Terra: The formation of Iceland & its first parliament

In August, we traveled to Iceland via a one-way flight from Denver. This, and a few future posts, will cover various aspects of this wonderful trip.

Iceland formed as an elevation of the ocean floor 20-24 million years ago and rises to 7,000 feet above sea level. The island was lifted by two forces: the separation of North American and Eurasian tectonic plates at the Mid-Atlantic Ridge, and a “hot spot” in the Earth’s mantel lying underneath Iceland.

According to Living Earth - Outline of the Geology of Iceland, the Mid-Atlantic Ridge “runs the length of the sea floor from the Arctic Ocean southwards past Africa.” Formed from the North American Plate and Eurasian plates, Iceland is slowly spreading, or “rifting”, along the Ridge.

The drifting or rifting rate is approximately 2 cm per year on average, but in reality the spreading is localized and a long time usually elapses between periods of drifting in a particular plate.

During rifting, magna normally rises to shallow depths within the crust to form intrusions, or less frequently reaches the surface in a single eruption or several eruptions during the rifting episode.

The mantel “hot spot” was crucial in Iceland's formation:

Only in certain locations are there hot spots underneath the oceans where magma production is sufficient to allow islands to form, among the most significant being Iceland, the Galapagos islands and the Hawaiian islands. 

Þingvellir

As important as the rifting zone is to world geology, it is also important in Iceland’s history. Following the age of Settlement, the Commonwealth began in 930 AD with the establishment of an assembly, the Alþingi, said to be the world’s longest continuously active parliament. Each summer, the country’s chieftains met at Þingvellir, located in the rift valley, to adjudicate and create new laws.

According to Karlsson’s A Brief History of Iceland, each chieftain (historically numbering from 36-48) “could require every ninth farmer subject to their authority to attend the session with them.” With about 4,500 farmers on the Iceland during the Commonwealth, at least 500 men would be present, often accompanied by their immediate families.

The chieftains would selected two advisers and together would sit in a circle of benches. At the center, “the Lawspeaker" would "presided over the proceedings.” Appointed for a 3-year term, the Lawspeaker “was to memorize and recite the laws of the land.”

At Þingvellir, Iceland’s influence on Tolkien's during the writing of The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings was coming into view. A sense of Middle Earth pervades this dramatic supramarine island.

References

Living Earth - Outline of the Geology of Iceland
Ari Trausti Guomundsson, Halldor Kjartansson, George Douglas
Publisher: Reykjavík : Mál og menning, 2007. 

A Brief History of Iceland
Gunnar Karlsson (Author), Anna Yates (Translator)

Images: Ranch in Tabernash, Colorado

These images are from an overnight stay, during the Memorial Day weekend, at a ranch in Tabernash located about 1 1/2 hours north of Denver. It was time for my wife, youngest son, and I to get out of the city and slow down. When I awoke Sunday morning, sunlight already filled the valley. Taking my camera with me, I walked to the stables to find them mostly empty. I headed back down the road.

Looking back at the ranch house, I noted a cowgirl on her horse carrying small yellow flag on the end of a thin pole. She eventually went out of view around the edge of a small hill. Again, I walked back down the gravel road to visit another part of the ranch, but turned in time to see her return with the horses. (To get the whole picture, sometimes you have to look back.)

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Hiking in Torres del Paine National Park

Technically an offshoot of walking, this is my personal favorite way to Move Frequently at a Slow Pace. There’s nothing wrong with walking around the block with my wife at sunset (in fact, there’s everything right with it), but there’s just something about being out in nature, mostly alone and free to do as I please. And really, is there anything more Primal than messing around in the open wilderness? The terrain shifts, there are rocks to lift and toss, tree limbs to climb, and hills to scale. Because your foot lands differently on varied terrain, you train the small muscles in your feet more effectively. If walking around your placid suburban block gets old, strike out for the hills!  

Mark Sisson on hiking
Primal Blueprint Fitness 

Although we did not lift heavy rocks or climb trees, the hikes in Torres del Paine National Park in Patagonia, Chile were beautiful and invigorating. Here are a few photos.

Rafa, one of our guides, and John Michael. 

John Michael and guide Nata. 

Previous trip entries in chronological order:

• Travel - Chile / Patagonia, November 2011
• November 10: Arrival in Santiago, Chile
• Book fair in converted rail station, Santiago
• Terminal del Sur, Santiago
• John Michael at Terminal del Sur, Santiago
• Churrasco al Plato con Huevos
• Internet caffe, bus terminal Puerto Montt
• Boarding a Navimag Ferry
• November 11: On Navimag
• View along the port
• View of Puerto Montt & 32 person lifeboat
• John Michael: Voyage by Sea 
• November 12 - Channels, Fjords & the Pacific
• November 13: Puerto Eden and the Pio Once Glacier
• November 14 & 15: Puerto Natales
• November 15-20: EcoCamp
• November 15: Hiking the French Valley, Torres del Paine National Park

November 15-20: EcoCamp

The 1960’s meet the 21^st century. Take geodesic domes from the 60’s, a healthy dose of camaraderie, leave out the tie-dye and other accoutrements of that earlier decade and you have our first evening at EcoCamp. As the days unfolded, I developed a great respect and appreciation of this wonderful place. I hope the images do it justice. 

