Beautiful description of natural phenomena. Secrets of the most unusual natural phenomena

The weather can be good or bad, but its anomalies always fascinate us. We have selected the most unusual natural phenomena, which occur all over the globe and are extremely rare.

We are used to seeing icicles hanging from rooftops. However, in the Arctic there are special icicles that hang under water and are a mortal danger for the inhabitants of the ocean floor. This phenomenon was discovered almost 30 years ago, but it was only in 2011 that the BBC channel team managed to film the process of its birth.
The formation of this extraordinary icicle is easily explained by science. Salty sea water freezes a little differently and turns not into an icy firmament, but into something similar to a porous wet washcloth. Icebergs are literally riddled with small channels filled with salt water.

Having reached the bottom, the "finger of death" does not stop, but continues to spread along the bottom. In 15 minutes, such a structure is capable of destroying all unhurried living organisms in an area of ​​​​several meters. It was for this that the fatal icicle was called the "icy finger of death."

Exists a large number of clouds that have a special shape and special causes. Omniform or tubular clouds look strange and unusual. They look either like sections of pipes, or like a lot of suspended balls, the hue of which changes from white to blue-gray. The color depends on the thickness of the cloud.

How are they obtained? Clouds usually have a flat base. Warm moist air cools and condenses into water droplets. This occurs at a certain temperature, and its decrease in the atmosphere is associated with altitude. Droplets grow and form an opaque cloud.

However, under special conditions (moist air above and dry below), cloud pockets begin to form in the atmosphere, filled with large water droplets or even ice crystals, which, under their weight, literally fall into clean air. This behavior of clouds is associated with the turbulent movement of air masses. And the turbulent movement of air indicates the proximity of a powerful thunderstorm front.

Like any relief surface, tubular clouds are especially spectacular under regime lighting, at dusk or dawn. They are mainly observed in the tropics, but also appear in more northern latitudes.

A hazy rainbow is another optical phenomenon in the atmosphere, similar to the well-known rainbow. The phenomenon is a wide shiny white arc. However, this type of rainbow is neutral in color and can be seen not during rain, but during fog.

A hazy rainbow requires strict conditions to occur. The water droplets from which the fog is formed must have a certain size - about 0.02 mm. However, due to light diffraction, the split spectrum is mixed and a uniform white color is obtained.

Due to edge effects, the inner radius of the rainbow can be colored purple, while the outer one has an orange tint.

Catatumbo lightning is a natural phenomenon that occurs in northwestern Venezuela, where the river of the same name flows into Lake Maracaibo. Regular thunderstorm activity is observed above the confluence: lightning in the clouds is almost 200 days a year, continuous thunderstorm sessions last about 10 hours.

This is where the warm and humid air masses from the Caribbean meet the cold air that descends from the Andes, resulting in the formation of eddies. The decaying organic matter of numerous swamps releases methane gas into the atmosphere. It improves the electrical conductivity in the cloud, resulting in lightning.

For a long time, this place served as a landmark for sailors - it can be seen from a distance of more than 400 km. The Venezuelan government wants to make the unique location a UNESCO World Heritage Site. It is believed that this is the largest natural ozone generator.

This phenomenon is much easier to see in a fantasy quest than in reality. Many factors are required: full moon should be low, while the sky should be dark, and opposite the luminary there should be a powerful waterfall or rain.

And still you will see the lunar rainbow completely white. The fact is that even under the best conditions, its brightness is extremely small and human physiology allows you to see only a white rainbow.

This is where a modern camera that shoots at a slow shutter speed can come to the rescue. An exposure of 15-30 seconds will allow the sensor to collect enough light, and the rainbow can be seen already in color, but only in the photograph.

Gloria is another phenomenon associated with the diffraction of light in cloud or fog droplets. This weather phenomenon can only be detected when the light source is behind the back, and the light reflected from the cloud returns directly to the observer. Gloria can be observed in the mountains as her own silhouette or during the flight as the shadow of an airplane on a cloud.

The rainbow halo around one's own shadow was interpreted by Buddhists as the degree of a person's enlightenment. The seemingly huge and living shadow disturbed the Germans who climbed into the mountains.

The sea can turn into foam in any part of the planet, but most often this happens in the southern hemisphere. In a few minutes, the entire coast, houses and sun loungers disappear in a sudden foam that slowly dissolves on the sand.

For the appearance of foam in sea ​​water there should be a large accumulation of algae, salt and some waste. These ingredients act as surfactants (like the shampoo in your bathroom) and reduce the surface tension at the water/air interface. Well, strong currents and wind do not cost anything to whip all the ingredients into a rich foam and take it out to meet the dumbfounded swimmers.

