Sólheimajökull () is a

glacier A glacier (; ) is a persistent body of dense ice that is constantly moving under its own weight. A glacier forms where the accumulation of snow exceeds its ablation over many years, often centuries. It acquires distinguishing features, such a ...

in southern

Iceland Iceland ( is, Ísland; ) is a Nordic island country in the North Atlantic Ocean and in the Arctic Ocean. Iceland is the most sparsely populated country in Europe. Iceland's capital and largest city is Reykjavík, which (along with its ...

, between the volcanoes Katla and

Eyjafjallajökull Eyjafjallajökull (; ), sometimes referred to by the numeronym E15, is one of the smaller ice caps of Iceland, north of Skógar and west of Mýrdalsjökull. The ice cap covers the caldera of a volcano with a summit elevation of . The vo ...

. Part of the larger

Mýrdalsjökull Mýrdalsjökull (pronounced , Icelandic for "(the) mire dale glacier" or "(the) mire valley glacier") is an ice cap in the south of Iceland. It is to the north of Vík í Mýrdal and to the east of the smaller ice cap Eyjafjallajökull. Between t ...

glacier, Sólheimajökull is a prominent and popular tourist location owing to its size and relative ease of access.

Geology

Sólheimajökull is an

outlet glacier Glacier morphology, or the form a glacier takes, is influenced by temperature, precipitation, topography, and other factors. The goal of glacial morphology is to gain a better understanding of glaciated landscapes and the way they are shaped. Ty ...

of the larger Mýrdalsjökull

ice cap In glaciology, an ice cap is a mass of ice that covers less than of land area (usually covering a highland area). Larger ice masses covering more than are termed ice sheets. Description Ice caps are not constrained by topographical featu ...

which lies atop the Katla caldera. It sits near the town of Vík í Mýrdal, a popular tourist location about 180km southeast of Reykjavik. The glacier is melting rapidly around per year owing to warmer annual temperatures due to climate change. It is possible that many of the country's glaciers will become extinct within the next century.

References

Glaciers of Iceland {{iceland-glacier-stub