Blood rivers, stone forests and perched pillars of chalk may sound like features of an alien planet dreamed up as a set for a new SyFy show, but our own Mother Earth is a lot stranger and less predictable than we give her credit for.

Take for example the Spotted Lake in Canada. It certainly seems otherworldly, but the high content of salt and other minerals in the ground just happens to be conducive to the development of many shallow pools of water, rather than one central body of water. WebEcoist has photos and info on many similarly unique landscapes.