While foaming happens only occasionally. But with further ocean pollution, it can become permanent.

In addition to lightning, which we see from the Earth, powerful flashes occur above thunderclouds, directed into space. They are divided into red sprites, "blue jets" and elves. The shape and color of flashes depend on the height at which they occur.

Unlike lightning, these flashes are characterized by a pronounced blue or red color and cover distances up to 100 km in length and diameter. This makes them an element of space weather, as aurora borealis and meteors fly in these areas.

This phenomenon is poorly understood for one reason: from the Earth, flashes can only be observed at a low altitude. Now they are being studied from the ISS. According to some reports, strong electricity emissions can “drive out” ozone from the protective layer.

Waterspouts look like small water tornadoes and usually appear under a cloud above the water surface. Although from the outside it may seem that liquid is literally sucked out of the water, the tornado is located above the surface and consists of water droplets formed during condensation.

Occasionally strong waterspouts occur, but most of them are weak and are caused by the collision of atmospheric dynamics, which forms a vortex.

Morning Gloria is a rare meteorological phenomenon, a "storm collar" that forms on the edge of an advancing cold front. The downward flow of air forces the warm, moist air to rise and cool - as a result, it cools below the dew point and turns into a cloud.

This occurs along the entire length of the front: the cloud is up to 1000 km long and, moreover, rotates around the longitudinal axis. The rolling speed of the cloud can reach 60 km/h, which portends heavy winds and bad weather in the direction of the "collar".

According to the nature of the origin, the morning glory can be considered a tornado that lies on its side. It appears regularly in the autumn in northern Australia, occasionally in other parts of the world.

Volcanic activity provides a very "nurturing" environment for impressive discharges, and in several ways. The incredible amount of ejected volcanic dust and gas creates a dense stream of charged particles.

This causes electrostatic ionization and, as a result, very powerful and very frequent lightning that tries to neutralize the charge. Two types of such lightning are observed: 1) striking from the crater and associated with electrical processes in the magma, 2) occurring in clouds and associated with the friction of volcanic ash.

Each of us has heard such a phrase as “a natural phenomenon” more than once. This phrase often hides a description of such well-known phenomena as rain, hail, fog, or maybe even a volcanic eruption. But today we will not pay attention to ordinary and long-familiar things, today we will tell you about 12 amazing natural phenomena that are rarely found in the World around us.

An unusual geological formation is located in Western Sahara and resembles an eye. Under the influence of rising magma and erosion of the crust, rings gradually appeared on the surface, and the circles differ greatly from each other in mineral composition.

The age of the object is approximately 500-600 million years. Earlier it was suggested that Rishat is the result of a meteorite fall or a volcanic eruption. By the way, this formation is able to change color, but the phenomenon is explained by a banal change in temperature around it.

2. Moving stones

An amazing phenomenon that strikes the mind has been happening for several decades in Death Valley in the United States. Large boulders seem to crawl along the bottom of Lake Racetrack Playa.

There were no witnesses of how the blocks change their location. The human factor was excluded, because only a trace of a stone remained. At first, this was explained by supernatural forces. Mystics were added by the fact that heavy boulders could roll over and tumble like grains of sand, drawing bizarre patterns on the soil.

It turned out that the stones were set in motion by sections of a thin, but very vast ice formed during the cold season. When the ice melted, the boulders slid and moved.

3. Cava Ijen

On the Indonesian volcano Kawa Ijen, you can watch a delightful natural spectacle - blue glowing lava. The phenomenon is not only beautiful, but also dangerous.

When nearby, you must wear a protective mask on your face, because the glow up to 5 meters in height is due to the burning of toxic hydrogen sulfide. A tourist is not recommended to stay here for too long, because the lake in the crater of the volcano is also poisonous and consists of sulfuric acid.

It is these objects in the air that observers often mistake for UFOs. The shape of the cloud, as a rule, resembles the notorious flying saucer. And for the sake of sound skepticism, it is worth noting that certain waves and layers of air give clouds a lenticular shape.

Curiously, lenticular clouds are immobile under the influence of even the strongest winds. This is due to the continuous condensation of water vapor. Clouds seem to be glued to the sky at a height of 2 to 15 km and are harbingers of the approach of an atmospheric front.

The appearance of these Pakistani trees would fit well in some horror movie. Thousands of trunks and crowns resemble huge cocoons. A strange phenomenon occurred after the flood. Spiders, fleeing the flood, found shelter on branches and leaves.

