Evolution of a debris-charged glacier landsystem, Kvíárjökull, Iceland.

Abstract

A time-series of 1:12,500 scale maps of the snout and foreland of the Icelandic glacier Kvíárjökull provides a spatial and temporal assessment of landform evolution from a debris-charged glacier snout over a 58 year period between 1945 and 2003. In addition to providing a valuable record of glacier recession over a period of recent global warming, the maps enable the elaboration of existing conceptual models of the debris-charged glacier landsystem based on measurable process-form relationships. Features were identified using a combination of DEM visualization, morphometric analysis, stereoscopic viewing of aerial photographs and field verification. The maps contain twelve colour coded surficial geology units displayed as polygons and various geomorphological features represented by a combination of lines and points. The spatial and temporal evolution of the landforms on the glacier foreland indicate that the snout of Kvíárjökull has been undergoing active retreat and incremental stagnation over the study period. The maps serve as excellent modern landsystem analogues for palaeoglaciological reconstructions in similar climatic and topographic settings.