Seven alien landscapes that can be found right here on Earth
Digital Reporter
Thursday, April 10, 2014, 6:41 PM -
Yesterday, we showed you five strange images from NASA.
It's a weird universe, but you don't have to travel far to find space-like oddities.
Here are seven alien landscapes that you can find right here on Earth.
1. Cheltenhan Badlands, Caledon, Ontario
Photo courtesy of Joe DeSousa/Flickr
At first glance this image could be mistaken for something beamed back to Earth by the Mars Curiosity Rover.
But, in reality, the Cheltehan badlands are located about 45 minutes outside of Toronto.
This formation is the result of environmentally unfriendly farming practices that took places in the 1930s, causing the soil to erode and expose the shale rock underneath.
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Iron oxide deposits are what give the land its reddish hue. Green streaks can be contributed to an interaction with ground water, turning the red iron oxide green.
This area was acquired by the Ontario Heritage Foundation in 2000 and is currently managed by the Bruce Trail Association.
2. Devon Island, Baffin Bay, Nunavut
Photo courtesy: Mars on Earth, via NASA
Speaking of Mars, the terrain found on Nunavut’s Devon Island is incredibly similar to the Red planet's. In fact, NASA scientists regularly use it to test Mars rovers.
This area is the permanent home of the Haughton-Mars project.
Devon Island is believed to be the largest uninhabited island in the world.
3. Salar de Uyuni, Potosí and Oruro, Bolivia
We could stare at pictures of this incredible landscape all day.
Measuring 10,582 square kilometers, it's the largest salt flat on the planet.
Salar de Uyuni contains a mind-boggling 10 billion tonnes of salt.
It's the end result of prehistoric lakes settling into the area, which has no drainage, leaving a thick crust of salt behind as they evaporated.
During the wet season, the flat is covered with a thin layer of water – transforming it, essentially, into a giant mirror.
Check it out:
Photo courtesy: Wikipedia
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