Atlantica - 01.06.2011, Page 64

NaturEa
WoRdS And Photo By Páll STefánSSon
Under the Volcano
62 a t l a n t i c a
Iceland hosts the greatest concentration of volcanoes in the
world, with altogether approximately 40 active volcanoes
on and around the island. The most active ones are Hekla,
Katla, and Grímsvötn, which had a big yet brief eruption last May.
Pictured here is Snæfellsjökull, situated on the westernmost part
of Snaefellsnes peninsula, the most magical one. It contains the
entrance to a passage leading to the centre of the earth, according
to Jules Verne’s 1864 novel A Journey to the Center of the Earth.
Snaefellsjökull, 1.446 meter / 4.744 feet high, last erupted around
the time that Jesus walked the Earth, so it’s about time that this
stratovolcano will wake up. That would be a spectacular show,
even visible from Reykjavík, across the Faxaflói bay. a