Crystal whirlpools on the top of the Andes, an unprecedented phenomenon in history

Scientists have discovered a new form of cyclone that is gradually forming in the Andes region of South America. This bizarre natural phenomenon is the explanation for the mass phenomenon of crystal-hard rock crystals mysteriously appearing along the sand dunes here.

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The Andes range is considered to be a natural border between Chile and Argentina, where there is a mountain area called Salar de Gorbea, known for its dry climate and rare rain. Especially, there are sand dunes with thousands of crystal stone crystals creating a surreal landscape.

Sand dunes covered with crystal.

So where do these stone crystals come from? This is a question that challenges all geographic records of scientists around the world.

Find the answer

According to scientists, these milky white crystalline fragments are formed in salty acid volcanic lakes. And the nearest place can "spread" these crystals away from the Salar de Gorbea desert where they are detected a minimum distance of 5 km. So how can they travel such a long distance?

Kathleen Benison, a geologist from West Virginia University, found tornadoes moving from the valley area, where saline acid pools reached the dunes and weakened and vanished. This phenomenon occurs regularly in the afternoons and they themselves suck up nearly 30 centimeters of crystal pieces from saline acid pools in the valley and pull them into sand dunes.

Strange whirlwind known as Mo Devil.

Giant tornadoes can reach several kilometers high, about 500 meters in diameter and are composed of crystals that make Kathleen set for this strange phenomenon, the Devil, a form of extreme cyclone of low intensity. these take place for a long time.

When reaching the dunes, the tornadoes weaken, the crystals will slowly free up from a height of 4.5m.

Usually if a whirlwind can attract "heavy objects" it rarely happens and they must have intensity and wind power up to historical figures. In fact, the world appeared a tornado called the Devil's Dust that created a "rain" of rats throughout the Arizona desert.

A block of ice crystals in the Andes.(Photo: Science Alert.)

But according to the report, up to this point, the tornadoes in the Andes only achieved wind speeds of 70 km / h - the same as the tornado F0. At this rate, the possibility of a tornado capable of drawing crystals into the air is impossible. That is, the crystal vortex phenomenon in the Andes might be something scientists have never known before.

Kathleen Benison hypothesized that low air pressure in the Salar de Gorbea desert, along with the long shape of the crystal fragment, made it easy to "suck" into the air and fly at a few altitudes. kilometers.

And if what Kathleen Benison makes is true, scientists will have to reconsider the limits of the power of whirlwinds that were often overlooked as "both slow and weak".