Ice-Marginal Lava Delta in Iceland Found on a Nondescript Shallow Slope: An Unexpected Record of Ice Thickness Late in Deglacian

• Main Authors: Putnam, Audrey, Siebach, Kirsten, Bedford, Candice, Simpson, Sarah, Rampe, Elizabeth, Tamborski, Joseph, Thorpe, Michael
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: unknown
• Published: ODU Digital Commons 2024
• Subjects: Classification; Jarlhettur volcanic chain; Langjökull; Lava flows; Previously mapped interglacial; Volcanoes; Glaciology; Volcanology; Jarlhettur; Patagonia; Antarc*; Antarctica; glaciers; Ice Sheet; Iceland; Alaska
• Online Access: https://digitalcommons.odu.edu/oeas_fac_pubs/512; https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu24-13612; https://digitalcommons.odu.edu/context/oeas_fac_pubs/article/1523/viewcontent/Tamborski_2024_Ice_MarginalLavaDeltainIcelandFoundonaNonDescriptShallowOCR.pdf

Volcanism increases when glaciers melt because isostatic rebound during deglaciation decreases the pressure on the mantle, which enhances decompression melting. Anthropogenic climate change is now causing ice sheets and valley glaciers to melt around the world and this deglaciation could stimulate volcanic activity and associated hazards in Iceland, Antarctica, Alaska, and Patagonia. However, current model predictions for volcanic activity associated with anthropogenic deglaciation in Iceland are poorly constrained, in part due to uncertainties in past volcanic output over time compared to ice sheet arrangements. Further work specifically characterizing glaciovolcanic and ice-marginal volcanoes in Iceland is needed to reconstruct volcanic output during time periods with changing ice cover. Here, we describe a previously unrecognized ice-marginal volcanic lava delta on a broad, shallow slope southeast of Langjökull and the Jarlhettur volcanic chain in Iceland’s Western Volcanic Zone.