Icelandic Glaciers

Jon Tongue was among a team of 12 Land Rover employees who joined the Earthwatch expedition Icelandic Glaciers in August 2008. Jon, 28, recounts his experience.

I have worked at Land Rover for about 10 years since starting an apprenticeship in 1998. It was during this apprenticeship that my interest in environmental issues was sparked, while watching a documentary in an Environmental Studies class about the damage that human activity had caused in Antarctica. I guess indirectly it was this that inspired me to fill in the Earthwatch application form, and ultimately the reason I got to experience such a remarkable place.

The remarkable place I am referring to is Iceland, more specifically the central highlands of Iceland, close to the Askja caldera (a cauldron-like volcanic feature). The first thing I noticed about this place called Iceland was that there seemed to be a distinct lack of ice. Instead, in its place were vast expanses of lava fields, ancient flood plains and, to the untrained eye at least, a whole lot of nothing as far as you could see. In fact one thing that I shall remember fondly is the isolation of the place; the whole area we were in is largely uninhabitable and impassable at most times of the year. The ground is so porous that very few living things can be sustained, though occasionally you do come across plants that seem to have sprung up from nowhere.

The reason for this landscape, I later discovered, is that Iceland straddles the Mid-Atlantic Ridge which means that magma from the mantle can reach the surface, erupting as lava. Scientifically speaking, this means that Iceland is geologically extremely active with volcanoes, many of which are located beneath the Vatnajökull glacier. It was a volcano such as this that erupted in 1996 causing the Grímsvötn sub-glacial lakes to be suddenly released. This eruption melted three cubic kilometres of ice which yielded an outburst of 45,000 cubic metres per second at peak flow. To put that into perspective, Niagara Falls flows at 2,800 cubic metres per second at its peak. It is events such as these that we were here to investigate.

The accommodation was extremely basic but comfortable, which was disappointing because I had anticipated camping in the wilderness with no food, toilets or running water and was looking forward to using all the skills I had acquired while watching the likes of Ray Mears and Bear Grylls. This disappointment was short-lived, however, and in fact coincided with my first visit to the toilet! I'll leave that there.

A typical day included being woken at 6.30am by the extremely regimented, but incredibly well meaning, water boiler man, who ensured that we all had coffees and teas for our breakfast and flasks during the day. This was rapidly followed by the rush of feet at about 7am for the daily battle for sandwich fillings and choice of chocolate/biscuit to sustain us during the day ahead. Then usually by 8am we would be ready to hit the road (dirt track/ boulder field) having spent the previous half an hour suiting up for whatever the weather may throw at us.

The types of work we carried out varied from marking out ancient flood plains using a handheld GPS, and a more accurate Leica GPS system to gauge heights of significant features such as sand bars and boulders, to plotting cross sections across the flood plain which would be used to calculate mass and flow of the flood water generated. In connection with this we also took samples of rocks, which were suspected to have been carried or washed by the flood waters, to try and determine how long they had been there, and in doing so, gain a reasonable estimate of when the flood may have occurred. The data we collected has essentially mapped out large areas of the flood plain, enabling the scientists to identify more specific areas for future projects. Ultimately, however, the work we carried out could lead to a greater understanding of the mechanisms of glacial outburst floods which may, in turn, help to avoid disaster in regions such as the Himalayas, where large communities live beneath glaciers.

The isolation of this place could quite easily have become overbearing had it not been for the fun and good humour (which at times swung into the truly bizarre!) shown by the whole group. I'm sure the memories and experiences shared in that seemingly desolate place will remain with all of us for many years to come and I look forward to many walking weekends, curry nights and social gatherings where we can all get together and reminisce upon the time we spent in Iceland.

Finally, I think I speak for everyone when I say that this has indeed been a life-changing experience. The things we saw and learned over those eight days have inspired me to want to know more and have given me a much broader understanding, not only of glaciers and the way they have sculpted the landscape, but also an appreciation and respect for the awesome power of the ice and water that they contain.