Blue Icebergs, Glacial Lake, Mountains
© Maurizio Rellini/Sime/eStock
Where blue bergs bob
The saga of this backcountry lagoon is large in scope, beginning with Iceland's biggest glacial mass and ending in the wide open ocean. The ice cap of Vatnajökull, which covers 8% of the island nation's area, includes dozens of outlet glaciers whose meltwater flows into various streams, rivers, and lakes. 932-foot-deep Jökulsárlón is the endpoint of Breiðamerkurjökull, an outlet glacier that—like the rest of Vatnajökull—has long been shrinking. As a result, these waters have grown: Since glacial retreat revealed the lake in the 1930s, its placid surface and blue icebergs have come to fill a 5-mile gap between the glacier and a short, narrow channel to the Atlantic.
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