Reynisdrangar - Vík í Mýrdal, Iceland
Posted by: g300td
N 63° 24.170 W 019° 02.551
27V E 597771 N 7031966
Reynisdrangar - sea stacks and basalt columns at Vík
Waymark Code: WMNK8R
Location: Iceland
Date Posted: 03/27/2015
Views: 20
"Reynisdrangar are basalt sea stacks situated under the mountain Reynisfjall near the village Vík í Mýrdal, southern Iceland.
Legend says that the stacks originated when two trolls dragged a three-masted ship to land unsuccessfully and when daylight broke they became needles of rock.
During the cooling of a thick lava flow, contractional joints or fractures form. If a flow cools relatively rapidly, significant contraction forces build up. While a flow can shrink in the vertical dimension without fracturing, it can't easily accommodate shrinking in the horizontal direction unless cracks form; the extensive fracture network that develops results in the formation of columns. The topology of the lateral shapes of these columns can broadly be classed as a random cellular network. These structures are predominantly hexagonal in cross-section, but polygons with three to twelve or more sides can be observed. The size of the columns depends loosely on the rate of cooling; very rapid cooling may result in very small (<1 cm diameter) columns, while slow cooling is more likely to produce large columns."
Source: Wikipedia
Waymark is confirmed to be publicly accessible: yes
Parking Coordinates: N 63° 24.268 W 019° 02.713
Access fee (In local currency): .00
Requires a high clearance vehicle to visit.: no
Requires 4x4 vehicle to visit.: no
Public Transport available: yes
Website reference: [Web Link]
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Visit Instructions:
No specific requirements, just have fun visiting the waymark.