Kaldalonsjökull -- portrait of a dying glacier

When we worked on this glacier in 1960 the snout was located in the foreground of the photo.  In 65 years there has been a phenomenal retreat, exposing the rocky knolls to the right and the spectacular rock bench or ledge that we see in the centre of the image.

I have just come across this fascinating photo collection, with recent photosn of the snout of the Kaldalonsjökull -- one of the small outlet glaciers associated with the Drangajokull ice cap in NW Iceland.

https://icelandthebeautiful.com/kaldalonsjokull-drangajokull-strandir-vestfirdir-island/#:~:text=Kaldal%C3%B3nsj%C3%B6kull%20is%20a%20glacier%20tongue,falling%20rocks%2C%20so%20be%20cautious.

With colleagues, I worked on this glacier in 1960 and 1973-74, when it was quite active, covering virtually all of the rock exposures seen in the above photo:

Kaldalonsjokull snout, 1960.

The current snout, which is nothing more than a patch of dead ice detatched from the main ice cap.

Another view of the present-day wasting glacier, with just one connection to the ice cap, on the extreme right of the image.

The evolving situation

The 2006 satellite image.  The position of the rock ledge is shown by the snow banked up against the cliffline.  In the 1970's the rock ledge was occasionally exposed but mostly snow-covered.