Mýrdalsjökull

Mýrdalsjökull (^{[pronunciation?]}, literally the ice cap in the marsh valley) is a glacier in the south of Iceland. It is situated to the north of Vík í Mýrdal and to the east of the smaller glacier Eyjafjallajökull. Its peak reaches 1,493 m in height and in 1980 it covered an area of 595 km².

The ice-cap of the glacier covers an active volcano called Katla. The crater of the volcano has a diameter of 10 km and the volcano erupts normally every 40 – 80 years. As the last eruption took place in 1918, scientists are monitoring the volcano very carefully. Since 930, 16 eruptions have been documented. The Laki craters and the Eldgjá being part of the same volcanic system, it can be regarded as one of the most powerful in the world.

Before the hringvegur (Iceland's road no.1) had been constructed, people feared traversing the plains in front of the volcano because of the frequent glacier runs and the deep rivers to be crossed. Especially dangerous was the glacier run after the eruption of 1918 when the coastline was extended by 5 km by laharic flood deposits.