There seems to be a bit of a theme going on between the last post and this – another of my schoolgirl dreams was to visit an active volcano and I managed to visit the world’s youngest mountain Eldfell on the island of Heimaey created by an enormous eruption in 1973. We are producing a case study in the latest schools brochure of the eruption and the amazing way that the people managed this natural hazard that inspired the Hollywood film “Volcano” saving the harbour by pumping lots of water onto the lava to cool it. If you would like a copy of the brochure please contact study@livingplanet.co.uk
I travelled in the company of Geography teachers on one of our regular inspection visits to Iceland and this year I included Heimaey as I was desperate to visit this volcano that erupted in 1973. The trek up to the crater of the volcano was well worth it as we stood at the crater before descending down into the bowl. The rocks were quite cool at the surface but just inches down the rocks were still hot. Holding this hot rock was actually quite moving as I had dreamt of feeling the heat of a volcano since school days. The students who were on the same tour as us were equally amazed – as were the teachers on the Inspection Visit – a truly a wonderful experience.
Comments