As some of you know, I’ve been in and out of Iceland since 2007 for life experiences, performances, and research for future manuscripts (focusing on acoustic ecology, geothermal activity, and Icelandic). The abundance of information from the last month of eruptive activity has had me working overtime (literally — I sleep shorter hours and wake up periodically to check news). The first fissure erupted March 20th, and the second followed around a week later. 

Both eruptive fissures in south Iceland finished venting lava and steam by April 12th, leaving volcanologists and interested/concerned others (*raises hand*) querulous as to whether the volcanic activity was done in the area. On April 14th, an answer came in the form of a new eruptive episode, this time from the nearby Eyjafjallajökull caldera.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eyjafjallajökull

Quick linguistic breakdown. Eyja means islands’ (plural genitive). Fjalla means mountains’ (also plural genitive). Jökull means glacier (singular nominative). So, islands’ mountains’ glacier. Eyjafjallajökull is a subglacial volcano (meaning that the volcano is covered by a glacier).

The new eruption created a two-kilometre-long fissure in the caldera, which has been covered by an ice block about 200 metres deep. The steam-and-ash plume has reached a height of eleven kilometres into the atmosphere, and has drifted southeast carrying its ash content over the North Atlantic towards the Faroe Islands, Norway, the UK and other mainland Europe countries.

By mid-day, jökulhlaup speculation became a reality. A jökulhlaup is a sudden glacial flood, historically coined to refer to glacial flooding caused by geothermal activity (especially subglacial volcanic eruptions). It is an Icelandic term that has also been adopted into the English language (as has the Icelandic name “Geysir,” which English speakers know as “geyser”). 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jokulhlaup

As Eyjafjallajökull’s eruption heated the glacial ice, water began to flood down the northern glacial tongue called Gígjökull. Within a few hours, the flood waters circled from the north of the mountain westward, and then south along the mountain’s base and through the planes of Markarfljótsaurur. Rivers in the area rose up to ten feet. The flood raced past famed waterfall Seljalandsfoss (a waterfall behind which you can walk) as the waters made their way to the Atlantic. Iceland’s major highway (Route 1, known as the Ring Road) was partially closed early in the day, and then parts of it were destroyed by backhoes in advance of the flooding, so as to provide flow-sites that might divert the waters from completely washing away a large bridge that was constructed recently. On a personal note, I travelled this stretch of the Ring Road five times between August 2009 and March 2010, and was most recently there fifteen hours after the initial eruption (March 21). 

This awesome map shows the initial fissures (upper right-hand quadrant), and the approximate location of the new fissure (centred in the caldera atop the glacier). The orange line to the south is the Ring Road. The bulk of flooding took place to the north and west of the glacier; if you locate Gígjökull, then you can imagine how the flooding travelled west and then south to the Atlantic.

http://www2.norvol.hi.is/Apps/WebObjects/HI.woa/swdocument/1015787/Kort%20-%20toppg%C3%ADgur%20-%2014.%20apr%C3%ADl%202010%20-%20PE%20og%20ARH.pdf

As you might guess, I’m in awe, fear, love, and need of sleep though my agitation is hard to pacify.

Lovehlaup,
a.rawlings