Basalt columns of Svartifoss waterfall, Skaftafell national park, Iceland

by Neale And Judith Clark

Title

Basalt columns of Svartifoss waterfall, Skaftafell national park, Iceland

Artist

Neale And Judith Clark

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Photograph - Photography

Description

Svartifoss waterfall with tall basalt columns slow speed Skaftafell, Vatnajökull National Parksouth Iceland EU Europe

Svartifoss (Black Waterfall) is a waterfall in Skaftafell in Vatnajökull National Park in Iceland, and is one of the most popular sights in the park. It is surrounded by dark lava columns, which gave rise to its name
The base of this waterfall is noteworthy for its sharp rocks. New hexagonal column sections break off faster than the falling water wears down the edges.

These basalt columns have provided inspiration for Icelandic architects, most visibly in the Hallgrímskirkja church in Reykjavík, and also the National Theatre.
Columnar basalt:
During the cooling of a thick lava flow, contractional joints or fractures form. If a flow cools relatively rapidly, significant contraction forces build up. While a flow can shrink in the vertical dimension without fracturing, it cannot easily accommodate shrinking in the horizontal direction unless cracks form; the extensive fracture network that develops results in the formation of columns. These structures are predominantly hexagonal in cross-section, but polygons with three to twelve or more sides can be observed. The size of the columns depends loosely on the rate of cooling


Alamy reference CRP25X

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January 28th, 2020

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