The Skaftá () is a river in
South Iceland. It is primarily glacial in origin and has had its course modified by volcanic activity; as a result of both, it often floods because of glacial melting.
Course
The river's primary source is two subglacial "cauldrons" beneath Skaftájökull, part of the
Vatnajökull
Vatnajökull ( Icelandic pronunciation: , literally "Glacier of Lakes"; sometimes translated as Vatna Glacier in English) is the largest and most voluminous ice cap in Iceland, and the second largest in area in Europe after the Severny Island ...
glacier in the interior of Iceland.
It also receives spring-fed water from
Langisjór
Langisjór () is a lake in the western part of Vatnajökull National Park, Iceland. It is around 20 km in length and up to 2 km wide, with a total surface area of about and a depth of 75m at its deepest point.
The lake is situated rath ...
, a lake a short distance to the west from which a tributary called the Útfall runs into the Skaftá. Other tributaries include the North and South Ófaerá, the Grjótá, and the Hellisá.
West of Skaftárdalur, a farm named for the river valley, the Skaftá runs over a lava field in many channels, which recombine into three for the remainder of its course to the
Atlantic
The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's five oceans, with an area of about . It covers approximately 20% of Earth's surface and about 29% of its water surface area. It is known to separate the "Old World" of Africa, Europe an ...
: the Eldvatn or Ása-Eldvatn combines with the River
Kúðafljót; the Ásakvísl or Árkvísla flows under a sand-covered lava field and has been affected by road construction; the third, easternmost branch, which flows near
Kirkjubæjarklaustur
Kirkjubæjarklaustur ( Icelandic for "church farm cloister", pronounced ; often referred to locally as just Klaustur) is a village in the south of Iceland on the hringvegur (road no. 1 or Ring Road) between Vík í Mýrdal and Höfn. It is par ...
, retains the name Skaftá
[ but has extremely low water levels when temperatures are lowest.][ Its total length is approximately .][
The river was bridged at Kirkjubæjarklaustur in 1903 and the Ása-Eldvatn was bridged soon after. Efforts to bank and bridge the Ásakvísl have led to undermining of the bridge works and to erosion of land formerly watered by it.][
]
Effects of 1783 eruption
Beginning on June 8, 1783, the multi-year eruption of the volcanic system including Grímsvötn
Grímsvötn (; ''vötn'' = "waters", singular: ) is a volcano with a (partially subglacial) fissure system located in Vatnajökull National Park, Iceland. The volcano itself is completely subglacial and located under the northwestern side of the V ...
and Þórðarhyrna
Thordarhyrna ( is, Þórðarhyrna ) is one of seven subglacial volcanoes beneath the Vatnajokull glacier Iceland.
Eruptions
It last erupted in 1910 and prior to that in 1903.
An eruption in 3550 BC ± 500 years poured out 150,000,000 cubic mete ...
(sometimes referred to in Icelandic as the ''Skaftáreldur'', Skaftá Fires) filled the river valley with lava, including a gorge thought to have been deep, diverting its flow into the multiple shallow channels that now characterize its course. As a result it is subject to '' jökulhlaups'' ( glacial outburst floods), which occur every one to two years.[ the largest since records began.]
See also
* Ice cauldron (Skaftákatlar)
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Skafta
Rivers of Iceland
Drainage basins of the Atlantic Ocean
Southern Region (Iceland)