A large rock avalanche onto Morsarjökull glacier, south-east Iceland. Its implications for ice-surface evolution and glacier dynamics

• Main Authors: Decaulne, Armelle, Sæmundsson, Þorsteinn, Pétursson, Halldór G., Jónsson, Helgi Pall, Sigurðsson, Ingvar A.
• Other Authors: Laboratoire de Géographie Physique et Environnementale (GEOLAB), Université Blaise Pascal - Clermont-Ferrand 2 (UBP)-Institut Sciences de l'Homme et de la Société (IR SHS UNILIM), Université de Limoges (UNILIM)-Université de Limoges (UNILIM)-Université Clermont Auvergne 2017-2020 (UCA 2017-2020 )-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Université Clermont Auvergne (UCA), Náttúrustofa Norðurlands vestra (NNv), Ríkisins, Sveitafélag Skagafjarðar, Náttúrufræðistofnun Íslands (NÍ), Government
• Format: Conference Object
• Language: English
• Published: HAL CCSD 2010
• Subjects: [SDU.STU.GL]Sciences of the Universe [physics]/Earth Sciences/Glaciology; Morsárjökull; glacier; Iceland
• Online Access: https://hal.univ-brest.fr/hal-00482107; https://hal.univ-brest.fr/hal-00482107/document; https://hal.univ-brest.fr/hal-00482107/file/Poster_Iceland--Decaulne.pdf

In spring 2007, a large rock avalanche descended onto the Morsárjökull valley glacier in southeast Iceland, leaving one fifth of the glacier buried. The insulating effect of the deposit on the ice was quickly observed as a difference in the ablation between the exposed ice and that under the deposit. After three melt seasons, the ice surface under the deposit was 29 m above the surrounding glacier surface. A reduced rate of ice melting beneath the area of the deposit would likely alter the longitudinal profile of the glacier.