| Summary: | Dimmuborgir is thought to be a former rootless shield volcano, which was fed with lava from a nearby crater row, 2170 ± 38 calendar years before present. In this study, the orientation of striations on the sides of lava channels, collapse structures and lava pillars were measured to find out how the enigmatic ~2 km by 2 km volcanic structure at Dimmuborgir was drained. During one week of field work 149 striations were found and measured, with respect to their dip angle, dip direction and elevation. Their locations were recorded with a GPS (Global Positioning System) receiver. The orientations of the striations were visualized on Google Earth satellite images and on images from a Digital Terrain Model (DTM) of Dimmuborgir. Resulting visualizations show that Dimmuborgir was drained radially and in multiple stages. It is concluded that Dimmuborgir was drained towards the west, the northeast and the southeast. The drainage towards the west was channeled. The drainage towards the northeast and the southeast was radially inwards, towards the collapsed parts of Dimmuborgir.
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