Rit (Vísindafélag Íslendinga) - 01.07.1931, Qupperneq 13

13
September, it is true, a considerable fall of snow may take
place in the mountains, but this will be fairly well equalized
by the ablation, that takes place in the second half of May.
A special investigation of this matter will be necessary by
registrating the summer temperature at the firnlimit in various
districts of the country.
The highest temperature values at the firnlimit are fovnd
near the NW- and SE-coasts amounting to 4°,3 C, while the
lowest ones are in the eastern half of the central region,
down to -s- 0 ,7 C.
The high values indicate a far greater amount of pre-
cipitation in the respective districts than hitherto measured.
In Norway for instance the summer temperature of + 4,3 C
at the firnline corresponds to about 3500 mm. annual pre-
cipitation. There seems on the whole to exist such a close
relation between the temperature at the firnlimit and the
amount of precipitation, that the one element may easily be
calculated from the other.1) For the generalization of this
method, however, further investigations in various regions of
the world are required.
Future problems. The Icelandic glaciers are in many
respects very interesting from a geographical and glaciological
point of view. They are remnants of the inland ice, that covered
the whole island during the ice-age, and in cooperation with
the volcanic activities they have formed its present con-
figuration. With their domeshaped firn regions and compara-
tively short »skridjökuls« they bear a resemblance to the
icefields of Greenland, but in other respects they form
an intermediate stage between these and the Alpine type of
glaciers.
The above stated rather uncertain measurements cf the
height of the firnline are almost all we know of the physical
conditions of the Icelandic glaciers. All glaciological problems
1) H. W. Ahlmann: „Le niveau de glaciation comme fonction de
l’accumulation d’humidité sous forme solide". — Geografiske Annaler
1924 p. 264 etc.