Austari-Jökulsá (in Icelandic pronounced as /ˈœysta(ː)rɪ-ˈjœːkʏlsˌauː/, "easterly glacier river") is a glacial river in the north of Iceland. After the confluence with Vestari-Jökulsá it forms the Héraðsvötn.
The name means Eastern Glacial River,[1] in comparison to the Western Glacial River (Vestari-Jökulsá) which is situated more to the west.
Some glacial outlet streams of the big ice cap Hofsjökull confluence up in the highland to form the glacial river Austari-Jökulsá. The river discharge is rather important with 60-100 m3/sec in the summer and 20-30 m3/sec in wintertime. A flood went up to 320 m3/sec.[2]
Because of this, the river which has no waterfalls had a bad reputation and was/is very difficult to ford.
In 1970, a bridge was built near Laugafell.
Today, the river with its fierce currents is popular for rafting tours.