Police in Norway revived a number of calls on Friday from citizens who were concerned over a strange smell they had noted. According to reports the smell resembled rotten eggs or a burst sewage line.
According to the Norwegian newspapers police in coastal areas in central Norway received these reports. Tidens Krav reports that inhabitants in Kristiansund, Molde, Frei and all the way to Trondheim called police to notify them of the mysterious smell, and Addresavisen reports that police in Trondheim received ten calls in half an hour from concerned citizens.
As the police received more and more calls, the sulphuric smell began to cause some concern as its origin could not be established. Some, however, began to suspect the smell could be Icelandic in origin, as it seemed to come with the wind from the west, across the Norwegian Sea.
Read more: Life threatening gas emissions in the Skaftá glacial outburst flood
The smell is believed to originate with the glacial outburst flood underway from the Skaftárkatlar calderas in Vatnajökull glacier. The floods are caused by geothermal activity in the calderas which melts the glacier above. When enough water has collected in the calderas the pressure allows it to escape from underneath the glacier, eventually bursting in an outburst flood into the Skaftá river. With the water escape fumes rich in sulphuric acid which have accumulated at the geothermal areas in the calderas.
Police in Norway revived a number of calls on Friday from citizens who were concerned over a strange smell they had noted. According to reports the smell resembled rotten eggs or a burst sewage line.
According to the Norwegian newspapers police in coastal areas in central Norway received these reports. Tidens Krav reports that inhabitants in Kristiansund, Molde, Frei and all the way to Trondheim called police to notify them of the mysterious smell, and Addresavisen reports that police in Trondheim received ten calls in half an hour from concerned citizens.
As the police received more and more calls, the sulphuric smell began to cause some concern as its origin could not be established. Some, however, began to suspect the smell could be Icelandic in origin, as it seemed to come with the wind from the west, across the Norwegian Sea.
Read more: Life threatening gas emissions in the Skaftá glacial outburst flood
The smell is believed to originate with the glacial outburst flood underway from the Skaftárkatlar calderas in Vatnajökull glacier. The floods are caused by geothermal activity in the calderas which melts the glacier above. When enough water has collected in the calderas the pressure allows it to escape from underneath the glacier, eventually bursting in an outburst flood into the Skaftá river. With the water escape fumes rich in sulphuric acid which have accumulated at the geothermal areas in the calderas.
