Ancient waters, ancient ice

Seals often rest on the icebergs at Jökulsárlón glacial lagoon.

Seals often rest on the icebergs at Jökulsárlón glacial lagoon. Rax / Ragnar Axelsson

One of Iceland's most popular tourist spots is the famed Jökulsárlón glacier lagoon in East Iceland. It's where icebergs, thousands of years old, break from the Breiðamerkurjökull glacier and fall into the water. 

The lagoon is place of mystery and stunning natural beauty, a place where seals find refuge on floating icebergs, a place where Arctic terns fly against the ever changing skies. 

When the icebergs float from the lagoon and into the sea, waves throw them back to the beach where they become chiselled like diamonds and then melt, becoming a part of Earth's continual water cycle. 

Morgunblaðið photographer Ragnar Axelsson, RAX, captured the lagoon's enigmatic beauty in the accompanying photographs. 

RAX is an internationally renowned nature photographer and staff photographer for Morgunblaðið. His photographs have appeared in magazines including the National Geographic, Life, Time, Le Figaro and Stern. 

The icebergs that break off Breiðamerkurjökull into the lagoon are …

The icebergs that break off Breiðamerkurjökull into the lagoon are made of ice that is 800- 100 thousand years old Rax / Ragnar Axelsson

The black sand beach at Jökulsárlón glacial lagoon.

The black sand beach at Jökulsárlón glacial lagoon. Rax / Ragnar Axelsson

The black sand beach at Jökulsárlón glacial lagoon.

The black sand beach at Jökulsárlón glacial lagoon. Rax / Ragnar Axelsson

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