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Visitors can be seen walking along the Almannagjá Gorge in Þingvellir National Park in southwest Iceland. The cliff walls towering over them consist of stacks of numerous, successive basalt flows. Each layer in the stack is an individual lava lobe.
The entire Þingvellir region is located in a rift valley created by the drifting apart of the North American and Eurasian tectonic plates. The tectonic plates are drifting in opposite directions at the rate of 7 mm (0.276 in) annually. Almannagjá lies along the North American plate on the west side of the valley. It measures 7.7 km long and 64 m wide at its maximum. The gorge’s cliffs lie along a fault with a maximum throw of 30-40 m. Geologists believe the Þingvellir faults (fissures) to be the surface expressions of deeply rooted normal faults. Basalt cooled from lava flows that erupted out of near by fissures about 2,000 years ago. On the right side of the photo, the volcanic mountain, Ármannsfell, is visible on the horizon.
This unique geology became the backdrop for some of Iceland's most important political and cultural events. Iceland’s settlement by The Norse began with the arrival of Ingólfur Arnarson in 874. Historians refer to the next 56 years, as ‘The Settlement Period’. Driven away from a newly united Norway under King Harald Fairhair, settlers from many different clans settled all around the island’s shores. Though the new arrivals shared an ancestral home, religion and language, difference sprang up because each clan had its own leaders and customs. Violence broke out from time to time between these clans both over their beliefs and for the limited resources their new island had to offer. In order to address these issues the people decided to hold a general assembly with members from each clan.
A man called Grímur Geitskör was given the tasks of gathering representatives from each clan and finding a suitable meeting location. As Geitskör was searching for a location, a man who owned a sheltered piece of land accessible from all corners of the country was convicted of murder, and his property turned public. This sheltered place was in the rift valley at Þingvellir. People from all over Iceland could reach the assembly place with no more than seventeen days of traveling. In 930 AD, over thirty ruling chiefs met for the first time at Þingvellir to discuss law on the island and to create a Viking commonwealth. This meeting and all the ones that followed took place with the cliffs of Almannagjá as a back drop.
Þingvellir translated literally means "Assembly Plains”. The Parliament, called The Alþing, met at Þingvellir from 930 to 1798 AD. Many important historic and cultural events occurred here while Parliment was in session which makes it one of the most imporant places in Icelandic History. In 1799 the Alþing stopped meeting due to Danish colonialism. The Alþing started meeting again sporadically in 1848 in Reykjavik. It was 1907 before the Alþing started meeting regularly also in Reykjavik. In 1928, just before the 1000 anniversary of the foundation of Alþingi in 1930, the parliament made Þingvellir a National Park. When Iceland declared it independence from Denmark in 1944, the ceremony was held at Þingvellir. Today, hundreds of thousands visit Þingvellir National Park every year and most of those visitors walk the Almannagjá.
References:
icelandroadguide.com/items/hakid/
guidetoiceland.is/connect-with-locals/jorunnsg/ingvellir-...
notendur.hi.is/oi/geology_of_thingvellir.htm
www.thingvellir.is/en/history-nature/history/
icelandmag.is/article/9-essential-things-know-about-thing...
Þingvellir area is on the tectonic plate boundaries of the Mid-Atlantic Ridge, the faults and fissures of the area bear evidence to the rifting of the earth's crust. Nikulásargjá (Nicholas´s fault) is a part of the fault system, filled with crystal clear water up to 25m deep.
Þingvellir (Thingvellir) National Park is where the Althing, an open-air assembly representing the whole of Iceland, was established in 930 and continued to meet until 1798. Over two weeks a year, the assembly set laws - seen as a covenant between free men - and settled disputes. (whc.unesco.org/en/list/1152)
Öxarárfoss is a waterfall in Þingvellir National Park, Iceland. This national park lies in a rift valley that marks the crest of the Mid-Atlantic Ridge and the boundary between the North American and Eurasian tectonic plates. You can walk through a crack in the earth here that is slowly opening up.
Stitch of 2 wide angle shots.
