Underwater Wonders of the World

Wonders of the World Ancient Wonders of the World 7 Wonders of the Medieval World Modern Wonders of the World Natural Wonders of the World Underwater Wonders of the World Belize Barrier Reef Deep-Sea Vents Galapagos Islands Great Barrier Reef Lake Baikal Northern Red Sea Palau New 7 Wonders of the World

Belize Barrier Reef "Belize is home to the longest barrier reef in the western hemisphere stemming approximately 200 miles (322 km) and the second longest in the world after the Great Barrier Reef. " http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Belize Deep-Sea Vents "A hydrothermal vent is a fissure in a planet's surface from which geothermally heated water issues. Hydrothermal vents are commonly found in places that are also volcanically active, where hot magma is relatively near the planet's surface." http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hydrothermal_vent Galapagos Islands "The Galapagos Islands..are an archipelago made up of 13 main volcanic islands, 6 smaller islands, and 107 rocks and islets. The very first island is thought to have formed between 5 and 10 million years ago, a result of tectonic activity." http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Galapagos_Islands Great Barrier Reef "The Great Barrier Reef is the world's largest coral reef system, composed of roughly 3,000 individual reefs and 900 islands, that stretch for 2,600 kilometres (1,616 mi). The reef is located in the Coral Sea, off the coast of Queensland in north-east Australia. A large part of the reef is protected by the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park." http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Barrier_Reef Lake Baikal "Lake Baikal is the deepest and oldest lake in the world. It is also the largest (by volume) freshwater lake on Earth. It contains over 20% of the world's liquid fresh surface water and more than 90% of Russia's liquid fresh surface water." http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lake_Baikal Northern Red Sea "The Red Sea..is an inlet of the Indian Ocean between Africa and Asia. ..." "The sea has a surface area of roughly 174,000 square miles (450,000 km). The sea is the habitat of over 1,000 invertebrate species and 200 soft and hard corals." http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Red_Sea Palau "Three nutrient-rich ocean currents merge there, meaning Palau is within the area of the greatest marine biodiversity on Earth. There are 500 species of tropical fish, 700 species of coral and anemones, many sharks and rays, shellfish including giant clams, sea mammals such as dolphins and whales, the sea turtle, which is consumed as a delicacy, and the dugong, or sea cow, a marine mammal that is close to extinction. Its great variety of hard and soft corals, many of them colorful, forms the environmental framework." http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Palau