유럽에서 가장 거대한 빙하 속으로 - 얼음동굴 투어

South Iceland is the most popular part of the country and contains some of the most beautiful natural attractions in Iceland, among them the Golden Circle, some of Iceland's most famous active volcanoes as well as the beautiful Jokulsarlon glacier lagoon.

Geography

South Iceland is usually divided into the fertile South Icelandic lowlands between Hellisheidi and Eyjafjallajokull volcano on the one hand - and on the other hand the eastern part with the big volcanic glaciers Eyjafjallajokull and Myrdalsjokull (home of Katla) and flattened sands stretching towards the sea.

The South Icelandic lowlands

The South Icelandic Lowlands stretch nearly 100 km from Hellisheidi in the west towards Eyjafjallajokull in the east as a very flat and fertile farming land. From the shore the lowland stretches about km towards the inland. This is the best agriculture area in Iceland. The whole area is geologically very young, mainly of tuff type, formed during the Ice Age by the lava flows of the numerous volcanoes of the area. The area is indeed surrounded by volcanically active mountains on all sides. The glacier rivers of the area have helped filling the lavas with sand and clay, leaving it more and less smooth and fertile. Very strong earthquakes are found in this area as well.

The most active volcanoes of the area are Hekla and Eyjafjallajokull. No less active and not far off, but on the east side, is Katla, which we’ll adress in the eastern part-section. South of the mainland are the volcanic Westman Islands, famous for the 1973 eruption as well as the eruption in 1963, when Surtsey island was formed. Closely linked to the volcanic activity in the south is the geothermal heat found in many places, the best known being the Geysir area, which forms a part of the famed Golden Circle, which also consists of Gullfoss waterfall , Iceland's most famous waterfall as well as one of its most beautiful, located in the popular rafting river Hvita and Thingvellir National Park, comprising three of Iceland's most beloved natural attractions.

The earthquakes of the area bear witness to the fact that Iceland is still in shape. This is further evidenced by the endless number of fissures in the lavas, fractures in the mountains and certain pieces of lands sinking. The area of Thingvellir is the best known example of this, showcasing the continental drift. Thingvellir is a UNESCO World Heritage Site and the location of the old parliament, Althingi, (now situated in Reykjavik) and one of Iceland's most important sites.

Another of Iceland's most popular attractions is the beautiful Thorsmork valley, situated between Myrdalsjokull and Eyjafjallajokull.

Natural harbour-sites are hardly any on the South shore, due to sand produced by the glacier rivers. A few towns are found in the area, Selfoss being the biggest one, Hveragerdi is another, then there are Hella and Hvolsvollur, all conveniently located by the ring road. By the shore are three fishing villages; Thorlakshofn, Eyrarbakki and Stokkseyri. Thorlakshofn the only one of those that can accommodate modern ships and ferrys. The ferry to the Westman Islands sails from there. A new harbour has been built on the sandy coast opposite the Westman Islands. The whole south shoreline offers some of the most gigantic braker waves that you are likely to see.

Culturewise, in addition to Thingvellir, we reccomend the ancient bishop seat of Skalholt (weekends at Skalholt further offer rich music life). Also, Iceland's most famous saga, Njal's saga takes place in the South lowlands. We further recommend the large reconstructed turfhouse near Stong and the ancient excavated ruins.

For sports, horse riding is popular in the area as well as catching salmon or trout, hiking, and river rafting in Hvita. 

The east part of South Iceland.

This is the area south and east  of Myrdalsjokull. The volcanic glaciers Eyjafjallajokull (near the border of the eastern and western part) and Myrdalsjokull, dominate the view. The landscape has been shaped by volcanic eruptions and vast sands stretch to the sea. Some agriculture is found here, however, with the farms in a row alongside the mountains.  A few large glacial rivers fall down in this area which also has striking waterfalls, such as Skogafoss and Seljalandsfoss.

Eyjafjallajokull is already well known for its 2010 eruption,  disturbing air communication all over Europe for many days. Much more serious,however, would be an eruption from Katla, a volcano in the eastern part og Myrdalsjokull. 

Katla’s last eruption was in the year 1918, when an enormous flood of water exploded from the glacier in a matter of minutes, threatening the local farmers of the area. Large amounts of ash and muddy  material were brought to sea to form a new land of sand, Kotlutangi, later washed away by the sea. No people were killed in this eruption. Eruptions in Katla throughout the ages have further created the vast sand area Myrdalssandur. Sixteen eruptions have been recorded for Katla since 930 at intervals of 13-95 years and the volcano is being closely monitored, as time may draw near to its next eruption.

