November 1996 Jökulhlaup on Skeiðarársandur Outwash Plain, Iceland

• Main Authors: Snorrason, A., Jonsson, P., Sigurdsson, O., Palsson, S., Arnason, S., Vikingsson, S., Kaldal, I.
• Format: Book Part
• Language: English
• Published: Blackwell Science 2002
• Subjects: Skeiðarárjökull; Skeiðarársandur; Vatnajökull; glacier; Iceland
• Online Access: https://oceanrep.geomar.de/id/eprint/31319/; https://oceanrep.geomar.de/id/eprint/31319/1/Snorrason.pdf; https://doi.org/10.1002/9781444304299.ch4

On 30 September 1996, seismological evidence indicated that a volcanic eruption was starting north of the Grímsvötn caldera in the glacier Vatnajökull, Iceland. As the eruption developed during the first half of October, meltwater was collected in the subglacial lake2 Grímsvötn at a tremendous rate. It was obvious that a catastrophic jökulhlaup could be expected on the outwash plain Skeiðarársandur south of the glacier Skeiðarárjökull, endangering travellers, as well as bridges and roads in the area. This paper describes the events, hydrograph and suspended sediment transport for the catastrophic flood on Skeiðarársandur, following the subglacial eruption.