Ice caps

Deutsch: Als Eiskappe, Plateaugletscher bezeichnet man einen ausgedehnten, festes Land bedeckenden Gletscher mit einer Fläche von weniger als 50.000 km². Im Gegensatz dazu stehen die Eisschilde mit mehr als 50.000 km² Fläche.

English: An ice cap is an ice mass that covers less than 50,000 km² of land area (usually covering a highland area). Masses of glacier ice that cover more than 50,000 km² are termed an ice sheet.Ice caps are not constrained by topographical features (i.e., they will lie over the top of mountains). By contrast, ice masses of similar size that are constrained by topographical features are known as ice fields. The dome of an ice cap is usually centred on the highest point of a massif. Ice flows away from this high point (the ice divide) towards the ice cap's periphery.

Français : Une calotte glaciaire est un type de glacier formant une étendue de glace de grandes dimensions mais dont la superficie n'excède pas 50 000 km2, et dont les caractéristiques le rapprochent des inlandsis. En raison de leur position (généralement polaire) et/ou leur vaste surface et de leur albédo, elle jouent un rôle majeur dans la stabilisation du climat de la Terre.

Íslenska: Jökulhettur, hveljöklar eru hins vegar jöklar sem eru búnir að myndast á fjalli með sléttum toppi eða lítil háslétta. Þannig jökular eru nokkuð algengar á Íslandi eins og til dæmis Eiríksjökull eða Þórisjökull. Annars vegar eru líka stærri útgáfur til, eiginlegir hveljöklar eins og Vatnajökull. Þeir verða til þegar margir staðbundnir jöklar vaxa saman með tímanum í viðáttumiklu fjallendi, einkum ef jöklunarmörk lækka mikið á allöngum kuldaskeiðum.

See also: Glacier, Outlet glaciers, Valley glaciers, Cirque glaciers, Piedmont glaciers, Ice sheets and Ice fields.

Satellite images of ice caps

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  Hoodoo Mountain, Canada
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  Ice caps in Iceland
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  Vatnajökull

An ice cap in Africa:Kilimanjaro

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  In 1993
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  In 2000

Ice caps in polar regions

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  Saunders Island, Greenland
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  Hedgehogfonna, Svalbard
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  Small ice cap on a nunatak, British Empire Range, Canada
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  Ice caps, valley glaciers and cirque glaciers in Greenland
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  Fjords and ice caps in Greenland

Ice caps in Iceland

Several important ice caps are forming the landscape in Iceland, some smaller ones are to be found in the periphery.

The most notorious englaciated volcano of Iceland: Eyjafjallajökull

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  Eruption plume of Eyjafjallajökull in April 2010
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  Ash coverd ice cap in August 2010
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  From the north, in 2013, the ash is again partially covered by glacier ice and snow

Neighbouring Katla volcano, hiding under the Mýrdalsjökull ice cap

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  Mýrdalsjökull, seen from Fljóthlíð
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  Detail
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  Volcanic ice cauldrons of Katla in Mýrdalsjökull, 2011
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  Álftavatn, Mýrdalsjökull to the left

Langjökull and Hofsjökull

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  Langjökull, seen from Gullfoss waterfall (zoomed)
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  Langjökull, seen from Kjölur highland road
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  From Kaldidalur highland road, behind the volcano Prestahnúkur and the small ice cap Þórisjökull
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  Kerlingarfjöll, Hofsjökull and Arnarfell, seen from Sprengisandur highland road