Vatnajökull

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Iceland as seen from space, with Vatnajökull appearing as the largest white area to the lower right

Vatnajökull (Icelandic pronunciation: Template:IPA, literally "Glacier of Lakes"; sometimes translated as Vatna Glacier in English) is the largest and most voluminous ice cap in Iceland, and the second largest in area in Europe after the Severny Island ice cap of Novaya Zemlya.<ref name=":0">Template:Cite web</ref> It is in the south-east of the island, covering approximately 10% of the country.<ref name=":1">Template:Cite web</ref>

Size

With an area of 7,700 km², <ref>Vatnajökull - fræðsla Vatnajökull national park, retrieved 21st of august 2024</ref> Vatnajökull is the second largest ice cap in Europe by volume (about 3,000 km³)<ref name=":0" /> and area (after the still larger Severny Island ice cap of Novaya Zemlya, Russia, which is in the extreme northeast of Europe).<ref name=":0" /> On 7 June 2008, it became a part of the Vatnajökull National Park.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

The average thickness of the ice is Template:Convert,<ref name=":0" /> with a maximum thickness of Template:Convert.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Iceland's highest peak, Hvannadalshnúkur (Template:Convert), as part of the Öræfajökull, is in the southern periphery of Vatnajökull, near Skaftafell.

File:Vatnajökull glacier.jpg

Ice lagoon at the foot of the Vatnajökull Glacier

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Vatnajökull Glacier in Iceland

File:An iceberg in Jokulsarlon.jpg

An iceberg with Öræfajökull (southernmost part of Vatnajökull) in the background. The icebergs in Jökulsárlón, as well as this one, have broken off Vatnajökull's outlet glaciers.

Peaks

Hrútsfjallstindar is a series of Icelandic peaks rising from Vatnajökull between Svínafellsjökull and Skaftafellsjökull, in its southern part. There are four peaks, which range from Template:Convert to Template:Convert high.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Volcanoes

Under the ice cap, as under many of the glaciers of Iceland, there are several volcanoes.<ref name=":1" /> Eruptions from these volcanoes have led to the development of large pockets of water beneath the ice, which may burst the weakened ice and cause a jökulhlaup (glacial lake outburst flood).<ref name=":1" /> During the last ice age, numerous volcanic eruptions occurred under Vatnajökull, creating many subglacial eruptions.<ref name="readersnatural2">Template:Cite book</ref>

In more modern times, the volcanoes continue to erupt beneath the glaciers, resulting in many documented floods. One jökulhlaup in 1934 caused the release of Template:Cvt of water over the course of several days.<ref name="readersnatural2" /> The volcanic lake Grímsvötn was the source of a large jökulhlaup in 1996.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> There was also a considerable but short-lived eruption of the volcano under these lakes at the beginning of November 2004.<ref name=":2">Template:Cite web</ref> On 21 May 2011 a volcanic eruption started in Grímsvötn in Vatnajökull National Park at around 19:00.<ref name=":2" /> The plume reached up to Template:Convert.<ref name=":2" />

In culture

An Icelandic older name for Vatnajökull was Klofajökull Template:IPA (Cleft Glacier, due to cuts into the ice several of which can be presumed to be liable for the name), which is known from eighteenth-century sources such as the writings of Eggert Ólafsson and Bjarni Pálsson.<ref>Svavar Sigmundsson. Hversu áreiðanlegar heimildir eru fyrir því að Vatnajökull hafi kallast Klofajökull fyrr á tímum? Vísindavefurinn, 31 August 2009. Retrieved 9 May 2019. https://visindavefur.is/svar.php?id=52708.</ref> In September 1950, a Douglas DC-4 operated by the private airline Loftleiðir crash-landed on the Vatnajökull glacier. The entire six-person crew survived. A rescue operation was launched after the crew managed to send a distress signal on the fourth day. The crew and the rescue team walked the 34 km to safety.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

The glacier was used as the setting for the opening sequence (set in Siberia) of the 1985 James Bond film A View to a Kill, in which Bond (played for the last time by Roger Moore) eliminated a host of armed villains before escaping in a submarine to Alaska.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Several other films, including another in the Bond franchise, have been filmed on or using Jökulsárlón, the terminal lake of the Breiðamerkurjökull outlet from Vatnajökull.

In 2004, Vatnajökull was one of several Icelandic settings visited on the first leg of The Amazing Race 6.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Westlife's official music video for their twenty-fifth single top 10 and #2 UK hit in 2009 "What About Now" is the last film of Vatnajökull Glacier before the subsequent volcanic eruption.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

In November 2011, the glacier was used as a shooting location for the second season of the HBO fantasy TV series Game of Thrones.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

Outlet glaciers

File:Flaajokull glacier.jpg

Fláajökull outlet glacier

Vatnajökull has around 30 outlet glaciers flowing from the ice cap. The Icelandic term for glacier is "jökull", and so is the term for outlet glacier. Given below is a list of outlet glaciers flowing from Vatnajökull, sorted by the four administrative territories of Vatnajökull National Park.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite book Template:Rp</ref> This is not a complete list.

Southern territory