The White Rocks in the north of Snow Canyon State Park near St. George, Southern Utah, United States of America, North America.

Sandstone that has been eroded into forms that resemble clam shells on the south end of Petrified Forest National Park, Arizona, United States of America, North America

Thrombolites, a variey of microbialite or living rock that produce oxygen and deposit calcium carbonate, similar to some of the earliest fossil forms of life found on Earth, Lake Clifton, Yalgorup National Park, Mandurah, Western Australia, Australia, Pacific

Stromatolites, one of the most ancient life forms on earth, mats of micro-organisms that become rock-like structures through accretion of calcium carbonate, in highly saline lagoons like here in Lake Thetis, Cervantes, Dandaragan Shire, Western Australia, Australia, Pacific

Thrombolites, a variey of microbialite or living rock that produce oxygen and deposit calcium carbonate, similar to some of the earliest fossil forms of life found on Earth, Lake Clifton, Yalgorup National Park, Mandurah, Western Australia, Australia, Pacific

Thrombolites, a variey of microbialite or living rock that produce oxygen and deposit calcium carbonate, similar to some of the earliest fossil forms of life found on Earth, Lake Clifton, Yalgorup National Park, Mandurah, Western Australia, Australia, Pacific

Stromatolites, one of the most ancient life forms on earth, mats of micro-organisms that become rock-like structures through accretion of calcium carbonate, in highly saline lagoons like here in Lake Thetis, Cervantes, Dandaragan Shire, Western Australia, Australia, Pacific

Three forms of renewable energy on one site, wind power, solar power and geothermal at a fresh lava flow that erupted during the Krafla fires at Leirhnjukur near Myvatn, during the 1970s and 80s, Iceland, Polar Regions

Mud cracks on the side of a geothermal hot spring in Hengill, Iceland, Polar Regions

Iwate Prefecture, Japan

Cracks in red soil, Lausitz, Germany

Dancers and acrobats at the Arirang Festival, the North Korean Grand Mass Gymnastics and Artistic Performance, Pyongyang, North Korea, Asia

Cracks in clay soil, Madeira, Portugal

Earth moon, full moon as seen from the northern hemisphere, Germany, Europe

Dancers and acrobats at the Arirang Festival, the North Korean Grand Mass Gymnastics and Artistic Performance, Pyongyang, North Korea, Asia

Seared earth, Jama pass (Paso de Jama), Argentina, South America

Arizona, Near Page, Landscape of Horseshoe Bend and Colorado River.

Tara Oceans Expeditions - May 2011. Tara with deployed plancton nets. On "station", the boat is drifting without engine or sails. Tara Oceans, a unique expedition: Tara Oceans is the very first attempt to make a global study of marine plankton, a form of sea life that includes organisms as small as viruses and bacterias, and as big as medusas. Our goal is to better understand planktonic ecosystems by exploring the countless species, learning about interactions among them and with their environment. Marine plankton is the only ecosystem that is almost continuous over the surface of the Earth. Studying plankton is like taking the pulse of our planet. Recently, scientists have discovered the great importance of plankton for the climate: populations of plankton are affected very rapidly by variations in climate. But in turn they can influence the climate by modifying the absorption of carbon. In a context of rapid physico-chemical changes, for example the acidification observed today in the world's oceans, it is urgent to understand and predict the evolution of these particular ecosystems. Finally, plankton is an astonishing way of going back in time ? a prime source of fossils. Over the eons, plankton has created several hundred meters of sediment on the ocean floors. This allows us to go back in time, to the first oceans on Earth, and better understand the history of our biosphere. More than 12 fields of research are involved in the project, which will bring together an international team of oceanographers, ecologists, biologists, geneticists, and physicists from prestigious laboratories headed by Eric Karsenti of the European Molecular Biology Laboratory. Galapagos