Jökull - 01.12.1968, Page 58

tached to the local telephone line which cross-
ed the sandur.
The ground control system was established
by July 30th. Owing to difficulties in obtain-
ing the services of the Icelandic Coast Guard
aircraft, which was to fly the new photography,
followed by a period of bad weather, the new
aerial photograpliy was not taken until August
24th. During the flight panchromatic, colour,
false colour and infra red filrns were exposed.
During the month of August extensive peri-
ods of bad weather limited field work. How-
ever, a plane-table map of an esker system
emerging from the ice edge was constructed
ancl studies were made ot' the moraines, strati-
graphy and drainage systems of the proglacial
area.
The party left the sanclur on August 31 st
and flew back to Glasgow from Reykjavik on
September 3rd.
During the period September 1965 to June
1966 the new aerial photography, which proved
to be of excellent quality, was used for both
photogrammetric and photointerpretation pur-
poses. Many weeks of work by Welch and
Howarth, using the Santoni Simplex II and the
Wild B8 plotting machines in the Department
of Geography resulted in a detailed topograph-
ical and morphological map of the area of
study at a scale of 1:15,000. This map was to
be the basis of the field work to be carried
out during the summer of 1966.
An intensive study was also made by Welch
of the value of the four different tvpes of
photography for the interpretation of a glacial
environment. The results of this study have
been published in The Photogrammetric Re-
cord (Welch 1966) and indicate that colour
photography is superior for the interpretation
of glacierized areas.
Work was not commenced on the plotting
of the 1945 aerial photography until May 1966
because of difficulties encountered in obtain-
ing íilm of this aerial photography from the
American Department of Defence.
During May and the early part of June
(1966) all preparations for the fieldwork pro-
gramme to be carried out in Iceland between
June 27th and August 26th were completed.
Two field camps were established once again,
each with three undergraduate field assistants
392 JÖKULL 18. ÁR
plus the senior research workers. The aims of
the 1966 field programme were:
1. To carry out detailed studies of ice move-
rnent and ablation in selected areas near
the frontal nrargin of Breidamerkurjokull.
2. To make large-scale rnaps of two esker
systems.
3. To complete morphological ancl strati-
graphic mapping of the pro-glacial area.
4. To study the orientation of rock particles
in the ground moraine and moraine ridges.
5. To study the reflectance values of surface
materials for use in photointerpretation
studies.
6. To determine the depth of three proglacial
lakes.
7. To obtain meteorological information near
the frontal margin of Breidamerkurjokull.
8. To establish additional ground control for
aerial photography taken in August 1965,
and permanently mark, with cement blocks,
all points used for the grouncl control.
9. To sample the proglacial deposits to deter-
mine the size range, shape and roundness
of particles.
The 1966 field-season proved to be very
successful and all the aims listed above were
achieved. Onlv ten days were lost because of
bad weather.
During the period since September 1966
much of the material obtained during the two
field seasons has been analysed. The photo-
grammetric maps based on the 1945 aerial
photography were completed and the changes
in the extent of the glacier and the form of
the proglacial area between 1945 and. 1966
studied (Welch 1967, Welch and Howarth 1967,
Price 1969). Laboratory work has been carried
out on the sediment samples and a computer
programme used to analyse the large amount
of data collected on particle shape and round-
ness.
It is not the purpose of this paper to sum-
marize the results of this project. These results
are contained in two doctoral theses (University
of Glasgow), one already completed by Welch
and the other in its final stages by Howarth,
and papers either already published in scienti-
fic journals or in the process of publication