View allAll Photos Tagged Fumarole
18:00 hrs del dia de hoy (28-1-2008), el volcán Popocatépetl emitio nuevamente una espectacular fumarola de unos 7000 mts.
18:00 p.m Today a new volcano fumarole. Popocatépetl, México.
Suðurland, Ísland
Iceland's Haukadalur Valley is home to a geothermal field of geysers, hot pools, and fumaroles. Here the geyser Strokkur (Icelandic for "churn") is in the early stages of an eruption. This geyser was shut down in the early 20th century by an earthquake that shifted its internal plumbing. In 1963 the locals cleared the blockage and Strokkur has been erupting quite regularly ever since, roughly once every four to eight minutes.
The English word geyser was taken from the name Geysir, a large neighbor of Strokkur that has not been very active in recent times.
A geothermal region with boiling sulfuric mud springs and steam vents, Námaskarð is located at a short distance from huge volcanic mountain Krafla. Námaskarð, Hverarönd is an expanse of fumaroles, hot springs, mud pools, and mud pots. In this stunning arctic dessert, you will find boiling water and lands. Due to the hot surface, there is no vegetation found at Námaskarð geothermal area. The constant emission of acids has made the surface completely sterile and acidic. The presence of colorful minerals at this site provides an amazing panoramic view. Natural black rivers and boiling pools emitting steam and smoke lay in this colorful landscape are breathtaking. Everything at this acidic land is permeated with Sulphur, even the air, making the area quite distinct.
Visit my Iceland photostream : www.flickr.com/photos/ddelion/sets/72157624606038805/
Námafjall site in Iceland. The blower, small cone in geyserite smoking and spitting in Námafjall site near Mývatn. Looking through the Islande, it is not uncommon to find huge fields where fissures, vents and vents spew some steam, some hydrogen sulfide, some carbon dioxide gas and other. These are fumaroles.
Le souffleur, petit cône de geyserite fumant et crachant de Námafjall, se situe près de Mývatn. En parcourant l'Islande, il n'est pas rare de découvrir de gigantesques champs où fissures, bouches et évents crachent vapeur d'eau, hydrogène sulfuré, dioxyde de carbone et atres gaz. Ce sont des fumerolles.
Geothermal activity keeps this area of the crater rim snow free.
Mt Ngauruhoe Winter Summit Climb 2015.
Tongariro National Park.
Was looking at some videos taken in Yellowstone National Park in September of 2016.. thought I'd share this one.. not too shaky. Must have braced my arm on something.
While Geysir is the most famous of the, er, geysers in the Haukadalur Valley, it no longer erupts regularly. This big baby, Strokkur, is now the most photogenic and touristed gusher in the valley.
It typically erupts every 6–10 minutes. Its usual height is 15–20 metres, although it can sometimes erupt up to 40 metres high.
Strokkur was first mentioned in 1789, after an earthquake helped to unblock the conduit of the geyser. Its activity fluctuated throughout the 19th century; in 1815 its height was estimated to have been as much as 60 metres. It continued to erupt until the turn of the 20th century, when another earthquake blocked the conduit again. In 1963, upon the advice of the Geysir Committee, locals cleaned out the blocked conduit through the bottom of the basin, and the geyser has been regularly erupting ever since.
Haukadalur, from Old Norse: Haukadalr ("hawk dale"), is a valley with significant geothermal activity in Iceland, home to the most famous of Icelandic geysers – Geysir itself.
The shallow valley is at about 100 m above sea level about 110 km (70 mi) to the north-west of Reykjavík. Haukadalur is part of the Golden Circle tourist route, so it does get busy, but it is a great spot for some atmospheric photos, even when the Icelandic weather is as gloomy as it often is.
This description incorporates text from the English Wikipedia.
il vecchio cratere di Sudest interessato solo da fumarole di vapore e gas ...
Grazie per la visita al mio stream
Thanks for visiting my stream
Per favore non usate le mie immagini senza un mio esplicito permesso scritto.
Please don't use this image without my explicit written permission.
© All rights reserved.