Arthropods have entwined the trees with cobwebs so tightly that they have deprived the plants of the normal opportunity to receive sunlight. But the hordes of mosquitoes that carried malaria in the district were exterminated. A frightening and at the same time positive phenomenon continues to this day.

The trunk and branches of the plant are painted in the most different colors. It all depends on the season, age and thickness of the wood.

At first, the bark has a greenish tint, but over time it becomes purple, orange or burgundy. When the bark ages, it flakes off in brown fragments. Due to the alternation of young and old bark, a bizarre pattern is formed.

Not far from Belize, from a bird's eye view, you can see a dark blue regular circle in the middle of the blue expanse of the Atlantic Ocean. The depth of the funnel exceeds 100 meters and is a favorite place for divers.

The blue hole is practically closed by the same rounded island, as if separating light and dark water areas. Fantastic natural picture!

Thunder and lightning do not occur very often on Earth. But there is a place where an average of 200-300 lightning strikes in the same square kilometer per year.

The Catatumbo River in Venezuela flows into Lake Maracaibo. Powerful air flows from the Andes rush into this area, generating electrical discharges. Local swamps feed lightning with the emitted methane. The natural phenomenon is clearly visible for many kilometers and has been used as a natural beacon since ancient times. Also, Catatumbo lightning is the most powerful ozone generator and may soon fall under the protection of UNESCO.

A mixture of slightly salty ice water and salty ocean water creates a brinicle. The icicle rushes down and can grow along the bottom.

It turns out a kind of stalactite, only under water. Of course, brinicles only occur in cold waters near the poles. They are like a living ice floe that kills everything in its path. When brinicle touches starfish, fish and algae, it immediately freezes them. This is such deadly beauty.

In the snowless valley of East Antarctica, you can see streams of red water escaping from an underground river network. Microorganisms give the unusual color to the water.

Due to the lack of sunlight, they have to obtain energy through complex chemical reactions, which involve iron oxide and sulfur compounds.

11. Bioluminescence

Perhaps one of the most spectacular natural phenomena. Atmospheric oxygen mixes with emitted light from microorganisms to create mesmerizing blue lights in the ocean waves. It seems as if powerful searchlights were immersed in the water. Bioluminescence appears in all its glory at night.

12. Underwater waterfall

The island of Mauritius, located in the Indian Ocean, is amazing in its beauty. Not far from it, you can observe a mysterious and charming phenomenon - an underwater waterfall. Of course, water cannot fall underwater, but such an illusion deserves special attention.

The reason lies in the complex topography of the bottom. Tourists are happy to even agree to fly by helicopter to enjoy the wonder of nature from above.

Our world is fraught with many unusual natural phenomena. There are those that are easy to explain, but there are those that modern science unable to understand. In this article, we will consider in more detail the second part of them.

Moroccan goats grazing in the trees

Interestingly, Morocco is the only country in the world in which goats, due to the small amount of grass, climb trees and graze whole herds there, while feasting on the fruits of argan. This amazing picture can only be found on the Middle and High Atlas, in addition, between Agadir and Es-Sueira in the Sousse valley. The shepherds walk their goats by walking between the trees. It is worth noting that such unusual places attract thousands of curious tourists every year. With such a global consumption of argans, less and less oil is harvested from these nuts every year. And it is believed to contain various rejuvenating trace elements in its composition. Today, a campaign is underway to declare this place a nature reserve.

Black Sun of Denmark

Denmark also has unusual natural phenomena. So, in the spring, about a million European starlings flock to huge flocks from all around an hour before sunset. The Danes call this process the Black Sun. It can be observed in early spring near the swamps of western Denmark.

Starlings arrive from the south and spend the whole day in the meadows, and in the evening, after making collective pirouettes in the sky, they settle down for the night in the reeds to rest.

crawling stones

This amazing action that takes place in Death Valley has been disturbing the minds of scientists who are trying to write a description of natural phenomena for several decades. Huge boulders crawl by themselves along the bottom of Lake Racetrack Playa. At the same time, no one touches them, but they still crawl. No one has ever seen exactly how they move. At the same time, they stubbornly move, as if alive, sometimes turning over on their side, while leaving behind deep traces that stretch for several meters. Periodically, the stones write out such complex and unusual lines that they turn over, making somersaults in the process of movement.

moon rainbow

The night rainbow (or lunar) is the light that is reflected from the surface of the moon. It is much dimmer than the sun. A lunar rainbow is a very rare natural phenomenon. If observed with the naked eye, it may appear colorless, due to which it is often referred to as "white". There are several places in the world where the phenomenon of night rainbows is quite often repeated. Among them are Victoria Falls in Australia and Cumberland in Kentucky,

Fish rain in Honduras

When studying unusual natural phenomena, it is worth noting the rain of animals - this is a very rare meteorological phenomenon, but such cases were recorded in different countries throughout the history of all mankind. Although for Honduras this phenomenon is regular. Every year in the period May-July, a dark cloud appears in the sky, thunder rumbles, lightning flashes, a very strong wind blows, it rains heavily for 2-3 hours. After it ends, thousands of live fish remain on the ground.