More images from my Iceland trip here.
All images are copyrighted by EyeSeeLight Photography - Ron Jansen. If you want to use or buy any of my photographs, contact me. It is not allowed to download them or use them on any websites, blogs etc. etc. without asking me.
Tectonic forces combine with water to sculpt the land . . .
This photo was taken by a Hasselblad 500C medium format film camera with a Carl Zeiss Distagon 1:4 f=50mm lens and Zenza Bronica 67mm SY48•2C(Y2) filter using Adox CHS 50 ART film, the negative scanned by an Epson Perfection V600 and digitally rendered with Photoshop.
Öxarárfoss flowing over the edge of the American tectonic plate in Iceland's Thingvellir National Park. This national park was so incredibly impressive, and the waterfall even more so. It's no wonder that the Icelandic people used this place for the backdrop of some of their most important historical events, including the establishment of the Icelandic Parliament in year 930.
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Beautiful Image of "Lowell W" & the edge of the "Oriental Basin"
Impact, Volcanism and Tectonics make for an interesting scene from our nearest neighbor "The Moon"
False colour added & adjustments made in Photoshop CC
NASA / GSFC / Arizona State University / Neal Spence
Explore with full zoom and pan here: viewer.gigamacro.com/view/fVUyVJ47lYEqqjqd?x1=17064.00&am...
Aguereberry Point, Death Valley, California
Death Valley is part of the Basin and Range region of North America extending from eastern California through Nevada to western Utah and characterized by north to south running mountain ranges separated by basins. The earth's crust in that region was stretched, thinned, and uplifted after the North American tectonic plate rode over the now extinct Farallon tectonic plate. The result was huge cracks (aka faults) where massive blocks of the crust tilted up into mountain ranges, leaving basins in the intervening low spots.
Here at Aguereberry Point we are on top of one such huge block (the Panamint Mountains) and the sedimentary layers are so very clearly tilted from their original horizontal bedding. Even the outcropping in the foreground shows the tilt. In the distance is Badwater Basin on the floor of Death Valley with the Black Mountains further on.
[Reprocessed November 27, 2019]
Visitors walk down in Almannagjá Gorge in Þingvellir National Park in southwest Iceland. The entire Þingvellir region is located in a rift valley created by the drifting apart of the North American and Eurasian tectonic plates. The tectonic plates are drifting in opposite direction at the rate of 7 mm (0.276 in) annually. Almannagjá lies along the North American plate on the west side of the valley. It measures 7.7 km long and 64 m wide at its maximum. The gorge’s cliffs lie along a fault with a maximum throw of 30-40 m. Geologists believe the Þingvellir faults (fissures) to be the surface expressions of deeply rooted normal faults. Basalt from cooled lava flows make up the cliffs and valley floor. At the top of the photo, the base of Ármannsfell, a volcanic mountain, dominates the horizon.
This unique geology became the backdrop for important political and cultural events. Iceland’s settlement by The Norse began with the arrival of Ingólfur Arnarson in 874. Historians refer to the next 56 years, as ‘The Settlement Period’. Driven away from a newly united Norway under King Harald Fairhair, settlers from many different clans settled all around the island’s shores. Though the new arrivals shared an ancestral home, religion and language, difference sprang up because each clan had its own leaders and customs. Violence broke out from time to time between these clans both over their beliefs and for the limited resources their new island had to offer. In order to address these issues the people decided to hold a general assembly with members from each clan.
A man called Grímur Geitskör was given the tasks of gathering representatives from each clan and finding a suitable meeting location. As Geitskör was searching for a location, a man who owned a sheltered piece of land accessible from all corners of the country was convicted of murder, and his property turned public. This sheltered place was in the rift valley at Þingvellir. People from all over Iceland could reach the assembly place with no more than seventeen days of traveling. In 930 AD, over thirty ruling chiefs met for the first time at Þingvellir to discuss law on the island and to create a Viking commonwealth. Their meeting place was within the Almannagjá Gorge.