Fumaroles deep in the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone. The yellows and reds of the canyon walls are from the thermal features. The river is actually cutting down through a geyser basin.
SCS_1457
Fumaroles of sulphur-laden steam on the crater rim on Vulcano island, one of the Aeolian islands just north of Sicily, Italy.
Leica CL with Leitz Summicron-C 40 mm on Kodacolor Gold 100, September 2008
Low resolution lab scan (1800x1200 = 2 Megapixels)
The Fountain Paint Pot area in Yellowstone has several springs, pools, geysers, a fumarole, and the Fountain Paint Pot. Yellowstone National Park.
This trail is an easy 0.5 mile (0.8 km) loop boardwalk. You will see various hydrothermal features that are expressions of Yellowstone's volcanism. No two features are exactly alike, yet they can be grouped into those with a lot of water (hot springs and geysers) and those with limited water (mud pots and fumaroles).
A steaming fumarole on the rim of Tongariro's Central Crater. The dark blob is the remains of an older lava flow.
Trekking sulla sommità del monte Námafjall.
Un'ultimo sguardo sul campo delle fumarole e sul lago Mývatn.
Qualche foto ricordo e pronti per la prossima tappa.
Trekking to the top of Mount Námafjall.
A final look at the fumarole field and Lake Mývatn.
Some souvenir photos and ready for the next stage.
IMG_4105mI
The main sulphur area is a fumarole field in the col to the southwest. At Seltún, there are mud pools and steaming ground where some sulphur and also . . . You can support my Documentation work on: www.patreon.com/RafnSig
View of the steaming lava rocks from the geothermal energy below the surface.
Leirhnjukur ('Mud Peak') is a 525 m high active volcano, located to the northeast of Lake Myvatn in North Iceland.
Leirhnjukur is part of the Krafla caldera. Its last eruption was from 1975 to 1984. At its foot are mud pots and fumaroles are on the flanks. *
*https://guidetoiceland.is/travel-iceland/drive/leirhnjukur
Vapor rises from the top of a fumarole in the Hverarond Geothermal Area near Lake Myvatn in Iceland. The colors in the sky and clouds at sunset/sunrise were amazing and lasted for hours.
Iceland is being torn in two by the spreading of the Mid-Atlantic Ridge. The Hverarond geothermal area, located close to Lake Myvatn, sits right on the ridge where cracks in the ground are actively widening and new ones appear every few months. Many of those cracks contain boiling mud pots, hot springs, fumaroles and solfataras. The smell of sulfur gas in the air is almost palpable and thick deposits of gypsum and sulfur cover the ground.
Fountain Paint Pot trail, Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming, USA
Map (link):
[ www.google.co.in/imgres?imgurl=https://4.bp.blogspot.com/... and Spasm Geysers, Fountain Paint Pot trail, Yellowstone National Park images&ved=0ahUKEwjkgubQv8XeAhUC3Y8KHaFRCQ8QMwhNKBowGg&iact=mrc&uact=8 ]
This part of Lower Geyser Basin seen from a half-mile trail has all four of the hydrothermal features found in the park:
Clepsydra Geyser is a geyser in the Lower Geyser Basin of Yellowstone National Park. Clepsydra plays nearly continuously to heights of 45 feet. The name Clepsydra is derived from the Greek word for water clock. Prior to the 1959 Hebgen Lake earthquake, it erupted regularly every three minutes.
Yellowstone National Park has several hydrothermal areas, so what makes the Fountain Paint Pot Area worth visiting? For starters, this part of Lower Geyser Basin has all four of the hydrothermal features found in the park (mudpots, geysers, hot springs, and fumaroles) and you can see them all from a compact half-mile long boardwalk loop. While none of the many Fountain Paint Pot Area geysers are as famous as Old Faithful, they erupt so frequently that you are almost guaranteed a great show on your short hike. Since the walkway passes all four of Yellowstone’s hydrothermal formations, the hike comes with a guaranteed lesson in hydrothermal volcanism.
