Image: Iceland Geyser on the Brink of Eruption

CREDIT: Tatyana Kildisheva View full size image

This stunning image is of Strokkur, one of Iceland's most beautiful geysers, taken right before it erupts. The image was taken by photographer Tatyana Kildisheva. The geyser, named after the Icelandic word for "churn", erupts about every four to eight minutes. Strokkur is a fountain geyser and can spew water up to 40 meters high. In this image, a water bubble is being formed inside the geyser before eruption. When the water is forced up, some of it is above the boiling point. This causes more water underground to boil or flash bowl and become steam and be driven up by increasing pressure. As this gets closer  to the surface, the mixture of water and steam is forced out causing the eruption.

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