Geology Picture of the Week, July 16-22, 2006: Godafoss (Iceland), LOTR, and volcano news

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[cogitator]

Last in a series of Iceland waterfalls; Godafoss. There are a lot of pictures on the Web of this one, and this might not be the best; try searching if you like this one.

The center keel is actually split, but the center cascade is obscured by spray in the image above. This one shows it clearly:

The reason I chose the top one is that it reminded me of some depictions of the Falls of Rauros, in Tolkien's Middle Earth, like this one (which is the depiction from the movie):

[cogitator]

VOLCANO NEWS: As Merapi winds down (my sympathy goes out to the residents of Java who seem to be beset with natural disasters), Mayon in the Phillipines is winding up, Tungaruhua in Ecuador is very active, and Etna awakened after a four-year hiatus. Images and links below.

Volcano Discovery Volcano News (check the Tungaruhua links for pictures)

Etna Volcan Sicilien (go to Juillet 2006; a couple of pictures below)

Phillipines tells farmers to flee volcano (great summit shot of Mayon)

[cogitator]

** ping **

[Robert A Cook PE]

Lots of activity.

[geezerwheezer]

Mother Nature continues to rule....

[RightWhale]

Something looks odd in the night photo of lava flows. Why would the center of each flow be dark? It would be cooler material floating on top, but why would it be in the center of the stream?

[cogitator]

Topography of the cone slope, I'd guess.

[Soaring Feather]

Cool pictures ping.

[WSGilcrest]

Here's an interesting one. Look at 13°36'10.12" N 40°39'49.79" E on Google Earth!

[WSGilcrest]

I would imagine the lava flows fairly slow and the center of the flow is less turbulant, giving the lava more time to cool?

[RightWhale]

I imagine something like that. The flow would break out a little at the sides, leaving the cooler material in the center.