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Columnar Jointing

Basalt is a peculiar type of rock. When it cools, it contracts and forms cracks to release the tensile energy.
This frequently produces quite regular hexagonal columns. These pillars have enormous vertical strength but tend to erode away in horizontal slices from the top down, forming steps.

This lovely little waterfall is hitting lots of them, all the way down.

Late November, Ófærugil in Breiðdalsvík, eastern Iceland.

#WaterfallWednesday #Iceland #Photography

A colour photo of a brown rock mountainside with a waterfall cascading down it. Above and to the right is the mountain peak, covered in snow and ice. A small amount of clear sky can be seen. The rock face is layered volcanic rock with scree slopes at intervals down its drop. The lower slopes are almost completely obscured by angled scree with vegetation. Near the centre of the shot is a white water horsetail falls which quickly encounters the rocks. Below that point is a series of about ten basalt steps, and the water drops over each of them, finally disappearing into the lower scree. Several smaller cascades are on either side.
#photography #iceland #waterfallwednesday
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