Skessugarður

October 15, 2017

Rampart of the Giantess.

The Grjótgarðsháls ridge in the northern Highlands of Iceland holds one of the most startling sights anywhere: a wall of enormous boulders over 300 m in length and up to 7 m high, set in a sweeping moraine dotted with glacial erratics.

The geological explanation for this wondrous landscape lays it at the door of the Brúarjökull glacier near the end of the last Ice Age. Skessugarður was long thought to date from the Younger Dryas, around 12,000 years ago, but more recent dating places its formation somewhat later, roughly 10,600–10,900 years ago, as the Icelandic Ice Sheet was retreating.

The extent of Skessugarður – from Skessa (Giantess) and garður (in this context a fortress or rampart) – is best appreciated from the air. Watch the video short below.