Kerið

"Kerith" redirects here. For the biblical stream, see Chorath.

Kerið
Volcanic crater
Kerið Location in Iceland
Coordinates: 64.041°N 20.885°W / 64.041; -20.885
Location	South Iceland
Dimensions
• Width	170 meters
• Depth	55 meters

Kerið (Icelandic pronunciation: [ˈcʰɛːrɪθ]; also Kerith or Kerid) is a volcanic crater lake located in the Grímsnes area in south Iceland, along the Golden Circle.[1] It is one of several crater lakes in the area, known as Iceland's Western Volcanic Zone, which includes the Reykjanes peninsula and the Langjökull Glacier, created as the land moved over a localized hotspot, but it is the one that has the most visually recognizable caldera still intact. The site is a popular area for tourists in Iceland.

Geology

Kerið is the northernmost of four craters situated along an 800-meter fissure called the Tjarnarhólar [ˈtʰja(r)tnarˌhouːlar̥] row.[2] It was formed through explosive volcanic activity (classified as a maar) and is elliptical, measuring approximately 55 m (180 ft) deep, 170 m (560 ft) wide, and 270 m (890 ft) across. The wall of the crater consists of basalt, formed following the cooling of lava, and scoria. Sources differ as to when the explosion occurred that created the crater, ranging from 6,420 years ago[3] to 9,000 years ago.[4]

While most of the crater is steep-walled with little vegetation, one wall is sloped more gently and blanketed with a deep moss. The sloped wall can be descended easily. The lake at the bottom of the crater is fairly shallow (6–14 meters, depending on the level of groundwater); due to minerals from the soil, the water appears aquamarine.[5] Researchers have identified 10 taxa of zooplankton in the lake, primarily from the Rotifera phylum.[6]

Tourism

The land on which the crater sits is owned by a private company, Arctic Adventures, which bought the site in 2023.[7] The company charges an entrance fee to see the crater of 600 ISK (as of January 2025^[ref]).[8]

Gallery

• 
  Kerið in April 1980
• 
  Kerið frozen over in early April
• 
  Kerið in September
• 
  Kerið in April
• 
  Kerið in August
• 
  Kerið
• 
  Kerið
• 
  Kerið in early March
• 
  Tourists on the edge of Kerið in July
• 
  Kerið in July
• 

References

1. Schroder, Hasse (1990). Iceland: More than Sagas. Uppsala: Schroders Ord & Bildbyra AB. p. 224. ISBN 9789197148511. Retrieved 2025-01-21. After a while you come to an old lava bed on route 35. On this stretch of road you will find lake Kerið on the right side located in an explosion crater. The road ends in Selfoss, a commercial center with less than 4000 inhabitants.
2. Jakobsson 1966, p. 6. sfn error: no target: CITEREFJakobsson1966 (help)
3. Lorenz, V.; Mcbirney, A. R.; Williams, H. (1970-04-01). "An investigation of volcanic depressions. Part 3: Maars, tuff-rings, tuff-cones, and diatremes". NTRS - NASA Technical Reports Server. "Kerid lies at the northern end of a northeast-trending crater group, 1 km. long, from which cinders and lavas were erupted more than 6420 years ago.
4. Gudmundsson, Agust (2017). The Glorious Geology of Iceland's Golden Circle. Cham, Switzerland: Springer International Publishing. p. 119. ISBN 9783319551524. Retrieved 21 January 2025. Kerid, which is primarily a depression, formed in an eruption some 9 thousand years ago.
5. Eriksson, Karin (2005). 100 Geosites in South Iceland. Reykjavík: Pjaxi. p. 34. ISBN 9979783109. Retrieved 10 January 2025. The depth of the lake varies between 6 and 14 m during the year, reflecting the groundwater level.
6. Evtimova, Vesela; Pandourski, Ivan; Apostolov, Apostol. "First study on the zooplankton of the Kerid (Kerið) Crater Lake, Iceland." ZooNotes, vol. 55, 2014, pp. 1–3.
7. Pomrenke, Erik (2023-10-16). "Tour Operator Arctic Adventures Buys Kerið Crater". Iceland Review. Retrieved 2025-01-21.
8. "Kerið Crater Official Website - A Geological Wonder of Iceland". Kerið Volcanic Crater. Retrieved 2025-01-21. To visit Kerid crater and lake, you need to pay a small entrance fee of 600 KR.

External links

Kerið Crater official site