Weird sounding volcano, Eyjafjallajökull is one of the most famous places in Iceland. Its latest 2010 eruption paralysed the air traffic and, caused a lot of commotion for days. Here, you can read more Eyjafjallajökull facts.
It is one of the oldest stratovolcanoes
Eyjafjallajökull is a stratovolcano. It most recently erupted in 2010. Its intense black ash clouds shut down the air traffic in surrounding areas in Europe for five days. The elevation of the Eyjafjallajökull is 1,651 meters.
The 2010 eruption of Eyjafjallajökull
The series of events that marked its latest eruption began on March 10, 2010 and continued for 23 days. The series of events included earthquakes, landslides and melting of the glacier on the top of the mountain. The ash clouds and smoke spread in many nearby areas in the the northern hemisphere.
Its name means ‘Island Mountain Glacier’
If we breakdown its name, we’ll get three parts. Here eyja means island, fjall means mountain and jökull means glacier
Part of a volcanic chain that extends over Iceland
The source of magma of Eyjafjallajökull lies where the continental plates of mid-atlantic ridge meet. On this are located some other volcanoes including Katla, Krafla, and Hekla, all of which are found in Iceland. Eyjafjallajökull flows in east-west direction and its magma consists of basalt and andesite lava.
Eyjafjallajökull is located in the middle of South Iceland between Skógafoss and Mýrdalsjökull in the mountains of Eyjafjöll.
History of eruptions
Most historical eruptions of Eyjafjallajökull were explosive. Most eruptions of Eyjafjallajökull are related with eruptions of Katla volcano due to their interconnected magma chamber. Eyjafjallajökull broke out in the years 920 and 1612.
It was about 800,000 years ago when the Eyjafjallajökull volcano was formed.
The ice-cap atop Eyjafjallajökull
The ice-cap that covers Eyjafjallajökull takes up about 100 square kilometers. It feeds glaciers Gígjökull and Steinholtsjökull.
Eyjafjallajökull on TV
In Top Gear TV series (2010), James May went atop the active volcano but managed to leave the place before the eruption began.
The volcano was also featured in the movie The Amazing Life of Walter Mitty (2013).