Spouting hot spring

... Strokkur in Haukadalur.

Strokkur was formed in an earthquake in 1789. It erupts every 5-7 minutes and has been the main geyser in Haukadalur valley area since 1963. It is part of the Golden Circle a popular tourist route in South Iceland, covering about 300 km looping from Reykjavík into central Iceland and back. There are three primary stops on the route the national park Þingvellir, the waterfall Gullfoss (meaning "golden falls"), and the geothermally active valley of Haukadalur, which contains the geysers Geysir and Strokkur.



Geysers erupt because the thermal water ascending throuh ther channels boils at some depth below the surface. As the water boils it flashes into steam, and as the steam occupies far greater volume than water the water above in the channel is thrown high up into the air.