Leitin () is a small

shield volcano A shield volcano is a type of volcano named for its low profile, resembling a warrior's shield lying on the ground. It is formed by the eruption of highly fluid (low viscosity) lava, which travels farther and forms thinner flows than the more v ...

in the southwest 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 ...

Name

Leitin ("the hills") is sometimes also called Leiti ("hills") or Leitahraun after its eruption products (“the lava of Leiti”).

Geography

The lava shield is located on the big

Reykjanes Reykjanes () is a small headland on the southwestern tip of the Reykjanes Peninsula in Iceland, giving the main peninsula its name. The region is about from Iceland's international airport. As the name means "smoking peninsula" connected to volc ...

peninsula some 25 km south of Reykjavík. When travelling on the

hringvegur Route 1 or the Ring Road ( or ) is a national road in Iceland that circles the entire country. As a major trunk route, it is considered to be the most important piece of transport infrastructure in Iceland as it connects the majority of towns ...

and looking to the west, the volcano is to be seen in a broad valley between the

palagonite Palagonite is an alteration product from the interaction of water with volcanic glass of chemical composition similar to basalt. Palagonite can also result from the interaction between water and basalt melt. The water flashes to steam on contact w ...

ridges of ''Lambafell'' with its quarries and ''Sauðadalahnúkar'' and behind some small cones, the ''Nyrðri'' and ''Syðri Eldborg'' , eruptive vents of the

Brennisteinsfjöll Brennisteinsfjöll (, "Sulfur mountains"
Brennisteinsfjöll. Detailed description. In: Catalogue of Icelandic Volcanoes ...

volcanic system.

Geology and volcanism

The

Holocene The Holocene ( ) is the current geological epoch. It began approximately 11,650 cal years Before Present (), after the Last Glacial Period, which concluded with the Holocene glacial retreat. The Holocene and the preceding Pleistocene togethe ...

shield volcano Leitin is itself also part of the Brennisteinsfjöll volcanic system and therefore of the

Reykjanes Volcanic Belt The Reykjanes Peninsula ( is, Reykjanesskagi ) in southwest Iceland is the continuation of the mostly submarine Reykjanes Ridge, a part of the Mid-Atlantic Ridge, on land and reaching from Esja in the north and Hengill in the east to Rey ...

.Thor Thordarson, Armann Hoskuldsson: Iceland. Classic geology of Europe 3. Harpenden 2002, p.56 It originated in a probably long drawn, mostly

effusive eruption An effusive eruption is a type of volcanic eruption in which lava steadily flows out of a volcano onto the ground. Overview There are two major groupings of eruptions: effusive and explosive. Effusive eruption differs from explosive eruption, ...

, ca. 5000 years ago. This small volcano produced an astonishing quantity of lavas reaching like a girdle over the peninsula of Reykjanes, entering the sea to the north next to the present capital city of Iceland

Reykjavík Reykjavík ( ; ) is the capital and largest city of Iceland. It is located in southwestern Iceland, on the southern shore of Faxaflói bay. Its latitude is 64°08' N, making it the world's northernmost capital of a sovereign state. With a po ...

as well as to the south in the bay of ''Selvogur''. Today, these lavas are partially covered by younger lava flows.

Lava flows and fields: Leitahraun, Svínahraun, Elliðahraun

Part of the Leitahraun lava flows travelled to the west against the valley opening between Sauðadalahnúkar and Lambafell and then to the north. People of the region call the lava field here ''Svínahraun'' . But actually, the Svínahraun is composed of 3 lava layers, all from the same volcanic system, the Brennisteinsfjöll, but from different times. The lowermost layer is the 5000 year old Leitahraun, in between is a 2000 year old lava, more or less from the same time as the eruptions in the neighbouring

Hengill Hengill (Icelandic language, Icelandic, pronounced ) is a volcano, volcanic mountain range situated in the southwest of Iceland, to the south of Þingvellir. The mountain range covers an area of about 100 km². The volcano is still active, e ...

