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Heinabergsjökull and Skalafellsjökull, Iceland: active temperate piedmont lobe and outwash head glacial landsystem

Evans, D.J.A.; Orton, C.

Heinabergsjökull and Skalafellsjökull, Iceland: active temperate piedmont lobe and outwash head glacial landsystem Thumbnail


Authors

C. Orton



Abstract

A 1:15,000 scale map of the glacial geomorphology and surficial geology of the Heinabergsjökull and Skalafellsjökull glacier forelands in southeast Iceland depicts a landsystem imprint of actively receding temperate glaciers in a mountain terrain with a high glacifluvial sediment yield. The landsystem is characterised by the three diagnostic depositional domains for active temperate glacier systems (marginal morainic; subglacial; glacifluvial/glacilacustrine) together with site-specific landform-sediment assemblages indicative of jökulhlaup drainage from ice-dammed lakes. Other features are overridden moraines and fluted kame terraces, indicative of ice-marginal and glacifluvial palimpsests preserved beneath temperate glacier ice. A significant outwash head in front of Heinabergsjökull records the long-term accumulation of proglacial outwash and was responsible for a radical change in proglacial drainage patterns (topographically unrestricted to restricted) once the glacier snout had receded from the ice-contact face of the landform. The Heinabergsjökull/ Skalafellsjökull foreland constitutes a modern analogue for active temperate piedmont lobes associated with the construction of large outwash heads fed by high glacifluvial sediment yields. This is one of the most common glacial depositional scenarios associated with the more restricted, mountain-based, average glaciation style during a typical cold stage.

Citation

Evans, D., & Orton, C. (2015). Heinabergsjökull and Skalafellsjökull, Iceland: active temperate piedmont lobe and outwash head glacial landsystem. Journal of Maps, 11(3), 415-431. https://doi.org/10.1080/17445647.2014.919617

Journal Article Type Article
Publication Date Jan 1, 2015
Deposit Date Oct 10, 2014
Publicly Available Date Mar 28, 2024
Journal Journal of Maps
Publisher Taylor and Francis Group
Peer Reviewed Peer Reviewed
Volume 11
Issue 3
Pages 415-431
DOI https://doi.org/10.1080/17445647.2014.919617
Keywords Glacial landsystem, Outwash head, Active temperate glacier.

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