Jökusárlón is probably the best known glacial lake in Iceland. It's located directly on the main road between a massive glacier called Breiðamerkurjökull and the sea. It has been featured in movies from James Bond to Lara Croft and Batman.
By now it is the deepest lake in Iceland with 284m (932ft). Yet, the lake is fairly young: it has only emerged 60 years ago. Before the glacier reached the sea. In the last 15 years, the lake supposedly doubled because the glacier is melting.
Until recently, Jökulsárlón was on private land. When it was on sale in 2017, the country of Iceland executed their pre-emptive right to buy and immediately put Jökulsárlón under natural protection, which sounds very exemplary to me.
A cool thing about Jökulsárlón is that it is connected to the sea and in summer the melted icebergs roll into the Atlantic Ocean. Here, these chunks of ice are brought back to the beach by the waves. And as it is a black sand beach, the ice has a very strong contrast. Because of this, this beach is also a huge tourist attraction and called 'Diamond Beach'.
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