The work involved in laying pipes over an active lava was highly dangerous, with low visibility due to the extensive emission of steam. Please submit any useful information about climbing Eldfell that may be useful to other climbers. The evacuation was necessary because lava flows were already moving slowly into the eastern side of town, and the whole of the small island was threatened by the likelihood of heavy ash fall. The Vestmannaeyjar archipelago was settled in about 874 AD, originally by escaped Irish slaves belonging to Norse settlers on the mainland. In July 1998 I returned to Heimaey to see the changes on the island over the 25 years and to document the changes with video. Consider things such as access and accommodation at the base of Eldfell, as well as the logistics of climbing to the summit. View of Heimaey before the eruption: Town of Vestmannaeyjar with Helgafell in the right back-ground (photo courtesy of Sólarfilma). At about 20:00 on 21 January 1973, a series of small tremors began to occur around Heimaey. The onset of the eruption was therefore almost entirely unexpected. Create your own unique website with customizable templates. This unique and famous sight in Iceland was formed by volcanoes, looking like a giant elephant rising out from the sea. There is no protection from the sun. However, offshore eruptions may have taken place in 1637 and 1896. The fissure extended across the entire island, producing a spectacular curtain of fire. Efforts to prevent the loss of the harbour are described further below. A few days after the eruption began, the prevailing wind direction moved to the west, resulting in extensive tephra falls over the rest of the island, causing extensive property damage. The efforts of the islanders to halt the lava flows received particular attention, with coverage in publications such as National Geographic (e.g. Kristjansson L., Simon I., Cohen M.L., Björnsson S. (1975). Following the end of the eruption, scientists began to assess the feasibility of extracting geothermal heat from the gradually cooling flows. It is estimated that a third of all the basaltic lava erupted in the world in recorded history has been produced by Icelandic eruptions. After these pumps began to cool the flow advancing towards the town, its movement slowed dramatically and soon stopped. Man Against Volcano: The Eruption on Heimaey, Vestmannaeyjar, Iceland. Random Facts About Natural Elephant Rock Heimaey Iceland Includes: 1. The maroon Eldfell volcano - the Fire Mountain - was created in the volcanic eruption of 1973, in the Westman islands. The threat of lava flows cutting off the harbour was the most significant facing the town. Experimental heating systems were soon devised, and by 1974 the first house was connected. This pre-planned evacuation route resulted in no lives being lost from the eruption; even though the natural disaster came without warning, the community was still prepared. The eruption had made headlines around the world when it began, and was covered constantly by Icelandic news crews throughout. The insides of lava flows can remain at temperatures of several hundred °C for many years due to the very low thermal conductivity of rock. It is a wonder how the island risked permanent evacuation from the eruption, yet was prevented manually form destroying major ports, which Iceland greatly rely on for their economy. Eldfell Volcano - Westmann Islands is a 0.8 mile loop trail located near Vestmannaeyjar, Southern, Iceland that offers scenic views and is good for all skill levels. The most prominent feature on Heimaey before 1973 was Helgafell, a 200 m (650 ft) high volcanic cone formed in an eruption about 5,000 years ago. The Sandey was able to spray up to 400 l/s onto the advancing flow, and a network of pipes was laid on top of the lava to distribute the seawater over as wide an area as possible. Helgafell, the supposedly dormant volcano, seen from the slopes of Eldfell, the volcano created by Helgafell’s eruption. We walked to the trailhead from the harbor without much difficulty. Within six hours of the onset of the eruption, almost all of the 5,300 people of the island were safely on the mainland. The first boats left for Þorlákshöfn at about 02:30, just half an hour after the start of the eruption. I hope to use this to supplement the 1974 film and to produce a teaching CD-ROM illustrating the eruption. When the Eldfell volcano exploded on Heimaey in 1973, people had to flee in an instant. Nonetheless, be prepared with hiking shoes, right clothing in function of the weather (and even in summer I'd suggest