icelandpictures:

The tales the mossy lava can tell you

Moss and lava fields go together like egg an bacon. There’s a lot you can read out of the moss on lava fields. You can roughly guess the age of a lava field by the thickness of the moss on it. I would reckon this lava flowed a few hundred years ago. It is actually about the thickness of the moss in the Lakahraun lava field from 1783, might very well be that lava field.

The color of the moss also changes a lot depending on the weather in the past week or so. Lush green moss such as this indicates lots of recent rain. Different shades of greenish to gray indicate dryer weather.

Since moss is really slow growing, please take care with it. It can handle some traffic, but not much. So if you are in a place that receives lots of traffic, avoid walking on the moss. Otherwise always tread lightly. And by lightly I mean, use the moss walking technique. Place your foot straight down and lift it straight up in each step. Avoid tearing up the moss as you roll your feet forward. It is very easy to tear it up in every step, but also easy to avoid.

Moss takes hundreds of years to grow and old wheel tracks last for decades if not centuries, so of course, never ever drive off road.

(Source: timpogo)