Eddie From Ohio

The glaciers of Iceland cover 11.1% of the land area of the country (about 11.400 km out of the total area of 103.125 km) and have a considerable impact on its landscape.



Many Icelandic glaciers lie above volcanos, such as Grmsvtn and Brarbunga, which lie under the largest glacier, Vatnajkull. The caldera of Grmsvtn is 100 km, and Brarbungu is 60 km. When volcanic activity occurs under the glacier, the resulting melt water can lead to a sudden glacial lake outburst flood known in Icelandic as jkulhlaup but jkulhlaup are most often caused by accumulation of meltwater due to geothermal activity underneath the glacier. Such Jkulhlaup have occasionally triggered volcanic eruptions because of the sudden release of pressure. The Icelandic word for glacier is jkull.