Nature – Page 6 – Geeky Girl Engineer

Iceland’s Moss and Lichen

Posted on May 31, 2014 by geek

Iceland has very few trees, yet it is incredibly lush due to all the moss and lichen that cover, well, everything. Most of the lava rocks are covered with soft green moss, or possibly lichen. I have yet to identify the actual kingdom, much less species, of the “living stuff growing on the rocks” that I photographed. Whatever the stuff is, it is gorgeous. It also gave me a great reason to play with my new macro lens. If anyone who reads this can identify what I photographed, even if only to narrow it down to fungus, plant, or lichen, I would be grateful if you would leave me a comment. I would really like to know what they are. Edited to add: Here is a link to an interesting article about the ecosystem consisting inside glacier mice.

Glacier Mice

Rock covered with moss and lichen near Svartifoss

Moss near Skogafoss

Red and Purple Moss near Skogafoss

Orange and black Lichen

Lime green Lichen

Moss near Blue Lagoon

Þingvellir

Posted on May 27, 2014 by geek

Þingvellir (Thingvellir) National Park is one of those places that you must go to if in Iceland for good reason. It is historically significant as the place where the original Iceland government met, and it is amazing and beautiful site to see. It is also geologically fascinating because it sits where two major tectonic plates are spreading apart. Also, if you watch Game of Thrones, you will evidently recognize it. The very tall rock wall you can walk along side is known as Almannagjá, and it is just one of things you need to do in person to really grasp the awe of it. I found this to be a good source of information on the geology of the area.

Þingvellir view from visitor’s center

Almannagjá

Top of Almannagjá

Drekkingarhylur

Þingvellir

Moss on Þingvellir wall

Þingvellir Church

Þingvallabær

Þingvallavatn

Westfjords

Posted on May 25, 2014 by geek

Between driving up to the Westfjords on Day 10 in Iceland, exploring on Day 11, and leaving on Day 12, we drove up and down numerous fjords, numerous times. The fjords are gorgeous, but driving up and down them can get quite tiring. We didn’t have the best weather while we were there, so we couldn’t really see the tops of the mountains. Of course, the low clouds sitting on top of the mountains did help to demonstrate their height.

View of Gilsfjordur

Low clouds falling down glacier valley

Vigur Island in foreground

View from Hnífsdalur

View of Onundarfjordur

Dynjandi

Posted on May 24, 2014 by geek

Day 11 in Iceland was spent in the Westfjords. We drove through the area enjoying the beauty and very much not enjoying the unpaved roads that go around mountainous curves and altitude changes and have far too many potholes. The area really is pretty, but it is probably prettier than I realize as it was raining most of the day with very low clouds, such that it was rather difficult to see much of the fjords. During our drive, we visited Dynjandi, which is a rather pretty series of waterfalls. The stream that flows over the waterfalls then exits to a fjord in an area with lots of waterfowl.

View of all of Dynjandi

Dynjandi’s lower falls

Grassy stream from Dynjandi

View from base of Dynjandi

Dynjandi’s mid falls

Upper and most spectacular portion of Dynjandi, with my sister on the far left side for size reference

Upper and most spectacular portion of Dynjandi

View from Dynjandi’s upper falls

Stream from Dynjandi exits to fjord

Flowers growing in a stream from outlet of Dynjandi

Whales, Dolphins, and Puffins

Posted on May 23, 2014 by geek

On Day 9 in Iceland, we took a cruise out of Húsavík to try to see whales. We chose a cruise on a sailboat that took us by an island where we were pretty much guaranteed to see puffins. The puffins did not disappoint. We also lucked out and saw white-beaked dolphins and two blue whales. I have never seen blue whales before, so I was very excited about that. We were also visited by one friendly fulmar, and the cruise included spectacular views of the fjord.

Blue whale

Blue whales

Blue whale

White-beaked dolphin

White-beaked dolphins

Puffin

Puffin taking off

Puffin

Puffins on island

Fulmar

Fjord

Close up of fjord mountain top

Mývatn

Posted on May 22, 2014 by geek

Day 8 in Iceland had us exploring the Mývatn region of northern Iceland. It is a rather geologically active region, even relative to the fact that it is in Iceland, which is essentially an island of geological activity. Mývatn is located close to the Krafla volcano and besides being pretty and interesting, also has birds in abundance due to the huge lake. If you are ever in Mývatn, I highly recommend lunch at Vogafjos, which has incredibly delicious food, including geysir bread, which is cooked underground using geothermal heat, and insanely fresh cheese due to the cows which sleep in the same building in which you eat. They are very friendly cows too. If you are there, go pet them.

Myvatn

View of Krafla

Myvatn

Quiet inlet of Myvatn

Crystal clear water of Myvatn

Golden Plover

Scaups

View of the Vogafjos farm, from the dining room

A friendly Vogafjos cow

Dettifoss

Posted on May 21, 2014 by geek

While traveling the Ring Road north, we stopped at Dettifoss. Dettifoss is another waterfall in Iceland, but it has the distinction of being the largest waterfall in Europe by volume of water. It is pretty of course and flows through a dramatic canyon. One of the things I found most interesting about it was the patterns in the snow of the other side of the canyon from it. I am not actually sure how the patterns formed, but I assume it has to do with the topography of side and the time difference in which the snow fell.

Dettifoss

Valley into which Dettifoss flows

Dettifoss

Patterns in snow

Rainbow formed from Dettifoss

River that flows into Dettifoss

Ring Road South

Posted on May 21, 2014 by geek

Day 6 in Iceland had us traveling the Ring Road from the center south area to the east. Iceland is a country of dramatic landscapes, and I just can’t get over the beauty of the land. We traveled over lava fields, along rocky coasts, and along fjords into the mountains. Below are a few photos of what we saw traveling the Ring Road.

view of Vestmannaeyjar islands

Eldhraun lava fields

Another waterfall

Rocky coast

Fjord

Looking down the glacier valley right before crossing the mountain top

Reindeer

Jökulsárlón, Glacier Lagoon

Posted on May 20, 2014 by geek

Day 6 in Iceland, we traveled from the south to the east via the Ring Road. We made the obligatory stop at Jökulsárlón, the Glacier Lagoon. It is a major tourist attraction for good reason. It is beautiful. The lagoon is at the end of Breiðamerkurjökull glacier, and the glacier breaks off pieces to form icebergs in the lagoon. Icebergs just slowly float through the lagoon before entering the sea. Many types of birds can be found in the lagoon, as well as seals. We spotted at least 15 seals playing in the water, and I managed to get a few photos of some of them.

Jökulsárlón

Birds on Icebergs

Iceberg

Iceberg on beach

Close up of an iceberg on the beach

Seal

Harlequin Ducks

Eider

Svartifoss

Posted on May 20, 2014 by geek

Day 5 in Iceland, after hiking up a glacier, we decided we needed more hiking, so we hiked to Svartifoss, yet another waterfall in Iceland. Svartifoss is particularly neat because it flows over basalt columns. Also there are of course more waterfalls on the way to Svartifoss, including Hundefoss.

Svartifoss

Svartifoss closeup with basalt columns

Basalt Columns

Basalt Columns morphed

Basalt Columns pieces

Hundafoss

Stream from Hundafoss