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The glaciers and ice caps of Iceland covered 11% of the land area of the country, up to about 2008. As of 2019 this was down to 10%. They have a considerable impact on its landscape and meteorology. Glaciers are also contributing to the Icelandic economy, with a tourist market that includes glacier trips on snowmobiles and glacier hiking tours. However, the recent loss of ice due to climate change is an increasing concern in Icelandic society.

Description

Glaciers can both grow in size and regress depending upon several factors of which climate and precipitation in the glaciers catchment are the most important. About 7,000 years ago, the Pleistocene ice from the last Ice Age over Iceland disappeared almost entirely, so the current glaciers in Iceland are not that old. In the case of Iceland as several large glaciers are over active volcanoes, geothermal melting can be a substantial component of the glacier ice mass balance. Accordingly Iceland's glacier area varies from year to year and some glaciers may grow while others regress. The tables below have to be interpreted considering such variations in time and do not include much other data that those who study glaciers would regard as important. Data that was gathered over many years in the 1890s, or even by the first complete aerial photographic survey between 1945 and 1946 is difficult to compare to the richer satellite studies and the on the ground measurements possible since the 1990's but such comparisons have been attempted. Even so there are gaps in the data (see Table 2). Two different definitions of a glacier are usually used in current research and much Iceland work is closer to the definition:

A perennial mass of ice, and possibly firn and snow, originating on the land surface by the recrystallization of snow or other forms of solid precipitation and showing evidence of past or present flow

— International Association of Hydrological Sciences,

An ice cap is a mass of glacial ice that covers less than 50,000 km (19,000 sq mi) of land area covering a highland area and they feed outlet glaciers. Many Icelandic ice caps and glaciers lie above volcanoes, such as Grímsvötn and Bárðarbunga, which lie under the largest ice cap, Vatnajökull. The caldera of Grímsvötn is about 100 km (39 sq mi) in area, and Bárðarbunga is about 60 km (23 sq mi) meaning a large amount of ice, given mean icecap thickness of about 200 m (660 ft) is at risk of geothermal melting.

When volcanic activity occurs under the glacier, the resulting meltwater can lead to a sudden glacial lake outburst flood, known in Icelandic as a jökulhlaup. However jökulhlaups are more commonly caused by accumulation of meltwater due to geothermal activity underneath the glacier. Jökulhlaups occasionally trigger volcanic eruptions through the sudden release of pressure. These eruptions occur towards the end of the Jökulhlaup.

The glaciers are relevant enough in Icelandic geography that the four largest are represented blank in most of the maps of the administrative divisions of Iceland smaller than the regions.

Iceland is losing ice due to climate change. In 2008 its glaciers still covered 11% of the land area of the country, at about 11,100 km (4,300 sq mi) out of the total area of 103,125 km (39,817 sq mi). As of 2019 this was down to 10%.

Okjökull in Borgarfjörður, West Iceland, has lost its glacier title and is now simply known as Ok, losing the Icelandic word for glacier, jökull, as a suffix. In order to fit the criteria glaciers need to be thick enough to sink and move under their own weight, which any ice remaining of Okjökull can not do. Okjökull is the first Icelandic glacier to lose this title in an official manner, but tens of smaller glaciers have disappeared up to 2019.

Largest glaciers by surface area

These 13 largest glaciers had, at slightly different times around the year 2000, an aggregate area of 10,863 km (4,194 sq mi) (out of about 11,079 km (4,278 sq mi) for all glaciers of Iceland). The total glacial area in 2019 was down to 10,400 km (4,000 sq mi), and had decreased by more than 2,200 km (850 sq mi) since the end of the 19th century.

Glaciers

The list of glaciers below and their characteristics is incomplete. Many of the smaller glaciers that are presently only glacier remnants have not been added to the list. There are for example over 170 glaciers on the Tröllaskagi peninsula, northern Iceland and many have little significance or have regressed. Okjökull is mentioned in the table below although it is no longer recognised as a glacier as it has recent significance by its rate of disappearance of a large glacier due to climate change. In Iceland the recent maximum extent of glaciers occurred in a process from the onset of the Little Ice Age about 1450 CE and did not stop until about 1900 CE. Some outlet glaciers have shown marked surges over relatively short periods of time resulting in growth in glacial size. This has only changed the recent overall trend to smaller total area of glacial ice for a brief period in 1963–1964 from a surge in Brúarjökull. Other glaciers have been linked, for example in the 1980s Mýrdalsjökull and Eyjafjallajökull were one continuous ice cap.

