25 Powerful Acts Of Mother Nature We Just Found Out Existed (Pics)

The earth is continuously full of surprises. Though we as humans never cease our attempts to conquer and control, to name and classify, to constrict wonder into the parameters of science, nature is always one step ahead. The more we think we know, the more we realize we do not. The capacity for discovery is endless.

If we had to characterize nature into a human being based on her earthly manifestations, we would have ample clues to sketch her personality. Mother Nature likes to captivate. She likes loud entrances, and she is aware of her capacity to impress. By contrast, she is also a master of subtlety. She provides rewards to those who observe her closely, from the details etched into butterfly wings, to the delicate trails of “sailing stones” that we will touch upon later. She also clearly has a sense of humor, pranking Antarctic explorers with her “Blood Falls” and painting certain species of dolphin pink. Like most people, Mother Nature is endlessly complex, revealing new aspects of herself in every breeze, every body of water, every bolt of lightning.

Continue reading to learn about some of Mother Nature’s strangest performances on this planet.

25 25. Thor’s Well in Oregon looks like a vortex formed by mythical gods.

Thor’s Well sits on Oregon’s coast, less than a 3-hour drive from Portland. Though this looks like a black hole from outer space, the reality is far less mystical. According to Atlas Obscura, the “Well” likely began as a sea cave dug out by repetitive patterns of the ocean tide. When the roof of the sea cave collapsed, it resulted in the structure we now see today.

Thor’s Well is only 20 or so feet deep, but it still produces awe-inspiring sights. During high tide and storms, water crashes and swirls deep into the well, before being dramatically spat out by the natural patterns of the waves.

24 12. Waterspouts are like a whirlpool and tornado spun into one.

It’s a whirlpool? It’s a tornado? Actually, it’s a bit of both! According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, waterspouts can be either tornadic or fair weather.

Tornadic waterspouts occur when a tornado either forms over water, or moves from land to water.

Fair weather waterspouts usually form along a line of developing cumulus clouds. A fair weather waterspout develops out of a vortex on the surface of the water and works its way upward. While tornadic waterspouts are volatile, fair weather waterspouts typically move very little.

23 11. Plankton can be glow-in-the-dark.

This dreamy sight is technically called “bioluminescence,” which is the production and emission of light by a living organism. Regardless of the scientific explanation, this is certainly a brilliant phenomenon, literally akin to visiting another world. These tiny, glowing microorganisms look like thousands of aquatic fireflies, or swimming chains of Christmas lights. You can witness this curiosity for yourself in certain parts of Taiwan, Puerto Rico, Malta, Japan, and Florida.

22 7. The earth can spontaneously open...just ask Guatemala City.

Nope, this isn’t the work of a trompe l'oeil sidewalk chalk artist; it’s a real, massive hole.

According to Atlas Obscura, this 60-foot-wide and 30-story-deep sinkhole spontaneously opened on Sunday, May 30, 2010. The erupting hole devoured a three-story building, a home, and one human. Guatemala has a general problem with sinkholes, as the city is built upon a shaky foundation of volcanic earth. However, no one was prepared for a crater this massive.

Oh, and this all happened over the course of a few seconds. Can you imagine? One second there’s pavement and buildings, and it can all disappear in the blink of an eye.

21 2. The point where the Catatumbo River meets Lake Maracaibo is the most electric place on earth.

Once again, the above image is not photoshopped. I repeat: it is not photoshopped. Dubbed “Catumbo Lighting,” this photo depicts a unique phenomenon occurring at the intersection of the Catumbo River and Lake Maracaibo in Venezuela. According to News.com.au, Catumbo Lightning strikes approximately 1.2 million times per year. To put that in more relatable terms, this simplifies into 28 lightning bolts per minute. This can again be divided into approximately one lightning strike every two seconds. What. On. Earth.

20 6. Mammatus clouds are monstrous.

According to Earth Sky, mammatus clouds are pouches that hang from the underbellies of storm clouds. They are mostly ice, and they can extend for hundreds of miles in any direction. Unlike most clouds that form from rising air, mammatus clouds are created by sinking air. Sometimes, mammatus clouds can precipitate severe weather, such as thunderstorms.

They are certainly a magnificent sight, looking like clumps of kneaded clay, or the slow-moving globs within a lava lamp.

19 24. Abraham Lake contains thousands of frozen bubbles.

Abraham Lake is located in Alberta, Canada, on the outskirts of Jasper National Park. Abraham Lake is actually a manmade lake, but the bubble phenomenon is anything but. The bubbles are pockets of frozen methane.

According to the Smithsonian, methane bubbles form in bodies of water when dead organic matter sinks to the bottom. Bacteria consume the organic matter and release methane, which turns into the pale bubbles seen above. This process occurs in all bodies of water, but bubbles form when the surrounding water is frozen. Be careful if you’re ever near Lake Abraham - these bubbles can pop and explode as temperatures fluctuate!

18 23. Solar halos are a real thing.

The beautiful apparition shown in this photo - often called a circular solar halo or 22-degree halo - arises as the result of light refracted upon hexagonal ice crystals. Interestingly enough, these halos are also considered harbingers of stormy weather. Circular solar halos only manifest in skies with thin cirrus or cirrostratus clouds, which precede storm fronts by a margin of two or three days.

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This particular solar halo is shining over the Sydney Harbour, but they can occur anywhere in the world.

17 22. Volcanic lightning doesn’t just happen in C.G.I.

A dirty thunderstorm is a weather phenomenon that transpires when lightning occurs inside a volcanic plume. If you’re thinking that lightning within an active volcano seems improbable at best, you’re right. Dirty thunderstorms are a rare marvel, with the sole exception of Sakurajima volcano in Japan. No one knows why Sakurajima is such an electrifyingly intense volcano.

According to the BBC, traditional lightning is the result of ice crystal collision, which releases an electrical charge. In a volcanic cloud, ash particles collide and have the potential to release similar electrical charges. Pretty crazy, right?

16 21. Snow can form into an army of spikes.

These spikes are called penitentes, and they can only form at extremely high altitudes. According to Amusing Planet, penitentes occur when the sun turns snow directly into water vapor without melting it first, a process called sublimation. A blanket of freshly fallen snow first develops depressions as some regions randomly sublimate faster than others.

The now-curved surfaces concentrate sunlight and speed up sublimation in the depressions. The high, non-sublimized points become sharper and skinnier as more snow in the depressions transforms into water vapor: therefore, the points are the result of reduction, not building.