Jökull - 01.01.2012, Side 126

A. Schomacker et al.
Figure 9. Elevation change map 1960-1996. Positive values represent glacier thickening or deposition, and
negative values represent glacier thinning or erosion. – Kort af hæðarbreytingum frá 1960 til 1996. Jákvæð
gildi tákna þykknun jökulsins en neikvæð gildi þynningu eða rof.
approach, changes of 0±5 m were blinded off, al-
though this is more than the sum of the total Root
Mean Square (RMS) triangulation residuals in all
three change maps (Figures 9–11 and Table 1). It
appears from Figures 2 and 9 that the glacier margin
was 338 m further out in the valley in 1996 compared
to 1960. The 1996 ice thickness at the position of
the 1960 ice margin was approximately 100 m. The
snout was generally 70–100 m thicker in 1996 than in
1960. Data 2.5–4.5 km upglacier from the 1996 mar-
gin show that Sólheimajökull was 40–60 m thicker in
1996 than in 1960 (Figure 9). The glacier thickening
took place during a period of relatively cooler cli-
mate prevailing between c. 1970–1995 (Sigurðsson,
2010). Figure 9 also shows areas of surface lowering
(erosion) in the forefield between 1960 and 1996. In
the main meltwater channel, the surface lowered 5–9
m, and at the western flank of Jökulhaus, the surface
lowered 5–19 m. In both cases, this is glaciofluvial
erosion and removal of sediments.
By 2010, the ice margin had retreated 747 m from
its 1996 position (Figure 2). Figure 10 shows the sur-
face elevation change between 1996 and 2010. In the
zone between the 2010 and 1996 margins, the map
124 JÖKULL No. 62, 2012