Fimmvörðuháls
.jpg)
Fimmvörðuháls ([ ˈfimːˌvœrðʏˌhauls ]) is a plateau in southern Iceland .
It lies between the glaciers Eyjafjallajökull in the west and Mýrdalsjökull in the east. To the north the Fimmvörðuháls borders on the Þórsmörk , to the south on the Skógarheiði .
Surname
The name means neck of the five stone men in German .
In the book Þórsmörk. Land og saga by the head of the Skógar Museum, Þórður Tómasson , there is a chapter on the autumnal sheep drive from the highlands. There it is described that although the much-used path over the pass between the glaciers was very popular, its marking left a lot to be desired, apart from the five cairns standing close together on the top of the pass. These stood so close together to show people the way when it was foggy, as there is always the danger of getting lost on the glaciers themselves and thus getting into danger.
Geological description of Fimmvörðuhál
Location of Fimmvörðuhál
Fimmvörðuháls is part of the active eastern volcanic zone of Iceland, which stretches from the Westman Islands via Eyjafjalla- and Mýrdalsjökull up to Vatnajökull and Grímsvötn . This volcanic zone is itself divided into several volcanic systems with their fissure swarms and central volcanoes , with that of Mýrdalsjökull almost reaching the Grímsvötn to the north.
The 1116 m high pass Fimmvörðuháls is located directly between the two volcanoes Eyjafjallajökull and Katla in Mýrdalsjökull, which are located to the west and east of it. Cross crevasses connect the two glacier volcanoes on Fimmvörðuháls.
In modern times, Grímsvötn, Hekla and Mýrdalsjökull were the most active volcanic systems in Iceland. Both enormous effusive and explosive eruptions occurred in these systems .
The Eyjafjallajökull produces material with a different chemical composition than the material of the Mýrdalsjökull and is therefore usually not included in this system. Nevertheless, there is obviously a connection between the two, as the few eruptions of Eyjafjallajökull in the last 1000 years always resulted in eruptions in Mýrdalsjökull.
The rows of craters
Numerous rows of craters and palagonite ridges are parallel to each other on the Fimmvörðuháls pass . They are unusually oriented from west to east and thus connect the systems of Eyjafjallajökull and Mýrdalsjökull.
The area was in the cold periods of the Ice Age until about 11,000 years ago by a glacier covered. The age of the craters was somewhat controversial, with some scientists assuming that the crater series originated from the Ice Age warm periods . The fact that the cinder cones on Fimmvörðuháls hardly show any glacial surface, however, indicates that they were formed afterwards. On the other hand, in the south of Fimmvörðuhál there are also some ridges that are made of palagonite and thus formed under glaciers.
Of the total of around 10–12 eruption sites on Fimmvörðuháls, around 6–8 were active after the Ice Age.
The slopes south of Fimmvörðuhál are covered with basalt layers from the last warm period.
Outbreak story
The Fimmvörðuháls is characterized by volcanic eruptions. At least 6 - 8 of them can be detected after the Ice Age.
Outbreak 2010
Since March 2010, a new volcanic eruption has been in progress on Fimmvörðuháls , which is attributed to the Eyjafjallajökull system based on chemical analyzes of the ejected materials . The outbreak began just before midnight on March 20. Lava emerged along an eruption crevice several hundred meters long until April 8, 2010 and flowed mainly in a northeast direction. A lava flow flowed into the Hrunagil gorge. On March 31, 2010, a second, also several hundred meters long, opened northwest of the first eruption fissure. The lava flowed towards the Hvannárgil canyon. On April 12, the eruption in the area of Fimmvörðuhál came to a standstill. The two volcanic cones were named Magni (82 m high) and Móði (47 m high), after two sons of the god Thor .
Skógar – Þórsmörk hiking trail
A well-known hiking trail leads from Skógar to Þórsmörk via Fimmvörðuháls . The hiking route is 26 kilometers long and reaches a height of over 1000 meters.
See also
Individual evidence
- ↑ H.-U. Schmid: Dictionary Icelandic-German. Hamburg (Buske) 2001, pp. 62, 104
- ↑ cf. Vísindavefurinn Háskóla Íslands http://visindavefur.hi.is/svar.php?id=55761 Accessed : November 27, 2010
- ↑ (after H. Torfason, p. 47 ff)
- ↑ after: H. Torfason, p. 50 ff.
- ↑ H. Torfason, p. 56
- ↑ [1] (Institute of Earth Sciences, Iceland, PDF, as of April 7, 2010)
- ↑ Current status of the Eyjafjallajökull eruption. (No longer available online.) Archived from the original on January 22, 2011 ; Retrieved February 1, 2011 . Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
literature
- Helgi Torfason og Höskuldur Búi Jónsson 2005: Jarðfræði við norðvestanverðan Mýrdalsjökul. In: Magnús Tumi Guðmundsson og Ágúst G. Gylfason (ritstj.) Hættumat vegna eldgosa og hlaupa frá vestanverðum Mýrdalsjökli og Eyjafjallajökli , pp. 45 ff., Háskólaútgáfan, Reykjaví
Web links
Photos and videos
- Pictures and videos of the 2010 outbreak
- Panoramic image from the outbreak in March 2010
- Panoramic photos from the 2010 eruption
- Panoramic photo July 2010
- Iceland trekking blog Fimmvörðuháls photos 2016
Other
Coordinates: 63 ° 37'52.9 " N , 19 ° 26'50.1" W.