Kleifarvatn () is the largest lake on the

Reykjanes Reykjanes () is a small headland on the south-western end of the Reykjanes Peninsula in Iceland, giving the main peninsula its name. Volcanic action is responsible for forming the entire peninsula. The nearest town is Keflavik. The name, , trans ...

Peninsula in

Iceland Iceland is a Nordic countries, Nordic island country between the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic and Arctic Oceans, on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge between North America and Europe. It is culturally and politically linked with Europe and is the regi ...

, situated in the southern part of the peninsula. It is located on the

fissure A fissure is a long, narrow crack opening along the surface of Earth. The term is derived from the Latin word , which means 'cleft' or 'crack'. Fissures emerge in Earth's crust, on ice sheets and glaciers, and on volcanoes. Ground fissure A ...

zone of the

Mid-Atlantic Ridge The Mid-Atlantic Ridge is a mid-ocean ridge (a Divergent boundary, divergent or constructive Plate tectonics, plate boundary) located along the floor of the Atlantic Ocean, and part of the List of longest mountain chains on Earth, longest mountai ...

. The lake has no visible water coming in or going out as most of its water comes and leaves underground. The lake can be reached via a track, and there are two areas with high temperature that can be found not far from it: Seltún/

Krýsuvík Krýsuvík (also Krísuvík, both pronounced in Icelandic language, Icelandic) is an area in Southwest (Icelandic constituency), Southwest Iceland at about 35 km from Reykjavík. Geography and access It is situated on the Reykjanes penins ...

and another to the east. A 2012 survey demonstrated one definite geothermal vent under the lake and suggested two others in a linear line trending as for most of the faults in the area. Kleifarvatn was first surveyed in 1964 and studied at greater resolution later. The lake's greatest recorded depth was in 1975 with height above sea level of . After the

2000 Iceland earthquakes Two earthquakes, both measuring , struck southern Iceland near the town of Selfoss on 17 and 21 June 2000. There were no fatalities but were multiple minor injuries and considerable damage to infrastructure. The two earthquakes were the first ma ...

, the lake began to diminish, so that at least 20% of its surface has since disappeared and the serial surveys suggest there has been some material deposition as depth has reduced more than height above sea level of the lake surface. By 2012 the surface was at with a maximum depth of . The lake by then was only in area. Its area previously been measured between . The pattern of sedimentation suggests that at some time in the past the lake was smaller in size than it was in 2012. Iceland-Kleifarvatn

The novel ''Kleifarvatn'' by

ic writer

Arnaldur Indriðason Arnaldur Indriðason (pronounced ; born 28 January 1961) is an Icelandic writer of crime fiction; his most popular series features the protagonist Detective Erlendur. Early life Arnaldur was born in Reykjavík on 28 January 1961, the son o ...

was named after the lake.

References

External links

Photos

More information and photos about Kleifarvatn on Hit Iceland

, Bijal P. Trivedi, ''National Geographic Today'', October 1, 2001 Krýsuvík Volcanic System Lakes of Iceland Southern Peninsula (Iceland) Rift lakes of Iceland {{Iceland-geo-stub

See also

References

External links