Strokkur ( Icelandic , "churn") is a fountain-type

geyser A geyser (, ) is a spring with an intermittent water discharge ejected turbulently and accompanied by steam. The formation of geysers is fairly rare and is caused by particular hydrogeological conditions that exist only in a few places on Ea ...

located in a geothermal area beside the Hvítá River 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 ...

in the southwest part of the country, east of

Reykjavík Reykjavík is the Capital city, capital and largest city in Iceland. It is located in southwestern Iceland on the southern shore of Faxaflói, the Faxaflói Bay. With a latitude of 64°08′ N, the city is List of northernmost items, the worl ...

. It typically erupts every 6–10 minutes. Its usual height is , although it can sometimes erupt up to high.

Location

Strokkur belongs to the Haukadalur valley area, where various other geothermal feature such as mud pools,

fumarole A fumarole (or fumerole) is a vent in the surface of the Earth or another rocky planet from which hot volcanic gases and vapors are emitted, without any accompanying liquids or solids. Fumaroles are characteristic of the late stages of volcani ...

s and other geysers are located around it, such as the famous

Geysir Geysir (), sometimes known as The Great Geysir, is a geyser in south-western Iceland, that geological studies suggest started forming about 1150 CE. The English word ''geyser'' (a periodically spouting hot spring) derives from Geysir. The name ' ...

geyser, which lies only to the north.

History

Strokkur was first mentioned in 1789, after an

earthquake An earthquakealso called a quake, tremor, or tembloris the shaking of the Earth's surface resulting from a sudden release of energy in the lithosphere that creates seismic waves. Earthquakes can range in intensity, from those so weak they ...

helped to unblock the conduit of the geyser. Its activity fluctuated throughout the 19th century; in 1815 its height was estimated to have been as much as . It continued to erupt until the turn of the 20th century, when another earthquake blocked the conduit again. In 1963, upon the advice of the Geysir Committee, locals cleaned out the blocked conduit through the bottom of the basin, and the geyser has been regularly erupting ever since.

Tourism

Strokkur and its surrounding areas regularly attract tourists hoping to see the geyser erupt, as it is one of a very few natural geysers to erupt frequently and reliably.

Evolution of the eruption

Each frame is approximately 1/4 of a second apart, for a total of approximately two seconds: Strokkur, Área geotérmica de Geysir, Suðurland, Islandia, 2014-08-16, DD 083.JPG Strokkur, Área geotérmica de Geysir, Suðurland, Islandia, 2014-08-16, DD 084.JPG Strokkur, Área geotérmica de Geysir, Suðurland, Islandia, 2014-08-16, DD 085.JPG Strokkur, Área geotérmica de Geysir, Suðurland, Islandia, 2014-08-16, DD 086.JPG Strokkur, Área geotérmica de Geysir, Suðurland, Islandia, 2014-08-16, DD 087.JPG Strokkur, Área geotérmica de Geysir, Suðurland, Islandia, 2014-08-16, DD 088.JPG Strokkur, Área geotérmica de Geysir, Suðurland, Islandia, 2014-08-16, DD 089.JPG Strokkur, Área geotérmica de Geysir, Suðurland, Islandia, 2014-08-16, DD 090.JPG

References

External links

* – A picture gallery
''Information and photos of Strokkur''

''Eruption of Strokkur''
(

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