Nature's Masterpieces [antikvár]

THE MIRACLE OF NATURE Earth itself is a masterpiece, a well-tuned organism whirling Scientists who were cruising an area of the Pacific about 200 miles (320 km) off the Galápagos Islands in 1977 came across an as ton- ishing oasis under the sea. They were searching for hot springs, often found near cracks in the seabed; what they discovered was an Alice in Wonderland community of creatures - none of which had ever been seen before - living in complete darkness some 8500 ft (2600 m) beneath the surface of the ocean. The through space. From the beauty of flamingos flashing pink as they land on an African lake to the awesome destructive power of a volcano, nature is never less than impressive. animals included pink fish, the occasional purple octopus and shrimps with comblike fronds where their eyes ought to be. The first sign of their find came when remote-controlled cameras mounted on underwater sleds photographed areas of misty blue warm water inhabited by giant shellfish. A deep-sea submersible and its crew went down to investigate. The water was so deep that they took an hour and a half to drift slowly and very nearly blindly to the sea floor. At first they passed over barren lava rock, but as they approached a hot-water site they saw that it was shimmering like air over a Icy drama Glacier power created the craggy landscape of South Georgia in the Antarctic.