Jökull - 01.12.2006, Page 32

Y. Wang and M. J. Wooller
STUDY SITES
A total of four lake sites were visited during February
27th through March 7th of 2004: Lake Litla-Viðarvatn
on the Melrakkaslétta peninsula, Lake Torfadalsvatn
on the Skagi peninsula, Lake Stífluvatn on the Trölla-
skagi Peninsula and Lake Arnarvatn stóra in the in-
terior of Iceland (Figure 2). Lake Litla-Viðarvatn
(66◦14’25.4”N, 15◦48’17.1”W, 148 meters a.s.l. has
a catchment area of ∼5 km2 and the lake size it-
self is 0.1 km2. It is a shallow lake with a maxi-
mum depth of ∼3 m. A stream flows into the north
end of the lake and an outlet stream flows from the
south end. Grasses, herbs and mosses were present
in the surrounding vegetation during our visit. Lake
Torfadalsvatn (66◦03’46.3”N, 20◦23’01.6"W, 47 m
a.s.l.) has a catchment area of ∼4 km2 with the to-
tal lake area of ∼0.4 km2. The maximum depth of
Lake Torfadalsvatn is 5 m. A stream enters at its
southern end and an outflow is present towards the
north end of the lake (Rundgren, 1998). The lake is
surrounded by a rocky plateau with scattered dwarf
shrubs (Rundgren, 1998). During our visit, the shore-
line was covered by lichens, mosses, sedges, heather,
and grasses. Aquatic plants are present during sum-
mer (Axford, personal communication). Lake Stíflu-
vatn (65◦59’10.0”N, 19◦00’15.9”W, 135 m a.s.l.) is
located on the Tröllaskagi Peninsula and is dammed at
its north end with the Skeiðfoss hydroelectric power
station. This lake has a catchment area of 115 km2
and an area of 4 km2. Three paleo-lakes, which were
originally 2 m deep each, were flooded by the current
dammed lake that is now 10 m deep. Its catchment
area includes a few lakes and brooks and its discharge,
Fljótaá, is connected with Lake Miklavatn. Steep
mountains are to the west side of the lake and land-
slides were evident in this area. Herbs were present
in the surrounding vegetation. Lake Arnarvatn stóra
(64◦57’22.6”N, 20◦21’28.8”W) was the highest ele-
vation lake (∼476 m a.s.l.) visited and is located ∼40
km northwest from Langjökull icecap in Iceland’s in-
terior. The surrounding topography is relatively flat
with the catchment area ∼61 km2. The lake area is ∼4
km2 with a maximum depth of ∼2.5 m. River Austurá
discharges into the north end of the lake and a short
river Skammá enters the lake from southeast. The
surrounding vegetation composition includes grasses,
herbs, lichens and mosses.
Figure 2. Map of Iceland and
sampling sites: (1) Lake Torfa-
dalsvatn, (2) Lake Stífluvatn, (3)
Lake Litla-Viðarvatn, and (4)
Lake Arnarvatn stóra. – Setkjarn-
ar voru teknir úr Torfadalsvatni
(1), Stífluvatni (2), Litla-Viðar-
vatni (3) og Arnarvatni stóra (4).
30 JÖKULL No. 56