Skjaldbreiður (Icelandic pronunciation: ​[ˈscaltˌpreiːðʏr̥], "broad shield") is an Icelandic lava shield formed in one huge and protracted eruption roughly 9,000 years ago^{[citation needed]}. The extensive lava fields which were produced by this eruption, flowed southwards, and formed the basin of Þingvallavatn, Iceland's largest lake, and Þingvellir, the "Parliament Plains" where the Icelandic national assembly, the Alþing was founded in 930.

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Skjaldbreiður
Skjaldbreiður as seen from Þingvellir
Highest point
Elevation	1,060 m (3,480 ft)
Coordinates	64°24′36″N 20°45′44″W
Naming
English translation	broad shield
Language of name	Icelandic
Geography
Skjaldbreiður Iceland
Geology
Age of rock	9,000 years
Mountain type	shield volcano

The volcano summit is at 1,060 metres, and its crater measures roughly 300 metres in diameter.

Straddling the Mid-Atlantic ridge, the lava fields from Skjaldbreiður have been torn and twisted over the millennia, forming a multitude of fissures and rifts inside the Þingvellir National Park, the best known of which are Silfra, Almannagjá [ˈalˌmanːaˌcauː], Hrafnagjá [ˈr̥apnaˌcauː] and Flosagjá [ˈflɔːsaˌcauː].

Gallery

• 
  Skjaldbreiður crater in snow.

References

• Scarth, Alwyn; Tanguy, Jean-Claude (2001). Volcanoes of Europe. Oxford University Press. pp. 243 pp. ISBN 0-19-521754-3.
• Thordarson, Thor; Hoskuldsson, Armann (2002). Iceland (Classic Geology in Europe 3). Terra Publishing. pp. 208 pp. ISBN 1-903544-06-8.

На других языках

[de] Skjaldbreiður

[fr] Skjaldbreiður

[ru] Скьяльдбрейдюр