Vatnajökull ( Icelandic pronunciation: , literally "Glacier of Lakes"; sometimes translated as Vatna Glacier in English) is the

largest Large means of great size. Large may also refer to: Mathematics * Arbitrarily large, a phrase in mathematics * Large cardinal, a property of certain transfinite numbers * Large category, a category with a proper class of objects and morphisms (o ...

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 s ...

, 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 entirel ...

after the

Severny Island ice cap Severny Island ice cap is an ice cap on Severny Island, northern island of the Novaya Zemlya archipelago in Russia. It covers 40% of Severny Island (which is the 30th largest island in the world) at total area of approximately which, if Novaya ...

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

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 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 ...

. The average thickness of the ice is , with a maximum thickness of .

's highest peak, Hvannadalshnúkur (), as part of the

Öræfajökull Öræfajökull (; ' Öræfi glacier' or 'wasteland glacier') is an ice-covered volcano in south-east Iceland. The largest active volcano and the highest peak in Iceland at , it lies within the Vatnajökull National Park and is covered by part of ...

, is in the southern periphery of Vatnajökull, near

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 t ...

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 as ...

s of Iceland, there are several

volcanoes 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 a ...

. 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 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 flood ...

(

glacial lake outburst flood A glacial lake outburst flood (GLOF) is a type of outburst flood caused by the failure of a dam containing a glacial lake. An event similar to a GLOF, where a body of water contained by a glacier melts or overflows the glacier, is called a j� ...

). 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 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 Va ...

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 Eggert Ólafsson (1 December 1726 – 30 May 1768) was an Icelandic explorer, writer and conservator of the Icelandic language. He also worked to revive the Icelandic culture and economy. Background He was the son of a farmer from Svefneyjar in ...

and Bjarni Pálsson. In September 1950, a

Douglas DC-4 The Douglas DC-4 is an American four-engined (piston), propeller-driven airliner developed by the Douglas Aircraft Company. Military versions of the plane, the C-54 and R5D, served during World War II, in the Berlin Airlift and into the 1 ...

operated by the private airline

Loftleiðir Loftleiðir HF, internationally known as Icelandic Airlines (abbreviated IAL) or Loftleiðir Icelandic, was a private Icelandic airline headquartered on the grounds of Reykjavík Airport in Reykjavík, which operated mostly trans-atlantic flig ...

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 region, 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 ...

) of the 1985

James Bond The ''James Bond'' series focuses on a fictional 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 1964, eight other authors have ...

film ''

A View to a Kill ''A View to a Kill'' is a 1985 spy film and the fourteenth in the ''James Bond'' series produced by Eon Productions, and is the seventh and final appearance of Roger Moore as the fictional MI6 agent James Bond. Although the title is adapted ...

'', in which Bond (played for the last time by Roger Moore) 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 Jökulsárlón (; literally "glacial river lagoon") is a large glacial lake in southern part of Vatnajökull National Park, Iceland. Situated at the head of the Breiðamerkurjökull glacier, it developed into a lake after the glacier started reced ...

, 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 ''The Amazing Race 6'' is the sixth season of the American reality television series ''The Amazing Race''. It featured eleven teams of two racing around the world. The season premiered on CBS on November 16, 2004, and concluded on February 8, 20 ...

''. 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 * Hólárjökull * Hrútárjökull * Kvíárjökull * Lambatungnajökull * Morsárjökull * Skaftafellsjökull * Skálafellsjökull * Skeiðarárjökull * Stigárjökull * Svínafellsjökull * Viðborðsjökull * Virkisjökull Eastern territory * Brúarjökull * Eyjabakkajökull * Kverkjökull Northern territory *

Dyngjujökull Dyngjujökull (, ''shield volcano glacier'') is an outlet glacier of the Vatnajökull glacier in Vatnajökull National Park, Iceland. The glacier is in the Icelandic Highlands and is situated between Bárðarbunga, Holuhraun and Kverkfjöll. Melt ...

Western territory * Köldukvíslarjökull * Síðujökull * Skaftárjökull * Sylgjujökull * Tungnaárjökul

References

External links