The ultimate Geological bucket-list
Our home, planet Earth is full of a vast array of geological and natural wonders. This list compiles some of the geological sites that are of great interest to me, and one day I hope to check them all off of my Geological Bucket List :)
Swim between tectonic plates in Iceland###
The Silfra fissure is actually the crack between the North American and Eurasian continental plates. The fissure also boasts insanely clear waters with visibility up to 100 metres
Rainbow mountains, China###
Found in the Zhangye Danxia Geological park in Gansu, China the striated sediments of these landforms speak for themselves
Yellowstone NP, USA###
Yellowstone was the first National Park in the USA, and is reknowned for its variety of wildlife and its geothermal features. Beware the ticking time bomb of the worlds largest supervolcano, and take it the magnificence of the Old Faithful Geyser.
Ol Doinyo Lengai, Tanzania###
Is an active volcano in the Gregory rift that produces natro-carbonatite lava's.
Hutton Unconformity, Siccar Point, Scotland###
Straight out of any Geologist's textbook... Siccar point is a rocky outcrop of the eastern coast of Scotland. At this site an angular unconformity was noted, and provided James Hutton with evidence for his uniformitarian theory of geological evolution
Kamchatka, Russia###
The Kamchatka peninsula comprises a field of roughly 300 volcanoes. The true land of Ice & Fire (Game of Thrones reference)
Great Barrier Reef, Australia###
The largest living organism on Earth, running for 2300km along the eastern coast of Australia. Over 600 species of soft and hard corals make up this magnificent structure which can be observed from space.
Himalayas, Nepal###
The Himalayas are a mountain range on the sub-continent of India, and in this range nine out of the top ten tallest peaks on Earth can be found. The perfect modern example of a collision style plate boundary
Shark Bay, Australia###
A world heritage listed site in Western Australia. Shark Bay is home to living rocks known as Stromatolites. These rocks are bound together by ancient forms of cyanobacteria and these structures are some of the earliest lifeforms on Earth
California San Andreas Fault, USA###
The San Andreas is a continental transform fault, that separates the Pacific and North American plates. The faults motion is right-lateral strike-slip, and provides an earthquake risk to locals that reside in the region
Kilauea Hawaiian hotspot volcanism, USA###
Found on the Big Island of Hawaii, Kilauea is one of the worlds most active volcanoes. Arguably if you include the shield volcanoes roots as well as its height above sea level, it is a larger structure than even Mt. Everest
Grand Canyon, USA###
Carved by the Colorado River in Arizona, the Grand Canyon carves through almost 2 billion years of geology. The Colorado Plateau was uplifted as the Canyon was eroded, revealing a variety of schistose and sedimentary rock packages
Semail Ophiolite, Oman###
Found in the Hajar mountains of Oman, where a large slab of oceanic crust has been overthrust onto the continental plate. The Semail Ophiolite is of great importance due to its richness of copper and chromite ore bodies.
Now go out and geologize, travel and love every second of it.
Peace, love and a multitude of happiness!
Sarah