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Dyngjufjöll. The Dyngjufjöll is a volcanic mountain range in the northeast of Iceland which belongs to the Askja volcanic system. Sometimes called Dyngjufjöll, it is part of the
Many peaks in Dyngjufjöll reach between 1,300 and 1,500 m and thus rise above the bottom of the Askja Caldera by around 100 – 300 m.
The highest peak is Þorvaldstindur with a height of 1,510 m. It is named after an Icelandic geologist, Þorvaldur Thoroddsen.''Íslandshandbókin. Náttúra, saga og sérkenni 2.bindi.'' Hg. T. Einarsson, H. Magnússon. 1989, S. 915.
This is the central volcano of an approximately 150 km long fissure system, which is also called Askja after its main caldera.Ari Trausti Guðmundsson: ''Lebende Erde. Facetten der Geologie Islands.'' Reykjavík 2007, S. 198.
The mountains are mostly made of palagonite . They appear to be the remains of a large Ice Age stratovolcano. But since then the volcano has continued to work steadily, so that thick layers of lava and ash cover the palagonite in most places.
One of the passes between the peaks, Jónsskarð, is also named after an Icelandic geologist, Jón Þorkelsson, who was the first to describe the Askja volcano. He examined it after the great eruption of 1875. The lowest pass between these mountains, which also form the edge of the Askja caldera, is the Öskjuop.
Here the caldera opens to the east and a hiking trail leads through it to Lake Öskjuvatn. Two German researchers, Max Rudloff and Walther von Knebel, who disappeared in the area around this time, probably drowned in this in 1907 . Knebel's fiancée, Ina von Grumbkow, organized an unsuccessful search expedition the next year, in which she also took part.
Also to the east of it is a gorge called the Drachenschlucht (Isl. Drekagil). There is a Dreki hut belonging to the Akureyri hiking club. This hiking club also runs the Dyngjufjöll hut, which is located north-northwest of the Askja.
Vatnajökull National Park
Vatnajökull National Park ( ) is one of three national parks in Iceland, and is the largest one. It encompasses all of Vatnajökull glacier and extensive surrounding areas. These include the national parks previously existing at Skaftafell in th ...
. The Askja caldera is also located there.
Location
The huge mountain massif is located in the highlands of Iceland, more precisely in the Ódáðahraun and covers around 600 km2. It forms an almost perfect square with a side length of around 24 km. Vatnajökull with its Dyngjujökull glacier tongue is 15 km south of the mountains. On the west side, the Dyngjudalur valley cuts into the mountains, so that this is called the Vestari-Dyngjufjöll . These also include the central volcano of the Askja volcanic system. The region is only accessible for a few months of the year. Being situated in therain shadow
A rain shadow is an area of significantly reduced rainfall behind a mountainous region, on the side facing away from prevailing winds, known as its leeward side.
Evaporated moisture from body of water, bodies of water (such as oceans and larg ...
to the northeast 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 i ...
glacier
A glacier (; or ) is a persistent body of dense ice, a form of rock, that is constantly moving downhill under its own weight. A glacier forms where the accumulation of snow exceeds its ablation over many years, often centuries. It acquires ...
, the area receives only about of rain
Rain is a form of precipitation where water drop (liquid), droplets that have condensation, condensed from Water vapor#In Earth's atmosphere, atmospheric water vapor fall under gravity. Rain is a major component of the water cycle and is res ...
fall annually.
NASA
The area was used byNASA
The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA ) is an independent agencies of the United States government, independent agency of the federal government of the United States, US federal government responsible for the United States ...
during training for the Apollo program
The Apollo program, also known as Project Apollo, was the United States human spaceflight program led by NASA, which Moon landing, landed the first humans on the Moon in 1969. Apollo followed Project Mercury that put the first Americans in sp ...
to prepare astronauts for the lunar missions. Their main objective in Askja was to study geology. The Astronaut Monument
The Astronaut Monument is a monument commemorating the training of Apollo program, Apollo Astronaut, astronauts in northern Iceland in 1965 and 1967. It is located outside the Exploration Museum in Húsavík, and contains the names of 32 Apollo as ...
in Húsavík
Húsavík () is a town in Norðurþing municipality on the northeast coast of Iceland on the shores of Skjálfandi bay with 2,485 inhabitants. The most famous landmark of the town is the wooden church Húsavíkurkirkja, built in 1907. Húsav ...
lists the 32 astronauts who participated.
Geography
Many peaks in Dyngjufjöll reach between 1,300 and 1,500 m and thus rise above the bottom of the Askja Caldera by around 100 – 300 m.
The highest peak is Þorvaldstindur with a height of 1,510 m. It is named after an Icelandic geologist, Þorvaldur Thoroddsen.''Íslandshandbókin. Náttúra, saga og sérkenni 2.bindi.'' Hg. T. Einarsson, H. Magnússon. 1989, S. 915.
This is the central volcano of an approximately 150 km long fissure system, which is also called Askja after its main caldera.Ari Trausti Guðmundsson: ''Lebende Erde. Facetten der Geologie Islands.'' Reykjavík 2007, S. 198.
The mountains are mostly made of palagonite . They appear to be the remains of a large Ice Age stratovolcano. But since then the volcano has continued to work steadily, so that thick layers of lava and ash cover the palagonite in most places.
One of the passes between the peaks, Jónsskarð, is also named after an Icelandic geologist, Jón Þorkelsson, who was the first to describe the Askja volcano. He examined it after the great eruption of 1875. The lowest pass between these mountains, which also form the edge of the Askja caldera, is the Öskjuop.
Here the caldera opens to the east and a hiking trail leads through it to Lake Öskjuvatn. Two German researchers, Max Rudloff and Walther von Knebel, who disappeared in the area around this time, probably drowned in this in 1907 . Knebel's fiancée, Ina von Grumbkow, organized an unsuccessful search expedition the next year, in which she also took part.
Drekagil Gorge
Also to the east of it is a gorge called the Drachenschlucht (Isl. Drekagil). There is a Dreki hut belonging to the Akureyri hiking club. This hiking club also runs the Dyngjufjöll hut, which is located north-northwest of the Askja.
See also
*List of volcanic eruptions in Iceland
This is an incomplete list of volcanic eruptions in Iceland. Please see External links below for databases of Icelandic eruptions which include over 530 events.
''For latest information about the current/ongoing series of eruptions near Grindav ...
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Dyngjufjöll Highlands of Iceland Mountains of Iceland Stratovolcanoes of Iceland Active volcanoes VEI-5 volcanoes Volcanic crater lakes North Volcanic Zone of Iceland 19th-century volcanic events One-thousanders of Iceland Volcanic systems of Iceland Calderas of Iceland Central volcanoes of Iceland