Fimmvörðuháls (; "five cairns pass") is the area between the glaciers

Eyjafjallajökull Eyjafjallajökull (; "glacier of (the mountain) Eyjafjöll"), sometimes referred to by the numeronym E15, is one of the smaller ice caps of Iceland, north of Skógar and west of Mýrdalsjökull. The ice cap covers the caldera of a volcano wi ...

and

Mýrdalsjökull Mýrdalsjökull (pronounced , Icelandic for "(the) mire dale glacier" or "(the) mire valley glacier") is an ice cap on the top of the Katla volcano in the south of Iceland. It is to the north of the town of Vík í Mýrdal and to the east of ...

in southern

Iceland Iceland is a Nordic countries, Nordic island country between the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic and Arctic Oceans, on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge between North America and Europe. It is culturally and politically linked with Europe and is the regi ...

. The route between

Skógar Skógar (pronounced ), literally "forests", is a small Icelandic village with a population of roughly 25 located at the south of the Eyjafjallajökull glacier, in the municipality of Rangárþing eystra. The area is known for its waterfall, Skóg ...

and

Thórsmörk Thórsmörk (, ) is a mountain ridge in Iceland that was named after the Norse god Thor (Þór). It is situated in the south of Iceland between the glaciers Tindfjallajökull and Eyjafjallajökull. The name "Thórsmörk" properly refers only t ...

goes through this pass and is one of the most popular walking routes in Iceland, despite being long and involving of climbing. There are two mountain huts along Fimmvörðuháls, one owned by hiking association Útivist, the other called Baldvinsskáli (). The route from Skógar has many waterfalls along the way. The route is only accessible between mid-June and late-August. On the night of 16 May 1970, three travellers died in the mountain pass in a snowstorm. Hiking the Fimmvörðuháls mountain pass takes 1–2 days. It is also possible to combine the Fimmvörðuháls route with the Laugavegur Trek between

Landmannalaugar Landmannalaugar () is a location in Iceland's Fjallabak Nature Reserve in the Highlands. It is on the edge of the Laugahraun lava field. This lava field was formed by an eruption in approximately 1477. It is largely known for its natural ...

and

to make a trip of 4–6 days in length.

2010 eruption

On 20 March 2010, an

eruption A volcanic eruption occurs when material is expelled from a volcanic vent or fissure. Several types of volcanic eruptions have been distinguished by volcanologists. These are often named after famous volcanoes where that type of behavior has ...

of the

volcano A volcano is commonly defined as a vent or fissure in the crust of a planetary-mass object, such as Earth, that allows hot lava, volcanic ash, and gases to escape from a magma chamber below the surface. On Earth, volcanoes are most oft ...

began in Fimmvörðuháls following months of small

earthquake An earthquakealso called a quake, tremor, or tembloris the shaking of the Earth's surface resulting from a sudden release of energy in the lithosphere that creates seismic waves. Earthquakes can range in intensity, from those so weak they ...

s under the Eyjafjallajökull glacier. The eruption began around 23:00 and opened a long

fissure vent A fissure vent, also known as a volcanic fissure, eruption fissure or simply a fissure, is a linear volcanic vent through which lava erupts, usually without any explosive activity. The vent is often a few metres wide and may be many kilo ...

on the northern part of the pass. Just over a week later, the Fimmvörðuháls eruption produced a -long fissure and new craters were seen erupting on a northward path toward the area of

, a popular tourist

nature preserve A nature reserve (also known as a wildlife refuge, wildlife sanctuary, biosphere reserve or bioreserve, natural or nature preserve, or nature conservation area) is a protected area of importance for flora, fauna, funga, or features of geolog ...

, prompting tours to stop briefly as

volcanologist A volcanologist, or volcano scientist, is a geologist who focuses on understanding the formation and eruptive activity of volcanoes. Volcanologists frequently visit volcanoes, sometimes active ones, to observe and monitor volcanic eruptions, col ...

s assessed the situation further. The two new craters at Fimmvörduháls were named Magni and Móði, after the sons of

Thor Thor (from ) is a prominent list of thunder gods, god in Germanic paganism. In Norse mythology, he is a hammer-wielding æsir, god associated with lightning, thunder, storms, sacred trees and groves in Germanic paganism and mythology, sacred g ...

, the Norse god of thunder. It is an apt name because Thórsmörk is close to the craters. The new lava field was named Goðahraun, because the lava streamed in the area Goðaland. These official names were accepted by the Minister of Education and Culture 15 June 2010. In April 2010, this was followed by a larger eruption on

itself.

References

External links

Location of the eruption on Fimmvörðuháls/Eyjafjallajökull

Southern Region (Iceland) Hiking trails in Iceland {{Iceland-geo-stub fi:Fimmvörðuháls