Ridge-shaped ice-marginal moraines paralleling the glacier margin are produced during glacier advances or stillstands, or they are formed by limited winter re-advances during overall glacier retreat. As ice-marginal moraines outline the configuration of glaciers, they are useful when interpreting modern glacial landsystems or reconstructing ancient glacial environments. At Mýrdalsjökull, glacier fluctuations allowed studies of ice-marginal moraine formation during the glacier advance in the 1980s. Ice-marginal moraines display wide variety of geomorphic and structural types reflecting the glacier dynamics and different sedimentary and topographic conditions of the forefields. It is intriguing that without having observed the active ice-marginal moraine genesis year by year, most of the resulting moraine ridges now found in the glacier forefield would have been misinterpreted.

We review processes and implications of ice-marginal moraine formation along the margins of Kötlujökull and Sléttjökull, two major outlets from the Mýrdalsjökull ice cap. In addition, we focus on some of the most prominent neoglacial ice-marginal moraines in glacier forefields surrounding Mýrdalsjökull.