Hiking the loop in a clockwise direction, you will first pass through a forest of lodgepole pine snags that were drowned and left lifeless by the surrounding hot springs. As you approach the northwest end of the loop, you will spot a lively collection of geysers. Clepsydra Geyser, Fountain Geyser, Jelly Geyser, Jet Geyser, Morning Geyser, Spasm Geyser, and Twig Geyser erupt with various levels of regularity.
As you progress around the walkway toward the northeast corner, you will pass Red Spouter, which behaves like a fumarole, a hot spring, and a mudpot throughout the year. It is like a hot spring in the winter, a muddy reddish pool in the spring and a steaming fumarole in the drier summer and fall. Wrapping down the east side of the boardwalk, you will pass Leather Pool and a slope of fumaroles. These gaps in the surface whistle and hiss as gasses and steam escape from the ground. Just below the fumaroles, where a little more water is present, the trail circles Fountain Paint Pot. These mudpots bubble and pop as globs of mud springs from the surface like miniature trapeze artists.
Continuing downhill, the hydrothermal features become even wetter as you arrive at Silex Spring. Look down into the small blue pool rimmed with white silica. Water spills over the sides of the spring creating an orange-colored surface covered in rippling runoff. These colors are created by thermophiles, heat-loving microorganisms that live in Yellowstone’s hot springs.
( www.hikespeak.com/trails/fountain-paint-pot-trail-yellows... )
Geothermal features of Yellowstone NP- A brief note:
There are four geothermal features found in the park – Hot springs, Geysers, Fumaroles , and Mud volcanoes/pots.
What is a Hot spring?
Hot spring, also called thermal spring, spring with water at temperatures substantially higher than the air temperature of the surrounding region. Most hot springs discharge groundwater that is heated by shallow intrusions of magma (molten rock) in volcanic areas.
Some thermal springs, however, are not related to volcanic activity. In general, the temperature of rocks within the earth increases with depth. The rate of temperature increase with depth is known as the geothermal gradient. In such cases, the water is heated by convective circulation: groundwater percolating downward reaches depths of a kilometre or more where the temperature of rocks is high because of the normal temperature gradient of the Earth’s crust—about 30 °C / kilometer in the first 10 km. The water from hot springs in non-volcanic areas is heated in this manner.
But in active volcanic zones such as Yellowstone National Park, water may be heated by coming into contact with magma (molten rock). The high temperature gradient near magma may cause water to be heated enough that it boils or becomes superheated. If the water becomes so hot that it builds steam pressure and erupts in a jet above the surface of the Earth, it is called a geyser.
[ Warm springs are sometimes the result of hot and cold springs mixing. They may occur within a volcanic area or outside of one. One example of a non-volcanic warm spring is Warm Springs, Georgia (frequented for its therapeutic effects by paraplegic U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt, who built the Little White House there) ].
List of hot springs:
[ en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_hot_springs ]
The science of colors of a hot spring:
[ ttps://www.britannica.com/science/hot-spring]
Many of the colours in hot springs are caused by thermophilic (heat-loving) microorganisms, which include certain types of bacteria, such as cyanobacteria, and species of archaea and algae. Many thermophilic organisms grow in huge colonies called mats that form the colourful scums and slimes on the sides of hot springs. The microorganisms that grow in hot springs derive their energy from various chemicals and metals; potential energy sources include molecular hydrogen, dissolved sulfides, methane, iron, ammonia, and arsenic. In addition to geochemistry, the temperature and pH of hot springs play a central role in determining which organisms inhabit them.
Examples of thermophilic microorganisms found in hot springs include bacteria in the genera Sulfolobus, which can grow at temperatures of up to 90 °C (194 °F), Hydrogenobacter, which grow optimally at temperatures of 85 °C (185 °F), and Thermocrinis, which grow optimally at temperatures of 80 °C (176 °F). Thermophilic algae in hot springs are most abundant at temperatures of 55 °C (131 °F) or below.
What is a Geyser?
A geyser is formed when water collecting below the surface is heated by a magma source. When the water boils, it rises to the surface. If the water has an unobstructed path, it will pool on the surface in the form of a steaming hot springs. If the passage of the water is imposed upon, the pressure will increase. When the pressure becomes too great, the water converts into to steam. Steam takes up 1,500 times the volume of water, and at this point, the pressure becomes so intense that the steam and surrounding water droplets shoot out of the ground in geyser form, erupting until the pressure has abated and the process starts all over again.