to have a cap, windbreaker clothes, gloves) and water. These defences were only partially effective, as they relied on the assumption that the gases were produced at the vent, and flowed into the town from there. It is believed that as least some of the CO2 originated deep within the volcanic conduit and percolated through older volcanic rocks, rising directly into the town. The eruption caused a major crisis for the island and nearly led to its permanent evacuation. The lava which came from the volcanoes on the plate borders formed the island. The abundant tephra produced by the eruption was used to extend the runways at the island's small airport, and also as landfill on which 200 new homes were built. Eldfell is a cinder cone 200m high on the island of Heimay in the Vestmann islands off the south west cost of Iceland. Eruptions are a big part of Westman Islands history and on the islands there are 2 Volcanoes. The pumping capacity was increased in early March, when a large chunk of the crater wall broke away from the summit of Eldfell and began to be carried along the top of the lava flow towards the harbour. Because of severe storms in the days before the eruption, almost the entire fishing fleet was in the harbour, a stroke of luck which greatly assisted the organisation of the rapid evacuation. Up to 40 megawatts of power could be generated by the plants, which also then supplied hot water to nearly every house on the island. There was great concern that the lava flow would impede access to the harbor, which was vital to this fishing community. The volume of lava being emitted during the eruption fell steadily after the first few days. From the start of the hiking path to the top of the volcano there's about 200m height difference. At 1.55am on the 23 january a fissure 1800m long opened up from one shore to the other. The trail is … In Europe, the eruption was one of the biggest news items while it continued, competing for front page space with breakthroughs then being made in the Vietnam War peace talks in Paris. On the night in question, Eldfell, a new volcanic cone, was formed. The name initially given to the new volcano was Kirkjufell (Church Mountain), perhaps to echo the nearby Helgafell (Holy Mountain), but the cone was eventually named Eldfell (Fire Mountain) by the official Icelandic place naming committee. At 01:00 on 23 January 1973, a volcanic eruption of the mountain Eldfell began on Heimaey. One that erupted around 6000 years ago and then we have Eldfell that erupted in 1973 and all of our inhabitants needed to leave the islands from the mainland. It is a stratovolcano. There was some underwater volcanic activity during the ongoing eruptions, which caused the water pipeline to Heimaey to break. Other Things to Do Near Eldfell Volcano After finishing up with Eldfell Volcano, visitors often check out some of the area's other interesting attractions: Start your day with a walk up Eldfell & Helgafell. The eruption started next to Vestmannaeyjabær town, on Heimaey island, and all the inhabitants of the island had to flee to the mainland of Iceland. During the early days of the eruption, the rate of lava and tephra emission from the fissure was estimated to be 100 m³/s, and within two days, the lava fountains had built a cinder cone over 100 m high. The 221m-high volcanic cone Eldfell appeared from nowhere in the early hours of 23 January 1973. This would mean a significant decrease in Iceland’s importing income. The recovery and reconstruction of Heimaey was paid for by all Icelanders via a hypothecated sales tax, as well as through international aid totalling USD2.1 million, primarily from Denmark but with substantial contributions from the USA and several international organisations. Shortly before the end of the eruption, a tiltmeter 1.15 km from the crater which had been measuring ground deformation throughout the eruption detected subsidence towards the crater, implying that the shallow magma chamber which had fed the eruption was emptying out. Be the first to submit your climbing note! We did the hike before we visited the museum and it might've been helpful to do it the other way around. The water cooling of the lava was slow, but achieved a maximum efficiency, with almost all the water being converted to steam. Many houses were destroyed by the weight of the ash fall, but crews of volunteers working to clear the ash from roofs and board up windows saved many more. They were too weak to be felt by the residents of the island, but a seismic station 60 km away recorded over 100 small tremors between 01:00 and 03:00 on 