Asynchronous Little Ice Age glacial maximum extent in southeast Iceland

The Little Ice Age (LIA) maximum glacial extent of 13 glaciers located in SE Iceland was dated by lichenometry to check for intraregional variations. Different lichenometric approaches were applied to date maximum LIA moraines, and they all showed high variability between glaciers. According to the Extreme Value Theory and Bayesian approach, LIA advances in the region occurred in or around A.D. 1740–1760, A.D. 1810–1820 and A.D. 1840–1880 with confidence intervals of between 8 and 21 years. The dates were correlated with geomorphic characteristics of glacier tongues: hypsometric and slope parameters can be considered as determining factors in the variability of glacier timing during the LIA, as previously observed in Norway and in the Alps. In terms of timing, results obtained in SE Iceland were similar to those obtained for other glacier regions around the North Atlantic.