Hjörleifshöfði is an inselberg in Southern Iceland. It’s basically a huge rock made of palagonite (volcanic rock) raising up to 221 meters out of Mýrdalssandur, a vast glacial outwash plain of black sand made of basalt. An inselberg is an isolated or small mountain that rises abruptly from a gently sloping or virtually level surrounding plain like we see in the picture above.
The rock’s most popular feature is a small cave to its south-west. From the outside, it’s just two cracks on the side of a mountain leading into a chamber. From the inside though, the opening has a very distinctive outline that would instantly remind you of the Star Wars charecter Yoda.
The Hjörleifshöfði inselberg is of volcanic origin but was covered by ice at the time of its formation. At formation, it was an island surrounded by sea. At the time of the settlement of Iceland it was already connected to the mainland. At that time there was a fjord at its side, which was used to shore ships.
Later, the eruptions of the Katla volcano in 1918 gathered so much sand and gravel that it was now not at the shore but surrounded by the mainland and the fjord was filled.
For cave lovers, Hjörleifshöfði cave is a perfect place to visit. The cave is located in the Hjörleifshöfði inselberg, and is often called the Yoda Cave. The cave wasn’t well known until the Hollywood movie Star Wars Rougue One was filmed there. You can find unique caves all around Iceland, but this one is special for its shape and the views that you get when standing inside and watching the surrounding area through the opening of the cave. I
Named after Hjörleifur, the famous settler of Iceland’s History, the inselberg and cave is located on the south coast of Iceland. With the panoramic view of hills, caves, and fields, this place will amaze you. Also known as the cape of Hjörleifur, the Hjorleifshofdi cave is in the 221 meters giant Hjörleifshöfði inselberg made of volcanic eruptions during an ice age.
Types of Caves
There are many types of caves and among them are: lava, glacier, solutional, coastal sea, rare emerged sea caves and sand or wind caves.
1. Lava caves are tunnels or tubes in lava formed when the outer surface of a lava flow cools and hardens while the molten lava within continues to flow and eventually drains out through the newly formed tube.
2. Glacier caves are formed by melt water which excavates drainage tunnels through the ice. Of entirely different origin and not to be included in the category of glacier caves are so-called "ice caves," which usually are either solution caves or lava caves within which ice forms and persists through all or most of the year.
3. Solutional caves are where water has run down a crack in bedrock and has slowly dissolved the rock creating a cavity. The most common type of solutional cave is limestone. Solutional caves are the most frequently occurring caves and such caves form in rock that is soluble, like limestone, but can also form in other rocks, including chalk, dolomite, marble, salt, and gypsum. Most of the caves of the world as well as the largest caves are solutional caves. A process called erosion causes these caves.
4. Coastal Sea Caves are also known as littoral caves are caused by the waves mechanically eating away at the rock. Many of these caves may be on dry land now, but they used to be at the ocean's edge. Such caves demonstrate the enormous pressures exerted by waves and to the corrosive power of wave-carried sand and gravel. The primary process involved is erosion.
5. Emerged sea caves are a very rare type of cave. These caves are still located under the surface of the ocean and have been formed by many actions such as underwater volcanic activity and erosion.
6. Sand or Wind Caves may be formed by the sandblasting effect of silt or fine sand being blown against a rock face. Some rock shelters, which are true caves, are formed in this manner as well as from the erosion via water.
The cape is made from natural tuff which tells us the geological tale that the cape was formed when a volcanic eruption occurred underneath a glacier which results in the forming of a tuff rock.
The cape was surrounded by the ocean after the last ice age but slowly the beach has dried up and when the settlers started arriving in Iceland the cape stood out quite clearly. When the Katla volcano erupted in the 14th century, the meltwater from its glacier pushed the volcanic sand down to the ocean. This is what you now see at the cape and what likely eroded the cave here.
Palagonite is a product from the interaction of water with basalt melt. The water flashes to steam on contact with the hot lava and the small fragments of lava react with the steam to form the light-colored palagonite. This is common in areas of basaltic eruptions that come into contact with water. Palagonite is often brown or yellow colored in contrast to basalt. This remarkable inselberg is composed of palagonite.
To log this cache, please send me a message, answering these questions:
1. The Hjörleifshöfði inselberg is 221 meters tall. How tall is the cave?
2. What color is the rock of the cave and the Hjörleifshöfði inselberg? What kind of rock is this?
3. What color is the rock along the beach? What kind of rock is this?
4. Give an estimate of the size of the cave floor.
5. What is the distance of the cave from the ocean?
6. Do you think this cave will collapse or grow larger over time.
7. Please post a picture of you or a unique item.