Snæfellsjökull

Template:Short description Template:About Template:Infobox mountain Snæfellsjökull ({{#invoke:IPA|main}}, snow-fell glacier) is a 700,000-year-old glacier-capped stratovolcano in western Iceland.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> It is situated on the westernmost part of the Snæfellsnes peninsula. Sometimes it may be seen from the city of Reykjavík over Faxa Bay, at a distance of Template:Convert.

The mountain is one of the most famous sites of Iceland, primarily due to the novel Journey to the Center of the Earth (1864) by Jules Verne, in which the protagonists find the entrance to a passage leading to the center of the Earth on Snæfellsjökull.

The mountain is part of Snæfellsjökull National Park (Icelandic: Þjóðgarðurinn Snæfellsjökull).<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Snæfellsjökull was visible from an extreme distance due to an arctic mirage on 17 July 1939. Captain Robert Bartlett of the Effie M. Morrissey sighted Snæfellsjökull from a position some Template:Convert distant.<ref>The Arctic Mirage: Aid To Discovery Visited 5 Aug 2021.</ref>

In August 2012, the summit was ice-free for the first time in recorded history.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> The icecap area had been Template:Cvt in 1946,<ref name=Jóhannesson2011>Template:Cite journalTemplate:Rp</ref> Template:Cvt in 1999 reducing to Template:Cvt in 2008.<ref>Template:Cite thesisTemplate:Rp</ref><ref name=Jóhannesson2011 />

Geology

The stratovolcano, which is the only large central volcano in its part of Iceland, has many pyroclastic cones on its flanks. Upper-flank craters produced intermediate to felsic materials. Several holocene eruptions have originated from the summit crater and have produced felsic material,<ref name="gvp"/> with pumice from the two most recent major eruptions being alkaline trachyte trending in composition close to rhyolite.<ref name=Martin2007>Template:Cite journal</ref> Lower-flank craters have produced basaltic lava flows with classic basalt composition.<ref name=Martin2007 /> The latest flank eruption was of Template:Cvt of basaltic material in the Template:Cvt Væjuhraun lava flow and occurred shortly after the last central volcano eruption.<ref name=Jóhannesson2019>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> This main eruption had been explosive and originated from the summit crater.<ref name="gvp-erupt">Template:Cite gvp</ref><ref>Template:Cite book</ref> It is dated to about Template:Val CE,<ref name="gvp"/>Template:Efn and was also associated with the eruption of viscous lava that covered Template:Cvt.<ref name=Jóhannesson2019 /> In all three large, perhaps up to VEI 4 plinian rhyoliticTemplate:Efn eruptions have occurred during the Holocene producing tephra.<ref name=Jóhannesson2019 />Template:Efn These occurred about 1800, 4000 and 8500 years ago.<ref name=Jóhannesson2019 />Template:Efn

Snæfellsjökull is also associated with a fissure field that last erupted to the west forming the Væjuhraun lava flow as already mentioned.<ref name=Jóhannesson2019 /> To the east of Snæfellsjökull this fissure field last erupted between 5 and 8 thousand years ago.<ref name=Kahl2021>Template:Cite journal</ref> This eruption formed the Template:Cvt Búðahraun lava field from the crater Búðaklettur, south-west of Búðir.<ref name=Kahl2021 /> This is part of the Snæfellsjökull volcanic system which in turn is part of the Snæfellsnes volcanic belt (Snæfellsnes volcanic zone).<ref name=Jóhannesson2019 /> This is an area of renewed intra-plate volcanism in the North American Plate,<ref name=Burney2020>Template:Cite journalTemplate:Rp</ref> with rocks no older locally than 800,000 years,<ref name=Jóhannesson2019 /> that overlay an extinct rift zone that produced the more than 5 million years old crustal basement tholeiitic flood basalts of the Snæfellsnes peninsula.<ref name=Kahl2021 />

Hazards

The Snæfellsjökull volcanic system has the potential for lava flows, explosive tephra eruptions (e.g. air traffic during a major rhyolitic eruption), tsunami generation (perhaps one flank collapse has occurred historically) and Jökulhlaups.<ref name=Jóhannesson2019 />

File:Snæfellsjökullfromthesea.JPG

Snæfellsjökull from the sea

File:Snæfellsjökull19Ice.JPG

Volcanic plugs at the summit

File:Snæfellsjökull Mountain.jpg

Snæfellsjökull Mountain

File:View from Snæfellsjökull on the summer solstice.jpg

View from Snæfellsjökull on the summer solstice.

File:Snæfellsjökull aerial panorama.png

Snæfellsjökull aerial panorama, taken from its west side in June 2017

Climbing

In summer, the saddle near the summit can be reached easily by walking, although the glacier's crevasses must be avoided. Several tour companies run regular guided walks during the season.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Reaching the true summit requires technical ice climbing.

In culture

Literature

Snæfellsjökull serves as the entrance to the subterranean journey in Jules Verne's classic science fiction novel, Journey to the Center of the Earth (1864). It is also featured in the 1960s Blind Birds trilogy by Czech SF writer Ludvík Souček, loosely inspired by Verne's work. While trying to discern whether Verne actually visited Iceland, a Czechoslovak-Icelandic science party discovers an ancient alien outpost in the cave system under Snæfellsjökull.

It also figures prominently in the novel Under the Glacier (1968) by Icelandic Nobel laureate Halldór Laxness.<ref>The Ultimate Guide to Snaefellsnes Peninsula</ref>

Radio and podcasting

Snæfellsjökull is the setting and subject of "Lava and Ice" (episode 2) of Wireless Nights, Jarvis Cocker's BBC Radio 4 and podcast series.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

Presidential election

The campaign "SnæfellsjökulTemplate:Sic fyrir forseta" (Template:Translation) proposed Snæfellsjökull as a candidate in the 2024 Icelandic presidential election, asserting that it met the requirements of being an Icelandic citizen, aged over 35, with no criminal record, and with a supporting petition.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref name="kassam">Template:Cite news</ref>

See also

• Geography of Iceland
• Glaciers of Iceland
• Iceland plume
• List of national parks of Iceland
• Volcanism of Iceland
  • List of volcanic eruptions in Iceland
  • List of volcanoes in Iceland

Additional sources

• Template:Cite book

External links

• The website of Snæfellsjökull National Park
• Snæfellsjökull in the Catalogue of Icelandic Volcanoes
• Snæfellsjökull The Jewel of West Iceland