THE ACTIVE DRUMLIN FIELD AT THE MÚLAJÖKULL SURGE-TYPE GLACIER, ICELAND – GEOMORPHOLOGY AND SEDIMENTOLOGY

Recent marginal retreat of Múlajökull, a surge-type, outlet glacier of the Hofsjökull ice cap, central Iceland, has revealed a drumlin field consisting of over 50 drumlins. The drumlins are 90–320 m long, 30–105 m wide, 5–10 m in relief, and composed of multiple beds of till deposited by lodgement and bed deformation. The youngest till layer truncates the older units with an erosion surface that parallels the drumlin form. Thus, the drumlins are built up and formed by a combination of subglacial depositional and erosional processes. Field evidence suggests each till bed to be associated with individual, recent surges. We consider the drumlin field to be active in the sense that the drumlins are shaped by the current glacial regime. To our knowledge, the Múlajökull field is the only known active drumlin field and is, therefore, a unique analogue to Pleistocene drumlin fields.