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| See also: | Other events in 1821 · Timeline of Icelandic history | ||||
Events in the year 1821 in Iceland .
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| See also: | Other events in 1821 · Timeline of Icelandic history | ||||
Events in the year 1821 in Iceland .
Iceland is an island country at the confluence of the North Atlantic and Arctic oceans, east of Greenland and immediately south of the Arctic Circle, atop the constructive boundary of the northern Mid-Atlantic Ridge. The island country is the world's 18th largest in area and one of the most sparsely populated. It is the westernmost European country when not including Greenland and has more land covered by glaciers than continental Europe. Its total size is 103,125 km2 (39,817 sq mi) and possesses an exclusive economic zone of 751,345 km2 (290,096 sq mi).
Iceland experiences frequent volcanic activity, due to its location both on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge, a divergent tectonic plate boundary, and being over a hotspot. Nearly thirty volcanoes are known to have erupted in the Holocene epoch; these include Eldgjá, source of the largest lava eruption in human history. Some of the various eruptions of lava, gas and ash have been both destructive of property and deadly to life over the years, as well as disruptive to local and European air travel.
Mýrdalsjökull is an ice cap on the top of the Katla volcano in the south of Iceland. It is to the north of the town of Vík í Mýrdal and to the east of the smaller ice cap Eyjafjallajökull. Between these two glaciers is the Fimmvörðuháls pass.
Eyjafjallajökull, sometimes referred to by the numeronym E15, is one of the smaller ice caps of Iceland, north of Skógar and west of Mýrdalsjökull. The ice cap covers the caldera of a volcano with a summit elevation of 1,651 metres (5,417 ft). The volcano has erupted relatively frequently since the Last Glacial Period, most recently in 2010, when, although relatively small for a volcanic eruption, it caused enormous disruption to air travel across northern and western Europe for a week.
The Highland or The Central Highland is an area that comprises much of the interior land of Iceland. The Highland is situated above 300–400 meters and is mostly uninhabitable. The soil is primarily volcanic ash, and the terrain consists of basalt mountains and lava fields. Snow covers the Highland from October until the beginning of June. A few oasis-like areas, such as Herðubreiðarlindir and Þórsmörk, are also found in the Highland. The area has many notable natural features and hiking trails.
Katla is an active volcano in southern Iceland. This volcano has been very active historically with at least twenty documented major eruptions since 2920 BC. In its recent history though, Katla has been less active as the last major eruption occurred in 1918. These eruptions have had a Volcanic Explosivity Index (VEI) of between 4 and 5 on a scale of 0 to 8. In comparison, the Eyjafjallajökull 2010 eruption had a VEI of 4. Larger VEI-5 eruptions are comparable to Mount St. Helens 1980 eruption. These eruptions have produced very large glacial outburst floods. Several smaller (minor) events measuring VEI-1 and below have occurred since.
Grímsvötn is an active volcano with a fissure system located in Vatnajökull National Park, Iceland. The volcano itself is completely subglacial and located under the northwestern side of the Vatnajökull ice cap. The subglacial caldera is at 64°25′N17°20′W, at an elevation of 1,725 m (5,659 ft). Beneath the caldera is the magma chamber of the Grímsvötn volcano.
Hvolsvöllur is a town in the south of Iceland about 106 km to the east of Reykjavík.
A jökulhlaup is a type of glacial outburst flood. It is an Icelandic term that has been adopted in glaciological terminology in many languages. It originally referred to the well-known subglacial outburst floods from Vatnajökull, Iceland, which are triggered by geothermal heating and occasionally by a volcanic subglacial eruption, but it is now used to describe any large and abrupt release of water from a subglacial or proglacial lake/reservoir.
Subglacial eruptions, those of ice-covered volcanoes, result in the interaction of magma with ice and snow, leading to meltwater formation, jökulhlaups, and lahars. Flooding associated with meltwater is a significant hazard in some volcanic areas, including Iceland, Alaska, and parts of the Andes. Jökulhlaups have been identified as the most frequently occurring volcanic hazard in Iceland, with major events where peak discharges of meltwater can reach 10,000 – 100,000 m3/s occurring when there are large eruptions beneath glaciers. It is important to explore volcano-ice interactions to improve the effectiveness of monitoring these events and to undertake hazard assessments. This is particularly relevant given that subglacial eruptions have demonstrated their ability to cause widespread impact, with the ash cloud associated with Iceland's Eyjafjallajökull eruption in 2010 resulting in significant impacts to aviation across Europe.
Fimmvörðuháls is the area between the glaciers Eyjafjallajökull and Mýrdalsjökull in southern Iceland. The route between Skógar and Thórsmörk goes through this pass and is one of the most popular walking routes in Iceland, despite being 22 kilometres (14 mi) long and involving 1,000 metres (3,300 ft) of climbing. There are two mountain huts along Fimmvörðuháls, one owned by hiking association Útivist, the other called Baldvinsskáli. The route from Skógar has many waterfalls along the way. The route is only accessible between mid-June and late-August. On the night of 16 May 1970, three travellers died in the mountain pass in a snowstorm.
Volcanic lightning is an electrical discharge caused by a volcanic eruption rather than from an ordinary thunderstorm. Volcanic lightning arises from colliding, fragmenting particles of volcanic ash, which generate static electricity within the volcanic plume, leading to the name dirty thunderstorm. Moist convection currents and ice formation also drive the eruption plume dynamics and can trigger volcanic lightning. Unlike ordinary thunderstorms, volcanic lightning can also occur when there are no ice crystals in the ash cloud.
Between March and June 2010 a series of volcanic events at Eyjafjallajökull in Iceland caused enormous disruption to air travel across Western Europe.
Markarfljót is a river in the south of Iceland. It is approximately 100 km (62 mi) long and has had in pre-history jökulhlaups which would be potentially catastrophic, if a similar sized one was to happen in the future.
The following lists events that happened in 2010 in Iceland.
Events in the year 1822 in Iceland.
Sæmundur Magnússon Hólm was an Icelandic clergyman, poet and scholar. He was pastor at Helgafell in Helgafellssveit. His poetry was mainly related to nature, including the Skaftáreldar eruption. A number of poets have cited Hólm as being an inspiration, including Bjarni Thorarensen.
The Catalogue of Icelandic Volcanoes (CIV) is a web resource that was created to serve as an official source of information about potentially active volcanoes monitored by Iceland. The creation of the website followed the disruptive 2010 eruptions of Eyjafjallajökull and allows access to a database of recent eruptions and their details. The website's design was subsequently used in creating the website European Catalogue of Volcanoes that covers a larger area, and which has much, but not all the functionality of the Catalogue of Icelandic Volcanoes.
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