The mountain is one of the most famous sites of Iceland, primarily due to the novel Journey to the Center of the Earth (
1864) by
Jules Verne, in which the protagonists find the entrance to a passage leading to the center of the Earth on Snæfellsjökull.
The mountain is part of Snæfellsjökull National Park (Icelandic: Þjóðgarðurinn Snæfellsjökull).[4]
Snæfellsjökull was visible from an extreme distance due to an arctic mirage on 17 July 1939. Captain
Robert Bartlett of the Effie M. Morrissey sighted Snæfellsjökull from a position some 536 to 560 kilometres (289–302 nmi) distant.[5]
In August 2012, the summit was ice-free for the first time in
recorded history.[6] The icecap area had been 16 km2 (6.2 sq mi) in 1946,[7] 14 km2 (5.4 sq mi) in 1999 reducing to 10–11 km2 (3.9–4.2 sq mi) in 2008.[8][7]
Geology
The
stratovolcano, which is the only large
central volcano in its
part of Iceland, has many
pyroclastic cones on its flanks. Upper-flank
craters produced
intermediate to
felsic materials. Several
holocene eruptions have originated from the summit crater and have produced
felsic material,[1] with
pumice from the two most recent major eruptions being alkaline
trachyte trending in composition close to
rhyolite.[9] Lower-flank craters have produced
basalticlava flows with classic basalt composition.[9] The latest flank eruption was of 0.11 km3 (0.0264 cu mi) of basaltic material in the 4.5 km2 (1.7 sq mi) Væjuhraun lava flow and occurred shortly after the last central volcano eruption.[2] This main eruption had been
explosive and originated from the summit crater.[10][11] It is dated to about 200 CE,[1][a] and was also associated with the eruption of viscous lava that covered 30 km2 (12 sq mi).[2] In all three large, perhaps up to
VEI 4
plinianrhyolitic[b] eruptions have occurred during the
Holocene producing
tephra.[2][c] These occurred about 1800, 4000 and 8500 years ago.[2][a]
Snæfellsjökull is also associated with a fissure field that last erupted to the west forming the Væjuhraun lava flow as already mentioned.[2] To the east of Snæfellsjökull this fissure field last erupted between 5 and 8 thousand years ago.[16] This eruption formed the 18 km2 (6.9 sq mi) Búðahraun lava field from the crater Búðaklettur, south-west of
Búðir.[16] This is part of the Snæfellsjökull volcanic system which in turn is part of the
Snæfellsnes volcanic belt (Snæfellsnes volcanic zone).[2] This is an area of renewed intra-plate volcanism in the North American Plate,[17] with rocks no older locally than 800,000 years,[2] that overlay an extinct rift zone that produced the more than 5 million years old crustal basement
tholeiiticflood basalts of the Snæfellsnes peninsula.[16]
Hazards
The Snæfellsjökull volcanic system has the potential for lava flows, explosive tephra eruptions (e.g. air traffic during a major rhyolitic eruption),
tsunami generation (perhaps one flank collapse has occurred historically) and
Jökulhlaups.[2]
Climbing
In summer, the saddle near the summit can be reached easily by walking, although the glacier's crevasses must be avoided. Several tour companies run regular guided walks during the season.[18] Reaching the true summit requires technical ice climbing.
In culture
Literature
Snæfellsjökull serves as the entrance to the subterranean journey in
Jules Verne's classic science fiction novel, Journey to the Center of the Earth (1864). It is also featured in the 1960s Blind Birds trilogy by Czech SF writer
Ludvík Souček, loosely inspired by Verne's work. While trying to discern whether Verne actually visited Iceland, a Czechoslovak-Icelandic science party discovers an ancient alien outpost in the cave system under Snæfellsjökull.
