Thar She Blows 2
Guess how to spell geyser in Icelandic? Geysir.
The creatively named "Great Geysir" was one of our stops today. You could smell the sulphurous stench before we even stepped off our coach, but the field of bubbling pits spewing gas drew us away from the ever-present souvenir shops that accompany Iceland's geological wonders.
Despite the toxic environment, life can be found around the pools, in the form of hardy algae and scrub grass, clinging to the perimeter just beyond the white calcified salts.
Some pits just bubble and steam without periodic drama.
This one is curiously similar in color to the "Blue Lagoon", a famous tourist attraction (or tourist trap, depending on your perspective).
The creatively named "Great Geysir" was one of our stops today. You could smell the sulphurous stench before we even stepped off our coach, but the field of bubbling pits spewing gas drew us away from the ever-present souvenir shops that accompany Iceland's geological wonders.
Most pools bubbled and steamed gently, but one seemed to erupt every 5-7 minutes. I first caught a still image of the spout, but Geri, with the advantage of 20/10 vision, noticed that the surface exhibited waves just before it spouted. Using that info, I managed to catch one.
Despite the toxic environment, life can be found around the pools, in the form of hardy algae and scrub grass, clinging to the perimeter just beyond the white calcified salts.
On slopes, the effluent forms streaks of colorful mineral deposits
Some pits just bubble and steam without periodic drama.
This one is curiously similar in color to the "Blue Lagoon", a famous tourist attraction (or tourist trap, depending on your perspective).
Spectacular video of the spew! It's hard to imagine explorers or primitives first experiencing this without a guide or brochure to make sense of it all.
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