Okjökull
Former glacier in western Iceland / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
This article is about the Okjökull glacier. For Ok volcano, see Ok (volcano).
Okjökull (Icelandic pronunciation: [ˈɔkˌjœːkʏtl̥], Ok glacier) was a glacier in western Iceland on top of the shield volcano Ok.[2]
Quick Facts Type, Location ...
Okjökull | |
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Type | Glacier |
Location | Iceland |
Coordinates | 64.598°N 20.881°W / 64.598; -20.881 |
Thickness | less than 50 m (160 ft)[1]: 35 |
Status | Former glacier |
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Ok is located north-east of Reykjavík. The glacier was declared dead in 2014 by glaciologist Oddur Sigurðsson by reason of its lack of the thickness. Ice crystals in glaciers collapse under their own weight to form solid ice capable of movement due to central gravitational pressure only when the ice is around forty to fifty metres thick.[1]: 35, 42 By 2017 it no longer meet this criteria in thickness and was less than the 2015 area of 0.7 km2 (0.27 sq mi) which in turn was much less that its 15 km2 (5.8 sq mi) size at the start of the twentieth century.[1]: 35