(Bloomberg) -- Iceland’s Haukadalur geothermal area has experienced unexpected activity, causing geysers that have been dormant for years to suddenly spout up to two meters (6.6 feet).
The increased activity started on Saturday and has continued, according to Valdimar Kristjansson, manager at Geysir — the biggest and most famous site. The valley about 100 kilometers (62 miles) east of Reykjavik is one of Iceland’s most popular tourist attractions, with thousands of guests a day.
Strokkur, one of the site’s main attractions, has also been behaving “peculiarly,” Kristjansson said by phone. Instead of spouting every 5 to 10 minutes, the frequency has increased to every minute or two with pauses in between. So far, Geysir has been unaffected, having last spouted in 2000 following earthquakes.
Iceland is one of the most geologically active places in the world due to its position on the mid-Atlantic ridge between the North American and Eurasian tectonic plates. It has 30 volcanic systems and more than 600 hot springs.
“There is no apparent explanation,” Ingibjorg Andrea Bergthorsdottir, natural hazard’s specialist at Iceland’s Met Office, said by phone. “The main theory is that this is connected with lower groundwater.”
The event is unconnected to volcanic activity in the island nation’s southwest, where six eruptions took place in a span of a year close to a fishing town, she said.
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