Eldgjá
Eldgjá 20210717
Eldgjá is the largest volcanic canyon in the world, located in the South of Iceland.
At 270 meters at its deepest, 600 meters at its widest, and around 40 km long, Eldgjá covers a significant part of the country. It stretches from Landmannalaugar, a popular hot-spring and hiking area in the Icelandic Highlands, to Kirkjubæjarklaustur, a village with a long religious history on the South Coast.
Eldjá’s first recorded eruption in 939 was an incredibly powerful one. It produced the largest flood of basalt of all time; it is estimated that 18 kilometers cubed of lava was released, which spread over an area of around 800 square kilometers.
Of course, the eruption would have devastated growing agriculture at the time, as well as decimated the forests surrounding it. Iceland was very forested at this time, but eruptions like this one, and the mini-Ice Age that followed them, have left it one of the most barren countries on earth.
Further afield, it was even more impactful. Temperatures as far as Central Asia dropped two degrees, and the ash cloud made 940 AD the coolest summer in 1,500 years.
It is little wonder, therefore, why Eldgjá translates to ‘Fire Canyon’.
Source: Guide to Iceland.
Eldgjá
Eldgjá 20210717
Eldgjá is the largest volcanic canyon in the world, located in the South of Iceland.
At 270 meters at its deepest, 600 meters at its widest, and around 40 km long, Eldgjá covers a significant part of the country. It stretches from Landmannalaugar, a popular hot-spring and hiking area in the Icelandic Highlands, to Kirkjubæjarklaustur, a village with a long religious history on the South Coast.
Eldjá’s first recorded eruption in 939 was an incredibly powerful one. It produced the largest flood of basalt of all time; it is estimated that 18 kilometers cubed of lava was released, which spread over an area of around 800 square kilometers.
Of course, the eruption would have devastated growing agriculture at the time, as well as decimated the forests surrounding it. Iceland was very forested at this time, but eruptions like this one, and the mini-Ice Age that followed them, have left it one of the most barren countries on earth.
Further afield, it was even more impactful. Temperatures as far as Central Asia dropped two degrees, and the ash cloud made 940 AD the coolest summer in 1,500 years.
It is little wonder, therefore, why Eldgjá translates to ‘Fire Canyon’.
Source: Guide to Iceland.