Highlands Of Iceland Research Articles

Tourism Struggling as the Icelandic Wilderness is Developed

Nature, especially the wild and “untouched nature” has become an important resource for the tourist industry and outdoor recreation due to the experiences it can provide. Other industries sometimes have interests in the same areas as nature tourism and therefore land use conflicts can occur that require management of these natural resources. This paper seeks to explore the nature of wilderness experience in the Highlands of Iceland. The data is furthermore used to speculate about the conflicts that could occur between wilderness tourism and the power production industry in the Icelandic Highlands. The study was carried out with 1710 questionnaires, 51 in‐depth interviews and 30 diaries. The data was collected at six Highland destinations where power plants have been proposed. The results imply that the Highlands are an important part of Iceland’s attraction, especially for the French, Dutch and German markets. The main conclusion is that for most visitors the wilderness experience will be reduced if the plans for power production in the Highlands are realised. As land use allocation issues have not been resolved in Iceland we can expect an ongoing debate on how to use the Highlands. In order to have better tools when discussing the utilisation of the Highlands it is necessary to work on a Master Plan for tourism land use.

Holocene and latest Pleistocene climate and glacier fluctuations in Iceland

Multiproxy climate records from Iceland document complex changes in terrestrial climate and glacier fluctuations through the Holocene, revealing some coherent patterns of change as well as significant spatial variability. Most studies on the Last Glacial Maximum and subsequent deglaciation reveal a dynamic Iceland Ice Sheet (IIS) that responded abruptly to changes in ocean currents and sea level. The IIS broke up catastrophically around 15 ka as the Polar Front migrated northward and sea level rose. Indications of regional advance or halt of the glaciers are seen in late Alleröd/early Younger Dryas time and again in PreBoreal time. Due to the apparent rise of relative sea level in Iceland during this time, most sites contain evidence for fluctuating, tidewater glacier termini occupying paleo fjords and bays. The time between the end of the Younger Dryas and the Preboreal was characterized by repeated jökulhlaups that eroded glacial deposits. By 10.3 ka, the main ice sheet was in rapid retreat across the highlands of Iceland. The Holocene thermal maximum (HTM) was reached after 8 ka with land temperatures estimated to be 3 °C higher than the 1961–1990 reference, and net precipitation similar to modern. Such temperatures imply largely ice-free conditions across Iceland in the early to mid-Holocene. Several marine and lacustrine sediment climate proxies record substantial summer temperature depression between 8.5 and 8 ka, but no moraines have been detected from that time. Termination of the HTM and onset of Neoglacial cooling took place sometime after 6 ka with increased glacier activity between 4.5 and 4.0 ka, intensifying between 3.0 and 2.5 ka. Although a distinct warming during the Medieval Warm Period is not dramatically apparent in Icelandic records, the interval from ca AD 0 to 1200 is commonly characterized by relative stability with slow rates of change. The literature most commonly describes Little Ice Age moraines (ca AD 1250–1900) as representing the most extensive ice margins since early Holocene deglaciation, with temperature depressions of 1–2 °C compared to the AD 1961–1990 average. Steep north–south and west–east temperature gradients are reconstructed in the Holocene records of Iceland, suggesting a strong maritime influence on the terrestrial climate of Iceland.

Pálstóftir: A Viking Age Shieling in Iceland

This paper discusses the recent excavation of a 10th century shieling in the highlands of eastern Iceland and places it in the context of other sites and research into Viking age shielings in the North Atlantic. Although the basic economic role of shielings in relation to livestock and summer transhumance is not contested, it is argued that a more complex interpretation needs to be developed around such sites, to consider their ideological and political status. The presence of ‘subsidiary activities’ is often a prominent element in the archaeological record of such sites; the site of Pálstóftir provides indications of small scale craftwork, hunting and magico‐religious practices which need to be made a more central part of interpretation.

Reconnaissance surveys of contemporary permafrost environments in central iceland using geoelectrical methods: implications for permafrost degradation and sediment fluxes

.Four different sites in the highlands of central Iceland have been investigated for permafrost occurrence using two‐dimensional resistivity imaging. The results of the surveys indicate the presence of shallow permafrost of low to medium resistivity. The distribution pattern is spatially heterogeneous which is consistent with permafrost at the fringe of seasonal frost. These sites are likely to react rapidly to changes of the environmental boundary conditions, therefore future research should include monitoring for detecting the early impact of climate change on permafrost degradation. The extent to which periglacial morphodynamics and sediment fluxes are influenced by permafrost and/or seasonal frost and potential permafrost degradation is hard to determine. Hence, long‐term monitoring approaches for both permafrost and sediment dynamics are essential.