What is a fumarole?
It’s a vent in the Earth’s surface from which steam and volcanic gases are emitted. The major source of the water vapour emitted by fumaroles is groundwater heated by bodies of magma lying relatively close to the surface. Carbon dioxide, sulfur dioxide, and hydrogen sulfide are usually emitted directly from the magma. Fumaroles are often present on active volcanoes during periods of relative quiet between eruptions.
Fumaroles are closely related to hot springs and geysers. In areas where the water table rises near the surface, fumaroles can become hot springs. A fumarole rich in sulfur gases is called a solfatara; a fumarole rich in carbon dioxide is called a mofette. If the hot water of a spring only reaches the surface in the form of steam, it is called a fumarole. [ www.britannica.com/science/fumarole ]
What is a mud volcano/ mud pot/ paint pot?
Usually mud volcanoes are created by hot-spring activity where large amounts of gas and small amounts of water react chemically with the surrounding rocks and form a boiling mud.
Geo-chemistry of mud volcano: Hydrogen sulfide gas rising from magma chamber, as in Yellowstone’s, causes the rotten-egg smell. Microorganisms, or thermophiles, use this gas as a source of energy, and then help turn the gas into sulfuric acid. The acid then breaks down the rocks and soil into mud. Many of the colors seen are vast communities of thermophiles, but some of the yellow is pure sulfur. When iron mixes with sulfur to form iron sulfide, gray and black swirls sometimes appear in the mud (From description of the display board in the park).
If the water of a hot spring is mixed with mud and clay, it is called a mud pot. Variations are the porridge pot (a basin of boiling mud that erodes chunks of the surrounding rock) and the paint pot (a basin of boiling mud that is tinted yellow, green, or blue by minerals from the surrounding rocks).
There are other mud volcanoes, entirely of a nonigneous origin, occur only in oil-field regions that are relatively young and have soft, unconsolidated formations.
Sources: [ www.britannica.com/science/mud-volcano ], and display boards of the YNP.
A quick overview of YNP
Yellowstone National Park is an American national park located in Wyoming, Montana, and Idaho. Approximately 96 percent of the land area of Yellowstone National Park is located within the state of Wyoming. The Park spans an area of 8,983 km2 comprising lakes, canyons, rivers and mountain ranges. The park is known for its wildlife and its many geothermal features. It has many types of ecosystems, but the subalpine forest is the most abundant. It is part of the South Central Rockies forests eco-region.
It was established by the U.S. Congress and signed into law by President Ulysses S. Grant on March 1, 1872. Yellowstone was the first national park in the U.S. and is also widely held to be the first national park in the world. Native Americans have lived in the Yellowstone region for at least 11,000 years. Aside from visits by mountain -men during the early to mid-19th century, organized exploration did not begin until the late 1860s.
The park contains the headwaters of the Yellowstone River, from which it takes its historical name. Although it is commonly believed that the river was named for the yellow rocks seen in the ‘Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone’, the Native American name source is unclear.
Yellowstone Lake is one of the largest high-elevation lakes in North America and is centered over the Yellowstone Caldera, the largest supervolcano on the continent. The caldera is considered as an active volcano. It has erupted with tremendous force several times in the last two million year. The Yellowstone Caldera is the largest volcanic system in North America. It has been termed a "supervolcano" because the caldera was formed by exceptionally large explosive eruptions. The magma chamber that lies under Yellowstone is estimated to be a single connected chamber, about 60 km long, 29 km wide, and 5 to 12 km deep. Yellowstone Lake is up to 400 feet deep and has 180 km of shoreline.The lake is at an elevation of 7,733 feet above sea levels. Half of the world's geysers and hydrothermal features are there in Yellowstone, fueled by this ongoing volcanism. Lava and rocks from volcanic eruptions cover most of the land area of Yellowstone. The park is the centerpiece of the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem, the largest remaining nearly-intact ecosystem in the Earth's northern temperate zone. In 1978, Yellowstone was named a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
In May 2001, the U.S. Geological Survey, Yellowstone National Park, and the University of Utah created the Yellowstone Volcano Observatory (YVO), a partnership for long-term monitoring of the geological processes of the Yellowstone Plateau volcanic field, for disseminating information concerning the potential hazards of this geologically active region.
