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Archive for janúar, 2014

Stóri hver at Laugarvatn

Posted in Náttúra, tagged , , , , on 26.1.2014| Leave a Comment »

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Some weeks ago I found a photo gallery on the web. All those photos were taken by a Dutch photographer Willem van de Pool when he visited Iceland in the summer 1934. It was the year when my parents were born so it gave me a connection back to last century.
The quality of those photos is stunning. It looks like they have been taken yesterday. Most of the places are easily identified even though the surroundings have changed a lot.   Willem captured five pictures at Laugarvatn, a place about 75 km east of Reykjavik. At this time my grand grandfather was a landowner at Laugarvatn farm and a district administrative officer.
Following picture above shows some people relaxing in hot sand. This shore is just below a big hot spring named “Stóri hver” (not shown on the picture). Today this place between Stóri hver and the lake is so hot that the sand is used every day to bake a bread.
The following one piece recording was made 25th of July 2012, with BP4025 on a boom pole, moved close to the boiling surface between Stóri hver to Laugarvatn Lake. It starts at Stóri hver, then scanning the boiling sand and then to the lake surface.

Stóri hver við Laugarvatn 2012

Hér er á ferðinni upptaka sem tekin var upp við Stóra hver sunnan við „2007“ baðhúsið.  Notast var við BP4025 stereo hljóðnema á bómu og hann færður hægt og sígandi um svæðið milli Stórahvers fram yfir vatnsyfirborð Laugarvatns.

  Download mp3 file  (192kbps / 30Mb)

Recorder: Sound Devices 744
Mic: Audio Technica BP4025
Pics. Sony DCS-P120 See more pictures. (See Willem van de Pool photos (gallery 1 & gallery 2)

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Waste of power

Posted in Óflokkað, Náttúra, tagged , , , , , , , , , on 5.1.2014| 1 Comment »

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About 30km east of Reykjavik capitol is Hellisheiðarvirkjun a geothermal power station. This power station uses energy from drilled wells in the surrounding area.
In the drilling process it is necessary to let the wells “breath” or “blow” for a while. When it happens it is extremely noisy when the energy is wasted into the atmosphere, mostly as a hot steam in mixture with toxic gas like carbon dioxide (CO2), hydrogen sulfide (H2S) and also substantial quantities of hydrogen (H2). Other gases such as nitrogen (N2), methane (CH4) and argon (Ar) are in the gas mixture, but in lesser extent.
The rumbling noise from blowing wells is so loud that it can be easily heard in far distances (up to 20-30km, depends of condition).
It was easily audible when I was on my way east of Reykjavik on a cycle trip last summer. I was cycling Nesjavallavegur (road) when I decided to record this noise. The power station was in about 10 km distance, but the blowing wells were somewhere between in 10-15km distance, probably behind the mountain Hengill.
This recording was made at 3am, 24th of July 2013 at Mosfellsheiði. The weather was calm, but cold, very humid and fogy.
Keep in mind, this is a “quiet nature recording” so you should not play it loud. On the field the birdsong was barely audible.

Orkusóun

Hér er á ferðinni upptaka frá því 24. júlí 2013, þegar ég fór í stutt helgarferðalag austur fyrir Fjall. Þegar ég lagði af stað var vel liðið á kvöld og skollin á blaut og köld þoka.
Þegar á Nesjavallaveginn var komið varð ég var við miklar drunur ofan af Hellisheiði en þar blés borhola út orku og eiturgasi engum til gagns. Drunurnar virtust fylla loftið fremur en að koma úr tiltekinni átt svo ímyndunaraflið fékk að blómstra. Það var ekki laust við að maður léti hugann reika, því þar sem maður átti að venjast þögn á þessum tíma sólahringsins voru nú þungar drunur allt um liggjandi sem hér um bil kaffærðu söng sumarfuglanna. Nálægð við helvíti eða heimsendi var manni efst í huga þar sem maður sniglaðist einsamall eftir veginum fremur kaldur og blautur í dimmri þokunni.
Rétt eftir að hæstu hæð Mosfellsheiðar var náð ákvað ég að staldra við og taka upp þetta sérkennilega andrúmsloft sem þarna ríkti þessa júlínótt.

Download Mp3 file (192kbps / 28,2Mb)

Recorder: Sound devices 788
Mics: Sennheiser MKH20 (AB40 setup)
Pics: Canon EOS M (see more pictures)

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