Island on Fire Read online

Journey to the Centre of the Earth, A (Verne) 35

  K

  Kaldbakur, Mount 33

  Kalfafell 93–5

  Katla 53–5, 57–8

  1755 eruption 18, 21, 115

  1918 eruption 55, 190

  glacial outburst floods 54, 54

  and Ragnarök 51

  Katmai 80, 139

  Kauai 46

  Keflavik 188, 189

  Kenya 190

  Kilauea 38, 46, 171–4, 199

  Kirkjubær, Heimaey 7, 8, 10

  Kirkjugólf 151

  Kivu, Lake 166

  Klaustur 30–1, 86–7, 151, 156

  cemetery 153–4

  convent 154

  Fire Mass 87–90, 152, 153, 154

  Grímsvötn eruption 156–9, 157

  Laki eruption 86–90

  Steingrímsson memorial chapel 151–3, 152

  Kom people 166–7

  Krafft, Maurice and Katia 168

  Krafla 16

  Krakatau 22, 80–5, 82, 196

  climatic effect 142

  ice core record 135

  tsunamis 83, 170

  Kratzenstein, Christian Gottlieb 128–9

  L

  lahars 169

  Lakagígar 17, 21

  see also Laki

  Laki 17, 22, 23

  chlorine 22

  climatic effects 112–14, 138–45

  crater row 146–51, 147, 150

  deaths 24, 119–20, 145, 174, 178–9

  earthquakes 16, 17, 21, 31, 33, 94, 95, 115

  eruption 16–17, 21–2, 24–5, 31, 33–4, 63, 86–106

  Europe’s year of wonders 107–24

  famine 24–5, 99–101, 104–6

  Fire Mass 87–90, 152, 153, 154

  fluorine 22, 24, 96–9, 174–5, 177–8

  and French Revolution 24, 145

  future eruption risks 190–4, 202

  global fallout 125–45

  haze 22, 24, 107–12, 108, 118–20, 123, 125–8, 129, 132, 182

  ice core record 135–8

  lava flow 22, 31, 33–4, 86–90, 92–5, 101, 155

  meteors 115–18, 117

  Pele’s hair 31

  Schmidt study 182–4

  Stephensen’s account 101–3

  sulphur dioxide 22, 24, 132, 133–4, 139

  Lalande, Joseph-Jérôme 118–19

  landslides 195

  lava flows 9–10, 38, 167

  Heimaey 9–13, 9, 203–4

  Laki 22, 31, 33–4, 86–90, 92–5, 101, 155

  Little Ice Age 143–4

  London

  epidemics 120

  Great Smog 180–2, 181

  and Laki eruption 114

  mass grave 198

  Longo, Bernadette 174, 179

  Louis XVI 122

  M

  Madison, James 124

  magma 37–8

  magnetic field reversal 42–3

  malaria 178–9

  mantle 36, 37

  mantle plumes 45–7

  Marie Antoinette 122

  Martinique 22, 168, 171

  Maskelyne, Nevil 117

  mega-colossal eruptions 64–8

  meltwater 202

  Mentawai 66

  meteors 115–18, 117, 127–8

  Mexico

  El Chichón 132, 198

  Popocatépetl 194–5, 196, 197

  Mexico City 194

  Mid-Atlantic Rift 46–7, 48

  mid-ocean ridges 40–1, 42, 44, 45, 46–7

  Midway Island 46

  Miller, Gifford 144

  Minoans 68

  Móduhardindin 25

  Monoun 164

  Mount St. Helens see St. Helens, Mount Mozart, Wolfgang Amadeus 121

  Muhlenberg, Henry 123–4

  Munch, Edvard 84

  N

  Namaka-o-kahai 172

  Naples 194

  National and University Library of Iceland 161

  National Ice Core Laboratory 135–6, 137

  Nea Kameni 70

  Netherlands 111–12, 121, 182

  Nevado del Ruiz 169

  New Zealand 199

  Nicaragua, Cosiguina 142

  Niger River 140

  Nile 140, 140

  Nkwain, Joseph 163–4

  North Atlantic Oscillation 143

  Norway 107, 188

  Nyey 128

  Nyiragongo 167

  Nyos, Lake 163–6, 165, 167

  O

  Oddur 155–6

  Oku people 167

  Óladóttir, Bergrún 158–9

  Oman, Luke 139–40

  Oppenheimer, Clive 178

  Ortelius, Abraham 52

  P

  Paget’s disease 176–7

  Paijkull, Carl Wilhelm 99

  Pálsson, Bjarni 29

  Palaea Kameni 70

  Pangaea 44

  Paris 122

  paroxysmal eruptions 63–4

  Payne, Richard 128, 129

  Pele 172, 173

  Pele’s hair 31

  Pelée, Mount 22

  Percival, Thomas 125

  Peucer, Caspar 50

  Philippines, Pinatubo 60, 64, 131, 132, 139, 142

  Phlegraean Fields 70

  Pinatubo, Mount 60, 64, 131, 132, 139, 142

  plate tectonics 38–46

  Plato 69–70

  Pliny the Elder 71, 72

  Pliny the Younger 71, 72–3

  Plutarch 71, 131

  Poetic Edda 51

  Poland 114

  pollution see atmospheric pollution

  Pompeii 71, 73–4

  Popocatépetl 194–5, 196, 197

  Pozzuoli 70

  Prague 122, 122

  Prestbakki church 88, 154

  pyroclastic flows 167–8, 170, 170

  Krakatau 81–2

  Saint-Pierre 168

  Vesuvius 71, 168

  Q

  Quilotoa 198

  R

  Raffles, Thomas Stamford 75, 76

  Ragnarök 51

  Rainier, Mount 195–6

  Rinjani 198

  Robock, Alan 138–40

  S

  St. Helens, Mount 45

  1980 eruption 22, 63–4, 131–2, 195

