One of the most amazing (imho) natural phenomenon on this planet is a sub glacial volcano. That is, a volcano beneath a glacier. I’m surprised that I hardly knew anything about them until recently. Underneath most of the glaciers in Iceland are volcanoes. When they erupt they melt ice from the bottom and if the eruption is large enough it will melt all the way to the top.
All that meltwater has to go somewhere. Usually it will follow the terrain under the glacier and deposit in a nearby caldera. When that fills up it will build
pressure and might melt through to the top. Given enough melt water it will work its way out and cause a Jökulhlaup, a glacial outburst flood.
On September 30, 1996 a volcano erupted beneath the Vatnajökull glacier. || A chronological account of the October eruption under the Vatnajökull ice cap. And some Pictures from the jökulhlaup.
aditional: gravity studies
The jökulhlaup before it totally destroyed the bridge, power lines, and anything else out to the sea.
Interesting pattern from the flood discharge.
Tags: Iceland, Phenomenon, volcano
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