Almost the Hell Traditional Geocache

The place, Mt. Leirhnjukur, is part of the Krafla volcanic complex which sits on the tectonic rift running across Iceland and farther south across the Atlantic Ocean. The area around Mt. Leirhnjukur is in fact a central volcano. About one hundred thousand years ago, this was the site of a volcanic cone that emitted great volumes of ash and then subsided. The caldera thus formed has filled with later volcanic material, so the landscape looks flat. Underneath, however, there is a magma chamber at a depth of about three kilometres. Krafla last erupted in a series of nine explosions in 1975-1984. Krafla is home to Iceland’s first geothermal power plant (the project started in 1974). It is now producing 60 MWe with two steam turbines.