‘A Tale of Ice and Fire’: Stunning Footage Showing Lava Flowing Through Snow in Iceland

Last Update:14 November 2024 11:28 IST

Icelandic photographer Jeroen Van Nieuwenhove captured stunning images in Iceland.

Such a phenomenon occurs as a result of the “Leidenfrost effect”. (Photo Credit: Instagram)

Nature never surprises us. An Icelandic photographer managed to capture a rare phenomenon where lava floated over a snow-covered landscape. A video featuring the stunning visuals was shared on Instagram by the man behind the lens, Jeroen Van Nieuwenhove. When the clip first surfaced online, many thought the video might have been created with the help of artificial intelligence (AI). However, the phenomenon is not as rare as it seems. As Nieuwenhove feels like a human being, our basic instinct “is to perceive something as fake when we cannot understand it.”

The moment was captured at Sundhnukagigar, a series of volcanic craters in southwestern Iceland that have erupted several times since December last year. In the Instagram video, lava coming out of the cracks slowly covers the snow-covered surface.

“I managed to capture this moment during the February eruption in Sundhnúkagígar this year. “This clip sparked a lot of discussion in the comments section, with people questioning whether it was real or not because there was no visible steam as the lava passed over the snow,” Nieuwenhove shared in the caption of his post.

The photographer admitted that he, too, was astonished after seeing the magnificent views. He did some research to understand the science behind this and discovered that such a phenomenon occurs as a result of the “Leidenfrost effect”.

The lava is so hot that it melts the upper part of the snow, creating a layer of vapor that temporarily protects the lower part from the heat. It’s similar to what you might observe as water droplets move around on a hot metal plate. The lava moves so fast that it manages to cover the snow before it melts,” Nieuwenhove explained.

The photographer has been on assignment in Iceland for four years to capture unprecedented visuals of volcanic eruptions. During this period, he witnessed many “surreal” events in the mountainous region that increased his curiosity about Mother Nature.

“What I noticed when documenting a series of ongoing eruptions in Iceland over the past four years was that most people perceived how ‘wrong’ lava was supposed to behave. I suspect special effects in movies have quite a bit to do with this. People are amazed by what it looks like, how it moves, how it sounds, and how it interacts with its environment,” Nieuwenhove wrote in another Instagram post.

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While some viewers expressed doubts about the authenticity of the images, many congratulated the photographer on his “bucket list.” According to one of them, it looked like “chocolate chip cookie dough splattered on a thin layer of sugar.”

One user suggested an appropriate title for the video: “The Story of Ice and Fire.” “Beautiful and terrifying in one seamless screen,” one person commented. “This is art,” one viewer admitted while appreciating the photographer’s efforts. The stunning images have already garnered more than one lakh views on Instagram.