THINGVELLIR LAKE, Iceland, Dec. 17 (UPI) -- Video showing divers swimming in crystal clear waters in an Icelandic lake has gone viral, in part for the sheer beauty but also because the location is a trench where two tectonic plates meet.

Hashem al-Ghaili posted the video collage Dec. 12 and it's since been viewed nearly 25 million times.


The location of the dive is the Silfra Fissure in Thingvellir National Park in Iceland, about 20 miles from Reykjavik. The fissure exists because the North American plate and the Eurasian plate are drifting apart at a rate of 2 centimeters per year. There are places in the lake where divers can place one hand on North America, and the other on Eurasia.

The water is pristine and remains just above freezing all year. Filtered by porous volcanic rock, visibility is 100 meters in Thingvellir Lake, making Silfra one of the world's top diving destinations.

Silfra fissure, Iceland Diving between two continents, Iceland. Posted by Hashem Al-Ghaili on Saturday, December 12, 2015