Influence of climate warming on Hálslón Reservoir sediment filling

Hálslón reservoir is the main reservoir of the Kárahnjúkar hydropower project in the eastern highlands of Iceland. Studies for the environmental impact assessment for the hydropower project showed that sediment will fill the reservoir in about 500 years based on the present sediment transport rate. The main source of the sediment is the Brúarjökull outlet glacier which is a part of the Vatnajökull ice cap. Recent studies of the influence of climate warming on glaciers in Iceland show that they will decrease significantly and, in some cases, completely disappear during the next few hundred years. In this study, a glacier melt model for the Brúarjökull outlet glacier is constructed to predict how fast the glacier will retreat in response to accepted climate warming scenarios. The results from the glacier model are then used as input to a sediment transport mass balance model for the Hálslón reservoir, which predicts the influence of the retreat of the glacier on the sedimentation in the reservoir. The modeling shows that, instead of the reservoir being completely full of sediment in 500 years, the Hálslón reservoir will at that time still have about 50–60% of its original volume as the sediment yield will decrease as a result of the decreasing glacier size.

Invertebrate communities of glacial and alpine rivers in the central highlands of Iceland

Invertebrate communities of glacial and alpine rivers in the central highlands of Iceland

Life in Glacial and Alpine Rivers in Central Iceland in Relation to Physical and Chemical Parameters

The characteristics of stream and river ecosystems in arctic and alpine areas are determined mainly by the relative contribution of glacial meltwater, snowmelt, rainfall and groundwater. Each source generates a particular seasonal hydrological signature, affecting physical and chemical properties, and hence biological communities. The relative contribution of each source is sensitive to climate change. The study was concentrated on the glacial River W-Jökulsá and some non-glacial rivers in the central highlands of Iceland. The water in the glacial river was entirely glacial meltwater at the glacier margin, but the glacial contribution was about 20% 40 km downstream. However, its tributaries and non-glacial reference rivers were mainly springfed. The invertebrate fauna was confined to Chironomidae of the genus Diamesa close to the glacier, but other taxa (species and groups of species) occupied the river further downstream, where their diversity was close to that found in the reference rivers.

Crustal structure above the Iceland mantle plume imaged by the ICEMELT refraction profile

The crustal structure of central Iceland is modelled using data from a 310 km long refraction profile shot during summer 1995. The profile traversed Iceland from the Skagi Peninsula on the north coast (surface rocks of age 8.5–0.8 Myr) to the southeast coast (surface rocks of age 8.5–3.3 Myr), crossing central Iceland (surface rocks of age 3.3–0 Myr) over the glacier Vatnajökull, below which the locus of the Iceland mantle plume is currently centred. The crustal thickness is 25 km at the north end of the profile, increasing to 38–40 km beneath southern central Iceland. The upper crust is characterized by seismic P-wave velocities from 3.2 to approximately 6.4 km s−1. At the extreme ends of the profile, the upper crust can be modelled by a two-layered structure, within which seismic velocity increases with depth, with a total thickness of 5–6 km. The central highlands of Iceland have a single unit of upper crust, with seismic velocity increasing continuously with depth to almost 10 km below the surface. Below the central volcanoes of northern Vatnajökull, the upper crust is only 3 km thick. The lower-crustal velocity structure is determined from rays that turn at a maximum depth of 24 km below central Iceland, where the seismic velocity is 7.2 km s−1. Below 24 km depth there are no first-arriving turning rays. The Moho is defined by P-and S-wave reflections observed from the shots at the extreme ends of the profile.P- to S-wave velocity ratios give a Poisson's:of 0.26 in the upper crust and 0.27 in the lower crust, indicating that, even directly above the centre of the mantle plume, the crust is well below the solidus temperature.

Severe erosion is taking place in the central highlands of Iceland. Photo by Sturla Fridriksson.

Severe erosion is taking place in the central highlands of Iceland. Photo by Sturla Fridriksson.