Bottle Tree of Queensland Australia

Brachychiton Rupestris originally classified in the family of Sterculiaceae, which is now within Malvaceae, is native of Queensland, Australia. Its grossly swollen trunk gives it an astonishing appearance and gives rise to the name. As a succulent, drought-deciduous tree, it is tolerant of a range of various soils, and temperatures. It can grow to 18 to 20 meters (Approximately 59 – 65 feet) in height and its trunk has an exclusive shape of a bottle. Its swollen trunk is primarily used for water storage and on every tree the leaves are variable from narrow and elliptic to deeply divide. Clusters of yellowy bell shaped flowers are hidden within the foliage, and are followed by woody boat-shaped fruits.

Roman Theatre of Palmyra in the Syrian Desert

The Roman Theatre is located in ancient Palmyra in the Syrian Desert. The incomplete theatre dates back to the 2nd century CE Severan period and remains have since been restored and in the recent years have seen life begin to seep back into the theatre with an annual calendar of events now taking place such as the Annual Silk Route Festival and the Palmyra Festival. During these festivals it’s a very exciting time for foreigners to visit Palmyra as they are encouraged to join in the festivities. The theatre was constructed in the center of a semicircular colonnaded piazza which opens up to the South Gate of Palmyra. The piazza was situated to the south-west of the main colonnaded street. The uncompleted cavea is 92 meters in diameter and contains only of an ima cavea, the lowest section of the cavea, directly surrounding the orchestra. The ima cavea is organized into eleven cunei of twelve rows each and faces north-northeast towards the cardo maximus.

The theatre's aditus maximus, its main entrance, is 3.5 meters in width, and leads to a stone-paved orchestra with a diameter of 23.5 metres. The orchestra is bounded by a circular wall with a diameter of 20.3 metres. The proscenium wall is decorated with ten curved and nine rectangular niches placed alternately. The stage measures 45.5 by 10.5 metres and is accessed by two staircases. The scaenae frons had five doors and the main entrance, or regia, built in broad curved niche; two guest doors on either side of the regia, or hospitalis, constructed in shallow rectangular niche; and 2 extra doors on either end of the stage. Emperor Nero was famous to have placed his statue in the niche of the regia of the theatre at Palmyra. The columns at the stage are built in the Corinthian order. In the 1950s the theatre was cleared from the sand and subsequently and underwent of extensive restoration works in the early 1990’s.

The Aqueduct Veluwemeer Netherlands

The Aqueduct Veluwemeer is a navigable aqueduct over the N302 road near Harderwijk, in eastern Netherlands. It is located under a small part of the lake Veluwemeer and at the same time connects the mainland Netherlands to Flevoland, which is the largest artificial island in the world. The aqueduct was opened to traffic in 2002, and about 25 meters long and 19 meters wide and has a water depth of 3 meters that permit small boats to pass through. There’re estimated 28,000 vehicles passes every day. Footpaths are built on either side of the aqueduct for public that really good to enjoy the view.

Cold Geysers of Madagascar

We cannot close the chapter of African Geysers without mentioning the Analavory geysers, nearby Lake Itasy on the island continent of Madagascar. Distinct the African rift geysers, they have no direct link with geothermal and are termed cold water geyser. Actually there’re four unusual geysers almost twelve kilometers north-east from the town of Analavory. Surprisingly, there’s no volcanic activity observed underneath of Analavory that superheats underground water and forces them up as steam. The warm water gushing out from the mouth of these limestone mounds which is not hot in fact.  The unusual Geysers are situated in an area nearby to some aragonite mines. The Analavory geysers aren’t natural at all, as excess water from the mines are removed by metal pipes that terminate at the bank of Mazy River.

The water is rich with carbonic acid which can be easily dissolves large amounts of lime along its way. Moreover the warm water goes through iron pipelines and carbonic acid dissolves iron as well. The carbon dioxide rich water rushes along the pipe under pressure and it emerges at the end of the pipeline, the abrupt decrease in pressure reasons the dissolved carbon dioxide gas to erupt in bubbles fabricating a geyser like phenomenon. This is akin to opening an aggravated bottle of soda. But over the time; the dissolved lime and iron precipitates into big mounds of travertine, a type of limestone, around the mouth of the outlet. The rusty orange color comes from the iron. The mounds are more than 4 meters high and will last to grow.

For most time the carbonated water spouts 20-30 cm, but occasionally when the vents are blocked by the precipitated lime, the obviously buildup of pressure produces spouting to numerous meters once uncovered. Geysers such as those at Analavory are often called cold water geysers, and there’re only a handful of natural cold water geysers on earth. The best recognized examples are Crystal Geyser, in Utah, the Wallender Born and Andernach Geyser in Germany, and one in Slovakia, Herľany. A geyser very akin to in appearance to Analavory Geyser is the Fly Geyser in Nevada, which is an artificial geyser. Before becoming a tourist place, this lovely site was used by the Malagasy who came to perform ancestral rites, the "Fanasinana" in the hope of having children, to recuperate health after any disease, or to get a solution from their daily problems. In that time, the "mpimasy", the traditional healers, were the only masters of the place.

Source: Charismatic Planet

Kaindy Lake Kazakhstan

The beautiful Kaindy Lake is a 400 meter long lake in Kazakhstan’s portion of the Tian Shan Mountains actually located 129 kilometers from the city of Almaty. The Kaindy Lake came into existence after enormous limestone landslide in 1911 that triggered a big landslide blocking the gorge and forming a natural dam. Subsequently, rainwater filled the valley and formed the lake. The track leads to Lake Kaindy has numerous scenic views to the Saty Gorge, the Chilik Valley, and the Kaindy Gorge, but dried-out trunks of submerged Picea schrenkiana trees rise above the surface.

The Kaindy Lake is popular for its scenic exquisiteness mainly the submerged forest and the imposing trunks of spruce trees that rises out of the lake water. Moreover the above water, the sunken trees appear as large masts from lost ghost ships, or perhaps the spears of a mysterious army hiding and waiting for the right time to emerge. The water is so cold even in summer the temperature does not surpass 6 degrees that the great pines still remain on the trees, even hundred years later, and the clear mountain water, you can observe deep into the depths of the lake. In winter, the lake surface is freezes over and during this time, Lake Kaindy becomes a great spot for trout fishing and ice diving. 

The lake water itself is often of a somewhat kryptonite hue and strange coloration is mainly caused by lime and other mineral deposits which have been seeped into the water since the lake’s creation. Yet once you get closer to the lake the water appears crystal clear and you can see the trout which were introduced in to the lake in the 1930s. Very surprisingly the lake has few visitors, partly because lake is overshadowed by the more famed Bolshoe Almatinskoe Lake and the Kolsay Lakes, all of which are close by, but far easier to reach from Almaty. Thus, notwithstanding its proximity to a city with a populace of more than one million, the lake retains a peaceful atmosphere.

Source: Charismatic Planet