Öræfajökull жанартауы: геологиялық белсенділік және мұздықтар жүйесі

Volcano in south eastern Iceland

Öræfajökull is located at the southern extremity of the Vatnajökull glacier and overlooking the Ring Road between Höfn and Vík. It is the largest active volcano in the country, and on the summit crater's north western rim is Hvannadalshnúkur, the highest peak in Iceland at

Geographically, Öræfajökull as the glacier, is considered part of Vatnajökull, and the area covered by glacier is within the boundary of Vatnajökull National Park. There are a number of outlet glaciers in the ice cap within the area of the central volcano which clockwise from north are: Breiðamerkurjökull, Fjallsjökull, Hrútárjökull, Bræðrajökull, Kviarjökull, Hólárjökull, Stórhöfðajökull, Gljúfursárjökull, Rótarfjallsjökull (which has a western branch called Kotárjökull), Grænafjallsjökull, Falljökull, Virkisjökull, Svinafellsjökull and Skaftafellsjökull. While most of the outlet glaciers have reasonably clear catchments, not all do. Some of the icecap feeds directly into river catchments without a named glacier and this happens between the Hrútárjökull and Bræðrajökull, and the Virkisá river drains a number of glaciers between Rótarfjallsjökull and Svinafellsjökull (see map on this page). The summit caldera of this stratovolcano is and the volcano is in diameter. It is the most southern of the volcanoes in the Öræfi volcanic belt (Öræfajökull volcanic belt), which is possibly an embryonic rift parallel and to the east of the Eastern volcanic zone. The presently active summit caldera may have a subcaldera within it. similar in scale to the 1991 eruption of Mount Pinatubo.

Increased earthquake activity in the form of small tremors ranging from a depth of 1.5–10 km beneath the summit crater, began in August 2017 according to the Icelandic Meteorological Office. The Aviation Colour Code of the United States was raised to yellow on 17 November 2017, after the appearance of an ice cauldron inside the main crater and increased geothermal activity under the glacier.

The seismic and geothermal activity which began in August 2017 continued into 2018, but at reduced levels. On 4 May 2018, the Icelandic Meteorological Office lowered the Aviation Colour Code to green.

In 2013 due to paraglacial slope failure, a large landslide affecting an area of occurred, that deposited debris on the volcano's Svínafellsjökull outlet glacier.