Aldeyjarfoss waterfall in northern Iceland's interior landscape
© Jim Patterson/Tandem Stills + Motio
Behold the mighty Aldeyjarfoss
In waterfall-dense Iceland, it says something that Aldeyjarfoss is considered one of the most beautiful sights in the country. Fed by Iceland's largest ice cap, the 65ft (20m) waterfalls are flanked by distinctive hexagon-shaped basalt columns seemingly carved by some Norse god.
Okay, they may not have their origins with Odin's kin. Geologists tell us that they're formed as lava flows cool and buckle under stress, with cracks penetrating deep into newly formed rock. The path of least resistance places these cracks at 120-degree intersections. So as cracks run deeper, their shape averages out to a near-perfect hexagon – exposing neatly geometric columns when the rock face eventually falls away.
Related Images
An old farm in the Shetland Islands, Scotland
Loup of Fintry waterfall on the River Endrick, Scotland
Mua Caves in the Ninh Bình province of Vietnam
Firefall at Horsetail Fall, Yosemite National Park, California, USA
La Digue, an island in the Seychelles
Cefalù on the Tyrrhenian coast of Sicily, Italy
Wildflowers in bloom at Lost Dutchman State Park in Arizona, USA
Full moon rising over Dunnottar Castle near Stonehaven on the north-east coast of Scotland
Bing Today Images
Royal Albert Hall, Kensington, London
Sep 14, 2024
Przewalski's horses, Hustai National Park, Mongolia
Sep 14, 2023
View from the City Palace, Udaipur, Rajasthan, India
Sep 14, 2017
Roussanou Monastery in Meteora, Greece
Sep 14, 2016
