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[DRAMATIC ORCHESTRAL MUSIC]
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00:00:02,000 --> 00:00:07,000
Downloaded from
YTS.MX
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00:00:02,306 --> 00:00:05,657
Narrator: ICELAND, THE LARGEST
VOLCANIC ISLAND ON EARTH
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00:00:06,745 --> 00:00:09,400
OTHERWORLDLY PANORAMAS SCULPTED
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00:00:08,000 --> 00:00:13,000
Official YIFY movies site:
YTS.MX
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00:00:09,444 --> 00:00:14,188
BY THE SPECTACULAR
CLASH OF FIRE AND ICE.
7
00:00:15,145 --> 00:00:16,407
[VOLCANOES ROARING]
8
00:00:16,451 --> 00:00:21,195
HOME TO FIERCE VOLCANOES
AND POWERFUL GLACIERS,
9
00:00:22,718 --> 00:00:25,590
THE TWO ALWAYS AT ODDS.
10
00:00:27,201 --> 00:00:30,204
IT'S A BUBBLING CAULDRON
OF SCALDING STEAM,
11
00:00:30,247 --> 00:00:32,249
[GEYSERS HISSING]
12
00:00:32,293 --> 00:00:36,514
EXPLODING GEYSERS AND
BREATHTAKING FALLS,
13
00:00:36,558 --> 00:00:39,778
[WATERFALL ROARING]
14
00:00:39,822 --> 00:00:42,216
WHERE FANTASTIC
FIREWORKS OF LAVA
15
00:00:42,259 --> 00:00:43,347
[VOLCANO ROARING]
16
00:00:43,391 --> 00:00:46,350
ETERNALLY BATTLE
THE CRUSH OF ICE.
17
00:00:48,396 --> 00:00:49,527
[VOLCANO ROARING]
18
00:00:49,571 --> 00:00:52,574
THIS TITANIC STRUGGLE
MAKES ICELAND
19
00:00:53,444 --> 00:00:57,579
THE MOST GEOLOGICALLY
MAGICAL ISLAND ON THE PLANET.
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00:01:04,238 --> 00:01:08,590
[CONTEMPLATIVE ORCHESTRAL MUSIC]
21
00:01:08,633 --> 00:01:11,897
ICELAND, A LAND
OF STARK CONTRASTS
22
00:01:11,941 --> 00:01:14,639
THAT LIES IN THE MIDDLE OF
THE NORTH ATLANTIC OCEAN,
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00:01:15,988 --> 00:01:18,252
ABOUT 200 MILES
EAST OF GREENLAND,
24
00:01:18,991 --> 00:01:21,081
ON THE EDGE OF
THE ARCTIC CIRCLE.
25
00:01:24,997 --> 00:01:29,393
JUST 300 MILES WIDE, IT'S
ROUGHLY THE SIZE OF KENTUCKY.
26
00:01:31,656 --> 00:01:33,615
THIS LONE, RUGGED ISLAND IS
27
00:01:33,658 --> 00:01:35,921
A PLACE OF EXTREME
NATURAL BEAUTY,
28
00:01:35,965 --> 00:01:37,445
[WATERFALL ROARING]
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00:01:37,488 --> 00:01:41,840
CREATED, IN LARGE PART, BY
ITS VIOLENT, VOLCANIC HEART.
30
00:01:41,884 --> 00:01:46,628
[CONTEMPLATIVE ORCHESTRAL MUSIC]
31
00:01:46,671 --> 00:01:49,848
ICELAND'S 30 ACTIVE
VOLCANOES GENERATE
32
00:01:49,892 --> 00:01:52,938
1/3 OF THE WORLD'S
LAND-BASED LAVA.
33
00:01:52,982 --> 00:01:55,898
[VOLCANO RUMBLING]
34
00:01:56,638 --> 00:01:58,814
IT'S AN ISLAND ON FIRE.
35
00:02:02,339 --> 00:02:04,515
ON AVERAGE, ICELAND EXPERIENCES
36
00:02:04,559 --> 00:02:07,475
A VOLCANIC ERUPTION
EVERY FIVE YEARS.
