What is Iceland's largest and most voluminous ice cap?

Iceland’s largest and most voluminous ice cap is Vatnajökull. It covers southeastern Iceland and is so extensive that it accounts for roughly 8 percent of the country’s area.

Vatnajökull covers about 7,700 square kilometers and contains approximately 3,000 cubic kilometers of ice. Its ice averages around 380 meters thick, with a maximum thickness of about 950 meters. Numerous outlet glaciers flow outward from the main ice cap, shaping valleys and feeding rivers and glacial lagoons.

The ice cap is also a major center of glaciovolcanism. Volcanoes lie beneath or near it, including Bárðarbunga and Grímsvötn, so eruptions can interact dramatically with the ice. Iceland’s highest peak, Hvannadalshnjúkur, rises on the southern periphery within Öræfajökull.

Vatnajökull became part of Vatnajökull National Park in 2008. A common mix-up is ranking it as Europe’s largest ice cap overall: by area and volume, the Severny Island ice cap in Russia’s Novaya Zemlya is larger. Vatnajökull is, however, Iceland’s clear national leader and Europe’s largest ice cap outside that Arctic comparison.