オレゴンの巨大穴、湖を丸呑みする（画像）

See More of the World's Strangest Lakes By the ocean, jellyfish are a nuisance to swimmers, but taking a dip with them in Palau’s Jellyfish Lake is an unexpected pleasure. These golden jellyfish are glowing orbs of pink and purple that range in size from a penny to a soccer ball and were cut off from their natural predators millennia ago. With no need to defend themselves, they evolved without the ability to sting—the only such known species of jellyfish. These blissful creatures do nothing more than soak up the sunlight (their main source of nutrition)—oh, and entertain the humans, who have taken to snorkeling in their midst. Photo: WaterFrame / Alamy

See More of the World's Strangest Lakes The yearly sprouting of thousands upon thousands of red lotus flowers completely transforms the surface of Lake Nong Harn into an 8,000-acre vision of buoyant blossoms. This aquatic garden begins to grow in October, just after the rainy season. When it reaches full bloom in December, nearby villagers, who trace the origins of the lake to a tragic love myth, take to boats to enjoy the miraculous scenery. The sea of red lotuses—Talay Bua Daeng, as the locals say—is best viewed during daylight hours before noon, when the flowers are fully opened, revealing their vibrant, pink color (not red, despite the name). The lake, which is located in the province of Udon Thani, 350 miles north of Bangkok, stays rosy until March. Photo: Dave Stamboulis / Alamy

See More of the World's Strangest Lakes Some lakes just stick with you, but none more than this one. Made of about 10 million tons of liquid asphalt and spread over a massive 100 acres, La Brea Pitch Lake is the largest natural deposit of pitch on earth. Its gooey emulsion of water, gas, bitumen, and minerals has been a major source of asphalt throughout the world ever since 1595, when Sir Walter Raleigh happened upon its shores on his quest to find El Dorado. Too bad he wasn’t looking for the Fountain of Youth, which is the nickname local villagers had given to the warm, healing pools of sulfur-infused waters that pop up around the lake during rainy season (June to November). Photo: Courtesy of Trinidad & Tobago Tourism by Jim Stephens

See More of the World's Strangest Lakes Water at the center of this 200-foot-wide lakelet stays in a constant rolling boil so hot that no one has been able to take an accurate measurement. But consider that at the shore, this lake already measures between 180 and 197 degrees. Scientists believe the vapor-covered cauldron is really a flooded fumarole, or a vent that leads directly down to volcanic magma. It’s not the largest heated lake in the world—that title belongs to the magnificent, comparatively temperate Rotorua lakes in New Zealand—but Boiling Lake is certainly the most forbidding. Photo: George H.H. Huey / Alamy

See More of the World's Strangest Lakes Problem: You can’t decide if you want to visit a lake or a river. Solution: Lake Manicouagan, in Quebec. Plenty of lakes are round in shape, but this is the only known lake that has been cast into the form of a ring. It was created 200 million years ago when a 3.1-mile-diameter asteroid—the fifth largest ever—crashed into the earth and left behind what appears to be the world’s only concentric river. At 1,206 square miles, roughly half the size of Delaware, it’s one of the few lakes whose primary island takes up more surface area than actual water, giving you the best of both a lake and a river. Photo: LWM/NASA/LANDSAT / Alamy

See More of the World's Strangest Lakes A lake so surreal in color, Salvador Dalí himself might have dreamed it up. More likely, this russet-red lake fueled the imagination of the great mustachioed painter, who once traveled to this far reach of Bolivia, now called Dalí Valley, looking for inspiration. The burgundy color is derived from plankton, red algae, and a trove of other microorganisms that serve as food for the lake’s other outstanding feature—the rare puna flamingo, whose presence makes the place seem something like a mash-up of Mars and the Caribbean. It’s one of three cold-weather flamingo species that speckle their tropical pink hues over the otherwise forbidding landscape: a 23-square-mile stretch of water beneath titanic maroon mountains, at a windswept 14,000 feet above sea level. Photo: iStockphoto

See More of the World's Strangest Lakes Good luck finding a spot to enjoy this lake, where the air outside can reach a frigid 60 degrees below zero and the stuff inside measures a fiery 1,700 degrees above. One of five lava lakes worldwide, Mount Erebus stands out for its location in Antarctica, the continent that lays claim to having the most ice. The pool of molten rock can be found 12,500 feet above sea level atop Mount Erebus—a volcano that has been consistently erupting since 1972. Before you even think about getting close, remember that it has been known to lob 10-foot-wide lava bombs without notice. Photo: Galen Rowell/Corbis