23 Breathtaking Moments And Ideas Captured By Photographers

Stop Motion by Carnisch


Greet the Morning by =phatpuppy 


helter skelter by latoday



Liquid Bites by =Eibo-Jeddah


Siting Girl by ~TrinityItachi


Perfect hit by Espen André Steinsvik



k _w _hh_ by `gnato


Dreamy waters by Willy Marthinussen


Im falling by dwityo


Im going to tell you a secret by =fhrankee


Should I stay or should I go? by Gabor Wavrik


360 by Shazeen Samad


if i am the storm … by =mr-twingo


Plunge by *Hengki24



Cloud Dancer by lovethelight


London Eye by ~cryptic-fable


Flying by Franco Farina


Stairways to Heaven by Anton Chekalin


touch the sky by ~NusiaxD


meh by ~TigerEye-Noxera


Summer Nights by =Heleneee


Ulula by Francesco Renzi

Painted sunset by Willy Marthinussen

Most Extreme Places on Earth

Lut Desert (Iran): hottest place on Earth at 159 °F (71 °C)

There is a big discussion about the hottest spot on Earth. Many believe it is in Al Azizyah, Libya, with a recorded temperature of 136 degrees Fahrenheit (57.8 Celsius), and the second hottest place being in Death Valley, California, USA, where it got up to 134 Fahrenheit in 1913. But according to other sites, a NASA satellite recorded surface temperatures as high as 71 °C (159 °F) in the Lut desert of Iran, supposedly the hottest temperature ever recorded on the surface of Earth. This region, which covers an area of about 480 kilometers, is called Gandom Beriyan (the toasted wheat).


 Mt. Chimborazo (Ecuador): highest point on Earth at 29,028 feet (8,848 mt) above sea level

Almost everyone knows that Mount Everest is the highest mountain in the world. Climbers from everywhere travel to Everest hoping to earn the distinction of climbing the "World's Highest". The peak of Mount Everest is 8,848 meters (29,028 feet) above sea level. This high elevation gives Mount Everest the distinction of being the mountain with the highest altitude.

But not many people know about Mt Chimborazo in Ecuador with an altitude of 6,310 meters (20,703 feet), which is less than Mount Everest; however, Chimborazo has the distinction of being the highest mountain above Earth's center. This is because Earth is not a sphere - it is an oblate spheroid. As an oblate spheroid, Earth is widest at its equator. Chimborazo is just one degree south of Earth's equator and at that location it is 6,384 kilometers from Earth's center or about 2 kilometers farther from Earth's center than Mount Everest.

Ecuadorians find pride in this interesting fact. Nonetheless, Chimborazo cannot compare in difficulty, lack of oxygen, nor in fame, to Mount Everest.


Tristan de Cunha (UK): most remote inhabited archipelago on Earth at 2,000 miles from the nearest continent

The most remote inhabited island group in the world, Tristan de Cunha in the southern Atlantic Ocean, is so tiny its main island has no airstrip. Home to 272 people sharing just 8 surnames, inhabitants suffer from hereditary complaints like asthma and glaucoma. Annexed by the United Kingdom in the 1800s, the island's inhabitants have a British postal code and, while they can order things online, it takes a very long time for their orders to arrive. But then, that's the trade off for having your own island settlement some 2,000 miles from the nearest continent. 



 Angels Falls (Venezuela): Earth's highest waterfall with 3230 feet (984 mt) in height 

Angel Falls (Salto Ángel) in Venezuela is the highest waterfall in the world. The falls are 3230 feet in height with an uninterrupted drop of 2647 feet. Angel Falls are located on a tributary of the Rio Caroni. The falls are formed when the tributary stream falls from the top of Auyantepui (a tepui is a flat-topped structure surrounded by cliffs - similar to a mesa).




 Oymyakon (Russia): coldest inhabited place on Earth at -96.2 °F (-71.2 °C)

Oymyakon is a village in Oymyakonsky Ulus of the Sakha Republic, Russia, located along the Indigirka River, 30 kilometers (20 mi) northwest of Tomtor on the Kolyma Highway. The population is 800 people. Oymyakon is known as one of the candidates for the Northern Pole of Cold, because on January 26, 1926, a temperature of -71.2 °C (-96.2 °F) was recorded there. This is the lowest recorded temperature for any permanently inhabited location on Earth. It is also the lowest temperature recorded in the Northern hemisphere.

The lowest temperature ever recorded on Earth was -129 °F in 1983, at the Russian Base Vostok in Antarctica.

