The Earth Story

Fosse Dionne

Ever since prehistoric times this natural spring has been prized by humans, and the French town of Tonnerre (between Paris and Dijon) grew around the waters, on the road linking the capital with Burgundy. The construction around the gushing waters (up to 300 litres a second) dates from Roman and Medieval times. Once used as a Roman palace water supply, the village expanded to serve its needs, with the social use made of the spring changing over time. The most recent construction is an 18th century CE village laundry place, a common feature of rural French villages. The process illustrates quite well the connection between history and geography, an intimate relationship that finds expression in the fact that French schools teach them as a single subject. The spring comes from an encounter between water percolating through the nearby limestone plateau meeting an impermeable clay rich layer at the level of the town. The limestone is part of the huge Jurassic platform, a set of mostly marine limestones that draped over much of Europe during the high sea levels of the Mesozoic (256-65 million years ago) which was due to the swelling of the oceanic plates from accumulated mantle heat, resulting in the gradual dismemberment of the supercontinent Pangaea and major marine invasions of what had once been land).

The spring is usually most active in summer, when extra snowmelt has percolated through the feeder system. Dye tracing has also revealed that the spring channels part of a river that vanishes into the limestone on the plateau above. The grotto is deep, and linked to a large hydrological system that stretches as far away as 40km. While divers have tried to find the source, the caves narrow too much for safe exploration, and access has been restricted since several divers died.

Many legends have gathered around the place, including that the virgin created it, while saving an girl from the devil and it was supposedly inhabited by a dragon or giant worm. The name may derive from the Latin water goddess Divona, or the Greek nymph (water spirit) Dione.

Loz.

Image credit: Christophe Finot

http://www.atlasobscura.com/places/fosse-dionne[_

The Loreley

Loreley rock, a near vertical slate rock (120m high) on the Rhine river gorge near St. Goarshausen in Germany, has a prominent role in local folklore. It is the narrowest point on the Rhine between Switzerland and the North Sea and due to its depth, strong current and rocky base many boating accidents have occurred throughout history. In the Middle Ages there are stories of sailors in wooden dinghies shipwrecking here. At St Goar (a monastery) across the river these poor sailors were nursed back to health. In German the name Loreley can be translated in different ways. Firstly the German word 'lureln' could translate to murmering, 'ley' is the Celtic term for rock. This murmuring could refer to Loreley being known as echoing rock. Supposedly a small waterfall which was still there in the 19th century combined with an echo produced a murmuring sound. On the other hand the German verb 'lauern' indicates that it translates as luring rocks which refers to the many accidents that occur here. Lorelei is also the name of a waterspirit or mermaid, known to lure sailors into the depth of the Rhine. She sits on top of Lorelei combing her hair and sings bewitching songs. (see this site for a variety of stories about Loreley:http://bit.ly/1amDMlA )

Hey, doesn’t this sound familiar? Well, these female spirits luring sailors to their deaths appear to be a worldwide phenomenon. It starts with Greek mythology where the sirens, former handmaidens of Persephone (the wife of Hades) lure sailors to their death with their beautiful voices and music. Collectively of course, these female creatures are known as mermaids (although the merman also exist supposedly). In Russia these creatures are known as Rusalka’s and in Ireland they are known as Undines. According to historians and folklorists the mermaid can be connected to the manatee (appropriately of the order Sirenia) a animal that in bad weather shows similarities with a beautiful woman?

Loreley has been a main character in popular culture throughout history. From a lead in an opera by Felix Mendelsohn to a poem by Sylvia Plat, a song by the Pogues or a role in the tv-show ‘Gilmore girls’, Loreley is here to stay.

-OW-

Image: Image 1: courtesy of Felix Koenig. Lorelei rock in the distance (at the kind of the meander) as seen fom Castle Katz. Image 2: public domain. A painting of the Loreley from the 1900s

References and further reading: http://www.loreleytal.com/…/hansen-bla…/1997nr50/loreley.htm . http://www.theoi.com/Pontios/Seirenes.html

http://www.underwatertimes.com/news.php…

http://bit.ly/1amDMlA

The 'hollow earth theory', a staple of archaic science fiction, suggests that worlds beyond our comprehension, filled with strange and mystical sights, exist inside the hollow centre of the planet. Such ideas are clearly nonsense, but they led to some interesting historical anecdotes.

