As with similar hot-spring pools in Yellowstone geothermal areas, heat-loving micro-organisms accentuate the natural blue hue of the mineral water, which is too torrid for human touch. Such a stark and strange scene conveys the rawness of this Earth before human habitation, or perhaps, after the last of us is extinguished. Haukadalsvegur, Iceland (11 Aug 14) Looking SE 64.3138, -20.3016 … [Read more...]
Ice Toes
This closeup shows the same ice toes as the three rightmost of the photo at left, but taken at a slightly different angle, 24 hours after I first visited these formations and under sunnier ambient light. The clear water revealed the reddish clay bottom beneath the water's surface, while faintly reflecting the ice. Norman OK (26 Dec 9) Looking S 35.2142, -97.376 … [Read more...]
Ice Toe Row
Ice toes are shoreline features formed when gentle, low-amplitude water waves ripple up and down a sufficiently cold surface, forming and then extending layers of ice with intervening gaps. Such a process happens up to a point when the rate the ice washes or melts away roughly is offset by the new deposition. They can take the shape of horizontal pedestals, or toe-shaped hanging forms such as … [Read more...]
Wrapping Barrel
The legendary Bennington tornado got surrounded by thick curtains of rain on several occasions, remaining visible but nearly cloaking itself once from our perspective before a temporary unveiling again, followed by this mostly rain-shrouded, barrel-shaped appearance that embarked a protracted final stage of dense precipitation wrapping. Sporadically the violent vortex became invisible, then at … [Read more...]
Foggy Mountain Sunset
For just a fleeting moment, the setting sun peeked between stratocumulus clouds that were brushing the evergreen forests on Mount Rainier's flank. The final sunlight of the day cast the conifers' silhouettes across intervening fog, turning an otherwise drab scene into a glimpse of sublime beauty. 1 SSW Paradise WA (15 Jul 11) Looking WNW 46.7735, -121.7444 … [Read more...]
“Dinosaur Foot” Supercell
On the High Plains, no two stormy skies ever look identical. I strongly doubt any other sky I see will look identical to this, either! The supercell, evolving into a merger with nearby storms, was among the most peculiar and spectacular that I have seen. Its base appeared carved with a sculptor's knife into a shape reminiscent of the footprints of the greatest reptiles, while framed by slivers … [Read more...]
- « Previous Page
- 1
- …
- 323
- 324
- 325
- 326
- 327
- …
- 379
- Next Page »