Fire and ice: winter comes to erupting Icelandic lava field
You may have heard of a recent eruption at Holuhraun in Iceland - but now that the first winter snows have arrived there, it makes for some truly stunning photos.
The photos come from photographer Kerstin Langenberger, shared by the University of Iceland.
Winter has arrived at #Holuhraun eruption site. Credit: Kerstin Langenberger #Bardarbunga pic.twitter.com/41oKwdINpF
— University of Iceland (@uni_iceland) September 29, 2014
Pretty isn't it? #Holuhraun pahoehoe lava flowing over fresh snow. Credit: Kerstin. Langenberger pic.twitter.com/QAGfjJN7J4
— University of Iceland (@uni_iceland) September 29, 2014
Langenberger's work is truly impressive, and can be browsed on her Flickr profile. Her set of shots from the 2010 eruption of Eyjafjallajökull - which famously caused disruption to international air traffic - are particularly beautiful.
The Holuhraun eruption has been ongoing for over a month now, and while it has been steady rather than sudden and violent, it now ranks among Iceland's biggest eruptions ever in terms of the magma output.
The Icelandic Met Office reports that the lava field is now 44 square kilometres - larger than Cork City - and the Bardarbunga caldera is still subsiding - which suggests it's still feeding magma to the eruption.
In their most recent update, the Met Office puts forward three likely scenarios for the eruption:
• That it declines gradually and stops;
• That the caldera subsides even more, "prolonging or strengthening" the eruption, and likely creating an ash cloud;
• That the edge of the caldera erupts, melting part of the glacier and causing glacial flooding called a jökulhlaup.
Further updates are expected from the Met Office tomorrow.