Hundreds of species of mammals, birds, fish, and reptiles have been documented, including several that are either endangered or threatened. The vast forests and grasslands also include unique species of plants. Yellowstone Park is the largest and most famous mega fauna location in the contiguous United States. Grizzly bears, wolves, and free-ranging herds of bison and elk live in this park. The Yellowstone Park bison herd is the oldest and largest public bison herd in the United States.
Forest fires occur in the park each year. In the largest forest fires of 1988, nearly one third of the park was burnt.
Yellowstone has numerous recreational opportunities, including hiking, camping, boating, fishing and sightseeing. Paved roads provide close access to the major geothermal areas as well as some of the lakes and waterfalls. During the winter, visitors often access the park by way of guided tours that use either snow coaches or snowmobiles.
Fire in Yellowstone NP:
Causes of wildfire in Yellowstone NP
Wildfire has had a role in the dynamics of Yellowstone’s ecosystems for thousands of years. Although many fires were caused by human activities, most ignitions were natural. The term "natural ignition" usually refers to a lightning strike. Afternoon thunderstorms occur frequently in the northern Rocky Mountains but release little precipitation, a condition known as ‘dry lightning’. In a typical season there are thousands of lightning strikes in Yellowstone. Lightning strikes are powerful enough to rip strips of bark off of a tree in a shower of sparks and blow the pieces up to 100 feet away. However, most lightning strikes do not result in a wildfire because fuels are not in a combustible state.
The great fire incidence of 1988
The Yellowstone fires of 1988 collectively formed the largest wildfire in the recorded history of Yellowstone National Park in the United States. Starting as many smaller individual fires, the flames quickly spread out of control due to drought conditions and increasing winds, combining into one large conflagration which burned for several months. The fires almost destroyed two major visitor destinations and, on September 8, 1988, the entire park closed to all non-emergency personnel for the first time in its history. Only the arrival of cool and moist weather in the late autumn brought the fires to an end. A total of 793,880 acres, or 36 percent of the park was affected by the wildfires.
Fire incidence, 2016
As of September 21, 2016, 22 fires (human and lightning-caused) have burned more than 62,000 acres in Yellowstone National Park, making it the highest number of acres burned since the historic 1988 fire.
Heritage and Research Center
The Heritage and Research Center is located at Gardiner, Montana, near the north entrance to the park. The center is home to the Yellowstone National Park's museum collection, archives, research library, historian, archeology lab, and herbarium. The Yellowstone National Park Archives maintain collections of historical records of Yellowstone and the National Park Service. The collection includes the administrative records of Yellowstone, as well as resource management records, records from major projects, and donated manuscripts and personal papers. The archives are affiliated with the National Archives and Records Administration.
Just off the road to Krýsuvík is a solfatara field at Seltún, Iceland which contains mud pools, acidic hot springs; fumaroles and steaming ground. Fumaroles in the area deposit sulfur and sulphates on the ground near the vents. Fumaroles whose steam is rich in sulfur are called solfataras. The main sulphur area is a fumarole field that lies southwest of the boardwalk at Seltún but sulfur and sulphates occur around many of the steam vents, mud pools and acidic hot springs. Yellow spots of sulphur were visible to us as we strolled along the boardwalk.
Seltún is part of the large Krýsuvík Geothermal field which lies on one of the NE-SW trending volcanic systems that cross the Reykjanes Peninsula. The volcanic zones lie in the middle of the fissure zone on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge which traverses Iceland and are visible along the south of Reykjanes. The lake visible in the distance is Kleifarvatn, the largest lake on the Reykjanes Peninsula. It is located on the same fissure zone of the Mid-Atlantic Ridge as the Geothermal Field. Its inflow is from local runoff and the outflow is in the subsurface.
