Eiríksjökull ( Icelandic for "Eirík's glacier", ) is a

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 ...

north-west of

Langjökull Langjökull (, Icelandic for "long glacier") is the second largest ice cap in Iceland (), after Vatnajökull. It is situated in the west of the Icelandic interior or Highlands of Iceland and can be seen clearly from Haukadalur. It covers the ...

Iceland Iceland is a Nordic countries, Nordic island country between the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic and Arctic Oceans, on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge between North America and Europe. It is culturally and politically linked with Europe and is the regi ...

, with an area of reaching a height of , atop the largest table mountain in Iceland which goes by the same name.

Geology

This volcano which is about three times the area of its capping glacier is in the Western volcanic zone. It rises over above its surrounds and was formed presumably by mongenetic subglacial

volcanic activity Volcanism, vulcanism, volcanicity, or volcanic activity is the phenomenon where solids, liquids, gases, and their mixtures erupt to the surface of a solid-surface astronomical body such as a planet or a moon. It is caused by the presence of a he ...

. It is currently dormant or more likely

extinct Extinction is the termination of an organism by the death of its Endling, last member. A taxon may become Functional extinction, functionally extinct before the death of its last member if it loses the capacity to Reproduction, reproduce and ...

in terms of volcanic activity. The lowest is a

hyaloclastite Hyaloclastite is a volcanoclastic accumulation or breccia consisting of glass (from the Greek ''hyalus'') fragments (clasts) formed by quench fragmentation of lava flow surfaces during submarine or subglacial extrusion. It occurs as thin marg ...

(móberg)

tuya A tuya is a flat-topped, steep-sided volcano formed when lava erupts through a thick glacier or ice sheet. They are rare worldwide, being confined to regions which were covered by glaciers and had active volcanism during the same period. As lava ...

, capped by a thick basaltic lava shield. The volcano is also a

composite volcano A stratovolcano, also known as a composite volcano, is a typically conical volcano built up by many alternating layers (strata) of hardened lava and tephra. Unlike shield volcanoes, stratovolcanoes are characterized by a steep profile with a ...

Glacier

There is an accessible ice-cored

moraine A moraine is any accumulation of unconsolidated debris (regolith and Rock (geology), rock), sometimes referred to as glacial till, that occurs in both currently and formerly glaciated regions, and that has been previously carried along by a gla ...

beyond the north-east tuya plateau edge Klofajökull outlet glacier, but the other outlet glaciers are less accessible. These are the Brækureystri to the north, Vestri-Brækur to the north-west, Þorvaldsjökull to the east and Ögmundarjökull (this is just south of the Þorvaldsjökull glacier and has been regarded as part of Þorvaldsjökull) In 2008 the ice field edge was at about the contour.

Etymology

The glacier was called Baldjökull until about 1700 and with relative certainty the current name is influenced by the nearby mountain Eiríksgnípa. Nothing is known with certainty about said Erik but a fable tells of an outlaw named Eiríkur or Eirekur who evaded capture by running into that mountain.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Eiriksjokull Glaciers of Iceland Borgarbyggð West Volcanic Zone of Iceland Stratovolcanoes of Iceland Pleistocene stratovolcanoes