Nesgjá fissure
THE SILFRA OF THE NORTH
WATER IN ITS PUREST FORM
Nesgjá is another lovely fresh water fissure with the crystal clear water that is so unique to Iceland.
Due to the activity of the tectonic plates, tension builds up in the earth’s crust. Every couple of years this tension is released through earthquakes. These earthquakes create cracks that can be seen from the south west of Iceland all the way to the north east. The Eurasian and North American continental plates meet deep down under the earth’s crust along this line.
Some of these fissures are filled with water, usually glacial water that has been filtering through lava fields for many years, before it flows into rivers, the ocean or these fresh water fissures. After dripping for a such long time through porous lava rock, the water has been filtered perfectly and is literally as clear as it gets.
Nesgjá is quite shallow but amazingly beautiful. The lagoon is huge and as one of our instructors says: “The visibility depends solely on the quality of your dive mask.” You can see further than 100 meters. Sometimes we get to see arctic charr, a certain type of salmonide in the fissure.
Quite often we have non-divers accompanying a diver on one of these tours and Nesgjá is a perfect opportunity to go snorkeling.