Heading toward EcoCamp in Torres del Paine National Park in Patagonia, Chile. A guanaco stands on a grassy knoll with Torres (Towers) in the distance. 

EcoCamp is composed of a series of domes. Guests stay at the standard domes (above) or in one the larger suite domes (after the blog jump). A group of core domes includes a dinning dome, a lounge, a café, kitchen and domes for the staff. 

John Michael heading out of the core domes. Visible are the dinning dome (left) and the lounge dome (right).

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November 14 & 15: Puerto Natales

A quiet, catch-up morning on Navimag is filled with reading and writing. At 1:30 pm, the boat’s terminal port, Puerto Natales, comes into view. After a brief view of the sun, the weather has turned and through the intercom we are informed the wind is blowing at 40 knots and the authorities have denied permission to dock. We wait. Twenty minutes later it is sunny again and we disembark. 

A short cab ride takes us to the Alcazar Hostal. Simple, yet neat, the hostal has a small restaurant next door. The afternoon is spent sending e-mail, taking the laundry to the lavanderia, and refurbishing supplies. We purchase canned sardines and tuna, olives, cherries, and 70% chocolate at a local market.

The next morning we walk to the town center, shop for fruit, and hang out at the hostel until we are picked up by the EcoCamp shuttle at 2 pm. Lunch is provided at the Aldea Restaurant (my son and I have salad, hake with vegetables, and bowl of fruit) where we meet a couple from Holland, a couple from Switzerland, and a lady from Tasmania - her husband had arrived at EcoCamp several days previously, but, due to an airline strike in Argentina, she had been delayed in Buenos Aires. 

On the way to the Torres del Paine (Towers of Blue) National Park, we stop at Milodon cave (Cueva del Milodon), popularized by Bruce Chatwin's In Patagonia. The large cave, named for the extinct giant sloth discovered there, was occupied by Paleo-Americans 12,000 years ago. From there we travel into the Park, and by late afternoon, reach EcoCamp. 

Dr. John

November 13: Puerto Eden and the Pio Once Glacier

Breakfast is announced at 8 am over the intercom. This also serves as a wakeup call. This morning we sail through a narrow channel - navigation along this stretch is recommended only during daytime - and anchor at the only intermediate stop on the traverse: Puerto Eden.

An ancient village, populated around 6 thousand years ago, Puerto Eden provides a fascinating one-hour walk on planked pathways around the village periphery and through rolling hills and coastal environment. (Wear rain pants; the region is moist and rain frequent.)

In late afternoon, Navimag, usually traveling at 13 knots, slows and gently turns. In light rain and a chilling wind blowing from straight ahead, a crowd gathers at the bow. On first view, the glacier seems enormous. And yet, it is just a tip of a massive packed snow lake on the move. Cameras click everywhere, some held high with outstretched arms. The glacier is blue, grey, craggy, and old. Nature shows its presence. "I move, cover, and clear away even mountains." Beware.

The ship completes its slow turn and stops perpendicular to the Pope Pius XI Glacier wall.  Three crewmembers, suited against the elements, are lowered into icy water in a motorized dinghy. My son asks a crew member, "Where are they going?," who responds, "To get the paper." On return from the glacier's edge, it becomes clear the goal was ice. Several chunks supplement the ship's supply.

Dr. John

November 12 - Channels, Fjords & the Pacific

By Dr. John

This is the 13th entry of our recent trip to Chile. A list of all the previous trip posts is below.

Breakfast the next day was a greater challenge: yogurt, porridge, and coffee or juice. I regret eating the porridge - the first time I have eaten rice in over a year - and sense some sluggishness minutes later. (Be prepared, you can't bring everything you eat, but it's good to have some back-up.) Fortunately, two pears finish the breakfast just fine.

The Navimag boat takes us along a channel heading south from Puerto Montt as it makes its way to Puerto Natales. After traveling along multiple islands and fjords, at 4 pm we enter Bahia Anna Pink, a bay opening into the Pacific, and sail a 12-hour segment along the Pacific coast and through the Golfo de Penas (Gulf of Punishment).

During one of his charlas (briefings) the ship's guide shares his thoughts about the ocean pass: "If the weather is good, the boat will move. If the weather is bad, the boat will move." The implication is clear. We enter the Pacific in mild to moderate weather: overcast misty sky and a grey rolling swells covered with wind blown chop. There are fewer people in the dinning room that evening.

