Glacial extent and catastrophic meltwater events during the deglaciation of Southern Iceland

Reconstruction of the paleoenvironment of South Iceland based on lithofacies and chronological studies of the Búdi morainal complex, lacustrine deposits at Ófaerugil and a sediment core from Lake Hestvatn, South Iceland, revealed evidence for repeated catastrophic flood (jökulhlaup) activities during the late Younger Dryas (YD) and the early Preboreal (PB) chronozones. During this time, thin and lobate outlet glaciers from the retreating Iceland Ice Cap extended from major valleys and calved into the paleobay of southern lowlands of Iceland where relative sea level was at least 70 m higher than today. A number of ice-marginal lakes formed during the stepwise retreat of the South Iceland ice sheet at the transition of the YD and PB. Primary geomorphic and sedimentologic impact of the jökulhlaups was erosion of multiple channels downstream from the most prominent moraines in South Iceland and through the coastal sediment, accompanied by net aggradation of chaotically stratified sand and silt lenses. At the ice-distal environment, these floods accumulated in the form of recurrent turbidity currents. Volcanic eruptions, supplemented by a catastrophic release of the ice-marginal lakes, are postulated as the main triggers for the jökulhlaup activity. The jökulhlaup events evidenced in this study and subsequent break-up of the partly marine-based glacier may have contributed to the ice-rafting events found in the North Atlantic paleoenvironmental record.