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>Katla is Iceland's most dangerous volcano and is located underneath the Mýrdalsjökull ice cap. Had to look this up: >Katla is a large volcano in southern Ice
by Isamu 10y ago
>Katla is Iceland's most dangerous volcano and is located underneath the Mýrdalsjökull ice cap.
Had to look this up:
>Katla is a large volcano in southern Iceland. It is very active; twenty eruptions have been documented between 930 and 1918, at intervals of 13–95 years. It has not erupted violently for 99 years, although there may have been small eruptions that did not break the ice cover, including ones in 1955, 1999, and 2011.
Small eruptions that did not break the ice cover?
- throwaway5752 10y agoThe glacier covering it is a quarter to a half a mile thick.
- kijin 10y agoA half-mile ice cap means that the ice has accumulated at a rate of 8 meters per year since the last major eruption 99 years ago. That's equivalent to several dozen meters of snowfall per year. I wonder if the caldera really gets that much snow, or if the last few eruptions were too small to melt all the ice in the caldera.
- SideburnsOfDoom 10y agoI would assume that since a caldera is usually shaped like a cup, there is some flow towards the center where it's deeper. I.e. like with water flowing into a lake, the glacier has a catchment area.
- throwaway5752 10y agoI think both of you are correct. Just dumping links for the record: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/M%C3%BDrdalsj%C3%B6kull https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/M%C3%BDrdalsj%C3%B6kull is the glacier. "Mýrdalsjökull is an exceedingly wet location, with models suggesting it receives more than 10 metres of precipitation annually" Here is 30 yr avg annual precipitation (1970-2000) from the Icelandic Meteorological Office http://www.vedur.is/vedur/vedurfar/kort/medalurkoma_a/ http://www.vedur.is/vedur/vedurfar/kort/medalurkoma_a/ (Katla is under the deep blue southernmost area). The caldera has pronounce subsidence, as seen at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Katla_(volcano)#/media/File:Eyjafjallaj%C3%B6kull_en_Katla.png https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Katla_(volcano)#/media/File:Ey... For a bonus, about halfway down this has a picture of the glacier after a minor eruption: https://volcano.si.edu/volcano.cfm?vn=372030 https://volcano.si.edu/volcano.cfm?vn=372030
- SideburnsOfDoom 10y agoFrom being in Iceland for a few days, it appears to be an "exceedingly wet location" in general. Magnificent waterfalls are one effect.