Ritten Earth Pillars. These structures are tall spires of eroded rock with a piece of harder rock on top, which protects the spire below from the elem


Ritten Earth Pillars. These structures are tall spires of eroded rock with a piece of harder rock on top, which protects the spire below from the elements. These pillars were formed by the erosion of glacial moraine (here, a clay-like rock) left here by a glacier after the last ice age (around 10,000 years ago). There are between 100 and 150 pillars, some still over 40 metres high, others in the last stages of being eroded away. Photographed at Ritten near Bolzano, South Tyrol, Italy.


Size: 3425px × 5138px
Photo credit: © DR JUERG ALEAN/SCIENCE PHOTO LIBRARY / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No

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