Öræfajökull (; ' Öræfi glacier' or 'wasteland glacier') is an ice-covered

volcano A volcano is a rupture in the crust of a planetary-mass object, such as Earth, that allows hot lava, volcanic ash, and gases to escape from a magma chamber below the surface. On Earth, volcanoes are most often found where tectonic plates ...

in south-east

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 ...

. The largest active volcano and the highest peak in Iceland at , it lies within the

Vatnajökull National Park Vatnajökull National Park ( is, Vatnajökulsþjóðgarður ) is one of three national parks in Iceland. It encompasses all of Vatnajökull glacier and extensive surrounding areas. These include the national parks previously existing at Skaftafel ...

and is covered by part of the glacier. The original Norse settlers named the volcano Knappafellsjǫkull (

Old Norse Old Norse, Old Nordic, or Old Scandinavian, is a stage of development of North Germanic languages, North Germanic dialects before their final divergence into separate Nordic languages. Old Norse was spoken by inhabitants of Scandinavia and t ...

: ;

Modern Icelandic Icelandic (; is, íslenska, link=no ) is a North Germanic languages, North Germanic language spoken by about 314,000 people, the vast majority of whom live in Iceland, where it is the national language. Due to being a West Scandinavian langua ...

: Hnappafellsjökull ; 'knobs mountain glacier'). The current name, ''Öræfajökull'', was eventually adopted after the 1362 eruption.

Description

Öræfajökull is located at the southern extremity of the

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 ...

glacier and overlooking the

Ring Road A ring road (also known as circular road, beltline, beltway, circumferential (high)way, loop, bypass or orbital) is a road or a series of connected roads encircling a town, city, or country. The most common purpose of a ring road is to assist i ...

between Höfn and Vík. It is the largest active volcano in the country, and on the summit crater's northwestern rim is Hvannadalshnúkur, the highest peak in Iceland at . Geographically, Öræfajökull is considered part of

, and the area covered by glacier is within the boundary of

Activity

Öræfajökull has erupted twice in historical times, in 1362 and 1728.

1362 eruption

In 1362, Knappafellsjökull erupted explosively, ejecting 10 cubic kilometres of

tephra Tephra is fragmental material produced by a volcanic eruption regardless of composition, fragment size, or emplacement mechanism. Volcanologists also refer to airborne fragments as pyroclasts. Once clasts have fallen to the ground, they re ...

, similar in scale to the

1991 eruption of Mount Pinatubo The 1991 eruption of Mount Pinatubo in the Philippines' Luzon Volcanic Arc was the second-largest volcanic eruption of the 20th century, behind only the 1912 eruption of Novarupta in Alaska. Eruptive activity began on April 2 as a series of ...

. The wealthy district of Litlahérað was destroyed by

flood A flood is an overflow of water ( or rarely other fluids) that submerges land that is usually dry. In the sense of "flowing water", the word may also be applied to the inflow of the tide. Floods are an area of study of the discipline hydrol ...

pyroclastic flow A pyroclastic flow (also known as a pyroclastic density current or a pyroclastic cloud) is a fast-moving current of hot gas and volcanic matter (collectively known as tephra) that flows along the ground away from a volcano at average speeds of b ...

s and ashfall. Sailors reported pumice “in such masses that ships could hardly make their way through it.” Thick volcanic deposits obliterated farmland, and ash travelled as far as

western Europe Western Europe is the western region of Europe. The region's countries and territories vary depending on context. The concept of "the West" appeared in Europe in juxtaposition to "the East" and originally applied to the ancient Mediterranean ...

. More than 40 years passed before people again settled the area, which became known as Öræfi. The name literally means 'an area without harbour,' but it took on a meaning of 'wasteland' in Icelandic, as the 1362 eruption had drastically altered the environment around the mountain. The volcano likewise took on the new name Öræfajökull.

1728 eruption

An eruption in August 1727-28 was smaller than 1362, though floods are known to have caused three fatalities when the meltwater swept their farm away.

2017 activity

Increased earthquake activity in the form of small tremors ranging from a depth of 1.5–10 km beneath the summit crater, began in August 2017 according to the

Icelandic Meteorological Office Icelandic Meteorological Office (IMO; is, Veðurstofa Íslands) is Iceland's national weather service and as such a government agency under the Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources. It is also active in volcano monitoring, esp. volcano ...

. The Aviation Colour Code of the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., federal district, five ma ...

was raised to yellow on 17 November 2017, after the appearance of an ice cauldron inside the main crater and increased geothermal activity under the glacier.

2018 activity

The seismic and geothermal activity which began in August 2017 continued into 2018, but at reduced levels. On 4 May 2018, the Icelandic Meteorological Office lowered the Aviation Colour Code to green. Smithsonian Institution, Global Volcanism Program, Activity Archives for Öræfajökull
Retrieved Aug. 26, 2021.

References

External links

Öræfajökull
in the Catalogue of Icelandic Volcanoes
Volcano Images of Europe

Photos of Öræfajökull
www.Icelandportfolio.com
Öræfajökull
at the

Global Volcanism Program The Smithsonian Institution's Global Volcanism Program (GVP) documents Earth's volcanoes and their eruptive history over the past 10,000 years. The mission of the GVP is to document, understand, and disseminate information about global volcanic act ...

Google Earth view

Official Website of Vatnajökull National Park
{{DEFAULTSORT:Oraefajokull Southern Region (Iceland) Stratovolcanoes of Iceland Mountains of Iceland Glaciers of Iceland VEI-6 volcanoes Active volcanoes Öræfajökull Belt Two-thousanders of Iceland 1362 1727 natural disasters Subglacial calderas Subglacial volcanoes of Iceland Calderas of Iceland Central volcanoes of Iceland