Jökull - 01.12.2003, Qupperneq 44

Thordarson et al.
Table B: Explosive activity, continued.
Date Index Source Quotation
17 June B32 4, p. 13 ...the column of fire rose up so high, from the before mentioned Útnorðurs Úlfarsdalsgjá from where a continuous boiling
sound could be heard, that sparks of fire actually advanced forward between Lambatungur, located at the west end of
Kaldbakur, and Geirlandshraun, which is a elongated hill north of the Síða district, trending east-west and stretches so
far west that it reaches beyond the farm Skál. The fire column was seen [from Prestbakki farm] above the Geirlandsheiði
moor. [This description refers to the rootless eruptions in the Leiðólfsfell area (Thordarson et al., 1998)].
19 June B33 4, p. 14 Southerly winds that directed the main eruption plume northwards towards the glaciers and frequent thunders were heard
from the eruption site.
21 June B34 2, p. 62 ...large amount of ash fell here in the Síða district, followed by sleet and snowfall so the mountains became white. [This
tephra fall occurred in strong easterly wind, suggesting origin at the Grímsvötn volcano].
21 June B35 13, p. 593 The equinox, 21 June, was followed by rainy and foggy weather. The face of the Earth became white. Grass withered
down to the roots like it had been burned. Milking cows and milch ewe lost their yield. Due to the haze and the mist the
sun was blood red in colour, especially mornings and evenings. Greyish ash or sand was seen deposited on thin boards
and white paper which was laid outside. To people it appeared to be sulfur, which had been dispersed over the ground,
spoiled and burned the grass and was unwholesome for animals as well as humans. This sulfuric deposit is most likely
derived from the abnormal eruption to the east of us. This deposit was mainly dispersed over Northern Iceland between
the Hrútarfjarðará River and Þingeyjarfljót River [Skjálfandafljót], but not over southern and western Iceland as has been
claimed by some. This could be called the grass burning summer or the sulfuric summer.
21 June B36 4, p. 14 ...Wind from the east with rain [in Síða district]...
22 June B37 4, p. 14 ...same weather continued.
23 June B38 4, p. 17 ...loud whistling was heard from Útnorðursgjá.
23–24 June B39 4, p. 14 ...same weather as before [i.e., easterly wind], which directed the plume towards the glaciers [i.e., Mýrdalsjökull and
Eyjafjallajökull glacier], but the same was heard, seen and felt from the erupting fissure as on 19 June.
25 June B40 4, p. 17 ...same easterly and south-easterly wind, at this time the activity from the same fissure [Útnorðursgjá] was so intensive
that the flame was seen through the cloud and so intensive that clasts and sparks were carried by the wind to Þórsmörk
and Tindfjöll in the west. Because of this tephra-fall the inhabitants of Fljótshlíð and Landeyjar thought eruption had
started in the vicinity, but instead turned out to be pyroclasts from here [i.e., Útnorðursgjá].
27 June B41 2, p. 63 ...huge amount of sandy tephra was dispersed over Síða; during the following night and day a strong westerly wind was
blowing and blew of some of the sand [i.e., tephra] off the ground.
27 June B42 4, p. 17 ...wind was from the west and bringing with it a torrential rainfall. We here in the Síða district saw the edge or the
bottom of a huge black sandy plume [rise from Útnorðursgjá], which twisted and spun up over the mountains forming
bolsters. This cloud dispersed sandy ash and pumice-like clasts over Fljótshverfi (the eastern part of Síða), which [i.e.,
the pumice-like clasts] before and after did not reach this district
28 June B43 2, p. 63 ...the wind continued blowing from the west directing before mentioned plume away from us and over the Fljótshverfi
district where heavy fall of ash and pumice-like clasts occurred. This tephra- fall stunted the grass growth this summer
so it could not be cut and the whole of Fljótshverfi became desolated except Núpsstaður farm which was located furthest
east.
30 June B44 4, p. 19 ...thunder and earthquakes along with loud noise from Útnorðursgjá.
30 June B45 4, p. 24 ...the steam plume was directed west towards Mýrdalur. [According to Steingrímsson this steam plume came of the lava
flow in the lowlands in front of the Skaftá River gorge.]
in June B46 5, p. 275 We have not got any exact accounts from the Síða district about what has been destroyed, but we know it has been a very
difficult time for the inhabitants, because in Síða the tephra-fall has done much more damage than here [in Skaftártunga]
since from the beginning of the eruption the wind has most of the time been out of the west and thus directed the cloud
towards east.
6–7 July B47 4, p. 20 ...still loud noises were heard from the same fissure. [Útnorðursgjá].
9 July B48 2, p. 64 ...once again a huge tephra-fall was dispersed over here [i.e., Síða district], so grassing animals would not eat the grass
of the fields unless the tephra was raked off, this continued for two nights, then heavy rain-fall occurred which washed
off the tephra.
9 July B49 4, p. 20 ...volcanic ash was dispersed all over the Síða district, so the ground became black.
10 July B50 4, p. 20 ...continuing tephra-fall. ...We heard that no tephra fell in the Meðalland district.
11–12 July B51 4, p. 20 Heavy rain and wind [in the Fire districts] so the volcanic ash was washed down in the ground or was blown off such that
the ground was visible again.
18 July B52 2, p. 65 ...here all around us threats from thunder, lightning, creaking and cracking sounds went on such that a minute was not
missed out for two whole days. Never had so much been going on since the gjá [Útnorðursgjá] began to erupt...more had
gone on around the Skaftá River gorge and nearby areas, as was clearly visible on the ground [i.e., the soil cover] as later
observations revealed; it was ripped apart and had been thrown around and had undergone amazing transformation. There
[in the vicinity of the Skaftá River gorge] we found here and there fire-blobs, which had fallen down from the air and
burned the grass around them as they chilled and lithified. Some of these blobs were half buried in the ground and shaped
like a cow-dung. Others were shaped like twisted bundles and had pierced into the ground and broken up on impact.
These fire-blobs appeared to weigh around ten pounds or more [these spatter bombs were produced by rootless eruption
within the lava flow]. When these above described phenomena had been going all night and large part of the day; a sandy
and muddy ash was dispersed over the ground here so it blackened. This tephra-fall came from east-northeast and was
different from previous ones in colour and feel. It came from another eldgjá as later became evident. [East-northeast is
the direction to Grímsvötn volcano. See text for further discussion].
42 JÖKULL No. 53, 2003