Jökulsárlón (; translates to "glacial river lagoon") is a large
glacial lake
A glacial lake is a body of water with origins from glacier activity. They are formed when a glacier erodes the land and then melts, filling the depression created by the glacier.
Formation
Near the end of the last glacial period, roughly 10,0 ...
in southern part of
Vatnajökull National Park,
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 ...
. Situated at the head of the
Breiðamerkurjökull glacier, it developed into a lake after the glacier started receding in the late 19th century. The lake has grown since then at varying rates because of melting of the glaciers. The glacial front is now about away from the ocean's edge and the lake covers an area of about . In 2009 it was reported to be the deepest lake in Iceland, at over , as
glacial retreat extended its boundaries.
The size of the lake has increased fourfold since the 1970s.
The lake can be seen from
Route 1 between
Höfn and
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 ...
. It appears as "a ghostly procession of luminous blue icebergs".
[
Jökulsárlón has been a setting for four ]Hollywood
Hollywood usually refers to:
* Hollywood, Los Angeles, a neighborhood in California
* Hollywood, a metonym for the cinema of the United States
Hollywood may also refer to:
Places United States
* Hollywood District (disambiguation)
* Hollywood ...
movies: ''A View to a Kill
''A View to a Kill'' is a 1985 spy film, the fourteenth in the ''James Bond'' series produced by Eon Productions, and the seventh and final appearance of Roger Moore as the fictional MI6 agent James Bond. Although the title is adapted from ...
'', '' Die Another Day'', '' Lara Croft: Tomb Raider'', and ''Batman Begins
''Batman Begins'' is a 2005 superhero film directed by Christopher Nolan, who co-wrote the screenplay with David S. Goyer. Based on the DC Comics character Batman, it stars Christian Bale as Bruce Wayne (Dark Knight trilogy), Bruce Wayne / B ...
'', as well as the reality TV series ''The Amazing Race
''The Amazing Race'' is an adventure reality competition franchise in which teams of two people race around the world in competition with other teams. ''The Amazing Race'' is split into legs, with teams tasked to deduce clues, navigate themselv ...
''. In 1991, Iceland issued a postage stamp, with a face value of 26 kronur, depicting Jökulsárlón.[
The tongue of the Breiðamerkurjökull glacier is a major attraction for tourists.
]
Formation
Lagoon
Jökulsárlón is the largest and most active glacial lake in Iceland. It provides outstanding views of the ice cap Vatnajökull, a vast dome of ice that rises to a height of and shows how the outlet glacier Breiðamerkurjökull calves into the lagoon.
The lagoon started to form in 1930's after the glacier Breiðamerkurjökull started to recede in the late 19th century, and it is getting bigger because the glacier is receding about 200m every year. Icebergs gather at the mouth of the lake's shallow exit, melt down into smaller ice blocks, and roll out into the sea. Ice water and soil make a unique ecological phenomenon. Jökulsárlón Lake, the "glacier lake", was reported to have doubled in size in the 15-year period before 2007. The huge blocks of ice that calve from the edge of Vatnajökull are about high, which fills the lagoon stocked with icebergs. Some icebergs appear naturally sculpted on account volcanic ash from ancient eruptions that partly covers them.
Icebergs
The icebergs that calve from the glacier edge move towards the river mouth and get entrenched at the bottom. The movement of the icebergs fluctuates with the tide currents, as well as being affected by wind. However, they start floating as icebergs when their size is small enough to drift to the sea. These icebergs are seen in two shades: milky white and bright blue, which depends on the air trapped within the ice and is an interplay of light and ice crystals.
Glacier - Breiðamerkurjökull
The outlet glacier that feeds the lagoon is called Breiðamerkurjökull.
Out-wash plains - Breiðamerkursandur
The glacier is responsible for the formation of a large outwash plain called Breiðamerkursandur. It has a breadth of around 25 km and serves as bird habitat in the summer month. This outwash plain is constantly changing. The shoreline of the glacial lagoon used to be advancing, but is now retreating as there is a decrease in glacial rivers depositing material. However, as the glaciers melt, the land rises around 2–4 cm each year somewhat balancing out the retreating shoreline.
Fauna
The lake is filled with fish that drift in from the sea along with the tides. Seals gather in large numbers at the mouth of the lake to catch fish during the winter. Large numbers of seabirds, particularly Arctic terns
The Arctic tern (''Sterna paradisaea'') is a tern in the family Laridae. This bird has a circumpolar breeding distribution covering the Arctic and sub-Arctic regions of Europe (as far south as Brittany), Asia, and North America (as far south ...
, which nest nearby, gather to catch herring
Herring are various species of forage fish, belonging to the Order (biology), order Clupeiformes.
