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From our hotel in the modern capital city of Reykjavik, we set out by bus over the next few days to see the natural wonders of Iceland. Gullfuss was awe-inspiring, as tons of glacier melt water poured over the waterfall. |
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Iceland’s volcanic origin was apparent as we visited erupting geysers and bubbling mudpots and took time out to don our bathing suits and immerse ourselves in the hot mineral water at the Blue Lagoon. |
But most exciting for our group of science oriented tourists was the trip to Thingvillur, site of one of the earliest parliamentary meeting places in western civilization, and the one place where the Mid-Atlantic Ridge appears above ground. The North American and European tectonic plates are moving apart an average of two centimeters a year. We could move from one continent to the other in a few steps.
Mid-Atlantic Ridge at Thingvillur
On
September 11, we traveled back to Kleflevik to board our ship, the
Professor Mulchanov and begin our trip across the Denmark Strait to
Greenland. The Mulchanov was an ice strengthened Russian oceanographic
research vessel originally and is now under contract to Oceanwide
Expeditions, headquartered in The Netherlands.
It is sailed by a Russian crew with a multi-national expedition
staff. Although we kept our eyes peeled for whales as we traveled
north along the Iceland shelf, none appeared.
We were blessed with unusually fair weather, not only on the
crossing, but throughout our Greenland tour.
Keep Reading for part 2.......
Click on Thumbnails-Courtesy Arlon Hunt:
