7 Natural Wonders of the World

Thursday July 8, 2010










Aurora Borealis: Northern Lights

Also known as polar auroras

frequently appear as diffused glow lighting up the horizon

• are naturally occurring lights that create intriguing and spectacular displays in the sky
• The northern lights are the most notable, but a southern aurora does occur in the southern hemisphere
• No specific or consistent measurements
• Appear as glowing sheets or dancing waves
• The colours of the aurora are either a combination of red and green light, or red and blue light.
• The name “Aurora Borealis” is credited to Galileo Galilei (1616) and means “northern dawn.”

Paricutin Volcano, Mexico

A cinder cone volcano in Michoacán, Mexico
-cinder cones are simple volcanoes which have a bowl-shaped crater at the summit
only grow to about a thousand feet, the size of a hill
they usually are created of eruptions from a single opening
▫ made of piles of lava, not ash

• Official height approximately 10,000 ft or 3,000 meters
• Last erupted in 1952
• Was also fast growing reaching three-fourths of its size within the first year.
• Birth witnessed by mankind
• The Paricutin eruption took place between February 1943 and February 1952.
• The Paricutin volcano grew out of a cornfield.

Grand Canyon, Arizona USA

Is a massive gorge located in the state of Arizona in the United States, and was created by the Colorado River
Canyon is 277 miles (446 km) long

• Width ranges from 4 to 18 miles (6.4 to 29 km)
• Depth is over one mile (1.83 km)
• Majority is housed within Grand Canyon National Park
• Prehistoric Pueblo Peoples are living in the canyon (900 years ago) .
• Grand Canyon established as a forest preserve in 1892.
• Scattered rocks located at the bottom of the canyon date back as far as 2 billion years.

Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe

Also called Mosi-oa-Tunya meaning “smoke that thunders”

Largest waterfall based on width and height

• One mile wide (1.7 km) and 360 feet high (108 meters)
• Two national parks (Zambia) and (Zimbabwe) protect the falls
• Rain 24/7 -Because of the spray from the falls – the Rain Forest at Victoria Falls is the only place on earth that it rains 24 hours a day – 7 days a week
• During a full moon you can see a moonbow at Victoria Falls. This can been seen through the spray at night instead of during the day as a solar rainbow. The day light rainbow is exactly the same as the full moonlight rainbow: the colour scheme and the shape of the curvature are the same.

Mount Everest, Nepal

• Highest mountain in the world, represents the highest spot on the earth's surface
• Summit reaches a peak of 29,029 feet (8,848 m)
• Located in the Himalaya mountains on the border between Nepal and Tibet
• Also known as Chomolungma
• As per records that belong to the Nepalese Government, it was a 15-year-old Sherpa girl who turned out to be the youngest person to climb Mount Everest.
• Their records also claim, Samantha Larson, an 18 year old foreigner from California, was the youngest ever foreigner to climb the Mount Everest in 2007.
• Australian climber Christian Stangi was recorded to have made the fastest ascent in 2007.
• Bahadur Sherchan remains to be the oldest climber at 76 years to successfully climb Mount Everest. He achieved this feat on 25 May 2008.
• Mount Everest is also home to a very minute black jumping spider. These spiders hide in crevices and feed on frozen insects. Their food depends largely upon what is blown by the wind into the specific area.
• Soon to be called "World's Highest Garbage Dump."
• According to estimates, there are nearly 120 tons of litter and 120 dead bodies on Mt. Everest.
  

Great Barrier Reef, Australia

Largest coral reef system in the world
Consists of over 2,900 separate reefs
Includes 900 islands
Stretches over 1,600 miles (2,600 km)
Can be seen from outer space

• Supports one of the most diverse ecosystems in the world
• Some of the largest populations of Dudongs visit the Great Barrier Reef
  • Dudongs are classified as marine mammals and are related to the elephants.
• Great Barrier Reef was formed around 18 million years ago
• Crown-of-Thorns Seastar is only found in this habitat and a native species to Australian waters.
  -"outbreaks" occur in which the population becomes unbalanced and threatens to destroy areas of the reef at a rate faster than that at which it can rebuild itself

Harbor of Rio de Janeiro, BRAZIL

• Was created by erosion from the Atlantic Ocean
• Also known as Guanabara Bay
• Largest bay in the world based on volume of water
• Is surrounded by gorgeous granite monolith mountains
• Rio de Janeiro translates "river of January" in Portuguese
• There is some error in the name; Rio de Janeiro means River of January, but it is on the shores of Guanabara Bay.
• The Portuguese sailors who came early were in a naming spree; found a calm water body within 20 miles of the shore they took it for the mouth of a river and named it Rio de Janeiro -the River of January as they discovered it in the month of January.
• Now the bay is Guanabara Bay its original name called by the natives and the huge natural harbor functioning within the bay and the nearby city all are ‘Harbor of Rio de Janeiro’.
• It is the capital of the Brazilian state with the same name -Rio de Janeiro.