Previous trip entries in chronological order:

• Travel - Chile / Patagonia, November 2011
• November 10: Arrival in Santiago, Chile
• Book fair in converted rail station, Santiago
• Terminal del Sur, Santiago
• John Michael at Terminal del Sur, Santiago
• Churrasco al Plato con Huevos
• Internet caffe, bus terminal Puerto Montt
• Boarding a Navimag Ferry
• November 11: On Navimag
• View along the port
• View of Puerto Montt & 32 person lifeboat
• John Michael: Voyage by Sea 

John Michael: Voyage by Sea

The boat we are on is a cargo ship retrofitted to carry passengers. Its exterior furnishings, the railings, staircases, and benches, are all built of cast iron and wood. “Be careful not to slip and bang your head,” the captain warns us as we board. He is a round man with a beard and a German accent. “We are taking you on a cruise,” he continues, his voice projecting over the heads of the passengers gathered around him, “but this is still a cargo ship.” “It makes you think that a boat is a very utilitarian thing,” my father comments, examining the trailers in the cargo bay as we ascend the stairs to our quarters, “or at least this one is.”

Only a few hours out of Puerto Montt, the last settlement before the slender strip of land that is Chile breaks into a scattering of islands stretching south, the sky turns grey, and a pale mist obscures the horizon. Rain spatters the windows of our boat, accompanied by a wind that blows the hats from passengers’ heads and sends them sailing aftwards. Whenever the doors of the lounge open now, a billow of salty air enters, chilling those seated nearby.

Whether it’s the hypnotic one-two beat of walking, the sudden lurch of a plane at takeoff, or the swerve of a car as it turns, each form of transportation has its own sensations. In calm waters, I feel the chug of the diesel engine, which causes the entire boat, from the bathroom mirrors, to the chairs in the cafeteria, to vibrate slightly. In rough waters it rocks, sometimes from side to side, and other times from front to back, moving to the rhythm of the sea.

While the surrounding islands, forested and silent, show no signs of habitation, the boat itself is filled with the chatter of passengers. The young gather in the cafeteria and listen to music as they play cards. Several older passengers sit in pairs, conversing sedately, while others sit alone, with a book or a diary in their hands. The ship’s crew, who wear blue coveralls, work in silence, except for occasional moments of banter that suggest the camaraderie they must enjoy behind the doors that read, “Crew Only Beyond This Point.”

As passengers are brought together by proximity and purpose, a boat can quickly become a community. Among the sailors crewing Magellan’s ships, which sailed these waters almost five centuries ago, their common goal was to circumnavigate the globe, a feat never before achieved. We are here for a less impressive reason: to be awed by the archipelago of southern Chile, and take pictures of its mountainous islands to accompany the stories we will bring home.

Perhaps this is why sea vessels are so prevalent among metaphors that represent our position in life. From the common saying, “Don’t rock the boat,” with its implication that we are in this together, to this poignant passage from the Great Gatsby, “So we beat on, boats against the current, borne back ceaselessly into the past," the voyage by sea succinctly captures our journey through life.

Which makes me think of what tremendous endeavors these voyages were for ancient humans. They had no diesel engines, navigational computers, nor airtight hulls. With boats built by hand, they intrepidly faced the immensity of the sea, whose opaque waters might have contained anything, from the most unimaginable monsters, to the most unexpected treasures.

For many cultures, the boat became more than just a means of conveyance across water. Some northern European peoples set their dead adrift in ships that were lit afire before disembarking. In the Philippines, many tribes believed the afterlife was a paradisal island reached by sailing a boiling sea. If you had been wicked, your boat would tip, and you would be scalded eternally in the bubbling waters. What all of these represent, from the most common sayings, to the most sacred myths, is that the voyage by sea is a fundamentally human undertaking. We enter a boat, and then, upon loosing our moorings, we separate ourselves from the known world, becoming a cluster of people sailing across the waters, with only the mysteries of the sea below us, and the wonders of the sky above.

November 11: On Navimag

By Dr. John

Breakfast at the bus station in Puerto Montt is a hit: Churrasco al Plato con Huevos. After a brief stop at the "internet caffe", we take a cab to the Navimag Ferries boat terminal. We realize we could have walked there by taking a left out of the terminal and walking along a curving road about the length of a block.

Navimag, I suspect, was created from the words "navigation" and "Magellan". We arrive early and and take seats in the waiting area as 196 people from around the world slowly gather in the station. The commonly heard languages include Spanish, German, English, and Swedish. At noon, we board Navimag.

A cargo and passenger ferry, Navimag is a common route from Puerto Montt to southern Patagonia. In addition to cargo, mostly vehicles, our boat carries 196 passengers and 46 crew. While many, like ourselves, are heading to Torres del Paine, others are off to other destinations such as Tierra del Fuego, the land of fire named during Magellan's voyage through the strait that bears his name.

Following a snack provided just after boarding, we walk on deck, take pictures, or settle in the pub. Dinner, served in two shifts includes salmon, bread roll, rice, small peaches, and mandarin. I pass on the bread and rice and fortunately my request for two salmon servings is granted. You can also get extra fruit. (Bring some packaged paleo goodies, declare them, they get in without problem.)

Boarding a Navimag Ferry

John Michael at Terminal del Sur, Santiago

Terminal del Sur, Santiago