The geomorphology of Svínafellsjökull and Virkisjökull-Falljökull glacier forelands, southeast Iceland

Abstract

The base digital elevation model (DEM) is compiled from an ice-cap wide airborne LiDAR dataset. The mapped glacial landforms are dominated by sequences of recessional moraines laid down in the mid-Holocene, the Little Ice Age, and the last ∼100 years; the state of landform preservation generally decreasing with age. Interspersed with glaciofluvial sedimentation associated with typical ice-marginal retreat sequences is key geomorphological evidence of high-magnitude volcanogenic outburst floods (jökulhlaups) associated with the eruptions of Öraefajökull in 1362 and 1727 CE. Ice-front retreat has accelerated since c.2005 leaving a rapidly evolving buried-ice landscape in front of Virkisjökull-Falljökull -including an ice-cored esker, a large ice-floored (supraglacial) lake, and numerous actively forming kettle holes and ice caverns. This map could act as a 'reference frame' for geomorphologists studying the temporal evolution of glacial landform-sediment assemblages undergoing rapid change. ARTICLE HISTORY

Glacial geomorphological mapping: A review of approaches and frameworks for best practice

“…With improvements in technology, the widespread availability of remotely-sensed datasets, and a concomitant ease of access to high-quality printing facilities, alternative approaches to the traditional, purely field mapping method have also been employed, including (i) documenting sediment-landform assemblages during extensive field campaigns both prior to and after commencing remote mapping (e.g. Dyke et al, 1992;Krüger 1994;Kjaer et al 2008;Boston, 2012a, b;Jónsson et al, 2014;Schomacker et al 2014;Everest et al, 2017), (ii) mapping directly onto or annotating print-outs of imagery (e.g. aerial photographs) in the field (e.g.…”

“…LiDAR or UAV-derived DEMs are also becoming increasingly used for mapping in modern glacial environments (e.g. Brynjólfsson et al, 2014Brynjólfsson et al, , 2016Jónsson et al 2014Jónsson et al , 2016Benediktsson et al, 2016;Chandler et al, 2016a;Ewertowski et al, 2016;Everest et al, 2017;Lovell et al, 2018). Despite the high-resolution of the imagery, some compromise on the level of detail may be necessary, such as deciding on a maximum mapping scale (e.g.…”

The glacial landsystem of Hoffellsjökull, SE Iceland: contrasting geomorphological signatures of active temperate glacier recession driven by ice lobe and bed morphology

“…There has been a concomitant change in snout morphology in that an apparently more divergent ice flow regime has developed over time in response to thinning snouts, thereby initiating stronger radial crevassing. Poor drainage has been further exacerbated by the more recent uncovering of overdeepenings, either in bedrock and/or inside outwash heads, leading to the development of proglacial lakes, iceberg calving and the switching from subglacial signatures of flutings and push moraines to ice-contact fans, englacial esker networks and kame and kettle topography (Bradwell et al 2013;Phillips et al 2013Phillips et al , 2014Phillips et al , 2018Evans & Orton 2015;Everest et al 2017;Everest & Bradwell 2018a, b;Swift & Cook 2018). The charting of glacier recession and mapping of glacier forelands have also enabled the identification and quantification of important process-form regimes in active temperate snouts, including subglacial bedforms (Boulton 1987;Boulton & Hindmarsh 1987;Benn & Evans 1996;Jónsson et al 2016;Evans et al 2018a), englacial to subglacial meltwater drainage features (Price 1969;Howarth 1971;Spedding & Evans 2002;Storrar et al 2015), proglacial outwash tracts (Hjulstrom 1954;Krigström 1962;Price 1969Price , 1971Price , 1982Price & Howarth 1970;Thompson 1988;Thompson & Jones 1986;Maizels 1993;Marren 2002), supraglacial landforms (Eyles 1979(Eyles , 1983aSpedding & Evans 2002;Evans 2009;Bennett et al 2010;Bennett & Evans 2012) and the sediment-landform assemblages of ice-dammed lakes…”

Submarginal debris transport and till formation in active temperate glacier systems: The southeast Iceland type locality

“…It has only recently been associated with a proglacial lake, which occupies a shallow overdeepened foreland. Sixth, Falljökull descends steeply from the southern slopes of the Öraefi stratovolcano and its snout is presently downwasting in a flooded overdeepening (Bradwell et al 2013;Everest et al 2017).…”