• VOLCANOES, WATERFALLS & OTHER EARTH FEATURES

More than a third (38%) of natural world heritage sites are listed under UNESCO’s criterion (viii) for their outstanding geological values.  In many cases these may be secondary to other reasons for world heritage listing so only sites where ‘Earth Features’ are considered to be ‘core’ elements of a site’s inscription are included here.  Caves, karst and fossil sites are considered elsewhere, leaving other Earth features to be considered here.  These include volcanoes, waterfalls, and spectacular rocky landscapes that demonstrate particular patterns of erosion by water, ice, wind and ocean.  In most cases the aesthetic ‘landscape appeal’ of sites is obvious, but in others, a detailed understanding of the geological story behind a particular site, expert knowledge and explanation is required.

Volcanoes and volcanic features are very well represented on the world heritage list and include many oceanic islands (considered under another category) as well as the places listed here.  Two of the world’s most active volcanoes (Hawaii and Mount Etna) and the world’s largest caldera (Ngorongoro) are included here, alongside a further 11 places listed for their exceptional features of volcanic origin.  These include the spectacular concentration of geothermal features in the USA’s Yellowstone National Park, a new volcanic island (Surtsey) off the coast of Iceland, evidence of ancient lava flows into the ocean (at Giant’s Causeway) and a range of other areas of volcanic activity, past and present from the high Andes (Sangay) to the islands of the Caribbean (Dominica’s ‘Morne Trois Pitons’ and Saint Lucia’s ‘Pitons’) and the remote South Atlantic (Australia’s Heard and MacDonald Is).  Other notable examples of volcanic features include Korea’s ‘Jeju Lava Tubes’, Italy’s Aeolian Islands, New Zealand’s Tongariro, the Canary Island’s ‘Teide National Park’ and the Volcanoes of Kamchatka in Russia’s far east.

Three of the world’s most spectacular waterfalls are featured – Iguazu on the border between Brazil and Argentina; Angel Falls in Venezuela’s Canaima National Pak, and Mosi-oa-tunya/Victoria Falls in southern Africa. Elsewhere, a number of magnificent landscapes carved by ancient glaciers and iceflows (some still active) are featured in places such as Yosemite, the Kluane-Glacier Bay area in north America,  the Ilulissat Icefjord on Greenland’s west coast and the West Norweijian Fjords.  Glaciers have also played a key role in creating the spectacular landscapes of New Zealand’s extensive ‘Te Wahipounamu’ site and Indonesia’s Lorentz National Park on the tropical island of New Guinea.

Erosion by water, wind and ocean has produced particularly interesting landscapes in areas of limestone karst (considered in a separate category) as well many other places including the USA’s Grand Canyon, Australia’s Purnululu, China’s Danxia, Mali’s Cliffs of Bandiagara and Turkey’s remarkable ‘Goreme and Cappadocia’ freestanding sandstone pillars and hoodoos.

Mountains are considered in a separate category, but some of them are singled out here because they demonstrate the effects of collision between the Earth’s tectonic plates in an exceptional way.  Three sites are believed to do this – the Tajik National Park in the Pamir Mountains of central Asia, the ‘Swiss tectonic arena’ in the Alps of central Europe and Lorentz National park on the Indonesian side of the island of New Guinea (where mountains are being pushed up between the Asian and Australian tectonic plates).  Meanwhile, scientists have shown that the area around the Kvarken Archipelago (on the borders of Sweden and Finland) has the ‘highest rate of isostatic uplift’ in the world – something that may remain a little obscure to many of us!

The diversity of geological attributes that qualify sites for inscription on the world heritage list includes a few other unusual cases.  Australia’s Fraser Island is the world’s largest sand island with numerous small lakes ‘perched’ on top of it; the Wadden Sea of northern Europe is an exceptional area of ‘depositional coastline’ behind a coastal sand barrier; and South Africa’s Vredefort Dome reveals the secrets of Earth’s oldest and largest meteorite impact.

‘To learn more about the spectacular volcanoes, waterfalls and other earth features represented on the world heritage list click on the links of featured sites in the table, or the photo tiles below. Note that some site pages are still under development so the links for these places are not yet active.’

