Disparate impacts of the Eldgjá and Laki flood-lava eruptions
The Eldgjá eruption of ~ 939 AD is recognised as the largest in Iceland since Settlement, and ranks among the largest late-Holocene volcanic episodes on Earth. It disgorged > 21.0 km 3 (Dense Rock Equivalent) of magma as lava flows (~ 19.7 km 3 ) and tephra deposits (> 1.3 km 3 DRE), comprisin...
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crsagepubl:10.1177/09596836241254478 2024-09-30T14:37:05+00:00 Disparate impacts of the Eldgjá and Laki flood-lava eruptions Morison, Conner A G Oppenheimer, Clive Thordarson, Thorvaldur Newton, Anthony J Moreland, William M Dugmore, Andrew J 2024 http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/09596836241254478 https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/pdf/10.1177/09596836241254478 https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full-xml/10.1177/09596836241254478 en eng SAGE Publications https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ The Holocene volume 34, issue 9, page 1369-1385 ISSN 0959-6836 1477-0911 journal-article 2024 crsagepubl https://doi.org/10.1177/09596836241254478 2024-09-03T04:20:28Z The Eldgjá eruption of ~ 939 AD is recognised as the largest in Iceland since Settlement, and ranks among the largest late-Holocene volcanic episodes on Earth. It disgorged > 21.0 km 3 (Dense Rock Equivalent) of magma as lava flows (~ 19.7 km 3 ) and tephra deposits (> 1.3 km 3 DRE), comprising alternating phreatomagmatic (wet) and magmatic (dry) explosive phases. Tephra deposits up to four metres thick buried proximal areas, and extreme quantities of sulphur and other volatiles were released into the atmosphere. Little is known about the environmental and societal impacts of the eruption within Iceland as it took place during the initial decades of human settlement, and before written record-keeping in Iceland became prevalent. In this work, we review what is known of the Eldgjá eruption, making comparisons with the better documented Laki eruption of 1783–1784 AD (~ 15.1 km 3 DRE). While the Eldgjá eruption was volumetrically greater, probably longer-lasting, and involved phreatomagmatic explosive phases, we reason that societal resilience to volcanic hazards was likely stronger in the 10th century compared with the 18th, reflecting differences in social and natural capital in Iceland. Accordingly, the impacts of the Eldgjá eruption cannot be inferred reliably from knowledge of the Laki episode and its aftermath. Article in Journal/Newspaper Iceland SAGE Publications Laki ENVELOPE(-18.237,-18.237,64.070,64.070) Eldgjá ENVELOPE(-18.608,-18.608,63.962,63.962) The Holocene |
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Open Polar |
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SAGE Publications |
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English |
description |
The Eldgjá eruption of ~ 939 AD is recognised as the largest in Iceland since Settlement, and ranks among the largest late-Holocene volcanic episodes on Earth. It disgorged > 21.0 km 3 (Dense Rock Equivalent) of magma as lava flows (~ 19.7 km 3 ) and tephra deposits (> 1.3 km 3 DRE), comprising alternating phreatomagmatic (wet) and magmatic (dry) explosive phases. Tephra deposits up to four metres thick buried proximal areas, and extreme quantities of sulphur and other volatiles were released into the atmosphere. Little is known about the environmental and societal impacts of the eruption within Iceland as it took place during the initial decades of human settlement, and before written record-keeping in Iceland became prevalent. In this work, we review what is known of the Eldgjá eruption, making comparisons with the better documented Laki eruption of 1783–1784 AD (~ 15.1 km 3 DRE). While the Eldgjá eruption was volumetrically greater, probably longer-lasting, and involved phreatomagmatic explosive phases, we reason that societal resilience to volcanic hazards was likely stronger in the 10th century compared with the 18th, reflecting differences in social and natural capital in Iceland. Accordingly, the impacts of the Eldgjá eruption cannot be inferred reliably from knowledge of the Laki episode and its aftermath. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Morison, Conner A G Oppenheimer, Clive Thordarson, Thorvaldur Newton, Anthony J Moreland, William M Dugmore, Andrew J |
spellingShingle |
Morison, Conner A G Oppenheimer, Clive Thordarson, Thorvaldur Newton, Anthony J Moreland, William M Dugmore, Andrew J Disparate impacts of the Eldgjá and Laki flood-lava eruptions |
author_facet |
Morison, Conner A G Oppenheimer, Clive Thordarson, Thorvaldur Newton, Anthony J Moreland, William M Dugmore, Andrew J |
author_sort |
Morison, Conner A G |
title |
Disparate impacts of the Eldgjá and Laki flood-lava eruptions |
title_short |
Disparate impacts of the Eldgjá and Laki flood-lava eruptions |
title_full |
Disparate impacts of the Eldgjá and Laki flood-lava eruptions |
title_fullStr |
Disparate impacts of the Eldgjá and Laki flood-lava eruptions |
title_full_unstemmed |
Disparate impacts of the Eldgjá and Laki flood-lava eruptions |
title_sort |
disparate impacts of the eldgjá and laki flood-lava eruptions |
publisher |
SAGE Publications |
publishDate |
2024 |
url |
http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/09596836241254478 https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/pdf/10.1177/09596836241254478 https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full-xml/10.1177/09596836241254478 |
long_lat |
ENVELOPE(-18.237,-18.237,64.070,64.070) ENVELOPE(-18.608,-18.608,63.962,63.962) |
geographic |
Laki Eldgjá |
geographic_facet |
Laki Eldgjá |
genre |
Iceland |
genre_facet |
Iceland |
op_source |
The Holocene volume 34, issue 9, page 1369-1385 ISSN 0959-6836 1477-0911 |
op_rights |
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1177/09596836241254478 |
container_title |
The Holocene |
_version_ |
1811640001410105344 |