Light Pillar, North America

A light pillar is an atmospheric optical phenomenon in which a vertical beam of light appears to extend above and/or below a light source. The effect is created by the reflection of light from tiny ice crystals that are suspended in the atmosphere or that comprise high-altitude clouds. If the light comes from the Sun, the phenomenon is called a sun pillar or solar pillar. Light pillars can also be caused by the Moon or terrestrial sources, such as streetlights. 

 

Since they are caused by the interaction of light with ice crystals, light pillars belong to the family of halos. The crystals responsible for light pillars usually consist of flat, hexagonal plates, which tend to orient themselves more or less horizontally as they fall through the air. Each flake acts as a tiny mirror which reflects light sources which are appropriately positioned below it, and the presence of flakes at a spread of altitudes causes the reflection to be elongated vertically into a column. The larger and more numerous the crystals, the more pronounced this effect becomes. More rarely, column-shaped crystals can cause light pillars as well. In very cold weather, the ice crystals can be suspended near the ground, in which case they are referred to as diamond dust.

 

Unlike a light beam, a light pillar is not physically located above or below the light source. Its appearance as a vertical line is an optical illusion, resulting from the collective reflection off the ice crystals; but only those that are in the common vertical plane, direct the light rays towards the observer. This is similar to the reflection of a light source in a body of water, but in this case there are a million lakes adding to the effect.  

Kaindy Lake (Underwater Forest), Kazakhstan

Lake Kaindy is a 400-meter-long (1,300 ft) lake located in Kazakhstan. The lake reaches depths of nearly 30 meters (98 ft). It is located 129 kilometers (80 mi) east-southeast of the city of Almaty and is 2,000 meters (6,600 ft) above sea level.

 

Lake Kaindy is located in the south of Kazakhstan, within Kolsai Lakes National Park. It is located 2,000 metres above sea level, 130 kilometers east of Almaty. The lake was formed as the result of a major limestone landslide triggered by the 1911 Kebin earthquake forming a natural dam. It blocked the gorge and was filled by mountain river water. Lake Kaindy is about 400 meters long, reaching depths of nearly 30 meters at its deepest point. Altered by limestone deposits, the water maintains a bluish-green color. The lake contains trunks of submerged Picea schrenkiana trees that rise above the surface of the lake. The area is often referred to as a "sunken forest". The cold water helps preserve the tree trunks, which are overgrown with algae and various other water plants. In recent years, Lake Kaindy has become a popular international tourist destination. The lake is also known for ice diving and trout fishing in the winter season.

 

 

The most striking view of this forest is under the water. There, the tree trunks have resisted decomposition, leaving perfectly preserved needles on their branches even after all this time. This interesting feature is thanks to the lake's frigid temperatures, which rarely exceed 43 degrees Fahrenheit (6 degrees Celsius), even in summertime. Luckily, you don't need to take a dip to catch a glimpse of this marvel the water is so clear that you can see far down into its depths from safety on the shore.

Rainbow Eucalyptus (The Most Colorful Tree on Earth), Philippines, Indonesia and Papua New Guinea

Rainbow Eucalyptus is a species of tall tree, commonly known as the deglupta eucalyptus, Mindanao gum, or rainbow gum and is native to the Philippines, Indonesia and Papua New Guinea. It is the only Eucalyptus species that usually lives in rainforest, with a natural range that extends into the northern hemisphere, and one of only four eucalypt species out of more than seven hundred that do not occur in Australia. It is characterized by multi-colored bark featuring hues of lavender, blue, green, orange and maroon.

 

Eucalyptus rainbow is a fast-growing tree that typically reaches a height of 60–75 m with the trunk up to 240 cm (94 in) in diameter and with buttresses up to 4 m high. It has smooth, orange-tinted bark that sheds in strips, revealing streaks of pale green, red, orange, gray and purplish brown. The branchlets are roughly square in cross section, often with narrow wings on the corners. The leaves are arranged in opposite pairs, mostly 75–150 mm long and 50–75 mm  wide on a short petiole. The flower buds are arranged in a branching inflorescence in leaf axils or on the end of branchlets, each branch with groups of seven buds, the individual buds on a pedicel about 5 mm (0.20 in) long. Mature buds are pale green or cream-colored, roughly spherical in shape and 2–5 mm in diameter with a hemispherical operculum with a small point on the top. Flowering time depends on location, and the stamens that give the flowers their color are white to pale yellow. The fruit is a woody, brown, hemispherical capsule about 3–5 mm  long and wide with three or four valves extending beyond the rim of the fruit. Each cell of the fruit contains between three and twelve minute brown seeds, each with a small wing 

 

The rainbow eucalyptus is an unusual tree with a beautiful trunk. The trunk periodically sheds a strip of bark, revealing a green layer underneath. This layer then changes colour. The shedding and colour change happen at different times in different parts of the trunk. In addition, a variety of new colours are produced. The overall effect is lovely and gives the tree its "rainbow" name. We're used to beautiful colours in the flowers and fruits of trees and in their autumn leaves, but a coloured trunk is an oddity. The rainbow eucalyptus is greatly admired and is often planted deliberately, either for its appearance or for its other benefits. The colours and vibrancy of different trunks vary, but the plant is always interesting to see.

