Last week, I posted a photo of Diamond Beach that was “littered” with ice chunks. I mentioned that the source of chunks originated in a glacier lagoon (known as Jökulsárlón) and floated the short distance to the beach. The chunks calve off of Breiðamerkurjökull Glacier, which is part of Vatnajökull Glacier, the largest polar cap in all of Europe. It is fascinating to watch and hear the ice chunks breaking off the glacier into the lagoon and make their way toward the Atlantic Ocean.
This process is a continuous one, at least during the warmer months. Some of the chunks are smaller and they make the journey right away. Others are large and often get stuck on the lagoon’s bottom, but ultimately break free when they melt. This process appears to happen daily. We visited this location two nights in a row, and the chunks that were present the previous night were nowhere to be seen, being replaced my new ones.
This photo was taken about 1am, about an hour or so after sunset and only two hours before sunrise. It is kind of different when the golden hour stretches over several hours and it is interesting that the sky never gets dark. I totally appreciate the midnight sun of Iceland.