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| The topography of the central part of the peninsula (white box) is dominated by undulating, high aspect-ratio volcanic ridges and rounded, flat-topped table mountains which are the result of Pleistocene sub-glacial fissure and central vent eruptions respectively. Holocene lava flows fill the valleys and flow both north and southward. Lake Kleifarvatn sits in a topographic and structural basin, bounded partly by constructive volcanic features and partly by faults. |
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| On June 17, 2000 at 15:40:40.94 GMT, after 88 years with no
major earthquakes,
the South Iceland lowland was shaken by a 6.6 Mw event centered in the
Holt district. Within seconds, swarms of aftershocks occurred over an
almost
100 km length of the plate boundary in southwest Iceland, most of which
extended westward from the mainshock epicenter. Three of the largest
aftershocks,
all measuring close to 5.0 ML, rocked the central part of Reykjanes
Peninsula,
up to 85 km to the west. These three earthquakes were spaced
approximately
10 km apart and occurred within 4 minutes of each other along
subparallel,
N- to NNE-trending faults, yet each left a unique geophysical signature
and generated very different surface effects. Aftershocks are shown in
yellow. Field data (rupture, slope failure and rock fall) are shown in
red. |
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or watch the video entitled The
Amazing Vanishing Lake on this website |
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