 |
Jökulsarlón is a small lake at the base of the Vatnajökull Ice Sheet, seen in the background. Numerous small icebergs calve from the glacier and become trapped when they touch bottom. Eventually, they melt enough to float free; then they float down a short river to the sea. |
| The Ring Road across southern Iceland passes between the Vatnajökull Ice Sheet and the ocean. Numerous valley glaciers can be seen descending from the main ice sheet. |  |
 |
Skaftafell National Park offers camping near the toe of Skatafelljökul, one of the Vatnajökul valley glaciers. Several trails lead up the ridge between this and the next glacier to the west. Numerous medial moraines are visible out on the ice. The dirty, dark ice in the foreground is a good indicator that this glacier, like most others in the world, is retreating. |
| Beautiful columnar jointing is displayed at Svartifoss ("Black Falls") in Skaftafell National Park, just a short hike from the campground. |  |
 |
The Nyðri-Orfæra Falls is situated in the beautiful Eldgjá Valley near Lakigigar. The valley is a fissure that last erupted in 930. The 1783 Laki flows poured into the valley and partially filled it. Until recently, a natural bridge crossed above the lower falls. The fragile span collapsed after a heavy snowfall. |
| The view from the top of Laki volcano looks southward along the spatter cones erupted in the rifting event that started in 1783 (note bus for scale). Approximately 525 square kilometers were covered by the flows erupted during the eruption, the largest area in recorded history. From the other side of the volcano, the rift can been seen heading directly for Grimsvötn, the subglacial volcano beneath the Vatnajökull that erupted in 1997. I sold this picture to the Polish edition of Time Magazine and ended up having to pay Polish income tax! |  |
|
Email Dr. Jim Reynolds JR's Home Page Return to GSA Division of Environmental Studies, Mathematics, and Natural Sciences |