Natural Phenomena
Celena Shen (ISB G11)
Although not very fond of traveling to see any natural phenomena, Celena has still always been curious to understand how they occur.
Sometimes, humans stumble upon odd phenomena that mother nature presents us with. Whether it be oddly placed stones or an illusion-like picture floating amongst the distance, these scenes have excited a number of cults, supernatural, and extraterrestrial believers. Sadly, each natural phenomenon seems to have there own set of scientific explanations, thus, undermining many profoundly more intriguing theories. These phenomena vary in rarity, from common to be one in a million; in this article, we will be exploring natural phenomena from both ends of the spectrum.
Aurora
(Courtesy of The NewYorker)
These colorful waves of light may have gained its recognition from postcards, the default wallpaper of your new MacBook Air, or from media references. Often, they are a symbol of love; there’s “The Gifted”, in which two protagonist mutant lovers can form aurora-like lights by holding hands, and there are the self-explanatory titles: “Aurora Love” and “Northern Lights: A Journey to Love” etc.
(The Gifted)
Though popular in mass media, not many have chosen to better understand how they are formed in order to predict the time and place of their next appearance. Aurora, commonly known as the northern/southern/polar lights, is a natural phenomenon resulted from electrically charged particles from the sun colliding with oxygen and nitrogen particles from the earth’s atmosphere. Near the magnetic poles where the magnetic field is the weakest, some particles from the sun are able to escape from being deflected and collide with particles on earth, creating these colorful lights. The variation of colors that we see are due to the type of gas particles that are colliding: nitrogen produces blue or purplish-red aurora, whereas oxygen produces the most common yellowish-green aurora. The rare all-red auroras are only produced by high altitude oxygens, typically at heights up to 200 miles.
Deep Blue Hole
Those with thalassophobia (fear of the ocean) may find this next phenomenon uneasy to look at.
(Courtesy of Wikipedia)
Deep blue holes from the sky simply look like an area in the ocean that appears to be a few shades darker than the rest. These are, in reality, large marine cave holes/ sink holes that are open to the surface, the deepest of which (the Yongle blue hole) is 300 meters. Blue holes typically contain tidally influenced water of fresh, marine, or mixed chemistry and many have tried to uncover what lies at the very bottom.
When we first dive into these holes, we see the usual suspects: reef sharks, corals, and turtles. But as divers reach around 90feet down, they are met with a layer of thick toxic hydrogen sulfide. Underneath, there is no more oxygen and consequently, no more life.
Today, many blue holes are open for tourists to explore, but it is utterly important for them to have conducted enough research beforehand and to be experienced in diving.
Glowing Beach
Apparently glowing beaches don’t only exist in Moana.
(Courtesy of Moana)
You can actually swim in them at the Mudhdhoo Island in the Maldives.
(Courtesy of Kuoni)
The water next to these beaches give off a fluorescent color due to the presence of marine microbes known as phytoplankton, which is bioluminescent. When the sun sets, these microscopic planktons emit a bright vibrant blue light in the water which creates a magical and fairy-like effect.
Fata Morgana
(Courtest of Cube Reporter)
A man stumbles across an endless desert, falling to his knees. As he claws at the sand beneath his feet, giving up all hopes for survival, there is a shimmer of light in the distance. He is saved! The man jumps to his feet and runs to a lake that he sees not too far away, but in a blink of an eye, alas, it is gone. The man rubs his eyes but the lake is no where to be seen; he falls to his knees and cries out in agony.
This is an example of fata morgana that most of us have probably heard or seen from either a novel or a movie. But while most pop-cultural references only depict this phenomenon in the desert, it can also appear on the ocean or even in the sky. The definition of a fata morgana is simply a mirage or illusion that is seen at the horizon. This happens when cold air gets trapped under a layer of warm air; light bends down through the cold air and tricking your brains to see objects higher than where they actually are, giving the floating effect. Fata morganas in the desert work the opposite way: the light is bent upwards, causing you to see a blue sky on the ground, which is often mistaken as a pond or lake.
(Courtesy of Farmer’s Almanac)
(In October of 2015, a floating city was sighted in China)
Sailing Stones
Walking alone across a desert, seeing an independently moving stone is certainly an unusual and frightening sight.
(Courtesy of ABC News)
The path of flattened sand these stones leave behind them varies from straight to curved, to even jagged. These sailing stones, which are located around the dried lake bed of Racetrack Playa in California’s Death Valley National Park. So how do these 300kg boulders move as much as 250 meters all by themselves? People were quick to propose all kinds of conspiracies: aliens, magnetic fields, pranksters, and more. It wasn’t until 2006 did scientists conduct an experiment that gave a valid explanation through the science of nature. During the winter, the lake is filled with water and these stones are encased in ice. Hence, thanks to the muddy bottom of the lake, even a small breeze is able to move these rocks and sometimes leave behind a trail.
Blood Falls
(Courtesy of Forbes)
At first sight, the blood falls may remind of a scene from the Shining, however, this seemingly unsettling blood bath is actually caused by a hypersaline body of water trapped under the glacier that is isolated from light, oxygen, and heat. As this water trickles out of the glacier, it reacts with oxygen to produce rust and achieve this ominous color. This natural phenomenon occurs from the Taylor Glacier, located in Antarctica.
Citations:
http://www.bbc.com/travel/story/20160725-where-nature-plays-magic-tricks
https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/definition/aurora
https://www.northernlightscentre.ca/northernlights.html#:~:text=The%20Northern%20Lights%20are%20actually,gas%20particles%20that%20are%20colliding.&text=Nitrogen%20produces%20blue%20or%20purplish%2Dred%20aurora.
https://www.facebook.com/ScienceChannel/videos/10155878773963387/
http://movie.douban.com/photos/photo/2433602386/
https://edition.cnn.com/videos/weather/2015/10/20/china-floating-city-fata-morgana-orig.cnn
https://www.thrillophilia.com/attractions/maldives-glowing-beach#:~:text=About%20Maldives%20Glowing%20Beach&text=This%20natural%20phenomenon%20occurs%20due,as%20phytoplankton%20in%20the%20water.&text=This%20phenomenon%20makes%20the%20waves,after%20sundown%20in%20the%20Maldives.
https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2019/04/29/chasing-the-aurora-borealis
https://www.pinterest.com/pin/387942955399943461/
https://sagafish.com/our-projects/aurora-love/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Northern_Lights:_A_Journey_to_Love
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Great_Blue_Hole.jpg
https://www.kuoni.co.uk/maldives/bioluminescent-plankton
https://kmscubreporter.com/9596/features/the-fata-morgana-effect/
https://www.farmersalmanac.com/fata-morgana-mirage-28630
https://abcnews.go.com/US/mystery-death-valleys-sailing-stones-solved/story?id=25160155
https://www.forbes.com/sites/trevornace/2017/04/28/mystery-of-antarcticas-blood-falls-is-finally-solved/?sh=46c8e6542ef8
https://www.businessinsider.com/great-blue-hole-belize-divers-sinkhole-what-lies-bottom-2019-2
