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Touching continents

At first blush, this probably sounds like a bad, weepy drama on some forlorn off-brand daytime television channel. You know the type, where Dane falls in love with Lucretia, only to discover that it is just not meant to be.

No, this is not that. This is about actual continents with actual sea water and adventure of sorts. Silfra, in Þingvellir National Park in Iceland, is where the Eurasian and North American continental plates are dividing. It’s a crack in the earth where you can snorkel or dive between the continents. Well, sort of. As ever, it’s a bit more complicated than that. Watch and learn, courtesy of the ever-curious Tom Scott.

For background, Þingvellir (Thingvellir) is a historic site and national park in Iceland, east of Reykjavík. It’s known for the Alþing (Althing), the site of Iceland’s parliament from the 10th to 18th centuries. On the site are the Þingvellir Church and the ruins of old stone shelters. The park sits in a rift valley caused by the separation of 2 tectonic plates, with rocky cliffs and fissures like the huge Almannagjá fault. (Google)

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