Columnar Jointing > 360 Degree View from the top of Heimaklutter in Himaey, Vestman Islands, Iceland by Suresh Muthukrishnan

360 Degree View from the top of Heimaklutter in Himaey, Vestman Islands, Iceland. This Island (with a population of about 5000) is the site of 1973 eruption that buried several houses. This is also famous for being the only place on Earth where humans fought nature's fury and won the battle (well, depends on how one sees it). During the eruption, many industrial scale water pumps were rushed from the US and were used to pump cold water on the advancing front of the lava flow as it was threatening to close the entrance to the natural harbor. Eventually the advancing lava cooled and solidified at the front and stopped moving towards the harbor, saving it for future generations. The new craters that formed in 1973 are still hot near the top, likely due to deep sources of magma releasing hot gases through cracks and fractures (hot spot - picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/2Xzs19njymYTxTy1MPya2hy6HmcnXy2G0tjo8kao2Kg?feat=directlink ). Today, the Island is working on uncovering the buried structures (picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/tXf0d3G4JXyVXy_pupoRShy6HmcnXy2G0tjo8kao2Kg?feat=directlink ). Fishing and tourism are the biggest drivers here.

I had a zoom lens extender to reach to 400mm, and that made the lens so heavy making it sag as I was taking the photographs. That's why the gigapan came out with the wavy appearance.