The rift Silfra: a place where two continents meet

Did you know that the rift between America and Eurasia takes place in Iceland? Moreover, at desire it is possible to go scuba diving in clean water in a narrow crack between the diverging continents and literally touch with my own hands in Europe and America.

The island of Iceland is located at the junction of two tectonic plates: the Eurasian and North American. In the depths of our planet there is a constant movement, thanks to which the plates are constantly moving. If they bump at each other, then at the junction there are mountains and if you disagree, in the earth's crust cracks or rifts.

The North American and Eurasian plate every year are removed from each other by 2-7 see this was a large crack that is visible on land (the so-called rift valley). This crack split the bottom located here lake Thingvallavatn, forming a lava gorge Silfra. Translated from the Icelandic "silfra" means "silver lady".

In the fault zone at the beginning of the XX century formed the Thingvellir national Park, which is listed in the world heritage list of UNESCO. Incredibly, here in the literal sense, you can go from one continent to another on land and in the underwater gorge Silfra — swim between two tectonic plates.

In the narrowest places divers have a unique opportunity to touch the hands of two continents: one hand touches Europe and the other America.

The lake water is fresh and crystal clear — even the professionals lose here the sense of depth, because the visibility in local waters up to 300 meters.

The water in the crack Silfra so cold that if you dip breath. The temperature throughout the year is around 2 degrees Celsius, since the addition of the lake is due to melting of the glacier Lauriemodel on the adjacent mountains. The water, descending down to 30-50 years passes through porous underground lava, while carefully filtering and becoming crystal clear and completely drinkable.Photographer Alex mustard together with Wethorse Productions has made a fascinating video dives into the rift Silfra.