Bogda Mountains (background/logo fill image)
The Turpan Depression, nestled at the foot of China’s Bogda Mountains, is a strange mix of salt lakes and sand dunes, and is one of the few places in the world that lies below sea level.
[Image and caption courtesy of USGS National Center for EROS and NASA Landsat Project Science Office] Image taken 9/1/1999

 
 
 

     

Richat Structure (center image)
The so-called Richat Structure is a geological formation in the
Maur Adrar Desert in the African country of Mauritania. Although it resembles an impact crater, the Richat Structure formed when a volcanic dome hardened and gradually eroded, exposing the onion-like layers of rock. [Image and caption courtesy of USGS National Center for EROS and NASA Landsat Project Science Office / Image Credit: NASA Earth Observatory] Image taken 1/11/2001