- 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 theVatnajökull in the south ofIceland .In spite of the short length, this river has a bad reputation. It is especially feared because of the frequent
glacier run s that can be fatal.In front of
Skaftafell National Park , Skeiðará has formed the SkeiðarárSandur , 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). In1996 , 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 thevolcano Grímsvötn onVatnajökull which caused the glacier run by itseruption .ee also
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Rivers of Iceland
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