Access to the icebergs on the glacier lagoon Jökulsárlón in Iceland
requires a multitude of prerequisites to align. A sequence of low
pressure systems within the westwind drift over the North Atlantic
brought vast amounts of rainfall to southern Iceland. The rain melted
the snow cover on the icebergs and polished the surface to a deep blue
color. At the same time the lagoon water temperature dropped below the
freezing point which is below 0°C (32°F) as the lagoon connects to the
open ocean and contains brackish water. The floating icebergs cool the
water but the main cooling comes from the katabatic winds of the
glacier. This density driven wind is caused by the icy heavy air that
rushes down the ice cap at high speeds towards lower elevations. Hence
the low air temperature leads to thick ice on the lagoon although the
lake level is affected by the tide. The weather changed to a northerly
flow with low pressure to the northeast of Iceland. This resulted in
persistent gale force winds up to 57 m/s (200 km/h or 200 mph) at -8°C
(18°F) that dumped vast amounts of snow in northern Iceland while the
South remained free of snow. Instead the wind blew black volcanic ash
and sand across the landscape that accentuated the glacier ice surface
into an artwork of forms, colors and patterns, enchanted by the purple
light of the Earth shade.
January 2011
Canon 5D MkII, Canon L 16-35 mm, f/16, 20 sec, ISO 50, tripod
More information:
Where Geoscience Meets Art
rick_scha, Gja (gjandrews.co.nz), Liz.Wagoner, SAUBEL, and 57 other people added this photo to their favorites.
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David M Hogan 23 months ago | reply
Magnificent!
R-Joy's Photos 22 months ago | reply
Incredible!
fotomassimo 14 months ago | reply
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Welcome with your high quality photo to Capture Nature.
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apefreeze 6 months ago | reply
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Truly excellent and high quality images