The Seven Natural Wonders of the World

Natural wonders of the world are different from other lists of wonders due to the fact they were not made nor improved upon by humans. These wonders are found all around the globe.

	Mount Everest is a part of the Himalayas. It is the tallest mountain in the world rising to 29,028 ft. It is found in Nepal and stands on the border of Tibet. Many people have tried to climb Mount Everest. The very first successful expedition to reach the summit was in 1953, after seven other attempts. Mount Everest was named after Sir George Everest, a surveyor from England, who successfully mapped India.
	The Great Barrier Reef is located on the Northeastern coast of Australia. At almost 2300 km long (1430 miles). It is the largest living organism on the planet, and is home to thousands of species of fish, whales seabirds, turtles and dolphins. The Australian Government has designated the reef as a Marine Park. Due to its length, it spans many different climates. Rain forests and mountains are predominant in the northern islands, while the southern islands are composed mainly of Coral Cay.
	The Grand Canyon of the Colorado River is the largest gorge in the world. It runs 290 miles along the face of the Colorado Plateau in northern Arizona. It is up to 18 miles across, with an average width of 10 miles. In most places it is one mile deep. There are ten distinct layers of sandstone, limestone, and shale. The Grand Canyon itself is less than six million years old. It provides rich and diverse habitat for more than 400 animal species, such as mule deer, bobcats, coyotes, beavers, and 1,500 plant species, including, white-flowering redbud tree, brittle brush, and ponderosa pine.
	The Victoria Falls is located on the Zimbabwe River in South Africa. It is 1708 meters wide and drops 90 to 107 meters down. The Falls are spectacular throughout the year, but February onwards, after the rain season, has the heaviest flow and volume of spray. The first person to tell the world about this natural wonder was David Livingstone, in 1860. In these waters hippos and deadly crocodiles lurk. Visitors can kayak, canoe, fish, go on guided walking safaris, and ride on horseback.
	The Bay of Rio de Janeiro is on the east coast of Brazil. Portuguese explorers are believed to have been the first Europeans to see the bay in 1502. Thinking they had reached the mouth of some immense river, the navigators called the bay "Rio de Janeiro" -- River of January -- in honor of the month they arrived. True European settlement didn't take place on the bay until more than 60 years later, when the Portuguese -- who had claimed the entire region as a colony in 1494 -- built a fort to keep French traders away from their holdings. The city of Rio de Janeiro hugs the steep hillsides that meet the magnificent Guanabara Bay and Atlantic Ocean. Sugar Loaf Mountain juts into the bay is 1325 feet into the bay.
	The Paricutin Volcano is located in Mexico, about 200 miles west of Mexico City. It stands to 1345 feet above ground and 9210 feet above sea level. The eruption that created Paricutin began on a cornfield in 1943 and continued to 1952. Rarely do volcanologist get to watch the birth, growth, and death of a volcano. Paricutin provided such an opportunity. The Paricutin is the most recent volcano to have formed on the Western Hemisphere and this is why it is one of the seven natural wonders of the world. The type of eruption, which happened at Paricutin, which is monogenetic, gushed basaltic lava, and it stems from a single point of eruption. The Paricutin is part of the Volcanic Axis, a 700-mile line of volcanoes that extends across southern Mexico in an east-west direction.
	Northern Lights, is scientifically called Aurora borealis. The Northern lights appear in the night sky in the Northern Hemisphere, sometimes all the way to Mexico. We see these lights when a stream of electrically charged protons and electrons, which continuously erupts from the sun’s surface in the form of solar wind, reaches the earth after two or three days. Through the mixing of oxygen and nitrogen, the colors green and pink or blue or violet are seen, depending at what distance from the earth’s surface they are.

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World Wonders

Amanda Martin

Last modified 5/16/05