In the same volcanic system as Katla (geologically speaking), are the Lakagigar craters, northeast of Myrdalsjokull. Those erupted in the years 1783-84; producing the largest amount of lava known in historic times. The ashes hindered the sunlight from reaching down to the surface of Earth, resulting in cold climate over northern Europe.

In  this area – what we call the eastern part of South Iceland -, there are many places worth visiting: Solheimajokull is a beautiful glacier in a walking distance (an outlet of Myrdalsjokull); Skogar has a very interesting museum of older time traditions and Skogafoss is only a few km away from there. One of Iceland’s most famous hiking routes, Fimmvorduhals, starts from Skogar. Southwest of the village Vik is one of Iceland’s most spectacular beaches, Reynisfjara. Together with the promontory Dyrholaey, which is the southernmost tip of the mainland of Iceland, it offers a breathtaking view with amazing rock formations, a black pebble beach, an abundance of birds and the powerful waves of the North Atlantic Ocean crashing on the beach.

Further east stretches the world's most vast sand plain, Skeidararsandur. North of the sand is the fascinating Skaftafell preservation area.  At its east end, south of Hvannadalshnukur, Iceland's highest peak, is Ingolfshofdi cape, with its rich birdlife, old fishermen's shacks and its lighthouse. Following the shore further east is the incredibly beautiful and ice-filled Jokulsarlon glacier lagoon. Not far off is the region of Sudursveit, featuring the culture center and heritage museum Thorbergssetur, erected in the memory of Icelandic author Thorbergur Thordarson.

East Iceland is a vast area of incredible nature, striking contrasts and fascinating history and culture. It is home to the remote and beautiful East Fjords, many small fishing villages, and an array of wildlife.

Services in East Iceland

East Iceland has just a few settlements with significant services. The main one of these, considered to be the capital of the region, is Egilsstaðir.

Egilsstaðir has restaurants, museums, shops, petrol stations and an array of accommodation options to suit all budget. It is also home to an airport, meaning those with limited time or without a driving licence can easily reach it from Reykjavík.

Seydisfjörður is another settlement of significance, with services for travellers, and a ferry that goes to Scandinavia. Djúpivogur is another wonderful town that visitors can refresh at.

East Iceland is home to the Karahnjúkar Hydroelectric Power Station, which provides many of the towns with energy. The construction of this has led to hot debates on Iceland’s ecological footprint and continues to do so considering that it provides fuel to a controversial aluminium smelter nearby.

Nature of East Iceland

East Iceland is characterised by many fjords, surrounded by steep mountains. Fishing villages can be found nestled in most of them.

Inland, however, is just as beautiful, with much of it being a fertile agricultural area. Woodlands of birch can be found here, the most famous being Hallormsstadaskogur, the largest forest in Iceland.

By this forest, and the town of Egilsstaðir, is the lake Lagarfljót, said to hold a terrible monster.

Many rivers run through the district, and by their estuaries, colonies of seals may be found. The fertile waters also provide food to whales and dolphins, which can infrequently be seen from sure.

The impressive mountain Snӕfell, Iceland's highest freestanding peak, can be found in the east. Near here is the highland oasis Eyjabakkar, one of the largest nesting place for the pink footed goose in the world.  

Reindeer roam the mountains of East Iceland, and this is the only place they can be found. Initially brought over for farming, the industry was never lucrative, and they have roamed free ever since.

Many migratory birds are found both inland and in the cliffs in summer, including the elusive puffin.

Vatnajökull, Europe's largest glacier, stretches to the borders of East Iceland and can be seen across much of it.

Culture of East Iceland

Of particular cultural note in the Fljótsdalshérað district is the cultural and historical centre Skriðuklaustur. In the Middle Ages, a monastery stood here, making it the region’s religious centre. In the 20th century, Icelandic author Gunnar Gunnarsson made it his home.

Gunnar wrote many masterpieces, including Adventa, or The Good Shepherd, Svartfugl, or The Black Cliffs, Saga Borgaraettarinnar, or The Saga of the One Eyed Guest, and the autobiographical novel cycle Fjallkirkjan, which has been translated under different names, such as The Church on the Mountain, Ships in the Sky and The Night and the Dream.

