Iceland’s Inner Boiler

The Reykjanes re-awakens

As I write, the Reykjanes area of southwest Iceland is the location of another eruption. This largely 'tourist' or –‘no ash’ volcano is centred just to the north-east of Fragradalshraun, the beautiful and most recent new lava field created during 2021 and 2022. Iceland's eruptions are a dynamic reminder of what is happening beneath its surface, but they aren't the only feature that indicate that this intriguing country sits on top of a huge inner boiler.

Much of the landscape of Iceland is dotted with clouds of white steam rising from the ground. These billowing plumes look rather like the steam from the funnel of a steam locomotive. In some areas, the steam rises naturally from the ground as the heat from below escapes and condenses in the cooler air. In others, it is rising from a borehole where for example, a farmer is using thIs natural energy for heating and hot water. More usually, boreholes are dug for commercial purposes, such as at the Hellisheidi power station which supplies energy for the Reykjavik region, sending hot water by an overground pipeline, about 30km away to the city. Visitors to Perlan, in Reykjavik, soon learn that these massive cylindrical tanks were once used to store hot water. They may also learn that this geothermal heat source enables pavements to be kept ice free downtown in the winter.

All around Iceland there are large, outdoor heated swimming pools filled with chemical-free hot water. Even the smallest settlements have a pool and together with one or two hot tubs. It's here that spending an evening in a hot tub to chat with friends or debate the issues of the day is the go-to alternative to the English pub or wine bar. Children enjoy the water from an early age: as school finishes around lunchtime and afternoons are for sport. Paddling pools and water slides are always an extra feature making outdoor shining is a popular family pursuit.

Time to relax and reflect

A hot tub is a very welcome extra at many hotels and guesthouses across Iceland and make for a delightful and soothing end to any day, even making this a very warm location for watching for the Aurora on a winter evening. Every visitor to Iceland should make an outdoor hot water experience a moment to include. There's really no excuse! If the town pool, hotel or guesthouse doesn't feel appealing then there are countless options for visiting a spa or lagoon. These will be the subject of a separate article and maybe also a very wonderful holiday as Iceland now offers salt water, fresh water, forest, coast, sauna, lakeside, and silica rich bathing ranging from the most luxurious to the most natural and al fresco. It's good to know too that some also cater specifically for reduced mobility, enabling everyone to enjoy and benefit from hot water bathing.

In my quest to encourage my friends to be adventurous to experience the ‘real’ Iceland that I have been so fortunate to enjoy, I can't avoid a mention of the hot river bath in connection with the inner boiler. To sit or lie amongst grassy hills on the bed of a mountain stream that’s running with hot, clear water really is something else. Over the years we've always had highly memorable experiences, and some that made tales good enough to dine out on when returning home! Whatever the day, time, or season, a hot river bath will leave you marvelling at the beauty of the landscape, the sensory experience of the mud (usually warm), the rocks, the grass and the "magic" of the inner boiler that creates a naturally hot water stream flowing high up on an Icelandic hillside.

A vital necessity

So while Iceland's plentiful supply of steam and hot water from beneath the ground currently services a developed country and significant tourist industry in a largely sustainable way, how did all this assist Icelanders in the past? When Ingolfur Arnason landed on the Icelandic coast in 874 AD, he saw steam rising into the air, and so called the place he landed Reykjavik, which translates as' Smokey Bay'. As more of his fellow Norwegians arrived to settle with him, so Reykjavik gradually grew. In an otherwise very inhospitable land, hot water will have been of great significance. Much later, the hot springs were where (mostly women) did the laundry, scalding and burning themselves in the process. In other areas, a dam or enclosure could be built to contain the hot water from a spring to serve a small village or to heat greenhouses. With little in the way of fuel, hot water would have been an important asset, though not all areas of Iceland enjoy the presence of hot springs and so cooking relied on peat or dung.

Before the 20th century, Icelanders were able to use the heat from the land for cooking, bathing and washing. A hot bubbling hot spring could be used to boil meat, fish and eggs. By burying dough in the warm mud, bread was baked, and warm soil was found to be suitable (along with long hours of summer daylight) for growing potatoes and vegetables before the development of greenhouses. Early steam ‘saunas’ were created by building a hut over a dry fissure which allowed the heat to build up giving a great relief for arthritis sufferers.

Definitely worth the wait

Perhaps the most well-known and must-see hot water attraction in Iceland is its famous geyser, Strokkur. The original ‘spout’ was named Geysir, and it's from this that the world has adopted the term ‘geyser’ to describe the feature. Strokkur sits very close to the old and mostly inactive Geysir, and obligingly sends up a steam plume about every 5-7 mins, delighting the many tourists waiting with cameras poised to see and capture the event.

The location of Strokkur in the Haukadalur is one of the main areas with the highest underground temperatures and thinnest earth crust. Across the country, the geothermal areas lie along the line of the mid Atlantic ridge that runs roughly South-west to North-east across Iceland. This tectonic ridge represents the division between the (NW) American plate and the (SE) Eurasian plate. It is along this line that the heat of the earth can rise to the surface, and which can result in volcanic activity. It is in Iceland too, that the 'crust' of the earth is relatively thinner, so the higher temperatures beneath are located nearer to the surface. The final "jewel" in Iceland’s dynamic crown is that is located over a mantle plume which is a super heated, rapidly-rising 'current' that concentrates both heating and seismic activity at the land’s surface.

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