some.

My favorite so far is Blood Falls.

reply to post by Jess_Undefined


You know I spent alot of time living abroad and there are quite a few anomolous places to see: Bondi Beach in Australia(pretty much in Sydney)has some of the neatest rock formations youve ever seen, kinda makes you think youre on an alien planet. the Seychelles 4 degrees south of the equator plunk in the middle of the Indian Ocean has a number of odd indegenous animals, botanicals and geologic formations akin to Madagascar. Check em out you might be wowed

Star and Flag I never get tired of seeing pictures like this!

Does anyone else think that the Dragons Blood tree looks like those aerial shots of 'trees' on Mars?

To remove crap link, Google image search has gone down in my estimation.

[edit on 27-7-2010 by Big Raging Loner]

S+F from me!

These are some fantastic pictures. It makes me wonder why billionaires even have homes. If I had an insane amount of money, I'd be all over the world!

Wow !

I could look at really cool photographs like these all day.

Indeed, they do look alien, and are often very beautiful to boot.

However, it does appear that many of them are in rather..er...uninviting climates and locations.

Super thread. Thanks. (I'm going to go look at them again.)



[edit on 7/27/2010 by ladyinwaiting]

Thank you for your efforts in putting together these awesome pictures. I've seen some and not others.

You have to wonder about our beautiful earth.

What plants looked like 1,000's of years ago and which ones are gone, never to be seen again.

What caused the jagged rock formations? Is it up lift? Are they still growing? Is someone measuring them?

And the blood red rivers and lakes, how they may have been described by ancients!

Photos like these remind me of ancient days! My favorite subject.

Thanks for sharing. S & F!

Giant's Causeway:



The Giant's Causeway (Irish: Clochán an Aifir or Clochán na bhFómharach)[1] is an area of about 40,000 interlocking basalt columns, the result of an ancient volcanic eruption. It is located in County Antrim, on the northeast coast of Northern Ireland, about two miles (3 km) north of the town of Bushmills.

"http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Giant's_Causeway"

[edit on 27-7-2010 by __rich__]

Very cool! Thanks for putting this together and sharing. Makes me want to explore our planet. And I think that's important. We think about outer space and stuff a lot, but there's so many strange and wonderful things to see here, too.

This has all been posted before.
In fact, each place was posted in the same order, if I'm not mistaken.

Not that the places aren't neat.
But, so many stars for a repeat post?

[edit on 27-7-2010 by ChrisBenoit]

Nice work collecting and presenting some really awesome looking images!
I love threads like these, they get me through boring days at work...

reply to post by Jess_Undefined


Absolutely breathtaking pictures, Jess_Undefined.

I have seen some of them before, due to randomnly browsing the Internet.

They are still marvelous pictures and would be interesting places to visit.

They sure strike you as "alien" to some degree due to their odd features.

reply to post by ChrisBenoit


Well i havent seen them posted like that before.

I especially like the Dry Valleys and the Blood Falls, i never knew that existed, very cool, would love to go to antarctica.

Great thread Jess thanx

reply to post by Lady_Tuatha


Thanks Lady! I also did a search here on ATS and did not see them all posted in one post, and only saw a few of those pictures. If there was duplicate thread I would not have created this one. I always do a search before.

And thanks everyone else really, I hope you all enjoyed the pics, I had no idea these places existed.

reply to post by Jess_Undefined


Thank you for posting these. S&F.

Brought a smile to my face and today, I needed it!

Very Cool Jess. Another interesting thread for ATS! So far this week has been probably one of the best weeks in a long tome for the site, with the quality that has been presented by the communities FANTASTIC members. This thread is one of those. Awesome places and structures that I never knew existed. Reminds me of this structure deep within the earth that Megiddodiddo was kind enough to present here. Here are some pictures from his thread and this to me also looks alien:










Truly amazing what the earth holds on this magnificent planet.

Starred and Flagged.

[edit on Jul 27th 2010 by TheMythLives]