No latest activity reported for Öraefajökull.

Below is a summary of eruption dates and Volcanic Explosivity Indices (VEI).

The following references are the sources used for data regarding this volcano. References are linked directly to our volcano data file. Discussion of another volcano or eruption (sometimes far from the one that is the subject of the manuscript) may produce a citation that is not at all apparent from the title. Additional discussion of data sources can be found under Volcano Data Criteria.

Gudmundsson M T, Larsen G, Hoskuldsson A, Gylfason A G, 2008. Volcanic hazards in Iceland. {Jokull}, 58: 251-268

Newhall C G, Dzurisin D, 1988. Historical unrest at large calderas of the world. {U S Geol Surv Bull}, 1855: 1108 p, 2 vol

Selbekk R S, Tronnes R G, 2007. The 1362 AD Oraefajokull eruption, Iceland: petrology and geochemistry of large-volume homogeneous rhyolite. {J Volc Geotherm Res}, 160: 42-58

Sharma K, Self S, Blake S, Thordarson T, Larsen G, 2008. The AD Oraefajokull eruption, S.E. Iceland: physical volcanology and volatile release. {J Volc Geotherm Res}, 178: 719-739

Steinthorsson S, et al., 2002. {Catalog of Active Volcanoes of the World - Iceland}. {Unpublished manuscript}

Stevenson J A, McGarvie D W, Smellie J L, Gilbert J S, 2006. Subglacial and ice-contact volcanism at the Oraefajokull stratovolcano, Iceland. {Bull Volc}, 68: 737-752

Thorarinsson S, 1958. The Oraefajokull eruption of 1362. {Acta Nat Islandica}, 2: 1-102

Öraefajökull, Iceland's highest peak, is a broad glacier-clad central volcano at the SE end of the Vatnajökull icecap. A 4 x 5 km subglacial caldera truncates the summit of the dominantly basaltic and rhyolitic volcano. The extensive summit icecap is drained through deep glacial valleys dissecting the SW-to-SE flanks of the volcano. The largest-volume volcano in Iceland, 2119-m-high Öraefajökull was mostly constructed during Pleistocene glacial and interglacial periods. Holocene activity has been dominated by explosive summit eruptions, although flank lava effusions have also occurred. A major silicic eruption in 1362 AD was Iceland's largest historical explosive eruption. It and another eruption during 1727-28 were accompanied by major jökulhlaups (glacier outburst floods) that caused property damage and fatalities.