Map of Hofsjökull glacier showing its named glacial catchments (light grey shading with white outline). Clicking on the map to enlarge it enables mouse over that allows identification of individual named glacial catchments in Iceland.
It covers an area of 830 km2 (320 sq mi),[2] with the icecap top being 1,782 metres (5,846 ft),[1] and bottom being at about 600 m (2,000 ft).[5] There are other summits relating to the underlying volcano with two being at 1,765 m (5,791 ft).[6][1]
Hofsjökull is the source of several rivers including the Þjórsá, Iceland's longest river.[7]
Changes
While all ice caps in Iceland have been losing volume since 1995, due to high precipitation in 2015 and low ablation during the previous cool summer, the Hofsjökull ice cap increased in mass, the first time in 20 years this had happened.[8] Between 1989 and 2015, even allowing for that last years increase, the icecap had lost about 12% of its 1989 volume which is close to 25 km3 (6.0 cu mi) of ice.[9] Hofsjökull has been modelled to lose all its ice in about 200 years from studies using data between 1980 and 2005.[10] Run off into the draining rivers is modelled to increase by about 50% by 2100 before decreasing due to diminishing area of the ice caps.[11]
The subglacial volcano is a central volcano with a caldera. Beyond the central volcano are fissure systems which include to the south the Kerlingarfjöll central volcano.[12]
^Disambiguation note:In the south-east of Iceland, on the eastern borders of the district of Lónsöræfi between the easternmost glacier tongue of Vatnajökull (Axajökull) and Þrándarjökull, there is a smaller glacier (area about 4 km2 (1.5 sq mi), height 1,069 m (3,507 ft)), which is also called Hofsjökull.[1]
Hjartardóttir, Á.R.; Einarsson, P. (2021). "Tectonic position, structure, and Holocene activity of the Hofsjökull volcanic system, central Iceland". Journal of Volcanology and Geothermal Research. 417: 107277. Bibcode:2021JVGR..41707277H. doi:10.1016/j.jvolgeores.2021.107277.
Björnsson, H. (2017). "Glaciers of the Central Highlands". The Glaciers of Iceland Atlantis Advances in Quaternary Science. Vol. 2. Atlantis Press, Paris. pp. 275–336. doi:10.2991/978-94-6239-207-6_6. ISBN978-94-6239-207-6.
