Þórisvatn (; sometimes anglicized to Thorisvatn) is the largest lake of

Iceland Iceland ( is, Ísland; ) is a Nordic island country in the North Atlantic Ocean and in the Arctic Ocean. Iceland is the most sparsely populated country in Europe. Iceland's capital and largest city is Reykjavík, which (along with its s ...

, situated at the south end of

Sprengisandur Sprengisandur () is a highland plateau in Iceland, defined roughly as the area between the Hofsjökull and Vatnajökull glaciers. History and etymology Like Kjölur and Kaldidalur, Sprengisandur is an ancient pass - during the time of the Ic ...

highland road within the

highlands of Iceland The Highlands of Iceland ( is, hálendið ) are a sparsely inhabited plateau that covers most of the interior of Iceland. They are situated above 400–500 metres (1300–1600 feet) and are mostly an uninhabitable volcanic desert, because the wa ...

. It is a

reservoir A reservoir (; from French ''réservoir'' ) is an enlarged lake behind a dam. Such a dam may be either artificial, built to store fresh water or it may be a natural formation. Reservoirs can be created in a number of ways, including contro ...

of a surface about 88 km² and uses the energy of the river

Þjórsá Þjórsá () is Iceland's longest river at 230 kilometers (about 143 miles). It is in the south of the island. Þjórsá is a glacier river and has its source on the glacier Hofsjökull. It flows out through narrow gorges in the highlands of Ic ...

, which comes down from the

glacier A glacier (; ) is a persistent body of dense ice that is constantly moving under its own weight. A glacier forms where the accumulation of snow exceeds its Ablation#Glaciology, ablation over many years, often Century, centuries. It acquires dis ...

Hofsjökull __NOTOC__ Hofsjökull ( Icelandic: "temple glacier", ) is the third largest ice cap in Iceland after Vatnajökull and Langjökull and the largest active volcano in the country. It is situated in the west of the Highlands of Iceland and north of ...

. Here in the south, it is exploited in a power station. It is like other Icelandic lakes, which are mostly glacial lakes or

volcanic A volcano is a rupture in the crust of a planetary-mass object, such as Earth, that allows hot lava, volcanic ash, and gases to escape from a magma chamber below the surface. On Earth, volcanoes are most often found where tectonic plates a ...

lakes, it normally has a stark green color.

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Highlands of Iceland Lakes of Iceland Rift lakes of Iceland {{iceland-geo-stub

See also

References

External links