Epes, Alabama, USA

The Tombigbee River in Merriam-Webster's Geographical Dictionary, 3rd ed., 1997, p. 1190: "River; Alabama, formed by junction of E fork and W fork near Amory, Mississippi, crosses Alabama border west of Carrolton, flows S into the Alabama River to form the Mobile and Tensaw Rivers flowing into Mobile Bay at Mobile: 409 mi." See the White Cliffs of Epes? [2005]

Grand Canyon West, Arizona, USA

What is amazing about Guano Point is how close you can get to the edge of the canyon. Look: no fence, no railing! It would different were it National Park property, but it's not. Grand Canyon West belongs to the Hualupai Indians. [2022]

Grand Canyon West, Arizona, USA

The Sky Walk allows visitors to float like eagles above the Grand Canyon, to look down 3500 feet through the glass platform, and to help provide employment and income for the Hualupai Indian Nation. It opened in 2007. [2022]

Grand Canyon West, Arizona, USA

The land and the eagle are sacred to the Hualapai tribe. Do you see the eagle? His wings are spread, and he's ready to swoop to the bottom of the Grand Canyon, which the Hualapai once farmed? Today, Grand Canyon West is still their land, and they invite you to enjoy it with them with a hearty gamyu. [2022]

Beraban, Bali, Indonesia

Sea arches are short-lived. Here you see evidence that one has collapsed, turning what was a promontory into an island perched upon a wave-cut terrace that is accessible on foot at low tide. Why would you want to walk there? Because it is the site of Tanah Lot temple, part of Bali's Hindu landscape. Remember: The religion of Bali is Hinduism. [2018]

Beraban, Bali, Indonesia

Here is an ancient Hindu temple on a sea arch. Even though Bali is a volcanic island, this bedrock appears to be limestone associated with mature karst. The arch itself looks like the roof of an ancient cave, part of a landscape that has been uplifted and attacked by waves and currents. In geologic time, sea arches are quickly erased by nature. [2018]

Uluru, Northern Territory, Australia

Last day of 2020: Alleluia! The year will linger on in memory as an inselberg, a distinctive mountain of memories that will diminish in size only as the years to come push it farther onto the horizon. Inselbergs are symbolic of the isolation we have all felt this past year: We lived our lives in the image of Uluru (formerly known as Ayers Rock). [1988]

Chimney Rock, Nebraska, USA

Chimney Rock became an exclamation point (!) along the Oregon Trail for westward-ho pioneers following the North Platte River. Its iconic status is affirmed by its visual reproduction in lots of places, including cemeteries, such as this one in nearby Gering. [2019]

Prescott, Arizona, USA

Where is this now-exposed pluton supposed to be? A mile or two beneath the surface, right where it formed. You are looking at an ancient pool of magma that cooled slowly allowing its chemical components to find each other and crystallize, forming granite. Then came uplift, erosion, and exposure to the atmosphere. Welcome to the Granite Dells! [2019]

Cabo San Lucas, Baja California Sur, Mexico

If you want to have some fun learning about human evolution, look up the Aquatic Ape Theory. It may be that many of our distinctive features as humans came about because we adapted to shoreline environments rather than remaining in the trees like other apes. Could that also explain why we are still so drawn to the seashore? [2016]

Lake Wallula, Oregon, USA

Look up-slope and you see well-weathered basalt cliffs. Look down-slope and you see the Columbia River itself. These are the basalt lava flows that built the Columbia Plateau only to be etched into by the river. Are you surprised to see basalt here? You should be. Basalt flows are usually associated with the ocean floor. [2019]

Cabo San Lucas, Baja California Sur, Mexico

Geographers call this a sea stack. It is an erosional remnant that marks the end of the peninsula we know as Baja California. Geographers also call this a map. In your mind, rotate the sea stack 180 degrees and you will see the outline of Baja California itself. Can you find this spec of coastal geography in a wide-angle shot? [2016]

Cabo San Lucas, Baja California Sur, Mexico

If your name is Lucas, this is your cape, and these are your guardian pelicans. If your name is Lucas and this is your birthday, then you must be two years old and ready to start seeing the world. South from here, though, you won't find another morsel of land until you reach Antarctica with its guardian penguins! [2016]

Tenerife, Canary Islands, Spain

Basalt on Tenerife tells you that volcanic Mt. Teide is a cousin of the Hawaiian volcanoes: It rises from the ocean floor. When basalt cools it often fractures, but the most common results are columnar polygons and spherical boulders. Here, the basalt has fractured into a flower: La Piedra de la Rosa. Very unique. [2017]

Tenerife, Canary Islands, Spain

Mt. Teide last erupted in 1909, and everything around the peak is volcanic in origin, including the Roque Cinchado, which has become a symbol of the Canary Islands. It's actually a remnant of an old volcanic surface from which the current cone arose. The national park is one of the most visited in the world, complete with a teleferico to the top. [2017]

Rock Sound, Eleuthera, The Bahamas

You're standing deep underground looking up at the mouth of  a sinkhole. In the Bahamas, these features are known as 'blue holes.' Wherever they occur, they are emblematic of the chemical weathering associated with karst topography. The carbonic acid in rainfall easily dissolves carbonate rocks such as limestone. [2014]

Ik Kil, Yucatan, Mexico

You are standing on the Earth's surface looking down into a sinkhole that is partially filled with water. See the swimmers reflecting the sunshine as it tries to penetrate the underworld? Features like these, called cenotes in Mexico, dot the Yucatan. They're emblematic of karst landscapes in the wet tropics. [2013]

Alabama Hills, California, USA

All the world's a stage, but here there are no players, at least, not at the moment. Surf back in time, though, and you might catch a glimpse of Hopalong Cassidy, Gene Autry, the Lone Ranger, or Hoss Cartwright. On this stage, you might even learn how the west was won, all of which is a way to say Happy Birthday, William Shakespeare! [2002]

Cuba, New Mexico, USA

It's wider than it is tall, so it must be a mesa. Buttes and mesas start out as plateaus, then running water takes over, and streams start etching their way into the surface, planing it away. No evidence of streams here? Maybe not now, but we are talking about geologic time. Landforms like these also depend on horizontal bedding. [2013]

Fort Lupton, Colorado, USA

It's taller than it is wide, so it must be a butte, the remnant of a worn-down tableland. As the vertical sides succumb to weathering and erosion, scree collects at the base forming a talus cone. Although these are arid lands, the work of running water is easy to see. [2013]