The Southern Coast, going east ... a geology lesson

Vik was the end of the green grassy meadows for awhile. As I drove east along the south coast, the terrain got more and more forbidding. Moss became the dominant plant form, and then even the moss disappeared and there were long flat stretches of just black sand and gravel.

These are known as sandar, and are the result of glaciers scraping up sand, gravel and rock from the interior, and carrying it all towards the sea. One of these, Skeiðarársandur, is the largest sandar in the world covering something like 1000 sq km. (In fact, the term "sandar", though Icelandic, is used by geologists everywhere to describe this geological phenomenon.)

Sometimes the deposition of sand and gravel occurs more suddenly, such as when a volcano trapped underneath a glacier, erupts. When this happens, the ice melts, and huge rivers flow towards the sea, carrying sand, gravel, rocks, even boulders. In the Pacific Northwest, we call these lahars -- in Iceland they are called jökulhlaup.

It was a bit unsettling to be driving through an area that is so geologically active. Iceland´s history is full of catastrophic eruptions, many of which were relatively recent. Just for example, I´m sure you remember the Eyjafjallajökull eruption, even though you may not be able to pronounce it.

*OK, if you don´t remember, Eyjafjallajökull is the volcano which erupted in 2010
and whose ash cloud disrupted international jet travel for weeks.

This photo, from one of the exhibits alongside the road, shows destruction of a bridge by a jökulhlaup in 1974. A few twisted pieces of metal from the bridge were left alongside the road.

After successfully crossing the bleak darkness of the sandar, I drove around a corner and suddenly bright white icebergs came into view -- Jökulsárlón. These icebergs calve off the rapidly retreating glacier Breiðamerkurjökull.

This is how most of the tourists experience the lagoon. I preferred to walk around the shore. Here´s a hunk of glacial ice.

After Jökulsárlón, I turned west to visit Ingólfshöfði. This cliff rises out of the desolation of the sandar and is a haven for birds. (It also has historical significance as the place where Iceland´s first settler, Ingólfur Arnarson, stayed the winter when he arrived in the year 871 AD.) How to get there is the problem, since there is a long stretch of wet sandar to be negotiated.

Problem solved ... a local farm gives tours via a specially equipped tractor that carries people out to the cliff, escorted by a guide. This sounded like fun! The walking sticks are to ward off the skuas ...

Heading across the sandar towards Ingólfshöfði

Geology Lesson

We left the tractor at the bottom of the cliff and hiked out of the sandar to a lush green meadow. Here´s a view looking down on the tractor.

We were met at the top of the hill by a pair of skua, large gull-like predatory birds who normally eat puffins but look as though they would like to take a bite out of a tourist. (Of course, they are defending their nest and young.)

Our guide carries a telescope for birdwatching (also used to ward off the skuas, who supposedly can hit a person with such force that they are knocked over!)

There were lots of puffins nesting on the cliffs. If we walked quietly, we could approach closely without spooking them.

Whereas many birds nest in the cliffs, puffins dig holes in the turf for their nests.

Puffins feed on small eels.

Two different kinds of guillemotes, and their eggs, which have a pointy end so they don´t roll off a cliff.

Last stop of the day is a quick hike to Svartifoss waterfall in the park listed below (easier to take a photo than to type out the name! -- and by the way, those are not "D"s but are pronounced "th")

It was now raining steadily, the first real rain since my visit began. The normally dark waterfall looked even darker, but was still spectacular.

I had planned to tent for the night, but the rain dampened my enthusiasm ... I opted for a small cabin in a campground not far from the park.