00:00If you had to come back up here in a hurry, it would be difficult, right?
00:25So I'm just explaining it to you so you're aware what you're getting into, okay?
00:31The gas emissions alone can be very dangerous, okay?
00:34Here you're taking a greater risk because you're actually in an old phreatic explosive
00:39crater and this is a site of active degassing.
00:51This is most likely carbon dioxide degassing and as I said, I can't tell you if this is
00:57a dangerous level in the lake because we haven't measured it yet, but I'll be measuring the
01:01fumaroles here.
01:31So we're working on this large project now which is called ISVOLC and this is investigating
01:41the effects of climate change and the ice retreat on future volcanic and seismic activity
01:47in Iceland.
01:53So at the moment, glaciers cover approximately 10% of Iceland and the glaciers are presently
01:59retreating as a result of current day global warming.
02:03So this can influence volcanism in a number of ways.
02:08So firstly, more magma is being generated in the mantle as a result of decompression
02:14melting and this is essentially because of the unloading when the ice melts from the
02:20glaciers and then the rebound of the crust.
02:24So on top of that, it can affect the stress fields in the crust.
02:28So this can actually change or alter magma migration pathways, which means that we could
02:34have new intrusions in different areas than what we've seen prior.
02:38I think it's very likely that we will see future changes, but the question of course
02:43is when will this start happening and by how much will it affect volcanic activity?
02:58So on top of that, it can affect the stress fields in the crust.
03:13So I mean, Iceland is essentially one of the best places in the world to study this.
03:18It's a natural laboratory because we have both volcanism and glaciers.
03:24So at the moment, about 10% of Iceland is covered by glaciers and we have over 32 active
03:32volcanoes here, many of which will be influenced by the GIA.
03:54What?
04:23So every year, for my decades of studies here, the changes of the ground here have
04:29been on the centimetre scale.
04:31But then suddenly, when the unrest began, we have had over 70 centimetres of uplift.
04:37So that's a lot.
04:38That's a big pressure increase.
04:48In the last few decades, people have been more wondering about the beauty of volcanoes.
04:58Small eruptions, people going out to look at an eruption, seeing how spectacular they
05:03are.
05:04There are many benefits of volcanoes, all the geothermal heat, we heat all the houses
05:10with geothermal, so lots of benefits.
05:13But now, with the activity in southwest Iceland, where a lot of property has been destroyed
05:19and people have needed to move out, we are again reminded about how hazardous volcanoes
05:25are.
05:26Yeah, I've heard about it, but no, I don't.
05:56Because nobody has seen this place.
06:16So you can see where the glacier line was in 1890.
06:21So the Geodatabase Institute of Denmark was mentioning the glacier here in 1903.
06:30So that is a process of over two kilometres.
06:34This is 30 kilometres from here.
06:37So I'm mentioning it here, here and here.
06:41So that was in the first 15 years.
06:44It was a little bit forward, 10 metres backward, nothing big changes.
06:50But the last 10 years, it's going to be 100 metres each year, as one football field.
07:01I think, of course, it's just devastating to see, like looking at photo albums and seeing
07:08like, oh my God, you know, when I was growing up, the glaciers were so much bigger.
07:14I've sometimes said to people like, it is like watching your friends disappear and having
07:19a very rough time.
07:20And we look at the glaciers out of our, you know, kitchen window every day.
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