The idea of a hollow earth in the Jules Verne sense, with humans living on the outside surface, is unsupported by the laws of physics - literally, as a hollow structure the size of a planet would instantly collapse under the force of gravity. But in the late eighteenth century a refinement of the theory was suggested by an eccentric American, Cyrus Teed, who postulated that humans lived on the inside surface of a hollow spherical space containing the entirety of the known universe. Such a model, where light travels in curves towards the centre of the space, would be experimentally indistinguishable from the convex model (assuming all physical laws were adjusted to act opposite to the normal fashion). The idea of the 'inside-out universe' became popular as a thought experiment, and was widely written about in the twentieth century; it seemed to gain particular credence in Germany, and it is known that Hitler was familiar with the concept. Unsubstantiated stories have emerged of Nazi expeditions sent to spy on the British fleet by pointing infrared cameras at the sky...

The concave hollow earth hypothesis never received any real support. As Martin Gardner says (in the book 'On the Wild Side', 1992), it can be discounted via the principle of Occam's Razor - the simplest solution to a problem being the most likely to be true. Its original proponent, Cyrus Teed, attempted to turn the radical idea into a religion - Koreshanity - after shocking himself with electricity during an experiment, having a vision that he was humanity's messiah. His supporters became quite numerous at the turn of the last century, but their sect is now extinct. Teed himself died in 1908, from the complications of a fight between Fort Myers men and his followers. He was buried on the Southern end of Estero Island, but shortly afterwards a hurricane washed his coffin out to sea.

-TJT

Read more about the evolution of various hollow earth hypotheses: http://www.wired.com/2014/07/fantastically-wrong-hollow-earth/ Image from the collections of the Koreshan State Historic Site - a depiction of Teed's concave earth model.

Sleipnir’s footprint

The canyon of Ásbyrgi is a horseshoe shaped depression of 3.5 km long and 1 km wide that formed during numerous jökulhlaups of the Jökulsá river. Jökulhlaups occur when a volcano under the massive Vatnajökull glacier heats up and melts the ice that lies on top of it. Tephrachronology, the dating of tephra (any volcanic material ranging fom ash to volcanic blocks) depositions of volcanic eruptions places the last of these flooding events around 2500 year ago, during an eruption of Hekla. The canyon is located in the north of Iceland, about 50km from the harbor town of Húsavík and close to the southeast corner of Vatnajökull glacier.

The 100m high cliffs formed from lava erupted out of Stóravíti crater, part of one of the largest lava shields on Iceland. This volcanic system is called Þeistareykjabunga and lies north of Lake Mývatn. The last eruption at Stóravíti started around 12,000 year ago and could have lasted decades. Eventually, the lava spread over an area of 525 km2 which is a little bit less than the city of Madrid. In the centre of the canyon a 25m high rock formation, known as Eyjan (Icelandic: island) arises and offers spectacular views over the canyon. Also, the area within the canyon is stacked with trees as mountain ashes, birch and willow of which some can grow up to 8m in height. Having trees grow this high is quite uncommon for Iceland.

However, according to Norse legends, Ásbyrgi canyon formed in a slightly different manner than that mentioned above. When Norse god Óðinn’s horse Sleipnir (Icelandic: Slættur) touched his hoof to the ground at Ásbyrgi, he left a horseshoe-shaped footprint in place. Thus, the canyon is also known as ‘Sleipnir’s footprint’. Supposedly, the huldufólk (elves or hidden people) live in the cracks of the cliffs.

-OW-

Image: Andreas Tille. The inside of Ásbyrgi as seen from the top of Eyjan.

Further reading: http://www.diamondringroad.com/asbyrgi.html http://www.geothermal.is/3-asbyrgi http://www.volcano.si.edu/volcano.cfm?vn=373090

The Cuillin Mountains

Myths tell the story of how the Cuillin Mountains on the Island of Skye were formed when the Sun flung its spear into the ground. A huge blister appeared and began to swell where the spear had struck the earth. Eventually the blister burst and discharged glowing molten material forming the Black Cuillin. This glowing molten material is the black and ragged gabbro, the type of igneous rock that composes the steep Black Cuillin. The bursting blister concealed the smoother, much lower-lying, snow-covered Red Cuillin, which consists of much lighter colored granite.

