The Botany of Iceland - 01.12.1914, Blaðsíða 11

PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY
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extend outward upon Reykjanes and Snæfellsnes. The mountain-
chain on Reykjanes is hroad and flat at the top; it is divided into
several smaller plateaus (300—600 metres) with rows of craters
and volcanic mountain-tops, and it sinks down more and more
towards the west so that the extreme end of the peninsula consists
chiefly of low-lying lava-fields with a few low, isolated mountain-
tops. The mountain-chain which extends toward Snæfellsnes is
higher (600—900 metres), but much narrower; it is also very vol-
Fig. 1. Snæfellsjökull (West Iceland).
canic and terminates in the ancient, ice-capped volcano, Snæfells-
jökull (1446 metres).
In North Iceland several great mountain-masses proceed from
the high land outward upon tlre peninsulas, and from the head of
the fjords long valleys extend into the country; by the extensive
branching of the valleys, the mountains are divided into a number
of ridges and peaks, which however when examined more closely,
prove to have been cut out of an originally continuous plateau.
Several valleys lead up from Húnaflói, of which the western are
narrow, but the eastern (Víðidalur, Vatnsdalur, Blöndudalur) are
broader and more fertile; these latter open out toward the low land
(Thing) at the head of Húnaflói. The large peninsula between Skaga-
fjörður and Eyjafjörður is occupied bjr mighty, steep mountain-
masses which are intersected on botli sides by numerous valleys,
the largest (Öxnadalur, Hörgárdalur, Svarfaðardalur) being on the