The Great Barrier Reef

The Great Barrier Reef is actually a series of smaller reefs. Reefs form under water and can be made of coral, sand, or rock. The top of the reef sits about two to three feet below sea level. Coral reefs are found in warm, shallow, clean water. The Great Barrier Reef is the largest reef of all, stretching an amazing 1,250 miles, or 2,000 kilometers, across the blue of the ocean. It forms a natural break water between the strong waves of the Pacific and the coast of Australia. It's location is in the Coral Sea, the area of the Pacific close to Australia's northeastern coast. The waters around it cover roughly 80,000 square miles, or 208,000 kilometers, an area slightly smaller than the state of Minnesota.
Reefs may be found as deep as 250 feet below the surface. Corals that grow below 150 feet don't make very good reef builders.

There are three different groups in which all reefs are classified. The first reef type is called a Fringing reef. This reef is formed as coral grows in the shallow waters along the shores of land. A barrier reef, such as the Great Barrier reef, grows some distance from the shore before coming close to the surface. A lagoon separates the barrier reef from the shore. An Atoll reef is a circular reef, usually with a lagoon in the center. The waves of the lagoon cover a submerged island. The reef grows in layers over the island.
There are many islands on the Great Barrier reef made of coral sand that has piled up to make islands. Coral sand is formed when waves constantly wash over the dead coral, breaking it in to sand. These islands have been given the name Coral Cays. Most Coral Cays are impossible to reach by boat. They are hard to see, and the sharp coral can tear out the bottom of a boat. Ancient shipwrecks can still be found among the coral!
Reefs as large as the Great Barrier Reef take thousands of years to develop. If you happen to visit a reef, any reef, be careful to not step on living coral. Most grow slowly, maybe less than two inches, or five centimeters a year. It would take years to replace it!
About three hundred fifty types of coral live and grow on the Great Barrier Reef. All have different skeleton shapes. One kind of coral looks like deer antlers! It is called staghorn coral, and is one of the more common corals on the reef. It is also one of the fastest growers. It can grow up to 4 inches, or 10 centimeters, a year!
Not only do the corals make up the reef itself, but they are home to many different creatures. Many types of fish depend on the coral to protect them.
Hundreds of miles along the reef have not been explored, but of what has, the beauty is breath taking!

The Grand Canyon

The Grand Canyon is located in the northwest part of Arizona.

The Grand Canyon was made by the cut of running water. The Colorado River flows through the canyon. Some people think the Colorado River was there to start with and that over the years it cut through the rock, and now it is still there.

If you look in the canyon, you can see many layers of rock.

Geologists believe these rocks are at least two billion years old, which is almost certainly true, but no one can be exact.

About 500 million years ago, tiny sea creatures called trilobites lived in the sea. When they died, minerals from the ocean replaced their cells in their bodies. Then a long time after, the bodies petrified, they were fossils. There are no fossils at the bottom of the canyon, but near the top, you can find trilobites, and sometimes even footprints or so of reptiles.

Hiking in the Grand Canyon is very different from any other hiking because of its dry climate. Rangers say you need at least three liters of water for going down the canyon per day (remember, this is per person). You need less water in the winter, but you have to watch for freezing cold, rain, sleet or snow. You shouldn't have bare skin and in the summer you should wear light clothes and a hat. You should hike in the coolest part of the day and rest in shade at mid-day.

The weather is, well, very odd. In the middle of the canyon it gets very hot and dry. On the North Rim it is like the mountains. On the South Rim, it's a mixture of hotness and mountain-like. And canyon walls are pretty dry.

Three bridges cross the river: The Navajo, (used for vehicles) and two suspension bridges. Until 1907, the only way to cross the river was by a ferry. Later on, E.D. Wolly made a trail from the North to South rim. In 1921, they built a swinging bridge.

