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  • Two hardened tubes are visible in the Ape Cave, a lava tube located near Mount St. Helens in the Gifford Pinchot National Forest in Washington state. The ape cave formed about 2,000 years ago during the only known period when fluid basaltic lava erupted from the volcano. The outside edges of the lava flow cooled first, providing a crust that allowed fluid lava to continue flowing inside. This period of activity may have lasted a year during which the lava level rose and fell, leading to the unique shapes inside the cave. The Ape Cave lava tube is 13,042 feet (3976 meters) long, ranking as the third-longest in North America. The cave is named for a local hiking club, the St. Helens Apes.
    WA_Ape-Cave_Two-Tubes_1065.jpg
  • Two hardened tubes are visible in the Ape Cave, a lava tube located near Mount St. Helens in the Gifford Pinchot National Forest in Washington state. The ape cave formed about 2,000 years ago during the only known period when fluid basaltic lava erupted from the volcano. The outside edges of the lava flow cooled first, providing a crust that allowed fluid lava to continue flowing inside. This period of activity may have lasted a year during which the lava level rose and fell, leading to the unique shapes inside the cave. The Ape Cave lava tube is 13,042 feet (3976 meters) long, ranking as the third-longest in North America. The cave is named for a local hiking club, the St. Helens Apes.
    WA_Ape-Cave_Two-Tubes_5130.jpg
  • A lava rock known as the "meatball" hangs over the floor of the Ape Cave in the Mount St. Helens National Volcanic Monument in Washington state. The Ape Cave is a lava tube, formed during an eruption of Mount St. Helens 2,000 years ago. Lava cools from the outside-in, so the flow became like a straw, allowing lava to continue to flow through a hardened crust. The meatball once hung from the ceiling of the cave, but broke off while lava was still flowing through the tube. It traveled with the flow until it became wedged in a narrow passage.
    WA_Ape-Cave_Meatball_5116.jpg
  • Several lava rocks hang over the floor of the Ape Cave in the Mount St. Helens National Volcanic Monument in Washington state. The Ape Cave is a lava tube, formed during an eruption of Mount St. Helens 2,000 years ago. Lava cools from the outside-in, so the flow became like a straw, allowing lava to continue to flow through a hardened crust. The rocks once hung from the ceiling of the cave, but broke off while lava was still flowing through the tube. They traveled with the flow until they became wedged in a narrow passage.
    WA_Ape-Cave_Lava-Rocks_5114.jpg
  • The Ape Cave makes a sharp bend in the Mount St. Helens National Volcanic Monument in Washington state. The Ape Cave is 13,042 feet long (3,975 meters), making it the third-longest lava tube in North America. It formed during an eruption of Mount St. Helens approximately 2,000 years ago. An 8-mile-long (13-kilometer-long) lava flow poured down the southern flank of the volcano. Lava cools from the outside-in, so the flow became like a straw, allowing lava to continue to flow through a hardened crust.
    WA_Ape-Cave_Bend_5094.jpg
  • Water that drips into the Ape Cave collects into a stream as it flows through North America’s third-largest lava tube, located in the Mount St. Helens National Volcanic Monument in Washington state. The Ape Cave formed during an eruption of Mount St. Helens approximately 2,000 years ago. An 8-mile-long (13-kilometer-long) lava flow poured down the southern flank of the volcano. Lava cools from the outside-in, so the flow became like a straw, allowing lava to continue to flow through a hardened crust. The cave is 13,042 feet long (3,975 meters) and the rock is porous, allowing rainwater to seep in.
    WA_Ape-Cave_Stream_5105.jpg
  • The ceiling of the Ape Cave, a lava tube in the Mount St. Helens National Volcanic Monument in Washington state, somewhat mimics the shape of the passage below. The Ape Cave is 13,042 feet long (3,975 meters), making it the third-longest lava tube in North America. It formed during an eruption of Mount St. Helens approximately 2,000 years ago. An 8-mile-long (13-kilometer-long) lava flow poured down the southern flank of the volcano. Lava cools from the outside-in, so the flow became like a straw, allowing lava to continue to flow through a hardened crust.
