Visit the impressive site of the Vatnajökull National Park.
There are details on the various glaciers and related landforms that can be visited. This is a vast area, and one with some particularly dramatic locations.
It is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
From the Wikipedia page, shared under CC license:
Vatnajökull is Europe's largest glacier outside the arctic, with a surface area of 8,100 square kilometres. Generally measuring 400–600 m in thickness and at the most 950 m, the glacial ice conceals a number of mountains, valleys and plateaus. It even hides some active central volcanoes, of which Bárðarbunga is the largest and Grímsvötn the most active. While the icecap rises at its highest to over 2,000 m above sea level, the glacier base reaches its lowest point 300 m below sea level. Nowhere in Iceland, with the exception of Mýrdalsjökull glacier, does more precipitation fall or more water drain to the sea than on the south side of Vatnajökull. In fact, so much water is currently stored in Vatnajökull that the Icelandic river with the greatest flow, Ölfusá, would need over 200 years to carry this quantity of water to sea.
Warnings are posted of weather problems, landslides and other issues that may affect visitors.
There is also a link through to the Melting Glaciers / Reclining Glaciers project which I shall write more about in a separate blog post.
There are details on the various glaciers and related landforms that can be visited. This is a vast area, and one with some particularly dramatic locations.
It is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
From the Wikipedia page, shared under CC license:
Vatnajökull is Europe's largest glacier outside the arctic, with a surface area of 8,100 square kilometres. Generally measuring 400–600 m in thickness and at the most 950 m, the glacial ice conceals a number of mountains, valleys and plateaus. It even hides some active central volcanoes, of which Bárðarbunga is the largest and Grímsvötn the most active. While the icecap rises at its highest to over 2,000 m above sea level, the glacier base reaches its lowest point 300 m below sea level. Nowhere in Iceland, with the exception of Mýrdalsjökull glacier, does more precipitation fall or more water drain to the sea than on the south side of Vatnajökull. In fact, so much water is currently stored in Vatnajökull that the Icelandic river with the greatest flow, Ölfusá, would need over 200 years to carry this quantity of water to sea.
Warnings are posted of weather problems, landslides and other issues that may affect visitors.
There is also a link through to the Melting Glaciers / Reclining Glaciers project which I shall write more about in a separate blog post.
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