Skip to main content

Main menu

  • Home
    • Series home
    • Lyell Collection home
    • Geological Society home
  • Content
    • Online First
    • Current volume
    • Past volumes
    • Collections
    • Supplementary publications
    • Open Access
  • Subscribe
    • GSL fellows
    • Institutions
    • Corporate
    • Other member types
  • Info for
    • Authors
    • Librarians
    • Readers
    • Access for GSL Fellows
    • Access for other member types
    • Press office
    • Help
  • Alerts
    • eTOC alerts
    • Online First alerts
    • RSS feeds
    • Newsletters
    • GSL blog
  • Propose
  • Geological Society of London Publications
    • Engineering Geology Special Publications
    • Geochemistry: Exploration, Environment, Analysis
    • Journal of Micropalaeontology
    • Journal of the Geological Society
    • Lyell Collection home
    • Memoirs
    • Petroleum Geology Conference Series
    • Petroleum Geoscience
    • Proceedings of the Yorkshire Geological Society
    • Quarterly Journal of Engineering Geology and Hydrogeology
    • Quarterly Journal of the Geological Society
    • Scottish Journal of Geology
    • Special Publications
    • Transactions of the Edinburgh Geological Society
    • Transactions of the Geological Society of Glasgow
    • Transactions of the Geological Society of London

User menu

  • My alerts
  • Log in
  • My Cart

Search

  • Advanced search
Geological Society, London, Special Publications
  • Geological Society of London Publications
    • Engineering Geology Special Publications
    • Geochemistry: Exploration, Environment, Analysis
    • Journal of Micropalaeontology
    • Journal of the Geological Society
    • Lyell Collection home
    • Memoirs
    • Petroleum Geology Conference Series
    • Petroleum Geoscience
    • Proceedings of the Yorkshire Geological Society
    • Quarterly Journal of Engineering Geology and Hydrogeology
    • Quarterly Journal of the Geological Society
    • Scottish Journal of Geology
    • Special Publications
    • Transactions of the Edinburgh Geological Society
    • Transactions of the Geological Society of Glasgow
    • Transactions of the Geological Society of London
  • My alerts
  • Log in
  • My Cart
  • Follow gsl on Twitter
  • Visit gsl on Facebook
  • Visit gsl on Youtube
  • Visit gsl on Linkedin
Geological Society, London, Special Publications

Advanced search

  • Home
    • Series home
    • Lyell Collection home
    • Geological Society home
  • Content
    • Online First
    • Current volume
    • Past volumes
    • Collections
    • Supplementary publications
    • Open Access
  • Subscribe
    • GSL fellows
    • Institutions
    • Corporate
    • Other member types
  • Info for
    • Authors
    • Librarians
    • Readers
    • Access for GSL Fellows
    • Access for other member types
    • Press office
    • Help
  • Alerts
    • eTOC alerts
    • Online First alerts
    • RSS feeds
    • Newsletters
    • GSL blog
  • Propose

A brief overview of eruptions from ice-covered and ice-capped volcanic systems in Iceland during the past 11 centuries: frequency, periodicity and implications

Gudrún Larsen
Geological Society, London, Special Publications, 202, 81-90, 1 January 2002, https://doi.org/10.1144/GSL.SP.2002.202.01.05
Gudrún Larsen
Science Institute, University of Iceland Dunhaga 3, IS-107 Reykjavík, Iceland
  • Find this author on Google Scholar
  • Search for this author on this site
PreviousNext
  • Article
  • Info & Metrics
  • PDF
Loading

Abstract

Eruptions from partly ice-covered and ice-capped volcanic systems constitute nearly 60% of all known historical (i.e. in the past 11 centuries) eruptions in Iceland. Since the fourteenth century such eruptions have been reported in contemporary or near-contemporary documents. At least 120 historical eruptions have broken through the ice on the glaciated parts of five volcanic systems and have left tephra layers in ice and soil, or been recorded at the time. An unknown number of eruptions did not breach the overlying ice and left no record at all. Beginning as subglacial eruptions, most eruptions break through the ice in minutes, hours or days and can last from a few days to several months. A single vent or the whole length of a fissure may then emerge to emit highly-fragmented tephra in hydromagmatic explosions of varying strength. The volume of airborne tephra varies by at least four orders of magnitude with dispersal range varying from near-vent to transatlantic. In most of the eruptions the magma was of basaltic composition. Eruption frequency is highest within the Grímsvötn system where up to seven eruptions every 40 years have occurred during peaks of activity and at least 70 eruptions over historical time. The observed pattern of temporally and spatially close eruptions, separated by periods of low or no activity, leaves open the question whether pre-Holocene deposits of several closely spaced subglacial eruptions can be securely distinguished from those formed in a single subglacial eruption.