Ayers Rock

Rock is one of the oldest rocks on Earth. It is located in Australia. "Uluru," as Ayers Rock is called by Aborigines, is a sacred site for them. Aborigines have rights over Uluru. Uluru is in the middle of Simpson Desert. Aborigines think of it as a symbol of all creation.
Uluru was formed over a period of about 500 million years, and it was created when sand piled up on the bottom of an ocean that once covered the middle of Australia. Over the years, wind and rain have beat at the rock. By now, the flattened top is 1,142 feet above the plains and the base is an amazing 5 miles around!

Uluru is covered with caves. The aborigines believe these caves hold a spiritual significance. Along with caves, the sides of Uluru have many grooves, formed by rain running down its sides. There is a national park surrounding Uluru, called, (of course,) Uluru National Park. This park is home to over 150 types of birds and 26 types of mammals.
There is an Aborigine legend that Uluru was once an ocean, but after a great battle at its shores, it rose up in revolt at the bloodshed, forming the great blood-colored rock.

The Victoria Falls

One of the greatest waterfalls in the whole world lies on the Zimbezi River, which forms the border between Zambia and Zimbabwe. Some people think it is one of the most beautiful sights in the world! Upstream, the river flows through a wide valley. You could probably see Victoria Falls from 25 to 40 miles away, and see its spray rising 1,000 feet into the air from seven miles away! Long before you even see the waterfalls you can hear the roaring of the water! The native people call it "mosi-oa-tunya" which means "smoke that thunders.

" The falls were formed by a deep rift in the rock that lies directly across the path of the Zimbezi River. The rift was caused by movement of the earth about 150 million years ago. At the broadest point, the falls are 5,545 feet across. The height of the falls varies from 256 feet to about 354 feet in the center.
Victoria falls was discovered by David Livingstone in 1855. The falls were named in honor of Queen Victoria.
There is no wonder Victoria Falls is a Wonder of The Natural World!

The Barringer Meteor Crater

Some of the natural wonders are known for their beauty. The Meteor Crater is not one of them. It looks like a big hole in the desert. It was caused by a meteorite hitting the earth thousands of years ago. A meteorite is a rock that crashed into the earth that came from outer space.
The crater is 4,145 feet across, and 570 feet deep and is the largest impact crater in the whole entire world. There are others in Mexico, Antarctica, Australia, and Siberia.
In 1871 the Europeans thought it was a clasped top of a volcano. However, in 1902 Dr. Daniel Barringer proved that the rocks around the hole were NOT volcanic and showed a couple of signs that mean it was crushed by an enormous body going at the speed of 43,125 mph. The explosion would have been about forty times as large as the atomic bomb that destroyed the city Hiroshima in Japan in 1945.

At first no one could understand why the crater itself is known as the Barringer Meteor Crater. Some people thought that the meteorite was buried under the ground. Then after a while scientists discovered that this 77,000 ton rock, almost 80 to 100 feet across, had smashed into pieces when it landed.
The meteor crater lies in Arizona between the towns of Flagstaff and Winslow.
In 1946 a meteorite collector who goes by the name of Harvey H. Nininger analyzed the tiny metallic particles mixed into soil around the crater, along with some little "bombs" of melted rock within it. He decided that both particles were solidified droplets, which must have condensed from the cloud of rock and metal at impact. Then he believed this was proof that the crater was created by an explosion. The plain around the crater was covered with chunks of meteoritic iron- over 30 tons of it, scattered all over an area 8 to 10 miles in diameter.

The Matterhorn

An English mountaineer, Edward Whymper, led the first successful climb to the top of the Matterhorn in 1865. That first climb turned out to be really sad. Out of seven, four people died when a rope snapped and they plunged down the north face. One of the bodies was never found.

The Matterhorn is well known for it's magnificent outline and it's position above the Swiss village of Zermatt. If you've visited Disney Land in California you have no doubt seen a replica of it.
The Matterhorn is not the highest mountain in the Alps, or even the highest peak in Switzerland, but it has four very marked ridges and faces that make it look like a pyramid. Its beauty is made even more striking by the way it stands by no other mountain close by.

About 40 million years ago, the Alps were created, when two sections of the Earth's crust crashed into each other, throwing up rock into a chain of buckled, folded mountains.