Katla volcano
| Katla | |
|---|---|
Katla eruption, 1918
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| Highest point | |
| Elevation | 1,512 m (4,961 ft) |
| Listing | List of volcanoes in Iceland |
| Coordinates | 63°38′N 19°03′W / 63.633°N 19.050°WCoordinates: 63°38′N 19°03′W / 63.633°N 19.050°W |
| Geography | |
 Katla
Iceland
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| Geology | |
| Mountain type | Subglacial volcano |
| Last eruption | October to November 1918 |
Katla (Icelandic pronunciation: [ˈkʰahtla]) is a large volcano in southern Iceland. It is very active; twenty eruptions have been documented between 930 and 1918, at intervals of 13–95 years. It has not erupted violently for 99 years, although there may have been small eruptions that did not break the ice cover, including ones in 1955, 1999, and 2011.
Prior eruptions have had a Volcanic Explosivity Index (VEI) of between 4 and 6 on a scale of 0 to 8. In comparison, the Eyjafjallajökull 2010 eruption had a VEI-4. The bigger VEI-6 eruptions are comparable to Mount Pinatubo's 1991 eruption.
Katla is one of the largest volcanoes in Iceland. It is situated to the north of Vík í Mýrdal and to the east of the smaller glacier Eyjafjallajökull. Its peak reaches 1,512 metres (4,961 ft) and is partially covered by the Mýrdalsjökull glacier. The system has an area of 595 km2 (230 sq mi). The Eldgjá canyon is part of the same volcanic system.
The caldera of the Katla volcano has a diameter of 10 km (6.2 mi) and is covered with 200–700 metres (660–2,300 ft) of ice. The volcano normally erupts every 40–80 years. The flood discharge at the peak of an eruption in 1755 has been estimated at 200,000–400,000 m3/s (7.1–14.1 million cu ft/sec), comparable to the combined average discharge of the Amazon, Mississippi, Nile, and Yangtze rivers (about 266,000 m3/s (9.4 million cu ft/sec)).
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