Jökull - 01.12.1982, Page 31

Changes in the proglacial Area of Breiðamerkurjökull,
southeastern Iceland: 1890—1980
R.J. PRICE
Department of Geography,
University of Glasgow, Glasgow G12 8Qff U.K.
abstract
The retreat of Breidamerkurjökull since 1890 has been
recorded on a series of maps and aerial pholographs. The
landforms and deposits produced by the glacier and its
mellwaters have been the subjects of detailedstudy by numer-
ous investigators. The purpose of this paper is to summarise
the injormation now available. on this area and to outline the
pnncipal changes in the position of the glacier margin, the
proglacial landforms and drainage system and the coastline,
during the last ninetyyears.
TVTRODUCTION
In June 1964 a meeting was held in Dr. Sigurdur
1 horarinsson’s ofíice in Reykjavík which resulted in
the selection of Breidamerkurjökull as the subject of
a research programme to be undertaken by memb-
ers of the Department of Geography of the U nivers-
'ty of Glasgow (Price 1968). The enthusiastic co-
operation of Dr. Thorarinsson on that occasion was
not only of great significance to the Glasgow Uni-
versity research project but ultimately was respons-
ible for the creation of a strong link between British
and Icelandic scientists working in the fields of
glaciology, geology, geomorphology and Quater-
nary studies. One of the main aims of the Glasgow
University Breidamerkurjokull project was to ob-
tain information about geological and geomorpho-
logical processes in an area of existing glaciers so
that areas formerly glaciated in Britain could be
more satisfactorily interpreted. This aim was fulfill-
ed in two ways. Firstly, the project itself resulted in
the publication of a series of papers and theses
(Howarth 1967, 1971; Howarth and Price 1969; Price
1968, 1969, 1970, 1971; Price and Howarth 1970;
1 Velch 1967; Welch and Howarth 1968), largely based
on the excellent photogrammetric maps produced
by Howarth (1968) and Welch (1967). Secondly, the
project’s publications brought the Breidamerkur-
jökull area to the attention of a large number of
British scientists and with the opening of a bridge
over the Jökulsá in 1967 the area became much
more accessible. In 1968, Price and Howarth led a
field course for sixteen members of the British Quat-
ernary Field Study Group (now the Quaternary
Research Association) based on the Breidá Hut and
in subsequent years groups from the School of En-
vironmental Sciences at the University of East
Anglia (1970, 1971, 1972, 1974) and the University
ofSt. Andrews (1980) resulted in further research
and publications (see bibliography). A field guide
(Boulton 1977) to the area was produced on the
occasion ofan excursion consistingofsixteen scient-
ists from Europe and North America in association
with INQUA Commission on Lithology and Genes-
is ofQuatemary Deposits. Breidamerkurjökull and
its proglacial area has obviously received a great
deal of attention during the last eighteen years and
the purpose of this paper is to summarise the main
results of this work and to provide a comprehensive
bibliography relating to this work.
MAPS AND AERIAL PHOTOGR.\PHS
The following maps of the area have been pro-
duced:
1903/4: Danish Geodetic Institute, 1:100,000
(published 1945)
1945/46: Army Map Service, Corps of Engine-
ers, U.S. Army, 1:50,000.
1951: Durham University Exploration Soci-
ety plane table map, 1:25,000.
1965/1945: Department of Geography, University
of Glasgow, 1:15,000 (Welch 1967, How-
arth 1968). Both maps were produced
photogrammetrically from aerial
photography taken in 1945 and 1965.
These large scale maps were reduced to
1:30,000 scale and produced in colour.
JÖKULL 32. ÁR 29