Today’s adventure lead us to areas near Hofn on the southeast side of Iceland. We were hoping to encounter some rocks other than basalt – which makes up over 85% of the island.  We were as usual surprised by what we found.

Our day started with the usual cool, fog and light rain.  On our approach to Stokesnes we decided to examine some of the oldest (Tertiary) rocks on Iceland – thickly layered basalt flows.

We clambered up a gully to the base of a small waterfall and found a series of layered basalt flows, separated by a thin shale bed and a thicker conglomerate bed below.  This confirmed what we saw on the map legend that mentioned inter-bedded sediments, and also the bluffs themselves with the basalt layering highlighted by the more recessive sediments.

It did not take long to arrive at Stokeness – a peninsula surround on both sites by elongate spits and interesting lagoons.  After paying to enter the area (that is part of a private farm) we hiked into an amphitheatre-like setting where high mountains and bluffs with steep scree slopes leading down to a grass and wetland area adjacent to the lagoon.  At the base of the slope we checked out a mock Viking encampment that had been constructed in the 1990’s for a movie set, but never used.  A good discussion of how a Viking must have lived ensued.

From scree slopes and nearby outcrops we encountered a combination of intrusive rocks – diorite, gabbro and a possibly a quartz diorite?  There was some suggestion that these intrusives were emplaced into each other, but their relationship to the surrounding and oldest rocks of Iceland – the Tertiary Basalts was still a but if a mystery.  However, from looking at the bluffs on the access road to Stokeness we did view a conclusive instructive contact between these basalts and the quartz diorite.

Part of our hike took us through group of five of Iceland horses who seemed friendly enough and were willing to be petted – even by Alex.  However, we decided not to share our lunch as the rest of the herd of thirty might have joined us.

Before leaving Stokenss, we examined the shoreline (near an old US Radar station) and encountered some more gabbro outcrops with some amazing coarsely crystalline pegmatite pods.  We also found some black sand dunes, where sand from the beach was swept up to edge of the lagoon.  There was some discussion as to wind direction and the asymmetrical shape of the dunes, which appeared vegetated on the windward site.

To finish the day we decided to head a little further east towards another headland at Helevar, where a second intrusive complex was reported to occur.  This started to appear to be less interesting as sometimes happens in geology.  However, we moved a little further along the road and suddenly encountered a series of spectacular outcrops in the middle on a black sand plain.  On closer inspection we found that we were at the contact between a gabbro and a quartz-diorite intrusives with xenoliths and cross-cutting veins (described by one member of the group as a ‘Dalmatian Explosion’).  Finished for the day we headed back to our hostel for the evening that appeared to full of people from all over the world – China, Israel, Germany and Vancouver Island (UVic students)!