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Skeiðará
Skeiðará () is a relatively short glacier river (about 30 km long). It has its source on the glacier Skeiðarárjökull, one of the southern arms of the Vatnajökull in the south of Iceland. In spite of its short length, this river has a bad reputation. It is especially feared because of the frequent glacier runs that can be fatal. In front of Skaftafell and Skeiðarárjökull, Skeiðará has formed the Skeiðarársandur, a black plain of lava sand and ashes crossed by a lot of small rivulets which covers the whole area between the park and the sea (about 40 km long and 5 to 10 km wide). In 1996, the latest of these glacier runs took place. It destroyed parts of Route 1 (the Ring Road). The bridge was damaged by floating ice boulders the size of houses. At the peak of this glacier run, 45,000 m3/s of water were coming down. No one was harmed, scientists having very carefully monitored the volcano Grímsvötn on Vatnajökull which caused the glacier run by ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Skaftafell
Skaftafell () is a preservation area in Öræfi, southeast Iceland. It was once a major farm, later being named a national park. Originally known as Skaftafell National Park, it was subsequently joined together with other nearby regions to form the larger Vatnajökull National Park. Skaftafell National Park Skaftafell National Park was a national park, situated between Kirkjubæjarklaustur, typically referred to as Klaustur, and Höfn in the south of Iceland. On 7 June 2008, it became a part of the larger Vatnajökull National Park. It was founded on September 15, 1967, and enlarged twice afterwards. Before its inclusion into Vatnajökull National Park, it measured about 4807 km2 (2884 mi2), making it Iceland's second largest national park. It contains the valley ''Morsárdalur'' , the mountain ''Kristínartindar'' and the glacier ''Skaftafellsjökull'' (a spur of the Vatnajökull ice cap). The landscape is very similar to some of the Alps, but it has been formed o ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Skeiðarársandur
Skeiðarársandur () is an Icelandic glacial outwash plain, a vast expanse of sand generated by the transport of debris by the Skeiðará and other rivers, whose flow is generated by the Skeiðarárjökull glacier and fed by the volcanic systems of Grímsvötn and Öræfajökull. The coastline of the Sandur is 56 km long (from Hvalsík to Hnappavallaós). From Skeiðarárjökull, the valley glacier of Vatnajökull, to the sea is 20–30 km. The Skeiðará was the most important obstacle in the construction of Iceland's Route 1. It was not until 1974 that it could be completely closed by a 904 m long bridge. This is currently the longest bridge in Iceland. It was temporarily destroyed by water masses and blocks of ice during the last major glacial outburst flood in 1996, triggered by an eruption of the Grímsvötn volcano, but was immediately restored. The outwash plain originated primarily as alluvial land, i.e. as an accumulation of sediments from the rivers. ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Route 1 (Iceland)
Route 1 or the Ring Road ( or ) is a national road in Iceland that circles the entire country. As a major trunk route, it is considered to be the most important piece of transport infrastructure in Iceland as it connects the majority of towns together in the most densely populated areas of the country. Economically, it carries a large proportion of goods traffic as well as tourist traffic. The total length of the road is . The road was completed in 1974, coinciding with the 1,100th anniversary of the country's settlement when the longest bridge in Iceland, crossing the Skeiðará river in the southeast, was opened. Previously, vehicles intending to travel between southern settlements, e.g. Vík to Höfn, had to travel north of the country through Akureyri, making the opening a major transport improvement to the country. Many popular tourist attractions in Iceland, such as the Seljalandsfoss and Skógafoss waterfalls, Dyrhólaey cliffs, Jökulsárlón glacier lagoon, as well ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Grímsvötn
Grímsvötn (; ''vötn'' = "waters", singular: ) is a volcano with a (partially subglacial) fissure system located in Vatnajökull National Park, Iceland. The volcano itself is completely subglacial and located under the northwestern side of the Vatnajökull ice cap. The subglacial caldera is at , at an elevation of . Beneath the caldera is the magma chamber of the Grímsvötn volcano. Grímsvötn is a basaltic volcano which has the highest eruption frequency of all the volcanoes in Iceland and has a southwest-northeast-trending fissure system. The massive climate-impacting Laki fissure eruption of 1783–1784 was a part of the same fissure system. Grímsvötn was erupting at the same time as Laki during 1783, but continued to erupt until 1785. Because most of the volcanic system lies underneath Vatnajökull, most of its eruptions have been subglacial and the interaction of magma and meltwater from the ice causes phreatomagmatic explosive activity. Jökulhlaup Eruptions in the cal ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Vatnajökull
