Vatnaj kull
Vatnajökull (pronounced vat'najö'küdll) is the largest glacier in Iceland and is situated in the south-east of the island, covering about 8% of the country. With its size of 8.456 km² it is also the largest glacier in Europe. The thickness of the ice is up to 1000 meters.
The Vatnajökull has been shrinking for some years now, for environmental reasons.
Iceland's highest mountain, Hvannadalshnjúkur (2119 m), is found to the south of Vatnajökull, near Skaftafell National Park.
Under the glacier - as under many of the glaciers of Iceland - there are volcanoes. The volcanic lakes, Grimsvötn for example, caused a big glacier run in 1996.
A Vatnajökull volcano started erupting on November 2, 2004.
See also: Geography of Iceland, Volcanoes of Iceland.
External links
- Photos of Vatnajökull from www.islandsmyndir.is (http://www.islandsmyndir.is/html_skjol/halendid/vatnajokull/vatnajokull_yfirlit08.htm)
- search engine and map of Iceland (http://gis.bofh.is/ornefnaskra/)
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Categories: Highlands of Iceland | Glaciers of Iceland