Pall Einarsson, one of Iceland’s most known geophysicists, warned that four of their country’s volcanoes are beginning to show signs of eruption. These pre-eruptive signs include gentle spewing out of lava, up to violent explosions that blanket the whole of Europe into ashes. However, Einarsson no longer gave further details regarding the matter.
Einarsson said that the volcanoes which should be monitored are Katla, Hekla, Bárðarbunga, and Grímsvötn. Katla is a sizable volcano which has been restless in the past few months. It creates astounding tremors hitting around the 4.6M mark. Other experts fear that these quakes caused by the volcanoes can be considered as possible indications of magma rising through the crust, which can trigger it to fracture violently.
Katla has not recorded any major eruption for decades. Yet, at present, Katla occasionally steams off by means of minor lava flows unpredictably. Records reveal that the last time the volcano made average recurrence and imposed great danger was over 50 years ago. In 2011, it produced some impressive streams of lava. However, the emission of lave was not powerful enough to smash through the Mýrdalsjökull glacier which covers its surface.
According to IFLScience , Katla can generate a massive ash plume which causes North Europe’s airspace to be immediately shut down. In relation to this, a recent study said that an epic plume only occurs once every 44 years. In 2011, an event dubbed by scientists as “jökulhlaup” occurred. This is characterized by flash floods from the melted glacier.
However, despite the threat brought about by the possible explosion of these volcanoes, Iceland Monitor reported that there can also be a benefit from this looming threat. Merediam, a French asset company, rendered major monetary contribution to realize a proposed submarine power which can transport green energy from Iceland to the United Kingdom. The global infrastructure investor will be stashing a total of £3.5 billion. Last year, Iceland has already made plans to harness this energy.They will be drilling deep enough to tap molten magma. This is to realize efforts in replacing fossil fuel with a more renewable energy source.
