Valagjá Revisited

March 25, 2018

Volcanic red.

Valagjá (pronounced ‘vaalaa-gyaow’ – gjá is fissure in Icelandic) is an explosion fissure wrought by Hekla, one of Iceland‘s most feared – and currently active – volcanoes. The bleeding red of the rift’s oxidized iron stands out in the dark expanse of volcanic ash, an otherworldly scene right out of the chronicles of Star Trek.

This area in the south-central Highlands often experiences gale-force winds. On this late afternoon, relatively calm conditions permitted the drone to take flight. And for a brief moment the sun spotlighted the tagl (‘tail’ of the fissure), seen below in the final image and the video.

An earlier post on Valagjá is here.