Photo du Jour: Beneath Iceland’s Largest Glacier

Buried in an arctic tomb of mountainous ice, English photographer Kate Friend captures the world above and below the largest glacier mass in all of Europe. Rising above the local landscape in the southeast of Iceland, the Vatnajökull glacier covers roughly 8,000 square kilometers and is nearly 1000 meters thick at its deepest point. Known for its crystalized underworld of undulating plateaus, the glacier rises 600 – 800 meters above sea level with numerous valleys and canyons. Friend’s series follows the winding and lonely pathway through volcanic plains and gale force winds to the heart of glacier’s luminously blue caves below, only accessible in winter when the mass is completely frozen. With Vatnajökull rapidly melting at a rate of 1 meter per year, Friend preserves an otherworldly wonder that will one day be lost.

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