Our planet is full of unusual, sometimes unique places. And each of them is unique in its own way. Today we look at places on our planet that are especially interesting to researchers and tourists.
Highest Place on Earth - Everest?
Indeed, Everest is considered the highest point on Earth. However, only according to its height above sea level. In fact, the highest point of the Earth is located in the Andes. The thing is that our planet has the shape of a flattened spheroid. This is a consequence of rotation features. That is, the shape of our planet is imperfect. Therefore, places at the poles will always be closer to the center of the earth than objects that extend along the equator. And lower points are actually higher than they should be.
Chomolungma
Everest (in Tibetan - Chomolungma) is located in the Himalayas, in the ridge Mahalangur-Himal. The strongest winds blow here, reaching 200 km / h. Everest is located right on the border of Nepal and China. Its height reaches 8848 m. At the same time, according to a 2016 study conducted by French scientists, Chomolungma will not be included in even the twenty highest peaks of the world, if you count from the center of the Earth.
Despite all its beauty, Everest has a tragic reputation. Many daredevils who dreamed of conquering this giant died. The difficult climb, atmospheric pressure and rarefied air, which cannot be breathed for a long time, make climbing this peak very dangerous.
Today, for the tidy sum of the expedition, you can climb Mount Everest.
Chimborazo - the highest volcano
The highest point on Earth is Chimboraso volcano. It is located in Ecuador, in the Andes mountain range. Its height reaches 6, 268 m. However, due to the fact that Chimborazo is the farthest point from the center of the planet, it is called the highest place on Earth.
Chimborazo is considered an inactive stratovolcano (i.e., composed of layers of cooled lava). His last eruption occurred back in 550. Since then, he has not shown his volcanic activity.
The peak of the volcano today is covered with a crust of ice, which began to melt due to global warming.
Mauna Kea - "White Mountain"
That is how its name is translated from Hawaiian. This mountain (more precisely, a volcano) is the highest place on Earth, if measured from the foot to the top. Its height exceeds 10 km.
Mauna Kea is an inactive volcano located in Hawaii. Most of the mountains are deep in the Pacific Ocean. Its height above sea level is a little over 4 km. Its wide, snow-covered peak attracts extreme people, and the lower slopes are chosen by hunters and hikers. In addition, the height of the mountain and the absence of clouds above its peak makes it an ideal place to observe the stars. Today, the largest astronomical observatory is located on Mauna Kea.
Tallest building in the world
The highest place on Earth created by human hands is the Dubai Tower. The skyscraper opened in 2009. Since 2007, he has been holding the title of the highest object on our planet. The building has 163 floors and 57 elevators. Its height is 828 meters. The shape of the building is very neat and resembles the shape of a stalagmite.
Initially, the building was conceived as a "city in a city." The Burj Khalifa complex has almost everything - restaurants, hotels, parking lots, pools and gyms. And even the boulevards.
It is noteworthy that a special type of concrete withstanding 50-degree heat was specially developed for the Burj Khalifa complex. There is ice in the concrete. Therefore, the building was built mainly at night so that the ice did not melt. More than 12, 000 builders were involved in the work.
The most "snake" place on Earth
This unique island is called Cayman Grandi (or the snake island). It is located in the Atlantic Ocean, just 35 km from the Brazilian state of São Paulo. It is closed not only to tourists, but also to any visitors. The Brazilian government has declared this paradise a unique reserve, almost untouched by man.
The thing is that the island inhabits the species of one of the most dangerous snakes in the world - island botrops. The bite of this snake causes instant tissue death. Moreover, for 1 square. m island accounts for about 5 poisonous snakes. His trees are simply hung with these reptiles.
They say that once there was a lighthouse where people worked, but snakes climbed inside and killed everyone. Since then, the lighthouse has been replaced by an automatic one. He works here to this day.
However, some daredevils still chose the coast of this island for diving and fishing.
The deepest place on the planet
The title of the deepest place on Earth (a review is given below) has long belonged to the Mariana Trench. Its deepest point is almost 11, 000 meters. Today it is the most studied of the oceanic trenches. The cavity has the shape of a crescent and is inhabited by living organisms. Many of them came as a surprise to scientists - creepy fish, toxic mollusks and other strange creatures live in abundance in the gutter.
Besides:
- the deepest cave is Krubera-Voronya in Abkhazia:
- the deepest well is Kola (Russia);
- the deepest mine is TauTona (South Africa).
The Kola well deserves special attention. Drilling began in Soviet times, but due to strange screams coming from the bowels of the earth, the project had to be closed.
The most extreme places of the Earth
Recently, scientists called the most extreme places on Earth.
1. The northern point of land - the island of Schmidt. This is an ordinary pile of stones and mud. It is located in the Severnaya Zemlya archipelago in Russia.
2. The southernmost point of the world is the South Pole. The average annual temperature here is -50.
3. The western point of sushi is the picturesque island of Attu in Alaska. The island used to be an important point of trade with Russian merchants. Since 2010, no one has been living here.
4. The most extreme eastern point of our Earth is the Caroline coral island, lost in the waters of the Pacific Ocean. Early it belonged to Great Britain. Today it is owned by the Republic of Kiribati.
The most unusual and extreme places on the planet
Below we consider a list of the most unusual and extreme places on Earth:
- The city of Al-Azizia in Libya is the hottest city in the world. The air temperature here once exceeded +57 ° C. Even in the famous Death Valley, the temperature does not rise above + 56 ° C.
- The coldest place on Earth is Antarctica. This is the place of extremes - the temperature drops to -90 ° C, precipitation practically does not fall, but the humidity is increased (because the earth is covered with blocks of ice). Antarctica is full of mysteries that scientists still can not solve.
- Socotra is the most unique island of our planet. His landscapes are so unusual that they can be mistaken for an alien. Socotra is located in the northwest of the Indian Ocean. Included in the eponymous archipelago. About 700 species of plants and animals of this island are endemic (that is, you will not find them anywhere else on Earth).
- Darvaz - the gateway to hell. This well, filled with burning gas, is located in Turkmenistan. It was discovered while drilling a well. At that time, Darvaz was a gas well. He had to be set on fire so that no one was poisoned by gas.
- Eisraisenvelt - ice caves in Austria, the length of which is 40 km. These are the largest and most unique caves decorated with natural ice sculptures.
