New and Accessible Website with Photographs of Volcanic Eruptions in Iceland

Volcanic eruptions not only shape the Icelandic landscape but also the nation’s collective memory. For over a century, photographers have captured these events – flowing lava in the dark, plumes of ash rising above glaciers, and new islands emerging from the sea. In some cases, people have even put their lives at risk when capturing history.

The Institute of Earth Sciences at the University of Iceland has now launched a new website where this visual history of volcanic eruptions in Iceland is summarised and made available to the public.

The website, which provides the public with clear, visual insight into the diverse volcanic activity in Iceland, is part of a larger infrastructure project that systematically registers, preserves, and makes research data on earth sciences accessible. Thus, the project supports both scientific endeavours, data collection and education, whilst also preserving a unique visual record about natural hazards that have shaped the landscape and the nation.

According to Magnús Tumi Guðmundsson, Professor of geophysics at the University of Iceland, the website has two main objectives: “There are short descriptions of volcanic eruptions in the last decades and a few photographs of each one. The aim of the website is to provide the public with insight into volcanic activity here in Iceland, since the first photos of these events were taken in the early 20th century.

Part of a Large Infrastructure Project

The website is part of a broader geoscientific research context in Iceland and is connected to an international infrastructure project, according to Magnús Tumi.

“This website is meant to be accessible to everyone while also serving as a gateway to a website within EPOS Iceland. That’s an infrastructure project led by the Icelandic Meteorological Office and funded by The Icelandic Centre for Research’s (RANNÍS) Infrastructure Fund. EPOS stands for the European Plate Observing System, a large infrastructure project in Europe of which EPOS Iceland is part. The Icelandic component focuses on collecting, systematically cataloguing, and making accessible the various research data related to geosciences in Iceland,” Magnús Tumi says. 

Further information on EPOS Iceland can be found here, and the project was included in the first four-year phase of the Icelandic Roadmap for Research Infrastructures 2021. The project was also included in the Roadmap’s next phase and will therefore be continued from 2025 to 2028.

In addition to the Icelandic Meteorological Office, the Institute of Earth Sciences at the University of Iceland, Iceland GeoSurvey (ÍSOR), and the Natural Science Institute of Iceland are members of EPOS Iceland. One of the projects the Institute of Earth Sciences has undertaken is to systematically collect a representative selection of existing photographs of volcanic eruptions here in Iceland.

The Photographic History of the Eruptions

There is a famous photograph of Magnús Tumi in Grímsvötn shot by the photographer RAX after the eruption there in 2000. In the picture, Magnús Tumi is standing next to the steaming crater with a camera hanging around his neck. The photograph was published in Morgunblaðið on June 17 in 2000.

The camera speaks volumes. Magnus Tumi has indeed taken many photographs of volcanic eruptions in Iceland since he started working at the University of Iceland. He has typically brought the camera along and often been in the vicinity of the gigantic forces that move the magma from the depths of the earth to the surface. Still, Magnús Tumi isn’t a pioneer in this field because, according to him, the history of photographing volcanic eruptions in Iceland is over a hundred years old.

“As far as we know, the first photographs of volcanic eruptions here in Iceland were taken at Mundafell, to the east of Hekla, in 1913. They were shot by Kjartan Guðmundsson, a photographer. He and others also shot photos of the Katla eruption in 1918, and of the traces of the great flood resulting from ice melting caused by the eruption[MG3.1]. It is not known whether any photographs were taken of the next eruption of Grímsvötn in 1922. Since 1934, when Grímsvötn erupted again, photos have been taken of every confirmed volcanic eruption.”

Magnús Tumi points out that the diversity of Icelandic volcanic eruptions is a direct consequence of the country sitting on the boundary of tectonic plates and above a hotspot – on top of that, the interplay of sea, glaciers, and the earth’s crust results in an unusually wide range of volcanic eruption types within a small area. That’s way some eruptions have happened in glaciers (e.g. in Grímsvötn in 1934, Gjálp in 1938 and 1996 and Eyjafjallajökull in 2010). Other eruptions have occurred in the ocean (Surtsey in 1963-1967), some are explosive eruptions (e.g. the first phase of the Hekla eruptions, the eruptions in Grímsvötn, and in Eyjafjallajökull in 2010), and others are effusive eruptions forming lava (e.g. Kröflueldar in 1976-1984, Holuhraun in 2014-2015 and the eruptions in Reykjanesskagi from 2021).

“The website and photographs are meant to provide insight into these events and give an idea of their impact and size. Further information on each eruption can be found on the EPOS website, and there are many more photographs there than on the website we’re opening now,” Magnús Tumi says.