The culture of the East today is largely defined by festivals. Seydisfjörður hosts the annual music festival LungA. The settlement of Neskaupsstadur also hosts two highly popular annual festivals, Neistaflug and Eistnaflug.

Jokulsarlon is a glacier lagoon in the south of Vatnajokull national park that is easily reached by the Ring Road.

Covered in thick glacial ice until the 1930’s when the glacier started retreating, the lagoon today measures 7 square miles (20 km2). More than 300 feet of ice still breaks away each year, reshaping the lagoon and filling it with icebergs -  causing an alarmingly beautiful sight.

The water is freezing cold and contains a mixture of salt and freshwater giving it a blue-green color. There is plenty of fish and birdlife by the lagoon and the vast sand area of Breiðamerkursandur, and hundreds of seals stay there in winter.

Vatnajokull is the largest glacier in Europe covering 8% of the island of Iceland. Vatnajokull National Park - which encompasses the earlier national parks of Skaftafell and Jokulsargljufur - is the largest protected area in Europe and believed by many to be the most beautiful place on earth.

In this area you'll find some of the most stunning and diverse sights in iceland. Among those are Iceland's highest peak, Hvannadalshnjukur, its most active volcano, Grimsvotn, beautiful waterfalls such as Svartifoss by Skaftafell and Dettifoss, Europe's most powerful waterfall, stunning canyons such as Jokulsargljufur and Asbyrgi, and the breathtaking Jokulsarlon, an ice-riddled glacier lagoon that is one of the most beautiful attractions in Iceland.

Vatnajokull glacier

The glacier itself covers a surface area of about 100 km2. The thickness of the ice is generally around 400-600 meters, at its thickest around 950 meters. Under the glacier are valleys, mountains and plateuas as well as active volcanoes, most notably Grimsvotn and Bardarbunga, both the largest and most active of these. Then there are Esjufjoll, a glorious volcanic mountain island, surrounded by the glacier on all sides.

Vatnajokull has over 30 outlets, some of the major ones being Dyngjujokull and Bruarjokull to the north and Breidamerkurjokull, Oraefajokull, Skeidararjokull and Sidujokull towards the south. On the west side from the north are smaller glaciers Eyjabakkajokull, Hoffelssjokull,  Flaajokull Heinabergsjokull and Skalafellsjokull.

The highest peak of Iceland then lies to the south, Hvannadalshnjukur in the Orafeajokull outlet, reaching 2109 m, according to latest measurements.

Many rivers have their sources at Vatnajokull, including some of the greatest glacier rivers in the country. To the North are Jokulsa a Fjollum and Skjalfandafljot, to the Northeast are Jokulsa a Bru, and Jokulsa i Fljotsdal and to the south are Jokulsa i Loni, Honrfjardarfljot, Jokulsa a Breidamerkursandi, Skeidara, Nupsvotn, Hverfisfljot and Skafta. 

Vatnajokull National Park

The area around the glacier is highly varied. The highland plateu to the north is divided by glacier rivers which see massive floods in the summer. This is a highly volcanic region, where the volcanoes Askja, Herdubreid, Kverkfjoll and Snaefell tower over the scene. In this area is also the Jokulsargljufur preservation area with its magnficent canyon and the mighty glacier ricer Jokulsa a Fjollum where you'll find stunning waterfalls such as Dettifoss, Europe's most powerful waterfall. Further north are the Hljodaklettar echoing caves and the horse shoe-shaped Asbyrgi canyon, among other incredible sights.

Broad wetlands lie near the glacier and in the vicinity of Snaefell, further east. Particularly notable is the Eyjabakkar oasis, one of the largest nesting places for pink feeted geese in the world and located north of the Eyjabakkajokull outlet. To the east is also the stunning Jokulsarlon.

South of Vatnajokull, majestic mountain ridges characterise the scene, with outlet glaciers lying between them and reaching onto the lowlands. The Skaftafell preservation area is located there, with its rich flora and home to the beautiful waterfalls Hundafoss and Skogafoss, the latter famed for its with its magnificent columnar basalt formations.

To the south lies the vast sand desert Skeidararsandur, reaching all the way to the sea. The glacier river Skeidara runs through it and the sand was indeed created by great glacier bursts from Skeidara, with its origins in volcanic activity at Grimsvotn.

To the west of Vatnajokull there is strong volcanic activity as well. Some of the world's greatest fissure and lava eruptions happened there, at the Eldgja volcanic chasm and the Lakagigar craters in the 18th century. Vonarskard pass, to the northwest is also worth checking out, a highly colourful geothermal area that connects the North and South of Iceland.

