[b] The area north of Kverkfjöll has been altered by large floods originating from the northern part of Vatnajökull with the heights being tindars and hyaloclastite ridges orientated towards the nor-north-east.

[10][12] The 2014 to 2015 erupted Holuhraun lava field is approximately 10 km (6.2 mi) to the north-west of Kverkfjöll but is related to the adjacent Bárðarbunga volcanic system.

While the dominant magma is tholeiite basalt, samples of some rocks carried in the Kverkjökull glacier have been silicic and presumably originate from the central volcano,[10] which is a stratovolcano.

[19] The most recent volcanic subaerial eruption occurred about 1300 years ago from the northern fissure swarm and produced a lava flow covering about 20 km2 (7.7 sq mi).

[14] In 2013 a jökulhlaup occurred that emptied the water-filled Gengissig depression hydrothermal area, that is located just north-west to the northern caldera.

Further than the flood, due to the release of water pressure, there were subsequent significant hydrothermal explosions in the lake bed.