The Earth Story

Timelapse of the webcam watching the Icelandic lava flow today. Watch for the people that walk along the flow front and the helicopters that fly overhead!

After several weeks of earthquakes indicating magma migration on the Reykjanes peninsula on the southwest corner of Iceland, an eruption has begun with lava at the surface and glow from it visible on this webcam.

Is waiting for a volcano better than watching paint dry? The Reykjanes Peninsula in Iceland runs off to the southwest side of the island. It's the point at which the Mid-Atlantic Ridge comes onshore, and it is above the ocean surface because of the interaction between volcanism on that ridge and the nearby Iceland Plume. The rocks, therefore, are recent volcanic rocks, and the peninsula is resurfaced by volcanism every few thousand years.

Visiting the areas around Reykjavik including Gulfoss, Seljalandsfoss, and the geothermal areas.

Captured overlooking the cliffs in Látrabjarg, this fog waterfall in Iceland is pretty spectacular, but unfortunately not something you can go view at any time. A hiker was fortunate enough to capture images of this natural phenomena where cold fog came into contact with warmer air causing it to cascade down to sea level. The fog not only looked like an enormous waterfall, but thanks to the roar of the wind sounded like one too. Video here: https://youtu.be/OnQiZBMaXG8 Image courtesy of Reginald Schmidt via r/videos

Orographic cloud over Iceland The melting glacial ice in the foreground provides a beautiful setting for this lovely cloud etched in glowing colours. These formations of water vapour in the atmosphere form when moist air rises above an obstruction, in this case the hills to the right, condenses its moisture, and then sinks on the far side of the topography. Streamers of water vapour indicate the wind direction in that layer of the layer of air that surrounds the thin rind of our planet. Loz Image credit: • Iurie Belegurschi http://on.fb.me/1NHQ086

Drone video of Mælifell, a volcanic cone formed during the last glacial period by an eruption beneath the glaciers that covered Iceland at the time.

Original caption:

arnar.tomasson

Crystal blue water in South Iceland

Aurorae shimmering over the steaming Earth Geysers and hot springs occur when water gets superheated by underlying magma chambers filled with molten rock. A convection cell of sinking rainwater and rising superheated H2O establishes itself, dissolving and redepositing minerals as it cycles up and down through the energy gradient. Like the glowing plasma above which is fuelled by charged particles fired off from the sun interacting with our magnetic field and the particles at the tenuous edge of the atmosphere, the energy source is removed from the visible effect, but both reveal the essential interpenetration of all things and energies that make up the beautiful universe (or multiverse) that we live in. Loz Image credit: Stéphane Vetter https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap131031.html