Why are the mountains at Landmannalaugar so colourful?

They are made of rhyolite, a silica-rich volcanic rock, which hot water and steam have altered over time, producing minerals in shades of red, orange, yellow, green and blue-grey.

Why does Iceland have so many volcanoes?

It sits on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge, where two plates move apart, and above a hotspot of unusually hot mantle. Together they produce large amounts of magma.

Why are there so few trees in Iceland?

Settlers cleared much of the original birch woodland for fuel and grazing, and the cold climate, volcanic ash and erosion prevented it from regrowing. The highlands were always largely treeless.

When can you visit Landmannalaugar?

The highland roads usually open in late June or early July and close in September, depending on snow. The roads require four-wheel-drive vehicles or highland buses, and involve river crossings.

Can I explore the Icelandic highlands in the app?

Yes. You can explore a landscape modelled on Landmannalaugar, with its rhyolite mountains, obsidian lava, hot springs and moss, in interactive 3D.

Rainbow-coloured rhyolite mountains, steaming springs and moss-covered lava at Landmannalaugar

Icelandic highlands

3D landscape · Landmannalaugar, Iceland

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Iceland sits astride the Mid-Atlantic Ridge, where the North American and Eurasian plates are pulling apart, above a hotspot of unusually hot mantle. The result is an island built almost entirely by volcanoes. Its interior, the highlands, is cold, windswept and largely empty, reached only by rough mountain roads in summer. In this app you can explore a landscape modelled on Landmannalaugar in interactive 3D: multicoloured rhyolite slopes, a black obsidian lava field, steaming vents, braided rivers and thick carpets of grey-green moss.

Landmannalaugar, which means roughly the people's pools, lies in the Fjallabak Nature Reserve, at around 600 metres above sea level in the south of the highlands. It is famous for its natural hot pool, its hiking and as the starting point of the Laugavegur trail. The landscape is beautiful but fragile: moss and thin soils damaged by footsteps or vehicles can take decades to recover.

Key facts

Model setting: LandmannalaugarIn the southern highlands of Iceland
Protected area: Fjallabak Nature ReserveEstablished in 1979
Volcanic system: TorfajökullA large central volcano with Iceland's biggest area of rhyolite
Plate boundary: Mid-Atlantic RidgeThe plates move apart by roughly 2 cm a year
Obsidian lava: LaugahraunErupted in the late 15th century, often dated to about 1477
Elevation: About 600 mSnow can fall in any month
Signature hike: Laugavegur trailAbout 55 km to Þórsmörk, usually walked in three to four days
Typical moss: Woolly fringe-mossRacomitrium lanuginosum, which covers many lava fields
Native land mammal: Arctic foxThe only land mammal in Iceland before people arrived

A ridge and a hotspot

Most of the Mid-Atlantic Ridge, the boundary where the North American and Eurasian plates move apart, lies deep beneath the ocean. Iceland is the largest place where it rises above sea level. Here the ridge sits over a hotspot, a region where unusually hot material rises from deep in the mantle. Together they produce so much magma that, over roughly the last 16 to 20 million years, volcanoes have built up a whole island.

As the plates pull apart, the crust stretches and cracks, forming rift valleys and fissures, and magma rises to fill the gaps. Iceland has around 30 active volcanic systems, and eruptions occur every few years on average. Landmannalaugar lies in a volcanic zone in the south of the island, near the volcanoes Hekla and Torfajökull.

Mountains of many colours

Most Icelandic lava is basalt, which is dark and runny. Landmannalaugar is different because it lies within the Torfajökull volcano, a huge collapsed caldera with the largest area of rhyolite in Iceland. Rhyolite forms from magma rich in silica, which is thick and sticky and often erupts explosively. Fresh rhyolite is pale grey, cream or pink.

Hot water and steam rising through the rock over long periods have altered the minerals, staining the mountains in shades of yellow, orange, red, green, blue-grey and white. Iron oxides give reds and browns, sulphur gives yellows, and certain clay minerals and chlorite give greens. The mountain Brennisteinsalda, whose name means sulphur wave, is one of the most colourful.

