Hi folks. I'm going to talk about one wild waterfall in Iceland. This... is Gullfoss:
As you can see, its' got a very distinct look to it. For one, it's massive (notice the little people on the observation deck). The falls are in a bit of a stair pattern as well. The most notable feature, of course, is the 90° right turn the water makes after the first step down.
So just how big is this behemoth? Well it's over a 100 feet tall, for one. The first big 'step' is around a 35 foot drop and the larger second is a 70 footer. It's a gusher as well. Gullfoss dumps around 5,000 cubic feet over its edge PER SECOND. Here's a clip that gives you an idea of it's volume:
There was another cool feature of these falls: the mist wall. I mean, that's not an official term or anything, but it's fitting. It's hard to capture on a media source, but this photos kind of shows what I'm talking about:
^^^See that hazy, smokey stuff??
See, the waterfall dumps it's water into a tall, yet narrow, crevice. In the photo above, where the moss ends there is an almost 100 foot tall cliff that goes straight down. So all the mist from the falls gathers and shoots straight up in a perfectly flat curtain, following the cliff. Here is a side view:
And another:
^^^See the cool crevice in the background?? It's also cool that the water takes yet another 90° turn at the bottom of the drop.
And here is the best clip I took that shows the mist (or STEEM) curtain:
And to end things, here is one last sweeping video clip taken from that observation deck you see in the first photograph. Enjoy.
Thanks for reading! I post a nature-themed blog every day. Please upvote if you enjoyed it and be sure to follow me @customnature so you'll never miss one! See you next time. - Adam
***These daily blogs showcase the natural world. It is all original content using photos, stories, and experiences from my own travels.***