In the mid-20th century there were plans to develop the geothermal field for utilization, including power production, and Seltún then became one of the main drilling targets. There are old drill pads to be seen near the path along the creek. According to the Iceland Geosurvey (ISOR) one of the "boreholes started erupting intermittently in the winter of 2010". They reported that an interval of a few days between the eruptions. We found the spot but on two different visits to the field I saw no sign of geyser activity. ISOR also reports "another old borehole blew up in 1999 forming a crater with a diameter of about 30 m, now filled by mud except where a flow of steam keeps boiling pits open". That unexpected explosion in 1999 reportedly caused the geothermal project to be halted. The springs have been preserved due to the lack of drilling and geothermal exploitation.
Temperatures are over 200 degrees C just below the surface. Geologist from the Iceland Geosurvey believe "the water of the pools is surface water heated by steam from a boiling geothermal reservoir. Accompanying gases such as hydrogen sulphide and carbon dioxide acidify the water and alter the rock to clay. Only the uppermost 300 m of the reservoir at Seltún is boiling, i.e., follows the boiling curve in accordance with increasing pressure. Below this depth, a temperature inversion occurs, indicating that the boiling section is fed laterally from an upflow some distance away.”
The geothermal field is located in the Reykjanes Geopark.
Geologic and geothermal info from Iceland GeoSurvey (ISOR) . Some text in the caption from their web page at: www.geothermal.is/17-seltun-high-temperature-area-solfataras
Early morning over the biggest fumarole near the campsite, before crowds of people arrive and flying becomes unsafe.
You can see the many colours of the rocks, as well as the different greens of mosses and grass.
This 360° High Dynamic Range panoramic image was stitched from 45 bracketed photographs with PTGUI Pro, tone-mapped with Photomatix, processed with Color Efex, and touched up in Affinity Photo and Aperture.
Location: Landmannalaugar, Iceland
On May 24th, while descending from the summit, 59-year-old Michael Adams lost his footing and fell 800 feet, eventually coming to rest inside a volcanic vent known as a fumarole. He survived the fall, but was badly injured. Pictured here (looking down the mountain toward Crater Rock) along with other climbers, are members of a rescue team, who happened to be training on the mountain that day, and were thus able to reach the scene within two hours. They are here preparing to descend the slope at right to reach Adams, who at this point is still trapped in the fumarole. After the team managed to extract Adams, he was airlifted by helicopter to an area hospital. He suffered multiple fractures, as well as internal injuries, but is expected to survive.
Rond en in de oude krater van het eiland Vulcano is de bodem bezaaid met fumarolen waaruit voordurend vulkanische gassen ontsnappen. De bodem is ook erg warm.
In and around the ancient crater of the island of Vulcano, the bottom is dotted with fumaroles from which volcanic gases escape continuously. The soil is also very warm
Namafjall - Hverir
Solfatarenveld in Hverir
Namafjall is a high-temperature geothermal area with fumaroles and mud pots. At a depth of 1000 m, the temperature is above 200 °C. Along with the steam comes fumarole gas, such as hydrogen sulfide which is responsible for the characteristic hot spring smell in these areas. The hot springs produce considerable sulphur deposits. In previous centuries sulphur was mined in Iceland to produce gun powder.
Photo by Charlotte Blanchet – Lotus Blanc
In questa zona, conosciuta anche come Hverir, esistono molte fumarole fumanti e pentole di fango bollente, circondate da cristalli di zolfo di vari colori.rsi.
A una profondità di 1000 metri, la temperatura è superiore a 200°C.
L'acqua che scorre sotto la superficie viene rapidamente riscaldata e torna in superficie trasformata in vapore.
Il gas della fumarola contiene acido solfidrico che provoca quel caratteristico odore di uova marce che rende questi luoghi così particolari.
Il suolo della zona presenta poca vegetazione a causa dell'acidità causata da questi processi geotermici.
Nel 1969 è stata costruita una centrale geotermica a ovest dell'area di Námafjall.
L'impianto attualmente produce 60 MW di energia geotermica.
Sono state sollevate preoccupazioni sui piani attuali per espandere l'impianto a 90 MW.