Þingvellir translated literally means "Assembly Plains”. The Parliament, called The Alþing, met at Þingvellir from 930 to 1789 AD. Many important historic and cultural events occurred here while Parliment was in session which makes it one of the most imporant places in Icelandic History. In 1799 the Alþing stopped meeting due to Danish colonialism. The Alþing started meeting again sporadically in 1848 in Reykjavik. It was 1907 before the Alþing started meeting regularly also in Reykjavik. In 1928, just before the 1000 anniversary of the foundation of Alþingi in 1930, the parliament made Þingvellir a National Park. When Iceland declared it independence from Denmark in 1944, the ceremony was held at Þingvellir. Hundreds of thousands visit Þingvellir National Park every year and most of those visitors walk the Almannagjá.
One of the old routes to reach Þingvellir was along the eastern shores of Þingvallavatn (lake). However an earthquake in 1789 caused the land to subside along the lake and the route to be submerged. In 1830 a new route to Þingvellir was started that went down the Almannagjá (gorge). Construction along this route was finally completed in 1907. Þingvellir became Iceland’s first national park in 1928. The road through Almannagjá remained the main public thoroughfare to Þingvellir until the last car was allowed through the canyon on November 1, 1967. At that time, park officials relocated the road to its current position which goes around Almannagjá with side roads to reach locations in Þingvellir. The old road route now serves as a walking path through Almannagjá.
References:
icelandroadguide.com/items/hakid/
guidetoiceland.is/connect-with-locals/jorunnsg/ingvellir-...
notendur.hi.is/oi/geology_of_thingvellir.htm
www.thingvellir.is/en/history-nature/history/
icelandmag.is/article/9-essential-things-know-about-thing...
Info signs in The National Park along the Path
When tectonic plates smash into each other, they push the Earth’s crust higher and higher, forming mountains. Some mountain ranges, like the Himalayas, are still growing. Others, like the Appalachians, saw their heyday hundreds of millions of years ago and have been weathering away ever since. Volcanoes also form mountains and periodically erupt – scraping clear the landscape.
On a mountain, weather and the organisms that live there rapidly change as elevation increases. As temperatures get colder, tree species change, and then become scarcer before disappearing entirely. At the top there may be nothing but snow and ice. But even these bleak landscapes are home to a diverse array of plants and animals adapted for that environment.
Until recently, mountain habitats have been largely protected because of their inaccessibility. As people have moved into the mountains to live, for recreation and to obtain valuable resources such as timber, mountain ecosystems around the world have been subject to degradation and destruction.
(tectonic turbulence)
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Los Angeles is overmatched on one side by the Pacific Ocean and on the other by very high mountains. With respect to these principal boundaries, Los Angeles is done sprawling. The San Gabriels, in their state of tectonic youth, are rising as rapidly as any range on earth. Their loose inimical slopes flout the tolerance of the angle of repose. Rising straight up out of the megalopolis, they stand ten thousand feet above the nearby sea, and they are not kidding with this city. Shedding, spalling, self-destructing, they are disintegrating at a rate that is also among the fastest in the world. The phalanxed communities of Los Angeles have pushed themselves hard against these mountains, an aggression that requires a deep defense budget to contend with the results.
- excerpted from "Los Angeles Against the Mountains"
by John McPhee
The only place in the world where the Eurasian and North American tectonic plates are visible above ground
A gap in the clff wall is visible along the trail to Öxarárfoss in Almannagjá Gorge, Þingvellir National Park, Iceland. The entire Þingvellir region is located in a rift valley created by the drifting apart of the North American and Eurasian tectonic plates. The tectonic plates are drifting in opposite direction at the rate of 7 mm (0.276 in) annually. Almannagjá lies along the North American plate on the west side of the valley. It measures 7.7 km long and 64 m wide at its maximum. The gorge’s cliffs lie along a fault with a maximum throw of 30-40 m. Geologists believe the Þingvellir faults (fissures) to be the surface expressions of deeply rooted normal faults. Basalt from cooled lava flows make up the cliffs and valley floor. At the top of the photo, the base of Ármannsfell, a volcanic mountain, dominates the horizon.
