The World’s Greatest Geological Wonders: 36 Spectacular Sites

Wysession's criteria for choosing more than 200 different geologic wonders in nearly 120 countries; the first on his list is the beautiful Greek island of Santorini; the relic of a volcanic eruption; an effect on the ancient Mediterranean world.

Turn from eruptions to volcanoes themselves-in particular, Mount Fuji in Japan, a sacred site whose nearly perfect cone shape is a popular subject in Japanese art. Investigate the origin of volcanoes such as Mount Fuji and the special conditions that produce their sturdy symmetrical cones.

Continue your study of phenomena associated with plate tectonics by visiting the Galapagos Islands, made famous by Charles Darwin. This magnificent archipelago is on a volcanic hotspot near a mid-ocean ridge, formed by moving tectonic plates. Natural wonders abound in the region, both above and below water.

Visit the African Rift Valley, a mid-ocean ridge in the making. From the Red Sea to Mount Kilimanjaro, tectonic forces are splitting Africa apart, forming a new ocean in the process. This impressive valley is also the site of many fossil discoveries relating to early humans.

Zoom in on a remarkable feature of the African Rift Valley: the lava lake at Erta Ale in Ethiopia. This seething cauldron of molten rock is the oldest of the world’s five active lava lakes, and it replicates on a small scale the complex process of plate tectonics.

Chart the evolution of life revealed in the extraordinary fossils of the Burgess Shale in British Columbia. This mountainside quarry records the proliferation of new organisms-both familiar and bizarre-that followed a mass extinction half a billion years ago.