Fróðskaparrit - 01.01.1977, Page 176

184
Glacial striae, roches moutonnees and ice movements
The watershed lies close to the west coast, immediately east
of a low ridge lying WSW—ENE across the valley (site 22).
The westward end of the ridge is a partially exposed,
moutonneed crag, while the easterly part is covered by about
1 m. of soil.
An approx. 300 m. long area of irregular hummocks extends
to the east from the ridge. This area is considered to be the
most probable locality of the iceshed.
Hvalba.
The valleys NorSbergseiSi and HvalbiareiSi extend to the
west from the settlement of Hvalba. NorSbergseiSi runs in a
northwesterly direction to the north of Grímsfjall, while
HvalbiareiSi runs southwesterly to the south of Grímsfjall. The
shape of Grímsfjall itself with its wedge-shaped east front and
its glaciated flanks indicates its role as a bastion dividing a
valley glacier which moved from east to west (fig. 3). In the
northerly valley there is a rich soil and grass cover, and the
whole valley is cultivated. Exposures are rare, but a few
roches moutonnees show a stoss side to the SE and ESE, and
are thus evidence of ice movement to the NW and WNW
(sites 12 and 13).
There is a striking difference in the thickness of the soil
cover in the two valleys. This is undoubtedly due to the fact
that the northerly valley rests on the often porous and easily
weathered middle basalt series, while the southerly valley rests
on the lower basalt series with its thick, compact and hard
basalt benches. In contrast to the northerly valley, the southerly
one has poor soil cover, and the exposed bedrock appears as a
well-developed roche moutonnee area, showing glacial move-
ment to the SW and SSW (sites 8—11). Several striae may be
seen, oriented NE—SW (site 10).
These observations of ice movement from Hvalba to the
NW and SW are supplemented by others showing ice move-
ment towards the east. On the northern side of Hvalbiar-
fjørSur at Hamranes and Hvítanes there are roches moutonnees