Vatnajökull ( Icelandic pronunciation: , 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. It is in the south-east of the island, covering approximately 8% of the country. Size With an area of 7,900 km2, Vatnajökull is the second largest ice cap in Europe by volume (about 3,000 km3) and area (after the still larger Severny Island ice cap of Novaya Zemlya, Russia, which is in the extreme northeast of Europe). On 7 June 2008, it became a part of the Vatnajökull National Park. The average thickness of the ice is , with a maximum thickness of . Iceland's highest peak, Hvannadalshnúkur (), as part of the Öræfajökull, is in the southern periphery of Vatnajökull, near Skaftafell. Volcanoes Under the ice cap, as under many of the glaciers of Iceland, there are several List of volcanoes in Ice ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
List Of Rivers Of Iceland
On an island like Iceland, the rivers are short in length. None of the rivers are important as a means of navigation due to the impracticality of settlements in the Highlands of Iceland where they originate. South * Hvítá * Krossá * Kúðafljót *Markarfljót * Mustafl *Ölfusá (the Icelandic river with the greatest flow) * Rangá *Skaftá *Skeiðará * Skógá * Sog *Þjórsá (the longest river in Iceland, 230 km) *Tungnaá West *Fossá * Hvítá * Kjarrá–Thervá * Norðurá Westfjords *Dynjandi *Kolbeinsá * Staðará North *Blanda * Eyjafjarðará * Eystri Jökulsá * Fnjóská *Glerá *Héraðsvötn * Hörgá *Jökulsá á Fjöllum * Laxá * Norðurá *Skjálfandafljót * Vatnsdalsá East * Hamarsá *Hofsá * Jökulsá á Dal * Jökulsá í Fljótsdal *Jökulsá í Lóni *Lagarfljót * Selfljót See also *'''' {{List of rivers of Europe Iceland Rivers A river is a natural flowing watercourse, usually freshwater, flowing toward ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Rivers Of Iceland
On an island like Iceland, the rivers are short in length. None of the rivers are important as a means of navigation due to the impracticality of settlements in the Highlands of Iceland where they originate. South * Hvítá * Krossá * Kúðafljót *Markarfljót * Mustafl * Ölfusá (the Icelandic river with the greatest flow) * Rangá *Skaftá *Skeiðará * Skógá * Sog *Þjórsá (the longest river in Iceland, 230 km) * Tungnaá West *Fossá * Hvítá * Kjarrá–Thervá * Norðurá Westfjords *Dynjandi * Kolbeinsá * Staðará North *Blanda * Eyjafjarðará * Eystri Jökulsá * Fnjóská *Glerá * Héraðsvötn * Hörgá * Jökulsá á Fjöllum * Laxá * Norðurá * Skjálfandafljót * Vatnsdalsá East * Hamarsá *Hofsá * Jökulsá á Dal * Jökulsá í Fljótsdal * Jökulsá í Lóni *Lagarfljót * Selfljót See also *'''' {{List of rivers of Europe Iceland Iceland ( is, Ísland; ) is a Nordic island country in the North Atlantic Oc ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Glacier
A glacier (; ) is a persistent body of dense ice that is constantly moving under its own weight. A glacier forms where the accumulation of snow exceeds its Ablation#Glaciology, ablation over many years, often Century, centuries. It acquires distinguishing features, such as Crevasse, crevasses and Serac, seracs, as it slowly flows and deforms under stresses induced by its weight. As it moves, it abrades rock and debris from its substrate to create landforms such as cirques, moraines, or fjords. Although a glacier may flow into a body of water, it forms only on land and is distinct from the much thinner sea ice and lake ice that form on the surface of bodies of water. On Earth, 99% of glacial ice is contained within vast ice sheets (also known as "continental glaciers") in the polar regions, but glaciers may be found in mountain ranges on every continent other than the Australian mainland, including Oceania's high-latitude oceanic island countries such as New Zealand. Between lati ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Iceland
Iceland ( is, Ísland; ) is a Nordic island country in the North Atlantic Ocean and in the Arctic Ocean. Iceland is the most sparsely populated country in Europe. Iceland's capital and largest city is Reykjavík, which (along with its surrounding areas) is home to over 65% of the population. Iceland is the biggest part of the Mid-Atlantic Ridge that rises above sea level, and its central volcanic plateau is erupting almost constantly. The interior consists of a plateau characterised by sand and lava fields, mountains, and glaciers, and many glacial rivers flow to the sea through the lowlands. Iceland is warmed by the Gulf Stream and has a temperate climate, despite a high latitude just outside the Arctic Circle. Its high latitude and marine influence keep summers chilly, and most of its islands have a polar climate. According to the ancient manuscript , the settlement of Iceland began in 874 AD when the Norwegian chieftain Ingólfr Arnarson became the first p ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Jökulhlaup
A jökulhlaup ( ) (literally "glacial run") is a type of glacial outburst flood. It is an Icelandic term that has been adopted in glaciological terminology in many languages. It originally referred to the well-known subglacial outburst floods from Vatnajökull, Iceland, which are triggered by geothermal heating and occasionally by a volcanic subglacial eruption, but it is now used to describe any large and abrupt release of water from a subglacial or proglacial lake/reservoir. Since jökulhlaups emerge from hydrostatically sealed lakes with floating levels far above the threshold, their peak discharge can be much larger than that of a marginal or extra-marginal lake burst. The hydrograph of a jökulhlaup from Vatnajökull typically either climbs over a period of weeks with the largest flow near the end, or it climbs much faster during the course of some hours. These patterns are suggested to reflect channel melting, and sheet flow under the front, respectively. Similar pr ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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