Ah, the south of Iceland with its glaciers, waterfalls and long black sand beaches. So many memories that still emerge freshly more than a year later. In this article we will focus on the impressive glaciers of the south of the island, as it is in the south of Iceland that most of them are found. It's impossible to miss them because they are so present.
1The impressive Vatnajökull
The biggest of them is the huge Vatnajökull. It is so big that it is impossible to imagine its span from the ground. It is one of the largest glaciers in the world! It is the second largest glacier and the second largest glacier in Europe. And for good reason, it covers more than 8,000 km², or 8% of Iceland, with a thickness of up to 1,000 meters, for an average of 400 meters! Imagine that ice monster! Do the math and you will also see that its weight is just surrealist. Moreover, the pressure he exerts on the soil of the small island is enormous, so much so that he pushes it into the earth's mantle.
The whole of the Vatnajökull is included in the Vatnajökull National Park. And you will also notice that the ending "jökull" means "glacier" in Icelandic, a name that will be found a lot on Icelandic maps, but also in this article.
Volcanoes and Jökulhlaup
The Vatnajökull is far from harmless. Under the ice monster there are dozens of volcanoes, which awaken in turn, and rather regularly. During an eruption, the ice melts abruptly in contact with the heat, causing huge catastrophic floods called Jökulhlaup, taking everything with them.
The last Jökulhlaup took place in 2010, during the eruption of the Eyjafjallajökull, but it was the eruption of the Grímsvötn in 1996 that caused the greatest damage in last decades. The Jökulhlaup usually last several days, taking roads and bridges along their way. The traces are still clearly visible today in the southern part of Vatnajökull before reaching Skaftafell. Since 2010 new bridges have been built in areas considered safer, but the remains of the old structures are still present, as a reminder that mankind is very insignificant when nature rumbles.
Glacier and global warming
The Vatnajökull is so large that its extremities end in a sort of small, narrow and long glaciers. But here, the word "small" is relative as everything is on an oversized scale! There are about 30 glaciers extensions scattered all around the large glacier, and they are most numerous south of the ice cap.
Unfortunately, global warming is affecting Vatnajökull, which is shrinking from year to year. Studies show that the glacier may have disappeared in 100 years.
From Route 1, you can easily discover the great glaciers that shape the landscape. Let's discover them from west to east.
2The Vatnajökull's glacier and secondary glaciers
The Skeiðarárjökull is the first glacier from the Vatnajökull, visible from Route 1 from the west. Impossible to miss it, it is impressive despite the fact that it is located 5 km from the road. Its front extends for almost 15 km and goes up to the centre of Vatnajökull for almost 30 km.
For long minutes our car ran along this impressive glacier without leaving it. It is at this moment that one becomes aware of the immensity of the Skeiðarárjökull, which is only a very small part of the Vatnajökull.
It is this same glacier that was at the origin of the powerful 1996 Jökulhlaup, whose remains can be seen on the right-hand side of Route 1, about 3 km before reaching Skaftafell. Here, some panels tell the facts of 1996 in pictures.
The Skaftafellsjökull's glacier is much smaller than the previous one, but still very impressive. It is located directly after the Skaftafell campsite. From here, a 2 km long one-way trail leads to the glacier, and reaches the edge of the lake at its foot. It is not uncommon to see small icebergs.
A few kilometres from Skaftafell is the beautiful Svínafellsjökull glacier. Easily accessible by a small unpaved road, don't miss to stop and discover the glacier and its small iceberg lake. Here, the water is rather muddy, but the charm is no less.
The pieces of ice still bear the blackish t