1000 years of ice

1. February 2015

During winter time, Iceland proves where its name comes from. The wet lava ground is frozen and covered in shiny blue ice. The glaciers sparkle in the brightest blue in the cold freezing last rays of sunshine. The ice of the glaciers is telling their long history of volcanic eruptions, sandstorms and erosion – all time stamps and landmarks engraved in the depth of ice.

Every winter mountain guides explore the vast glacier area to find accessible ice caves. When you enter the ice cave, you have meters of crystal clear shiny ice above you. Immediately, one feels like a small little something in the depth of time and ice.

Within the ice you have all kinds of inclusions: air bubbles, ashes, sand and gravel. There are hundreds of layers of different composition and structural inclusions.

Walking through the ice cave, you completely forget about the the coldness around you. The ice around you is thousands of years old and has gone through seasonal and climatic changes. It has endured several natural catastrophes like storms and volcanic eruptions. You can see its wounds as the glaciers are continously retracting. Its scars are deep engraved in the perpetual ice.

I spent the last week in Iceland. It was an amazing and fascinating trip through a wonderful and extraordinary landscape. This first series of icy pictures is just a little sneak preview of what will come in the next weeks. I have been very busy taking pictures of all the beauty around me that I hardly found time for blogging. Sorry for my absence this week, but I promise, you will like the pictures of Iceland in my soon upcoming posts.

In response to The Daily Post’s writing prompt: “Depth.”

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