As we embarked on our journey through the peninsula of Snæfellsnes, there was much to take in with the overall landscape and the different features of nature.
Comparing the landscape to what I saw yesterday, yesterday was much calmer waters and there was nothing out of the ordinary except for the lava fields we passed when we were leaving the airport. Even with this, nothing could compare to what caught my eyes today. The lava fields we drove past and admired were much larger as well as much more defined than the previous ones we had seen. There were large magma files that were layer upon layer of magma that elevated well off of the surface.
Along with this, it began to become apparent to me why agriculture is so tough in Iceland (other than the harsh winds and temperature). The ground is so soft here in Iceland and therefore, there were numerous open fields that were lined with bumps in the ground. Our guide, Ólöf , mentioned that these grounds are almost impossible to use for agriculture due to the fact that the machinery would not be able to handle going over all of the rocky terrain. These bumps would damage the machines, so much of the covered ground is barely even usable for growing things.
As pictured in the featured image, there were also countless of these mountains lining the entire peninsula and although they all looked very similar, one of them was even an active volcano that Iceland is waiting for to erupt again! This fascinated me that not only were we driving so close to one of these, but from the times in the past it has erupted, the landscape has something to it that is able to prevent the lava from going into the roads. There are many different craters and lines and holes that the lava runs into deterring it from continuing down the mountain.
Today amazed me with how Iceland’s landscape has adapted to the harsh weather as well as the uncertainty of other nature aspects. Iceland’s unofficial saying of “þetta reddast” meaning “it will all work out” truly takes on a new meaning when it comes to the country.
Swanson School of Engineering 