<- ->

KVIA RIVER

Region: South Iceland
Coordinates: 63.8892008° N 16.6199656° W

The short but rapid river Kvia discharges the short glacier snout Kviarjokull in the Oraefi District between hamlet Fagurholsmyri and farm Hnappavellir. It was the first river of the district to be bridged (1945; 1974). The glacier cascades down into a short, but very deep (2000 feet) gorge between the mountains Stadarfjall (4000 feet) and Vatnafjoll (3150 feet). Its cliffs on both sides are decorated by colourful rhyolite intrusions. This glacier was much bigger during the extremely cold period some 2500 years ago, when the largest lateral moraines of the country were heaped up on both sides. In the 19^thcentury the gap between them was filled with ice again, but since then it has retreated into the gorge. The western moraine is call Kviarmyrarkambur and the eastern one Kambsmyrarkambur.

Kvia river in Icelandic