Herring often move in large Shoaling and schooling, schools around fishing banks and near the coast, found particularly in shallow, temperate wate ...
, trout
Trout (: trout) is a generic common name for numerous species of carnivorous freshwater ray-finned fishes belonging to the genera '' Oncorhynchus'', ''Salmo'' and ''Salvelinus'', all of which are members of the subfamily Salmoninae in the ...
, salmon
Salmon (; : salmon) are any of several list of commercially important fish species, commercially important species of euryhaline ray-finned fish from the genera ''Salmo'' and ''Oncorhynchus'' of the family (biology), family Salmonidae, native ...
, krill
Krill ''(Euphausiids)'' (: krill) are small and exclusively marine crustaceans of the order (biology), order Euphausiacea, found in all of the world's oceans. The name "krill" comes from the Norwegian language, Norwegian word ', meaning "small ...
and other fish. Breiðamerkursandur (the large sand deposits in the area) is the main habitat of the Arctic skua (''Stercorarius parasiticus''). During the summer season, the gull-like skuas have their nests on the lake's shores. The skuas, fat and dark in colour with white wingtips, are said to be aggressive "pirates of the seas", which harass other birds as big as gannets. They also kill and eat smaller birds such as puffins. Great skuas are not afraid of human beings and also do not tolerate human beings close to their nests. These birds are reported to migrate from their wintering grounds off the coasts of Spain
Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...
and Africa
Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent after Asia. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 20% of Earth's land area and 6% of its total surfac ...
. Seals are seen either swimming in the lagoon or lying on icebergs. Many times, the tides carry shoals of herring
Herring are various species of forage fish, belonging to the Order (biology), order Clupeiformes.
Herring often move in large Shoaling and schooling, schools around fishing banks and near the coast, found particularly in shallow, temperate wate ...
or capelan into the lagoon by the tide and the birds feast on them.
Land Use History
Land Settlement and Farms
The first settlers arrived in Iceland around AD 870, when the edge of the tongue of Breiðamerkurjökull 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 ...
was about further north of its present location. During the Little Ice Age
The Little Ice Age (LIA) was a period of regional cooling, particularly pronounced in the North Atlantic region. It was not a true ice age of global extent. The term was introduced into scientific literature by François E. Matthes in 1939. Mat ...
between 1600 and 1900, with lower temperatures prevailing in these latitudes, the glacier had grown by up to about from the coast at Jokulsá River, by about 1890. When the temperatures rose between 1920 and 1965, the Breiðamerkurjökull glacier tongue rapidly retreated, continually creating icebergs of varying size, thus creating a lagoon in its wake around 1934–35. The lake is over deep where the glacier snout originally existed. Glacial moraines became exposed on both sides of the lake. In 1975, the lake was about in area and now it reportedly stands at at the edge of the glacier tongue.
Current Ownership
In 2017 the Icelandic State bought the farm Fell which includes Jökulsárlón. Later that same year Fell and other public land surrounding Jökulsárlón got protected as a part of Vatnajökull National Park.
The Jökulsárlón Landowners Association represented the owners of the land property Fell. This property was leased out for filming or any other commercial activity as required.
Einar Björn Einarsson is the operator of the boat trips on Jökulsárlón. The Landowners Association leased out the site at the lagoon front to this operator to ply the boats on the lagoon.
Nature Protection
Jökulsárlón and the surrounding area are a part of Vatnajökull National park. The size of the park is 14,967 km2 Which is approximately 14% of Iceland, making it Europe's second largest national park in terms of area after Yugyd Va in Russia. On 5 July 2019, Vatnajökull National Park was inscribed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The unique qualities of Vatnajökull National Park are primarily its great variety of landscape features, created by the combined forces of rivers, glacial ice, and volcanic and geothermal activity. The National Park aims to preserve unimpaired the natural beauty of the park for the enjoyment, education, and inspiration of this and future generations.
Protective measures for the bridge
A coffer dam was constructed near the Glacial River Bridge that spans Jökulsárlón to build a row of protective measures of stone boulders to prevent any erosion of the foundation of the pillars of the bridge. This coffer dam enabled the Icelandic road administration to create workable access for the power shovel digger to place the row of stone protective measures, which would also divert the icebergs from hitting the bridge pillars, thus avoiding damage to the structure.
Given the current retreat rate of Vatnajökull, likely a deep fjord
In physical geography, a fjord (also spelled fiord in New Zealand English; ) is a long, narrow sea inlet with steep sides or cliffs, created by a glacier. Fjords exist on the coasts of Antarctica, the Arctic, and surrounding landmasses of the n ...
will develop where Jökulsárlón is now. This retreat is also posing a threat to the National Highway Route 1 of Iceland. The lagoon is to the west of Höfn town and east of 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 ...