In particolare, ci sono state preoccupazioni per quanto riguarda l'effetto dell'impianto sul delicato ecosistema del lago Mývatn.
Il capo di una ONG ambientale ha recentemente chiesto una nuova valutazione di impatto ambientale sui piani e la questione continua a essere dibattuta.
Nella foto si scorgono le tubazioni di trasporto dei gas agli impianti di trasformazione e le bolle rosse di protezione dei siti di fuoriuscita dei gas.
In this area, also known as Hverir, there are many steaming fumaroles and boiling mud pots, surrounded by sulfur crystals of various colors.
At a depth of 1000 meters, the temperature is above 200 ° C.
The water flowing under the surface is rapidly heated and returns to the surface transformed into steam.
The fumarole gas contains hydrogen sulphide which causes that characteristic smell of rotten eggs that makes these places so special.
The soil in the area has little vegetation due to the acidity caused by these geothermal processes.
In 1969, a geothermal power plant was built west of the Námafjall area.
The plant currently produces 60 MW of geothermal energy.
Concerns have been raised about current plans to expand the plant to 90 MW.
In particular, there have been concerns regarding the effect of the plant on the delicate ecosystem of Lake Mývatn.
The head of an environmental NGO recently called for a new environmental impact assessment on the plans and the issue continues to be debated.
In the photo you can see the gas transport pipes to the transformation plants and the red protection bubbles of the gas leakage sites.
After the easy climb up through and around the lava field, this was my first glimpse of the big fumarole on the slopes of Brennisteinsalda.
This High Dynamic Range 360° panorama was stitched from 68 bracketed photographs with PTGUI Pro, tone-mapped with Photomatix, processed with Color Efex, and finally touched up in Affinity Photo and Aperture.
Original size: 20000 × 10000 (200.0 MP; 908.58 MB).
Location: Landmannalaugar, Sudurland, Iceland
Fumarole emitting steam and hydrogen sulfide gas in a geothermal area in the Landmannalaugar area, Iceland.
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Gunnuhver geothermal area is a field of steaming fumaroles and boiling mud pools. In the recent past some geysers existed here as well. As the tectonic plates move, new passages are constantly opening (and older ones are closing) for heated groundwater and gases. Gunnuhver is one such area. Here deeper below the surface the temperature of ground (and water in it) reaches 300° C. Much of groundwater comes from the nearby sea and is rich with chlorides and also with dissolved silica. As a result in the recent past hot springs and geysers have created sinter deposits - a hill named Kísilhóll (Kísilhóll, Silica hill). Today here are no hot water springs and geysers, but northeast from Kísilhóll are located many steam vents (fumaroles) and boiling mud pools. Mud pools are formed by acidic groundwater sources, which turn lava into clay. The largest mud pool in Iceland also is located here - it is 20 m across, boiling vigorously along its rims. Hot ground is an immense source of energy. In 2006 near Gunnuhver geothermal field started to operate the Reykjanes Geothermal Plant. As a result the steaming of the ground in the geothermal field increased.
The walkways here make it easy to watch your step, but they weren’t here 300 years ago when the troublesome ghost of Gudrún Önundardóttir—who gives her nickname ‘Gunna’ to this beautiful geothermal field—was tricked into taking hold of a charmed knotted-rope that led her across the field and into the big fumerole. Some say she didn’t fall in with the rope, but is stuck holding onto the end of it, and paces around the rim of the steamy abyss for all eternity. I can’t be sure, but it was uncanny how the steam shifted in the breeze but never cleared completely, as though veiling something, or someone… You need to tread carefully when wandering around the striking mud pools and fumaroles of Gunnuhver, close to the Reykjanes town of Grindavík.
The Gunnuhver geothermal field reopened in June 2010 after being closed for a couple of years due to instability—one of the dangers being that the high-pressured steam might suddenly find another outlet underneath the visitor walkway.
Camera Model: Canon EOS 5D Mark II; Lens: 24.00 - 105.00 mm; Focal length: 105.00 mm; Aperture: 8.0; Exposure time: 8.0 s; ISO: 250
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