Rifts, both hot and cold

17,000 puts our three (plus aftershocks) into perspective, for sure. And - hopefully - we're not likely to have a proper eruption like this on the mainland in the near future; though it has happened here, of course, within even my memory. They don't seem much bothered, in Iceland, about this potential event - it's 25km from Reykjavik and apparently there aren't many people living near there. The worst prognosis is that lava might flow over a road.

It is, though, in an area where all tourists (including me) go - the Great Rift Valley, where the two tectonic plates that Iceland sits on, the American and the Eurasian, visibly butt up against each other, and there's some spectacular scenery around there. Most notable is the Blue Lake, which is thermally heated, and so a magnet for people wanting to skite about swimming in it (naturally, I didn't go there, yawn, we've got plenty of that sort of thing here). 

There's also the Silfra Fissure in Þingvellir* National Park, where people go diving and snorkelling because of the brilliant clarity of the water and, naturally, the skite factor. I didn't do that either - but I did enjoy walking around the area, appreciating the rocks and the rivers, the flowers and the birds, and the pretty little church. It was lovely.

Speaking of Great Rift Valleys, that reminds me there's another in Kenya. I went there, too. It was warmer. And very optimistic.

* That's Þ as in Th, ie thorn for you fellow linguistics veterans.