Water cascades in Nordmarka, Norway. This little stream is running down from lake Gjerdingen. With a depth of 60 meters, Gjerdingen is the deepest lake of Oslo marka, the protected nature area surrounding the city of Oslo.

Dark clouds gathering over lake Frostastaðavatn, Iceland. This lake in the Icelandic highlands close to Landmannalaugar is popular for fishing. It abounds with arctic char and trout.

Stepping stones, Norway. Femundsmarka national park is mostly popular for fishing and canoeing. Anglers can catch many different kind of fish like trout, perch, char, grayling, burbot, whitefish and pike. Ice fishing for char is also very popular during winter.

Bratterud waterfall, Norway. Micro hydro electric turbines are powered by this waterfall, thereby generating about 1,9 GWh electricity per year. This corresponds to the average yearly energy consumption of approximately 88 households.

Water cascade in the forest, Norway. Rain water contains carbonic acid which can slowly dissolve rocks, thereby causing erosion. Water that freezes in small cracks of rock will act as a jack thereby splitting the rocks into smaller pieces and accelerate the erosion.

River Lysakerelva in the winter, Norway. The capital of Norway, Oslo, gets a fair amount of snow during winter. The greatest snow depth on record in Oslo is 302 cm, measured at Tryvasshøgda (514 m). Most often the first snow comes during november and it melts again in april.

Markarfljót river at Þórsmörk, Iceland. The main sources of the river are the glaciers Mýrdalsjökull and Eyjafjallajökull. The explosove eruption of the volcano under the Eyjafjallajökull glacier in april 2010 threw volcanic ash several kilometers up in the atmosphere, which led to the closure of the airspace over large parts of Europe.

Snow landscape along Lysakerelva river, Norway. Snow can fall at extremely low temperatures, but because the air can hold more water vapor at warmer temperatures most heavy snowfalls occur when the air temperature is higher than -10°C.

Beautiful morning reflection, Norway. On cold winter mornings and clear summer nights, the air often cools down much faster than the water from a lake. As the warmer water evaporates from the lake into the cold air above, a mist is formed on top of the water.

Magnificent waterfall, Norway. Thanks to glacier and snow-fed rivers plunging down from high mountains and steep cliffs, Norway is blessed with countless beautiful waterfalls.

A beautiful waterfall, Norway. In the World Waterfall Database, 7 Norwegian waterfalls are listed among the 12 waterfalls with the tallest drop. Mongefossen waterfall in Møre og Romsdal has a vertical drop of 773 meters.

Early morning Hedmark, Norway. The forest district of Hedmark is where the Eurasian Taiga starts, a continuous belt of boreal forest stretching from Norway all the way to the Pacific. The county has also about 2.000 lakes and numerous rivers.

Selfoss waterfalls, Iceland. These fabulous waterfalls are found in north-eastern Iceland on the Jökulsá á Fjöllum river. In fact, just a few hundred meters downstream is Dettifoss, the most powerful waterfall in Europe.

Beautiful winter scenery in Oslo, Norway. The river Lysakerelva runs from lake Bogstadvannet to the Oslo fjord. It has many small waterfalls and when the waters swells during the melting of the snow in early spring, it is used for whitewater kayaking.

Perfect reflection on a still lake, Norway. At least 450.000 fresh water lakes are found in Norway, most of which were created by glacial erosion. The four deepest lakes in Europe are all found in Norway, with depths of about half a kilometer.

Ljótipollur crater lake, Iceland. In 1477 a single huge explosion formed the Ljótipollur ('dirty puddle') explosion crater near Landmannalaugar, when rising magma came into contact with groundwater. The crater lake is 14 m deep and has a healthy population brown trout.

Small water cascade, Norway. This little stream in Rondane national park is fed by the snow and rain on the Rondane massif. However, compared to many other mountain areas in Norway, Rondane has a relatively stable and dry climate.

Ljótipollur crater lake, Iceland. This volcanic explosion crater is the southermost crater of the long eruptive fissure which was created during an enormous eruption that took place in the Landmannalaugar area in 1477.

Waterfall Svartifoss, Iceland. Svartifoss is a magnificent waterfall within the Skaftafell national park in Southern Iceland. It is surrounded by perfectly hexagonal basalt column formations which are formed when a lava flow cools down relatively rapidly.

Breaking dawn at lake Gutulisjøen, Norway. The small Gutulia national park was created to protect the primeval forest and a landscape of alpine woodland, bogs and small lakes. The forest is dominated by pine, some of which are 400 years old, as well as spruce and birch.

Small stream, Norway. About 99,1 per cent of Norways electrical energy is generated from hydroelectric power plants, making it Europe's largest consumer of hydroelectric power.

Gjerdingselva river in Oslo, Norway. In the past, Gjerdingselva was used to transport timber. However, as part of the improvement of the capital's drinking water supply around 1900, most of the river was lead into a tunnel thereby reducing it to a small brook.

Canyons of Þórsmörk, Iceland. About 12.000 years ago, Þórsmörk was a fjord with spectacular glaciers reaching the water. When most of the ice melted, broad valleys, steep canyons and raging rivers were left. Still today, Þórsmörk is surrounded by three ice caps.

Winter along Akerselva river, Norway. The 8 km long Akerselva river flows through Oslo, from lake Maridalsvannet down to the Oslo fjord. The river drops from approximately 149 meters down to sea level through a series of natural and manmade waterfalls.