Potential Environmental Effects of Expanding Lake Jökulsárlón in Response to Melting of Breiðamerkurjökull, Iceland
Publication: Cartographica: The International Journal for Geographic Information and Geovisualization
Volume 50, Number 3
ABSTRACT
ABSTRACT
Glacial retreat has been well documented in several studies on the Vatnajökull ice cap. Breiðamerkurjökull, an outlet glacier from Vatnajökull, has been actively retreating since the end of the Little Ice Age in the mid-nineteenth century. There is a strong correlation between the increasing rate of glacial melt resulting from rising global temperatures and the expansion of proglacial lakes. Jökulsárlón, a proglacial lake associated with Breiðamerkurjökull, has grown significantly, from 14.6 km2 to 25.4 km2, between 1999 and 2014, as illustrated in a series of Landsat 7 ETM+ and Landsat 8 images. Climate models predict that global temperatures will continue rising, which will impact the rate of glacial melt and subsequent expansion of proglacial lakes. These trends, as seen around the Breiðamerkurjökull-Jökulsárlón area, may result in serious environmental complications for the Icelandic population in the future. For that reason, it is important to monitor this phenomenon and take precautions where necessary. Jökulsárlón will also serve as a modern analogue for future studies on understanding the relationship between outlet glaciers and proglacial lakes' responses to climatic change.
RÉSUMÉ
Le recul glaciaire a été formé et documenté dans nombre d'études sur la calotte glaciaire Vatnajökull. Le Breiðamerkurjökull, glacier émissaire du Vatnajökull, recule sans cesse depuis la fin du Petit Âge glaciaire du milieu du XIXe siècle. Il existe une forte corrélation entre l'augmentation du rythme de fonte glaciaire due à la hausse des températures mondiales et l'expansion des lacs proglaciaires. Le Jökulsárlón, lac proglaciaire associé au Breiðamerkurjökull, a gagné considérablement en superficie, passant de 14,6 km2 à 25,5 km2 entre 1999 et 2014, comme l'illustre une série de sept images ETM+ du satellite Landsat. D'après les modèles climatiques, les températures mondiales continueront d'augmenter, ce qui aura des répercussions sur le taux de fonte glaciaire et sur l'expansion subséquente des lacs proglaciaires. Ces tendances, telles que constatées aux environs de la zone Breiðamerkurjökull-Jökulsárlón, pourraient générer de graves complications environnementales pour la population islandaise dans les années à venir. Voilà pourquoi il est important de surveiller le phénomène et de prendre au besoin des précautions. Le Jökulsárlón servira également d'analogue moderne pour les études futures visant à comprendre la relation entre les glaciers émissaires et les réactions des lacs proglaciaires au changement climatique.
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Cartographica: The International Journal for Geographic Information and Geovisualization
Volume 50 • Number 3 • Fall 2015
Pages: 204 - 213
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© University of Toronto Press 2015.
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Published in print: Fall 2015
Published online: 8 September 2015
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Cartographica 2015 50:3, 204-213
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