Fed by the Langjökull Glacier, the River Hvitá plunges through a deep and narrow fissure here to form the Gullfoss, a magnificent golden waterfall named after the rainbow which occasionally forms here, linking one side of the river to the other. The falls, 32m high, plunge down into a pool in stages (11m, then 21m), with a change of direction, and end with an extraordinary and deafening explosion of foam and water. The river then continues on its way through the basalt rock of the 2.5km-long gorge.