Laki or Lakagígar (Craters of Laki) is a volcanic fissure situated in the south of Iceland, not far from the canyon of Eldgjá and the small town Kirkjubæjarklaustur, in Skaftafell National Park.
Laki is part of a volcanic system, centering on the Grímsvötn volcano and including the Eldgjá canyon and Katla volcano, and lies between the glaciers of Mýrdalsjökull and Vatnajökull, in an area of fissures which run in a south-west to north-east direction.
In AD 934, the Laki system produced a very large volcanic eruption, as a flood basalt in the Eldgjá eruption, which released 19.6 cubic kilometres (4.7 cu mi) of lava.
In 1783-1784, the system erupted again, from the Laki fissure and the adjoining Grímsvötn volcano, pouring out an estimated 14 km3 (3.4 cu mi) of basalt lava and clouds of poisonous hydrofluoric acid/sulfur-dioxide compounds that killed over 50% of Iceland's livestock population, leading to famine which killed approximately 25% of the population.
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2 comments:
There seems to be a lot going on right now, be it an earth quake or volcano.
Yes, indeed! This is where the larger Katla volcano lies, as well, the one that could create havoc with the whole world should it erupt. People are worried that yesterday's small eruption at the volcano near here could well be the start of Katla erupting.
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