In popular culture

Fans of the James Bond films might recognize the glacier from A View to a Kill and the  stunning Jokulsarlon from Die Another Day, though the events of the former were supposed to take place in Siberia.

Scenes by the Wall in the HBO fantasy series Game of Thrones were also shot by Vatnajokull and further scenes were shot at lake Myvatn, another Iceland's major attractions.

Breiðamerkurjökull is the glacial tongue that extends from southern Vatnajökull and into the glacier lagoon Jökulsárlón.

Breiðamerkurjökull is constantly retreating, breaking and melting, causing the Jökulsárlón glacier lagoon to increase in size. This glacier tongue provides the lagoon with all of its enormous icebergs, which perpetually break from off its tip and tumble into the abyssal waters where they float for about 5 years until they are small enough to make their way towards sea and join the countless smaller ice chunks that adorn the nearby Diamond Beach.

Breiðamerkurjökull is beset with enormous cracks and crevices, and since it's virtually impossible to tell exactly when the next big block of ice will break from it, people should admire this enormous glacier tongue from a great distance.

The Diamond Beach is a strip of black sand belonging to the greater Breiðamerkursandur glacial plain, located by Jökulsárlón glacier lagoon on the South Coast of Iceland.

Here, the icebergs which fill Jökulsárlón glacier lagoon wash up on shore, standing dazzling and defiant in stark contrast to the black sand beach. It is, therefore, a favourite amongst photographers, nature-lovers, and wildlife-enthusiasts. Many seals call this beach home, and it is one of the best places in the country to see orcas from the shore.

Breiðamerkursandur

Breiðamerkursandur is a glacial outwash plain located in the municipality of Hornafjörður. The sand stretches approximately 18 kilometres along Iceland’s South Coast, more specifically from the foot of Kvíárjökull Glacier to the famed glacier lagoon Jökulsárlón, that nests by the foot of Breiðamerkurjökull Glacier.

Both glaciers make up part of the 30 outlets of Vatnajökull, Europe’s largest ice cap and the central feature of the Vatnajökull National Park. Many of these are seen en route to the Diamond Beach as you travel along the South Coast.

The outwash plain was formed when three of Vatnajökull’s outlet glaciers, Breiðamerkurjökull, Hrútárjökull and Fjallsjökull, flowed forward due to volcanic activity and ground the rocks of the underlying surface, creating and pushing forward the glacial sediments.

Such sand plains are a common part of the Icelandic landscape, due to the island being volcanically active as well as boasting numerous ice caps. The terminus (the tip of a given glacier) also dug deep into the ground and left what is now the Jökulsárlón glacier lagoon. Although now the deepest lake in all of Iceland, it only began to form in 1935.

The glacier lagoon and Diamond Beach are fantastical sites, however, the rate of their expansion is, unfortunately, a consequence of climate change. With the rate that the glaciers are melting, there may be no ice left at either site within decades.

Jökulsárlón Icebergs

Jökulsárlón glacier lagoon is one of the most famed and visited attractions in Iceland. Floating on the lagoon are enumerable icebergs that have broken off the resident glacier, creating an ever-changing scenery of incredible allure.

The river Jökulsá connects the lagoon to the Atlantic Ocean, meaning that these icebergs eventually drift out to sea where they are polished by the waves before floating back to the black sands of Breiðamerkursandur. The name ‘Diamond Beach’ thus comes from the white ice on the black sand appearing like gemstones or diamonds, as they often glisten in the sun and sharply contrast their jet black surroundings.  

Safety at the Diamond Beach

The Diamond Beach is a safe place for any responsible traveller; unlike at Reynisfjara, another South Coast black-sand-beach, sneaker waves and rip currents are not notorious for whisking unwitting tourists out to sea. However, there are still dangers to consider.

The main one of these is the icebergs themselves. Under no circumstance should you climb upon an iceberg, due to their slippery surfaces and sharp edges.

This is especially the case if the iceberg is at all in the water, as it could flip and trap you underneath, or else be pulled out to sea by a current with you on it.

The risk of injury and illness in the form of hypothermia is so great that extortionate fines exist to deter any ‘rebels’ looking for a thrill-seek. These have only come about due to serious incidents, to protect not only tourists at the lagoon but guides and staff who may feel obligated to embark on a dangerous rescue if they see someone at risk.