{"id":11400,"date":"2020-12-04t16:18:06","date_gmt":"2020-12-04t16:18:06","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/dpetrov.2create.studio\/planet\/wordpress\/the-cracks-of-thingvallavatn-the-lake-of-the-fields-of-parliament\/"},"modified":"2023-03-07t19:39:29","modified_gmt":"2023-03-07t19:39:29","slug":"cracks-thingvallavatn","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"\/\/www.getitdoneaz.com\/story\/cracks-thingvallavatn\/","title":{"rendered":"the cracks of thingvallavatn: the lake of the fields of parliament"},"content":{"rendered":"
on march 9, 2017, a strange crack appeared on the ice-laden surface of thingvallavatn<\/a>, the largest lake in iceland. stretching two kilometers, the crack drew the attention of locals, as well as news organizations from the reykjavik grapevine<\/a> to the irish news<\/a> to the uk express. <\/a><\/p>\n \u201clocals baffled by mysterious zig zag lines formed on eerie frozen lake in iceland,\u201d read the uk express. <\/p>\n \u201cspeculation started and there was no shortage of alternative explanations from alien activity and unknown monsters in the lake to conspiracy theories,\u201d commented park official einar ae saemundsen for the irish news. <\/p>\n locals had reason to be baffled. the crack appeared in a section of the lake that was normally solid in winter. its shape was a long zig-zag that looked much too uniform to appear naturally. but according to geophysicists, there was a logical explanation: finger rafting. <\/p>\n \u201ca surprising pattern, much like the meshed teeth of a zipper, is frequently seen when floating ice sheets collide,\u201d commented yale geophysics professor john wettlaufer<\/a> in an article for the yale news<\/a>. in these rare circumstances, the edges of the ice can become enmeshed, as the edges push alternatively over and under each other, forming \u201cfingers.\u201d <\/p>\n fifteen years ago, no one would have expected a crack of any size or shape to appear on the lake. \u201cevery winter you could guarantee a frost,\u201d said ingunn \u00d3sk \u00c1rnad\u00f3ttir, a ranger at thingvellir national park<\/a>, which occupies the northern boundary of lake thingvallavatn. \u201cit was even used as transportation. people walked over between farms. it doesn\u2019t happen anymore.\u201d <\/p>\n with warming temperatures, the ice covering the lake has thinned and narrowed, and the ice is not the only part of the lake in danger of inexorable change. beneath the surface of thingvallavatn, climate change is also taking its toll. for a lake with such a rich and fabled past, thingvallavatn\u2019s future is of special significance for many.<\/p>\n ***<\/p>\n thingvallavatn \u201cis already quite famous,\u201d \u00c1rnad\u00f3ttir said. \u201cthis place is really loved among the nation.\u201d <\/p>\n merely walking on its banks gives one a sense of its majesty. at 84 square kilometers (nearly 21,000 acres), it is the largest natural lake in iceland. it is exceptionally cold compared to other icelandic lakes. the temperature in its fissures hovers around 2 degrees celsius (about 35 degrees fahrenheit), while at the end of the summer the surface hovers between 10 and 14 degrees celsius (50 to 57 degrees fahrenheit). <\/p>\n young, porous igneous rock comprises the lake\u2019s catchment area, where the water drains into the lake. this makes the incoming water exceptionally fertile and the lake\u2019s species exceptionally diverse. in fact, the lake\u2019s unique geological history has made it host to a number of species found nowhere else in the world. <\/p>\n at the end of the last ice age, the lake became isolated from other bodies of water. over the next 10,000 years, the lake\u2019s three fish species (brown trout, arctic charr, and the three-spine stickleback) evolved to fill unique niches in the lake\u2019s many fissures and habitats. the arctic char, for example, evolved into four distinct varieties, each with its own ecological niche: a small benthivore (which eats prey that live on the bottom of the lake), a large benthivore, a planktivore (which eats varieties of plankton), and a piscivore (a species that eats other fish). these species, according to \u00c1rnad\u00f3ttir, are found nowhere else in the world.<\/p>\n ***<\/p>\n the northern boundary of thingvallavatn is found within thingvellir national park, an area that holds its own mystique. thingvellir\u2019s cliffs, ravines, and waterfalls give the park an otherworldly beauty. it was even cast as a filming location<\/a> for the television series \u201cgame of thrones.\u201d but thingvellir also has a history perhaps more intriguing than fiction. thingvellir was the site of iceland\u2019s annual parliament, or alping, from 930 a.d. to 1798 a.d. at the alping, chieftains would gather from all over iceland to exchange news and write law. leaders would come from the farthest reaches of iceland, sometimes traveling for weeks through valleys and over glacial tongues, to reach thingvellir. <\/p>\n it wasn\u2019t just political leaders that would gather at the alping. thingvellir was, and still is, considered iceland\u2019s cultural center. during the two weeks of the assembly, a vibrant, market would appear, complete with thousands of merchants, sword-sharpeners, entertainers, and ale-makers. \u201cthingvellir was a meeting place for everyone in iceland, laying the foundation for the language and literature that have been a prominent part of people’s lives right up to the present day,\u201d it says on thingvellir\u2019s website. <\/p>\n indeed, thingvellir remained a meeting-place long after the alping ended. national celebrations are still held on the grounds, such as the presentation of iceland’s first constitution in 1874, the millennium of the alping in 1930, and the millennium of iceland\u2019s christianity in 2000. therefore, it may come as no surprise that a location of such gravity to icelanders also became the area\u2019s first national park. <\/p>\n \u201cfew icelanders visit thingvellir for the first time without admiring the beauty of the landscape and being reminded of some of the major events that are interwoven into the history of this important place,\u201d wrote university professor gu\u00f0mundur dav\u00ed\u00f0sson in 1913 as part of a thingvellir\u2019s national park campaign. \u201cthese two factors, the historical factors and natural beauty, must stir the feelings of anyone standing in this sacred and legendary place.\u201d <\/p>\n lake thingvallavatn was integral to thingvellir\u2019s identity as iceland\u2019s gathering site. the location of the alping was chosen for its accessibility and its abundance of freshwater provided by lake thingvallavatn and its tributaries. the assembly gathered on the banks of the \u00d6xar\u00e1 river, a tributary of thingvallavatn. ruins from old assembly sites show how the locations of parliament bent with the will of the river, as a flood or change of course would force the assembly to change location. drekkingarhylur<\/a>, or the drowning pool, located in thingvallavatn\u2019s tributary, was the retribution site for some women convicted of incest or other moral offenses. the waters of thingvallavatn, then, were privy to every aspect of life at the assembly, from historic gatherings of parliament, to drunken merriment at the market, and to the misery of punishment. indeed \u201c\u00deingvallavatn,\u201d (thingvallavatn in english), translates to \u201cthe lake of the fields of parliament.\u201d<\/p>\n ***<\/p>\n but the waters of thingvallavatn are rapidly changing. with increasing year-round temperatures, the amounts of algae and nutrients in the water has increased. this algae deteriorates the visibility of the crystal-clear water, and may have an adverse effect on the lake’s vulnerable ecosystem<\/a>. <\/p>\n