This dissertation was inspired by the Iceland Fieldwork Course of 1997 during which I carried out my first project with Thomas Robb and Robert Bingham in tandem with Ian Barnes, Marisa Downey and Susie Wood on Gígjökull. It was Nick Spedding’s thesis (1997) in particular which aroused my interest in the overdeepening theory in the following year, and I decided to write this dissertation about ice flow on Gígjökull.

My special thanks go to my supervisors Prof. David Sugden (Departement of Geography of the University of Edinburgh) who agreed on supervising this dissertation as an external examiner, and Prof. Dr. H. Karrasch (Departement of Geography of the Ruperto-Carola University of Heidelberg). With his support it was possible to get the permission by the Faculty of Geosciences to write this dissertation in English. Further, I would like to thank particularly Andy Dugmore who co-ordinated the fieldwork in Iceland.

My thanks also go to all staff members of the Department of Geography of the University of Edinburgh who helped with the logistics during the fieldwork in 1997 and 1998: Mike Bentley, Anthony Newton, Susan MacLachlan, Sarah Davis, Bob McCulloch, Ben Brock (Dundee), and Martin Kirkbride (Dundee). My special thanks go to Nick Hulton for his help with the ice radar survey and his interest in my work, and to Dietmar Wagenbach (Heidelberg) for supporting my work during the final period of writing. Tanks also to all students, I worked with, for their help in the field, and Jennie Hall who so kindly read the proofs.

Last but not least, thanks to my family and friends for their intellectual and emotional support which helped me during the course of my degree and this dissertation.