The Origin of Rivers and Subterranean Water Systems

The black-and-white engraving depicts a mountainous coastal landscape featuring four distinct cavern openings near the summits. Within each cavern, columns of water gush upwards and outwards, feeding serpentine rivers that wind across the land to reach the ocean. In the ocean, several large whirlpools are visible near the river mouths, and small sailing vessels occupy the lower right and lower left foreground. Small, stylized towns and clusters of trees are scattered across the plains.

This image is a plate from Kircher's 1664 encyclopedic work 'Mundus Subterraneus', which proposes a geocentric and hydrologic theory that the Earth contains a network of subterranean fires and water channels akin to a living organism's circulatory system.