Interestingly, this myth correctly describes how a volcanic dome would burst and spew out hot magma. The Cuillin are indeed the remnants of an ancient volcano, eroded by rain and wind. They formed 50-70 million years ago when the Atlantic Ocean widened and the area experienced extreme volcanic upheaval. In this process a chain of volcanoes formed along the west side of the Scottish Highlands. The lava (basalt) welled up from fissures in the earth’s crust and rapidly cooled. Eventually the basalt was injected with dark gabbro, a type of rock which has larger crystals and cools slower because of the surrounding basalt. This is how the rugged Black Cuillin were formed. The gabbro and molten basalt also came into contact with the lower lying crust. The intense heat caused the lower crust to melt and the lava was injected with red/pinkish granite,creating the Red Cuillin.

Sometimes, geological history and creation myths do not differ that much.

-OW-

Image: Copyright Arpingstone. The main ridge of the Black Guilin.

Further reading: Major, Adrienne. 2004. Geomythology. Encyclopedia of Geology. http://bit.ly/1LHAF5O

The Icelandic tale of Hvítserkur

This imposing monolith is called Hvítserkur, also known as Troll Rock. Hvítserkur means “white shirt” in Icelandic and derives its name from the smattering of bird guano left behind by roosting sea birds. The 15 metre tall basaltic stack is located off of the Vatnsnes Peninsula in north-western Iceland and is likely the remnants of an old volcanic plug. Erosion by the sea has worn away the surrounding rock, as well as rock its the base, leaving behind two arches. To prevent the monolith toppling over, Icelandic authorities have reinforced the base with concrete.

In Icelandic folklore, Hvítserkur was a giant troll who lived at Mount Bæjarfell with his family. One night, he was awoken from his sleep by a loud ringing noise. Hvítserkur knew that humans were making this sound - men who had moved to Iceland and no longer believed in the deities Odin and Frey.

As the nights went by, the sound only got worse. It was particularly bad around winter, the Giants’ favourite time of year. Hvítserkur had had enough! He realized that the sound was being made by a bell hanging in a house on the other side of Húnaflói. To stop the awful noise, Hvítserkur would travel to that house and destroy the bell once and for all.

Trolls despised the light of day, turning to stone upon its arrival. Hvítserkur was no exception. He decided to make the journey one evening, believing that he would make it to the bell before the following dawn. As the Hvítserkur began his preparations, his son, Bárdur, insisted on going with him so that he might see the world. He also argued that he would be able to assist his father should the work prove too difficult to do alone. Hvítserkur had serious reservations; the fjords were very deep. After arguing for a good portion of the night, Hvítserkur relented and Bárdur accompanied him on the journey.

Unfortunately, the fjords were indeed very difficult for Bárdur to cross and they made very slow progress. As the duo approached the Vatnsnes Peninsula, day was quickly looming. Hvítserkur was sure they could still get to the house on time and break the bell before daybreak. As he stepped over the mountain and into the sea, he looked eastward, just in time to see the sun rising. Instantly, he began turning to stone. Hvítserkur felt this happening, and gave a last ditch attempt to destroy the bell by throwing his hammer at the building that housed it. However, he failed, and it is believed that the hammer can seen today at the eastern part of Þingeyrarsand (Thingeyrarsand).

Image credit: ‘hvitserkur’ by Martin Secombe, 2013 (https://flic.kr/p/fHCUmK). Used under creative commons licensing.

Further reading: More great photos: https://www.flickr.com/groups/hvitserkur/pool/ A great guide to Hvitserkur, including travel info:https://guidetoiceland.is/connect-with-locals/regina/hvitserkur-up-north

Ásbyrgi Below is an aerial view of the horseshoe-shaped Ásbyrgi canyon, that lies in the north of Iceland. It is 3.5km long and over 1km wide. At its centre, a distinct rock formation rises, known as Eyjan, "the Island", from which hikers can experience spectacular views. The flora and fauna that occupy the canyon is beautiful and unique unto itself, being dominated by a woodland of birch and willow trees, a testament to the forests of old, but what makes the canyon so remarkable is the mythology behind it. In Norse mythology, Odin rode an eight-legged horse named Sleipnir. The canyon is nicknamed 'Sleipnir's footprint', because It is believed that when one of his hooves touched Earth here, it created the Ásbyrgi canyon. - Ash Image credit: http://bit.ly/1P3P8MR Source credit: http://bit.ly/1NJApng

Original caption:

Aurora Australis from above

The Aurora Australis (and no less its equivalent the Aurora Borealis in the northern regions) dances trough the sky as this image perfectly shows, whether you look from above or below. It is not surprising thus, that the aborigines of Australia see the southern lights as the gods dancing in the sky.

