Archives par auteur: syspbad

Philippe Patay

Philippe Patay Pétursson, « Filippus », 66, est le fondateur de Fjallabak. Grand marcheur et photographe, il a beaucoup voyagé et guidé loin de chez lui, au Sahara, au Groenland, en Ecosse, aux Féroé, en Afrique de l’Est, au Népal… Il s’est découvert il y a quelques années un penchant naturel pour la Patagonie et l’Aubrac. Membre de l’association des guides d’Islande depuis 35 ans, il est aussi un ornithologue amateur éclairé et est à lui seul une encyclopédie islandaise. Il fut le premier au début des années 70 à organizer des premiers trekking et raids à ski dans son pays d’adoption. Philippe a aussi un penchant raisonnable pour les discussions philosophiques et les jeux de mots. Philippe est à la retraite depuis un an mais il continue a guider des groupes spéciaux. Pour toute demande spéciale, contactez le directement : philippe@fjallabak.is

Pierre Brihat

Pierre « Pierrot » Brihat, dit aussi Pétur ou Pedro, ( 49 ans ) est marseillais comme le navigateur grec Pythéas, qui le premier mit le pied en Islande. Il est le meilleur cuisinier (Pierre, pas Pythéas) de pâtes à l’italienne sur le cercle polaire et est responsable d’une étrange tradition parmi l’équipe : celle du Pastis à l’étape du soir dans les hautes terres. Pierre a grandi dans le Luberon en Haute Provence, à vécu quelques temps à San Francisco et vit aujourd’hui plus ou moins à Paris d’où il gère notre site et nos ordinateurs. Enfin quand il y est, car Pierrot a une maladie qui semble incurable jusqu’ici : la bougeotte! Parfois nous travaillons avec lui de manière fort décalée, via le net, car il part, comme l’an passé, au guidon de sa moto BMW (R1200 GS Adv) sillonner les USA en tous sens, réalisant quelques 20.000 miles (32.000 km) en moins de 5 mois. Grâce à Skype, nous avons pu ainsi visiter des dizaine de chambres de motel en arrière plan d’un motard heureux. La seule chose qui puisse lui faire oublier sa chère bécane est le labyrinthe des sentiers insolites des montagnes d’Islande.

Soon sweaters knitted with volcanic wool

A fascinating phenomenon known as Pele´s hair can be seen blowing away from the eruption site at Dyngjusandur. It was also seen in the Laki eruption in 1783.

« It was noticed blowing all around the fissure, but no one could explain or understand why. It looks like tufts of hair and feels like glass wool. At first people thought this was vegetation that had been affected by the eruption somehow, but there’s no plant life in sight. It can’t be sheep wool either because there are no sheep, » says journalist Kristján Már Unnarsson, who has been reporting from the scene since the eruption started.

« Then someone remembered the old texts about the Laki eruption from 230 years ago. The texts mentioned something similar, and it is believed to be the oldest known reference to the phenomenon. Turns out that it’s neither flora or fauna, but a mineral by-product of the eruption. »

In Icelandic it’s called Witch´s hair while the international name refers to Pele, the Hawaiian volcano god.

« It feels like a lock of hair when you hold it, but it’s actually rock. It’s glass that’s cooled down as the magma erupts from the fissure. The gas pressure is so great that it blows the magma into thin strands, almost like hair. Then it falls to the ground and starts blowing along and bundles up, » says volcanologist Þorvaldur Þórðarsson.

Winter arrives at Holuhraun

Snow drifting over new lava at Holuhraun. (Picture: Kerstin Langenberger/Instit. of Earth Sciences)

A month has now passed since the Holuhraun lava eruption began. Winter has now arrived in the Icelandic highland, putting the new lava in stark contrast. The effusive eruption is becoming one the largest in Iceland in recent decades; only the Hekla eruption 1947-48 produced more lava.

According to estimates made two days ago, the new lava field has reached 44 square kilometers and its volume was belived to be at least 0.6 cubic kilometers. The eruption has been relatively steady from the beginning and show no signs of being in decline.

The Holuhraun eruption is now among the largest one in Iceland for the last 150 years. According to geophysicist Magnus Tumi Gudmundsson at the Univ. of Iceland´s Institute of Earth Sciences, only the Hekla eruption in 1947-48 produced more lava, during the 13 month eruption. That created 0.8 cubic kilometers of lava; should the Holuhraun eruption continue with the same intensity as before, that milestone could be reached in about 2 weeks.

Seismic activity in Bardarbunga caldera continues at a similar rate as previous days, according to a status report published this morning, and GPS measurements show continuing slow movements. « Six earthquakes bigger then M3,0 were recorded since noon yesterday. The biggest one was M5,2 at 12:34 yesterday. Smaller earthquakes were detected in north part of the dyke and around the eruption site. »

ruv.is/volcano

bjornm@ruv.is

This story, by the Icelandic National Broadcasting Service (RUV), was updated on 29 September 2014, at 12.00 GMT

Snow drifting over new lava at Holuhraun. (Picture: Kerstin Langenberger/Instit. of Earth Sciences)