Foto's

Eruption on Eyjafjallajokull 3

An eruption began in South Iceland in late evening of 20th March 2010 at the Eyjafjallajökull volcanic system.

Of course I went there asap.
I was able to be on the site twice, March 27 and 30. I went there using an arctic truck driving over the Myrdalsjokull glacier (1493 m high). It is a 4 to 5 hours drive.

This picture was taken on March 27 at 8,54 PM. It was freezing cold (-28°C). After taking picture of the eruption I took some of the people looking at the eruption and taking picture. It has been a nightmare as my lens didn’t work as it was probably too cold. I had to do everything manually.

I managed to stay on site for few more hours and to take some more pictures.

This is a picture from the volcanic eruption on Fimmvorduhals near the Eyjafjallajokull glacier South Iceland. The eruption is located on about 2 km wide pass of ice-free land between Eyjafjallajökull and the neighboring Katla volcano with its overlying Myrdalsjökull ice cap. Katla volcano is known for powerful sub glacial phreatomagmatic eruptions producing basaltic tephra layers with volumes ranging from ~0.01 to more than 1 cubic kilometer.

Iceland’s Eyjafjallajökull Volcano burst into life for the first time in 190 years on March 20, 2010. A 500-meter- (2,000-foot) long fissure opened in the Fimmvörduháls pass to the west of the ice-covered summit of Eyjafjallajökull. Three previous eruptions of Eyjafjallajökull are known in the last 1100 years (historical time in Iceland). The most recent began in December 1821 and lasted intermittently for more than a year. The neighboring volcano Katla erupted then on 26 June 1823. Other eruptions include an eruption in 1612 or 1613, and about 920 A.D.

Lava fountains erupted fluid magma, which quickly built several hills of bubble-filled lava rocks (scoria) along the vent. A lava flow spread northeast, spilling into Hrunagil Gully.

The eruption of Eyjafjallajökull was presaged by a series of earthquakes starting in early March. Over time, the earthquakes rose towards the surface, and land near the volcano rose at least 40 millimeters (2 inches) — both indications that magma was moving underneath the volcano. The eruption broke out with fire fountains and Hawaiian eruptive style on about 500 m long NE-SW oriented eruptive fissure at N63º 38.1, W19º 26.4; on the northeast shoulder of the volcano at an elevation of about 1000 m.

Original in RAW format using a Nikon D3S - 70 mm – ISO 12800
GPS Latitude > 63°37”9814 N
GPS Longitude > 19°26”0225 W
GPS Altitude > 1049 m

More picture to come. You can also see:
Eruption on Eyjafjallajokull 2
and
Eruption on Eyjafjallajokull

PS: this picture has been used in Earthweek news

Picture published in:
1) DETAY M., DETAY A.-M. — Islande - splendeurs et colères d’une île. Belin Ed. 208 p. (2010). ISBN 978-2-7011-5762-7

2) SVT 4e nouveau programme. Belin Ed. (2010) ISBN 978-2-7011-5872-3