37
00:02:07,518 --> 00:02:10,478
[VOLCANO RUMBLING]
38
00:02:11,522 --> 00:02:14,438
LAVA HAS LAID WASTE
TO GREAT BELTS
39
00:02:14,482 --> 00:02:18,268
OF THE INTERIOR, CREATING
TWISTED LANDSCAPES.
40
00:02:18,312 --> 00:02:21,532
[WIND WHISTLING]
41
00:02:21,576 --> 00:02:25,841
JUST 1/5 OF THIS HOSTILE
LAND IS INHABITED BY HUMANS.
42
00:02:29,845 --> 00:02:33,196
200 EARTHQUAKES SHAKE
THE ISLAND EACH YEAR.
43
00:02:35,024 --> 00:02:38,419
[STEAM HISSING]
44
00:02:38,462 --> 00:02:41,683
ALL OVER ICELAND, STEAM HISSES,
45
00:02:43,467 --> 00:02:44,555
[GEYSER ROARS]
46
00:02:44,599 --> 00:02:45,861
WATER ERUPTS,
47
00:02:48,342 --> 00:02:51,432
AND LAVA SPEWS FROM THE MANTLE,
48
00:02:51,475 --> 00:02:53,695
DEEP BENEATH THE EARTH'S CRUST.
49
00:02:54,348 --> 00:02:57,525
[VOLCANO RUMBLING]
50
00:02:59,353 --> 00:03:02,225
APRIL 2010, EYJAFJALLAJOKULL,
51
00:03:03,400 --> 00:03:07,578
AN 800,000-YEAR-OLD VOLCANO
IN THE SOUTHERN REACHES
52
00:03:07,622 --> 00:03:11,278
OF ICELAND, UNLEASHES
ITS TERRIBLE POWER.
53
00:03:11,321 --> 00:03:12,627
[VOLCANO ROARING]
54
00:03:12,670 --> 00:03:16,587
FOR 39 DAYS, THE FORMIDABLE
VOLCANO SPEWS ASH
55
00:03:16,631 --> 00:03:21,026
TOWARD THE SKY, CREATING
A PLUME THAT SOARS
56
00:03:21,070 --> 00:03:23,681
MORE THAN SIX MILES
INTO THE ATMOSPHERE.
57
00:03:23,725 --> 00:03:26,771
[VOLCANO RUMBLING]
58
00:03:26,815 --> 00:03:29,861
THE MAMMOTH CLOUD OF ASH
CREEPS ACROSS EUROPE,
59
00:03:29,905 --> 00:03:32,864
BRINGING GLOBAL AIR
TRAVEL TO ITS KNEES.
60
00:03:36,085 --> 00:03:40,350
Steffensen: EYJAFJALLAJOKULL IS
BY NOW OUR MOST FAMOUS VOLCANO,
61
00:03:41,090 --> 00:03:43,527
AND MAINLY OF COURSE
BECAUSE OF THE PROBLEMS
62
00:03:43,571 --> 00:03:47,009
THAT IT CAUSED DURING
ITS ERUPTION IN 2010,
63
00:03:47,052 --> 00:03:48,880
WHEN PEOPLE WERE
SITTING IN AIRPORTS
64
00:03:48,924 --> 00:03:51,056
ALL OVER THE WORLD,
CURSING THIS MOUNTAIN.
65
00:03:51,100 --> 00:03:54,321
[VOLCANO RUMBLING]
[DRAMATIC PERCUSSION MUSIC]
66
00:03:54,364 --> 00:03:56,410
Narrator: BILLIONS
OF DOLLARS ARE LOST
67
00:03:57,106 --> 00:04:00,936
AS THE WORLD IS FORCED
TO WATCH AND WAIT.
68
00:04:06,550 --> 00:04:09,771
Steffensen: LOOKING AT IT
WAS, IT WAS SCARY.
69
00:04:09,814 --> 00:04:11,294
[VOLCANO ROARING]
70
00:04:11,338 --> 00:04:15,080
THE MOUNTAIN ITSELF IS BIG,
AND YOU COULD CLEARLY HEAR
71
00:04:15,124 --> 00:04:19,389
THE EXPLOSIONS AND THE RUMBLE
FROM THIS MASSIVE THING.
