The fate of two Icelandic glaciers in warming climate: Hofsjökull eystri and Okjökull

Abstract This study traces the evolution and the fate of two Icelandic glaciers, Hofsjökull eystri in the southeast and Okjökull in the west, from their Little Ice Age maximum (∼1890) to the present. Glacier maximum extents were reconstructed using historical maps, written descriptions, geomorphological evidence, and aerial and satellite imagery. Time series of digital elevation models and a 2025 radio echo sounding survey provide further insight into changes in surface area, volume and bedrock topography. Despite similar latitudes (∼64.4°N) and elevation ranges (∼900–1150 m a.s.l.), the glaciers reside in different climate regimes. Both glaciers covered ∼7 km 2 in the 1940s. Since then, Okjökull has been declared vanished and Hofsjökull eystri has lost ∼70% of its area and ∼90% of its volume, with a maximum thickness of 55 m in 2024. Projections suggest that, at the current rate of thinning, Hofsjökull eystri will disappear entirely within the next 30–45 years.