glacier, southern Iceland. With its western extension, Eyjafjalla Glacier, it is 30 miles (48 km) long and 20 miles (32 km) wide and covers an area of 268 square miles (695 square km). Only a few miles inland from the Atlantic, it reaches its highest elevation, 5,466 feet (1,666 m) above sea level, in Eyjafjalla Glacier. The southeastern part of the glacier surrounds Katla, an active volcano whose eruption in 1918 caused great floods and considerable modification of the coastline.