One of Iceland’s many iconic waterfalls, Svartifoss might have the most peculiar framing: a natural amphitheater of vertical basalt columns, geologically arranged like organ pipes. Such mostly hexagonal columns form in cooling, contracting lava bodies not far underground. Erosion later exhumes them for us to admire, and for water, wind and ice to erode further. The world’s largest example of this kind of columnar jointing is Devils Tower, Wyoming. A more-focused perspective on the basal rocks here brings about an entirely different view of the same phenomenon!
1 NNW Skaftafell, Iceland (17 Aug 14) Looking WNW
64.0274, -16.9751