    WA_Ape-Cave_Ceiling_5110.jpg
  • Light shines into a section of the Balconies Cave, a talus cave in Pinnacles National Park, California. The park's high peaks are partial remnants of the ancient Pinnacles volcano, shifted 190 miles north of its original location due to movement of the San Andreas Fault. Talus caves, like Balconies Cave, are narrow passages in the piles of large rocks that have broke off and landed at the base of the peaks.
    Pinnacles-NP_Balconies-Cave_5649.jpg
  • The Ape Cave gently curves in the Mount St. Helens National Volcanic Monument in Washington state. The Ape Cave is 13,042 feet long (3,975 meters), making it the third-longest lava tube in North America. It formed during an eruption of Mount St. Helens approximately 2,000 years ago. An 8-mile-long (13-kilometer-long) lava flow poured down the southern flank of the volcano. Lava cools from the outside-in, so the flow became like a straw, allowing lava to continue to flow through a hardened crust.
    WA_Ape-Cave_Passage_5087.jpg
  • Water that drips into the Ape Cave collects into a stream as it flows through North America’s third-largest lava tube, located in the Mount St. Helens National Volcanic Monument in Washington state. The Ape Cave formed during an eruption of Mount St. Helens approximately 2,000 years ago. An 8-mile-long (13-kilometer-long) lava flow poured down the southern flank of the volcano. Lava cools from the outside-in, so the flow became like a straw, allowing lava to continue to flow through a hardened crust. The cave is 13,042 feet long (3,975 meters) and the rock is porous, allowing rainwater to seep in.
    WA_Ape-Cave_Stream_5104.jpg
  • The ceiling of the Ape Cave, a lava tube in the Mount St. Helens National Volcanic Monument in Washington state, somewhat mimics the shape of the passage below. The Ape Cave is 13,042 feet long (3,975 meters), making it the third-longest lava tube in North America. It formed during an eruption of Mount St. Helens approximately 2,000 years ago. An 8-mile-long (13-kilometer-long) lava flow poured down the southern flank of the volcano. Lava cools from the outside-in, so the flow became like a straw, allowing lava to continue to flow through a hardened crust.
    WA_Ape-Cave_Ceiling_5111.jpg
  • Three shafts of sunlight illuminate Skylight Cave in the Deschutes National Forest in Oregon. Skylight Cave is a lava tube and light enters through three skylights. Two of the skylights are hornito skylights, formed where lava was ejected through the crust of a flow some distance from the source of the magma.
    Skylight-Cave_Three-Beams_2761.jpg
  • Three shafts of sunlight illuminate Skylight Cave in the Deschutes National Forest in Oregon. Skylight Cave is a lava tube and light enters through three skylights. Two of the skylights are hornito skylights, formed where lava was ejected through the crust of a flow some distance from the source of the magma.
    Skylight-Cave_Three-Beams_2749.jpg
  • A narrow passage of the Ape Cave gently curves in the Mount St. Helens National Volcanic Monument in Washington state. The Ape Cave is 13,042 feet long (3,975 meters), making it the third-longest lava tube in North America. It formed during an eruption of Mount St. Helens approximately 2,000 years ago. An 8-mile-long (13-kilometer-long) lava flow poured down the southern flank of the volcano. Lava cools from the outside-in, so the flow became like a straw, allowing lava to continue to flow through a hardened crust.
    WA_Ape-Cave_Narrow-Curve_5091.jpg
  • Three shafts of sunlight illuminate Skylight Cave in the Deschutes National Forest in Oregon. Skylight Cave is a lava tube and light enters through three skylights. Two of the skylights are hornito skylights, formed where lava was ejected through the crust of a flow some distance from the source of the magma.
    Skylight-Cave_Three-Beams_2771.jpg
  • Three shafts of sunlight illuminate Skylight Cave in the Deschutes National Forest in Oregon. Skylight Cave is a lava tube and light enters through three skylights. Two of the skylights are hornito skylights, formed where lava was ejected through the crust of a flow some distance from the source of the magma.
