174 HERE JON STEFANSSOX, PH.D.^ ON ICELAND : 



North-east of the Oda^ahraun is a mountain range in 

 which the volcano Dyngja, which has given name to the 

 whole gvonps of mountains, is situated. It is 3,600 feet 

 high. The original crater is 1,500 to 1,600 feet in diameter 

 and half filled Avith lava from which tAvelve columns of lava 

 rise. In the midst of these is a crater 4,500 feet in diameter, 

 600 to 700 feet deep, with a terrific and startling look down. 

 North-west of this Dyngja is another volcano also called 

 Dyngja (Northern Dyngja). 



North of the DyngjutjoU in the lava tract jMyvatns-oraefi 

 (the Desert of the Mosquito Lake) an eruption took place 

 in 1875, near Sveinagja. A rift nine miles long appeared, 

 along which some crater cones, 70 feet to lOS feet high, shot 

 up and spread 10,000 cubic feet of lava over the plain. 



No spot in Iceland is so crowded with craters, lava 

 formations, solfataras and hot springs as the neighbourhood 

 of Lake Myvatu, especially on its eastern shore. It is so 

 thickly studded with extinct volcanoes and remainders of 

 prehistoric convulsions as to look more like a, landscape in 

 the moon than anything else. 



Eruptions took place there with short intervals in the years 

 1724-30. The chief volcanoes are Krafla and Leirhmikur 

 (Clay Peak) in a palagonite ridge running from south to 

 north. Of these eruptions those from Leirhmikur have been 

 the most formidable. 



In an eruption of Krafla, May 17th, 1724, great masses of 

 volcanic matter issued from an explosive crater called " hell " 

 (Viti), 1,030 feet in diameter. No lava was ejected. The 

 fame of this volcano is derived from its ci'ater of boiling- 

 clay, now a round lake with green cold water. Close to the 

 crater are sulphur and mud sprhigs. 



