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Wednesday, 25 March 2009 |
What's your favorite part of Iceland? If ten people that visited Iceland were asked that question, 8 of them would probably say seeing a Geysir or a few varieties of geysirs. Geysirs have long been a fascinating site for those lucky enough to live in Iceland as well as the many tourists that come to visit this beautiful country.
The area where these geysirs can be seen was once owned by a farmer in Iceland until 1894. It was then sold to James, Northern Ireland's soon-to-be Prime Minister, who fenced the area off and charged admission for visitors wanting to enter the area. After a year, he grew bored with this venture and gave the area to a friend, whose nephew eventually inherited the area. It exchanged hands a couple more times until it was eventually donated to the people of Iceland.
As far back as the 14th century people have been able to view the Great Geysir, which is the most famous geyser in the world. Since its first eruption back then it has erupted every hour until it became dormant in the 1900s. However, consequtive group of earthquakes in 2000 helped it to once again become active. This was the start of a pattern of eruptions that is still going on today, with eruptions taking place every 8 to 10 hours. Although at one time the Great Geysir reached sixty meters high, it most commonly goes up to approximately ten meters. Throughout the world, any things that are even similar to the Great Geysir have been called "Geysir's".
Iceland's second most famous geyser is Strokkur, another of Iceland's famous geysirs. This geyser typically reached up to twenty meters and erupts around every eight minutes, allowing spectators to see it around 7 times in an hour. Regardless of how many times people watch an eruption, they never seem to tire of seeing this.
What makes geysirs so common in Iceland is that this country is very prone to earthquakes and has many active volcanoes, which is what brings on geysirs. It's these very geysirs that provide Iceland with boiling mud pools and thermal hot springs. These areas are not only therapeutic and used widely for wellness treatment but are also very rich in minerals. What causes geysirs to develop is when the water on the surface seeps in the caverns, where the volcanic rock heats it to almost 200 degrees C. Once it gets that high, it is forced to come back out with a force, which is where an eruption takes place. It's not uncommon to hear a rumble in the distant or even feel the earth shaking prior to an eruption.
To those familiar with geysirs, it's very easy to time a geyser eruption right to the minute. Throwing rocks or stones into a geyser can make it erupt off schedule, a practice that can be extremely dangerous and is not recommended. If you've ever watched an eruption, you'll easily understand why it's such a popular site in Iceland.
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