There is a strong likelihood that Katla, one of Iceland’s largest and most active central volcanoes, will erupt soon. Katla, which is 30 km in diameter and rises to a height of over 1400 meters (4597 feet) above sea level, is located beneath the massice ice of Mýrdalsjökull, Iceland’s southernmost glacier. The ice covering the volcano is, on average, 550 meters (1800 feet) thick. Katla’s eruptions are typically explosive basaltic eruptions, producing significant amounts of ash. Since Iceland was settled nearly 1200 years ago, Katla has erupted on average every 40 to 80 years, except now. The volcano last erupted in 1918, 103 years ago, making the chances of an eruption in the near future quite high. Katla is notoriously known for the massive glacial outburst floods that follow its eruptions. Enormous volumes of water, ice, mud, and ash surge down onto the Mýrdalssandur plain, laying waste to everything in their path. However, all was quiet last week at the foot of Kötlujökull, a glacier flowing eastward from Mýrdalsjökull. A few tourists were observing the ash-covered glacier, coated by ash from the 1918 eruption and from the Eyjafjallajökull eruption just west of Katla, which occurred in 2010. Katla is also the title of an eight-episode Netflix series that premiered this June, directed by Baltasar Kormákur (4 episodes), Börkur Sigþórsson (3 episodes), and Þóra Hilmarsdóttir (1 episode).
Vestur-Skaftafellsýsla 11/08/2021 14:40 : A7RIV 2.8/100mm Photos og text : Páll Stefánsson
