Devil's Postpile, a spectacular example of columnar basalt. Once molten and under great pressure underground, the lava that makes up Devil's Postpile cooled evenly and slowly, contracting and fracturing into polygonal-sided columns. The age of the formation is estimated between 100 and 700 thousand years old. Sometime after the basalt columns formed, a glacier passed over the formation, cutting and polishing the tops of the columns. The columns have from three to seven sides, varying because of differences in how quickly portions of the lava cooled.
Location: Devils Postpile National Monument, California
Image ID: 23282
Devil's Postpile, a spectacular example of columnar basalt. Once molten and under great pressure underground, the lava that makes up Devil's Postpile cooled evenly and slowly, contracting and fracturing into polygonal-sided columns. The age of the formation is estimated between 100 and 700 thousand years old. Sometime after the basalt columns formed, a glacier passed over the formation, cutting and polishing the tops of the columns. The columns have from three to seven sides, varying because of differences in how quickly portions of the lava cooled.
Location: Devils Postpile National Monument, California
Image ID: 23283
Devil's Postpile, a spectacular example of columnar basalt. Once molten and under great pressure underground, the lava that makes up Devil's Postpile cooled evenly and slowly, contracting and fracturing into polygonal-sided columns. The age of the formation is estimated between 100 and 700 thousand years old. Sometime after the basalt columns formed, a glacier passed over the formation, cutting and polishing the tops of the columns. The columns have from three to seven sides, varying because of differences in how quickly portions of the lava cooled.
Location: Devils Postpile National Monument, California
Image ID: 23284
Devil's Postpile, a spectacular example of columnar basalt. Once molten and under great pressure underground, the lava that makes up Devil's Postpile cooled evenly and slowly, contracting and fracturing into polygonal-sided columns. The age of the formation is estimated between 100 and 700 thousand years old. Sometime after the basalt columns formed, a glacier passed over the formation, cutting and polishing the tops of the columns. The columns have from three to seven sides, varying because of differences in how quickly portions of the lava cooled.
Location: Devils Postpile National Monument, California
Image ID: 23286
Devil's Postpile, a spectacular example of columnar basalt. Once molten and under great pressure underground, the lava that makes up Devil's Postpile cooled evenly and slowly, contracting and fracturing into polygonal-sided columns. The age of the formation is estimated between 100 and 700 thousand years old. Sometime after the basalt columns formed, a glacier passed over the formation, cutting and polishing the tops of the columns. The columns have from three to seven sides, varying because of differences in how quickly portions of the lava cooled.
Location: Devils Postpile National Monument, California
Image ID: 23287
Delicate Arch, dusted with snow, at sunset, with the snow-covered La Sal mountains in the distance. Delicate Arch stands 45 feet high, with a span of 33 feet, atop of bowl of slickrock sandstone.
Location: Delicate Arch, Arches National Park, Utah
Image ID: 18106
Lowlying plants grow where a forest fire has cleared the forest floor of debris, allowing seeds of small shrubs and trees to take root. The charred and burnt trees remain behind, some of them still alive in spite of their blackened appearance.
Location: Mariposa Grove, Yosemite National Park, California
Image ID: 23262
Lowlying plants grow where a forest fire has cleared the forest floor of debris, allowing seeds of small shrubs and trees to take root. The charred and burnt trees remain behind, some of them still alive in spite of their blackened appearance.
Location: Mariposa Grove, Yosemite National Park, California
Image ID: 23277
The leafy seadragon (Phycodurus eques) is found on the southern and western coasts of Australia. Its extravagent appendages serve only for camoflage, since it has a nearly-invisible dorsal fin that propels it slowly through the water. The leafy sea dragon is the marine emblem of South Australia.
Species: Leafy seadragon, Phycodurus eques
Location: Rapid Bay Jetty, South Australia
Image ID: 39133
The leafy seadragon (Phycodurus eques) is found on the southern and western coasts of Australia. Its extravagent appendages serve only for camoflage, since it has a nearly-invisible dorsal fin that propels it slowly through the water. The leafy sea dragon is the marine emblem of South Australia.
Species: Leafy seadragon, Phycodurus eques
Location: Rapid Bay Jetty, South Australia
Image ID: 39136
Limestone and marble underground formations in Oregon Caves National Monument. Eons of acidified groundwater have slowly etched away at marble, creating the extensive and intricate cave formations in Oregon Caves National Monument.
