as small as a world and as large as alone

1:46pm July 17, 2013

odditiesoflife:

The Seven Coloured Earths

On the island of Mauritius, an African island nation in the Indian Ocean, an astounding geologic oddity offers visitors a colorful sight. An area of multi-colored sand dunes displays a variety of sand in seven distinct colors: red, brown, violet, green, blue, purple and yellow. Different times of the day reveal different colors and color intensity. Reportedly this is the only location in the World where one can see earth of seven different colors in one place.

Geologists have been fascinated with the Colored Earths ever since they were first discovered. This natural phenomena has several unsolved mysteries. The colors never disappear in spite of torrential downpours and the sand dunes never erode. In addition, the Coloured Earths has a strange property of settling into their individual colors. Even if they are mixed with other colors, they will eventually settle back into layers of individual color.

The Seven Coloured Earths has become one of Mauritius’ main tourist attractions since the 1960s. The dunes are protected and visitors are prevented from walking atop the formation. Curio shops near the dunes sell small test-tubes filled with the Coloured Earths for tourist to enjoy.

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