All eucalyptus trees and shrubs belong to the genus Eucalyptus, which is in the myrtle family, or the Myrtaceae. The plants are native to Australia, Tasmania, Papua New Guinea, Indonesia, and the Philippines. Most grow in Australia, which contains hundreds of species belonging to the genus. The trees are very popular and grow as introduced or cultivated plants in many parts of the world. The rainbow eucalyptus is native to the Philippines, Papua New Guinea, and Indonesia. It's also known as the Mindanao gum tree after the island of Mindanao in the Philippines. Gum trees are a group of eucalyptus species with a smooth bark that is periodically shed.

The tree produces white flowers and has moderately wide, evergreen leaves. The leaves contain glands that produce an aromatic oil. They release a pleasant scent when crushed. They make much less oil than the leaves of some other species of eucalyptus, however, and aren't used for the commercial production of the oil. In the Philippines, the tree is harvested for pulp wood to make paper.

Blood Falls, Taylor Glacier in Antarctica

Blood Falls is an outflow of an iron oxide-tainted plume of saltwater, flowing from the tongue of Taylor Glacier onto the ice-covered surface of West Lake Bonney in the Taylor Valley of the McMurdo Dry Valleys in Victoria Land, East Antarctica.Iron-rich hypersaline water sporadically emerges from small fissures in the ice cascades. The saltwater source is a subglacial pool of unknown size overlain by about 400 metres (1,300 ft) of ice several kilometers from its tiny outlet at Blood Falls.

The reddish deposit was found in 1911 by the Australian geologist Griffith Taylor, who first explored the valley that bears his name. The Antarctica pioneers first attributed the red color to red algae, but later it was proven to be due to iron oxides. 

 

Roughly two million years ago, the Taylor Glacier sealed beneath it a small body of water which contained an ancient community of microbes. Trapped below a thick layer of ice, they have remained there ever since, isolated inside a natural time capsule. Evolving independently of the rest of the living world, these microbes exist in a place with no light or free oxygen and little heat, and are essentially the definition of “primordial ooze.” The trapped lake has very high salinity and is rich in iron, which gives the waterfall its red color. A fissure in the glacier allows the subglacial lake to flow out, forming the falls without contaminating the ecosystem within.

The existence of the Blood Falls ecosystem shows that life can exist in the most extreme conditions on Earth. Though tempting to make the connection, it does not prove, however, that life could exist on other planets with similar environments and similar bodies of frozen water notably Mars and Jupiter’s moon Europa as such life would have to arise from a completely different chain of events. Even if it doesn’t confirm the existence of extraterrestrial life, Antarctica’s Blood Falls is a wonder to behold both visually and scientifically.

Pangong Tso (Pangong Lake), Extends From India to the Tibetan Autonomous Region, China

Pangong Tso, Tibetan for "high grassland lake", also referred to as Pangong Lake, is an endorheiclake in the Himalayas situated at a height of about 4,350 m (14,270 ft). It is 134 km (83 mi) long and extends from India to the Tibetan Autonomous Region, China. Approximately 60% of the length of the lake lies within the Tibetan Autonomous Region. The lake is 5 km (3.1 mi) wide at its broadest point. All together it covers 604 km2. During winter the lake freezes completely, despite being saline water. It is not a part of the Indus river basin area and geographically a separate landlocked river basin.

The lake is in the process of being identified under the Ramsar Convention as a wetland of international importance. This will be the first trans-boundary wetland in South Asia under the convention. 

The eastern part of the lake is fresh, with the content of total dissolved solids at 0.68 g/L, while the western part of the lake is saline, with the salinity at 11.02 g/L. The brackish water of the lake has very low micro-vegetation. Guides report that there are no fish or other aquatic life on the Indian side of the lake, except for some small crustaceans. On the other hand, visitors see numerous ducks and gulls over and on the lake surface. There are some species of scrub and perennial herbs that grow in the marshes around the lake.

The lake acts as an important breeding ground for a variety of birds including a number of migratory birds. During summer, the Bar-headed goose and Brahmini ducks are commonly seen here. The region around the lake supports a number of species of wildlife including the kiang and the marmot. The lake hosts large quantities of fish, especially Schizopygopsis stoliczkai and Racoma labiata. Formerly, Pangong Tso had an outlet to Shyok River, a tributary of Indus River, but it was closed off due to natural damming. Two streams feed the lake from the Indian side, forming marshes and wetlands at the edges. Strand lines above current lake level reveal a 5 m (16 ft) thick layer of mud and laminated sand, suggesting the lake has shrunken recently in geological scale. On the Indian side, no fish have been observed, however in the stream coming from South-eastern side, three fish species have been reported. The low biodiversity has been reported as being due to high salinity and harsh environmental conditions.

Pangong Tso can be reached in a five-hour drive from Leh, most of it on a rough and dramatic mountain road. The road crosses the villages of Shey and Sakti and traverses the Chang La, where army sentries and a small teahouse greet visitors. The road down from Chang La leads through Tangste and other smaller villages, crossing a river called Pagal Naala or "The Crazy Stream". The spectacular lakeside is open during the tourist season, from May to September.

An Inner Line Permit is required to visit the lake as it lies on the Sino-Indian Line of Actual Control. While Indian nationals can obtain individual permits, others must have group permits (with a minimum of three persons) accompanied by an accredited guide; the tourist office in Leh issues the permits for a small fee. For security reasons, India does not permit boating. China National Highway 219 passes by the eastern end of Pangong Tso. The lake can be accessed by driving 12 km from Rutog or 130 km from Shiquanhe. Tourists can rent a boat on the lake, but landing on islands is not allowed for protecting the breeding ground of the birds. There are several restaurants along the shore.