James Cameron’s “Avatar” film series introduced us to Pandora, a lush biosphere teeming with life, where exotic plants, animals and lemur-like humanoids thrive.
While Pandora might be a fictional place, it was inspired by real places on good ol’ planet Earth, including a sandstone mountain so ancient it dates all the way back to the Proterozoic Eon.
Mount Roraima, which can loosely be translated to “
great blue-green house of spirits,” is a vast flat-topped mountain (or tepui) nestled between the borders of Venezuela, Brazil and Guyana. Estimated to be over 2 billion years old, many consider it to be one of the oldest geological formations on earth.
Because the area experiences rainfall year round, it’s not uncommon to see giant waterfalls spontaneously fall from the plateau’s cliffs. And on cloudy days, the tepui more closely resembles some kind of sky island.
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Geologist Perú| Geology Earth on Instagram: "Mount Roraima These cliffs appear to drop sharply into oblivion, giving the whole plateau the appearance of a section of Earth that's somehow popped out of the ground like a weird Minecraft biome. Also known as tepuis, odd-looking geological formations like this are among the oldest plateaus in the world. Besides their other-worldly appearance, tepuis like Mount Roraima form differently from traditional mountains - most of which are the result of two continental plates simply smashing together. tepuis started forming when sand settled and became rock at the bottom of the ancient oceans, some 2 billion years ago. To put that into perspective, Mount Everest only formed about 60 million years ago, and Earth itself is roughly 4.5 billion years old. Photo Copyright © @aworldtravellover ____________________________________________ #geologist #geology #geologia #minerals #a #petrology #geo #earthscience #geologypage #rocks #science #geologists #geologyrocks #geological #ingenier #nature #geologi #earth #crystal #gem #quartz #aquamarine #turmaline #geologi #mexico #minerales #GeoPage #geologos #minerals #alemania #geologia #minerales"In other words, it’s magical. The indigenous Pemón and Kapon certainly felt this way. According to their folklore, Mount Roraima is the stump of a sacred tree that once held all the fruits and tuberous vegetables of the world. The tree was struck down by the trickster god Makunaima, unleashing a terrible flood.
Throughout history, Mount Roraima has enchanted Native tribes and travelers alike. English explorer Sir Walter Raleigh climbed it in 1596 on his quest to find the legendary golden city of El Dorado. His findings were said to have inspired Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s novel “The Lost World,” which depicts an expedition to a plateau in the Amazon basin of South America where prehistoric animals still survive.
Being home to several species of plants and animals that can only be found on the plateau—including carnivorous pitcher plants and the black and yellow Roraima Bush Toad, which is listed as a vulnerable species—it's no wonder that Mount Roraima helped bring science fiction worlds to life.
Mount Roraima isn’t the only real-world place that helped create Pandora, by the way. China’s Zhangjiajie National Forest Park, Hawaii’s Hamakua Coast, Jamaica’s Bioluminescent Lagoon, New Zealand’s Glowworm Caves and the caves of Thailand’s Khao Sok National Park are just some of the filming locations used for “Avatar” and “Avatar: The Way of Water” collectively.
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Lazy_Travel on Instagram: "Небесные врата Китая🇨🇳🌥🌳 Удивительное #lazy_кино "Аватар" поражает обилием спецэффектов и трудно поверить, что у этой красоты есть реальный прототип. Национальный парк Чжанцзяцзе известен во всем мире как «Аватар парк». Именно пейзажи Чжанцзяцзе стали прототипом парящих гор в знаменитом фантастическом блокбастере📽🌄 Столетиями в результате выветривания песчаников, известняков и вымывания почвы сформировалось около 3000 пиков и утесов самых необычных и причудливых форм. Горы покрыты густой растительностью, и их разделяют глубокие ущелья с реками, озерами и водопадами🏞 Располагается парк Чжанцзяцзе в провинции Хунань и славится своими потрясающими пейзажами! Природа парка поражает своим великолепием: огромные столбы из песчаника, расположенные над тропическим лесом, лабиринт карстовых пещер, величественные водопады, живописное озеро, мощные реки💧 Местные пейзажи вдохновили режиссера фильма «Аватар» на создание парящих гор планеты Пандоры. Это послужило своеобразной рекламой для парка, и после выхода фильма на экраны поток туристов значительно увеличился👥 Благодарные китайцы даже переименовали одну из гор в «Аватар-Алилуйя», и поставили на территории парка несколько «аватаров», возле которых обычно выстраиваются очереди для фото. И действительно, во время прогулок по парку создается впечатление, что ты на другой планете, настолько невероятные пейзажи иногда открываются перед глазами🤩💗 Хотели бы почувствовать себя героями фильма "Аватар" в китайском парке?😊😉 🦥🌏P.S. Отправиться в уникальный природный парк можно с @lazy_travel_shop #lazy_travel#lazy_travel_production#travelling#instatravel#tourism#world#ленивыепутешествия#туризм#турагент#китай#чжанцзяцзе#аватар#парк#горы#тур#туристам#отдых#путешествия#киев#украина#liketime#avatar#photooftheday#picoftheday#zhangjiajie#zhangjiajienationalforestpark#china#beautifulplaces#lazy_movie"www.instagram.com
Waitomo Glowworm Caves on Instagram: "#waitomo #glowworms #glowworm #cave #waitomoglowwormcaves #discover #newzealand #beautifuldestinations #world #nature #visit #discover #photooftheday #instaphoto #beautiful #photo #photograpy #instadaily #instalike #travel #adventure #seismology #tagsgorlikes #likeforlike"Many of us love to watch movies that transport us to mystical imaginary places, but the planet we live on has so much natural beauty to marvel at.