Expert warns of Icelandic volcano threat
Iceland could be facing its most powerful volcanic eruption in nearly a century, according to an expert.
Katla, with its 6.2 mile crater, has been monitored since a disturbance on 9 July as it could cause severe flooding if it melts glaciers above it, reports the BBC.
But despite suggestions that an eruption could be 'imminent', no one knows what the real impact may be as it depends on the type of eruption and other external factors.
Ford Cochran, National Geographic expert on Iceland said: "This difficulty is very apparent when you compare the last two eruptions in Iceland – Eyjafjallajokull in 2010 and Grimsvotn in 2011.
"Eyjafjallajokull, which brought air traffic to a halt across Europe, was a relatively small eruption, but the unusual chemistry of the magma, the long duration and the weather pattern during the eruption made it very disruptive. “
"There has been a great deal of seismic activity," added Cochran.
"There have been more than 500 tremors in and around the caldera of Katla just in the last month, which suggests the motion of magma.
“And that certainly suggests an eruption may be imminent."
Katla’s last major eruption occurred in 1918 and caused such a large glacier meltdown that icebergs were swept by the resulting floods into the ocean.
The volume of water produced in a 1755 eruption equalled that of the world's largest rivers combined.
Iceland is unique because it straddles two tectonic plates.
By Diane Evans
Diane
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