Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Skeiðarársandur
Skeiðarársandur, the largest sandur in the world, covers a 1000-sq-km area and was
formed by the mighty Skeiðarárjökull. Since the Settlement Era, Skeiðarársandur has
swallowed a considerable amount of farmland and it continues to grow. The area was relat-
ively well populated (for Iceland, anyway), but in 1362 the volcano beneath Öræfajökull
(then known as Knappafellsjökull) erupted and the subsequent
jökulhlaup
(flooding caused
by volcanic eruption beneath ice) laid waste the entire district. After the 1362 eruption the
district became known as Öræfi (Wasteland).
The section of Ring Road that passes across Skeiðarársandur was the last bit of the na-
tional highway to be constructed - as recently as 1974 (until then, Höfnites had to drive to
Reykjavík via Akureyri). Long gravel dykes have been strategically positioned to channel
floodwaters away from this highly susceptible artery. They did little good, however, when
in late 1996 three Ring Road bridges were washed away like matchsticks by the massive
jökulhlaup
released by the Grímsvötn (or Gjálp) eruption. There's a
memorial
of twisted
bridge girders and an information board along the Ring Road just west of Skaftafell.
