Vatnajökull

Vatnajökull (pronounced vat'najö'küdll) is the largest glacier in Iceland. It is situated in the south-east of the island, covering more than 8% of the country. With its size of 8.100 km² it is the second largest glacier in Europe. The thickness of the ice is up to 1000 meters.

Iceland's highest mountain, Hvannadalshnjúkur (2111 m), is found in the southern periphery 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, were the sources of a large glacier run in 1996. The volcano under these lakes also caused a considerable but short-time eruption in the beginning of November, 2004.

The Vatnajökull has been shrinking for some years now, possibly because of climatic changes and recent volcanic activity.

See also

• Geography of Iceland
• Volcanoes of Iceland

External links

• Photos of Vatnajökull from www.islandsmyndir.is
• search engine and map of Iceland