72
00:04:19,433 --> 00:04:22,914
AND THE PLUME OF ASH, EVEN
THOUGH THE MOUNTAIN WAS BIG,
73
00:04:22,958 --> 00:04:25,047
IT WAS DWARFING THE
MOUNTAIN UNDERNEATH.
74
00:04:25,090 --> 00:04:28,703
[VOLCANO RUMBLING]
75
00:04:28,746 --> 00:04:31,836
LOOKING AT SOMETHING SO LARGE,
76
00:04:32,837 --> 00:04:35,536
AND THERE'S ABSOLUTELY
NOTHING YOU CAN DO
77
00:04:35,579 --> 00:04:38,626
ABOUT IT, IS NOT A GOOD FEELING.
78
00:04:38,669 --> 00:04:41,803
WHEN NATURE TAKES OVER, YOU
JUST HAVE TO SIT AND WAIT.
79
00:04:41,846 --> 00:04:44,414
[VOLCANO ROARING]
80
00:04:44,458 --> 00:04:46,938
[CONTEMPLATIVE SYNTH MUSIC]
81
00:04:46,982 --> 00:04:47,809
Narrator: BUT
THIS IS A COUNTRY
82
00:04:47,852 --> 00:04:49,767
THAT WAS BUILT BY VOLCANOES.
83
00:04:52,553 --> 00:04:56,034
AND TO THIS DAY, VOLCANOES
CONTINUE TO SHAPE THE LAND.
84
00:04:59,647 --> 00:05:01,562
SO WHAT MAKES THIS RUGGED ISLAND
85
00:05:01,605 --> 00:05:03,825
SUCH A COLOSSAL VOLCANIC FORCE?
86
00:05:03,868 --> 00:05:06,044
[GULLS CAWING]
[WAVES CRASHING]
87
00:05:06,088 --> 00:05:09,570
WHAT INFLAMES THIS LONELY
OUTPOST IN THE NORTH ATLANTIC?
88
00:05:12,921 --> 00:05:15,184
[OMINOUS ORCHESTRAL MUSIC]
89
00:05:15,227 --> 00:05:17,926
GEOLOGICAL CLUES ARE EVERYWHERE.
90
00:05:20,885 --> 00:05:24,149
AT THINGVELLIR PLAIN IN
THE SOUTHWEST OF ICELAND,
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00:05:24,193 --> 00:05:27,936
A GIANT GASH IN THE
VALLEY FLOOR BEARS WITNESS
92
00:05:27,979 --> 00:05:30,982
TO THE INTENSE VIOLENCE
THAT HAS SHAPED THE ISLAND.
93
00:05:35,204 --> 00:05:36,771
Saemundsen: WE ARE
STANDING WITHIN A FAULT
94
00:05:36,814 --> 00:05:41,515
THAT HAS BEEN SLOWLY MOVING
APART IN THE LAST 9,000 YEARS.
95
00:05:43,038 --> 00:05:45,040
THIS IS A BASALTIC LAVA WALL
96
00:05:45,083 --> 00:05:47,564
THAT'S BEEN TORN
APART FROM THIS ONE.
97
00:05:47,608 --> 00:05:51,133
SOME 9,000 YEARS AGO,
THEY WERE TOGETHER,
98
00:05:51,176 --> 00:05:53,701
AND AS ALL THESE
YEARS HAVE PASSED,
99
00:05:53,744 --> 00:05:55,355
THEY ARE SLOWLY MOVING APART.
100
00:05:56,094 --> 00:05:58,706
YOU THINK ABOUT THE
POWERS THAT ARE NEEDED
101
00:05:58,749 --> 00:06:00,882
TO TEAR APART THIS LANDSCAPE.
102
00:06:00,925 --> 00:06:03,537
THAT IS MIND-BOGGLING SOMETIMES.
103
00:06:03,580 --> 00:06:06,757
[WIND WHISTLING]
[REFLECTIVE ORCHESTRAL MUSIC]
104
00:06:06,801 --> 00:06:09,673
Narrator: ICELAND IS QUITE
LITERALLY TEARING APART
105
00:06:11,066 --> 00:06:13,068
AT THE RATE OF
ONE INCH PER YEAR,
106
00:06:13,938 --> 00:06:16,724
ABOUT THE SAME SPEED
THAT FINGERNAILS GROW.