    Skylight-Cave_Three-Beams_2740.jpg
  • Mount Rainier is framed by the opening of an ice cave near the Skyline Trail in Mount Rainier National Park, Washington. At 14,411 feet (4,392 meters), Mount Rainier is the tallest mountain in Washington state and the highest point the Cascade mountain range.
    Rainier_Ice-Cave_9049.jpg
  • The opening of the Hidden Forest Cave frames a stand of tall ponderosa pine trees in Deschutes National Forest, Oregon.
    Hidden-Forest-Cave_Oregon_2560.jpg
  • Light filters into a lava tube known as Skylight Cave in Deschutes National Forest in Oregon, revealing the texture of its walls.
    Skylight-Cave_Texture_2686.jpg
  • Atlantic Ocean waves flow into a sea cave in a basalt cliff near Hellnar on the Snæfellsnes peninsula in western Iceland.
    Iceland_Hellnar_Sea-Cave_9271.jpg
  • Lichen grows on the walls near the entrance of Beauty Cave, a 300-foot (100-meter) long lava tube in the Craters of the Moon National Monument, Idaho.
    CratersOfTheMoon_Beauty-Cave_2519.jpg
  • A tall sea stack, one of my rock formations on the Oregon coast at Bandon By The Sea, is framed by the opening to a sea cave.
    Bandon_SeaStack_Cave_7739.jpg
  • Thousands of icicles, including some that stretch from floor to ceiling, form in the Guler Ice Cave near Mount Adams, Washington. The cave is a partially collapsed lava tube formed during an eruption of Mount Adams during the past 20,000 years. One end of the cave is lower than the other and scientists think that traps cold air, which keeps the cave icy even during the summer. The Guler Ice Cave is located near the community of Trout Lake.
    GulerIceCave_8450.jpg
  • Thousands of icicles, including some that stretch from floor to ceiling, form in the Guler Ice Cave near Mount Adams, Washington. The cave is a partially collapsed lava tube formed during an eruption of Mount Adams during the past 20,000 years. One end of the cave is lower than the other and scientists think that traps cold air, which keeps the cave icy even during the summer. The Guler Ice Cave is located near the community of Trout Lake.
    GulerIceCave_8406.jpg
  • Cave Falls, located in the southwest portion of Yellowstone National Park in Wyoming, may only be 20 feet tall, but it stretches 250 feet across the Falls River. Cave Falls, the widest waterfall in Yellowstone, is named for a 50-foot cave at its base. While Cave Falls is in Wyoming, it can only be accessed from a road in Idaho.
    Wyoming_CaveFalls_2366.jpg
  • Dramatic ice sculptures form in the Guler Ice Cave, a partially collapsed lava tube near Mount Adams, Washington. The cave, located near the community of Trout Lake, features thousands of icicles and other ice formations. One end of the lava tube is lower than the other, which scientists believes traps cold air in the lava tube year round.
    GulerIceCave_8446.jpg
  • Dramatic ice sculptures form in the Guler Ice Cave, a partially collapsed lava tube near Mount Adams, Washington. The cave, located near the community of Trout Lake, features thousands of icicles and other ice formations. One end of the lava tube is lower than the other, which scientists believes traps cold air in the lava tube year round.
    GulerIceCave_8421.jpg
  • A tiny waterfall flows through a talus cave located next to the Index Town Wall near the town of Index, Washington. Talus is a pile of rocks that broke off a nearby mountain face. Occasionally the rocks break off and land in such a way that it forms a natural cave. The falls is illuminated by a skylight in the cave.
    WA_TalusCaveFalls_Index_4219.jpg
  • Subway Cave, located in Lassen National Forest, California, was formed 30,000 years ago by a lava flow in the Hat Creek Valley. During the flow, the top cooled and formed a hard crust while allowing hot lava to continue to flow underneath. Eventually, the lava stopped flowing, leaving behind this shell. Subway Cave is about a third of a mile (half a kilometer) in length.
    CA_SubwayCave_3606.jpg
  • Subway Cave, located in Lassen National Forest, California, was formed 30,000 years ago by a lava flow in the Hat Creek Valley. During the flow, the top cooled and formed a hard crust while allowing hot lava to continue to flow underneath. Eventually, the lava stopped flowing, leaving behind this shell. Subway Cave is about a third of a mile (half a kilometer) in length.
