Iceland waits for volcanic shoe to drop
[Mýrdalsjökull glacier in Iceland] Volcanologists have warned that previous Eyjafjallajökull eruptions have triggered eruptions of neighbouring Katla, one of the largest volcanoes in Iceland. Katla erupted every 40 to 80 years in the thousand years before the last eruption in 1918. "The eruption is long overdue at Katla and there is quite a bit of anxiety in Iceland about the potential size of eruption," says Dave McGarvie of the Open University in Milton Keynes, UK.
The larger volcano, beneath the larger Mýrdalsjökull glacier, has a reputation for triggering huge jökulhlaup – the Icelandic term for the sudden release of meltwater from glaciers and ice sheets. Its last eruption generated a peak discharge of 1.6 million cubic metres per second within 4 to 5 hours and moved so much debris that Iceland's coastline was extended by 4 kilometres. A new Katla eruption would be unlikely to kill anyone, because the area is sparsely populated and eruptions are usually preceded by earthquakes that would give plenty of time to evacuate. It would cut the main road link in the south of the island, however. ScientificBlogging: Eyjafjallajökull, Gígjökull, Jökulhlaup, Gosmökkur.