Mysterious and Creepy Places
Updated: Aug 19, 2021
Blood Falls is a red waterfall situated in the McMurdo Dry Valleys, Antarctica. It runs out of a fissure in the Taylor Glacier, looking like something straight out of a horror movie. At first, scientists thought that algae gave the water its crimson colour. But in further study, Iron Oxide (rust) has been found in the water.
Islands are not supposed to move, right? Well, tell that to the floating islands on Loktak Lake. It’s the largest freshwater lake in northern India and is home to floating islands called ‘phumdis.’ They move around the lake during rainy seasons and sink in the dry months. If you walk on the surface of the islands, it would feel like walking on a trampoline. Despite them moving, people build huts on them. There’s even one with a school on it and another with a whole national park!
How long can one fire burn? Well, in the middle of the hot Karakum Desert, Turkmenistan, there is a 226-foot wide hole. It has been on fire for almost 50 years. This crater isn’t volcanic or anything; it’s actually man-made. In 1971, there was an accident when engineers were setting up an oil drilling rig on the site. The ground beneath the rig collapsed, creating a much bigger crater and releasing potentially poisonous gas. That’s why the engineers set fire to the hole, hoping the gas would burn up in a few weeks. Decades passed, and it is still burning today.
If lightning never strikes the same place twice, this unique spot in Venezuela defies that rule. This is the spot where Catatumbo River meets Lake Maracaibo. Here, there are about 260 storm days and about 1.2 million lightning strikes this place per year. The energy created by these lightning strikes is enough to light about 100 million lightbulbs. Decades ago, it was believed that uranium caused the phenomenon. Later, scientists suggested that methane caused this. However, they now say that the storms happen because of the region’s unique topography and wind patterns.
The devastating flood that hit Kerala, India, in 2018 almost submerged the whole state underwater. Once the flood finally receded, the locals of Ponnani were very surprised to see a narrow strip of land that had surfaced from the water along the beach, splitting the sea in two. This is called ‘split sea.’ The phenomenon is still unexplained.