    CA_SubwayCave_3590.jpg
  • The Horne Lake Cave is one of the more dramatic Karst caves on Vancouver Island. The largely white bumps are formed by water saturated with calcium carbonate dripping from one rock and settling on another. The reddish-orange color comes from iron stains. The caves themselves were formed by water that dissolved the rock.
    VancouverIsland_HorneLakeCave_4660.jpg
  • Dramatic limestone curtains form the ceiling of the Ruakuri Cave, located in Waitomo, New Zealand. These limestone curtains are a type of stalactite. Water drips from above, disolving limestone. Where the water evaporates, the limestone is left behind. The limestone curtains are formed along a line where water drips from several places.
    NZ_RuakuriCaveCurtains_1508.jpg
  • A shape resembling a volcano is visible on the wall of Subway Cave, a lava tube formed 30,000 years ago in California's Hat Creek Valley. The tube itself was formed when the top portion of the lava flow cooled to a hard crust while allowing hot lava to flow underneath. Eventually, the lava flow stopped, leaving behind the shell. This formation resulted from hot lava dripping from the ceiling of the tube.
    CA_SubwayCave_VolcanoShape_3617.jpg
  • Corn lilies (Veratrum californicum), otherwise known as California false hellebore, begin to grow in a small snow cave near the melting snowpack on Lassen Peak, California.
    CornLilies_SnowCave_4031.jpg
  • Small caves are visible in the top of a sandstone bluff in El Malpais National Monument in New Mexico.
    NM_El-Malpais_Sandstone-Cave_1424.jpg
  • Small caves are visible in the top of a sandstone bluff in El Malpais National Monument in New Mexico.
    NM_El-Malpais_Sandstone-Cave_1416.jpg
  • A waterfall commonly referred to as Hug Point Falls flows past a cave at Hug Point on the Oregon coast. At high tide, Hug Point Falls empties directly into the Pacific Ocean. Such waterfalls are called tide falls.
    OR_HugPoint_Waterfall_Cave_5611.jpg
  • A variety of cave decorations, including columns, stalagmites and soda straws are visible in the main cave of Carlsbad Caverns National Park in New Mexico. The decorations, known as speleothems, are formed when groundwater containing calcium bicarbonate solution seeps into the cave. Then that solution is exposed to the air in the cave, carbon dioxide gas is released and calcite is deposited.
    CarlsbadCaverns_Speleothems_1077.jpg
  • A wide assortment of speleothems, or cave decorations, are found in the King's Palace of Carsbad Caverns National Park in New Mexico. Among the speleothems on display in this room are stalagmites, columns and soda straws. The decorations are formed when groundwater containing calcium bicarbonate solution seeps into the cave. Then that solution is exposed to the air in the cave, carbon dioxide gas is released and calcite is deposited.
    CarlsbadCaverns_KingsPalace_9563.jpg
  • A wide assortment of speleothems, or cave decorations, are found in the Queens Chamber, located in the King's Palace of Carsbad Caverns National Park in New Mexico. Among the speleothems on display in this room are stalagmites, columns and soda straws. The decorations are formed when groundwater containing calcium bicarbonate solution seeps into the cave. Then that solution is exposed to the air in the cave, carbon dioxide gas is released and calcite is deposited.
    CarlsbadCaverns_QueensChamber_9636.jpg
  • Bright sunlight from over the Pacific Ocean shines into a dark, narrow sea cave that is part of the Devil's Punchbowl on the central Oregon coast. The force of repeated Pacific Ocean waves carved this path through the hard volcanic rock. The Devil's Punchbowl itself is the remnant of a large sea cave that collapsed, leaving an outer shell that is connected to the Pacific Ocean by two sea arches.
    OR_DevilsPunchbowl_Tunnel_0188.jpg
  • A mammoth column known as the Veiled Statue stretches from the floor to the ceiling of the King's Palace, a section of Carlsbad Caverns National Park in New Mexico. Columns, a type of speleothem, are formed when groundwater containing calcium bicarbonate solution seeps into the cave. Then that solution is exposed to the air in the cave, carbon dioxide gas is released and calcite is deposited.
