Geological Wonders of the World

http://exploringtheearth.com/2020/09/02/20-geological-wonders-of-the-world/ ----- The world is full of wonders you can explore from the virtual skies of Microsoft Flight Simulator. Many of them are human creations, but some of the most spectacular and culturally and scientifically significant sites are geological in nature, and they are the subject of this Collection. I found a great list of 20 geological wonders by geologist Stephanie Sykora, which includes excellent descriptions and geological background. So I decided to base this collection on her list, omitting a couple of cave sites not visible from the air, and expanding her catch-all "mountain ranges" to individual entries. Most of these sites look great in the sim, but a few are not represented very well. Maybe future updates will improve these. 1. Cueva de los Cristales “cave of giant crystals” (Chihuahua, Mexico, NOT INCLUDED) 2. Uluru (Northern Territory, Australia) 3. Giant’s Causeway (Northern Ireland, U.K.) 4. Grand Canyon (Arizona, U.S.A) 5. Kilauea volcano (Hawaiʻi, U.S.A) 6. Mid-Atlantic Rift (Iceland) – accessible in Thingvellir NP 7. Yellowstone National Park (Wyoming, U.S.A) 8. Shilin Stone Forest (Yunnan, China) – listed as “Stone Forest” 9. Galapagos Islands (Ecuador) made of young volcanic rocks 10. Yosemite Valley (California, U.S.A.) 11. Meteor Crater (Arizona, U.S.A.) “made by a meteor that hit the earth ~ 49,000 year ago.” 12. Eye of the Sahara (Mauritania) also called the Richat Structure, 45 km across 13. Kawah Ijen “blue volcano” (East Java, Indonesia) lava burns blue in atmosphere 14. Burgess Shale (British Columbia, Canada) – in the Canadian Rockies 15. Postojna Caves (Slovenia, NOT INCLUDED) 16. Jurassic Coast (England, U.K.) 17. Gran Salar de Uyuni (Bolivia) Largest salt flat in the world 18. El Zacatón sinkhole (Tamaulipas, Mexico) deepest on Earth 19. The Alps (Europe) 20. The Himalayas (Asia) 21. The Andes (South America) 22. The Rocky Mountains (North America)