Vatnajökull

Vatnajökull is an ice cap in southeastern Iceland covering about 7,700 square kilometers, roughly eight percent of the country's area, and ranks as Europe's second-largest glacier by area. It holds an estimated 3,000 cubic kilometers of ice averaging 380 meters thick, with a maximum depth of 950 meters, and around 30 outlet glaciers flow from it. The ice cap sits over active volcanic systems between two tectonic plate boundaries, and Iceland's highest peak, Hvannadalshnjukur at 2,109.6 meters, rises along its southern edge near Skaftafell. Much of the area became Vatnajökull National Park in 2008, and while the ice cap is generally retreating as the climate warms, periods of North Atlantic cooling have at times moderated the losses.