Jostedalsbreen Glacier Field
Jostedalsbreen is the largest glacier in Europe, a massive ice plateau of over 480 sq km (185 sq mi), more than 60 km (37 mi) long, with ice up to 600 m (1,970 ft) thick. The ice field covers almost half of the Josdtedal National Park, a beautiful wilderness area on Norway’s west coast between Sognefjord and Nordfjord – two of the longest fjords in the world. Here you will find some of the world’s most awe-inspiring scenery, carved out of the terrain by thousands of years of constant glacial activity.
The ice field is an incredible labyrinth of deep icy crevasses and outcrops. There are 22 valley branches (or “arms”) running down from the ice plateau as well as some smaller separate glaciers. The most accessible of the arms are Briksdalsbreen, Kjenndalsbreen and Nigardsbreen – the experience of walking along the blue ice crevasses of these dynamic wonderlands, sheer ice walls towering above you, is a thrill quite unlike any other.
Jostedal contains an astounding variety of scenery as well as the ice field, ranging from tranquil wooded valleys of alder and birch trees to bleak mountain peaks, and a barren moraine plain of shifting sands – the Fabergstolsgrandane “sandur” – composed of sediment deposited by rivers flowing from one of the glacier’s arms.
As you trek along the ancient cattle tracks, once used by herdsmen, you feel as though you are roaming through different countries and changing seasons. And when you reach the ice field, you step onto an entirely different planet.
The Maelstrom
he fictional Maelstrom, invented by that master of horror stories, Edgar Allen Poe, really does exist. It is the most ferocious of several powerful tidal currents in the waters around the Lofoten Islands in northern Norway.
The rugged Lofoten archipelago sticks straight out into the Atlantic Ocean, separated from the mainland by the Vestfjord, a 40-60 m (130-200 ft) deep, 5 km ( (3 mi) wide strait. Twice a day, the tides cause the waters of the Vestfjord to run back against the main stream, stirring up the Maelstrom (known as the Moskstraumen to the locals) – great whirlpools that swirl at speeds of up to 6 knots. The Moskstraumen is one of the most forceful eddies in the world, an amazing sight which fascinates and terrifies in equal measure.
Read full article: Natural Wonders of The World: Jostedalsbreen Glacier Field and The Maelstrom, Norway
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