Fjaðrárgljúfur (, "feather river canyon") is a canyon in south east

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 ...

. The Fjaðrá river flows through it. The canyon has steep walls and winding water. It is up to deep and about long. It is located near the Ring Road, not far from the village of

Kirkjubæjarklaustur Kirkjubæjarklaustur ( Icelandic for "church farm cloister", pronounced ; often referred to locally as just Klaustur) is a village in the south of Iceland on the hringvegur (road no. 1 or Ring Road) between Vík í Mýrdal and Höfn. It is pa ...

. Its origins dates back to the cold periods of the

Ice Age An ice age is a long period of reduction in the temperature of Earth's surface and atmosphere, resulting in the presence or expansion of continental and polar ice sheets and alpine glaciers. Earth's climate alternates between ice ages, and g ...

, about two million years ago. The canyon was created by progressive

erosion Erosion is the action of surface processes (such as Surface runoff, water flow or wind) that removes soil, Rock (geology), rock, or dissolved material from one location on the Earth's crust#Crust, Earth's crust and then sediment transport, tran ...

by flowing water from glaciers through the rocks and palagonite over millennia. A waterfall flows down the western side of the canyon, visible from an observation platform at the end of a one-mile hike up the eastern edge. In May 2019, authorities closed the canyon to visitors after it appeared in the music video for

Justin Bieber Justin Drew Bieber ( ; born March 1, 1994) is a Canadian singer. Regarded as a pop icon, he is recognized for his multi-genre musical performances. He was discovered by record executive Scooter Braun in 2008 and subsequently brought to the U ...

's " I'll Show You". The resulting stream of visitors threatened to damage the canyon's environment.

Panorama

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Fjadrargljufur Canyons and gorges of Iceland Southern Region (Iceland)