1 Jun 2017 - Iceland Day 7: Skútustaðagígar Pseudo Craters

Any traveler to Mývatn area will never miss the unique clusters of craters called Pseudo Craters at Skútustaðagígar.

A pseudocrater looks like a true volcanic crater, but is not. This natural phenomena is formed when lava flows over wet ground and pushes the ground down. This causes a lot of steam to be trapped under the weight of the lava which then causes a lot of pressure. When the pressure becomes too much it causes steam explosions and the formation of these beautiful pseudo craters. Pseudo craters are also known as rootless cones, since they are characterized by the absence of any magma conduit which connects below the surface of the earth.

We were able to walk real close to these pseudo craters.

It is possible to walk on the rim of these pseudo craters but we did not attempt it as this area was very very windy.

As we walked back to our car on the pebbled path, I asked Jerlene and Javier to look out for any special rock.  They started looking around and after a while, Javier came to me excitedly and said he had found a very unique one.......

OMG.....see what he was holding!!!!  He even told me this rock is very different because it felt soft!!!  *faint*  I quickly asked him to throw it away and get his hand washed.

Lake Mývatn is Iceland's 4th largest lake and was created in a basaltic lava eruption 2300 years ago. The lake is 36,5 km2, the depth is 3-3,3 meters and there are ca 40 islands in Lake Mývatn. It is protected as a nature reserve.

From one of the lookout point at Lake Mývatn, we could see Mt. Hverfjall in the background very clearly.

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