Sveinn Pálsson

Sveinn Pálsson ( born April 25, 1762 the court Steinssstaðir on Skagafjordur, † April 23, 1840 ) was a physician and naturalist from Iceland.

He is a pioneer in exploring the Icelandic glaciers and volcanoes, which he systematically operation from the 1790s. In addition, he is considered the first climb in Iceland's highest mountain, the Hvannadalshnúkur, as well as the Eyjafjallajökull (17 August 1793). He also was interested in flora and fauna of his homeland, which he described.

Exploration of glaciers and volcanoes

During his investigations he found that glaciers move in a manner similar to that of bad luck. He focused on the study of glacial sediments, melt water and floods as well as the effects of subglacial volcanism. His conclusions contained valuable information regarding the origin and behavior of glaciers.

His fundamental work Draft of a Physical, Geographical, and Historical Description of Icelandic Ice Mountains on the basis of a Journey to the Most Prominent of Them in 1792-1794 presented in 1795 the Danish Society of Natural History. But it remained unnoticed for nearly a century. Only in 1880 it was partially published in 1945 and edited entirely in Icelandic, where it laid the foundation for today's Icelandic glaciology and volcanology. The lack of interest is due to the isolation of Iceland in earlier times. It was away from the shipping lanes.

Description of Icelandic society

Sveinn Pálsson also traveled to Iceland and wrote reports for the Danish government over the states in the country, eg He made ​​suggestions to improve the use of fishing.