REYKJAVIK, Iceland — According to Icelandic lore, Mount Hekla, a volcano in the southern part of the island, guards the gates to Hell.

When Jules Verne sent his characters off on a "Journey to the Center of the Earth," however, he sent them down through the crater of Snaefell, an extinct volcano on the island's western side.

It could be that Verne was confused — after all, he had not been to Iceland but only read about it in the libraries of Paris — or it could be that he deliberately chose another location, knowing that wherever he set the story, there would be some "geo-logic" to it.

Geology is an ever-present force wherever you go in Iceland, defining land, history and mythology in fascinating ways. The landforms themselves create breathtaking scenery, but equally tantalizing is the contrast they present: between high and low, cold and hot, fire and ice.

Geologically speaking, Iceland is one of the youngest places on Earth, having celebrated a mere 20 million birthdays since it was thrust up by sea-floor volcanoes. Its position on the edge of tectonic plates that are moving apart ever so slowly (some two centimeters a year) means that geothermal activity still burbles deep below the land's surface. But its latitude, so close to the Arctic Circle, also means that snow and ice are commonplace in winter. Summers too short to melt them have created some of the Earth's largest glaciers.

This all means that you don't have to go on a fantasy voyage beneath the crust to see spectacular sites. Wherever you travel in Iceland, you are never far from fire or ice.

Fire

One of the best places to see geothermal activity is the area around Lake Myvatn. In the north, just west of the Mid-Atlantic Ridge that is pulling the island apart, the area offers scenic views of craters, lava fields both ancient and modern, hot springs, geysers and bubbling mud pools.

The lake itself is an oasis on the edge of the geothermal zone and is known for its large numbers of sea birds and breeding ducks. The vegetation around the lake is rich and green, but it soon gives way to stark black lava and rust-colored rock.

Nearby is Viti (which means Hell), with a crater that is perfectly round and contains a blue lake. You can take a short climb to the crater's rim. There you can also see the nearby power plant, which quite literally plugs into the volcano to harvest energy. Workers drill down into the magma pools and capture the steam and pipe it to other parts of the country.

At the power plant, with its giant turbine engines, you can see how the other end of this process works, both with a video and a tour.