  • © The Geological Society of London 2002

INDIVIDUALS

Log in using your username and password

– GSL fellows: log in with your Lyell username and password. (Please check your access entitlements at https://www.geolsoc.org.uk/fellowsaccess)
– Other users: log in with the username and password you created when you registered. Help for other users is at https://www.geolsoc.org.uk/lyellcollection_faqs
Forgot your username or password?

Purchase access

You may purchase access to this article. This will require you to create an account if you don't already have one.

LIBRARY USERS

Log in through your institution

You may be able to gain access using your login credentials for your institution. Contact your library if you do not have a username and password.
If your organization uses OpenAthens, you can log in using your OpenAthens username and password. To check if your institution is supported, please see this list. Contact your library for more details.
If you think you should have access, please contact your librarian or email sales@geolsoc.org.uk

LIBRARIANS

Administer your subscription.

CONTACT US

If you have any questions about the Lyell Collection publications website, please see the access help page or contact sales@geolsoc.org.uk

PreviousNext
Back to top

In this volume

Geological Society, London, Special Publications: 202 (1)
Geological Society, London, Special Publications
Volume 202
2002
  • Table of Contents
  • Table of Contents (PDF)
  • About the Cover
  • Index by author
  • Back Matter (PDF)
  • Front Matter (PDF)
Alerts
Sign In to Email Alerts with your Email Address
Citation tools

A brief overview of eruptions from ice-covered and ice-capped volcanic systems in Iceland during the past 11 centuries: frequency, periodicity and implications

Gudrún Larsen
Geological Society, London, Special Publications, 202, 81-90, 1 January 2002, https://doi.org/10.1144/GSL.SP.2002.202.01.05
Gudrún Larsen
Science Institute, University of Iceland Dunhaga 3, IS-107 Reykjavík, Iceland
  • Find this author on Google Scholar
  • Find this author on PubMed
  • Search for this author on this site

Citation Manager Formats

  • BibTeX
  • Bookends
  • EasyBib
  • EndNote (tagged)
  • EndNote 8 (xml)
  • Medlars
  • Mendeley
  • Papers
  • RefWorks Tagged
  • Ref Manager
  • RIS
  • Zotero
Permissions
View PDF
Share

A brief overview of eruptions from ice-covered and ice-capped volcanic systems in Iceland during the past 11 centuries: frequency, periodicity and implications

Gudrún Larsen
Geological Society, London, Special Publications, 202, 81-90, 1 January 2002, https://doi.org/10.1144/GSL.SP.2002.202.01.05
del.icio.us logo Digg logo Reddit logo Twitter logo CiteULike logo Facebook logo Google logo Mendeley logo
Email to

Thank you for sharing this Geological Society, London, Special Publications article.

NOTE: We request your email address only to inform the recipient that it was you who recommended this article, and that it is not junk mail. We do not retain these email addresses.

Enter multiple addresses on separate lines or separate them with commas.
A brief overview of eruptions from ice-covered and ice-capped volcanic systems in Iceland during the past 11 centuries: frequency, periodicity and implications
(Your Name) has forwarded a page to you from Geological Society, London, Special Publications
(Your Name) thought you would be interested in this article in Geological Society, London, Special Publications.
  • Tweet Widget
  • Facebook Like
  • Google Plus One
  • Article
  • Info & Metrics
  • PDF

Related Articles

Similar Articles

Cited By...

  • Most read
  • Most cited
Loading
  • Tsunami hazard related to a flank collapse of Anak Krakatau Volcano, Sunda Strait, Indonesia
  • Palaeoproterozoic supercontinents and global evolution: correlations from core to atmosphere
  • Source to surface model of monogenetic volcanism: a critical review
  • Tectonic evolution of the Gulf of Mexico, Caribbean and northern South America in the mantle reference frame: an update
  • The English Chalk and London Clay: two remarkable British bony fish Lagerstätten
More...

Special Publications

  • About the series
  • Books Editorial Committee
  • Submit a book proposal
  • Author information
  • Supplementary Publications
  • Subscribe
  • Pay per view
  • Alerts & RSS
  • Copyright & Permissions
  • Activate Online Subscription
  • Feedback
  • Help

Lyell Collection

  • About the Lyell Collection
  • Lyell Collection homepage
  • Collections
  • Open Access Collection
  • Open Access Policy
  • Lyell Collection access help
  • Recommend to your Library
  • Lyell Collection Sponsors
  • MARC records
  • Digital preservation
  • Developing countries
  • Geofacets
  • Manage your account
  • Cookies

The Geological Society

  • About the Society
  • Join the Society
  • Benefits for Members
  • Online Bookshop
  • Publishing policies
  • Awards, Grants & Bursaries
  • Education & Careers
  • Events
  • Geoscientist Online
  • Library & Information Services
  • Policy & Media
  • Society blog
  • Contact the Society

Published by The Geological Society of London, registered charity number 210161

Print ISSN 
0305-8719
Online ISSN 
2041-4927

Copyright © 2019 Geological Society of London