Strokkur

Strokkur (Icelandic for "churn") is a geyser in the geothermic region beside the Hvítá River in Iceland in the southwest part of the country, east of Reykjavik. It is one of Iceland's most famous geysirs, erupting reguarly every 4-8 minutes generally.

Location

Strokkur is part of a geothermally active site, with various mud pools, algal deposits and other geysers beside and around it such as Geysir. ^[1]

History

Strokkur has a long history of activity, beginning in 1789, after an earthquake unblocked the plumbing system of the geyser. It continued to erupt until 1896, when another earthquake blocked the conduit of the geyser. Then in 1963, locals cleaned out the blocked conduit and the geyser has been regularly erupting ever since. ^[1]

Tourism

Strokkur and its surrounding areas, as mentioned is famous throughout Iceland and regularly attracts tourists to view the geyser, as it is one of very few natural geysers to erupt frequently and reliably. ^[2]

Sequence of eruptions

Water at a depth of 23 metres is around 120°C, but cannot boil because of the weight of the water pushing down on it from above. When this water is forced up to around 16 metres, some of the water may be above boiling point, and this sets off the chain reaction we see. The pressure decrease allows more water to boil and flash boil into steam, which drives the unboiled water further up the conduit. As this happens closer and closer to the surface, with increasing velocity, the water and steam is forced out, and it is this mixture that is extruded from the geysir. ^[1]

Water bubbles form

Water bubbles break

Strokkur erupts explosively

Strokkur at half height

Strokkur at maximum height

References

See also

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Strokkur

• Geography of Iceland
• Geology of Iceland
• Iceland plume
• List of volcanoes in Iceland
• Volcanism in Iceland

External links

• Information and photos of Strokkur
• Movie clip that shows Strokkur erupting