system, and the uppermost layer is the ''Kristnitökuhraun'' or ''Svínahraunsbruni'' emitted by the small craters ''Nyðri'' and ''Syðri Eldborg'' in the year 1000. Acc. to Medieval sources, this lava, the ''Kristnitökuhraun'' (“Christianisation-Lava”), is connected to a special story: When in June of the year 1000, Christian

viking Vikings ; non, víkingr is the modern name given to seafaring people originally from Scandinavia (present-day Denmark, Norway and Sweden), who from the late 8th to the late 11th centuries raided, pirated, traded and se ...

s were discussing with

pagan Paganism (from classical Latin ''pāgānus'' "rural", "rustic", later "civilian") is a term first used in the fourth century by early Christians for people in the Roman Empire who practiced polytheism, or ethnic religions other than Judaism. ...

ones at

Þingvellir Þingvellir (, anglicised as ThingvellirThe spelling ''Pingvellir'' is sometimes seen, although the letter "p" is unrelated to the letter "þ" (thorn), which is pronounced as "th".) was the site of the Alþing, the annual parliament of Iceland f ...

, if all Icelanders should become Christians, a messenger came running from Hellisheiði and called out: “There is a fire up there.” After the decision was made, that all Icelanders—willing or not—should leave the pagan gods behind, some said that it were the wrath of the pagan gods that had caused the eruption. Some parts of the Leitahraun travelled to the south, over the mountain pass of Þrengsli and reached the coast not far from today’s fisher village of

Þorlákshöfn Þorlákshöfn () is a town on the southern coast of Iceland in the Municipality of Ölfus. The town is named after Saint Thorlak who was a bishop at Skálholt. Its main importance is as a port as it has the only harbour on Iceland's southern coa ...

. Part of the northern Leitahraun flows is also called ''Elliðahraun'' , because it followed the course of the river

Elliðaár The river Elliðaár (, "Elliði's river") is situated in the Reykjavík area in the south-west of Iceland. Two small rivers have their source in the volcanic mountain range of '' Bláfjöll'' and stream down to Elliðavatn lake at the eastern su ...

where outcrops are to be found in the valley.

Other connected volcanic landforms

This Elliðahraun travelled about 27 km down to today’s Reykjavík, and on its way it initiated explosions on a swamp or more probably on small lake which produced the

rootless cone A rootless cone, also formerly called a pseudocrater, is a volcano, volcanic landform which resembles a true volcanic crater, but differs in that it is not an actual vent from which lava has erupted. They are characterised by the absence of any ma ...

group Rauðhólar. The pseudocraters are located immediately at the western side of the

Hringvegur Route 1 or the Ring Road ( or ) is a national road in Iceland that circles the entire country. As a major trunk route, it is considered to be the most important piece of transport infrastructure in Iceland as it connects the majority of towns ...

when entering the city from the south. The same lava flow branch produced other interesting landforms like the group of

hornito Hornitos are conical, or pipe-like, structures built up by lava spattering or being ejected through an opening in the crust of a lava flow. Hornitos are similar to spatter cones but are rootless, meaning they were once a source of lava but th ...

s, called ''Tröllabörn'' , some 10 km up the

in the direction of Hellisheiði and again on its western side. They are under nature protection. The Hringvegur itself is also for a good part constructed on top of these lavas. The southern Leitahraun produced a.o. multi colored lava tubes of which the best known are Búri and Raufarhólshellir, situated between the south coast of Reykjanes and the pass of Þrengsli on Hellisheiði.Björn Hróarsson: Hellahandbókin. Leiðsögn um 77 Íslenska hraunhella. Reykjavík 2008, pp. 107 – 123

Visitor attractions

Whereas the volcano itself is rather remote, some of its eruption products like the Rauðhólar rootless cone group or the Raufarhólshellir lava tube which can be visited with guided tours are well known visitor attractions.

References

{{coord missing, Iceland Volcanoes of Iceland Shield volcanoes of Iceland Reykjanes Lava fields Reykjanes Volcanic Belt Brennisteinsfjöll Volcanic System