The Echo Rocks of Iceland
In an Icelandic canyon, strange whirls of rock columns throw sound around so oddly that you can't tell where the roar of the river is coming from.
What was reported
Hljóðaklettar, the 'Echo Rocks', are a maze of rock formations beside the Jökulsá á Fjöllum river in north-east Iceland. The rocks are made of columns of basalt, twisted into rosettes, honeycombs and arches, with caves among them.
Walkers find that the sound of the rushing river seems to come from all directions, or from the wrong one, bouncing off the rocks so that it's impossible to tell where it really is. Folk tales placed trolls and hidden people among such strange rocks.
Explanations offered
The rocks are the cores of old volcanic vents, exposed when catastrophic glacial floods carved out the canyon. As lava cooled, it cracked into columns facing in many directions. Their angled surfaces reflect sound in confusing ways.
- When
- Formed thousands of years ago
- Where
- Hljóðaklettar, Vatnajökull National Park, Iceland
- Witnesses
- Walkers in the canyon
- Status
- Explained
Famous cases are real, widely reported events. Each file sets out what witnesses said and the explanations that have been offered, without taking a side.
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