ハイライト: Þingvellir has always been popular, for obvious reasons. The history and striking landscape make the place an almost mandatory stopping point for tourists. In the middle of the 19th century, an idea was put forward in the US to conserve areas that are unique because of their beauty and grandeur. Settlers and others who travelled to uninhabited areas discovered places and natural phenomena at the sight of which they were spellbound. These were new ideas, a vision in which beauty and special characteristics started to be evaluated as wealth that mustn't be sacrificed, but instead, must be cared for and preserved for future generations. These ideas came to Iceland in the early 20th century.
In 1907, State Antiquarian Matthías Þórðarson wrote a magazine article entitled "Protection of Beautiful Places and Remarkable Natural Phenomena". There he discussed the necessity of preserving places that were remarkable and special because of their beauty; no less important, he maintained, than protecting ancient relics and old church objects. He suggested various places, but specified the Almannagjá fault and the area around Þingvellir by the river Öxará as an example of a site that deserved better care. He actually pointed out that Almannagjá had already been ravaged by the road work that by then was a fact. He cited examples of protection plans abroad and mentioned Yellowstone Park in the US as a place protected by law.
In 1913, teacher Guðmundur Davíðsson wrote an article that turned out to trigger the discussion of establishing a national park at Þingvellir. The article was published in a periodical called Eimreiðin, edited by University teacher Valtýr Guðmundsson. The article was explicit indeed and Guðmundur did not beat around the bush in depicting his countrymen's bad treatment and negligence of this most historic place in the country, Þingvellir. At beginning of the article he wrote: "Few Icelanders visit Þingvellir for the first time, without admiring the beauty of the landscape and being reminded of some of the major events that are interwoven into the history of this important place. These two factors, the historical events and the natural beauty, must stir the feelings of anyone standing in this sacred and legendary place. It brings together some of the most striking and beautiful aspects of Icelandic nature, while also being the site of many of the most important events of Icelandic history."
In the article, Guðmundur cited examples of national parks in the US and explained the necessity of protecting Þingvellir that, by then, had become a popular weekend destination for travellers. However, it wasn't until 1930 that the first national park in Iceland was established - Þingvellir National Park. In 1930, Guðmundur Davíðsson was appointed as the first National Park Warden at Þingvellir, living there until 1940, when he had to retire because of poor health. He then moved to Reykjavík and was an Alþing employee until 1948.
Today, Þingvellir is one of the most frequently visited tourist sites in the country. Each year, thousands of visitors go there to become better acquainted with Iceland's greatest historical site and jewel of nature.
The Golden Waterfalls (Gullfoss) are situated in the upper part of River Hvita. The water cascades down two steps, one 11 m high, and the other 22 m, into the 2,5 km long canyon below. This canyon was created at the end of the Ice Age by catastrophic flood waves and is lengthened by 25 cm a year by the constant erosion.
Above the waterfalls are dangerous rapids. History tells us about daredevils, who forded the river there. One of them was a young man, who watched his fathers sheep every summer on the west bank of the river. On the other side, a young woman did the same thing for her family. They started shouting across the river and became acquainted that way. Eventually the young man proposed to the girl across the river and she accepted on the condition, that he came right away across to seal their agreement. He did that and of course, they lived happily ever after.
In 1930 and 1948, the river was flooded to the brim of the canyons and both times bridges further down river were swept away. Early in the 20th century the farmer of Brattholt, who owned the water rights of the river contracted them to an English firm for a hydroelectric power station. The farmers daughter opposed this and even threatened to throw herself into the foaming water to prevent this accident. She fought bravely alone until a young lawyer, who later became the countries first president, came to her aid. Together they managed to save the waterfalls and she was commemorated by a monument in the canyon by the waterfalls in 1978.
In the canyon, alternating strata of lavas and moraines (till/tillite) are obvious and tell us about warm and cold epochs of the Ice Age.
