The universal geography : earth and its inhabitants

ICELAND. 37The plain of the geysers was formerly a fiord, whose outlines may still be traced.North of the Vestmann Isles not only have the fiords been effaced which at onetime penetrated far inland, but the alluvium washed down by the torrents has evenbeen carried seaward beyond the normal limits of the coast, where it has formed acrescent-shaped delta 30 miles long. The distance separating the basalticFig-. 16. The JIakkartljot DeltaScile 1 : 750.000.34- 30' W.of ?.W.ofGr.Vestmann Isles from the nearest rocky masses of the interior has thus been reducedby one-half. It is remarkable that this delta, which might be taken for thecreation of a large river, stretching as it does in one direction towards the islands,and in the other extending to the J?jorsa estuary, has been entirely produced bya little rivulet called the Markarfljot.vol. v. E