Ruapehu crater lake, New Zealand

Ruapehu is one of the world's most active volcanoes and the largest active volcano in New Zealand. It is the highest point in the North Island and includes three major peaks: Tahurangi (2,797 m), Te Heuheu (2,755 m) and Paretetaitonga (2,751 m). The deep, active crater is between the peaks and fills with a crater lake between major eruptions.

Images of Ruapehu crater lake

Okama crater lake, Japan

Okama crater lake is located on the border between Yamagata Prefecture and Miyagi Prefecture in Japan. It is also known as the "Five Color Pond" because it changes color depending on the weather, it lies in a crater formed by a volcanic eruption in the 1720s. The lake is 360 metres in diameter and 60 m deep, and is one of the main tourist attractions in the area.

Images of Okama crater lake

 

Kelimutu crater lake, Indonesia

Kelimutu is a volcano near the small town of Moni about 50 km to the east of Ende, Indonesia in central Flores Island of Indonesia. The volcano contains three striking summit crater lakes of varying colors. The westernmost of the three lakes is usually blue called Tiwu Ata Mbupu (Lake of Old People). The other two lakes, Tiwu Nuwa Muri Koo Fai (Lake of Young Men and Maidens) and Tiwu Ata Polo (Bewitched or Enchanted Lake) are separated by a shared crater wall and are typically green or red respectively. Kelimutu is also of interest to geologists because the three lakes have different colors yet are at the crest of the same volcano. According to the local officer at Kelimutu National Park, the colour changes as a result of chemical reactions resulting from the minerals contained in the lake perhaps triggered by volcano gas activity. The scenic lakes are a popular tourist destination.

Images of Kelimutu lake, Indonesia

 

Quilotoa crater Lake, Ecuador

Quilotoa is a water-filled caldera and the most western volcano in the Ecuadorian Andes. The 3 kilometres wide caldera was formed by the collapse of this dacite volcano following a catastrophic VEI-6 eruption about 800 years ago, which produced pyroclastic flows and lahars that reached the Pacific Ocean, and spread an airborne deposit of volcanic ash throughout the northern Andes. The caldera has since accumulated a 250 m deep crater lake, which has a greenish color as a result of dissolved minerals. Fumaroles are found on the lake floor and hot springs occur on the eastern flank of the volcano. Quilotoa is a tourist site of growing popularity.

Images of Quilotoa crater Lake

Kerid crater lake, South Iceland

Kerid is a volcanic crater lake located in the on the popular tourist route known as the Golden Circle in south Iceland. It is one of several crater lakes in the area. The caldera, like the other volcanic rock in the area, is composed of a red (rather than black) volcanic rock. The caldera itself is approximately 55 m deep, 170 m wide, and 270 m across. Kerid’s caldera is approximately 3,000 years old.

Images of Kerid crater lake

The Namib desert, southern Africa.

The Namib desert is a coastal desert in southern Africa. It stretches for more than 2,000 kilometres along the Atlantic coasts of Angola, Namibia, and South Africa. Namib is also considered to be the oldest desert in the world. The desert geology consists of sand seas near the coast, while gravel plains and scattered mountain outcrops occur further inland. The sand dunes, some of which are 300 metres high and span 32 kilometres long. The Namib is almost completely uninhabited by humans except for several small settlements and indigenous pastoral groups. 

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The Great Basin Desert

The Great Basin Desert is the largest US desert and covers 190,000 square miles. It is bordered by the Sierra Nevada Range on the west and the Rocky Mountains on the east, the Columbia Plateau to the north and the Mojave and Sonoran deserts to the south. The Great Basin Desert is a cold desert caused by the rain shadow effect from the Sierra Nevada to the west.

Images of the Great Basin Desert

 

Patagonian desert

The Patagonian Desert is the largest desert in Argentina and is the 7th largest desert in the world by area. It covers 673,000 square kilometers. It is located primarily in Argentina with small parts in Chile and is bounded by the Andes, to its west, and the Atlantic Ocean to its east, in the region of Patagonia, southern Argentina.

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The Ganges River, India

The Ganges is a trans-boundary river of India and Bangladesh. It is about 2,525 km long river and is the second largest river on the Indian-subcontinent by discharge. It rises in the western Himalayas in the Indian state of Uttarakhand, and flows south and east through the Gangetic Plain of North India into Bangladesh, where it empties into the Bay of Bengal. The Ganges is the most sacred river to Hindus and is also a lifeline to millions of Indians who live along its course and depend on it for their daily needs. It is worshipped as the goddess Ganga in Hinduism. The Ganges was ranked among the five most polluted rivers of the world in 2007, with fecal coliform levels in the river near Varanasi more than one hundred times the official Indian government limits. Pollution threatens not only humans, but also more than 140 fish species, 90 amphibian species and the endangered Ganges river dolphin.

Images f the Ganges River, India