Active and sleeping Icelandic volcanoes

For many people, the concept of "volcano" is associated with a high mountain, from the top of which a fountain of gas, ash and flames bursts out into the sky, and the slopes are flooded with red-hot lava. Irish volcanoes on the classic are similar. Altitude they are overwhelmingly not impressive. Only a few "stepped over" the mark of 2 km, the rest keep within 1-1.5 km, and many even less. For example, Hverfjadl, Eldfedl, Surtsey barely reach a height of several hundred meters, more resembling ordinary hills. But these seemingly peaceful and safe creatures of Mother Nature can in fact bring troubles no less than the famous Etna or Vesuvius. We suggest getting to know them better, and starting from their homeland.

Severe island

Nature likes to present surprises. For example, she created the island of Iceland, raising a part of the Mid-Atlantic ridge above the ocean, and just in the place of a huge tectonic seam. Its lithospheric plates, one of which is the foundation of Eurasia, and the second - of North America, are gradually diverge, thus inducing Icelandic volcanoes to active activity. Small and large eruptions occur here about every 4-6 years.

The climate of Iceland, given the proximity of its location to the Arctic Circle, can be called mild. Warm summer here, however, does not happen. But severe winters are also rare, but precipitation falls a lot. It would seem, unusually favorable conditions for a different kind of vegetation, which should be here buoy with fantastic power. But in reality 3/4 of the island's territory is a stony plateau, here and there covered with mosses and rare herbs. In addition, of about 103,000 square km, about 12,000 are occupied by glaciers. This natural landscape is surrounded by Icelandic volcanoes and adorns their slopes. In addition to the visible to the eye, there are many volcanoes around the island, hidden by the thick ice ocean waters. All together, there are almost one and a half hundred, among them 26 operating.

Geological features

In form, Icelandic volcanoes are overwhelmingly shields. They are formed by liquid lava, which has been repeatedly poured out to the surface from the depths of the Earth. Such mountain formations have the appearance of a convex shield with rather gentle slopes. Their tops are crowned by craters, and more often so-called calderas, which are huge basins with more or less even bottom and steeply breaking walls. The diameter of the caldera is measured in kilometers, and the height of the walls is hundreds of meters. Shield volcanoes tend to overlap due to lava flowing out of them. As a result, an extensive volcanic shield is formed, which is observed on the island of Iceland. They are composed mainly of basaltic rocks that spread like water in a molten state.

In addition to shields, Iceland has stratovolcanoes. These have the shape of a cone with steeper slopes, since the lava erupting from them is viscous, freezes quickly, without having had time to spill for many kilometers. A vivid example of this type of education is the famous volcano of Iceland Hekla or, for example, Askja.

By location, there are ground, underwater and under-ice mountain formations, and by "vital activity" - sleeping and active. In addition, there are many small mud volcanoes, spewing not lava, but gases and mud.

"Gateway to Hell"

So dubbed a volcano in the south of Iceland, called Hekla. It is considered one of the most active, since eruptions here occur almost every 50 years. The last time it happened in late February 2000. Hekla looks like a majestic white cone, rushing into the sky. In form it is a stratovolcano, and by its nature it is part of a mountain range stretching for 40 km. He is all restless, but he shows the highest activity in the area of the crack of Heclugia, 5500 m long, belonging to Hecks. From Icelandic this word can be translated as "hood and cloak". This name was given to the volcano for the fact that its top is often covered by clouds. Now the slopes of Hecla are almost lifeless, and once they grew trees and bushes, rioting grass. Not so long ago, the country began work on the restoration of this volcano fauna, mainly willows and birches.

Iceland suffered from seismic activity in the area. Hekla volcano (according to scientists) actively spits out the lava to the surface of the Earth for 6600 years. Studying volcanic seams, seismologists have established that the strongest eruption here happened in the interval from 950 to 1150. BC. By the amount of ash then thrown into the atmosphere, he was given 5 points out of 7 possible. The power of the eruption was such that for several years the air temperature in the entire Northern hemisphere of the Earth dropped. The oldest documented eruption on Hecla occurred in 1104, and the longest - in 1947. It lasted more than a year. In general, all the eruptions are unique on Hecke, and all are different. There is only one regularity: the longer this volcano is asleep, the more it rages then.

