Tuesday with Waterfalls

Tuesday we toured the south coast.

 
Seljalandfoss, a 60m drop waterfall.

You can walk behind the waterfall. It looks like some time in the distant past the water came down further to the right, then carved out the area behind the waterfall. But that's just my guess.

 
Us in front of the Seljalandfoss How people used to live

Paula did not try to get up close to the waterfall; she hung out with Siggi.


 
Skogafoss is another waterfall Isaac climbed up to see it from the top

Iceland has a number of black sand beaches. These are by the Reynisdrangar rock formations, which are basaltic columns.

I've long wanted to see a black sand beach--and yes, it really is sand. Further back from the sea is about the same-sized area of gray stones, all very rounded and clearly smoothed by the sea, not fallen from the cliffs.

The water's edge is dangerous; large waves can appear suddenly. 

 
Black sand beach Basaltic columns
 
Basaltic columns, some dude and Isaac Shallow cave

I have to talk about moss, because it's amazing.

Iceland is all volcanic. Volcanoes brought it out of the sea, about 65 million years ago, just after the dinosaur extinction. So it's all congealed lava, all rock. And what can grow on rock? Moss. Moss doesn't need roots. So Iceland has 600 varieties of moss, all of it living on whatever nutrients it can get from rainwater leaching chemicals from rocks. When moss dies, what grows on top of it? More moss. Eventually there's enough moss to form enough soil for grass to take root. If it weren't for moss, the entire island would be nothing but bare rock. The parts of the island that don't have moss are the oldest lava fields, where moss has already done its job.

I have a couple of photos that suggest the extent of the moss. If it's green, it's moss. Or else it's one of the very few flat areas which are cultivated and growing grass for the livestock.

Moss is protected by law.

 
Moss is greener than this photo shows Moss on the mountain

Comments

  1. cmatOctober 5, 2024 at 9:14 AM

    Moss is amazing stuff. When you look up information about moss in your lawn, you find a lot of Q&A articles about "how to get rid of it," with the answer being "Maybe don't!"

    ReplyDelete

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