    CarlsbadCaverns_Veiled-Statue_9764.jpg
  • Numerous caves are visible a soft rock cliff wall in Bandelier National Monument, New Mexico. The national monument protects caves that were used by humans for shelters more than 11,000 years ago.
    NM_Bandelier_Wall-Texture_1635.jpg
  • Numerous caves are visible a soft rock cliff wall in Bandelier National Monument, New Mexico. The national monument protects caves that were used by humans for shelters more than 11,000 years ago.
    NM_Bandelier_Wall-Texture_1633.jpg
  • Vibrant fall color is visible from behind South Silver Falls, Oregon. The hillsides in the area of Silver Falls State Park were formed by a series of lava flows, which erode at different rates. Several of the middle layers are weaker than the top and bottom layers and have since eroded away, forming this cave behind the waterfall.
    SilverFallsBehindAutumn.jpg
  • During one of the highest tides of the year, Pacific Ocean waves enter the Devil's Punchbowl, a collapsed sea cave located on the Oregon coast near Depoe Bay.
    DevilsPunchbowl_8305.jpg
  • Water drips and ice falls from the cave behind LaSalle Canyon Falls as it begins to thaw in late winter in Starved Rock State Park near LaSalle, Illinois. The 20-foot (6-meter) waterfall can completely freeze in winter. Here, part of the icefall has melted as is once again flowing as a waterfall.
    Illinois_Starved-Rock_LaSalle-Canyon...jpg
  • Pacific Ocean waves crash up and over the side of a narrow inlet, leading to a sea cave at Cape Kiwanda on the central Oregon coast.
    OR_CapeKiwanda_Inlet_0286.jpg
  • Algae grows on a rock at the entrance of the Devils Punch Bowl on the central Oregon coast. The Devils Punch Bowl, located near Newport, is a natural bowl in the rock along the coast and is believed to be the remains of a collapsed sea cave.
    OR_DevilsPunchbowl_Arch_0068.jpg
  • A downed tree shoved into a tunnel by powerful Pacific Ocean waves during a storm, rests on the beach at Bandon By The Sea, Oregon. Gorse bushes display their golden blooms on the hillside, visible through the tunnel.
    Bandon_TreeInTunnel_7751.jpg
  • Ice formations and caves are visible on the surface of Lake Michigan in late winter in this view from Tahquamenon Bay, Michigan. As the great lakes begin to freeze, winds often blow the ice into piles, creating unique ice sculptures.
    LakeSuperior_IceFormations_Tahquamen...jpg
  • Pacific Ocean waves crash through an arch and into the Devil's Punchbowl, located on the Oregon coast near Newport. The Devil's Punchbowl, near Depoe Bay, is a natural formation, formed when the roof over two sea caves collapsed. Waves crash in the bowl during stormy weather at high tide.
    DevilsPunchbowl_stormy_3807.jpg
  • Ice formations and caves are visible on the surface of Lake Michigan in late winter in this at sunrise view from Tahquamenon Bay, Michigan. As the great lakes begin to freeze, winds often blow the ice into piles, creating unique ice sculptures.
    LakeSuperior_IceFormations_Tahquamen...jpg
  • Pacific Goose Barnacles (Mitella polymerus) cling to the walls of a natural sea tunnel at Devil's Punchbowl on the central Oregon coast.
    OR_DevilsPunchbowl_Barnacles_Tunnel_...jpg
  • The Icelandic mountain Thrihnukagigur last erupted more than 4,000 years ago. Shown here is the inside of the volcano's magma chamber, the space inside the mountain which housed molten rock from deep inside the earth. Thrihnukagigur means Three Peaks Crater. The cone leading to one of the peaks is shown near the top center.
    Iceland_MagmaChamber_Thrihnukagigur_...jpg
  • A waterfall commonly referred to as Hug Point Falls is reflected on the wet sand at Hug Point on the Oregon coast. At high tide, Hug Point Falls empties directly into the Pacific Ocean. Such waterfalls are called tide falls.
    OR_HugPoint_Waterfall_Reflection_121...jpg
  • Several thousand stalactites hang over and are reflected on Dream Lake, one of the wonders in the Luray Caverns in Virginia.
