Rit (Vísindafélag Íslendinga) - 01.06.1976, Qupperneq 161

in Table 13 is approximately the same, indicating a common re-
charge area, most likely in the southern part of Langjökull glacier
or west of it.
The general picture of the origin and behaviour of the water
listed in Table 13 would then be as follows: All these waters seem
to have a common recharge area, which is located farther inland to
the north-east. Should the water be precipitated under climatic
conditions similar to those of today, the recharge area would lie
approximately 80 km inland. As the groundwater flow reaches the
coastal area it enters some Cl~-rich formations, possibly marine
sediments or pyroclastic rocks which have somehow obtained their
salinity from the ocean.
The water at Akranes is a typical representative of such CL-rich
water. Leirá and Seltjarnarnes could either be at the borderline of
these formations, or the salt is already washed out because of greater
throughflow of water.
15. 12 West and Northwest Iceland.
In this part of the country, which is shown on Fig. 31, measure-
ments have only been carried out on samples from a few places.
The results are, however, quite informative and will therefore be
discussed briefly. The places from which samples have been col-
lected are shown in Fig. 39.
Samples of thermal water from two places south of the Snæfells-
nes peninsula, KolviSarnes (sample No. 141) and Landbrot (sam-
ples No. 142-143), give SD = — 59%0 and SD = — 64%0 respectively.
According to the deuterium map, such precipitation is found today
in the higher and inner parts of the Snæfellsnes peninsula.
One well in the valley Sælingsdalur (sample No. 144), at the
bottom of the fjord Hvammsfjörður, has 8D = — 76%0, which is a
similar value to that found in the precipitation in the highest parts
of the peninsula west of the well.
In the northern part of the Breiðafjörður bay, there are numerous
small barren islands on some of which thermal springs have been
found (samples No. 145-149). In most cases these springs are situ-
ated close to sea-level and only appear at low tide. The very low
Cl“ content of the thermal water, 300 mg/1, indicates its freshwater
157