Víti and Öskjuvatn

Panorama stitched from 4 photos
EXIF: 1/1000 • f/5.6 • 28.0 mm • ISO 100/ LEICA CAMERA AG LEICA Q2/ SUMMILUX 1:1.7/28 ASPH.

Askja is a big central volcano in the middle of the Icelandic highlands, consisting of 3 nested calderas. Öskjuvatn (in the background) is Iceland's 2nd deepest lake (220m) and developed in the years/decades after the 1875 eruption when the magma chamber had emptied and the caldera slowly collapsed and filled with groundwater. Viti (Icelandic for hell) in the foreground is a maar, an explosion crater from a phreatic explosion which also happend in 1875. The water is sulphurous and people used to bathe in it. At the moment this is forbidden, as Askja seems to be slowly warming up towards another eruption. There has been an uplift of 35cm in recent times and the alert level has been raised to yellow.


Snowfall when we arrived


Swiss National Day is celebrated on 01.08, even in Askja;-)