This unique geology became the backdrop for important political and cultural events. Iceland’s settlement by The Norse began with the arrival of Ingólfur Arnarson in 874. Historians refer to the next 56 years, as ‘The Settlement Period’. Driven away from a newly united Norway under King Harald Fairhair, settlers from many different clans settled all around the island’s shores. Though the new arrivals shared an ancestral home, religion and language, difference sprang up because each clan had its own leaders and customs. Violence broke out from time to time between these clans both over their beliefs and for the limited resources their new island had to offer. In order to address these issues the people decided to hold a general assembly with members from each clan.
A man called Grímur Geitskör was given the tasks of gathering representatives from each clan and finding a suitable meeting location. As Geitskör was searching for a location, a man who owned a sheltered piece of land accessible from all corners of the country was convicted of murder, and his property turned public. This sheltered place was in the rift valley at Þingvellir. People from all over Iceland could reach the assembly place with no more than seventeen days of traveling. In 930 AD, over thirty ruling chiefs met for the first time at Þingvellir to discuss law on the island and to create a Viking commonwealth. Their meeting place was within the Almannagjá Gorge.
Þingvellir translated literally means "Assembly Plains”. The Parliament, called The Alþing, met at Þingvellir from 930 to 1789 AD. Many important historic and cultural events occurred here while Parliment was in session which makes it one of the most imporant places in Icelandic History. In 1799 the Alþing stopped meeting due to Danish colonialism. The Alþing started meeting again sporadically in 1848 in Reykjavik. It was 1907 before the Alþing started meeting regularly also in Reykjavik. In 1928, just before the 1000 anniversary of the foundation of Alþingi in 1930, the parliament made Þingvellir a National Park. When Iceland declared it independence from Denmark in 1944, the ceremony was held at Þingvellir. Hundreds of thousands visit Þingvellir National Park every year and most of those visitors walk the Almannagjá.
References:
icelandroadguide.com/items/hakid/
guidetoiceland.is/connect-with-locals/jorunnsg/ingvellir-...
notendur.hi.is/oi/geology_of_thingvellir.htm
www.thingvellir.is/en/history-nature/history/
icelandmag.is/article/9-essential-things-know-about-thing...
Þingvellir (Thingvellir) is a historic site and national park in Iceland, east of Reykjavík. It's known for the Alþing (Althing), the site of Iceland's parliament from the 10th to 18th centuries
At Þingvellir - literally "Parliament Plains" - the Alþing general assembly was established around 930 and continued to convene there until 1798. Major events in the history of Iceland have taken place at Þingvellir and therefore the place is held in high esteem by all Icelanders. Today Þingvellir is a protected national shrine. According to the law, passed in 1928, the protected area shall always be the property of the Icelandic nation, under the preservation of the Alþing. Þingvellir is notable for its unusual tectonic and volcanic environment in a rift valley.
The American tectonic plate stops at a cliff in Iceland - off to the right, the sinking rift valley between it and the Eurasian tectonic plate. Iceland sits on the mid Atlantic ridge - it's a product of it, as the plates split apart and volcanic activity ensues. Standing here, suddenly one is tiny and insignificant, and it dawns on one just how massive the forces of our planet are. Even in the rain.
Mobil Oil Canadian Tectonic Seminar.
The scale of the fabulous compressional tectonic features of the Front Ranges of the Rocky Mountains are definitely best appreciated from the air and the participants in our Mobil field seminar were privileged to have an overflight of the Rockies on the last day of the course.
I was living in The Hague, the Netherlands, at this time and working on the sub-surface Alpine tectonics in the North Sea. Superficially the Geology of Holland is pretty boring but 1000m below the surface in the Dutch offshore all hell breaks loose and, believe it or not, it looks just like this! It could be a seismic cross-section through the Lower Cretaceous oil fields in Offshore Block Q1. The subsurface oil and gas fields in the Foothills west of Calgary are trapped in analogous thrust anticlines.