. It is accessible by the ring road, Route 1, that goes across the lake, and where parking facilities have been provided for visitors. It is also known as the "tourist conveyor belt". Isolated large blocks of icebergs can be seen on the black sand beach, sometimes called "diamond beach" because of ice chunks scattered on the sand.
The name of the beach is actually Eystri-Fellsfjara. Glitrandi ísjakar við Eystri-Fellsfjöru heilla strandsólgna
Rúv, 1 of May 2024
Tourism and Services
Activities
There are many activities available to guests at Jökulsárlón. There are lagoon tours provided by several different companies in boats or kayaks. In the winter there are ice cave tours that leave from the lagoon parking lot. There are hiking trails around the area that offer guests an opportunity to explore the area.
Boat tours on the glacier lake
In 1985, the premiere of the James Bond movie ''A View to a Kill
''A View to a Kill'' is a 1985 spy film, the fourteenth in the ''James Bond'' series produced by Eon Productions, and the seventh and final appearance of Roger Moore as the fictional MI6 agent James Bond. Although the title is adapted from ...
'' marked the start of commercial boat tours on the lake. Guðbrandur Jóhannesson started the tours on Jökulsárlón. Jóhannesson, who today owns and operates the compan
Vatnajökull Travel
, operated the tours for the first two years. In summer 1987, about 5,000 passengers sailed on the company's two small vessels. The next year, an amphibious vehicle
An amphibious vehicle (or simply amphibian) is a vehicle that works both on land and on or under water. Amphibious vehicles include amphibious Amphibious cycle, bicycles, Amphibious ATV, ATVs, Amphibious automobile, cars, Duckboats, buses, truc ...
, the LARC-V, joined the fleet. By 1995, the number of passengers per year had multiplied and the company then operated three amphibious vehicles. In 1999, Einar Björn Einarsson, a local from the nearby town of Höfn, bought the company. In 2006, the company added a fourth amphibian.
The company Jökulsárlón ehf now employs about 30 seasonal employees. For the past few years, the company has carried 60,000 to 70,000 passengers annually; since the first commercial boat tour, about 900,000 tourists have taken the excursion.
Services
There are park rangers working in the area all year round. During the summer months park rangers offer free educational walks for park visitors.
In popular culture
Jökulsárlón and the Breiðamerkurjökull glacier have been part of the James Bond films
James Bond is a fictional character created by British novelist Ian Fleming in 1953. A British secret agent working for MI6 under the codename 007, Bond has been portrayed on film in twenty-seven productions by actors Sean Connery, David ...
''A View to a Kill
''A View to a Kill'' is a 1985 spy film, the fourteenth in the ''James Bond'' series produced by Eon Productions, and the seventh and final appearance of Roger Moore as the fictional MI6 agent James Bond. Although the title is adapted from ...
'' (1985) and '' Die Another Day'' (2002), ''Batman Begins
''Batman Begins'' is a 2005 superhero film directed by Christopher Nolan, who co-wrote the screenplay with David S. Goyer. Based on the DC Comics character Batman, it stars Christian Bale as Bruce Wayne (Dark Knight trilogy), Bruce Wayne / B ...
'' (2005),[ '' Beowulf and Grendel'' (2005), '' Lara Croft: Tomb Raider'' (2001) and '' Dilwale'' ][
The popularity of the lake has been further boosted by the TV coverage provided live from Jökulsárlón on the American TV program '']Good Morning America
''Good Morning America'', often abbreviated as ''GMA'', is an American breakfast television, morning television program that is broadcast on American Broadcasting Company, ABC. It debuted on November 3, 1975, and first expanded to weekends wit ...
'' in southeast Iceland, on 13 November 2006.
The live broadcast is reported to have been watched by four million people.
In 2014, Swedish electronic multimedia project, iamamiwhoami
iamamiwhoami ( ) is an electronic music and audiovisual project led by Swedish singer-songwriter Jonna Lee (singer), Jonna Lee in collaboration with producer Claes Björklund. Since 2009, the project has released a series of audiovisual works ...
, filmed their music video "vista" in Jökulsárlón.
In October 2014, scenes of French singer Indila's music video "Love Story" were filmed at the lagoon.
See also
* List of lakes of Iceland
Iceland has over 20 lakes larger than 10 km2 (4 sq mi), and at least 40 others varying between 2.5 and 10 km2 (1 to 4 sq mi) in size. This list also includes a few smaller lakes and ponds that are considered notable (for example Tjörnin ...
* 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 ...
References
External links
Official Website of Vatnajökull National Park
Webcam
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Jokulsarlon
Glacial lakes
Lakes of Iceland
Vatnajökull National Park