Mýrdalssandur

Mýrdalssandur
At Kúðafljót, view of the Mýrdalsjökull
Map of Iceland showing the location of Mýrdalssandur.
Location	Vestur-Skaftafellssýsla, Southern Region, Iceland
Coordinates	63°28′N 18°38′W / 63.47°N 18.63°W / 63.47; -18.63Coordinates: 63°28′N 18°38′W / 63.47°N 18.63°W / 63.47; -18.63
Geology	Outwash plain

Mýrdalssandur (Icelandic pronunciation: ​['mirˌtals'sanˌtur]; MEER-tals-SAN-tor) is an outwash plain on the south coast of Iceland.

The outwash plain is located between the rivers of Kúðafljót in the east and Múlakvísl in the west. Both rivers carry water from the Mýrdalsjökull glacier to the sea.

Mýrdalssandur has a 35 km (22 mi)-long coast line, including Kötlutangi, the southernmost point of the island of Iceland.

The Ring Road crosses this flat surface on 25 km (16 mi).

The outwash plain was built by the numerous jökulhlaups of the Mýrdalsjökull. The last large jökulhlaup was due to an explosive eruption of the Katla volcano under the glacier in 1918, and the water volume at the peak of the jökulhlaup was estimated to be around 200,000 - 300,000 m³/s.

South of the road rises Hjörleifshöfði to a height of 231 m (758 ft). The mountain is named after Hjörleifur Hródmarsson. He was the first settler to come to Iceland with Ingólfr Arnarson.

In the Middle Ages there was a fishing lake called Kerlingarfjörðer at the mouth of the Múlakvísl. Probably it was not a fjord, but rather an extension of a river mouth. The name (isl. Kerling = the old woman) was created according to the land register book, after an old woman had fallen overboard from one of the settler ships and was carried away by the water. Around the year 1000 many farms seem to have found themselves on the Mýrdalssandur. Sources mention four parishes in Álftaver (). These farms were, however, were mostly abandoned up to the 15th century, as a result of volcanic eruptions of the Katla, subsequent glacier runs and ashfall. At the beginning of the 21st century, some farms still exist in Álftaver.