107
00:06:20,075 --> 00:06:21,990
THE ISLAND IS GETTING LARGER.
108
00:06:23,383 --> 00:06:27,952
HERE IN THIS CRACKED VALLEY,
SOMETHING POWERFUL IS AT WORK,
109
00:06:30,085 --> 00:06:33,784
A GEOLOGICAL JUGGERNAUT THAT
RUNS RIGHT THROUGH THE MIDDLE
110
00:06:33,828 --> 00:06:37,919
OF THE ISLAND, THE
MID-ATLANTIC RIDGE.
111
00:06:37,962 --> 00:06:39,921
[WAVES CRASHING]
112
00:06:39,964 --> 00:06:43,054
IT'S ONE OF EARTH'S
LONGEST MOUNTAIN CHAINS,
113
00:06:43,098 --> 00:06:46,144
YET IT'S ALMOST ENTIRELY
HIDDEN BENEATH THE SEA.
114
00:06:48,277 --> 00:06:51,541
RUNNING ABOUT 10,000 MILES
FROM THE SOUTH ATLANTIC
115
00:06:51,585 --> 00:06:54,544
TO THE NORTH, IT'S THE BOUNDARY
116
00:06:54,588 --> 00:06:57,547
BETWEEN NORTH
AMERICA AND EURASIA,
117
00:06:57,591 --> 00:07:00,463
TWO PLATES OF LAND THAT
WERE ONCE JOINED TOGETHER.
118
00:07:04,598 --> 00:07:07,514
DRIVEN BY FORCES DEEP
WITHIN THE EARTH,
119
00:07:07,557 --> 00:07:12,562
THE CONTINENTAL PLATES TEAR
APART, MOVING EAST AND WEST.
120
00:07:18,002 --> 00:07:19,743
Saemundsen: WHAT YOU'RE
LOOKING INTO HERE IS
121
00:07:19,787 --> 00:07:21,745
BASICALLY THE SIDE
OF NORTH AMERICA.
122
00:07:22,790 --> 00:07:23,878
IT'S PROBABLY ONE OF THE
FEW PLACES IN THE WORLD
123
00:07:23,921 --> 00:07:26,924
WHERE YOU CAN LOOK
INTO THE SIDE OF IT.
124
00:07:26,968 --> 00:07:29,927
[CONTEMPLATIVE SYNTH MUSIC]
125
00:07:29,971 --> 00:07:31,625
Narrator: ON THE
BLACKENED LAVA PLAINS
126
00:07:31,668 --> 00:07:33,148
OF THE REYKJANES PENINSULA,
127
00:07:33,975 --> 00:07:38,588
A 50-FOOT STEEL FOOTBRIDGE
SPANS A BROAD FISSURE.
128
00:07:38,632 --> 00:07:42,592
THE BRIDGE, NAMED FOR THE
ICELANDIC EXPLORER LEIF ERIKSON,
129
00:07:42,636 --> 00:07:44,855
ALLOWS VISITORS TO
SYMBOLICALLY WALK
130
00:07:44,899 --> 00:07:48,163
THE DISTANCE FROM
EURASIA TO NORTH AMERICA.
131
00:07:52,646 --> 00:07:56,214
FOR MORE ADVENTUROUS EXPLORERS,
THERE ARE PLACES IN ICELAND
132
00:07:56,258 --> 00:07:57,738
WHERE THE EDGES OF
THE NORTH AMERICAN
133
00:07:57,781 --> 00:08:01,219
AND EURASIAN CONTINENTS ARE
WITHIN TOUCHING DISTANCE.
134
00:08:09,706 --> 00:08:12,753
THE SILFRA TECTONIC
FISSURE ON THE RIM
135
00:08:12,796 --> 00:08:16,147
OF THINGVELLIR LAKE PROVIDES
A UNIQUE OPPORTUNITY
136
00:08:16,191 --> 00:08:20,195
FOR UNDERWATER EXPLORERS TO
FLOAT BETWEEN CONTINENTS.
