Lake Mývatn and the area around
Mývatn is a shallow lake situated in an area of active volcanism in the north of Iceland, not far from Krafla volcano. The lake and its surrounding wetlands have an exceptionally rich fauna of waterbirds, especially ducks. The lake was created by a large basaltic lava eruption 2300 years ago, and the surrounding landscape is dominated by volcanic landforms, including lava pillars and pseudocraters. The effluent river Laxá is known for its rich fishing for Brown Trout and Atlantic Salmon.
The name of the lake (Icelandic mý ("midge") and vatn ("lake"); the lake of midges) comes from the huge numbers of flies (midges) to be found there in the summer. The name Mývatn is sometimes used not only for the lake but the whole surrounding inhabited area. The River Laxá, Lake Mývatn and the surrounding wetlands are protected as a nature reserve (The Mývatn-Laxá Nature Conservation Area).
The Mývatn district lies on the western border of the volcanic zone which cuts across north-eastern Iceland from north to south and is an extension of the Mid-Atlantic Ridge. All geological formations are quite recent, dating from the Ice Age and postglacial times.
The recent activities are the Mývatnseldar eruptions in 1724-1729 which commenced with an explosion that formed the crater lake Víti. Later lava flowed from Leirhnjúkur down to the north end of Lake Mývatn, destroying two farms. The Mývatnseldar eruptions are quite similar in character to the most recent volcanic activity near Krafla in 1975-1984. The source of both is a central volcano lying between Krafla and Gæsafjöll. Inside the volcano resides a magma chamber from which molten magma periodically bursts into a swarm of fissures that cut through the volcano from north to south. The Krafla volcanic system is one of several such systems which together form the volcanic zone of Iceland.
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