Tourists approaching lighthouse in islet Mykineshólmur, Mykines Island, Faroe Islands
Mykines is the westernmost of the 18 main islands of the Faroese Archipelago. The only settlement on the island is also called Mykines. On the northern side of the island is the valley of Korkadalur, where there are great columns of basalt, called the Stone-wood. To the west of Mykines is the 1 km long islet Mykineshólmur, with several sea stacks clustered at its western end, where a lighthouse was built in 1909. A 40m-long footbridge connects its eastern end with Mykines. Mykines belongs to the oldest part of the Faroe Islands and was formed about 60 million years ago. The Faroese basalt is divided into three phases of eruption: the lower and oldest, the middle, and the upper and youngest; the lowest formed by the eruption of low-viscosity lava through long fissures, forming flat volcanoes. In the sound between Mykines and Mykineshólmur. The interspersed layers of softer volcanic tuff between the layers of basalt are differentially eroded, so forming, especially on the steep northern side of the islet, some of the richest bird cliffs in the world. Mountain hares have been introduced, and inhabit the mountain area and surrounding valleys. The Mykines house mouse is endemic for Mykines, and this might suggest an early introduction, maybe as early as in the 6th century by the Irish monks, who cultivated this island. Large numbers of puffins and gannets inhabit Mykines and Mykineshólmur. On the rocks at the water's edge there are colonies of cormorants, while the eroded tuff layers in the cliffs make perfect nesting ledges for guillemots and razorbills. On the grassy slopes above the bird cliffs, thousands of puffins have their burrows, and their guano fertilizes the slopes. Access to the puffin colony is subject to a fee. Mykines has been identified as an Important Bird Area by BirdLife International because of its significance as a breeding site for seabirds, especially northern fulmars, Manx shearwaters, European storm petrels, northern gannets, European shags, ecc.
Size: 6016px × 4016px
Location: Mykines Island, Faroe Islands
Photo credit: © Roberto Cornacchia / Alamy / Afripics
License: Royalty Free
Model Released: No
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