See also

• Geography of Iceland
• List of glaciers

References

1. "BBC World Service - The Documentary Podcast, Iceland: The great thaw". BBC. 26 December 2019. Retrieved 2020-01-04.
2. ^ Björnsson, H.; Pálsson, F. (2008). "Icelandic glaciers". Jökull. 58 (1): 365–386. doi:10.33799/jokull2008.58.365.
3. ^ Hannesdóttir, H.; Sigurðsson, O.; Þrastarson, R.H.; Guðmundsson, S.; Belart, J.M.; Pálsson, F.; Magnusson, E.; Víkingsson, S.; Kaldal, I.; Jóhannesson, T. (2020). "A national glacier inventory and variations in glacier extent in Iceland from the Little Ice Age maximum to 2019". Jökull. 12: 1–34. doi:10.33799/jokull2020.70.001.
4. ^ Cogley, J. G.; Hock, R.; Rasmussen, L. A.; Arendt, A. A.; Bauder, A.; Braithwaite, R. J.; Jansson, P.; Kaser, G.; Möller, M.; Nicholson, L.; Zemp, M. (2011). Glossary of Glacier Mass Balance and Related Terms. Paris: UNESCO-IHP, IHP-VII Technical Documents in Hydrology No. 86, IACS Contribution No. 2. pp. 1–115. Retrieved 23 May 2024.
5. ^ Baldursson, Snorri; Guðnason, Jónas; Hannesdóttir, Hrafnhildur; Þórðarson, Þorvaldur (2018). Nomination of Vatnajökull National Park dynamic nature of fire and ice for inclusion in the World Heritage List. Reykjavík: Vatnajökull National Park. ISBN 978-9935-9343-3-8.
6. "Okjökull glacier loses its glacier title due to its declining size". Iceland Magazine. 22 September 2014. Archived from the original on 23 September 2014. Retrieved 24 September 2014.
7. ""Jökullinn" Ok er ekki lengur jökull" ["Glacier" Ok is no longer a glacier]. www.ruv.is. RÚV. Retrieved 24 September 2014.
8. ^ "Áhrif loftlagsbreytinga á stærð og afrennsli Langjökuls, Hofsjökuls og suður Vatnajökuls" [The impact of climate change on the size and drainage of Langjökull, Hofsjökull and south of Vatnajökull] (PDF). Raunvis.hi.is. 2006. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2012-11-08.
9. "Temporal Variability of Ice Flow on Hofsjokull, Iceland, Observed by ERS SAR Interferometry" (PDF). Earth.esa.int. Retrieved 2013-10-01.
10. "SP-572 - 2004 Envisat & ERS Symposium" (PDF). Retrieved 2010-04-03.
11. ^ Miodońska, Alicja. Assessing evolution of ice caps in Suðurland, Iceland, in years 1986 - 2014, using multispectral satellite imagery: Masters Thesis (Thesis). Lund, Sweden: Lund University. pp. 1–110.
12. Miodońska, Alicja. Assessing evolution of ice caps in Suðurland, Iceland, in years 1986 - 2014, using multispectral satellite imagery:Masters Thesis (Thesis). Lund, Sweden: Lund University. pp. 1–110.
13. Sigurðsson, Oddur; Williams, Richard S. (2008). "Geographic Names of Iceland's Glaciers:Historic and Modern". In Richard S. Williams Jr.; Jane G. Ferrigno (eds.). Satellite Image Atlas of Glaciers of the World series (U.S. Geological Survey Professional Paper 1386-D (PDF). Retrieved 21 May 2024.
14. "National Land Survey of Iceland-Mapviewer (Kortasja-Landmælingar Íslands)". Retrieved 22 May 2024.
15. ^ Pope, A.; Willis, I.C.; Palsson, F.; Arnold, N.S.; Rees, W.G.; Björnsson, H.; Grey, L. (2016). "Elevation change, mass balance, dynamics and surging of Langjökull, Iceland from 1997 to 2007". Journal of Glaciology. 62 (233): 497–511. Bibcode:2016JGlac..62..497P. doi:10.1017/jog.2016.55.

External links

• National Land Survey of Iceland : Icelandic Statistics (Original source of area figures)
• Elevations of some glaciers
• Geographic Names of Iceland's Glaciers: Historic and Modern

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