By Nat Hab Expedition Chief Eddy Savage
Iceland is house to a few of the most spectacular and photogenic waterfalls on the planet. These falls might not at all times carry huge volumes of water, however their rugged volcanic settings make them mesmerizing. The island’s younger geology and dynamic panorama have created a outstanding number of waterfalls, every with a narrative written in lava and ice.
Over the previous 14 to 16 million years, Iceland has risen from the ocean via numerous volcanic eruptions. The island straddles the Mid-Atlantic Ridge, a rift that splits it aside at roughly an inch per yr. Because the land pulls aside, new lava flows kind within the middle whereas older rock lies within the Eastfjords and Westfjords. This geologic distinction provides Iceland’s waterfalls their placing variety in kind and character.
Kvernufoss
The Rift Zone Waterfalls
The Pleistocene Epoch, or Ice Ages, started about 2.5 million years in the past and have repeated in lengthy cycles ever since. Throughout these occasions, huge ice sheets—as much as a mile thick—lined a lot of Iceland. When volcanic eruptions occurred beneath the ice, intense warmth met intense chilly, creating explosive strain. The end result was violent floods of meltwater that scoured the land and reshaped valleys on their technique to the ocean.
As lava cooled quickly beneath the ice, layers of ash, rock fragments and basalt constructed distinctive formations referred to as tuya mountains (desk mountains) and Moberg ridges (hyaloclastite ridges). These are discovered solely in youthful elements of Iceland—land lower than 2.5 million years previous that skilled eruptions beneath glacial ice.
On the south coast, a number of of Iceland’s most well-known waterfalls—Seljalandsfoss, Kvernufoss and Skogafoss—tumble about 200 toes over cliffs manufactured from this softer volcanic rock.
Vacationers experience horseback towards Skogafoss © Eddy Savage
Historical Shorelines and Shifting Land
When the heavy ice sheets pressed down on Iceland, they depressed the land very similar to a reminiscence foam pillow. The traditional shoreline as soon as stood 150 to 200 toes greater than right this moment. Because the ice melted, the island slowly rebounded, lifting the cliffs upward and forsaking a collection of sea-carved escarpments.
The cliffs these waterfalls plunge over have been as soon as a part of that historic shoreline. For 1000’s of years, waves pounded the softer volcanic rock, carving dramatic canyons and caves that now form Iceland’s south coast.
Dynjandi waterfall within the Westfjords
The Waterfalls of the Eastfjords and Westfjords
Transferring towards the east and west, we attain Iceland’s oldest areas. Right here, the bedrock consists of layer upon layer of basalt lava blended with volcanic dykes—remnants of long-cooled eruptions. Over hundreds of thousands of years, glaciers carved U-shaped valleys via this tough basalt, forsaking sculpted peaks and ridges that resemble a layered cake of volcanic stone.
As a result of the rock is so arduous, waterfalls in these areas don’t erode deep canyons however as a substitute cascade over the jagged edges of stratified basalt. Every fall finds historic fissures within the stone and follows them towards the ocean.
Folaldafoss in East Iceland is a main instance. Above the waterfall, you’ll be able to see the distinct layers of basalt, whereas to the left an intrusive dyke marks the trail of an historic fissure crammed with lava.
Folaldafoss waterfallIn the Westfjords, Möngufoss tells one other story of ice and time. Its watershed lies in a dangling valley carved by glaciers over the past Ice Age. When the bigger glacier under retreated, it left the smaller higher valley suspended above the fjord, creating the right situations for a plunging fall. Close by Baejarfoss additionally illustrates this basic glacial formation.
Baejarfoss, Westfjords
A Dwelling Panorama
Waterfalls are just one piece of the Icelandic panorama, but they seize its essence—the place hearth meets ice and the land by no means stands nonetheless. Each fall is a reminder of the forces that proceed to form this younger island. Round each bend lies a brand new cascade, a brand new story of lava and glacier.
Time spent exploring, photographing and easily standing earlier than these waterfalls is at all times a spotlight of our journeys in Iceland. I stay up for sharing them with you on the market.
© Eddy Savage
