Wolfgang's photos with the keyword: Glacier

Along the highway no. 1. The Ring Road is a national road in Iceland that runs around the island and connects most of the inhabited parts of the country. The total length of the road is 1,332 kilometres. Some of the most popular tourist attractions in Iceland are by the Ring Road.

The largest glacier in Iceland is Vatnajökull and it is the largest glacier mass in Europe. It covers an area of roughly 8100 km 2, and is about 1000m thick where it is thickest. Its average thickness is between 400 and 500m, and the total ice volume of Vatnajokull is probably in the vicinity of 3300 cubic km. The ELA lies at ca. 1100 m a.s.l. along its southern margins, at 1200 m along its western part, and at 1300 m in its northern part. About 60% of the glacier surface is above the ELA. The ice cap covers a highland plateau, generally reaching 600-800 m altitude, but dissected by numerous broad and narrow subglacial valleys. A number of large volcanoes are covered by the great ice cap, including Oraefajokull (Öræfajökull) (2111 m), Bardarbunga (Bárðarbunga) (2020 m) and Grimsvotn.

Vatnajökull is named after sub-glacial lakes in a very volcanically active region in its centre. The sub glacial landscape is an undulating plateau (600-1000m) with valleys and gorges. The icecap rises between 1400 and 1800 m above sea level. The ablation elevation is a bit different, 1100 m in the south, 1200 m in the west and 1300 m in the north. A great number of glacier snouts of different sizes flows down onto the lower lying areas. No glacier in Iceland has been researched more thoroughly than Vatnajökull. Scenes for four Hollywood blockbuster movies (A View to a Kill, Die Another Day, Tomb Raider and the upcoming Batman Begins) and the popular reality-TV series Amazing Race have been shot at and around Jökulsárlón, said to be one of the greatest natural wonders in Iceland.

Svínafellsjökull Glacier Tongue is an outlet glacier of Vatnajökull in the south-east of the island. The ice breaking apart and forming hundreds of stacks is one of the reasons why you should see Svínafellsjökull with your own eyes. The landscape there is bright and beautiful and if you're lucky, you might catch the glacier breaking a part and experiencing the raw power of nature. Svínafellsjökull is one of the few accessible glacier tongues of Vatnajökull and has gained fame as an attraction after Game of Thrones was shot there.

Vatnajökull, sometimes translated as Vatna Glacier in English, is the largest and most voluminous ice cap in Iceland, and the largest in area in Europe after the Severny Island ice cap of Novaya Zemlya.

A walk at the glacier runout of the biggest glacier in Iceland was becomming an National Park. Its the largest protected area in Europe. Apart from the glacier, the National Park includes some highly regarded natural marvels; huge glacier rivers, stunning canyons, beautiful glacier lagoons and impressive waterfalls.

The landscape is very similar to some of the Alps, but it has been formed in thousands of years by different influences of fire (volcanic eruptions of Öræfajökull) and water (the glaciers Skeiðarájökull and Skaftafellsjökull), the rivers Skeiðará, Morsá und Skaftafellsá. Volcanic eruptions under the ice-cap can give rise to glacier runs (Icelandic:jökulhlaup) which swell the Skeiðará river massively. The sandy wasteland between the glacier and the sea caused by jökulhlaups is called the Sandur. The last jökulhlaup occurred in 1996.

Most visitors concede that even by Icelandic standards it is unique. Nowhere in the country is the natural variety and contrast as abundant and evident as in Skaftafell.

Weather conditions change quickly without any anticipated signs. We returned under dark clouds from the Svinafellsjökull glacier. Svínafellsjökull competes with Sólheimajökull for the country’s most popular glacier for hiking but listen the weather forecast, heavy weather often can get an obstacle.

Jökulsárlón is separated from the sea by only a short distance, and the combined action of the glacier, the river that empties from the lake, and the ocean may eventually transform it into an inlet of the sea. There are plans to prevent this from happening, since the only road in the area passes over the narrow isthmus.

It's the best known and the largest of a number of glacial lakes in Iceland. It is situated at the south end of the glacier Vatnajökull between Skaftafell National Park and Höfn. Appearing first only in 1934-1935, the lake grew from 7.9 km² in 1975 to at least 18 km² today because of heavy melting of the Icelandic glaciers. Approaching a depth of 200 m, Jökulsárlón is now probably the second deepest lake in Iceland.