Jökulhlaups circa Landnám : mid- to late first millennium AD floods in South Iceland and their implications for landscapes of settlement

Climate-human society interactions during the Holocene

Auteur(s) et Affiliation(s)



Description :
This paper presents geomorphological and sedimentological evidence for 3 large-scale floods to the west of the ice-capped volcano Katla around the time of Norse settlement or Landnám (AD 870-930). These glacial outburst floods (jökulhlaups), the most recent prehistoric events in a series of Holocene floods in the Markarfljót valley, are securely dated by tephrochronology and radiocarbon dating to between c. AD 500 and c. AD 900. The environmental impact of these events would have been extensive, affecting both the highlands and the coastal lowlands where about 15 of the 400 or so landnám farms in Iceland were sited.


Type de document :
Congrès

Source :
Climate-human society interactions during the Holocene. Workshop, Ånnaboda, Suede, 2005-05-09, Geografiska annaler. Series A. Physical geography, issn : 0435-3676, 2006, vol. 88, n°. 2, p. 165-176, nombre de pages : 12, Collation : Illustration, Références bibliographiques : 47 ref.

Date :
2006

Editeur :
Pays édition : Suede, Stockholm, Svenska sällskapet för antropologi och geografi