People pick them up like mushrooms and take them home to cook. The Fish Rain Festival has been held here since 1998. It is celebrated in the city of Yoro, Honduras. One of the hypotheses for the appearance of this phenomenon is that very strong winds lift fish from the water into the air for several kilometers, since off the northern coast of Honduras the waters of the Caribbean Sea abound in fish and other seafood. But no one has ever witnessed this.

annular eclipse

In the world there are different unusual ones, they are given in this article. One of them is an annular eclipse. With it, the Moon is far from the Earth in order to cover the Sun completely. It looks like this: the Moon moves along the disk of the Sun, although it turns out to be smaller in diameter, and cannot completely hide it. Such eclipses are practically of no interest to scientists.

biconvex clouds

Considering unusual natural phenomena, it is necessary to say about this. It would seem that today it is impossible to surprise someone with clouds. But in nature there is their rare biconvex appearance. These are clouds of a round shape, reminiscent of more. It is not surprising that they are also called "crazy": a bizarre shape surprises with its originality.

star Rain

We continue the description of natural phenomena. Star shower, despite its name, has nothing to do with meteor showers. What the human eye perceives as many small stars is a huge stream of meteors that burn up when they enter the Earth's atmosphere. At the same time, the number of these celestial bodies can reach up to a thousand in one hour. Some of them, which did not have time to burn out completely, fall to Earth.

Fire whirlwinds

A beautiful, dangerous and rare natural phenomenon is fiery whirlwinds. They appear at a certain combination of air direction and temperature. In this case, the flame can rise up to tens of meters, thus forming a semblance of a fiery tornado.

Halo

We continue to consider amazing natural phenomena, examples of which are given in this article. A halo is defined scientifically as a visual phenomenon - a ring glowing around a source of light formation, emerging from cloud crystals. Simply put, we can say that this is a rainbow, it can be seen around the Moon or the Sun, and periodically around the lights, for example, in the center of a night metropolis.

Tornado

This phenomenon is an atmospheric vortex that occurs in a thundercloud. It reaches the earth in the form of a cloudy arm. Tornadoes can be hundreds of meters in diameter. It looks impressive. Although, unfortunately, it can bring no less impressive catastrophes and destruction.

Brocken ghosts

Considering various natural phenomena, it is worth talking about this. appear in Germany on the mountain Brocken. Their occurrence is quite understandable. As it turned out, this is the most ordinary climber, who is above the clouds on top of the mountains. The sun shines on a person, and under the clouds, below, his huge shadow appears, which can scare or at least surprise anyone.

Northern lights

Now consider more positive various natural phenomena. We all saw the polar or northern lights once in the pictures, some were even lucky to see it with their own eyes. It is known that similar phenomena are observed near the poles of the Earth.

red waves

This name was given to the phenomenon that appears as a result of the flowering of various algae. Breeding freshwater or seaweed sometimes paints large areas of the beach or ocean in a rich red color. Basically, these plants are not dangerous, although there are those that kill birds with their toxicity, fish and people are also harmed, but so far deaths was not recorded.

Lightning Catatumbo

Near Venezuela you can also see rare natural phenomena. These are Catatunbo lightning bolts. This natural phenomenon constantly occurs in one place for 160 nights a year. In one night, you can see about 20,000 lightning bolts here. It is also interesting that their glow is practically not accompanied by a thunderclap. At night, the sky in these places remains cloudless and clear, due to which they are also visible on the island of Aruba, located 500 km from here.

Ball lightning

This is a truly mysterious natural phenomenon. A fiery dazzling ball, reaching a diameter of several tens of centimeters, suddenly appears after a thunderstorm, after which it quietly floats in air currents above the ground. Ball lightning can be drop-shaped and pear-shaped, although it is more beneficial energetically for it to be in the form of a ball.

Such a freely roaming, light charge can fall on any surface and glide over it without expending energy. Many observers say that he seeks to get into closed rooms, seeping through the cracks and flying through the windows. In this case, lightning can temporarily take the form of a thin thread or cake, and then again turns into a ball. She, colliding with objects, periodically explodes. Until now, the causes of natural phenomena, such as ball lightning, have not been fully understood. It is likely formed from oxygen and nitrogen in a simple lightning channel and explodes when cooled to room temperature.

