Gullfoss 6
Gullfoss
Gullfoss, “The golden falls“, is a double waterfall that tumbles 32 meters down a wide curved three-step staircase, and then abruptly plunges in two stages (11 m and 21 m) into a crevice 32m deep. The crevice, about 20m wide, and 2.5 km in length, is at right angles to the flow of the river, so you don't actually see it from the view points. The average amount of water running over this waterfall is 80 m³/s in the wintertime.
During the 20th century, foreign investors wanted to transform Gullfoss into a dam for a power station which would of course have changed the waterfall forever. Sigríður Tómasdóttir, a local girl, was determined to preserve the waterfall in its original condition and even threatened to throw herself into the falls. Eventually the government intervened and it did not happen (neither the use of the falls for power nor Sigríður throwing herself into the falls), and now Gullfoss belongs to the Icelandic nations and is protected.
Gullfoss 6
Gullfoss
Gullfoss, “The golden falls“, is a double waterfall that tumbles 32 meters down a wide curved three-step staircase, and then abruptly plunges in two stages (11 m and 21 m) into a crevice 32m deep. The crevice, about 20m wide, and 2.5 km in length, is at right angles to the flow of the river, so you don't actually see it from the view points. The average amount of water running over this waterfall is 80 m³/s in the wintertime.
During the 20th century, foreign investors wanted to transform Gullfoss into a dam for a power station which would of course have changed the waterfall forever. Sigríður Tómasdóttir, a local girl, was determined to preserve the waterfall in its original condition and even threatened to throw herself into the falls. Eventually the government intervened and it did not happen (neither the use of the falls for power nor Sigríður throwing herself into the falls), and now Gullfoss belongs to the Icelandic nations and is protected.