Iceland in Pictures

The tales the mossy lava can tell you

Moss and lava fields go together like egg an bacon. There’s a lot you can read out of the moss on lava fields. You can roughly guess the age of a lava field by the thickness of the moss on it. I would reckon this lava flowed a few hundred years ago. It is actually about the thickness of the moss in the Lakahraun lava field from 1783, might very well be that lava field.

The color of the moss also changes a lot depending on the weather in the past week or so. Lush green moss such as this indicates lots of recent rain. Different shades of greenish to gray indicate dryer weather.

Since moss is really slow growing, please take care with it. It can handle some traffic, but not much. So if you are in a place that receives lots of traffic, avoid walking on the moss. Otherwise always tread lightly. And by lightly I mean, use the moss walking technique. Place your foot straight down and lift it straight up in each step. Avoid tearing up the moss as you roll your feet forward. It is very easy to tear it up in every step, but also easy to avoid.

Moss takes hundreds of years to grow and old wheel tracks last for decades if not centuries, so of course, never ever drive off road.

(Source: timpogo)

Iceland is not color blind friendly

Blue lagoon or lava flow?

A place I like to call home.

(Source: quitoon)

Orange men in the lava field. Great capture. This lava field may look like any other lava field, but I do know it well. This is a group of people walking back to the road after an exploration of Leiðarendi. Leiðarendi is a really nice lava tube cave just outside Reykjavík. There are some companies that offer caving tours there.

(Source: ummhello)

This is lava from the Eyjafjallajökull eruption melting its way down the Gígjökull outlet glacier in Iceland. I hope I have time to climb up there this summer.

(Source: flickr.com, via shavedpussypoetry)

Awesome picture of the recent eruption on Fimmvörðuháls by Tony Prower.

(Source: Flickr / icelandaurora, via ruineshumaines)

This is one of 130 craters in the 25 kilometer long, Lakagígar, volcanic fissure. The eruption that created these craters occurred in the year 1783 and went on for 8 months. This is possibly the hardest time in Icelandic history. Crops failed, most livestock perished and temperatures dropped as an ash filled haze blocked the sun for years. A quarter of the Icelandic population died as a result of the famine that ensued.

The lava flow is the greatest in historical times in the world. Up to 6.000 cubic meters of molten lava flowed every second from the craters. To put this in some sort of scale, the largest river in Iceland has an average flow of 400 cubic meters per second. In total the volcanic material was around 15 km3, covering 600 km2 or 0.5% of Iceland. The lava fountains are likely to have reached up to 1.4 km up into the sky and the ash cloud will have climbed as high as 15 km. Contemporary accounts describe it as a red chandelier far up in the mountains.

The effect of such an eruption is not limited to Iceland. Just as in the more recent Eyjafjallajökull eruption, ash was carried around the world. However this was many times greater than the recent eruption and caused much more harm than cancelled flights. The poisonous gases and ash killed tens of thousands in mainland Europe. It is estimated that around 50.000 died in Britain as a result of the gases and famine. 

The ash in atmosphere caused freak weather around the world in the next few years. Heat waves in Europe, the Mississippi River frozen at New Orleans, Ice in the Gulf of Mexico and droughts in Japan. One sixth of Egyptians are thought to have died in a famine caused by low water levels in the Nile attributed to the ash. Famine and crop fluctuations in France as a result of the eruption are contributing factors to the anger and troubles that led to the French Revolution.

It is not a question if, but when, another eruption of this scale occurs. Hopefully we will not live to experience such a disaster in our lifetimes. Iceland is entirely built upon lava from eruptions such as these, so this was not a unique event.

(Source: fuckyeahvolcanoes)

Land of fire and ice.

The eruption on Fimmvörðuháls in Iceland in the spring of 2010.

(Source: jackhilliethethird, via riverscent)

Excitement during the 1973 eruption in downtown Vestmannaeyjar, Iceland.

(Source: dagdraumur)

lori-rocks:

Lava Falls
by Snorri Gunnarsson

(via nicklaslidstrom)

This is part of the Laki volcano. The Lakagígar are actually a 25 kilometer long row of craters in South Iceland. They were formed in an eruption that went on in the years 1783-1784. The lava flow from this fissure is the greatest flow of lava that has flowed in historical times on Planet Earth. Around 12 cubic kilometers of lava flowed over 580 square kilometers of land.

The period during and after this eruption is perhaps the hardest time in Icelandic history. Very few people were killed directly by the eruption, but about 10.000 people (20% of the population) were killed in the famine that resulted of 80% of sheep dieing, 60% of horses and 50% of cattle.

The effects were not only in Iceland. The ash cloud had a worldwide effect causing crops to fail all over Europe. The University of Cambridge estimates that 10.000 people in England died as a result. Effects were also strong in France potentially adding to the effects that caused the French Revolution.

Another picture of the recent eruption. This is the earlier one that caused little trouble but was very accessible and beautiful to look at. Every Icelander that was fit for the hike up there went. These beautiful lavafalls were what most wanted to see.

Check out some awesome pictures of the eruption on Fredrikholms flickr.