ICELAND'S MOST ACTIVE VOLCANO ERUPTS

 

Grimsvotn is Iceland's most active volcano

 

Iceland's most active volcano, Grimsvotn, has started erupting, scientists say.

The volcano, which lies under the Vatnajokull glacier in south-east Iceland, last erupted in 2004.
In 2010, plumes of ash from Iceland's Eyjafjallajokull volcano caused weeks of air travel chaos across Europe.
Officials say the latest eruption is unlikely to cause similar problems, although a flight ban has been imposed around the area.
Volcanic eruptions are common in Iceland, which lies along the Mid-Atlantic Ridge that divides the Eurasian and North American continental plates.
Icelandic Meteorological Office geologist Hjorleifur Sveinbjornsson told Reuters that Grimsvotn had thrown a plume of white smoke about 15km (nine miles) into the air.
"It can be a big eruption, but it is unlikely to be like last year," he added.
Iceland's Isavia airport authority said a flight ban of 120 nautical miles had been imposed around the area.
Ash monitored

Glaciologist Matthew Roberts: the eruption "shouldn't have any far-reaching effects"

"We close the area until we know better how the ash is going to work," she spokeswoman Hjordis Gudmundsdottir.
Domestic airline Icelandair said no traffic had been affected.
"We do not expect the Grimsvotn eruption to affect air traffic to and from the country in any way," said communications director Gudjon Arngrimsson.
Last year's outpouring of ash from Eyjafjallajokull led to the largest closure of European airspace since World War II.
About 10 million travellers were affected and some questioned whether the shutdown was an over-reaction.
However, a scientific study published last month said the safety concerns had been well founded.
Researchers from the University of Copenhagen and the University of Iceland said ash particles from the early part of the Eyjafjallajokull eruption were especially abrasive, posing a possible threat to aircraft.

Iceland is a volcanic hot spot on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge - the dividing line between the Eurasian and North American continental plates.

The country's three major volcanoes - Hekla, Katla and Grimsvotn - lie along this boundary.
Altogether there are 35 active volcanoes on and around the island.
Offshore volcanic activity has resulted in the formation of separate volcanic islands, one of which, Surtsey, appeared as recently as 1963.
Icelandic volcanoes have long drawn tourists from across the globe, eager to catch a glimpse of a pillar of smoke or a spectacular lava flow. But there have also been cataclysmic events.
Eruptions at the eastern volcanoes of Grimsvotn and Laki from 1783 to 1785 produced a lava flow which consumed vast swathes of land, blotted out the sun and killed a quarter of the population through poisoning or famine.
Angry sisters
Eyjafjallajoekull, which is currently filling the sky above northern Europe with ash, is a minor player in Icelandic terms - though its last eruption lasted for more than a year, from December 1821 to January 1823.
The most ominous thing about Eyjafjallajoekull is that its eruptions have historically preceded eruptions by one of Iceland's most feared volcanoes, Katla.
Fortunately, Katla, one of the two so-called Angry Sisters, has shown no sign of unusual activity in 2010.
Katla is located under the vast Myrdalsjoekull glacier. One of the highest volcanoes in Europe at 1,512m (4,961 ft), its crater has a diameter of 10km. Any eruption would raise fears of major flooding due to the melting of the glacier.
Its last major eruption occurred in 1918, with a smaller eruption in the 1950s. Historically, it tends to erupt every 40-80 years.
The second of the Angry Sisters is 1,490m Mount Hekla, Iceland's most active volcano.
In the Middle Ages it was believed to be one of the gateways to hell, or Judas's prison. An eruption in 2000 spewed columns of ash several kilometres into the sky, and caused a lava flow 7km long.
In 1973, there was an eruption near the nation's premier fishing port, Vestmannaeyjar, on the southern island of Heimaey. A mile-long fissure rapidly opened, bisecting the island. Spectacular lava fountains followed.
The lava flow continued for five months and around 400 homes close to the rift were destroyed by ash-fall, or consumed by lava flow.
But within hours of the eruption, nearly all of Heimaey's 5,300 residents were evacuated to the mainland by the island's fishing fleet.