Studlagil Canyon

Stuðlagil is a narrow canyon in the Jökuldalur valley of East Iceland, walled on both sides by dense columns of dark basalt — among the largest such formations in the country. Below runs the Jökla, glacial meltwater that turns a vivid blue-green when it drops clear in spring and early summer. For centuries the columns lay hidden beneath a deeper, muddier river; only after a hydroelectric project cut the flow around 2009 did the water fall away and reveal the walls.