The New Eruption from Hekla

Abstract

AFTER a hundred and two years of quiescence, Hekla broke out in violent eruption at about 6.50 a.m. on March 29, 1947. Three days later, Dr. Joh. Askelsson, of the High School of Reykjavik (University of Iceland), sent me a fragment of the new lava, which I described in a ‘‘letter in Nature (May 10, 1947). The lava, proved to be identical with previous Hekla lavas and, indeed, with the general run of Recent lavas in southern Iceland. I got into touch with Dr. Trausti Einarsson, also of the University of Iceland, who, as well as Dr. Askelsson, had been a research student in the Geological Department of the University of Glasgow. Dr. Einarsson sent me numerous newspaper cuttings (in Icelandic), two long letters descriptive of the eruption, and a new book, "Hekla", by Gudhb. Kjartansson (167 pp., with numerous illustrations and a map), which was published as a Yearbook of the Icelandic Touring Association, 1945. What follows is mainly derived from Dr. Einarsson‘s letters.