Strokkur in action

Iceland is also a land of geysers. Even the term “geyser” itself comes from Iceland. Good old Geysir which gives name to this phenomenon seems to be largely retired but only less than 100 meters away is another geyser which is very active. Its name is Strokkur and it delights visitors roughly once every 8 minutes.

Geysers are relatively rare on Earth because they require a certain combination of conditions. First, lots of heat is needed. This is why geysers are located in volcanically active areas like Iceland, Yellowstone, New Zealand North Island, Kamchatka peninsula and some less known locations. Geysers also need circulating water and a plumbing system which allows heated water to move in the upper crust. Hence, faulted crust is preferred.

Below is a sequence of photos showing Strokkur in action.

The eruption starts with water swelling upward. It lasts just a split second…

…until the water surface bursts and hot water (about 80 °C) erupts to a height of 30 meters.

Immediately after the eruption there is a hole in the ground…

…which quickly fills with water as it flows back…

…to wait for another eruption. And the spectators start leaving the scene.

Here it goes again. It was worth waiting although the whole event lasts so short time that you don’t have much time to observe anything.

Its water column was too tall for me to catch it entirely because I was standing very close to it, less than 10 meters away.

It was rather surprising to me that tourists were allowed to go so close but Strokkur erupts very predictably just upward which makes it safe to stand right next to it without fearing to be badly burned.

It was amazing, my first time to see a geyser in action.