European Space Agency's weekly Web-TV programme, Earth from Space, is dedicated this week to Vatnajökull glacier and the 2014-2015 Holuhraun eruption in Iceland's central highlands to the north of the edge of the ice cap (watch below).
The show is presented by Kelsea Brennan-Wessels from the ESA Web-TV virtual studios and features a false-colour image from 6 September 2014 taken from space by the Landsat-8 satellite. The view is over Iceland’s southeastern coast and Vatnajökull glacier which at 8.000 sq km Iceland's and Europe's largest ice cap.
The photo was captured a few days after the beginning of the large eruption in Holuhraun lava field, that lasted for 181 days (31st August 2014 to 27th February 2015) was directly connected to subsidence in the center of Bárðabunga caldera, a huge sub-glacial volcano in Vatnajökull.
Vatnajökull is the home to many of Iceland's largest volcanoes. It's on average 400 m (1.300 ft) thick but around 1.000 m (3.300 ft) were it’s thickest and has about 30 outlet glaciers – many of which are retreating owing to warming temperatures as ESA reports.
Grímsvötn volcano is visible as a black arc on the central-left side of ESA's image. In 1996 an eruption of Grímsvötn caused some of the overlying glacial ice to melt. The water then burst out of the ice cap and flooded the nearby outwash plain, causing damage on roads and bridges.
The Holuhraun eruption was in an ice-free zone and occurred without any explosive activity.
Iceland’s glaciers have been retreating rapidly and losing volume for years, but they are still enormous. According to latest measurement they cover about 11% of Iceland’s 103.000 square kilometers (39.768 sq mi).
Read more: A guide to Iceland’s glaciers, what to do there & their claim to fame
Scientists have predicted that they may disappear within the next 100 to 150 years if current trends of climate change are not reversed.
European Space Agency's weekly Web-TV programme, Earth from Space, is dedicated this week to Vatnajökull glacier and the 2014-2015 Holuhraun eruption in Iceland's central highlands to the north of the edge of the ice cap (watch below).
The show is presented by Kelsea Brennan-Wessels from the ESA Web-TV virtual studios and features a false-colour image from 6 September 2014 taken from space by the Landsat-8 satellite. The view is over Iceland’s southeastern coast and Vatnajökull glacier which at 8.000 sq km Iceland's and Europe's largest ice cap.
The photo was captured a few days after the beginning of the large eruption in Holuhraun lava field, that lasted for 181 days (31st August 2014 to 27th February 2015) was directly connected to subsidence in the center of Bárðabunga caldera, a huge sub-glacial volcano in Vatnajökull.
Vatnajökull is the home to many of Iceland's largest volcanoes. It's on average 400 m (1.300 ft) thick but around 1.000 m (3.300 ft) were it’s thickest and has about 30 outlet glaciers – many of which are retreating owing to warming temperatures as ESA reports.
Grímsvötn volcano is visible as a black arc on the central-left side of ESA's image. In 1996 an eruption of Grímsvötn caused some of the overlying glacial ice to melt. The water then burst out of the ice cap and flooded the nearby outwash plain, causing damage on roads and bridges.
The Holuhraun eruption was in an ice-free zone and occurred without any explosive activity.
Iceland’s glaciers have been retreating rapidly and losing volume for years, but they are still enormous. According to latest measurement they cover about 11% of Iceland’s 103.000 square kilometers (39.768 sq mi).
Read more: A guide to Iceland’s glaciers, what to do there & their claim to fame
Scientists have predicted that they may disappear within the next 100 to 150 years if current trends of climate change are not reversed.