Among the ancient people of China the northern light was seen as a giant serpent moving through the sky. In Viking Age Scandinavia the aurora was interpret as Bifrost, the bridge the Norse gods used to travel from earth to Åsgard. Other Norse beliefs connect the northern lights to dead women and the reflections of the shields of the Valkyries collecting the souls of warriors in battle. In North America indigenous tribes saw them as trails of the spirits carrying lanterns in search of dead hunters. Also, if you whistled at the lights it would take you from the earth up in to the sky. By clapping your hands you could make the lights put you down again.

Contrary to what most people think, the aurora does not make any sound (due to it mainly appearing in colder regions, it is more likely that the crackling and hissing is due to the icy grounds). This is literally impossible since the air in the upper part of the atmosphere where aurora’s form is too thin to produce any sound. The most common color to be observed is, not surprisingly green

-OW-

Image: NASA. The Aurora Australis as seen by the crew of Expedition 23 on the International Space Station. At the moment of this picture the ISS was 350km above the Indian Ocean looking south towards Antarctica.

References: http://pwg.gsfc.nasa.gov/polar/EPO/auroral_poster/aurora_all.pdf http://spaceflight.nasa.gov/gallery/images/station/crew-23/html/iss023e058455.html

Glasshouse Mountains

These peaks are found in Australia’s Glasshouse Mountains National Park, near the ocean coastline in Queensland, Australia. From left to right in this photo, the peaks are named Mt. Tibberoowuccum, Mt. Tibrogargan, Mt. Beerwah, Mt. Coonowrin, and Mt. Ngungun. The area received the name Glasshouse Mountains from James Cook in the 18th century, but each peak retains an originalaboriginal name relating to the story told about the area.

In the tale, Tibrogargan, the largest peak, was the father of tribes in the area, and Beerwah, the next largest peak, was the mother. When Tibrogargan perceived that a flood was about to strike the area, he asked his son Coonowrin to escort his mother to high ground, but Coonowrin panicked and deserted her. When Tibrogargan learned of this, he struck Coonowrin, leaving him with a crooked head, and placed him behind his mother so that Tibrogargan would never have to see him again. When the other members of the family learned of this incident, they cried, leading to the streams that drain the area.

The mountains were a meetingplace for many tribes that lived in the area, with early reports suggesting thousands could gather here at one time. Starting in the 19th century however, the land was logged and these meetings were cleared out. The trees growing here today were replanted starting in the 1930s.

The mountains are all igneous in origin. They are volcanic plugs or laccoliths – volcanic rock that got close to the Earth’s surface but that did not erupt. Some even show columnar jointing up close. The molten rock solidified at depth, and as the surrounding landscape eroded, the strong igneous rocks began to stand tall above the surrounding landscape. These rocks have been dated to be 25 million years old, and they form an age-progressive trend with other igneous rocks in Queensland that have been used to argue for the existence of a hotspot traveling beneath Australia between 35 and 25 million years ago.

-JBB

Image credit: David Molloy https://flic.kr/p/26AF5CM

References: https://bit.ly/2tRD4bd https://bit.ly/2KsXa5U https://bit.ly/2KwALob

Tindholmur

Tindhólmur is a 262m high uninhabited islet near the island of Vágar, which is part of the Faroe Islands. This archipelago which lies in between Scotland and Iceland formed around 55 million years ago when Greenland and Europe separated and a large basaltic plateau known as the Faroe-Rockall Plateau came into being. The region was volcanically very active until it moved away from the Mid-Atlantic ridge to where it is now. The best way to describe the remnants of this volcanism, the rocky Faroe archipelago, would be as giant slices of tiered basalt. Or in case of Tindholmur, as a giant shark tooth.

A pretty gruesome legend about Tindhólmur tells the story of a family consisting of a man; woman and small child that once lived on the rugged rock. While the father was fishing an eagle stole the two-year old child and took it to its nest. The parents horrifically found their child with its eyes plucked out in the eagle’s nest. The child later died and ever since nobody wants to live on the barren rock. Interestingly, one of the peaks of Tindhólmur is called Arnartind (Eagle’s peak).

Between Tindhólmur and Vagar are two sea stacks (even smaller than an islet) collectively known as Dranganir. One of these displays a natural arch.

-OW-

Image: Erik Christensen. Tindhólmur as seen from the southeast.

