Jökulsá á Fjöllum

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Jökulsá á Fjöllum coming from Dettifoss

Jökulsá á Fjöllum is the second longest river of Iceland (206 km). It has its source on the glacier Vatnajökull.

As for the landscape, the last 30 km before the river flows into the Arctic Sea, is the most interesting. The river streams over the waterfalls Selfoss and Dettifoss and through the canyon at Jökulsárgljúfur National Park. This canyon has been formed by a seldom occurring incident: The explosion of a volcano situated directly beneath the river. Afterwards the river has found a new course down the chaotic remains of mountains. The park is one of four national parks in Iceland.

The gorge of Ásbyrgi, which is formed like a horse-shoe, has also been cut out by the same river.