The Dry Valleys (Antarctica): driest place on Earth

One interior region of the Antarctic is known as The Dry Valleys. These valleys have not seen rainfall in over two million years. With the exception of one valley, whose lakes are briefly filled with water by inland flowing rivers during the summer, the Dry Valleys contain no moisture (water, ice, or snow). The reasons why the Dry Valleys exist are the 200 mph Katabatic down winds which evaporate all moisture. The dry valleys are strange: except for a few steep rocks they are the only continental part of Antarctica devoid of ice. Located in the Trans-Antarctic Range, they correspond to a mountain area where evaporation (or rather, sublimation) is more important than snowfall, thus all the ice disappears, leaving dry barren land.

Another driest place is the Atacama Desert in Chile, some parts of which have received absolutely zero precipitation in centuries. Parts of the Atacama Desert may actually exceed the dryness of most of Antarctica, though data from the latter is insufficient to tell. 



 Marianas Trench (Indonesia and Japan): lowest point on Earth at 35,840 feet (10,924 mt) below sea level

Challenger Deep in the Mariana Trench (or Marianas Trench) is the deepest point in Earth's oceans. The bottom there is 10,924 meters (35,840 feet) below sea level. If Mount Everest, the highest mountain on Earth, were placed at this location it would be covered by over one mile of water. The only people to have ever explored this trench were Jacques Piccard and Don Walsh. At the bottom they were seven miles down and all around them eight tons of pressure. They observed fish, shrimp and other creatures living on the bottom of the sea floor.



Lloro (Columbia): wettest place on Earth

Lloro, Columbia, gets an average of 40 feet of rain a year. The people who live there make money by cutting down the trees in the nearby forest where you can count on its raining every day. Again, there is a discussion about this fact. Cherrapunji, North-Eastern India was thought for many years to be the wettest place in the world. Here 10,820mm rain falls on average in a year, well short of the amount from Lloro. Unlike Columbia where the rain falls throughout the whole year, Cherrapunji gets most of its rain during the 'south-west monsoon', or wet season, between June and August. Cherrapunji does hold the record for the wettest month on record, recording 9,296mm in July 1861. Actually, between 1860 and 1862 Cherrapunji was incredibly wet; between August 1st 1860 and July 31st 1861 (which overlaps parts of 2 wet seasons) 26,467mm rain fell. In the calendar year 1861 22,987mm rain fell, of which 22,454 fell between April and September.

So, which is wetter? It really depends on measurement practice and procedures and the period being measured!


Mount Thor (Canada): Earth's greatest vertical drop

Mount Thor, in Auyuittuq National Park on Baffin Island, Nunavut, Canada, presents a 4,100 foot pure vertical drop. Mt. Thor is Canada's most famous peak, and it's made of pure granite. It's a favorite of thrill seekers and climbers. Mount Thor was first climbed in 1953 by an Arctic Institute of North America team. There have been a few recent rappel expeditions, with one fatality in 2006. 



Dead Sea (Jordan): Earth's lowest elevation at 1,385 ft (422 mt) below sea level

The Dead Sea is the lowest elevation on Earth's surface on dry land, its surface and shores are 422 meters (1,385 ft) below sea level. On the border of Jordan and Israel, the road around the Dead Sea also happens to be the lowest road on Earth. Famous for its salinity (over ten times that of the Mediterranean Sea), the Dead Sea is said to be home of the first health retreat. Because of the extreme salt content, no life can survive in the sea, hence the name.

15 Epic Water and Ice Formations and Phenomena


We all know that the Earth’s surface is covered mostly in water and ice, but what is truly astonishing is how many forms this amazing life-giving element can take. From stunning glaciers and roaring waterfalls as high as a skyscraper to jagged mountainside beds of icy spikes as tall as a man, the myriad beautiful water formations and phenomena found on our planet rival the aesthetic power of human art. Here are 15 ice, glaciers, fjords, waterfalls, unusual lakes, and other stunning examples of nature’s finest water and ice art.

Frozen Water: Small-Scale Ice Formations

Whether on a massive scale or smaller than the tip of your finger, from icicles to ice stars, the planet’s many ice formations like its bizarre and amazing land phenomena are truly as varied as snowflakes.


From the snowflake to the icicle, few things on earth are as gorgeous as frozen formations. Ice ribbons are perhaps one of the most intriguing of ice formations, seemingly resembling frosting squeezed from a baker’s press. Here you see icicles, ribbons, a rare ice star, ice columns and encased grass. The odd picture is certainly a curiosity – how did it form?


Mountain Ice Spikes


Chile is home to the rugged mountain terrain of the Andes and the severe weather extremes at different altitudes make for some stunning ice formations. The above remarkable ice field looks like daggers, but one brave climber makes his way through the Ojos del Salado.


