Geophysicist Einarsson said 1821 eruption lasted for a year

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Professor in Geophysics Páll Einarsson said it is hard to predict how the

volcanic eruption in Eyjafjallajökull will develop. Geophysicists usually base

their predictions on experience and little in known about previous eruptions in

Eyjafjallajökull.

The eruption on Fimmvörduháls, which has now come to an end. Photo by Páll

Stefánsson.

The only eruption on which they have some information occurred in 1821. " And it

is limited what we can learn from one eruption. […] Volcanoes change during

eruptions so the next eruption will occur in a changed volcano, " Einarsson told

visir.is.

The 1821 eruption lasted for more than one year and resulted in significant ash

fall. It stopped once in a while but then resumed. Einarsson said it is likely

that the current eruption will carry on for some time—yesterday morning it grew

in strength.

However, it has also happened that eruptions come to a sudden end. " But this is

part of a longer course of events which began last summer. If the eruption stops

suddenly in this location it is likely that it will resume in another location. "

Einarsson said the eruption in the Eyjafjallajökull volcano moved from the best

possible location on the Fimmvörduháls mountain pass, the only place in the area

that is ice free, to the worse possible place, where the icecap is thickest and

where there is most risk for glacier bursts and ash fall.

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