This most famous and former largest spouting hot spring of the world probably was created during an extended earthquake period at the end of the 13th century. According to one of the annals, two large hot springs were created in the Haukadalur Valley in 1274, and many were ruined and disappeared. Silica deposits have created a mound around Geysir and its bowl measures about 18 metres across. The main natural shaft of the spring is 18 m deep and 2 m across.
For centuries on end, Geysir erupted and attracted tourists, but after the turn of the 19th century its activity diminished and after 1916 it has been very irregular. Scientists concluded that its cooling surface was too large and reduced it in size with good results for a spell. The highest measured eruptions reached over 80 m and before it erupted it rumbled and small tremors were felt. The hot spring area surrounding Geysir is about 500 m long and 100 m wide.
The ancient silica deposits cover a much larger area, close to 200 thousand square meters, which confirms the existence of a much larger hot spring area in the past. There are dozens of hot springs within the present active area and some of them spout as Geysir did. The most prominent one is Strokkur (The Churn), which spouts at intervals of 3-5 minutes. The hot spring area is fenced off and was declared inviolate in 1953.
A Geyser is a hot spring, which erupts intermittently in a column of steam and hot water. Some geysers erupt at regular intervals, but most erupt irregularly, the intervals ranging from a matter of minutes to years. The length of time of the eruption varies with the geyser, from seconds to hours. The height of the column ranges from about 1 m (3 ft) to about 100 m (328 ft), and the amount of water ejected in a single eruption varies from a few litres to hundreds of thousands of litres.
A geyser erupts when the base of a column of water resting in the earth is vaporized by hot volcanic rock. The force with which the water column is expelled depends on its depth. The weight of the water column increases with its depth. The weight, in turn, increases the pressure exerted on the base of the column, thereby increasing the boiling point of the water there. When the water finally boils, it expands, driving some water out into the air. With the weight of the column reduced, the pressure correspondingly drops, and the boiling point of the water remaining in the column falls below its actual temperature. Thereupon, the entire column instantly vaporizes, causing the geyser to erupt.
Almost all known geysers are located in three countries of the world—New Zealand, Iceland, and the United States. The most famous geyser in the world is Old Faithful in Yellowstone National Park in the United States, which expels about 38,000 to 45,000 litres (10,000 to 12,000 gallons) at each eruption. Old Faithful erupts at intervals of between 37 and 93 minutes, its column rising to a height of between 38 and 52 m (125 and 170 ft). The geyser gives warning of its impending activity by ejecting jets of water 3 to 7.6 m (10 to 25 ft) high.
Eruption intervals depend on such variables as the atmospheric pressure, the supply of heat, the amount and rate of inflow of subsurface water, and the nature of the geyser tube and its underground connections.
The crater Kerið was formed about 6,500 years ago and lies at the northern end of a row of craters known as Tjarnarhólar. It is oval, about 270 m long, 170 m wide and 55 m deep: the depth of the water at the bottom varies between 7 and 14 m. According to an old tradition, a rise in the water level here is accompanied by a corresponding fall in the pond on Búrfell in Grímsnes and vice versa. Kerið lies in the Iceland´s Western Volcanic Zone, which runs through the Reykjanes peninsula and the glacier Langjökull. Traces of volcanism are not very obvious, since most of the eruption sites are low-lying and many of the craters are hidden by vegetation, but three craters in the Grímsnes area are clearly discernable and well-known features: Kerið, Seyðishólar and Kerhóll.
Vulcanologists used to class Kerið as an explosion crater. Explosion craters are formed in explosive eruptions, which sometimes leave deep craters. However, deeper studies of the Grímsnes area have not revealed the existence of any ash deposits that could be traced to an explosive eruption in Kerið andi t is now believed that it was originally a large scoria crater. It is clear that as much as half of the Tjarnarhólahraun lava flowed from kerið. In its present form, the crater was probably formed by a small magma chamber beneath the crater being emptied towards the end of the eruption, resulting in a collapse. Beneath a certain level, cavities and fissures in the rock are filled with groundwater, the surface of which is called the water table. The water in Kerið does not drain out, but rises and falls according to changes in the water table. Thus, the crater is like a window on the groundwater.
