Snaefell, East Iceland

• Published in: Journal of Glaciology
• Main Author: Jennings, J. N.
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: Cambridge University Press (CUP) 1952
• Subjects: Earth-Surface Processes; Ice cap; Iceland; Journal of Glaciology
• Online Access: http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/s0022143000034109; https://www.cambridge.org/core/services/aop-cambridge-core/content/view/S0022143000034109

Abstract The morphology of Snaefell, East Iceland, and the state of its glaciers in 1937 are described. There are four small glaciers. Two of these exist in well-developed cirques incised into the lavas, tuffs and breccias of this Pleistocene volcano. The third receives ice from a summit ice cap, while the fourth also receives ice from the same source as well as lying in a cirque. The firn line in 1937 is put between 1350 and 1500 m. so that the mass balance of the glaciers is unlikely to have been favourable, although only one showed any abandoned moraines. An explanation of the varying glacial modification of the different slopes of Snaefell is suggested in terms of structural trends, shading from the sun and snow-drifting.