    VA_Luray-Caverns_Dream-Lake_9364c.jpg
  • A side-blotched lizard (Uta stansburiana) rests in a crack in a sandstone cliff in the Grand Canyon-Parashant National Monument near Tuweep, Arizona.
    Lizard_SideBlotched_4594.jpg
  • LaSalle Canyon Falls, a 20-foot (6-meter) waterfall in Starved Rock State Park, Illinois, freezes in winter. Viewed from behind, the ice thins as the icefall thaws and can become almost translucent, forming dramatic green and blue colors as the ice of varying thickness refracts sunlight to different degrees.
    Illinois_Starved-Rock_LaSalle-Canyon...jpg
  • LaSalle Canyon Falls, viewed from behind, begins to thaw in late winter in Starved Rock State Park near LaSalle, Illinois. The 20-foot (6-meter) waterfall can completely freeze in winter. As it thaws, the ice thins and can become almost translucent, forming dramatic green and blue colors as the ice of varying thickness refracts sunlight to different degrees. Here, part of the icefall has melted as is once again flowing as a waterfall.
    Illinois_Starved-Rock_LaSalle-Canyon...jpg
  • LaSalle Canyon Falls, viewed from behind, begins to thaw in late winter in Starved Rock State Park near LaSalle, Illinois. The 20-foot (6-meter) waterfall can completely freeze in winter. As it thaws, the ice thins and can become almost translucent, forming dramatic green and blue colors as the ice of varying thickness refracts sunlight to different degrees. Here, part of the icefall has melted as is once again flowing as a waterfall.
    Illinois_Starved-Rock_LaSalle-Canyon...jpg
  • A close-up shows the detail of the texture of the Giant Dome Column, located in the Hall of Giants in Carlsbad Caverns National Park, New Mexico. Giant Dome, like the other speleothems in the Hall of Giants, began as small calcite deposits on the cavern floor. Dripping water resulted in more calcite building up on the initial deposits, gradually building the small formations into large stalagmites. Giant Dome eventually grew to touch the ceiling, turning it from a stalgmite into a column that is 62 feet (19 meters) tall.
    CarlsbadCaverns_GiantDomeColumn_Deta...jpg
  • Delicate stalactites, called soda straws, hang from the ceiling of the Painted Grotto in Carlsbad Caverns National Park, New Mexico. Soda straws develop where water droplets hang from the ceiling. Initially, a calcite ring forms on the ceiling. Calcite deposits continue to accumulate on the initial ring, and the straw grows longer as the deposits build up. If enough calcite deposits build up, the soda straws can develop into large stalactites. Calcite is a colorless mineral in its pure form. The presence of other minerals causes the stalactites in the cavern to take on yellow, orange, red, or brown coloration.
    CarlsbadCaverns_PaintedGrotto_1205.jpg
  • The Icelandic mountain Thrihnukagigur last erupted more than 4,000 years ago. Shown here is the inside of the volcano's magma chamber, the space inside the mountain which housed molten rock from deep inside the earth. Thrihnukagigur means Three Peaks Crater.
    Iceland_MagmaChamber_Thrihnukagigur_...jpg
  • This is the view inside a 2,000-year-old Western Red Cedar tree, still living in the Quinault Rain Forest, Washington. As cedar trees age, they hollow out to allow fierce winds to blow through them, rather than toppling during storms. The only living part is a vein that's two feet in diameter. The tree, located in Olympic National Park, however, is so huge another tree grows out of its top.
    QuinaultGiantCedar.jpg
  • Rain falls down the cone of the extinct Icelandic volcano Thrihnukagigur, draining into its former magma chamber. Thrihnukagigur last erupted more than 4,000 years ago and its name means Three Peaks Crater.
    Iceland_Volcanic-Cone_Thrihnukagigur...jpg
  • A variety of speleothems, including giant stalagmites, columns and soda straws, are located in the Hall of Giants, a section that houses the largest formations in Carlsbad Caverns National Park, New Mexico. The tallest column rises 62 feet (19 meters).
