This fissure at Holahraun has already spewed up more lava than any eruption in more than 100 years. Just a few kilometers away, there´s one of the earth´s biggest volcanoes, the huge 11 km wide sub-glacial Bardarbunga caldera, shaking relentlessly keeping Iceland and the rest of the world on the edge.
The initial excitement and a bit of anxiety are over by now, though, and it´s a really weird feeling to realize that it´s become natural part of the radio news to report on the number of earthquakes in the area and their strengths and also the levels of volcanic pollution, as the volcanic activity has been ongoing and we simply got used to it.
Yeah, we live in Iceland - located on top of one of the world´s most active hot-spots. There´re about 30 active volcanic systems in Iceland and because of the country´s geological position and climatological circumstances, the styles of volcanic activity are unusually diverse. Eruptions related to the central volcano can occur anywhere in the caldera found in the volcanic crown. When an eruption occurs , a huge amount of ice will melt, which will pose an immediate threat of massive glacial outburst flooding.
Well, as things are now - you can watch it here - the ongoing activity is being closely monitored and is not having any big affect n Icelanders, apart from gas emissions.
So for those of you considering to come and being somewhat unsure, you can read more on the following web-pages:
Civil Protection (click for the English version):
http://www.almannavarnir.is/
Webcam from the area (click on Bardarbunga)
http://www.livefromiceland.is/
European volcanological supersite in Iceland: a monitoring system and network for the future:
http://futurevolc.hi.is/
Meteorological site
http://en.vedur.is/earthquakes-and-volcanism/earthquakes
Good luck and let us know in case you have more questions.
See you in Iceland, hopefully :)
No comments:
Post a Comment