Vatnajökull
Encyclopedia
Glaciers of Iceland
The glaciers and ice caps of Iceland cover 11.1% of the land area of the country and have a considerable impact on its landscape and meteorology...
. It is located in the south-east of the island, covering more than 8% of the country.
Size
With an area of 8,100 km², Vatnajökull is the largest ice capIce cap
An ice cap is an ice mass that covers less than 50 000 km² of land area . Masses of ice covering more than 50 000 km² are termed an ice sheet....
in Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
by volume (3,100 km³) and the second largest (after Austfonna
Austfonna
Austfonna is an ice cap located on Nordaustlandet in the Svalbard archipelago in Norway. Covering an area of 8,105 km² it is the largest ice cap by area and with 1,900 km³ the second largest by volume in Europe, after the Vatnajökull in Iceland Austfonna is an ice cap located on Nordaustlandet in...
on Nordaustlandet
Nordaustlandet
Nordaustlandet is the second-largest island in the archipelago of Svalbard, Norway, with an area of . It lies north east of Spitsbergen, separated by Hinlopenstretet. Much of Nordaustlandet lies under large ice caps, mainly Austfonna and Vestfonna, the remaining parts of the north being tundra...
, Norway
Norway
Norway , officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic unitary constitutional monarchy whose territory comprises the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula, Jan Mayen, and the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard and Bouvet Island. Norway has a total area of and a population of about 4.9 million...
) in area (not counting the still larger Severny Island ice cap
Severny Island ice cap
Severny Island ice cap is a glacier on Severny Island, northern island of the Novaya Zemlya archipelago in Russia. It covers 40% of Severny Island at total area of about which makes it the largest glacier by area in Europe easily beating second ranking Austfonna at and third ranking Vatnajökull...
of Novaya Zemlya
Novaya Zemlya
Novaya Zemlya , also known in Dutch as Nova Zembla and in Norwegian as , is an archipelago in the Arctic Ocean in the north of Russia and the extreme northeast of Europe, the easternmost point of Europe lying at Cape Flissingsky on the northern island...
, Russia
Russia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
, which may be regarded as located in the extreme northeast of Europe). On 7 June 2008, it became a part of the Vatnajökull National Park
Vatnajökull National Park
Vatnajökull National Park in Iceland was founded on June 7, 2008. It is the largest national park in Europe, covering around 12,000 km² , including all of Vatnajökull glacier, and the former Skaftafell National Park, Jökulsárgljúfur National Park and surrounding area.The construction of four new...
.
The average thickness of the ice is thus 400 m (1,312.3 ft), with a maximum thickness of 1000 m (3,280.8 ft). Iceland
Iceland
Iceland , described as the Republic of Iceland, is a Nordic and European island country in the North Atlantic Ocean, on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge. Iceland also refers to the main island of the country, which contains almost all the population and almost all the land area. The country has a population...
's highest peak, Hvannadalshnúkur
Hvannadalshnúkur
Hvannadalshnúkur or Hvannadalshnjúkur is a peak in the north-western rim of the Öræfajökull volcano in Iceland and the highest point of the island. An official measurement completed in August 2005 established its height as ....
(2109.6 m (6,921.3 ft)), is located in the southern periphery of Vatnajökull, near Skaftafell National Park
Skaftafell National Park
Skaftafell National Park was a national park, situated between Kirkjubæjarklaustur, typically referred to as Klaustur, and Höfn in the south of Iceland. On 7 June 2008, it became a part of the larger Vatnajökull National Park....
.
Volcanoes
Under the ice cap, as under many of the glaciers of Iceland, there are several volcanoVolcano
2. Bedrock3. Conduit 4. Base5. Sill6. Dike7. Layers of ash emitted by the volcano8. Flank| 9. Layers of lava emitted by the volcano10. Throat11. Parasitic cone12. Lava flow13. Vent14. Crater15...
es. The volcanic lakes, Grímsvötn
Grímsvötn
The Grímsvötn sub-glacial lakes and the volcano of the same name are in South-East Iceland. They are in the highlands of Iceland at the northwestern side of the Vatnajökull ice-cap. The lakes are at , at an elevation of...
for example, were the sources of a large jökulhlaup
Jökulhlaup
A jökulhlaup is a glacial outburst flood. It is an Icelandic term that has been adopted by the English language. It originally referred to the well-known subglacial outburst floods from Vatnajökull, Iceland which are triggered by geothermal heating and occasionally by a volcanic subglacial...