    CarlsbadCaverns_Hall-Of-Giants_1103.jpg
  • LaSalle Canyon Falls, a 20-foot (6-meter) waterfall in Starved Rock State Park, Illinois, freezes in winter. Viewed from behind, the ice thins as the icefall thaws and can become almost translucent, forming dramatic green and blue colors as the ice of varying thickness refracts sunlight to different degrees.
    Illinois_Starved-Rock_LaSalle-Canyon...jpg
  • Pacific Ocean waves crash through a sea arch at the entrance to the Devil's Punchbowl, located on the Oregon coast near Depoe Bay.
    DevilsPunchbowl_arch_3820.jpg
  • The texture of the main cave in Carlsbad Caverns National Park, New Mexico, shows folds, curtains, terraces and other decorative features. The decorations, known as speleothems, are formed when groundwater containing calcium bicarbonate solution seeps into the cave. Then that solution is exposed to the air in the cave, carbon dioxide gas is released and calcite is deposited.
    CarlsbadCaverns_Wall-Texture_1159.jpg
  • Pacific Ocean waves spray high into the sky through a blowhole name Spouting Horn at Cape Perpetua, Oregon. Blowholes are essentially skylights in ocean caves. At high tide, water fills the cave and the pressure from incoming waves forces the water through the small opening and high into the sky.
    OR_SpoutingHorn_6269.jpg
  • Pacific Ocean waves flow into the remnants of a blowhole at Cape Perpetua on the Oregon coast. Blowholes are essentially skylights in ocean caves. At high tide, water fills the cave and the pressure of the incoming waves forces water through the hole, high into the air. Over time, erosion has enlarged this hole so that water no longer jets out of it.
    OR_CapePerpetua_Blowhole_2963.jpg
  • Pacific Ocean waves flow into the remnants of a blowhole at Cape Perpetua on the Oregon coast. Blowholes are essentially skylights in ocean caves. At high tide, water fills the cave and the pressure of the incoming waves forces water through the hole, high into the air. Over time, erosion has enlarged this hole so that water no longer jets out of it, though it does make a dramatic 360-degree waterfall.
    OR_CapePerpetua_Blowhole_6362.jpg
  • Mottled anemone (Urticina crassicornis), shown under ultraviolet light, stretches down from the ceiling in a rocky cave exposed at low tide at the edge of Puget Sound in Des Moines, Washington. The glow is the result of phosphors that convert ultraviolet radiation, which is invisible to human eyes, into wavelengths that are visible. This scene was captured under black light.
    Blacklight_Low-Tide_Mottled-Anemone_...jpg
  • Water from the Pacific Ocean drains through the skylight of a sea cave at Cape Perpetua near Yachats, Oregon. During the year's highest tides or in strong surf, ocean waves splash onto the rocks and make a 360-degree waterfall as the water drains into the hole.
    OR_CapePerpetua_Blowhole_Sunset_4254.jpg
  • A bright rainbow stretches across Skógafoss, located in southern Iceland. Skógafoss is one of Iceland's largest waterfalls, dropping 197 feet (60 meters). According to legend, the first Viking settler in the area, Þrasi Þórólfsson, buried a treasure in a cave behind the waterfall; the waterfall is so powerful no one has been able to get it.
    Iceland_Skogafoss_7659.jpg
  • Dense tropical vegetation frames this view of Rainbow Falls, an 80-foot waterfall near Hilo, Hawaii. Legends say that the cave beneath the waterfall was the home of Hina, mother of the demigod Maui.
    Hawaii_RainbowFalls_9104.jpg
  • Crashing Pacific Ocean waves are visible through the Devils Punch Bowl Arch on the central Oregon coast. Devils Punch Bowl is a large, natural bowl in the bluff along the coast and is believed to be the remnant of two collapsed sea caves.
    OR_DevilsPunchBowl_Arch_0175.jpg
  • Crashing Pacific Ocean waves are visible through the Devils Punch Bowl Arch on the central Oregon coast. Devils Punch Bowl is a large, natural bowl in the bluff along the coast and is believed to be the remnant of two collapsed sea caves.
    OR_DevilsPunchBowl_Arch_0140.jpg
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