Obsidian and moss-covered lava

Right beside the Landmannalaugar hut lies Laugahraun, a jagged lava flow of black, glassy rock that erupted in the late 15th century, often dated to around 1477. It is made largely of obsidian, a volcanic glass formed when silica-rich lava cools so quickly that crystals have no time to grow. Broken surfaces shine like dark glass. Collecting obsidian or any rocks in the reserve is not allowed.

Older lava fields in the highlands and lowlands are often covered in a thick, spongy blanket of woolly fringe-moss, which turns grey when dry and bright green after rain. The moss is often among the first plants to colonise new lava, slowly building up a thin layer of soil. It grows very slowly, and a single footprint or tyre track can leave a scar that takes decades to heal. Visitors are asked to stay on marked paths and never to drive off road, which is illegal in Iceland.

Hot springs and the Laugavegur trail

Landmannalaugar is famous for its natural hot pool, where hot spring water mixes with a cold stream, creating a place to bathe in warm water surrounded by mountains. Around the area, fumaroles hiss steam and gases, and boiling mud pots bubble. The water and steam are heated by magma beneath the Torfajökull volcano. Some springs are scalding hot, so visitors should bathe only in the designated pool.

The Laugavegur trail, one of the best-known hikes in Iceland, runs about 55 kilometres from Landmannalaugar south to Þórsmörk, passing rhyolite mountains, steaming ground, black sand deserts, glaciers and rivers that must be waded. Hikers usually take three to four days, staying in mountain huts or campsites. The trail is generally open from late June or early July to early September, depending on snow, and the weather can be severe even in summer.

Wildlife and why there are few trees

The highlands are sparsely inhabited by wildlife, but the arctic fox, Iceland's only native land mammal, roams across them, turning white or staying brownish-grey in winter depending on its colour type. Rock ptarmigan, which turn white in winter, live among the stony slopes, and golden plovers, snow buntings and other birds nest in the highlands in summer. Sheep are released to graze freely in summer, including in some highland pastures, and Icelandic horses, a small but sturdy breed, are a common sight in the lowlands.

When the first settlers arrived in the late ninth century, birch woodland is thought to have covered a significant part of the lowlands, perhaps a quarter or more of the country, though estimates vary. Clearing for firewood, charcoal and grazing, along with a cold climate, volcanic ash and soil erosion, removed most of it, and today only a small percentage of the land is wooded. The high interior was always largely treeless because of the harsh climate, short summers, poor soils and strong winds. Reforestation and soil conservation programmes are slowly restoring some areas in the lowlands.

Surprising facts about Icelandic highlands

Iceland is the largest place where the Mid-Atlantic Ridge, normally hidden beneath the ocean, rises above sea level.
The glassy black Laugahraun lava near Landmannalaugar erupted only around 500 years ago.
The colours of the rhyolite mountains come largely from minerals altered by hot water and steam.
A single footprint in Icelandic moss can remain visible for years and take decades to recover.
The arctic fox was the only land mammal in Iceland before people arrived.
Driving off road is illegal in Iceland because tyre tracks scar the fragile land for decades.

Frequently asked questions

Why are the mountains at Landmannalaugar so colourful?: They are made of rhyolite, a silica-rich volcanic rock, which hot water and steam have altered over time, producing minerals in shades of red, orange, yellow, green and blue-grey.
Why does Iceland have so many volcanoes?: It sits on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge, where two plates move apart, and above a hotspot of unusually hot mantle. Together they produce large amounts of magma.
Why are there so few trees in Iceland?: Settlers cleared much of the original birch woodland for fuel and grazing, and the cold climate, volcanic ash and erosion prevented it from regrowing. The highlands were always largely treeless.
When can you visit Landmannalaugar?: The highland roads usually open in late June or early July and close in September, depending on snow. The roads require four-wheel-drive vehicles or highland buses, and involve river crossings.
Can I explore the Icelandic highlands in the app?: Yes. You can explore a landscape modelled on Landmannalaugar, with its rhyolite mountains, obsidian lava, hot springs and moss, in interactive 3D.

Keep exploring

The landscapes in Ember’s Universe are procedural 3D scenes modelled on real places. The landforms, plants and light follow the real thing, but the details are generated, not mapped.

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