Vatnajökull ( Icelandic pronunciation: , literally "Glacier of Lakes"; sometimes translated as Vatna Glacier in English) is the largest and most voluminous ice cap in

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 ...

, and the second largest in area in

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a subcontinent of Eurasia and it is located enti ...

after the Severny Island ice cap of

Novaya Zemlya Novaya Zemlya (, also , ; rus, Но́вая Земля́, p=ˈnovəjə zʲɪmˈlʲa, ) is an archipelago in northern Russia. It is situated in the Arctic Ocean, in the extreme northeast of Europe, with Cape Flissingsky, on the northern island ...

. 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

, 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 .

's highest peak, Hvannadalshnúkur (), as part of the Öræfajökull, is in the southern periphery of Vatnajökull, near Skaftafell. Vatnajökull Glacier

Volcanoes

Under the ice cap, as under many of the

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 over many years, often centuries. It acquires distinguishing features, such a ...

s of Iceland, there are several volcanoes. 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). During the last ice age, numerous volcanic eruptions occurred under Vatnajökull, creating many subglacial eruptions. 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 of water over the course of several days. The volcanic lake Grímsvötn was the source of a large jökulhlaup in 1996. There was also a considerable but short-lived eruption of the volcano under these lakes at the beginning of November 2004. On 21 May 2011 a volcanic eruption started in Grímsvötn in Vatnajökull National Park at around 19:00. The plume reached up to .

In culture

An Icelandic older name for Vatnajökull was Klofajökull , which is known from eighteenth-century sources such as the writings of Eggert Ólafsson and Bjarni Pálsson. In September 1950, a

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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. The glacier was used as the setting for the opening sequence (set in

Siberia Siberia ( ; rus, Сибирь, r=Sibir', p=sʲɪˈbʲirʲ, a=Ru-Сибирь.ogg) is an extensive geographical region, constituting all of North Asia, from the Ural Mountains in the west to the Pacific Ocean in the east. It has been a part o ...

) of the 1985

James Bond The ''James Bond'' series focuses on a fictional Secret Intelligence Service, British Secret Service agent created in 1953 by writer Ian Fleming, who featured him in twelve novels and two short-story collections. Since Fleming's death in 19 ...

film '' A View to a Kill'', in which Bond (played for the last time by

Roger Moore Sir Roger George Moore (14 October 192723 May 2017) was an English actor. He was the third actor to portray fictional British secret agent James Bond in the Eon Productions film series, playing the character in seven feature films between 1 ...

) eliminated a host of armed villains before escaping in a submarine to

Alaska Alaska ( ; russian: Аляска, Alyaska; ale, Alax̂sxax̂; ; ems, Alas'kaaq; Yup'ik: ''Alaskaq''; tli, Anáaski) is a state located in the Western United States on the northwest extremity of North America. A semi-exclave of the U.S ...

. 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''. 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. In November 2011, the glacier was used as a shooting location for the second season of the HBO fantasy TV series '' Game of Thrones''.

Outlet glaciers

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. This is not a complete list. Southern territory * Breiðamerkurjökull * Brókarjökull * Falljökull * Fjallsjökull * Fláajökull * Heinabergsjökull *

Hoffellsjökull Hoffellsjökull () is an outlet glacier which flows from the ice cap of Vatnajökull. It is located in the municipality of Hornafjörður, southeast Iceland. Hoffellsjökull takes its name from Hoffell; a mountainous area and a farmland. Hoffellsj ...

* Hólárjökull * Hrútárjökull * Kvíárjökull * Lambatungnajökull * Morsárjökull * Skaftafellsjökull * Skálafellsjökull * Skeiðarárjökull * Stigárjökull * Svínafellsjökull * Viðborðsjökull * Virkisjökull Eastern territory * Brúarjökull * Eyjabakkajökull * Kverkjökull Northern territory * Dyngjujökull Western territory * Köldukvíslarjökull * Síðujökull * Skaftárjökull * Sylgjujökull * Tungnaárjökul

References

External links