1. Breiðamerkurjökull Glacier, Iceland
Description

The Breiðamerkurjökull glacier tongue, one of the largest in Iceland, flows from Vatnajökull, Iceland’s largest glacier. According to descriptions in historical accounts, this glacier tongue advanced toward the Atlantic Ocean up until the turn of the 19th century. Since about 1930, it has been in full retreat.

In these false color Landsat images, vegetated land surfaces appear red. Snow and ice are white. The Vatnajökull glacier is the bright white area in the upper left. Outlet glaciers streak away from it toward the Atlantic Ocean in the lower right. Breiðamerkurjökull is the largest glacial tongue on Vatnajökull and is featured in the center of these images.

(Black stripes run through the 2006 image because of the Scan Line Corrector failure on Landsat 7 in May 2003.)

View Related Imagery & Stories

Location

Sep. 22, 1973, Landsat 1 (path/row 235/15) — Breiðamerkurjökull, Iceland

Sep. 22, 1973, Landsat 1 (path/row 235/15) — Breiðamerkurjökull, Iceland

Sep. 9, 1986, Landsat 5 (path/row 217/15) — Breiðamerkurjökull, Iceland

Sep. 9, 1986, Landsat 5 (path/row 217/15) — Breiðamerkurjökull, Iceland

Sep. 15, 1994, Landsat 5 (path/row 217/15) — Breiðamerkurjökull, Iceland

Sep. 15, 1994, Landsat 5 (path/row 217/15) — Breiðamerkurjökull, Iceland

Aug. 7, 2006, Landsat 7 (path/row 217/15) — Breiðamerkurjökull, Iceland

Aug. 7, 2006, Landsat 7 (path/row 217/15) — Breiðamerkurjökull, Iceland

July 26 2013, Landsat 8 (path/row 216/15) — Breiðamerkurjökull, Iceland

July 26 2013, Landsat 8 (path/row 216/15) — Breiðamerkurjökull, Iceland

Sep. 25, 2015, Landsat 8 (path/row 217/15) — Breiðamerkurjökull, Iceland

Sep. 25, 2015, Landsat 8 (path/row 217/15) — Breiðamerkurjökull, Iceland

Sep. 26, 2018, Landsat 8 (path/row 216/15) — Breiðamerkurjökull, Iceland

Sep. 26, 2018, Landsat 8 (path/row 216/15) — Breiðamerkurjökull, Iceland

Sep. 9, 2021, Landsat 8 (path/row 217/15) — Breiðamerkurjökull, Iceland

Sep. 9, 2021, Landsat 8 (path/row 217/15) — Breiðamerkurjökull, Iceland

Sep. 22, 1973, Landsat 1 (path/row 235/15) — Breiðamerkurjökull, Iceland
Sep. 9, 1986, Landsat 5 (path/row 217/15) — Breiðamerkurjökull, Iceland
Sep. 15, 1994, Landsat 5 (path/row 217/15) — Breiðamerkurjökull, Iceland
Aug. 7, 2006, Landsat 7 (path/row 217/15) — Breiðamerkurjökull, Iceland
July 26 2013, Landsat 8 (path/row 216/15) — Breiðamerkurjökull, Iceland
Sep. 25, 2015, Landsat 8 (path/row 217/15) — Breiðamerkurjökull, Iceland
Sep. 26, 2018, Landsat 8 (path/row 216/15) — Breiðamerkurjökull, Iceland
Sep. 9, 2021, Landsat 8 (path/row 217/15) — Breiðamerkurjökull, Iceland

Breiðamerkurjökull Glacier, Iceland Additional Imagery & Stories

Jökulsárlón Lagoon
Jökulsárlón Lagoon

Because of the global trend in retreating glaciers since the start of the 20th century, proglacial lake formation has increased. Proglacial lakes are ...

References

References (Earthshot Overview/Parent Only)

Canas, D., Chan, W.M., Chiu, A., Jung-Ritchie, L., Leung, M., Pillay, L., and Walktham, B., 2015, Potential Environmental Effects of Expanding Lake Jökulsárlón in Response to Melting of Breiðamerkurjökull, Iceland: Cartographica, vol. 50, no. 3, p. 204–213.

Carrivick, J.L., and Tweed, F.S., 2013, Proglacial lakes: character, behaviour and geological importance: Quaternary Science Reviews, v. 78, p. 34–52.

Hrafnhildur, H., Zöhrer, A., Davids, H., Sigurgeirsdóttir,S.I., Skírnisdóttir, H., and Árnason, Þ., 2013, Vatnajökull National Park: Geology and Geodynamics: Northern Environmental Educational Development, 38p. (Also available online at https://www.uef.fi/documents/1347235/1368104/NEED+V_New+Geo+Review.pdf.)

Iceland on the Web, [n.d.], Jokulsarlon Glacier Lagoon: Iceland on the Web, accessed January 11, 2016, at http://www.icelandontheweb.com/articles-on-iceland/see-do/wonders-of-iceland/jokulsarlon-glacier-lagoon/.

Landl, B., Björnsson, H., and Kuhn, M., 2003. The Energy Balance of Calved Ice in Lake Jökulsarlon, Iceland: Arctic, Antarctic, and Alpine Research, v. 35, no. 4, p. 475–481.

NASA, 2001, Receding Glacier in Iceland: NASA Earth Observatory, accessed January 11, 2016, at http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/IOTD/view.php?id=1329.

Nick, F.M., van der Kwast, J., and Oerlemans, J., 2007, Simulation of the evolution of Breidamerkurjökull in the late Holocene: Journal of Geophysical Research, v. 112, no. B1.

Nordic Adventure Travel, 2015, Glacier Breidamerkurjokull: Nordic Adventure Travel Web page at http://www.nat.is/travelguideeng/glacier_breidamerkurjokull.htm. (Accessed January 11, 2016.)

Patel, K., 2019, Iceland’s Glacial Lagoon: NASA Earth Observatory, accessed September 28, 2021, at https://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/images/145984/icelands-glacial-lagoon.

Tweed, F.S. and Carrivick, J.L., 2015, Deglaciation and proglacial lakes: Geology Today, v. 31, no. 3, p. 96–102.

Voytenko, D., Dixon, T.H., Howat, I.M., Gourmelen, N., Lembke, C., Werner, C.L., De La Peña, S., and Oddsson, B., 2015, Multi-year observations of Breiðamerkurjökull, a marine-terminating glacier in southeastern Iceland, using terrestrial radar interferometry: Journal of Glaciology, v. 61, no. 225, p. 42–54.

Zakharova, N., 2010, Iceland Field Guide—DEES Graduate Student Field Trip: Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences, Columbia University, New York, 86 p. Also available online at http://eesc.columbia.edu/student-life/graduate-student-life/field-trips/iceland2010.