  climatic effect 138

  deaths 168, 169

  ‘St. Telemachus’ (Tennyson) 84

  St. Vincent 171

  Saint-Pierre 168, 171

  Sanches Dorta, Bento 133

  Sandby, Paul 117

  Santorini 68–70, 69

  Scheving, Jón 30

  Schmidt, Anja 143, 182–4

  ‘Scream, The’ (Munch) 84

  Seattle 195

  Sebesi 83

  seismology 199–201

  Self, Steve 183

  Seneca 36

  Shanklin, Eugenie 166–7

  Shelley, Mary 78

  Shelley, Percy Bysshe 78

  Sicily, Etna 10, 35, 49, 70, 131

  Sigurdsson, Haraldur 25

  Sigurgeirsson, Thorbjörn 10–12

  Silius Italicus 71

  Simeon, Charles 120

  Skaftá River 21, 31, 60, 151

  lava flow 89, 90, 92

  Skaftáreldar (Skaftár fires) 21

  smog

  Donora 179–80

  Laki 22, 24, 107–12, 108, 118–20, 123, 125–8, 129, 132, 182

  London 180–2, 181

  Sneffels (Snæfellsjökull) 35

  Soufrière, La 171

  stars 110

  Steingrímsson, Jón

  ash layers 21

  ash toxins 96, 98

  childhood and education 25–6

  death 106

  diary 25

  Eldrit 159–62, 160

  famine 99–100, 106

  as farmer 28

  Fire Mass 87–90, 152, 153, 154, 204

  gravestone 153

  insomnia and depression 105

  Kalfafell 93–4

  Laki eruption 15–17, 31, 33–4, 86, 92,
93, 94, 95–6, 106

  memorial chapel 151–3, 152

  moneybox 103–5

  as physician 29

  portents and dreams 18–20, 21, 26

  as priest at Fell 28–9

  as priest at Klaustur 30

  Scheving lawsuit 30

  and Thórunn 27–8

  and Vigfússon 27

  Stephensen, Magnús 101–3, 177

  Stephensen, Ólafur 102

  Stockholm 121

  Strabo 71

  stratosphere 130, 131

  Stromboli 63, 70

  sulphur dioxide 131–2, 139, 174

  Laki 22, 24, 132, 133–4, 139, 182

  London 180

  Sumatra 74–80, 81–3

  Sumbawa 75–80

  super-colossal eruptions 64

  supervolcanoes 63, 198–201

  Krakatau 80–5

  Santorini 68–70

  Tambora 74–80

  Toba 64–8

  Vesuvius 70–4

  Yellowstone 61–3, 64

  Surtsey 8–9

  Switzerland

  and Laki eruption 108–9, 112

  and Tambora eruption 79

  Sydenham, Thomas 178–9

  Systrafoss 151

  T

  Tambora 64, 74–80, 77, 142, 170, 196

  Tennyson, Alfred 84

  tephra 168–9

  Thera 68–70

  Thingvellir 47–9

  Thorarinsson, Sigurdur 53

  Thordarson, Thor 102–3, 134, 145, 183

  Thórunn – see Hannesdóttir, Thórunn Toba 64–8, 65, 198–9

  tourist eruptions 55, 186

  tropopause 130

  troposphere 129–30

  tsunamis 169–70

  Krakatau 81, 82, 84, 170

  Tambora 76, 170

  Turner, J.M.W. 79

  U

  United Kingdom

  climate patterns 142–3

  Eyjafjallajökull ash plume 56, 188

  and Laki eruption 24, 107, 109, 110, 112–14, 118, 120–1, 178–9

  National Risk Register 184

  and Tambora eruption 79

  see also London United States

  climate patterns 142–3

  Donora smog 179–80

  Heimaey eruption 11

  Katmai 80

  and Krakatau eruption 84

  and Laki eruption 123–4, 133

  Mount Rainier 195–6

  National Ice Core Laboratory 135–6, 137

  and Tambora eruption 78

  Yellowstone 61–3, 64

  see also Alaska; Hawaii; St. Helens, Mount

  Unzen, Japan 168, 170, 170

  V

  Valdason, Vigfús 100

  van Swinden, S.P. 111–12

  Vanuatu 175

  Vatnajökull icecap 47, 58, 59, 148

  Vatnajökull National Park 148

  Verne, Jules 35

  Vestmannaeyjar see Westman Islands

  Vesuvius 70–4, 73, 168, 194, 199

  Vienna 113, 121

  Vigfússon, Jón 27, 30

  Villumsen, Rasmus 39

  vog 173–4

  Volcanic Ash Advisory Centres (VAACs) 188–9

  Volcanic Explosivity Index (VEI) 63–4

  volcanic winter

  Laki eruption 120–1, 123–4

  Tambora eruption 78–80

  Toba eruption 66–7

  volcanoes

  and climate modelling 138–9

  deaths 163–84

  eruption frequency 196–7

  eruptions 36–8

  future eruption risks 190–201

  Iceland 35–6, 46–60

  mantle plumes 45–6

  monitoring 199–201

  plate tectonics 38–45

  supervolcanoes 61–85

  Volcanic Explosivity Index 63–4

  see also individual volcanoes

  W

  Walpole, Horace 112–13

  Washington, George 124

  Wegener, Alfred 38–40, 39, 41

  Weinstein, Philip 176–7

  Westman Islands 8

  see also Heimaey; Surtsey

  White, Gilbert 109, 112, 114–15, 179

  Winchester, Simon 84–5

  Witham, Claire 178

  Y

  Yellowstone 61–3, 62, 64

  monitoring 200, 201

  Z

  Zaire 167

  Zanzibar 83

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