References

http://www.visitvagar.fo/

http://www.faroeislands.fo/

Đavolja Varoš The Devil's Town is a national monument located in Serbia in the Radan Mountains where over 200 hoodoos (known locally as pyramids and up to 15 metres high) have been eroded by the wind and rain out of the volcanic tuffs. The volcanism resulted from subduction beneath the Mediterranean as the last gasps of the Tethys Ocean close up as Africa grinds into Europe. The tuffs are capped with a dark andesitic lava flow, whose stronger parts have survived erosion protecting the tuffs below. The legend goes that the hoodoos are created during battles between demons, and mineral springs below have been used for medicinal purposes since antiquity. The wind moving through the structures creates eerie noises further reinforcing the area's supernatural reputation. Loz Image credit: Dimo Dimov http://whc.unesco.org/en/tentativelists/1700/ http://www.serbia.travel/nature/natural-monuments/djavolja-varos/

Tsé Bitʼaʼí, the rock with wings

Like the sails of a ship against the horizon, the rugged and craggy volcanic plug of Tsé Bitʼaʼí rises 482 meters from the dusty high-desert plain of New Mexico. The steep rock is all what remains of a plug in the vent of an active volcano. The feeding conduit of the volcano was buried about a kilometer below ground when it formed during a violent volcanic eruption 30 million years ago. Over eons the soft rock of the surrounding volcano eroded away leaving behind only a hard neck of breccia (a typical fractured type of rock). Long narrow ridges called dikes seem to radiate away from the volcanic crag. As with the volcanic plug, these dikes were buried deep below the ground and as time went by became exposed to the elements.

In Navajo language Tsé Bitʼaʼí translates as the rock with wings. Legend goes that the ancestral Navajo had to cross a narrow sea fleeing a warlike tribe. The people pleaded for help from the Great Spirit when suddenly an giant bird appeared. The bird took them on its wings and flew away to what is now New Mexico. At sundown the bird opened its wings and turned to stone. Thus the people settled on the rugged rock where they lived for a long time. Then the isolated rock was struck by lightning killing many tribe members. Thus, to this day the funnel-shaped peak is off limits for visitors as they might disturb the spirits of the ones left behind.

Other legends claim that an enormous bird of prey, also known as Man-eating Bird nested on top of the rugged plug. This horrendous bird was one of the final monsters the Hero Twins, two of the most important characters in Navajo mythology, had to slay. When they finally did, human beings could finally roam the earth.

-OW-

Image 1: Courtesy of Bowie Snodgrass. Image 2: The dikes radiating away from the volcanic plug are clearly visible in this image. Copyright Doc Searls.

Refs: http://www.atlasobscura.com/places/shiprock http://visibleearth.nasa.gov/view.php?id=6685 https://pubs.usgs.gov/gip/volc/structures.html http://bit.ly/2wsboMr http://bit.ly/2wsboMr

Fire giant Hekla

In Norse worldview the ice, snow and arctic winds of Iceland were seen as evil giants. Thus Iceland was known as Jötunheimr, land of the giants. Jötunheimr in turn was one of the nine homeworlds joined by the world tree Yggdrasill. Several other geological features of the Icelandic landscape also have a mythological meaning. For example, Hekla one of Iceland’s most active volcanoes which was seen as the fire giant Surtr also known as the giant with the flaming sword. When Hekla threw its eternal fires high into the southern skies it became Surtr and once he moved he set the world aflame. In modern day Iceland Surtr is still seen as a giant of fire. The volcanic island of Surtsey which emerged out of the ocean in 1963 was even named after him. The name Hekla comes from the old Norse word for cloak since it’s summit is often hidden in a cloak of mist.

In the later middle ages Hekla (and volcanoes in general) was infamously known as a one of the gateways to the underworld together with Stromboli in Italy. This was mostly due to Hekla’s smoky summit, steep ridges covered with black lava flows, its ability for destruction and ravens (which were thought to be the souls of the dead) encircling the mountain. The devastating 1104 AD eruption which buried half of Iceland in a layer of ash and tephra could also have something to do with it. Accordingly, this eruption was a VEI 5 (Volcanic Explosivity Index, see here for a definition: http://on.doi.gov/12Jo4s7) which is defined as very large. Thus the effect on the population and livestock must have been devastating.

