EUROPE AND NORTH AMERICA - SPREADING AWAY FROM EACH OTHER
DAY 6 : FRIDAY AUGUST 14, 2009


This day was a visit to the Þingvellir (Thingvellir) National Park. The area (an UNESCO World Heritage site) is not only beautiful but has many interesting points related to it.

  • It was the location of the world’s first parliament, the Althing, which first met in 930 AD. There was an annual meeting of chieftains at this location for over 300 years. Leaders were elected, cases argued, and disputes settled (not always without violence though).
  • The park is on a major geological point (as is all of Iceland) where the North American and the Eurasian plates are pulling away from each other. Another formation is called the Iceland plume which is a geological hotspot.

This geological fact gives us two things that are unique to this park.

The lake (Þingvallavatn) is growing as the two plates separate causing the local ground to sink lower. But since this is a volcanic area, periodically a volcano barely visible in the distance in the lake pictures erupts and fills in the valley. The lake then reforms as the land sinks again. Over and over.

The lake also has some unique types of fish in response to this geological cycle.

A trail follows the actual split between the two continental plates. Traveling from North to South, the right wall in the pictures is the North American Plate. On the left side, a less steep wall (in some areas) is the Eurasian Plate.

It was both fascinating and very humbling at the same time.

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090814_P0002N.jpg - Þingvallavatn in Þingvellir National Park

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