Concrete’s Furthest North. Early 20th Century Heritage of Modern Civil Engineering in Iceland

In 1935–36, the English writer and design critic Philip Morton Shand (1888-1960), proponent of Modernism, translator of Walter Gropius and founder of MARS group (Modern Architectural Research Group) published two articles in the magazine “The Concrete Way”. The first one was entitled “Concrete´s furthest north”, highlighting the advanced and wide–ranging use of concrete construction in Iceland. With the second article were photographs of newly built public buildings by architect Sigurdur Gudmundsson (1885-1958) as well as bridges designed in the 1920s and 1930s by the engineers of the Icelandic State Highways Department. Shand was impressed by the work of the “gifted and thoroughly modern minded architect such as any country might be proud of” as well as the work of “first rate–engineers” of this “geographically remote island which at that time had only 100,000 inhabitants and 2,000 motorcars. He also points at the photos "as evidence of the wonderful clearness of the air which is characteristic of Iceland´s brief Arctic summers.

The Theistareykir Geothermal Field, NE Iceland. Isotopic Characteristics and Origin of Circulating Fluids

AbstractThe Theistareykir high temperature field in NE Iceland seems to be complex in terms of both inflow and structure, as reflected in the division of the area into several subfields. Oxygen and hydrogen isotopes in water and steam condensate from wells are reported. Some differences can be seen between the Theistareykir well fields, but the recharge is in all cases non-local in origin. The isotopic composition of some of the thermal waters is anomalously depleted in 2H, by about 35‰, compared to precipitation anywhere in Iceland today. The isotopes therefore suggest that the thermal water contains a component of past precipitation under a colder climate. The oxygen shift due to water-rock interaction is up to 6.5 ‰. The isotopic signature of the Theistareykir thermal water is compared to that from nearby low temperature fields within the westernmost part of the Northern Neovolcanic Zone