137
00:08:24,025 --> 00:08:26,636
IN THE NARROWEST
REACHES OF THE FISSURE,
138
00:08:26,680 --> 00:08:30,901
DIVERS CAN TOUCH BOTH NORTH
AMERICA AND EURASIA AT ONCE.
139
00:08:30,945 --> 00:08:33,687
[WATER LAPPING]
140
00:08:36,820 --> 00:08:38,779
Vita: THIS IS THE ONLY
PLACE IN THE WORLD
141
00:08:38,822 --> 00:08:42,652
WHERE YOU CAN STAND IN THE
NORTH ATLANTIC DORSAL RIFT.
142
00:08:43,871 --> 00:08:46,090
IT'S A RIDGE THAT GOES
FROM NORTH TO SOUTH
143
00:08:46,134 --> 00:08:48,005
THROUGH THE WHOLE
ATLANTIC OCEAN,
144
00:08:48,049 --> 00:08:51,182
AND IT ONLY RISES TO THE
SURFACE HERE IN ICELAND.
145
00:08:51,226 --> 00:08:52,923
[WATER LAPPING]
146
00:08:52,967 --> 00:08:55,099
SO ACTUALLY IT'S
UNIQUE BECAUSE WE ARE
147
00:08:55,143 --> 00:08:58,668
IN BETWEEN TWO TECTONIC
PLATES AND WE ARE STANDING.
148
00:08:58,712 --> 00:09:01,889
NORMALLY, YOU HAVE TO BE 4,000
METERS DEPTH IN THE OCEAN
149
00:09:01,932 --> 00:09:03,543
TO STAND IN A PLACE LIKE THIS.
150
00:09:04,848 --> 00:09:09,200
[CONTEMPLATIVE ORCHESTRAL MUSIC]
151
00:09:09,244 --> 00:09:10,506
Narrator: THE
WATER IN SILFRA IS
152
00:09:10,550 --> 00:09:13,204
AMONG THE CLEAREST AND
CLEANEST IN THE WORLD,
153
00:09:13,248 --> 00:09:15,729
[WATER BUBBLING]
154
00:09:15,772 --> 00:09:19,689
THE RESULT OF A REMARKABLE
NATURAL FILTRATION PROCESS.
155
00:09:21,735 --> 00:09:24,564
WATER TRICKLES UNDERGROUND
FROM A MELTING GLACIER
156
00:09:25,260 --> 00:09:27,567
30 MILES NORTH OF THE DIVE SITE.
157
00:09:29,786 --> 00:09:31,658
THE GLACIAL MELTWATER PERCOLATES
158
00:09:31,701 --> 00:09:35,357
DOWN THROUGH POROUS LAVA
ROCK BEFORE IT WELLS UP
159
00:09:35,400 --> 00:09:39,317
FROM UNDERGROUND SPRINGS
DIRECTLY INTO SILFRA,
160
00:09:39,361 --> 00:09:43,191
A PROCESS THAT CAN TAKE
BETWEEN 30 AND 50 YEARS.
161
00:09:43,234 --> 00:09:45,672
[WATER BUBBLING]
162
00:09:45,715 --> 00:09:48,936
THIS NATURALLY-FILTERED,
CRYSTAL-CLEAR WATER HAS MADE
163
00:09:48,979 --> 00:09:53,070
SILFRA ONE OF THE WORLD'S
TOP DIVE SITES.
164
00:09:53,114 --> 00:09:57,858
BUT WITH TEMPERATURES THAT
HOVER AT 35 DEGREES YEAR-ROUND,
165
00:09:57,901 --> 00:09:59,860
IT'S NOT FOR THE FAINT OF HEART.
166
00:09:59,903 --> 00:10:01,905
[GAS HISSING]
167
00:10:01,949 --> 00:10:05,300
Vita: DIVING IN SILFRA
IS NOT EASY AT ALL.
168
00:10:06,127 --> 00:10:09,696
IT'S QUITE COLD AND
IT'S QUITE DEMANDING.
169
00:10:09,739 --> 00:10:13,743
YOUR BODY NEEDS TO BURN A
LOT OF ENERGY TO STAY WARM.
