Melt
Working alongside scientists who were very familiar with the glacier, I was made aware of the changes that occurred daily. Spending hours in the same area ,looking and looking again at the nature of the ice allowed me to focus on the elements that made up the glacier’s landscape, most particularly flow patterns in the melting ice, the supra streams and the river water. Surface pattern in rivers can assist the hydrologists in identifying the fastest flow and has interested artists from Leonardo da Vinci to Bridget Riley.
From the snout to the river.
Virkisjökull tryptich
The British Geological Survey operate an observatory site at Virkisjökull in south-east Iceland, studying the evolution of the glacier and the surrounding landscape. Virkisjökull is retreating rapidly, since 1996, the glacier margin has retreated nearly 500 m, and it appears that this rate has accelerated over the last five years. Globally, glaciers and ice sheets help to regulate Earth's climate: They are highly reflective, bouncing large amounts of solar energy back into space, keeping the Earth cooler. In many countries including Iceland, glaciers are a major source of water, both for domestic use, and for power Generation. Melting can cause large-scale flooding, which affects roads and other infrastructure The BGS scientists use cutting-edge technologies, not used in such a combination anywhere else in the world. These give unique insights into processes of landscape formation and responses of glacial systems to climate forcing.
Svinafjell