A review of the Holocene environmental history of Iceland

The purpose of this paper is to review the present knowledge of the Holocene environmental history of Iceland, focusing on glacier fluctuations. The ideas of the Holocene being a relatively 'flat' epoch in terms of environmental changes have been superseded by new studies reflecting active fluctuations. The present paper promotes a revised model of the Holocene glacier fluctuation history of Iceland and recognises a long period of Neoglaciation. Present data suggests an onset of glacier expansion in Iceland around 5 ka BP which can be roughly correlated between different parts of the country and coincides with wider environmental changes. Specific glacier advances have been bracketed to 5-4.5 ka BP, ca. 4.2 ka BP, ca. 3 ka BP, 2 ka BP and 1.5-1.2 ka BP. During the Little Ice Age (LIA), glaciers in Iceland begun to advance in the late 18th century and were biggest in the late 19th century. (C) 1997 Elsevier Science Ltd.