Mystery of pink sand washed up on South Australian beaches solved

Deep-pink sand made of garnet washing up on South Australian shores is likely the remains of a 590 million-year-old Antarctic mountain range, Australian scientists say.

"Garnet requires high temperatures to form and is usually associated with the formation of large mountain belts," University of Adelaide PhD candidate Sharmaine Verhaert said.

Garnet dating to the same period as the sand on the beaches has been found previously in an outcrop in the Transantarctic Mountains in East Antarctica, at the edge of a colossal area that is completely concealed by a thick ice sheet.

Pictured is garnet washed up as pink sand on a beach in Dhilba Guuranda-Innes National Park

Researchers believe this area hosts evidence of a 590-million-year-old mountain belt hiding below the Antarctic ice.

"While it is currently not possible to sample directly under this ice sheet, it is conceivable that millions of years of ice transport eroded the bedrock underneath and transported this cargo of garnet north-westwards, towards the conjugate Antarctic-Australian margin," researcher Associate Professor Stijn Glorie said.

"The garnet deposits were then locally stored in glacial sedimentary deposits along the southern Australian margin until erosion liberated them and the waves and tides concentrated them on the South Australian beaches.

"We have effectively uncovered a major mountain building event that redefines the timing of the onset of convergence in the Pacific Ocean."

The research was published in the journal Communications Earth and Environment.

A pond in Hawaii looks like something right out of a fairy tale after it turned bright pink.

Staff at the Kealia Pond National Wildlife Refuge on Maui have been monitoring the pink water since October 30.

Drought may be to blame for the strange hue, scientists say, and they're warning against entering the water or drinking it.

Refuge member Bret Wolfe was concerned the bright pink could be a sign of an algae bloom, but lab tests found toxic algae was not causing the color.

Water samples however sent to the University of Hawaii suggest that halobacteria is behind the pond's new magenta hue, according to the US Fish and Wildlife Service.

A massive fire burning through the desert in California and southern Nevada has scorched tens of thousands of acres in a biodiverse national preserve and torched its iconic Joshua trees.

The York Fire – already California's largest fire of the year – has burned more than 82,000 acres as of Wednesday morning local time, fire officials said. It began Friday in the New York Mountains of California's Mojave National Preserve and crossed state lines into Nevada on Sunday.

The fire is burning through and threatening groves of Joshua trees – the branching, spiky plants of the Mojave Desert that can live more than 150 years.

Some of the trees have already fallen victim to the flames and burned, Marc Peebles, a spokesperson for California's incident management team for the fire, confirmed to CNN on Wednesday.

The Mojave National Preserve is a significant hotspot for biodiversity, with one conservationist calling it the "crown jewel" of the deserts of Southern California. Joshua trees only grow in the Desert Southwest and far northwestern Mexico, and one of the densest Joshua tree forests is within the burn area, Cody Hanford, executive director of the Mojave Desert Land Trust, told CNN.

"We're looking at sad outcomes for potentially millions of Joshua trees," Hanford said.

It's unclear exactly how many Joshua trees and other plant and animal life had been lost to the blaze, a Mojave Preserve spokesperson said. Preserve rangers will conduct surveys by air and ground once the fire is extinguished to determine the full scope of the damage.

Credit: R. Almendinger/InciWeb/National Park Service Mojave National Preserve/AP

A phenomenon that only occurs for two days each year is underway in the US state of Hawaii, in the middle of the Pacific.

At the sun's peak, shadows completely vanish from sight.

The phenomenon is referred to as 'Lahaina Noon'.

In Hawaiian 'Lahaina' means 'cruel sun'.

Take a look at the image which shows a striking lack of shadow. This infamous photo has become the face of Lahaina Noon, with many far and wide liking the phenomenon to a 'badly rendered video game.'

Clouds in the form of waves have been spotted in Queensland's Whitsundays region last night.

The clouds formed an incredibly rare surfing shape, with the bright moon lighting them up as they hovered over Airlie Beach.

The incredible image was captured by Nicole Temple.

A photographer created this electrifying timelapse image as an electrical storm illuminated the skies above his hometown of Mudanya in Turkey.

Uğur İkizler captured 100 individual lightning bolts during a 50-minute period as the storm bore down on June 16, around midnight.

He then stitched those photos together to create one incredible photo that showed the ferocity of the weather event.

Bushfires in Canada caused a wave of orange to sweep over the US, with New York copping the brunt of the smoke.

Images have been released of New York skyline before and after the smoke.

New York's skyline stands tall in this photo before the fires.

Days later, the conditions were much worse.

The iconic buildings are nearly impossible to see, as the orange smoke chokes the city of New York.

The sun reflects off the beautiful Hudson River with the New York skyline visible in the back.

This photo was taken before the wildfires poured smoke into the city.

The same skyline is hidden behind a haze of smoke, which has made the air in New York "hazardous" to breathe in.

More than eight million people have been exposed to levels of pollution five times higher than the national air quality standard.

New York's busy time square photographed on a day with clear skies.

Now, the same intersection looks like something out of a dystopian sci-fi movie.

Residents have returned to wearing covid-era masks to protect their airways as the smoke continues to suffocate the city. 

New York was steeped in an orange haze after smoke from Canada's wildfires poured into the US.

The smoke has grounded flights and prompted air quality concerns for more than 55 million residents in Pennsylvania, New York, New Jersey and Connecticut.

New York City; Jersey City, New Jersey; and New Haven, Connecticut all had "unhealthy" AQIs ranging from 155 to 171 on Wednesday morning.

"Yesterday, New Yorkers saw and smelled something that has never impacted us on this scale before," New York City Mayor Eric Adams said Wednesday.

"This is not the day to train for a marathon or to do an outside event with your children. Stay inside, close windows and doors, and use air purifiers if you have them."

The smoke covered iconic Skylines across the country.

New York City had the worst air pollution of any major city in the world at one point Tuesday night, before dropping to second-worst behind New Delhi, India, according to air quality tracker IQair.

At least 10 school districts in central New York state cancelled outdoor activities and events Tuesday.

New York City's mayor said the situation is expected to improve Wednesday, but will likely worsen Thursday.