Veiðivötn

Ljótipollur

The Veiðivötn ( Icelandic veiði 'fishing, hunting' , vötn = dt. 'Lakes', because of the wealth of trout) are a series of craters and crater lakes in southern Iceland . They are located in the municipality of Rangárþing ytra between Landmannalaugar and the Þórisvatn in an approx. 5 km wide and 20 km long valley north of the Tungnaá river , which is oriented from southwest to northeast. In the southeast is the mountain range of Snjóöldufjöll , in the northwest the rows of craters of Vatnaöldur .

Belonging to the volcanic system of the Bárðarbunga

The Veiðivötn craters belong to the volcanic system of the Bárðarbunga , which lies under the Vatnajökull. This is the south-western end of a very long fissure swarm (approx. 180 km in length). The main characteristic of volcanism in the area are volcanic systems with a central volcano, in the case of Bárðarbunga, and associated fissure systems, mostly arranged from southwest to northeast. These are mainly tuff rings , cinder cones and weld cinder cones as well as some crater lakes. Most of the lakes are located in craters that are partially filled with groundwater, such as B. Ljótipollur and Hnausapollur .

The craters are arranged in two rows. The most important craters and lakes of the eastern crater series are Snjóölduvatn , Ónýtavatn , Grænavatn and Litlisjór . The lakes in the western crater series are mostly smaller. They include Tjaldvatn , Litla Fossvatn and Stóra Fossvatn .

There are around 50 lakes in total.

Geological background

The western of the crater rows formed in a series of eruptions around 1477. The large lake Stórisjór , which had previously been at the point, disappeared . The breakout series began with a phreatic phase that then turned into a mixed breakout.

It is believed that this eruption of 1477 caused a subsequent eruption of the neighboring volcanic system of Torfajökull .

The first Icelandic scientists to study the lakes were Sveinn Pálsson (1793) and Þorvaldur Thoroddsen (1889).

See also

• Geography of Iceland
• Volcanoes in Iceland

Web links

• Veiðivötn in the Global Volcanism Program of the Smithsonian Institution (English)
• Environmental information and map (area outlined), Umhverfisstofnun ( Memento from February 20, 2005 in the Internet Archive ) (Icelandic)
• GF Zellmer et al .: On the recent bimodal magmatic processes and their rates in the Torfajökull – Veidivötn area, Iceland . (PDF; 1.4 MB) In: Earth and Planetary Science Letters , 269, 2008 (abstract, English)

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Íslandshandbókin . 2. bindi. Reykjavík, 1989, p. 933
2. ↑ Íslandshandbókin . 2. bindi. Reykjavík, 1989, pp. 932 f.
3. ↑ ^{a b c d} Ari Trausti Guðmundsson : Land im Werden. An outline of the geology of Iceland . Vaka-Helgafell, Reykjavík 1996, p. 111
4. ↑ Íslandshandbókin . 2. bindi. Reykjavík, 1989, pp. 933 and 947

Coordinates: 64 ° 6 ′ 58 "  N , 18 ° 50 ′ 53"  W.