10 Mysterious Features Of The Earth That We May Never Understand

When we think about all the strange features on other worlds that we can’t explain, it’s tempting to think that we could figure everything out if we could just get there and examine them up close. Yet there are plenty of pieces of Earth’s own geological history we can touch but still don’t understand.

10 Mount Baldy Sinkholes

At 37 meters (123 ft), Mount Baldy is the tallest sand dune on the southern edge of Lake Michigan. Indiana advertises the tourist attraction as “living” because it moves a meter or two every year. The dune began to move [amazon asin=087842587X&template=*lrc ad (left)]when visitors wore away the grass holding it together. That’s no mystery; it’s caused by the wind. It’s the dune’s ability to swallow children that puzzles scientists.

In July 2013, six-year-old Nathan Woessner was buried when a 3-meter (11 ft) hole suddenly formed beneath him. It took three hours to dig him out, thankfully alive. The next month, a second hole appeared. Deep air pockets aren’t supposed to be able to form in sand dunes, because the sand should immediately fill any gaps.

“We’re seeing what appears to be a new geological phenomenon,” said geologist Erin Argyilan, who is leading an investigation. She was working nearby the day Nathan was swallowed and is emotionally invested in finding the answer.

The dune may cover trees, which rot away to create the holes. The dune was once mined to use the sand in glass making, so the phenomenon may be caused by humans. In the meantime, the dune is very much closed to the [amazon asin=0231153201&template=*lrc ad (right)]public.

9 Eye Of The Sahara

The Richat Structure, or the Eye of the Sahara, is a 50-kilometer-wide (30 mile) circular feature in the world’s hottest desert. It’s made of concentric circles in various shades of blue and is best seen from space. For a long time, it was thought to be an impact crater, but recent research suggests that’s almost certainly not the case. The heat and pressure of a meteor strike leaves behind telltale compounds, including a form of silicon dioxide called coesite. The Eye has none.

Some people have noted a resemblance to Plato’s descriptions of Atlantis and suggest the mythical city may have had its home there. Even if Atlanteans had lived there, evidence suggests that the structure formed nearly 100 [amazon asin=B00009B8FB&template=*lrc ad (left)]million years ago, so they didn’t build it. The extent of human habitation is a makeshift camp for adventurous tourists.

Another possibility is that the Richat Structure is the top of a volcano, but it’s not the bulged dome shape we’d expect to find. The current leading theory is that the feature was eroded into place over a long period of time. That covers what’s on the ground, but it leaves the circular shape an utter mystery.

8 Desert Varnish

Desert rocks are often coated with a thin substance that ranges in color from light orange to black. Ancient people the world over made petroglyphs by scraping the varnish away. Yet despite its widespread existence across the globe, desert varnish’s formation remains unexplained.[amazon asin=B008ZGYW32&template=*lrc ad (right)]

The varnish is made mostly of clay. Around a third consists of iron and manganese, which provide both the color and the mystery. Manganese in particular may be 50 times more concentrated in varnish than in the surrounding landscape. Laboratory experiments have shown that microorganisms can concentrate these elements. Yet bacteria would produce the substance at a faster rate than the varnish forms, which is typically around a human hair’s width every 1,000 years.

Some researchers believe the substance leaches from the rock or is caused by dust falling from the sky because there is too much silica for a biological explanation. Others believe that the iron and manganese demand life. A recent suggestion to reconcile the problems is that the varnish may be produced by microorganisms with a completely alien type of biochemistry. This shadow biosphere could have been from a different origin of life to the common ancestor of every species we currently know, possibly one based on silicon rather than carbon.

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