22 January. In 1973, the Eldfell volcano erupted. Iceland is a region of frequent volcanic activity, due to its location astride the Mid-Atlantic Ridge, where the North American and Eurasian Plates are moving apart, and also over the Iceland hotspot, which greatly enhances the volcanic activity. Volcanic ash fell over most of the island, destroying many houses, and a lava flow threatened to close off the harbour, the island's main income source via its fishing fleet. Visit the Westman Islands … The scheme was extended to several more houses and the hospital, and in 1979 construction began of four larger plants to extract heat from the flows. At about 01:55 on 23 January, a fissure opened up on the eastern side of the island, barely a kilometre away from the centre of the town of Heimaey. Vestmannaeyjar: Eldfell volcano (in background) is erupting and fountaining lava. The resourceful local people pumped seawater onto the lava which diverted the … In the end, the harbour entrance was narrowed considerably but not closed off, and the new lava flow acted as a breakwater, actually improving the shelter afforded by the harbour. An operation was mounted to cool the advancing lava flow by pumping sea water on it, and this was successful in preventing the loss of the harbour. The country lies on two tectonic plates along which the volcanoes are located: the Eurasian and North American plates. Fortunately, the lava flows and tephra fall did not at first affect the island's airstrip, and a few people who were unable to travel by boat were evacuated by air. First an eruption fissure, about 1,500 m long, opened seawards only about 200 – 300 meters from the easternmost part of the town. Today the ground is still hot enough in places to bake bread or char wood. Although several men sustained minor burns, no serious injuries were received. Categories: Volcanoes of Iceland | Cinder cones, Lava fountains tower over Heimaey in the early stages of the Eldfell eruption, Thick blocky lava flows advance into town, Steam rises copiously where seawater is being used to cool the flows, Sketch showing the changes to Heimaey caused by the eruption of Eldfell, The street shown above, cleared of lava after the eruption, Helgafell (l) and Eldfell (r) today. Failure of pump shafts became a problem after a few weeks, probably because they were designed for pumping oil rather than water, and new and improved shafts had to be manufactured in Reykjavík and brought in. Since the settlement, no eruptions had been known to occur on the islands until 1963, when a new member of the archipelago, Surtsey, was formed by a four year eruption which began offshore about 20 km (12.5 miles) south-west of Heimaey. Small tremors are very common at plate boundaries, and nothing here indicated that they heralded a major eruption. The eruption caused a major crisis for the island and nearly led to its permanent evacuation. The Heimaey Eruption: Iceland 1973 documented the battle to save the town from the volcano, Eldfell. By early February, the heavy tephra fall had abated, but lava flows began to cause serious damage. Eldfell, meanwhile, is a jagged, ash-covered reminder of the 1973 eruption, although in places, bright purple lupins sprout from the blackened slopes where locals … Apart from falling ash, some houses were also burned down by fires caused by lava bombs, or overridden by advancing lava flows. The population was alerted to the situation by fire engines sounding their sirens, and gathered by the harbour with just the small amount of possessions they were able to carry. Rough tracks were made onto the flow by bulldozing tephra, but these tracks quickly became very uneven and moved several metres a day. Spectacular lava fountaining occurred along the whole fissure, which reached a maximum length of about 3 km (2 miles) during the first few hours of the eruption, but activity soon became concentrated on one vent, about 0.8 km (0.5 miles) north of the old volcanic cone of Helgafell and just outside the eastern edge of the town. The pipelayers used bulldozers and walkie-talkies to advance through the steam to lay more pipes. Apart fr… The line of the 1973 fissure south of Eldfell is clearly seen, 4 Destruction of houses, creation of land, A description of the eruption and evacuation, Eyewitness account of the early days of the eruption, Eruptive history of the Vestmannaeyjar archipelago, https://www.academickids.com:443/encyclopedia/index.php/Eldfell, Centre for Short-Lived Phenomena bulletins 1545, 1547, 1552, 1567, published by the. 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