Sites by country

COUNTRY SITE
Argentina Iguazu National Park
Australia Fraser Island
Australia Heard and McDonald Islands
Australia Macquarie Island
Australia Purnululu National Park
Australia Uluru-Kata Tjuta National Park
Brazil Iguaçu National Park
Canada Gros Morne National Park
Canada Nahanni National Park
China China Danxia
China Wulingyuan-Zhangjiajie
Denmark Ilulissat Icefjord
Denmark, Germany & Netherlands Wadden Sea
Dominica Morne Trois Pitons National Park
Ecuador Galápagos Islands
Ecuador Sangay National Park
Finland & Sweden High Coast / Kvarken Archipelago
France Chaîne des Puys – Limagne fault tectonic arena
France Gulf of Porto: Calanche of Piana, Gulf of Girolata, Scandola Reserve
France Pitons, cirques and ramparts of Reunion Island
Greece Meteora (M)
Iceland Surtsey
Iceland  Vatnajökull National Park – Dynamic Nature of Fire and Ice
Indonesia Lorentz National Park
Italy Isole Eolie (Aeolian Islands)
Italy Mount Etna
Mali Cliff of Bandiagara (Land of the Dogons) (M)
Mexico El Pinacate and Gran Desierto de Altar Biosphere Reserve
New Zealand Tongariro National Park (M)
New Zealand Te Wahipounamu – South West New Zealand
Norway West Norwegian Fjords – Geirangerfjord and Nærøyfjord
Republic of Korea Jeju Volcanic Island and Lava Tubes
Russian Federation Lena Pillars Nature Park
Russian Federation Volcanoes of Kamchatka
Saint Lucia Pitons Management Area
South Africa Barberton Makhonjwa Mountains
South Africa Vredefort Dome
Spain Teide National Park
Sweden Laponian Area
Switzerland Swiss Tectonic Arena Sardona
Tajikistan Tajik National Park (Mountains of the Pamirs)
Tanzania Ngorongoro Conservation Area (M)
Turkey Göreme National Park and the Rock Sites of Cappadocia (M)
United Kingdom Giant’s Causeway and Causeway Coast
USA Grand Canyon National Park
USA Hawaii Volcanoes National Park
USA Yellowstone National Park
USA Yosemite National Park
Venezuela Canaima National Park
Zambia & Zimbabwe Mosi-oa-Tunya / Victoria Falls

FEATURED SITES IN THIS CATEGORY

Barberton Makhonjwa Mountains

SOUTH AFRICA

Canaima National Park

VENEZUELA

Chaine des Puys – Limagne Fault Tectonic Arena

FRANCE

China Danxia

CHINA

Cliff of Bandiagara (Land of the Dogons)

MALI

El Pinacate and Gran Desierto de Altar Biosphere Reserve

MEXICO

Fraser Island

AUSTRALIA

Galapagos Islands

ECUADOR

Giant’s Causeway and Causeway Coast

UNITED KINGDOM

Göreme National Park and the Rock Sites of Cappadocia

TURKEY

Grand Canyon National Park

USA

Gros Morne National Park

CANADA

Gulf of Porto: Calanche of Piana, Gulf of Girolata, Scandola Reserve

FRANCE

Hawaii Volcanoes National Park

USA

Heard and McDonald Islands

AUSTRALIA

High Coast – Kvarken Archipelago

SWEDEN, FINLAND

Iguacu National Park

BRAZIL

Iguazu National Park

ARGENTINA

Ilulissat Icefjord

GREENLAND, UNDER DENMARK

Isole Eolie (Aeolian Islands)

ITALY

Jeju Volcanic Island and Lava Tubes

SOUTH KOREA

Laponian Area

SWEDEN

Lena Pillars Nature Park

RUSSIAN FEDERATION

Lorentz National Park

INDONESIA

Macquarie Island

AUSTRALIA

Meteora

GREECE

Morne Trois Pitons National Park

DOMINICA

Mosi-oa-Tunya/Victoria Falls

ZAMBIA & ZIMBABWE

Mount Etna

ITALY

Nahanni National Park

CANADA

Ngorongoro Conservation Area

TANZANIA

Pitons Management Area

SAINT LUCIA

Pitons, Cirques and Remparts of Réunion Island

FRANCE

Purnululu National Park

AUSTRALIA

Sangay National Park

ECUADOR

Surtsey

ICELAND

Swiss Tectonic Arena Sardona

SWITZERLAND

Tajik National Park (Mountains of the Pamirs)

TAJIKISTAN

Te Wahipounamu – South West New Zealand

NEW ZEALAND

Teide National Park

SPAIN

Tongariro National Park

NEW ZEALAND

Uluru-Kata Tjuta National Park

AUSTRALIA

Vatnajökull National Park – Dynamic Nature of Fire and Ice

ICELAND

Volcanoes of Kamchatka

RUSSIA

Vredefort Dome

SOUTH AFRICA

Wadden Sea

DENMARK, GERMANY AND THE NETHERLANDS

West Norwegian Fjords – Geirangerfjord and Nærøyfjord

NORWAY

Wulingyuan Scenic and Historic Interest Area

CHINA

Yellowstone National Park

USA

Yosemite National Park

USA