Black glacier
Arriving in ICELAND, I put the question to my friends lam, Ingibjor (Inga)
and Arni G. Eliasdorttir Sigurdsson, around the Eyjafjallajokull volcano is more active on the east side.
"Will Katla erupts?"
I do not want to know the origin. Katla is great. When he broke
out, the ice melted, the size of the Amazon River flood vent-called bad jokulhlaup or explosion glacier-pass land
to the sea coast. Ready to eliminate anything in this area, including some of Ring
Road around Iceland.
Inga shrugged. "As far as I've nearly erupted Katla." We sat together at the
last supper at the cottage owned by Inga and Arni in Grimsnes, about an hour from
Reykjavik In 2008, they never saw the earthquake triggered landslides.
Katla non active every 70 years, at least 50 years. Three times Eyjafjalljokull first erupted, Katla followed about a year or two years
later.
We met Inga, inspector general cleanliness, and Arni, retired
airline captain, 16 years ago while vacationing in the Caribbean. Since then,
we exchange visits with these couples. For them, living near a volcano that
erupts every few years has become a part of life. "The pilots are trained
to fly in the mountains." Arni said. "Usually it is best to fly under
the cloud of ash, because of the volcano spewed ash so high."
In 2010, the eruption resulted in the crater summit Eyjafjalljokull eastern chap, and create
two new mountain. Inga climbing photo exhibit at the end of May two years ago after
the eruption. "This is a new mountain," he said with pride: We are "Creating
the" mountains in Iceland. In the northern slopes of the volcano, the lava
flowed down the shallow layers of the glacier, breaking down the ice, creating ice
cliffs that make Omar insisted invited me to fly around it.
We drove to east Eyjafjalljokull
use 4WD pick-up truck belonging Arni glowing red. Tip of the iceberg crowned morning
fog - black, not white. "As there is nothing wrong in the sky," said Sally.
Ash 60 to 90 centimeters thick glacier covering the volcano.
We stopped at a shopping center and rushed encounter Thorey, wife of
pilot friend Arni. Ash from eruptions and floods, he said, stopping way back to
Reykjavik as she and her husband for a weekend in South Beach. To get home, they
have to drive direction along the road for two days. He pointed to a dog in his
car, which was named after the volcano. "His name Eyjafjallaskotthildur."
"You call him by that name?" I asked.
"See the tail? White at the tip and the rest black - same as ash-covered
glacier white, "said Thorey. He looked at the dog lovingly saying, "We
call him Skotta supa shorter."
Whew.
Now, near Hvolsvollur,
Arni drove us to meet Omar, who was waiting in the lobby of a hotel, wearing a
jacket and tie. I could not resist the invitation to fly, and we also headed
airfield where there are battered his Cessna. Sally gave a kiss that made me
not sure I can "back safe." Omar and I was wearing a seatbelt and
take off. Within minutes we were flying over the river and through the valley
of land shaded by trees immediately to the top of Eyjafjalljokul’s glacier . Looks like a fallen soufflé and burned the
top.
"That cliff," exclaimed Omar against the roar of the engine.
Looks ice tower black white and gray. The pilot flew low across the mist-exciting-but-not
comforting. "I think I can fly down there," Omar cried. Oh, my
goodness.
In turn and drift back to the top, then fall sharply. We flew zig-zag
under a layer of mist, cliffs, walls of ice barely clinging wing. He reduced speed,
flying a plane with one hand while photographing them. Either the pilot or pilots
fail reliable. Flight time is bad.
The cliff was "something that might not be seen again by man, especially
if global warming melt the glaciers," Omar said at all after we landed (while
I was still out of breath). For him, the change was remarkable geological Iceland.
Miscellaneous faults, cracks, depression, volcanic vents, as tectonic plates separating
mainland Europe and North America. Two major fissure zone in southern Iceland drain
the hot water and forms a new volcanic mountains.
Zone of the western
part of the sea swell, making Rekyjanes Peninsula,
then turned to Reykjavik, where there Thingvellir.
In this valley MPs in the heyday of Viking outdoor meeting space, precisely at
the edge of a fracture; Geysir, the shower's hot.
