Skeiðará jökulhlaup 1996 (Icelandic glacial flood)

Описание: Footage of the jökulhlaup (glacial flood) on Skeiðarársandur in November 1996, following the October 1996 volcanic eruption at Gjálp near Grímsvötn subglacial reservoir, beneath the Vatnajökull glacier.

A description of the event from a Mars Polar Science and Exploration conference presentation by Oddur Sigurðsson et al. (full citation below, link: https://www.lpi.usra.edu/meetings/pol...

"In the beginning of October 1996 a volcanic eruption within Vatnajökull ice cap melted approximately 3 cubic km of glacier ice. The melt water got trapped in a subglacial reservoir in the Grímsvötn caldera with water table at about 1500 m a.s.l. At about 9:30 pm on 4 November 1996 the ice barrier of the reservoir failed. At 7:20 am on 5 November a jökulhlaup broke explosively out 50 km down-glacier at eastern corner of the terminus of Skeiðarárjökull outlet glacier. This indicates a speed of about 5 km/h along the glacier bed. During the day the flood broke out successively farther to the west along the terminus which is at about 100 m a.s.l. At 15:40 pm flood liquid issued from almost the entire 20 km length of the terminus. The flood wave traveled 20-25 km to the coast at the speed of 8-10 km/h.

The two main channels of the jökulhlaup, Gígjukvísl and Skeiðará, had estimated peak discharge of 33,000 m3/s and 23,000 m3/s respectively. Fifteen hours after the break out at the terminus the combined peak discharge reached more than 50.000 m3/s, the second largest river of the earth at that moment. The total area covered by the flood
outside the glacier was about 750 square km. The coastline advanced up to 800 m in front of the mouth of river Gígjukvísl. The area of the new land was measured to be about 7 square km."

Further reading:
"Jökulhlaup," article on English Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/J%C3%B6...
"Skeiðarársandur," article on English Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Skei%C3...

Sigurðsson, Oddur, et al. "The Jökulhlaup on Skeiðarársandur in November 1996: Event, Discharge and Sediment." Second International Conference on Mars Polar Science and Exploration. No. 1057. 2000. (link: https://www.lpi.usra.edu/meetings/pol...)

Björnsson, Helgi. "Subglacial lakes and jökulhlaups in Iceland." Global and Planetary Change 35.3-4 (2003): 255-271. (link: http://www.norvol.hi.is/pdf/HB2003Glo...)

Edited for educational purposes from the video "Innlendar svipmyndir Sjónvarpsins 1996" (a 1996 "year in review" video by the Icelandic National Broadcasting Corporation RÚV), uploaded by MeNicelander:    • Видео  

Uploaded for educational purposes only. No copyright infringement intended. I do not own the copyright to this material.