A most peculiar illness made the news in 2010. The media dubbed it the "Avatar" blues, and believe you me, it was exactly the sort of malady that can only originate in America.

The movie "Avatar" (for the three of you who missed it) is about a futuristic, imperialist power that encroaches on a utopian alien society on the distant planet of Pandora. Rendered in amazing computer-generated splendor, this otherworldly paradise of floating rock formations and vibrant jungles captured the imaginations of millions.

But then moviegoers walked out of the theater, through the local shopping mall and into the parking lot grid that was their lives. Where were the flying dragons and phosphorescent forests? Where were the breathtaking geological formations?

Lucky for you, you're already one mouse click deep into a partial cure for the "Avatar" blues. Oh, you'll need to explore other articles for those astonishing creatures and bizarre forms of plant life, but here are 10 geological wonders that can put anything in "Avatar" to shame.