Back in Iceland

[Barb T]

Huh - I guess I never thought of the Icelandic landscape as scary! No big animals to eat you, no poisonous snakes or insects. It's never hot enough to get heat stroke or dehydration, and you can see for miles as long as the clouds don't settle in. Even with that, if I have a map and a compass, I'm set. And now with GPS, satellite imagery, and GIS, it's really easy to tell where you are and to plan field work. The only odd thing is that there's nothing for scale. Things that look close are actually big and really far away, and sometimes things that are small are actually close up.

So, we just drive as far as we can on a 4WD track and park the car:



We plan where we're going to go using a map and a satellite image:



And then we just head off. In the picture below, we're headed for the farthest tan peak on the right hand ridge. In the second one, we're headed for the fabulous tilted outcrop on the top of the ridge.





And then, when we're done with the day, we head back to the car. In the pic below, the car is over the far ridge on the horizon. I think we've walked about 40 miles in the past 5 days. My feet are tired...



And then we cook dinner. At least we don't have to walk far to do that!



It's been a great field season, and we've discovered some very interesting things about the rocks we're studying, and we're powerfully confused about some other aspects. But, we've taken samples that we'll analyze, and hopefully we'll figure it out after we have more data!

[Oddern]

Fantastic pics Barb. Is geology your profession or hobby?

[GMan]

What were you having for dinner in that beautiful setting?

[SteveB]

The last time I saw such large desolate mounds of earth, was during the "Big Dig" here in Boston. Occasionally a car would wind up in the picture due to a badly placed construction sign. As each load of dirt came up from underground and was dumped into the mountains, a team of archeologists, and geologists would converge on it to seek any artifacts of Boston's early history. Each load was documented, so that any finds could be traced back to where the load came from. Only a few started other investigations. I think it was ten archeological, and three geological surveys that were triggered. They did not contribute any to the delay of construction as the contractors moved to another area of work while the investigation used the area they were in.
We are forever surprised at what lays under our feet (and tires).
Keep up the good work Barb.
Slainte

[Woodsheal]

Beautiful pics, Barb! Seems I read someplace that Iceland was once quite forested, before the Northmen settled there and spent hundreds of years cutting down the trees for ships and houses. Is that right?

[Barb T]

Fantastic pics Barb. Is geology your profession or hobby?

I'm a geology professor (PhD in Geology) in real life, actually.

What were you having for dinner in that beautiful setting?

Some noodly thing - hot and filling. The setting was definitely more spectacular than the dinner!

Seems I read someplace that Iceland was once quite forested, before the Northmen settled there and spent hundreds of years cutting down the trees for ships and houses. Is that right?

The best estimate is that the coastal areas were pretty well forested with smallish birch. Nothing like the "forest primeval". The interior has always been pretty desolate - desolate enough that the Apollo astronauts came here to train before the Moon missions.

The coastal regions, particularly in the south, are very lush and green, just no trees. Lots of sheep and horses and farms.

[Highlander31]

Is that a mosquito netting on your head?

[aviewfrom]

Seeing these pictures and listening to my neighbor who is a retired geologist tell of all the neat places he traveled makes me think I should have chosen a different major back in the day.

Great Pictures

[Barb T]

Is that a mosquito netting on your head?

Mmmm - yup. But it's not for mosquitos. It's for midges, a plague for a couple of weeks in Iceland (and in Scotland, too). They don't bite, but they fly into your eyes, up your nose, into your ears, and generally make it impossible to think, let alone work. The other night, a bunch of Icelanders were playing an informal pick-up game of soccer at the place we were staying, and they were all wearing midge nets!

[tulloch]

Absolutely stunning! I am not a believer in bucket lists, (if you're not living in the bucket then you should be), but if I had one Iceland would be on it. I love how the Earth works. Spent a lot of time in Guatemala and have seen some great topography there but I want to see the fissures, springs, molten earth there in Iceland. I also love the ancient culture. Has the oldest parliament in the world if I remember correctly.