Jökulsárlón glacial lagoon, Iceland. Blue icebergs are calving off the Breiðamerkurjökull glacier, striped with black volcanic ash. Seals are often seen swimming in the icy waters of the lagoon.

Bødalsbreen glacier, Norway. Bødalsbreen is one of the many glacier arms coming down from the Jostedalsbreen icecap. In the years 1905 and 1936, the snow capped mountains surrounding the Bødalen valley caused large avalanches that destroyed most of the settlements in the valley.

Nigardsbreen glacier, Norway. Glaciers consist of large glacial ice masses that continuously move forward due to gravity, like a river of ice. How fast the ice moves varies from centimeters to tens of meters per day. When different parts of a glacier move at different speeds, crevasses are created in the ice.

Nigardsbreen glacier, Norway. Crevasses are cracks in ice sheets and glaciers which can be 30 meter deep or more. They are created when the ice flows over uneven terrain or when different parts of the glacier advance at different speeds.

Jökulsárlón glacial lagoon, Iceland. The land surrounding the Breiðamerkurjökull glacier was settled around 870-930 AD. There were two farms, Fjall and Breiða, both of which were devastated by the advancing glacier front around the year 1700. Until this day, the ruins of the farms remain buried under the ice.

Sunset on Smørstabbreen glacier, Norway. With a surface of 25 km2, Smørstabbreen is the largest glacier of Jotunheimen national park. The glacier is popular for glacier hiking and ice climbing. From the end of June to the beginning of September there are daily guided tours on the glacier from the Krossbu mountain lodge to the Leirvassbu lodge.

Nigardsbreen glacier, Norway. During the last century, glaciers in Norway retreated as did most glaciers in other parts of the world. However, in the 1990s Norwegian glaciers advanced due to winters with severe snowfall. But, since the change of the century, a rapid retreat of the glaciers is observed again.

Nigardsbreen glacial stream, Norway. Glaciers grind up the rocks underneath the ice thereby producing mineral particles called glacial flour. It is these minerals that often give a turquoise color to glacial rivers and lakes.

Jökulsárlón glacial lagoon, Iceland. Jökulsárlón glacier lagoon is filled with icebergs calving off from the largest glacier in Europe, Vatnajökull. The spectacular scenery of Jökulsárlón has been used to shoot scenes for many movies, including several Bond movies, Tomb Raider and Batman.

Nigardsbreen glacier, Norway. Glaciers can transport large boulders over distances of hundreds of kilometers. Glacial erratic rocks are rocks that are not native to the area they are found in, but they were carried there by glacial ice masses. Some erratic megablocks are larger than 1 km2 in area and more than 30 meters thick.

The blue ice of Nigardsbreen glacier, Norway. Glaciers are made up of fallen snow that over many years compresses into thick glacial ice masses, and the great pressure forced air out. Dense ice absorbs every other color of the spectrum except blue, which gives it its characteristic color.

Glacier Fåbergstølsbreen, Norway. Located in the valley next to the famous Nigardsbreen glacier, the glacier Fåbergstølsbreen is much less visited. It is however relatively easily accessible by a three kilometre hike from the road to the glacier front.

Jökulsárlón glacial lake, Iceland. During the little ice age in Europe, from the 17th to the 19th century, the glacier Breidamerkurjokull advanced until a point only 1 km away from the southern coast. However, around 1934 the glacier started to retreat, leaving behind a 15 km2 lagoon filled with icebergs.

Styggedalsbreen glacier, Norway. A terminal end moraine is a ridge of soil and rock debris deposited at the front of a glacier. Styggedalsbreen glacier has in the last two decades been forming terminal end moraines of up to 6 meter high. The moraines indicate the maximum advance of the glacier.

Tuftebreen glacier, Norway. Tuftebreen is one of the many glacier arms coming down from the Jostedalsbreen icecap. The glacier is 6.5 km long and flows from an altitude of 1920 m down to about 860 m.

Glacier stream, Norway. There are a total of 1600 glaciers in Norway, covering 1% of the mainland. Hydroelectric power generation provides 98% of the electricity in Norway and 15% of that energy comes from glacier fed streams.