SeasonalityOn the shoreline of the Lena River, north of Yakutsk, Russia, sits this phenomenal featur

SeasonalityOn the shoreline of the Lena River, north of Yakutsk, Russia, sits this phenomenal feature. These 100-meter high rock towers are the Lena Pillars, produced by a combination of extreme freeze/thaw processes and erosion of the remnants.The rocks are limestone, so during the warm summer water is able to dissolve and easily penetrate into the rock. This area experiences fairly extreme temperature swings, from 40 °C in summer to -60 °C in winter. These temperature changes cause water to freeze hard and expand in the winter, breaking apart any cracks that the water has seeped into. The pattern is something like the process that leads to the formation of caves, what we call karst topography, but the freeze-thaw pattern reshapes it.The pillars are spectacular but they’re not the only neat feature here. These rocks are Cambrian in age, meaning they date back to the period when hard-shelled life forms rapidly diversified. These limestones are one of, if not the, oldest reef structures on Earth. Other interesting recent fossils, including mammoth skeletons, have been found here as well.The site was declared a UNESCO World Heritage site in 2012.-JBBImage credit: https://flic.kr/p/ucYgy6Read more:http://bit.ly/1eKZfGahttp://whc.unesco.org/en/list/1299http://www.atlasobscura.com/places/lenas-stone-pillarshttp://www.amusingplanet.com/2011/09/lenas-stone-forest.html -- source link

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