Dettifoss

Identity area

Type of entity

Corporate body

Authorized form of name

Dettifoss

Parallel form(s) of name

Standardized form(s) of name according to other rules

Other form(s) of name

Identifiers for corporate bodies

Description area

Dates of existence

874-

History

Dettifoss er aflmesti foss Íslands. Hann er 45 m hár og rúmlega 100 m breiður foss í Jökulsá á Fjöllum. Hann er hluti af Vatnajökulsþjóðgarði og er skilgreindur sem Náttúruvætti af Umhverfisstofnun. Nálægt honum eru tveir miklir fossar, Hafragilsfoss neðan hans, en Selfoss ofar í ánni.

Dettifoss er hluti af sýslumörkum Norður- og Suður-Þingeyjarsýslna.

Places

Þingeyjarsýsla;

Legal status

Functions, occupations and activities

Mandates/sources of authority

Internal structures/genealogy

General context

Referred to by some as ´The Beast’ in comparison to ‘The Beauty’ of Goðafoss, this monstrous behemoth of a waterfall is guaranteed to steal your breath away. Set within stark, rocky surrounds with bone-shatteringly sheer drops on either side, there couldn´t be a more fitting backdrop for such untethered natural power. It’s a truly unmissable jewel in the Diamond Circle’s crown, one you will never forget.

The name Dettifoss could be loosely translated as ‘The Collapsing Waterfall’. Officially holding the title of the most powerful waterfall in Europe, an average of 96,500 gallons of water crosses its bow every single second. Such is its force, the mist from the falls are visible from several miles away.
Straggling a 100 meter wide abyss, Dettifoss plummets 45 meters to the craggy shores below. To put this into perspective, this is about the height of the Statue of Liberty, so, pretty damn high.

Dettifoss was recently featured in the opening scene of Ridley Scott’s 2012 Aliens prequel, Prometheus. There was also a piece named after it by the Icelandic composer, Jón Leifs.

The entire Vatnajökull National Park surrounding Dettifoss has been approved as UNESCO world heritage site in 2019.

Relationships area

Related entity

Jökulsá á Fjöllum

Identifier of related entity

Category of relationship

hierarchical

Dates of relationship

Description of relationship

Related entity

Hafragilsfoss í Jökulsá á Fjöllum (874-)

Identifier of related entity

Category of relationship

associative

Dates of relationship

Description of relationship

Access points area

Subject access points

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Occupations

Control area

Authority record identifier

Institution identifier

IS HAH

Rules and/or conventions used

Status

Final

Level of detail

Full

Dates of creation, revision and deletion

Language(s)

  • Icelandic

Script(s)

Sources

Maintenance notes

  • Clipboard

  • Export

  • EAC

Related subjects

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