Haukadalur, Iceland
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Haukadalur from Old Norse: Haukadalr, "hawk dale" or "valley of hawks") is a valley in Iceland. It lies to the north of Laugarvatn lake in the south of Iceland.
Haukadalur is home to some of the best known sights in Iceland: the geysers and other geothermal features which have developed on the Laugarfjall rhyolitic dome. The biggest geysers of Haukadalur are Strokkur and Geysir itself, which gave us the word 'geyser'. Strokkur is very dependable and erupts every 5 to 10 minutes, whereas the bigger Geysir nowadays erupts very rarely. There are also more than 40 other smaller hot springs, mud pots and fumaroles nearby. Haukadalur geothermal area was first mentioned in written sources around 1294, when the local hot springs were activated by an earthquake. |
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