Iceland is known as ‘The Land of Fire and Ice’. That is because it has both glaciers and volcanoes dotted around the island. How many glaciers are there in Iceland, where are they and what exactly is a glacier?
A glacier is a large, persistent block of ice. Glaciers only form on land when snow stays long enough in one place to turn into ice. Over years, centuries even, the snow is compressed into thick ice masses.
What’s unique about glaciers is their ability to move. They crawl forward due to sheer mass – like very slow rivers. Although glaciers are persistent, they slowly deform as they flow, creating crevasses, cracks, and sometimes beautiful.