German physician Caspar Peucer wrote that during great battles miserable cries and moaning came out of the bottomless abyss of Hekla and vultures and ravens build their nests on the flanks. Hissing lava bombs (due to the cooler temperature of the air colliding with the superhot lava bomb) emitted from the crater during eruptions were seen as souls screaming in agony. A 17th century travel guide by Frenchman de la Martiniere mentions that the devil would torture the souls of sinners by dragging them out of the crater of Hekla and dipping them in the freezing ocean. Cistercian monks claimed that if the world knew sacred places and churches, then an icy mountain which spewed fire should be seen as the opposite, hell. It was not until the 1800s that this belief lost ground. Presently there is still a legend that Hekla is a meeting point for witches.

Since Iceland was settled by Norsemen Hekla had about 20 eruptions. As a volcano Hekla is quite hard to define. It’s characteristics lie in between a fissure volcano and a stratovolcano. During eruptions Hekla can throw up either basaltic or andesitic magma in fissure eruptions or explosive silicic eruptions. Explosive eruptions could transform into lava fountains which in turn transform into fast flowing lava flows. The tephra that Hekla emits is high in fluorine which can be hazardous to grazing animals. Also eruptions can go on or short periods of time (days to weeks) to months or years.

Hekla is currently being monitored by volumetric borehole strainmeters (these measure changes in the volume of a magma chamber), SIL stations (seismometers which record motion of the ground) and GPS stations (which measure uplift of the ground which could indicate the magma chamber is filling up). In the end of March of 2013 shallow earthquake swarms were measured at Hekla indicating that magma was possibly on the move. In April rapid inflation was measured on the northern flanks of the volcano. Yet, since then the activity has stagnated. It is evident nevertheless that in the future this fire giant will erupt again.

--BO

Image: Copyright Michel Detay. Hekla during an eruption in 1980.

References and further reading:

http://volcanocafe.wordpress.com/category/europe/iceland/hekla/

http://www.volcanodiscovery.com/nl/hekla.html

http://www.volcano.si.edu/volcano.cfm?vnum=1702-07%3D

http://volcano.oregonstate.edu/book/export/html/1015

Boult Katherine. 1916. Asgard and the Norse heroes.

Zeilinga de Boer Jelle & Donald Sanders. 2002. Volcanoes in Human History: The Far-Reaching Effects of Major Eruptions

SEVEN STRONG MEN

A tribe of Samoyed giants begin their long journey through Western Russia to Siberia. A Shaman, the largest of the pack, leads his men through the Ural Mountains, beating a drum to keep time. Under instruction to wipe out the Mansi people, the 7 Samoyeds journey through the Urals with the Shaman leading the way out in front. As he catches sight of the holy Mansi Mountains, with his breath taken and struck with awe, he drops the giant drum. The deafening bang echoes through the mountain land and gripped with shock, the Samoyed tribe freeze and solidify. Seven giant stone pillars are left, stopped in their tracks on a hilltop. Ok, so that story isn’t entirely true, but all the best natural tourist attractions have folklore attached, and this is no exception. Passed down through the centuries, this tale was a best guess at how these peculiar and intimidating pillars originated.

The Manpupuner Rock Formations or as they are known locally, Seven Strong Men, are located North of the Ural Mountains in the Troitsko-Pechorsky District of the Komi Republic in Russia. Standing tall at 100-140 feet (38-42metres), these enormous monoliths dominate the flat landscape. For a sense of scale, look at the tiny people in the photographs.

So how did the Seven Strong Men get there? Well, putting aside tales of frozen giants, geologists have offered a more scientific explanation. Formed over 200 million years ago and positioned on an unprotected windy hilltop, long exposure to severe Arctic weather has shaped the landscape. The Manpupuner formation are the remains of a mountain, but millions of years of erosion have worn away the soft rock, leaving the tall structures we see today. The stone towers poking up from the ground are the remnants of solid, ancient rock. The Seven Strong Men is a fitting name for true survivors of time and nature.

The Manpupuner Rock Formation was voted one of the Seven Wonders of Russia in 2008, and although a popular attraction in their homeland, they are relatively unheard of outside Russia. Only about 200 people visit these impressive rock formations each year, most likely due to the fact that they aren't easily accessible -- visitors must hike for several days or take a helicopter to reach them. The difficult journey is well worth it though, for as well as great views and photographs, visitors report experiences of overwhelming calm and serenity at the site.

--Beth

Image credits: Republic of Komi Official Portal, http://rkomi.ru/en/services/albom/19/ APOD/Sergey Makurin, https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap150126.html Klaus Fengler/Red Bull Content Pool, https://weather.com/…/climber-conquers-seven-giants-rock-fo…

Reference credit: Russian Geographical Society https://www.rgo.ru/en/photo/manpupuner-rock-formations