Glaciofluvial Sediment Deposition at the Outwash Plain of Seljavallajökull Outlet Glacier, South Iceland

Glaciers cover 11% of the land surface of Iceland and many of them are in various stages of retreat due to melting induced by global climate change. Icelandic glaciers are temperate and respond quickly to changes in climatic... [ view full abstract ]

Glaciers cover 11% of the land surface of Iceland and many of them are in various stages of retreat due to melting induced by global climate change. Icelandic glaciers are temperate and respond quickly to changes in climatic conditions. As glaciers melt the fluvial systems they feed change, which has widespread ramifications for sediment deposition. In order to gain insight into the relationship between glacial retreat and sediment deposition a number of soil pits were dug in the outwash plain of Seljavallajökull, an outlet glacier of Eyjafjallajökull in southern Iceland. Eyjafjallajökull is underlain by a volcano of the same name, which erupted in 2010 spreading ash throughout the area and causing jökulhlaups at many of the outlet glaciers. Soil layers were compared to retreat records of Seljavallajökull and two other glaciers, which were used as proxies where the record for Seljavallajökull was insufficient. The sediment layers in the outwash plain represent the evolution of a braiding stream and include layers of tephra from the 2010 eruption. Due in part to a man made levee that interrupts the timeline and lack of precision dating, no connection could be made between specific soil layers and periods of retreat.