It also figures prominently in the novel Under the Glacier (1968) by Icelandic
Nobel laureate
Halldór Laxness.[19]
Radio and podcasting
Snæfellsjökull is the setting and subject of "Lava and Ice" (episode 2) of Wireless Nights,
Jarvis Cocker's
BBC Radio 4 and podcast series.[20]
Presidential election
The campaign "Snæfellsjökul fyrir forseta" proposed Snæfellsjökul as a candidate in the
2024 Icelandic presidential election, asserting that it met the requirements of being an Icelandic citizen, aged over 35, with no criminal record, and with a supporting petition.[21][22]
^
abcFor the most recent major eruption the most accurate
carbon dating uncorrected age is 1855±25 BP on tephra from a marine sediment core which is corrected to 1775±45 BP bracketing the about 1800 figure and the 200 CE figure used in the article, and implying an inaccuracy of about 50 years in these figures to the careful reader. The reasoning behind this is that corrected radiocarbon ages should be used where ever possible as these relate to actual dates. However there are other determinations on other samples from what might be an eruptive sequence in a volcanic system with wider error. Corrections to Icelandic radiocarbon ages published prior to 2002 are inaccurate.[12] With regard to another eruption date given the uncorrected radiocarbon date is 3960±100 BP corrected to 3960±130 BP.[13][15] Accordingly for the most recent eruption sequence a date of about 200 CE is used in the article without the error in the reference range or its original source stated and without a correction to 175 CE as would normally be done. The date of last eruption is slightly more recent than this and such dating could imply greater accuracy to last eruption time than is the case. The range of dates in the literature might also reflect some out of date sources. At least 20 Holocene eruptions have occurred,[2] and it was noted when this ambiguity became apparent that the source for date used for the original article noted only about half of these and its most recent source was 2002.[1]
^The term rhyolite is used in multiple sources,[2][12][13] but is not always technically accurate, given the trachyte described in whole rock, and that analysis of 28 Sn-1 (1775±45
cor. BP eruption) tephra samples gives a range of
SiO2 from 63% to 71% so that the majority of samples from this eruption are trachyte by the Le Bas et al. 1986 classification.[9][14] . It might be more accurate for the major eruption rocks of Sn-1 and Sn-2 to be termed as towards the alkaline rhyolite part of the
tholeiitic magma series.
^Other sources suggest unknown, or VEI 2 or less[1]
^
abcdefghijkJóhannesson, Haukur (2019).
"Catalogue of Icelandic Volcanoes - Snæfellsjökull". Icelandic Meteorological Office, Institute of Earth Sciences at the University of Iceland, Civil Protection Department of the National Commissioner of the Iceland Police. Retrieved 25 February 2024.
^
abcMartin, E.; Sigmarsson, O. (2007). "Crustal thermal state and origin of silicic magma in Iceland: the case of Torfajökull, Ljósufjöll and Snæfellsjökull volcanoes". Contributions to Mineralogy and Petrology. 153 (5): 593–605.
doi:
10.1007/s00410-006-0165-5.
^Rosi, Mauro; Luip, Luca; Papale, Paolo; Stoppato, Marco (2003). Volcanoes (A Firefly Guide). Firefly Books. pp. 130, 131.
ISBN978-1-55297-683-8.
^
abLarsen, G.; Eiríksson, J.; Knudsen, K.L.; Heinemeier, J. (2002). "Correlation of late Holocene terrestrial and marine tephra markers, north Iceland: implications for reservoir age changes". Polar Research. 21 (2): 283–290.
doi:
10.3402/polar.v21i2.6489.
^
abcKahl, M; Bali, E.; Guðfinnsson, G.H.; Neave, D.A.; Ubide, T.; van der Meer, Q.H.A.; Matthews, S. (2021). "Conditions and Dynamics of Magma Storage in the Snæfellsnes Volcanic Zone, Western Iceland: Insights from the Búðahraun and Berserkjahraun Eruptions". Journal of Petrology. 62 (9).
doi:
10.1093/petrology/egab054.
^Cocker, Jarvis (October 27, 2014).
"Lava and Ice". Wireless Nights with Jarvis Cocker.
Archived from the original on February 13, 2015. Retrieved December 26, 2014.