A very brief summary of our trip to Iceland with "Volcanic Experiences", Sept 2018
Using low res images to reduce load time.


Flying into Keflavik past the two ice sheets, Eyjafjallajokull on left and Myrdalsjokull on right.  The former is the glacier over the volcano of the same name which erupted explosively in 2010  spreading an ash cloud over much of Europe and causing almost all air traffic to be grounded for well over a week. 






















Here we are walking through the Thingvellir area where the Mid-Atlantic ridge can be found on land.  The path runs between the two tectonic plates, North American on left and European on right.

The site is also the location for the world's oldest parliament, first established in 930AD.














The Geysir area that has given its name to all geysirs.  The active one at the moment is called Strokkur, which spouts boiling water every 5 to 10 minutes. There are a number of other geysirs and hot springs in the area, here's a baby one!
















Here are the falls called Gullfoss on the river Hvita where it drops 32m in two falls with a flow of 118 cubic m/sec (average) and 2000 (flood).


















We bathed in this "secret lagoon" in Fludir - lovely!  The land surrounding the pool is at 100C, so don't step off the path!


 















This is Seljalandsfoss, a waterfall that you can walk behind - you can just see walkers on the path at righthand side.  It's advisable to wear full waterproofs.....

















like this!




















On this day we walked past the glacial lake to the foot of the glacier called Sólheimajökull. It can be seen in the first photo above extending south towards the coast from the Myrdalsjokull glacier.

Myrdallsjokull hides the volcano Katla, a high activity volcano which when it erupts is likely to far exceed the 2010 eruption and to devastate the area to its south with a glacier burst - a meltwater flow to rival the flow of the Amazon, so I'm told.












Yet another waterfall where full wet weather gear is needed - this one is called Skogafoss.
























The next day was fine and we caught a ferry to Heimaey, main island of the Westman Islands.  Here we climbed the Eldfell volcano which erupted in 1973. Here you can see the town below which was very nearly destroyed, but the lava flow stopped just short and has actually improved the harbour, providing more protection.
















Yes, we made it!


















Preparing for a trip on the amphibious vehicle at Jokulsarlon.



















This is the glacial lake at Jokulsarlon. The lines on the icebergs are caused by the gradual melting which allows the berg to rise in the water. As it does so, it may tilt, so the lines need not be horizontal.

















Our young lady guide on the boat thing holding a little iceberg.



















Yet another waterfall - was it designed by a cousin of Slartibartfast?



















Finally we visited the geothermal power station at Hveragerdi to the south east of Reykjavik.  The city is largely heated by geothermal energy, and this station generates ~300MW of electricity which is mostly used for aluminium smelting.   Iceland has large energy resources, both geothermal and hydroelectric.

An excellent trip, most interesting.  With many thanks to Alan Clewlow and Hans the coach driver.