Areview of the Physical Geography of Iceland

I. Foreword<br> The bibliography in E. Glasser and A. Schnütgen's book on regional geography (1986) contains 360 references on Iceland. They are all written by Euro-American authors. W. Schützbach published in the previouss year a more voluminous bibliography, which gave twice as many citations, totaling 710. The oldest reference appeared as early as in 1590, and the number of publications listed shows a marked increase since the 1950s. We learn from these bibliographies that Iceland is studied by both Icelanders and Euro-Americans more thoroughly than might be expected. The Japanese, in comparison, started late and made comparatively little contribution. The first description of the geography of Iceland appeared in the sixth volume of the Yochishi-ryaku (World regional geography) edited by Masao Uchida, in 1875, followed by an Encyclopedia and a detailed account of travel. E. Huntington's book (1945) was translated into Japanese, and his excellent presentation of Icelandic nature and culture deeply impressed his readers. Asai (1967) and Nakamura (1970) con-ducted field surveys, and their findings were reflected in their writings in geography journals, university publications, encyclopedias, and gazetteers. The number of Japanese contributions has now reached 50 in all, It can safely be said that the nine authors of this review and an assistant were the first Japanese geographers who carried out full-scale field surveys; our studies encomp-assed two- to seven-month-long surveys in 1983-1986.<br> This article aims to briefly summarize bibliographic studies on eight relevant themes (sections II-IV), and to give a part of the results obtained in the field. A number of similarities between Japan and Iceland is suggested in terms of geologic structure and atmospheric and oceanic structures and related phenomena. Similar research techniques and methodology are also suggested.<br> II. Summaries of sections II-IV, and research prospects<br> II-1. Spreading rifts and their vicissitudes. Field surveys were conducted at Thingvellir and Krafla Two types of rifts, one monogenic and the other polygenic, are presumed. When and how they were formed must be studied. II-2. Frequent volcanic eruptions. Both bibliographical survey and field survey showed that Askja, Öraefajökull, Hekla, Lakagígar, Krafla and Heimaey well preserve field evidence of their recent eruptions, which promise to disclose the unknown history of volcanic formation and to formulate a relevant theory. II-3. Glacio-isostatic movement in the Holocene. The glacio-isostatic :movement in such a limited area as Iceland is different in many ways from the cases of greater ice-sheets in Scandinavia and North America. Radioactive and tephrochronological datings of the highest raised shorelines, particularly the quantitative relationship between the mo-vement and the size of the then ice-sheet, are still to be investigated. III-1. The size of the Icelandic ice-sheet at the Last Glacial Maximum. Two opposing opinions exist concerning the extent of the glaciers for that period. One says that a large ice-sheet occupied the whole island, while the other insists that the island had only aggregated local ice-caps with considerable ice-free areas. In order to solve the problem, a geomorphological map of glacial landscapes is now being prepared. III-2. Periglacial phenomena and periglacial landforms. Morphological studies of polygonal patterned grounds and palsas were made by digging out many solifluction lobes. Confirmation of the proce-sses which are at work under the present conditions will be necessary. IV-1. Regional climatogra-phy and climatic changes. Regarding the climatic changes in Iceland, stress is put on the eruption of Laki in 1783, which was exceptional for the reason that the quantity of ejected volcanic ashes was surprisingly little, and yet it resulted in worldwide deterioration of the climate.