Volcanic musings
Umiak
Mike Jaques
Sun 13 Jul 2025 14:21
63:26.70N 20:16.10W
So today is Sunday and living up to typical Icelandic drizzly weather. So – boat jobs and staying dry. Yesterday however was a real bonus as, despite some rain forecast, it remained dry and clear. A bit overcast perhaps but this didn’t stop our intrepid explorers heading up the famous volcano, Eldafjell. 1973 must have been a pretty horrific time for the citizens of Heimaey when the eruption occurred. All were evacuated by the boats of the fishing fleet which was fortuitously in the harbour at the time. Over many weeks large parts of the town were buried under meters of ash and lava flows threatened to close off the harbour. The lava flow was slowed and eventually stopped by the use of an experimental technique of spraying sea water at the end of the flow from fire boats. This has made the modern harbour much better protected but can be quite exciting to get in and out of when the cruise ships and ferry are in the way.
As we walked up the old lava flow from sea level, many of the buried houses could be seen as marked by wooden crosses showing the house name. Much of the lower lava flow in now well vegetated and areas of the old ash deposits have been stabilized by planting grasses. It reminded me a little of the attempts to fix sand dunes with the planting of marram grass.
Higher on the volcano bare rock still exist and the multiple colours are testament to the varying chemistry in the flow – if only I could remember what some of it means. Continuing round the volcano and then past the airstrip brought us back to town and a visit to the volcano museum which is built over the excavated remains of one of the buried houses. As museums go this one is modern and excellent. We followed this with yet another ridiculously priced beer and then a visit to the state run “offy”. Beer and wine with the excellent evening meal thanks to Mike rounded off a great day.
Back to it being Sunday and the weather has cleared so after a pub lunch we are now heading off to Reykjavik. Should be there some ime tomorrow morning.
Ian
