Inside Krafla caldera
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Inside Krafla caldera |
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Krafla was a mighty volcano once but it is a vast spectacular caldera now. Major fissure zone which runs across it from south to north has produced almost thirty eruptions up to date, last dated between 1975 and 1984 became famous as Krafla fires for its distinctive curtains of lava fountains, expression of basaltic volcanism. For it is very close to earth hell, as the name of Víti crater lake suggests, man tries to tame it and harvest power. You can now therefor admire astounding shapes of Krafla thermal powerplant looking like a science fiction.
Víti (which is icelandic for 'hell') is a crater lake in the vulcanic area of the Krafla vulcano. The...
This fissure swarm is about 100x10 km (62x6 miles) and consists of approximately 35 eruptive fissures...
Standing inside the volcano from the eruption in the Krafla Caldera in the year 1984. Lava layers tha...
Vantage point for observing various lava flows from the fissure eruptions in 1977-1984 in the Krafla ...
Walking around the Krafla Caldera lava fields from the years 1977-1984. This area is considered the m...
The Leirhnjúkur area is a central volcano in Krafla caldera. One hundred thousand years ago, t...
Hverarönð is a geothermal area east of the mountain Námafjall in the north of Iceland. It is part of ...
Hverarönð is a geothermal area east of the mountain Námafjall in the north of Iceland. It is part of ...
Europe is generally agreed to be the birthplace of western culture, including such legendary innovations as the democratic nation-state, football and tomato sauce.
The word Europe comes from the Greek goddess Europa, who was kidnapped by Zeus and plunked down on the island of Crete. Europa gradually changed from referring to mainland Greece until it extended finally to include Norway and Russia.
Don't be confused that Europe is called a continent without looking like an island, the way the other continents do. It's okay. The Ural mountains have steadily been there to divide Europe from Asia for the last 250 million years. Russia technically inhabits "Eurasia".
Europe is presently uniting into one political and economic zone with a common currency called the Euro. The European Union originated in 1993 and is now composed of 27 member states. Its headquarters is in Brussels, Belgium.
Do not confuse the EU with the Council of Europe, which has 47 member states and dates to 1949. These two bodies share the same flag, national anthem, and mission of integrating Europe. The headquarters of the Council are located in Strasbourg, France, and it is most famous for its European Court of Human Rights.
In spite of these two bodies, there is still no single Constitution or set of laws applying to all the countries of Europe. Debate rages over the role of the EU in regards to national sovereignty. As of January 2009, the Lisbon Treaty is the closest thing to a European Constitution, yet it has not been approved by all the EU states.
Text by Steve Smith.
