Iceland - the home of Geysir

Within easy reach to the east of Reykjavik, Iceland's capital, are three major geological sites. The last page introduced the first of these at Thingvellir, this page has the second - geysers - and the Gullfoss waterfall is to come. Geysers Go to another site. can occur where the earth's surface is so thin that water and steam may be forced through it to spurt out in an eruption of boiling water. Our word geyser comes from the first of these spounts to be named - Geysir, Go to another site. meaning to gush in Old Norse. Now all such spouts are known as geysers. They are not common, mainly confined to Kamchatka, New Zealand, Chile and Yellowstone Park. Strokkur is one of the most regular and frequent in the world, erupting every 8 to 10 minutes. Strokkur erupting. This is not actually Geysir, which has been largely inactive over the last 100 years, but one of its neighbours called Strokkur Landscape around Geysir. The landscape in the area of Geysir Steaming stream. A steaming stream Little Geysir. The nearby Little Geysir Strokkur quiescent. Strokkur in its quiescent phrase Vent with bubbling water. Bubbling vent Stream with sulphurous deposits Sulphurous deposits along a stream Water swirling. Water swirling and rising... Starting to spout. ...and beginning to spout Simmering pool. Another pool simmering... Steam spurting. ... and suddenly steam spurts out Strokkur erupting. Strokkur erupting Steam and water spout. Steam and water spout. Three angles on a hot water spout Steam and water spout. Eruption starting. Here an eruption is beginning Water and steam reach about 4 metres. Water and steam erupt - four metres Spout reaches about 10 metres. Ten metres, and the wind... Wind catches the steam. ...catches the steam and spay Steam drifting away. Steam drifting away Pool again quiet. The pool is again quiet Water starting to boil. Water beginning to boil The next page takes you to the third and most dramatic of the three special attractions linked by the geology of the area - the huge waterfall called Gullfoss which tumbles into the fault line. The Gullfoss waterfall. line
Saturday 30th December 2017 Murphy on duty

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