Read the full article here: Ref: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/8623239.stm
EXTRACT:
“Iceland is a volcanic hot spot on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge - the dividing line between the Eurasian and North American continental plates.
The country's three major volcanoes - Hekla, Katla and Grimsvotn - lie along this boundary.
Altogether there are 35 active volcanoes on and around the island.
Icelandic volcanoes have long drawn tourists from across the globe, eager to catch a glimpse of a pillar of smoke or a spectacular lava flow. But there have also been cataclysmic events.
Eruptions at the eastern volcanoes of Grimsvotn and from 1783 to 1785 Laki produced a lava flow which consumed vast swathes of land, blotted out the sun and killed a quarter of the population through poisoning or famine.
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SELECTED BIG ERUPTIONS
1783-85: Grimsvotn-Laki - lava inundated 300 sq km, sulphur dioxide and hydrogen fluoride emitted killed 9,000 people
1918: Katla eruption
1947-48: Hekla - 11-month eruption, major lava flow, 24,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide emitted
1973: Eldfell - seven-month eruption on island of Heimaey
1996: Grimsvotn erupts, causing a glacial burst (where a build-up of water under the ice of a glacier is suddenly released)
2004: Grimsvotn - eruption sends ash up to 12km into the air, some of it landing in Norway, Sweden and Finland
Some useful info:
Eyjafjallajokull means "island mountain glacier"
Eyja means "islands"
Fjall means "mountain"
Jokull means "glacier"
-It's the mountain with the glacier seen from, or around, the Westman islands, off Iceland's south-western coast
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