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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 19th century 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. |