Iceland lies on one of Earth's hot spots and so has the advantage of literally having running hot and cold water. A cold country having endless supplies of hot water is a distinct advantage. Natural hot water has been a godsend to Icelanders since Ingólfur Arnarson, the first settler, set up home and called it Reykjavík, literally Smoky Bay after the plumes of steam seen in the area from springs. This part of Reykjavík became the public laundry . In 1930 the hot water was piped to houses and swimming pools and from that day Iceland never looked back. There are a number of hot water geysers in Iceland. The name geyser originated from Great Geysir in the south west which used to spout up to nearly 200ft but is not nearly so active now, but the nearby Strokkur spouts to 100 feet every few minutes.

The abundant cold water from glaciers and rivers makes an ideal source of Hydro-electric power as the water plunges over the many precipices. The power stations produce almost all the populations needs as well as for industry.

There are many spectacular waterfalls in Iceland, well known ones being, Dettifoss where Iceland's second longest river Jökulsa á Fjöllum plunges some 212 tonnes of water per second down some 44 metres into a canyon, Gullfoss where the River Hvítá drops some 30 metres into a chasm, and Skógarfoss which is 60 metres high.

Other Pages

Iceland Home Page

Fire and Ice

Air

Birds

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