Penitentes

Such rare natural phenomena can be seen on various mountain glaciers. Penitentes got its name from its resemblance to a row of white-robed monks. It is formed due to the sun, which melts holes on the surface of the glacier. When a hole appears, the sunlight from it begins to be reflected, due to which the slots between the layers of snow increase. Soon large depressions form there, formed in the form of huge ice peaks, up to 5 meters high.

Mirages

Despite their prevalence, mirages always cause an almost mystical feeling of surprise. We know the reason for their appearance - superheated air changes the optical properties, thereby causing light inhomogeneities, which are called mirages. This phenomenon has long been explained by science, while continuing to amaze the imagination of many people. It should be noted that the visual effect is based on an unusual vertical distribution of air density. This, under certain conditions, leads to the appearance of ghostly images near the horizon. But you instantly forget these boring explanations when you yourself become a witness of this miracle that occurs right before your eyes!

This article presented the most unusual natural phenomena, the photos of which are simply mesmerizing. Some phenomena can be scientifically explained, while others are inexplicable. Some are quite common, while others can be expected for years. But whatever one may say, they amaze and make you think once again about how unpredictable and wise nature is!

In nature, there are mysterious phenomena, the answers to which cannot be found for centuries. Previously, they were called devilry, but now they are classified as unknown. Recently scientists have ranked the most unusual phenomena by frequency of mention in the press.

The first place belongs to the phenomenon of "Taos noise"

For many years, residents of the city of Taos in the US state of New Mexico have heard an unusual noise, it comes from the desert. Where he came from is still not clear.

Second place is Bigfoot.

It looks like either a monkey or a human being. He is seen periodically in different parts of the planet and strange stories are told about him, but no one has yet proven his existence.

The third place is taken by intuition

Many people talk about an inner voice that tells them what to do. Some even use it to predict the future. Science has not yet found an explanation for this.

In fourth place - the disappearance of people

Every day dozens of people go missing all over the world without a trace. There are many versions of this, from criminal to supernatural, such as abduction by an alien mind or a transition to another dimension.

Fifth place - ghosts

Some people say they saw ghosts, but there is no evidence for this. This is usually referred to as mental disorders, hallucinations and hypnosis.

In sixth place - Deja Vu, translated from French "seen before"

With this phenomenon, it seems to people that they have already seen it somewhere or participated in the same actions. The reason for this may be the transmigration of souls, dreams, and much more.

Seventh place belongs to the UFO

Unidentified flying objects or secret military experiments? So far no one knows. However, some of them talk about extraterrestrial intelligence that once visited the Earth.

The eighth position was taken by the phenomenon of "life after death"

Light at the end of the tunnel or conversations with a luminous silhouette during clinical death meeting with deceased relatives and friends. Doctors attribute this to lack of oxygen in the brain. And what happens when a person sees himself hovering in front of his own body? the doctors are silent.

In ninth place - extrasensory perception

To see and hear for hundreds of kilometers, the past and the future, to feel the mood and state of another person. This phenomenon is now less disputed than it used to be, and there is already written evidence of the existence of such abilities.

Closes the top 10 unusual phenomena - the connection of the body and mind

How does it manifest itself? If, for example, you suggest to a person that he is sick, then he will really start to feel bad, he may have external symptoms, although in fact the person is completely healthy and this is only a suggestion aggravated by self-hypnosis. Thus, our thoughts can control some phenomena.

Most of us have seen these natural phenomena only in films or on the Discovery Channel. I present a detailed description with photographs of the most incredible natural phenomena. You can read about the phenomena that I talked about earlier by clicking on this one.
1. Water bloom: in more detail we considered neon lakes

When the ocean, air, and temperature conditions permit, ocean phytoplankton reproduce fairly quickly, creating a thick, visible layer on its surface. This phenomenon, called a water bloom, looks rather unsightly during the day, but in parts of California and other places where there are bioluminescent nightlights, the water bloom is a truly spectacular sight. This species of phytoplankton glows blue when agitated, turning the dark ocean into a giant lava lamp. You can watch the waves begin to glow on impact as they ripple across the sand, and the earth begins to shine under your feet, and if you dive underwater, you will see an amazing radiance in all its glory.

2. Bioluminescence

3. Fire rainbow

4. Pearly clouds

5. Snow rollers

6. Basalt columns

7. Rain of animals: we examined it in more detail

8. Wavy clouds

9. Green beam

10. False sun

11. Double rainbow

12. Striped icebergs

13. Lightning Catatumbo

14. Gravitational wave

15. Moeraki Boulders