glacier lagoon

Jökulsárlón - The Glacier Lagoon

Iceland’s deepest lake is formed by the melting of Breiðamerkurjökull glacier.  In 1920, the edge of the glacier reached the ocean. Then it began shrinking. By 1935, there was a small lake made of glacial melt. Today, that lake is 900 feet deep.  Icebergs are calved from the glacier nearly everyday. They drift across the lake until they melt or reach the surf.  It is an unworldly sight.

Lagoon and Glacier

Lagoon and Glacier

The iceberg zoo.  These will be gone in days.

The iceberg zoo.  These will be gone in days.

Before your eyes, the pieces of the glacier disappear.  The iceberg below was over two stories tall.  The black stripes are volcanic ash laid down after eruptions and the stripes were horizontal until the berg tipped over.

Two stories tall...

Two stories tall...

These next images were taken only moments apart of the same piece of disappearing ice.

Some icebergs make it almost to the surf, only to be swept onto the black sand beach where they look like diamonds, if only for a few moments....

Diamonds for a moment.

Diamonds for a moment.

Black and blue

Black and blue