Trip Report: Reykjanes Peninsula (Iceland)

The Reykjanes Peninsula is located in the southwest corner of Icleand. Iceland's Keflavik International Airport (KEF) is located there and it's less than an hour drive to the Icelandic capital Reykjavik. The area is actively volcanic and is home to hot springs, bubbling mudpots and the now famous Iceland volcano which began erupting this past February. (Next Blog article.)

Our first stop was the so-called Bridge Between Continents. You're familiar with tectonic plates which divide the world's continents into floating "islands" moving in different directions. The submerged mid-Atlantic Ridge follows the center of the Atlantic Ocean north from Antarctica but comes ashore in Iceland.

The bridge connects the North American tectonic plate on the right with the Eurasian tectonic plate on the left.

This rift valley, filled with pumice, is active. The two sides are spreading apart about 1.5cm per year.

Just a few km away from the rift valley is an area of hot springs.

The environment is very fragile and you must remain on the boardwalks so as to not crush the rocks beneath you and get scalded by the extremely hot water beneath.

The smell of sulfur dioxide is thick in the air (it smells like fireworks) and when a cloud envelops you, it makes you damp from its humidity.

Heat and electricity in Iceland is close to 100% geothermal so where there is volcanic activity, there are geothermal plants to capture the heat and generate power.

Also nearby is Iceland's most popular activity, the Blue Lagoon. (It was the most popular until the volcano began erupting.)

This is the result of a geothermal plant nearby which takes superheated water out of the ground and uses it to make power and then returns it somewhat cooled to the areas below.

Even in winter this is a popular spot to bathe.

The water remains a beautiful aqua color from silica, algea and salts.