NATURE'S MOST STUNNING SHAPES AND PATTERNS

FROM ICE bubbles to boiling lava, these photographs highlight the stunning shapes and patterns found in nature. The series of extraordinary images were taken by German software engineer Thorsten Scheuermann after he decided to examine his surroundings. A trip to the city of Kalapana in Hawaii, home to the Kilauea Volcano, provided Thorsten with the setting for his lava picture, while a visit to the Columbia River Gorge in Oregon offered him the opportunity to photograph ice bubbles up-close. The 37-year-old, now of Washington, USA, said: 'These are sights that can gain greater significance and have their beauty exposed when excluding everything else around them.'

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INDONESIAN TRIBE UNTOUCHED BY MODERN LIFE

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LOOK, NO HANDS! MAN CONTROLS VEHICLE USING HIS BRAIN

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BOXING DAY SQUIRRELS

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HUNGRY WHITE TIGER DIVES FOR FOOD

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ENDANGERED GORILLA BORN AT TWYCROSS ZOO

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From giant mountains to vast deserts, an American photographer spent a year capturing the diverse and beautiful landscape of the United States .