Miklavatn is a lake in

Fljót Fljót is the northernmost district on the east side of Skagafjörður, Iceland. It is divided into Eastern and Western and extends from river in the west to the county's border with Eyjafjörður county in the east. In the north of , the bou ...

Skagafjörður Skagafjörður () is a deep fjord and its valley in northern Iceland. Location Skagafjörður, the fjord, is about 40 km long and 15 km wide, situated between Tröllaskagi to the east and the Skagi, Skagi Peninsula to the west. Ther ...

Iceland Iceland is a Nordic countries, Nordic island country between the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic and Arctic Oceans, on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge between North America and Europe. It is culturally and politically linked with Europe and is the regi ...

. It is the second biggest lake in the region at 7.4 square kilometers. The isthmus separates it from the sea, but the runoff from the lake flows through the

estuary An estuary is a partially enclosed coastal body of brackish water with one or more rivers or streams flowing into it, and with a free connection to the open sea. Estuaries form a transition zone between river environments and maritime enviro ...

. The lake was originally a

fjord In physical geography, a fjord (also spelled fiord in New Zealand English; ) is a long, narrow sea inlet with steep sides or cliffs, created by a glacier. Fjords exist on the coasts of Antarctica, the Arctic, and surrounding landmasses of the n ...

but as the

isthmus An isthmus (; : isthmuses or isthmi) is a narrow piece of land connecting two larger areas across an expanse of water by which they are otherwise separated. A tombolo is an isthmus that consists of a spit or bar, and a strait is the sea count ...

formed, it closed the fjord off, turning it into a lake. The lake offers a lot of

trout Trout (: trout) is a generic common name for numerous species of carnivorous freshwater ray-finned fishes belonging to the genera '' Oncorhynchus'', ''Salmo'' and ''Salvelinus'', all of which are members of the subfamily Salmoninae in the ...

fishing. Because water from the ocean often flows into the lake, it is saltier at the bottom, so various salt-water fish are also caught there. The river flows into Miklavatn from lake, and some smaller rivers flow into the lake as well. In the early 20th century, there was some discussion around building a navigable canal through and establishing an

ocean liner An ocean liner is a type of passenger ship primarily used for transportation across seas or oceans. Ocean liners may also carry cargo or mail, and may sometimes be used for other purposes (such as for pleasure cruises or as hospital ships). The ...

harbor in Miklavatn, but these plans fell through. In the 1940s, sea planes that went searching for

herring Herring are various species of forage fish, belonging to the Order (biology), order Clupeiformes. Herring often move in large Shoaling and schooling, schools around fishing banks and near the coast, found particularly in shallow, temperate wate ...

had a summer base in Miklavatn.

References

{{Authority control Lakes of Iceland Skagafjörður