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Article

The geomorphology of Sv¨ªnafellsj?kull and Virkisj?kull-Fallj?kull glacier forelands, southeast Iceland

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Citation

Everest JD, Bradwell T, Jones L & Hughes L (2017) The geomorphology of Sv¨ªnafellsj?kull and Virkisj?kull-Fallj?kull glacier forelands, southeast Iceland. Journal of Maps, 13 (2), pp. 936-945. https://doi.org/10.1080/17445647.2017.1407272

Abstract
A detailed, 1:10,500-scale, surficial geology and glacial geomorphology map of Sv¨ªnafellsj?kull and Virkisj?kull-Fallj?kull glacier forelands in southeast Iceland depicts the landsystem imprint of Holocene glacier fluctuations, volcanogenic outburst floods and recent (post-1990) climate-induced rapid ice-front retreat. The map is based on field survey data in combination with 2012 airborne LiDAR data, 2009¨C2012 terrestrial LiDAR data and 2007 colour aerial photography. 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 (j?kulhlaups) associated with the eruptions of ?raefaj?kull in 1362 and 1727 CE. Ice-front retreat has accelerated since c.2005 leaving a rapidly evolving buried-ice landscape in front of Virkisj?kull-Fallj?kull ¨C 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.

Keywords
Deglaciation; landsystem; Iceland; geomorphology

Journal
Journal of Maps: Volume 13, Issue 2

StatusPublished
Publication date31/12/2017
Publication date online13/12/2017
Date accepted by journal16/11/2017
URL
PublisherTaylor and Francis
eISSN1744-5647

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Dr Tom Bradwell

Dr Tom Bradwell

Senior Lecturer, Biological and Environmental Sciences

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