When viewed from above, much of the landscape of South Carolina is clearly covered in mysterious oval depressions that aren’t obvious from ground level. Known as “Carolina Bays”, nobody really knows how these unique geological features were formed.

Despite their name, Carolina Bays can also be found in Delaware, Maryland, New Jersey, North Carolina, Virginia, Georgia, and northcentral Florida. They vary in size from one to several thousand acres, and are often gathered in groups. Many are filled with water and named as lakes, but most contain vegetated wetland.

Most striking however, is that every single one is invariably aligned in almost exactly same direction – which has led some people to claim that they might be the result of a meteor impact. It would have to have been a pretty serious impact, as there are estimated to be over 500,000 of them. This is Lake Waccamaw, north Carolina, which is widely considered the largest Carolina bay.

George Howard (a bit of a Carolina Bay fanatic), has created an exhaustive KML file that marks the location of many thousands of the bays in North Carolina. This image was taken in Google Earth, and shows the white outlines that have been used to mark the locations.

So, who here can solve the mystery of the Carolina Bays?

You can read more about Carolina Bays at Wikipedia. Thanks to Keith Wright, david and Ogle Earth.

Welcome to Google Sightseeing Reader Takeover Week! Every day this week, one of you has been chosen to have their very own sight posted here on GSS, while Alex and James take a well deserved holiday. Today’s sight is from Jerome – so have fun, play nice, and we’ll see you next week!

The name pretty much gives what it is away – Stone Mountain is the largest exposed mass of granite in the world (a mountain made of stone, haha). Formed over 300 million years ago by emerging magma from the earth’s crust, Stone Mountain is composed mainly of granite which is visible from miles around.

Apart from the geology aspect of it, Stone Mountain also boasts a bas-relief on the side depicting three figures of the short lived Confederate States of America – carved in 1909. Nowadays, a park exists encircling the mountain and the top of the mountain can be accessed by a 1.3 mile (about 2.1 km) hiking trail, or by taking a ride on the Skyride, an aerial tramway. Either way, the top provides a great view of the Atlanta skyline and surrounding suburbs. Last but not least, every week they hold the “world’s largest” 40 minute laser show near the carving.

An interesting note is that if you look at it in Google Maps, you can zoom out quite a bit and still notice the huge rock as a small whitish speck.

Find out a lot more about this huge piece of granite at Wikipedia or visit the official site.

The White House is, as we all know, the official residence of the President of the United States. But did you also know that the White House is the official residence of an Iranian immigrant?

Of course, I’m not talking about the original White House, in today’s world a man born in Iran would probably get shot for going near the White House, let alone pitching a tent. I’m instead talking about Fred Milani’s home in Atlanta.

Mr Milani, an Iran-born American citizen, built his mini White House in 2001. It boats 36 rooms and in terms of area is about 30% that of the original White House, although the layout is completely different.

Only six of the 36 rooms are bedrooms while the other rooms in the house include the “Monkey Room”, decorated with monkeys and leopard print, the “Queen Room”, with lots of pink pillows, and the “Oval office”. Oval here is used loosely as the room isn’t oval-shaped, but it does feature a replica of Abraham Lincoln’s old desk.

Other replica White House homes around the US include this one in Fairfax County, Virginia.

A smaller replica in San Antonio, Texas.

And lastly in Dallas, Texas there’s a “Red House” – A White House replica purportedly made out of red bricks.

You might say these replicas are all a bit tacky, but even the President’s White House is a rip-off. The original designs were based on Leinister House in Dublin, Ireland.

Thanks IBreakCellPhones, craigclarke and Bird’s Eye Tourist

Today is Martin Luther King Day, a US holiday which celebrates the birthday of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr – leader of the American civil rights movement, political activist and at 35 the youngest Nobel Peace Prize winner.

He was assassinated in 1968 and his remains are now held at the King Center, located just beside his childhood home. The white rectangle within a circle is Dr. King’s tomb, where there is also an eternal flame.

Probably the greatest speech of all time, Dr. King’s “I have a dream” was made to 200,000 demonstrators outside the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C.

Links: The Martin Luther King Jr National Historic Site and Martin Luther King Jr (Wikipedia).

Thanks: Trina

There’s nothing more Rock n Roll than a swimming pool in the shape of a guitar, so I wonder which rock god owns this pad near L’Estartit in Spain.

Actually, I take that back – having your whole house built into the shape of a guitar is truly Rock n roll, so hats off the the anonymous owner of this guitar house in Fayetteville, Georgia.

Thanks: Paul Raps & Bob Allen