Ascia

One of the most "tourist" and most picturesque is this volcano, located in the eastern part of the island, in the Vatnajökjull National Park, named after the huge glacier (the largest in Iceland and the third in this indicator in the world). Asquia is located at its northern edge and is not covered with ice. It rises above the plateau at 1510 meters and is famous for its lakes - the large Esqujuvati and the small Viti, which appeared in the caldera due to the eruption of Askja in 1875. Esqujuvati with a depth of about 220 meters is considered the deepest lake in the country. Vitya is much smaller - only up to 7 meters deep. It attracts hundreds of tourists with the unusual milky blue color of water and the fact that its temperature can rise to +60 degrees Celsius and never falls below +20 degrees. Vitya mirror is almost perfectly round, and the banks are very high (from 50 m) and steep. The angle of their slopes exceeds 45 degrees. In translation from Icelandic "Vitya" means "hell", which is facilitated by the constantly present smell of sulfur. The last eruption of the Icelandic volcano Askja happened in 1961, and since then he is sleeping, although it is considered to be active. This does not frighten tourists who visit Askew so actively that here even paved 2 tourist routes, and 8 km from the caldera dish they built a camping site.

Baurdarbunga

The name of the Icelandic volcano Baurdarbunga is often reduced to Bardarbung. It arose on behalf of Baurdur. This was the name of one of the ancient settlers of the island, who obviously lived in these places, since in translation from the Icelandic "Baurdarbunga" means "Baurdur Hill". Now it is deserted and deserted, wanderers come here only hunters and tourists, and even then only in the summer. The volcano is the neighbor of Ascia, but lies slightly to the south, just below the edge of the Vatnayöküld glacier. This is a relatively high (2009 meters) stratovolcano, periodically "pleasing" its eruptions. One of the largest, having received 6 points, happened in 1477.

The last "trick" of the Icelandic volcano Bardarbung pretty much patted the nerves of the island's inhabitants, especially airline employees. In 1910 there was an eruption, but not very strong, after which the mountain was quiet. And now, after almost a hundred years, namely in 2007, the seismologists again noticed its activity, which gradually increased. Achievements of the maximum were expected from minute to minute.

Eruption

In early summer of 2014, the instruments recorded significant movements of magma in the Bardarbungi chamber. On August 17, in the area of the volcano's location, tremors of magnitude 3.8 occurred, and the 18th magnitude increased to 4.5 points. Urgently evacuated residents of nearby towns and tourists, blocked part of the roads, announced a yellow code for the airlines. The eruption of the Icelandic volcano Bardarbung began on the 23rd. The color of the code was immediately changed to red, all flights over this area were banned. Although the earthquakes with a force of 4.9-5.5 points continued, there was no particular danger for airliners, and by the evening the color of the code was changed to orange. On the 29th magma appeared. It spilled out from the vale of the volcano and spread in the direction of Askya, beyond the glacier. The code color was again raised to red, stopping all flights over the volcano, which significantly complicated the work of airlines. As the magma spread completely peacefully, by the evening of the 29th the color of the code was again reduced to orange. And on August 31 at 7 am the magma splashed out of the earlier fracture with renewed vigor. The width of its flow reached 1 km, and the length - 3 km. The code again turned red, and in the evening fell again to orange. In this spirit, the eruption lasted until the end of February 2015, after which the volcano began to fall asleep. After 16 days, the tourists poured in again.

Eyyafyadlayekudl

Correctly pronounce this name of the Icelandic volcano can only 0,005% of earthlings. Eyyafyadlayekudl - something close to the "true" in the Russian version. Although this volcano is located in the south of the island (125 km from Reykjavik), it was covered with a glacier, which was given the same complex name. The area of the glacier is more than 100 square kilometers. At its top is the source of the Scógau River, and just below are the Scougafoss and Kvernjuvoss waterfalls, attractive for tourists. More or less significant eruption of the Icelandic volcano Eyyafyadlayekudl happened in 1821. And although it lasted almost 13 months, there were no troubles except thawing the glacier, as its intensity did not exceed 2 points. This volcano was considered so trustworthy, that on its southern extremity even the village of Skougar was founded. And suddenly in March 2010, Eyyafyadlayekudl again woke up. In its eastern part, a 500-meter-long rift appeared, from which ash clouds poured into the air. It all ended by the beginning of May. This time, the intensity of the eruption reached 4 points. Now the slopes of the volcano are covered not with ice, but with green vegetation. Many are interested in what Icelandic city is closest to the Eyjafjadlayekud volcano. Here it is necessary to name the village of Skougar, numbering as many as 25 inhabitants. Next is the village of Holt, then Hvolsvjulur and the town of Selfoss, which is located about 50 km from the mountain.