This peak in Valle Frances is studded with distinct ice formations that resemble large boulders. Wind and fluctuating temperatures create unusual ice shapes in this famous national park called the Torres del Paine (it’s an eco-tourism hot spot).

Ice Shelves


The photographer caught this fascinating ice formation shot in Huseby, Sweden. Ice takes on all sorts of interesting asymmetrical and geometric shapes, from the icy platelets above to the incredible parallel ice shelves of the Arctic. Ellesmere Island is famous for its ice shelves, but unfortunately they are diminishing rapidly in the face of global warming. Climate change caused alarming losses in summer of 2008, and scientists are concerned that this special ecosystem may soon be lost forever.

Ice Caves



Hard to believe, but those luscious sculptured waves are completely natural – and on the ceiling. A cave in Bavaria, Germany features this unusual ice. Ice caves are common throughout the world, but some of the largest are the massive, twisting Eisriesenwelt Caves in Austria (shown above right).

Icebergs


Icebergs are fast melting along with the polar ice caps and glaciers. It’s a shame; not only are they ecologically valuable, they’re amazing displays of nature’s artistry. Here are images of a variety of some stunning shapes and beautiful bergs. Note the tabular iceberg (table-shaped) and the artistic marbled iceberg.

Iceberg B-15


The world’s most famous iceberg, known as B-15, was originally part of the Ross Shelf but broke off (or “calved”) in 2000. It then broke up into three still-massive chunks, one of them – B-15A – being the largest floating object in the world at 17×76 miles in size. It continued to sail on, breaking up further and engaging in several collisions along the way. It lodged in McMurdo Sound in 2005, and its presence was significant enough to prevent proper ocean current action that normally breaks up sea ice in McMurdo. In 2006, a powerful wave traveling all the way from Alaska broke up B-15A into further smaller pieces and it was hailed as “the death” of the world’s most famous iceberg.

Glaciers



Glaciers are simply accumulated snow, packed densely into ice over thousands, even millions, of years. Glaciers serve an important function as ecosystem regulators and water suppliers (they are the largest single source of fresh water), and the heating of the planet has led to major glacier shrinkage around the world in the last decade. Some of the most famous glaciers are located in the Himalayas and Alaska, but glaciers can be found in many places around the globe. These rivers of ice are so powerful, they create a “glacial” effect, and visible signs of glacial carving can be seen throughout the world.

Rivers


Pictured at left is the Mississippi River, which travels some 2,340 miles of the continental United States. (Trivia: its tributary, the Missouri River, is actually longer.) It’s the fourth longest and tenth largest (by discharge) river in the world. Regardless of its invaluable economic and ecological service, it is simply beautiful to see. Pictured next are the Niger Delta from space – a magnificently beautiful water system – as well as the Ganges in stunning hi-res and the Okavango (one of the world’s biggest inland water systems). It floods annually, making life possible in an otherwise arid region for the rest of the year. And finally, the brilliant contrast of the iconic Amazon river and its emerald tropical rainforests.

Waterfalls


Some of the most famous waterfalls in the world are shown here. Angel Falls in Venezuela, the tallest waterfall in the world, dives some 979 meters (over 2,000 feet) into the rocks below. Tugela Falls in South Africa is nearly as high, at 947 meters and boasts 5 beautiful cascades.


And of course, the famous Niagara Falls of North America. Niagara once froze in a freak weather occurrence in 1911 – or so the myth and the single photo indicate. Even Snopes can’t determine if it’s an urban legend or if it really happened.

Fjords


Though the fjords of Norway are famous, that’s not the only place where you can see these magnificent chiseled carvings of Mother Nature as artist. Chile is home to gorgeous fjords, as are several other spots around the world. A fjord is simply a narrow water inlet with high, steep land on either side – however, they are unique because they are created through glacier activity. The images above are of fjords in Alaska (the boldness of the blue is amazing), Iceland (lobster claws?), Norway (almost other-worldly), and Chile (once again the Torres del Paine).

Lakes Seen From Above


Rounding out the tour, here are some of the quirky and artfully abstract shapes of lakes when seen from the aerial view. A playground of the rich and famous, Lake Como in Italy is famously known as the Y Shaped lake, while this lesser known Horseshoe Lake in Arkansas is endearing. But it’s this dragon lake in China that’s most striking.

Stunning Sand Art

This amazing artwork is done by San Francisco artist Andres Amador.
He usually patiently waits for a full or new moon to be sure that low tides would prepare for him a perfect “canvas” to do his work. 
Sadly enough, but within several hours these masterpieces are wiped out by the ocean…













And this is another artist Jim Denevan who’s doing the same passion for art on the beach.