Eldborg EarthCache
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Difficulty:
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You will find The
crater Eldborg (The Fire Castle) on your way towards Snæfellsnes
(route no. 54). It is situated on a short SW-NE fissure, which
probably was most volcanically active 5000-8000 years ago. It is
the most symmetric and beautiful of the scoria craters of the
country and rises about 60 metres above the surroundings. It is
oblong in shape, 200 m long and 50 m deep. The last recorded
eruption was mentioned in the Saga "The book of Settlements"
(Landnámabók).
The older Eldborg
lava field is of the Pa hoe hoe type with an area of 32 km² and the
younger one, much smaller, is of the AA type. AA is basaltic lava
characterized by a rough or rubbly surface composed of broken lava
blocks called clinker. It typically erupts at temperatures of 1,000
to 1,100o C. Pa hoe hoe is basaltic lava that has a smooth, billowy, or
ropy surface. It erupts at 1,100 to 1,200o C. This means that Pa hoe hoe
flows easier (has a lower viscosity) than AA.
Park your car at Snorrastadir and walk the 3 km to Eldborg along
the trodden trail. The walk takes about 1 hour each way. Please
stay on the trail.
Reference: Wikipedia and
www.nat.is
To log this Earth
Cache:
Mail us the answers
of the following questions via profile e-mail.
- How many times did Eldborg
erupt?
- What year was Eldborg
pronounced a protected natural
monument?
- Standing at the coordinates,
how high above sea level are you (in meters)?
There is an infosign at the
start of the trail.
We would love to
see pictures of you and your GPS taken at the
coordinates.
Feel free to log your find. We
will contact you if your answers are not correct. Logs without
answermails will be
deleted.
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