Amid the hustle and bustle this time of year, it’s a quiet sunset over the ocean.
There are so many islands surrounding, and belonging to, Scotland that it simply boggles the mind! Here are just a few, in order of distance from mainland Scotland.
This is a topside vista from uninhabited Staffa Island, famous for its caves and basalt columnar formations.
Someone has gotten creative with stones along the beach of Skaill Bay on Mainland Island, Orkneys.
Waves are crashing onto the shore of Stenness Beach, Shetlands.
The Colorado River’s extensive route takes it from the peaks of the Colorado Rocky Mountains to the Gulf of California in Mexico. Part of that route, only about 5%, is a scenic journey through the 277-mile long Grand Canyon in Arizona.
Only a small portion of Death Valley is covered in sand dunes, but the dunes add to the stark beauty that one finds there. Shifting shapes and shadows, layered ridges, and subtle hues characterize these wind-carved landscapes.
(Click on image to enlarge.)
More snow and ice, but much closer to home than yesterday’s post! The Rocky Mountains photographed here are in Colorado, but the range actually begins in the Canadian provinces of British Columbia and Alberta and extends through six U.S. states. The jagged peaks of the Rockies are similar to those of the Himalayas of Tibet. They are known as fault-block mountains in which the earth’s crust is pulled apart, with some parts being thrust upward and others downward.
I photographed three pairs of icebergs floating in the Lemaire Channel off the Antarctic Peninsula. But are they gently passing one another, or near the point of collision?
Of this pair, one resembles a serving of soft ice cream and the other is a study in perspective with the tiny specks on top actually being penguins!
Although we often think of icebergs as being white, they also come in many shades of blue and green. Their colors depend on the composition of the ice including factors such as air bubbles, organic and inorganic matter, and whether the iceberg is composed of seawater or rainwater.
These two glide through the water, seemingly in opposite directions and perilously close together. Since over 90% of each berg is under water, are they already colliding?
Can you feel the chill? It’s a cloudy day and the waters surrounding South Georgia Island are icy cold.
Our boat enters the protected waters of the Drygalski Fjord, a long, mile-wide bay cutting into the island.
Glacial ice empties into the fjord, and occasionally large chunks of ice break off or “calve” into the sea.