(glacial lake outburst flood) in 1996. There was also a considerable but short-time eruption of the volcano under these lakes at the beginning of November 2004. In May 21, 2011 a volcanic eruption started í Grímsvötn in Vatnajökull National Park at around 7 p.m. The plume reached as high as 20 kilometers. During the last ice age
Ice age
An ice age or, more precisely, glacial age, is a generic geological period of long-term reduction in the temperature of the Earth's surface and atmosphere, resulting in the presence or expansion of continental ice sheets, polar ice sheets and alpine glaciers...
, numerous volcanic eruptions occurred under Vatnajökull, creating many subglacial eruption
Subglacial eruption
A subglacial eruption is a volcanic eruption that has occurred under ice, or under a glacier. Subglacial eruptions can cause dangerous floods, lahars and create hyaloclastite and pillow lava. Subglacial eruptions sometimes form a subglacial volcano called a tuya. Tuyas in Iceland are called table...
s.
Sight line
According to Guinness World RecordsGuinness World Records
Guinness World Records, known until 2000 as The Guinness Book of Records , is a reference book published annually, containing a collection of world records, both human achievements and the extremes of the natural world...
, Vatnajökull is the object of the world's longest sight line, 550 km (341.8 mi) from Slættaratindur
Slættaratindur
Slættaratindur is the highest mountain in the Faroe Islands, at an altitude of 882 metres. It is located in the northern part of Eysturoy, between the villages of Eiði, Gjógv, and Funningur....
, the highest mountain in the Faroe Islands
Faroe Islands
The Faroe Islands are an island group situated between the Norwegian Sea and the North Atlantic Ocean, approximately halfway between Scotland and Iceland. The Faroe Islands are a self-governing territory within the Kingdom of Denmark, along with Denmark proper and Greenland...
. GWR
Guinness World Records
Guinness World Records, known until 2000 as The Guinness Book of Records , is a reference book published annually, containing a collection of world records, both human achievements and the extremes of the natural world...
state that "owing to the light bending effects of atmospheric refraction, Vatnajökull (2,109.6 m), Iceland, can sometimes be seen from the Faroe Islands
Faroe Islands
The Faroe Islands are an island group situated between the Norwegian Sea and the North Atlantic Ocean, approximately halfway between Scotland and Iceland. The Faroe Islands are a self-governing territory within the Kingdom of Denmark, along with Denmark proper and Greenland...
, 340 miles (547.2 km) away". This may be based on a claimed sighting by a British sailor in 1939. The validity of this record is analysed/undermined in mathematical and atmospheric detail by J.C. Ferranti.
In culture
In 1950, a Douglas DC-4Douglas DC-4
The Douglas DC-4 is a four-engined propeller-driven airliner developed by the Douglas Aircraft Company. It served during World War II, in the Berlin Airlift and into the 1960s in a military role...
operated by the private airline Loftleiðir
Loftleiðir
Loftleiðir HF, internationally known as Icelandic Airlines or Loftleiðir Icelandic, was a private Icelandic airline headquartered on the grounds of Reykjavík Airport in Reykjavík, which operated mostly trans-atlantic flights linking Europe and America, pioneering the low-cost flight business...
crash-landed on the Vatnajökull glacier and never flew again. Its abandoned fuselage is visible in the 2007 film Heima
Heima
Heima is a documentary film and double DVD set about the tour around Iceland in the summer of 2006 of the band Sigur Rós...
, a documentary about a tour performed by the band Sigur Rós
Sigur Rós
Sigur Rós is an Icelandic post-rock band with classicaland minimalist elements. The band is known for its ethereal sound, and frontman Jónsi Birgisson's falsetto vocals and use of bowed guitar. In January 2010, the band announced that they will be on hiatus. Since then, it has since been announced...
.
The glacier was used as the setting for the opening sequence (set in Siberia
Siberia
Siberia is an extensive region constituting almost all of Northern Asia. Comprising the central and eastern portion of the Russian Federation, it was part of the Soviet Union from its beginning, as its predecessor states, the Tsardom of Russia and the Russian Empire, conquered it during the 16th...
