Skeiðará

The river Skeiðará is a relatively short glacier river (about 30 km long). It has its source on the glacier Skeiðarárjökull, one of the southern arms of the Vatnajökull in the south of Iceland.

In spite of the short length, this river has a bad reputation. It is especially feared because of the frequent glacier runs that can be fatal.

In front of Skaftafell National Park, Skeiðará has formed the Skeiðarár Sandur, a black plain of lava sand and ashes crossed by a lot of small rivulets which covers the whole area between the park and the sea (about 40 km long and 5 to 10 km wide). In 1996, the latest of these glacier runs took place. It destroyed parts of Route 1 (The Ring Road). The 880 m long bridge was destroyed by floating ice boulders the size of a house. At the peak of this glacier run, 45,000 m³/s of water were coming down. Luckily, no persons were harmed, scientists having very carefully monitored the volcano Grímsvötn on Vatnajökull which caused the glacier run by its eruption.

ee also

*Rivers of Iceland