This labyrinth-like system of troughs and plateaus was imaged by ESA’s Mars Express on 21 June 2016.
It shows part of a region known as Adamas Labyrinthus, which is found in Utopia Planitia in the northern lowlands of Mars. Here, the randomly shaped blocks vary in size from 5–20 km across and are separated by cross-cutting troughs with widths of up to 2 km.
The pattern is similar to that observed in some offshore locations on Earth, supporting an idea that the scene here results from the deposition of fine-grained sediments in an ocean.
The formation of such polygons with surrounding troughs has been attributed to a number of varied processes, including collapse under gravity, the expulsion of fluid from the porous sediments as they are being compacted, low friction between the sediments resulting in mass wasting, and local tectonic activity extending the blocks apart. The underlying topography of the surface below may also play a role.
One idea for the scene shown here on Mars is that sediment slurries were deposited during catastrophic flooding on an ice-rich surface, and contracted into the polygons as the sediments were compacted and expelled their fluids.
Later, tectonic activity and the gradual sublimation of buried ices could have caused gradual widening and deepening of the troughs between the giant polygons.
Icy material certainly played a role in this region’s appearance at some point: the larger impact craters show characteristic “pancake” debris blankets, which indicate heating and melting of a subsurface ice layer at the time of the impact.
In addition, some of the troughs show dark deposits, which may be ash layers being revealed from below a cover of dust-covered ice as Sun-facing slopes are gently heated.
The ground resolution of this image is about 15 m per pixel and the images are centered at 39ºN / 101ºE. For more images and details of this region, see the associated image release by the DLR German Aerospace Agency and by Freie Universität Berlin on 8 September.
Credit: ESA/DLR/FU Berlin, CC BY-SA 3.0 IGO
The volcanic Almannagjá Gorge in Thingvellir National Park, Iceland, is on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge where the Eurasian and North American tectonic plates pull apart.
IPhoneography: IPhone 6s Plus set to Panorama before I started waving it around wildly. No apps except Instagram.
Aperture: f/16
Shutter: 220sec
ISO: 50
Focal Length: 55mm
Camera Body: Canon 5D MK II
Lens: EF 24-105mm f/4L IS USM
Filters: n/a
Processed: Lightroom 4, Photoshop cs3
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The Sunsphere in Knoxville, Tennessee was erected in 1982 for the Knoxville International Energy Exposition. It was designed by Community Tectonics and is currently an observation deck and rental space.
The rock walls on the two sides of this path are from the European (left) and North American (right) tectonic plates, which Iceland straddles. They are spreading apart slowly. The path is a popular tourist attraction in the Thingvellir National Park, near Reykjavik.
Based on data from the Sentinel-1A satellite, this image shows how and where the land uplifted and sank from the 7.8-magnitute earthquake that struck Nepal on 25 April 2015.
Near the boundary of the Indian and Eurasian tectonic plates, blue shows areas of uplift of up to 0.8 m towards the satellite (called ‘line of sight’) which could be caused by a vertical uplift of 1 m. The yellow area depicts areas of subsidence, a movement that often occurs as a counter movement to the uplift in subduction zones (where one plate dips below the other) during earthquakes. Additionally, a horizontal north–south shift of up to 2 m was detected.
This image was generated using data acquired by Sentinel-1A before and after the earthquake event.
This image was originally released by the DLR German Aerospace Center.
Read more about mapping the Nepal quake with satellites.
Credit: DLR-ZKI
Every year the ice forms, folds and crumples in processes that mirror the formation of terrestrial mountains and ridges.
blogged here: djenglandphotography.blogspot.com/2021/02/photo-of-week-2...
The bare, rugged terrain of the Rocky Mountains, in-flight to California from on-board Jet Blue.
(Pix #4)
December 29, 2006
Folding layers of rock thousands of years old compress and form intricate patterns of sediment near Rangdum along the Zanskar Valley. The rock layers are a result of the Indian subcontinent colliding with the continent of Asia and now reveal significant geological material spanning back to the earliest periods of Earth's history.
© Christopher L. Rubey, 2013
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