Katla

This volcano is located only 20 km from Eyjafjadlayekudl and is more restless. Its height is 1512 meters, and the frequency of eruptions - from 40 years. Since Katla is partly covered by the Myrdalsjökull glacier, its activity is fraught with melting ice and floods, which happened in 1755, in 1918, and in 2011. And the last time it was so large that the bridge on the Mulakvisl River was demolished and destroyed the road. Scientists have absolutely accurately established that the eruption of the Icelandic volcano Eyyafyadlayekudl every time is the impetus for Katla's activity. In any case, such a pattern has been observed since 920.

Surtsey

Active volcanoes in Iceland are extremely useful for Icelanders. They help enrich the country, and the geysers in their area are used to heat houses, greenhouses, and swimming pools. But that's not all. Volcanoes in Iceland increase the country's territory! The last time it happened in November 1963. Then, after the eruption of underwater volcanoes, a new land site appeared on the south-western coast of the island, named Surtseem. It became a unique reserve, on which scientists track the appearance of life. Former at first completely lifeless, now Surtsey can boast not only mosses and lichens, but even flowers and shrubs in which the birds began to nest. Now there are gulls, swans, dumplings, petrels, dead ends and others. The height of Surtseya is 154 meters, the area is 1.5 square meters. Km, and it is still increasing. It is part of the chain of underwater volcanoes of Westmannaeyar.

Esya

This extinct volcano is famous for the fact that at its foot is the capital of the state - Reykjavik. When the eruption of the Icelandic Esja volcano occurred for the last time, it is difficult to say, it does not interest anyone. The volcano, the peak of which is visible practically from any point of the city, is loved by all its inhabitants and is unusually popular with tourists, climbers and all connoisseurs of the harsh beauty of nature. The mountain range, part of which is Esya, begins at the fjord above the capital and stretches to the Tingvellir National Park. The height of the volcano is about 900 meters, and its slopes, overgrown with bushes and flowers, are extremely picturesque.

Lucky

This shield volcano is an ornament of the national park of Skaftafedl. It is located near the city with an uncomplicated name Kirkjubeyarklauustur. Lucky enters the chain of Icelandic volcanoes 25 km long, consisting of 115 craters. Volcanoes Katla and Grimsvotn are also links of this chain. The height of their craters is mostly small, about 800-900 meters. The Lucky crater is somewhere in between the glaciers - the huge Vatnayöküdle and the relatively small Mirdalsjöküldle. It is considered operational, but for more than 200 years it has not been a problem.

Grimsvotn

This volcano is the peak of the chain in which Lucky is composed. No one knows its exact height. Some believe it is only 970 meters, others call the figure of 1725 meters. The dimensions of the crater are also difficult to determine, since after each eruption they increase significantly. The word "Grimsvotn" in Icelandic means "dark waters". It probably arose from the fact that after the eruptions of the volcano there is a melting of some part of the Vatnayöküld glacier that covers it. Grimsvotn is considered almost the most active on the peninsula, as it is activated every 3-10 years. The last time it happened in 2011, on May 21. Smoke and ashes, escaping from his crater, then climbed to the sky for 20 km. Many flights were canceled not only in Iceland, but also in Britain, Norway, Denmark, Scotland and even Germany.

Fatal eruption

Lucky at the moment is quiet and calm. He rages rarely, but, as they say, aptly. In 1783, once again awakened volcano in Iceland - Lucky - combined the devil's power with his neighbor Grimsvotniy and the boiling stream of lava collapsed in the neighborhood. The length of the fiery river exceeded 130 km. She, sweeping away everything on her way, spread to the territory of 565 km ² . In this case, poisonous fumes of fluorine and sulfur were bubbling in the air, like in hell. As a result, thousands of animals died, almost all the birds and fish in the district. From the high temperatures, the ice began to melt, their waters flooded everything that had not burnt. This eruption killed 1/5 of the inhabitants of the country, and the glowing fog, which was observed all summer even in America, lowered the temperature in the entire Northern Hemisphere of the planet, causing famine in many countries. This eruption is considered the most pernicious for the 1000-year history of the Earth.

Arayajöküldl

Here they are, Icelandic volcanoes. We want to finish our narrative with a story about Eravaijokület, the largest on the island. It is on it is the highest point of Iceland - the peak of Hwannadalshnukur. A volcano is located in the Skaftafedl Nature Reserve. The height of this giant is 2119 meters, its caldera is not round, like most other similar formations, but rectangular with sides of 4 and 5 km. Eravaijoküdl is considered operational, but its last eruption was completed in May 1828, and it does not bother anyone anymore - it stands covered with ice and admires its harsh beauty.