Articles | Volume 25, issue 6
https://doi.org/10.5194/nhess-25-1913-2025
https://doi.org/10.5194/nhess-25-1913-2025
Research article
 | 
11 Jun 2025
Research article |  | 11 Jun 2025

Proglacial lake development and outburst flood hazard at Fjallsjökull glacier, southeast Iceland

Greta H. Wells, Þorsteinn Sæmundsson, Finnur Pálsson, Guðfinna Aðalgeirsdóttir, Eyjólfur Magnússon, Reginald L. Hermanns, and Snævarr Guðmundsson

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Aðalgeirsdóttir, G., Guðmundsson, S., Björnsson, H., Pálsson, F., Jóhannesson, T., Hannesdóttir, H., Sigurðsson, S. Þ., and Berthier, E.: Modelling the 20th and 21st century evolution of Hoffellsjökull glacier, SE-Vatnajökull, Iceland, The Cryosphere, 5, 961–975, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-5-961-2011, 2011. 
Allen, S.K., Zhang, G., Wang, W., Yao, T., and Bolch, T.: Potentially dangerous glacial lakes across the Tibetan Plateau revealed using a large-scale automated assessment approach, Sci. Bull., 64, 435–445, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scib.2019.03.011, 2019. 
Allen, S., Frey, H., Haeberli, W., Huggel, C., Chiarle, M., and Geertsema, M.: Assessment principles for glacier and permafrost hazards in mountain regions, Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Natural Hazard Science, https://doi.org/10.1093/acrefore/9780199389407.013.356, 2022a. 
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Short summary
Glacier retreat elevates the risk of landslides released into proglacial lakes, which can trigger glacial lake outburst floods (GLOFs). This study maps proglacial lake evolution and GLOF hazard scenarios at Fjallsjökull glacier, Iceland. Lake volume increased from 1945 to 2021 and is estimated to triple over the next century. Three slopes are prone to landslides that may trigger GLOFs. Results will mitigate flood hazard at this popular tourism site and advance GLOF research in Iceland and globally.
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