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Items tagged with: WaterfallWednesday

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

Under Ice

Gullfoss is a popular waterfall, usually very busy with tourists arriving by the busful.

In March, following a heavy snowstorm, we were almost the only ones there. The path down to the lower viewpoint was closed but some people had still risked it, evidenced by the footprints.

Both wearing warm clothes, carrying spiked hiking poles, and fitted with crampons, we made our careful way along the upper platform. The view was simply astonishing.

#WaterfallWednesday #Iceland #Photography

Four colour photos of parts of a frozen waterfall under a snow-laden sky. In the upper left of this shot a wide blue river is making its way towards the viewpoint. Near the centre right it drops over a clutter of eroded boulders and steps, many of which are covered in snow and ice. The canyon wall next to this upper falls is caked with ice. The water course then turns ninety degrees to another drop into a deep canyon, just in front of the viewer. The foreground is a snow field with a large cornice overhanging the canyon, although this isn't obvious from this angle. A line of fencing is running down to a natural rock platform next to the top falls. Compacted ice shows where people have walked down.
The second colour photo is of the icicles and cakes of ice at the point on the canyon wall next to the top falls. The ice is quite turquoise due to the fact that it's constantly wet. Snow has settled on the upper surfaces of the icicles. Some black rock is showing through in a few places, but mostly the ice is dominant. Running water can be seen at the top left.
A view from height of the cascade dropping into the gorge. The canyon walls are mostly obscured by ice and snow but dark rock can be seen beneath. The blue water is dropping over a crest which is diagonal to the viewer, a clump of snowy ice is in the centre, splitting the flow. The falling water is white with foam. Opposite the drop, the outline of a cornice is visible, almost completely covered in snow. The foreground is more snowfield with some bare scrub vegetation.
A close-up of the crest of the drop into the canyon. The swirling blue water is white with foam as it passes the natural rock platform which is closed to visitors. Zooming in on the right to 100% of the photo shows footprints all around the edge where visitors have ignored the safety warnings. Icicles and clumps of heavy turquoise ice have formed along the edge of the platform and the snow shows distinct layers.
#photography #iceland #waterfallwednesday

Red Coat

Our first visit to Dettifoss in north-eastern Iceland was in September 2014. This mighty waterfall has a width of ≈100 metres (330 feet) and a plunge of 44 metres (144 feet) into Jökulsárgljúfur, with an average flow rate of 193 metres³/second (6816 feet³/second).

I stood on a high viewpoint looking down at the thundering cascade, white with foam.

The photographer didn't know he was being watched, or that he had my rainbow right next to him

#WaterfallWednesday #Iceland #Photography

A colour photo of a waterfall taken from above. The cascade is only partially seen, stretching from centre top to bottom right of the shot and dropping into an unseen canyon far below. Some spray is rising on the far left. The water is grey with sediment and foaming white from before the fairly straight crest line. At the top left is the opposite wall of the canyon, craggy brown rock mostly in the shadow of the waterfall. Directly below the high viewpoint is an outcrop, grey rock and dark mud with some scrubby plant growth. Walking across it is a photographer in a red coat and hat with a tripod over his shoulder. At the edge of the outcrop, the dropping water is creating spray and a small arc of rainbow is visible.
#photography #iceland #waterfallwednesday

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