Vatnajökull National Park

Vatnajökull National Park is one of three national parks in Iceland. It includes the entire glacier Vatnajökull and the vast surrounding areas with a. These include inter alia from the former Skaftafell National Park in the southwest and the former Jökulsárgljúfur National Park in the north.

Generally national parks are protected areas, which are by their nature or their cultural heritage considered to be unique. The uniqueness of the Vatnajökull National Park lies mainly in its large variety of landscape features, which are caused by a combination of rivers, glaciers, volcanic and geothermal activity.

History

The Vatnajökull National Park was established on 7 June 2008. At its founding, the park included an area of ​​12,000 km ². Since its expansion to Lakagígar, Langisjór and Krepputunga the park now includes 14,200 km ², or 14 % of the land area of Iceland, making it Europe's second largest National Park. Only the National Park Jugyd Wa in Russia nor provides it to surface.

Geography and Geology

Vatnajökull is the largest glacier with a surface of 8,100 km ² Europe. The average thickness of the ice is between 400 and 800 meters, at the thickest point the ice is 950 meters thick. The glacial ice covered a variety of mountains, valleys and plateaus. It even covers some active central volcanoes of which the Bárðarbunga is the largest and the most active volcano Grimsvotn. The ice masses extending from about 2000 m above sea level to 300 m below sea level. Nowhere else in Iceland, except on the Mýrdalsjökull glaciers, falls so much rainfall or flows as much water into the sea as on the south side of the Vatnajökull. In fact, so much water in the Vatnajökull is currently stored in that Ölfusá, Iceland river would need with the largest volume of water, more than 200 years to transport this amount of water into the sea.

The landscape surrounding the glacier is very varied. In the north of the highland plateau is traversed by glacial rivers, which swell up in the summer. The volcanoes Askja, Kverkfjöll and Snæfell dominate this area, as well as the volcanic panel Herðubreið. A long time ago cut huge glaciers floods the Jökulsárgljúfur gorge in the northern part of this plateau. The mighty waterfall Dettifoss still thunders into the upper end of the canyon, while the picturesque landscapes at Hljóðaklettar and the horseshoe-shaped cliffs of Ásbyrgi are to be found further north.

Extensive wetlands and vast mountain ranges raise the areas around the glacier and further east out to Snæfell. These areas are an important habitat for reindeer and pink-footed geese.

The south side of Vatnajökull is characterized by many tall, majestic mountain ridges, between which glaciers flow down into the valleys. The southernmost part of the glacier covers the central volcano Öræfajökull and Iceland 's highest mountain peak, the Hvannadalshnjúkur. Protected by the high ice, overlooks the tree oasis of Skaftafell the black sands, which were deposited west of the river Skeiðará. These sands consist mainly of ash, which comes from the frequent eruptions of Grímsvötn and are transported by the so-called jökulhlaups, glacier runs, towards the coast.

In the south of the Vatnajökull National Park is the Morsárfoss, the highest waterfall of Iceland.

The west of Vatnajökull is also dominated mainly by volcanic activity. There were two of the world's biggest clefts and lava eruptions in historical time bill instead: at Eldgjá ( 934) and Lakagígar ( 1783-1784 ). Vonarskarð, northwest of the glacier, is a colorful, well-tempered area and represents a watershed between the North and South Iceland dar.

Climate

The weather can vary considerably in such a large area as the National Park, especially since a large height difference exists.

The precipitate in the lower areas south of the Vatnajökull ice cap varies between 1,000 mm and 3,000 mm per year. Temperatures vary between 10 ° C and 20 ° C in summer, while the winter rather mild fail ( the thermometer rarely drops below -10 ° C and the temperature is often well above the freezing point ).

On the mountains and the ice cap itself, the annual rainfall can reach 4,000 to 5,000 mm, most of it falls as snow. The thickness of the snow cover on Öræfajökull may be after a rainy winter 10-15 m. A part of the snow is melting, while the remaining snow is the glacial ice. This process takes place everywhere above the snow line on the Vatnajökull ice cap.

The temperatures on the southern part of the ice cap are almost always below the zero level and can drop to -20 ° C or -30 ° C in winter. Since strong winds and storms are normal, the wind factor needs to be calculated. Wind can have an essential impact on outdoor activities, even if the prevailing air temperature is usually relatively high. The farther north you go behind the ice cap, the lower the annual precipitation. Northeast of the ice cap it drops to 350 to 450 mm per year, which is the lowest precipitation in Iceland. Precipitation increases again closer to the northern coast and in parts of the highlands to Askja. The temperature can drop relatively strong in clear and windless days in winter.

South winds generally result in little or no rainfall in the north, which is associated with higher temperatures. North winds bring clouds with them, which leads to colder and wetter weather in the north of the country, whereas the south sunny and milder remains. The same is true for western or south-westerly winds, which bring the East warmer weather. The opposite is the case when the wind comes from the east: it leads to cold and precipitation in the east and to better weather in the west of Iceland. This is the result of Föhnwindes: damp, cold air rises near the Highlands, condenses and falls as rain over the highlands, while warmer, drier air on the other side falls down into the valley. The temperature difference may be 10 ° C or more.

Services

Vatnajökull National Park is divided into four areas, which are each managed separately. The northern region consists of the north-western part of Vatnajökull, the Askja caldera and its surroundings, the Jökulsárgljúfur Canyon and parts of Jökulsá Fjollum river valley. A visitor center and campground are located in Ásbyrgi a more campground is at Vesturdalur.

The eastern region includes not only the Kverkfjöll Mountains and the north-eastern part of the Vatnajökull also a spur of Snæfellsöræfi with. A visitor center is located in Skriðuklaustur.

The southern area extends through the south- eastern part of Vatnajökull, or by the Lómagnúpur mountains in the west to Lón and Lónsöræfi in the east. A visitor center and campground located in Skaftafell. Further information centers in Hofn, Hoffell, Holmur and Skálafell cooperate with the National Park Authority.

The western area extends through the south- western part of Vatnajökull and vast areas outside of the glacier, including the Lakagígar craters and Langisjór. An information center is located in Kirkjubæjarklaustur, it is jointly managed by the National Park and the local community.

The visitor center in Skaftafell is open all year. The centers in Ásbyrgi and Skriðuklaustur are from the beginning open from May to September, but may be open in the winter on request. It should however be noted that most parts of the national park can not be achieved in the highlands in winter.

National Park staff conduct inspections and provide teaching on sale in the highlands. The opening times of the centers vary from area to area, the first employees travel to the highlands when the main roads are clear. This is about the middle of June the case, they leave the area towards the end of September.

During the summer, the staff offer short hikes with a focus on natural history. From mid- June to mid-August they perform daily interactive hikes in Skaftafell Ásbyrgi and through. In the highlands, however, most locations offer daily hikes from early July to mid-August.