Kaldalon Sandur, NW Iceland

This is a photo from my 1960 collection -- the sandur or outwash plain in the Kaldalon Valley, NW Iceland.  The water is carried seawards from the snout of the Kaldalon Glacier (an outlet glacier from the Drangajokull ice cap).  This not really a "flood plain" because there is no flooding season -- the streams are so debris-rich that channels get choked with debris all the time, overflowing and constantly finding new channels.  A picture such as this would be different every day.

But river levels do rise and fall quite dramatically -- in the afternoons, during warm summer weather, the river will be high from snow and ice melting on the glacier, making crossings hazardous and often impossible.  The photo below is typical.  In the nights, when the temperatures are lower and melting rates are greatly reduced, crossings are possible with care, if you choose the right places......

Afternoon "high water" on the Kaldalon sandur.