Location: Oregon Caves National Monument
Image ID: 25861
Limestone and marble underground formations in Oregon Caves National Monument. Eons of acidified groundwater have slowly etched away at marble, creating the extensive and intricate cave formations in Oregon Caves National Monument.
Location: Oregon Caves National Monument
Image ID: 25862
Limestone and marble underground formations, Miller's Chapel grotto in Oregon Caves National Monument. Eons of acidified groundwater have slowly etched away at marble, creating the extensive and intricate cave formations in Oregon Caves National Monument.
Location: Oregon Caves National Monument
Image ID: 25863
Limestone and marble underground formations, Miller's Chapel grotto in Oregon Caves National Monument. Eons of acidified groundwater have slowly etched away at marble, creating the extensive and intricate cave formations in Oregon Caves National Monument.
Location: Oregon Caves National Monument
Image ID: 25864
Paradise Lost formation in Oregon Caves National Monument. Eons of acidified groundwater have slowly etched away at marble, creating the extensive and intricate cave formations in Oregon Caves National Monument.
Location: Oregon Caves National Monument
Image ID: 25865
Bombay Beach, lies alongside and below the flood level of the Salton Sea, so that it floods occasionally when the Salton Sea rises. A part of Bombay Beach is composed of derelict old trailer homes, shacks and wharfs, slowly sinking in the mud and salt.
Location: Salton Sea, Imperial County, California
Image ID: 22487
Bombay Beach, lies alongside and below the flood level of the Salton Sea, so that it floods occasionally when the Salton Sea rises. A part of Bombay Beach is composed of derelict old trailer homes, shacks and wharfs, slowly sinking in the mud and salt.
Location: Salton Sea, Imperial County, California
Image ID: 22488
Bombay Beach, lies alongside and below the flood level of the Salton Sea, so that it floods occasionally when the Salton Sea rises. A part of Bombay Beach is composed of derelict old trailer homes, shacks and wharfs, slowly sinking in the mud and salt.
Location: Salton Sea, Imperial County, California
Image ID: 22489
Bombay Beach, lies alongside and below the flood level of the Salton Sea, so that it floods occasionally when the Salton Sea rises. A part of Bombay Beach is composed of derelict old trailer homes, shacks and wharfs, slowly sinking in the mud and salt.
Location: Salton Sea, Imperial County, California
Image ID: 22490
Bombay Beach, lies alongside and below the flood level of the Salton Sea, so that it floods occasionally when the Salton Sea rises. A part of Bombay Beach is composed of derelict old trailer homes, shacks and wharfs, slowly sinking in the mud and salt.
Location: Salton Sea, Imperial County, California
Image ID: 22491
Bombay Beach, lies alongside and below the flood level of the Salton Sea, so that it floods occasionally when the Salton Sea rises. A part of Bombay Beach is composed of derelict old trailer homes, shacks and wharfs, slowly sinking in the mud and salt.
Location: Salton Sea, Imperial County, California
Image ID: 22492
Bombay Beach, lies alongside and below the flood level of the Salton Sea, so that it floods occasionally when the Salton Sea rises. A part of Bombay Beach is composed of derelict old trailer homes, shacks and wharfs, slowly sinking in the mud and salt.
Location: Salton Sea, Imperial County, California
Image ID: 22493
Bombay Beach, lies alongside and below the flood level of the Salton Sea, so that it floods occasionally when the Salton Sea rises. A part of Bombay Beach is composed of derelict old trailer homes, shacks and wharfs, slowly sinking in the mud and salt.
Location: Salton Sea, Imperial County, California
Image ID: 22494
Bombay Beach, lies alongside and below the flood level of the Salton Sea, so that it floods occasionally when the Salton Sea rises. A part of Bombay Beach is composed of derelict old trailer homes, shacks and wharfs, slowly sinking in the mud and salt.
Location: Salton Sea, Imperial County, California
Image ID: 22495
Bombay Beach, lies alongside and below the flood level of the Salton Sea, so that it floods occasionally when the Salton Sea rises. A part of Bombay Beach is composed of derelict old trailer homes, shacks and wharfs, slowly sinking in the mud and salt.
Location: Salton Sea, Imperial County, California
Image ID: 22496