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Click on the picture to watch an audio slideshow of Þorrablót, an Icelandic mid-winter feast. In the past there was no fresh food available at this time of year so people ate dried fish, smoked lamb, putrefied shark and soured blood and liver pudding along with other soured meat products—ram testicles included.
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Fjallabyggd (“Mountain Settlement”) is a skier’s dream. Its slopes are perfect for slaloming and there are also tracks for telemark skiing. Winter sporting enthusiasts can also go ice skating or rent snowmobiles. In summer, Fjallabyggd turns into a paradise for hikers. Read this special promotion about one of Iceland’s best hidden gems.
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Scientists went on expeditions to the site of the glacial flooding by Mýrdalsjökull glacier in south Iceland last weekend to learn more about the circumstances and take samples of gas and water to determine whether the sub-glacial volcano Katla erupted.
A glacier tour on Mýrdalsjökull. The photo is not directly related to the story. By Páll Stefánsson.
The flood in Múlakvísl occurred on Friday night and caused the Civil Protection Department to declare a level of danger on Saturday morning, Fréttabladid recollects.
First there was a small flood which reached the bridge across Múlakvísl and shortly afterwards the large glacial flood arrived, tearing down the 128-meter long bridge. Trucks and a specialized bus started ferrying people across the river yesterday, ruv.is reports.
The Red Cross opened multi-service help centers in the elementary schools in Vík and Kirkjubaejarklaustur. Approximately 200 people were evacuated from Álftaver, Medalland and Thakgil.
They were permitted to return to the area on Saturday afternoon when the danger level was downgraded to a lower level of uncertainty. Only a part of Mýrdalsjökull is still defined as a danger zone.
The flood originated in three known calderas (not two as reported earlier) in Mýrdalsjökull and one new caldera was formed. The flood also created massive cracks in the glacier.
Earthquake sensors clearly indicated activity as of 8:30 pm on Friday, which increased significantly shortly after 10 pm. Around 5 am on Saturday morning, the activity started subsiding.
Scientists from the University of Iceland Institute of Earth Sciences took samples from the flood water on Saturday and Sunday.
By analyzing the water they hope to find out whether this was just a flood or whether a small eruption occurred underneath the icecap where the volcano Katla lies.
According to Morgunbladid, samples of gas and other chemicals collected by the team of scientists indicate the flood was likely caused by geothermal water. However, an eruption cannot be ruled out.
“The only thing we can be absolutely sure of is that there is a lot of heat underneath Katla and that there is meltwater there, regardless of whether it is geothermal water or whether it was caused by eruptions,” commented Sigurdur Reynir Gíslason, a geochemist at the University of Iceland.
It is also clear that magma is moving but it isn’t certain that it has reached the surface, Gíslason added. There is a sound reason to monitor Katla closely as its eruptions can prove dangerous.
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Seven companies have asked to be listed on the NASDAQ OMX in Reykjavík, in one of the biggest privatization plans in the country’s history. All seven companies are owned, at least in part, by Landsbanki Íslands, which the Government of Iceland owns 81 percent.
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Landsvirkjun accounts for 75 percent of total electricity production in Iceland; in the year 2010 production reached 12,625 GWh. Climate change and the resulting increase in temperatures are expected to lead to a significant increase in the flow of glacial rivers in the years to come.
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The Special Prosecutors’ Office has filed charges in the so-called Al-Thani case, which pertains to the purchase of a five percent share in Kaupthing Bank in late September 2008, merely two weeks before the banking system’s collapse.
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The current issue of the quarterly magazine Iceland Review includes for example an interview with world-renowned fashion designer Steinunn Sigurðardóttir as well as features on the successful biotech company ORF Genetics and the hot debate regarding the EU. If you subscribe now, you will receive a photo book by IR editor, photographer Páll Stefánsson of the eruptions in Eyjafjallajökull as a gift. Click here to subscribe to the magazine and here to buy a gift subscription.
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REVIEWS
The second series of The Press continues to follow the life of journalist, mother and wife Lára and her investigation of Iceland’s underground world.
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Harvesting human-like protein from genetically modified barley, Icelandic company ORF Genetics is revolutionizing the world of green biotechnology. With Iceland’s First Lady Dorrit Moussaieff and Hollywood stars among its loyal fans, the company’s phenomenal skincare range has, quite literally, changed the face of the cosmetics industry.
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The international recognition that the architecture firm Snøhetta has received is quite unique in a Norwegian context.
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