Millions of years of erosion, explosions and a touch of folklore form the narrative behind some of the most unbelievable sights in the world.
经过大自然数百万年的雕琢,世界上出现许多令人难以置信的奇特自然景观。
From sweeping curves of Arizona's The Wave in the U.S. to the Fairy Chimneys of Turkey's Cappadocia, the simple flow of water over stone has created some remarkable features that look as though they aren't even of this planet, all of which we can visit and marvel at today.
从美国亚利桑那州的波涛谷到土耳其卡帕多西亚的“精灵烟囟”,这些看起来好像是外星中的场景,但实际上都是我们可以身处其中的地方。
Here are some of the most unbelievable landscapes in the world.
以下是地球上八个最奇特的自然景观,一起看看吧。
The Wave, Arizona
波涛谷,美国亚利桑那州
The sweeping design of this sandstone rock formation is found in the Coyote Buttes area of the Arizona Strip in Paria Canyon-Vermilion Cliffs Wilderness area that would be hugely popular with hikers were it not so heavily protected.
波涛谷位于美国亚利桑那州北部朱红悬崖的帕利亚峡谷,其砂岩上的纹路就像波浪一样,深受游客喜爱。
Experts say the best photo opportunities come at midday but first visitors must get one of the 20 permits released each day for the area, with 10 of them released via a lottery four months in advance and the other tendished out the day before an intended visit.
专家称,波涛谷摄影的最佳时间是中午,但是这里每天只允许20人进入,其中10人通过提前4个月的彩票抽奖获得名额,另外10人则在访问前一天确定。
Once permission is granted to visit there are no marked hiking tracks to get you there, as authorities are keen to preserve its natural beauty formed by the erosion of Navajo Sandstone during Jurassic age.
波涛谷规定游客不能在此留下任何痕迹,这是当地政府为了严格保护波涛谷的自然美。波涛谷是侏罗纪时代的纳瓦霍砂岩受侵蚀形成的。
The 190 million-year-old formation is made of sand dunes which turned to rock through time.
这些沙丘经过1.9亿年的时间沉淀,最终变成砂岩。
They are stacked on top of another and hardened by deposit of calcium salts - causing the vertical and horizontal layers.
它们层层堆叠,并在钙盐的作用下硬化,形成了垂直和水平方向的岩层。