) of the 1985 James Bond
James Bond
James Bond, code name 007, is a fictional character created in 1953 by writer Ian Fleming, who featured him in twelve novels and two short story collections. There have been a six other authors who wrote authorised Bond novels or novelizations after Fleming's death in 1964: Kingsley Amis,...
film A View to a Kill
A View to a Kill
A View to a Kill is the fourteenth spy film of the James Bond series, and the seventh and last to star Roger Moore as the fictional MI6 agent James Bond. Although the title is adapted from Ian Fleming's short story "From a View to a Kill", the film is the fourth Bond film after The Spy Who Loved...
, in which Bond (played for the last time by Roger Moore
Roger Moore
Sir Roger George Moore KBE , is an English actor, perhaps best known for portraying British secret agent James Bond in seven films from 1973 to 1985. He also portrayed Simon Templar in the long-running British television series The Saint.-Early life:Moore was born in Stockwell, London...
) eliminated a host of armed villains before escaping in a submarine to Alaska
Alaska
Alaska is the largest state in the United States by area. It is situated in the northwest extremity of the North American continent, with Canada to the east, the Arctic Ocean to the north, and the Pacific Ocean to the west and south, with Russia further west across the Bering Strait...
. Several other films, including another in the Bond franchise, have been filmed on or using Jökulsárlón
Jökulsárlón
Jökulsárlón is the largest glacier lagoon or lake in Iceland. Situated in south eastern Iceland, at the head of the Breiðamerkurjökull glacier branching from the Vatnajökull, between Skaftafell National Park and Höfn, it evolved into a lagoon after the glacier started receding from the edge of...
, the terminal lake of the Breiðamerkurjökull outlet from Vatnajökull.
In November 2011, the glacier is set to be used as a shooting location for the second season of the HBO fantasy TV series Game of Thrones
Game of Thrones (TV series)
Game of Thrones is an American medieval fantasy television series created for HBO by David Benioff and D. B. Weiss. Based on author George R. R. Martin's best-selling A Song of Ice and Fire series of fantasy novels, the first of which is called A Game of Thrones, the television series debuted in...
.
See also
- Geography of IcelandGeography of IcelandIceland is a medium-sized island in the North Atlantic ocean. The island is located east of Greenland and immediately south of the Arctic Circle, atop the divergent boundary of the Mid-Atlantic Ridge in the North Atlantic Ocean. It lies about from New York City and from Scotland...
- Glacial lake outburst floodGlacial lake outburst floodA glacial lake outburst flood is a type of outburst flood that occurs when the dam containing a glacial lake fails. The dam can consist of glacier ice or a terminal moraine...
- Glaciers of IcelandGlaciers of IcelandThe glaciers and ice caps of Iceland cover 11.1% of the land area of the country and have a considerable impact on its landscape and meteorology...
- Iceland plumeIceland plumeThe Iceland Plume is a postulated upwelling of anomalously hot rock in the Earth's mantle beneath Iceland. Its origin is thought to lie deep in the mantle, perhaps at the boundary between the core and the mantle at ca. 2880 km depth. Opinions differ as to whether seismic studies have imaged...
- JökulhlaupJökulhlaupA jökulhlaup is a glacial outburst flood. It is an Icelandic term that has been adopted by the English language. It originally referred to the well-known subglacial outburst floods from Vatnajökull, Iceland which are triggered by geothermal heating and occasionally by a volcanic subglacial...
- Lakes of Iceland
- List of islands off Iceland
- List of volcanoes in Iceland
- Rivers of Iceland
- Volcanism in Iceland
- Waterfalls of IcelandWaterfalls of IcelandIceland is unusually suited for waterfalls. This small island country has a north Atlantic climate that produces frequent rain or snow and a near-Arctic location that produces large glaciers, whose summer melts feed many rivers...
- List of glaciers
- Snowball EarthSnowball EarthThe Snowball Earth hypothesis posits that the Earth's surface became entirely or nearly entirely frozen at least once, some time earlier than 650 Ma . Proponents of the hypothesis argue that it best explains sedimentary deposits generally regarded as of glacial origin at tropical...