Torfajökull

Torfajökull (Icelandic for "Torfi's glacier") is a rhyolitic stratovolcano and complex of subglacial volcanoes, located north of Mýrdalsjökull and south of Þórisvatn Lake, Iceland. Torfajökull last erupted in 1477 and consists of the largest area of silicic extrusive rocks in Iceland.

Torfajökull
Torfajökull area
Highest point
Elevation1,259 m (4,131 ft)
Coordinates63°55′00″N 19°10′00″W 
Geography
Torfajökull
Geology
Age of rockPleistocene
Mountain typeStratovolcano
Last eruptionMarch 1477

The volcano's eruption around 870 has left a thin layer of tephra all over Iceland. This layer makes possible to determine the exact dates of many archeological finds, like in the Reykjavík 871±2 museum.

Naming

According to legend, the glacier is named for Torfi Jónsson í Klofa, an Icelandic historical figure. When the plague arrived in Iceland in 1493, Torfi fled with his family and his belongings into the highlands and settled in a valley surrounded by the glacier.[1]

According to another legend, the glacier is named for Torfi, a farm worker at a nearby farm. Torfi eloped with the farmer's daughter and fled to the glacier.[2]

gollark: I mostly support all technology ever, but I think their questions about it were silly.
gollark: Oh wait, I actually can edit my results, nice.
gollark: And it apparently took me vaguely indicating support of some government intervention in markets as 43% supportive of a planned economy, which is very no.
gollark: The quiz seems to partly take me thinking it's somewhat inevitable as an endorsement of it.
gollark: Hard to avoid, but bad.

See also

References
  1. http://www.snerpa.is/net/thjod/torfi.htm
  2. http://sagnagrunnur.raqoon.com/index.php?target=myth&id=584
  • "Torfajökull". Global Volcanism Program. Smithsonian Institution.
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