170
00:10:13,787 --> 00:10:15,310
[WATER BUBBLING]
171
00:10:15,353 --> 00:10:17,704
MORE THAN ONE HOUR
IS NOT RECOMMENDED,
172
00:10:17,747 --> 00:10:20,054
NOT EVEN WITH THE
BEST OF THE SUITS,
173
00:10:20,097 --> 00:10:22,099
BECAUSE YOU LOSE
YOUR HEAT VERY FAST,
174
00:10:22,143 --> 00:10:24,885
IT'S VERY COLD, AND
IT CAN BE DANGEROUS.
175
00:10:28,192 --> 00:10:30,368
IT'S A FISSURE WHICH
IS VERY NARROW,
176
00:10:30,412 --> 00:10:33,154
SO IT CAN BE A LITTLE
BIT CLAUSTROPHOBIC.
177
00:10:33,850 --> 00:10:37,288
ONCE YOU PUT YOUR FACE IN
THE WATER AND YOU GET TO SEE
178
00:10:37,332 --> 00:10:41,205
HOW CLEAR THE WATER IS,
EVERYTHING IS WORTH IT.
179
00:10:41,249 --> 00:10:42,163
EVERYTHING MAKES SENSE.
180
00:10:42,206 --> 00:10:44,078
[WATER BUBBLING]
[GAS HISSING]
181
00:10:44,121 --> 00:10:46,167
[CONTEMPLATIVE ORCHESTRAL MUSIC]
182
00:10:46,210 --> 00:10:48,909
Narrator: EVIDENCE FOR
THE POWERFUL FORCES DRIVING
183
00:10:48,952 --> 00:10:51,781
THESE TECTONIC
CHANGES IS EVERYWHERE.
184
00:10:56,917 --> 00:11:01,399
AT GRJOTAGJA, IN THE NORTH
OF ICELAND, IN A DEEP ABYSS,
185
00:11:01,443 --> 00:11:06,448
A HOT SPRING BECKONS, HEATED
BY MAGMA DEEP WITHIN THE EARTH.
186
00:11:08,842 --> 00:11:11,322
WATER IN THIS SHIMMERING
CAVE POOL SIMMERS
187
00:11:11,366 --> 00:11:15,849
AT MORE THAN 120 DEGREES,
TOO HOT FOR BATHING.
188
00:11:18,852 --> 00:11:21,115
HOT SPRINGS LIKE
THIS ARE PIVOTAL
189
00:11:21,158 --> 00:11:23,421
TO UNDERSTANDING HOW
THE ISLAND FORMED.
190
00:11:24,640 --> 00:11:28,992
SOME MIGHTY FORCE IS HEATING
THE WATER FROM FAR BELOW.
191
00:11:30,428 --> 00:11:33,867
THAT SAME FORCE HAS
PUSHED UP THE SEABED
192
00:11:33,910 --> 00:11:36,826
AND, WITH IT, THE
MID-ATLANTIC RIDGE,
193
00:11:36,870 --> 00:11:39,350
MORE THAN A MILE
ABOVE THE SEA FLOOR.
194
00:11:39,394 --> 00:11:40,351
[WAVES CRASHING]
195
00:11:40,395 --> 00:11:41,744
BUT WHAT IS IT?
196
00:11:46,009 --> 00:11:49,360
ICELAND SITS ON WHAT'S
KNOWN AS A HOT SPOT,
197
00:11:49,404 --> 00:11:51,972
A PLUME OF SCORCHING MOLTEN ROCK
198
00:11:52,015 --> 00:11:57,020
BELIEVED TO BE 100 MILES
WIDE AND 400 MILES DEEP.
199
00:11:57,238 --> 00:12:00,328
A SIMILAR PLUME LIES BENEATH
THE HAWAIIAN ISLAND CHAIN.
200
00:12:02,156 --> 00:12:04,462
LAVA, ERUPTING
FROM THE HOT SPOT,
201
00:12:04,506 --> 00:12:08,336
COOLED AND ACCUMULATED,
GRADUALLY BUILDING
202
00:12:08,379 --> 00:12:13,123
AN ISLAND ABOVE THE SEA,
THIS ISLAND OF FIRE.
203
00:12:13,167 --> 00:12:16,083
[VOLCANO RUMBLING]
204
00:12:16,126 --> 00:12:18,389
FUELED BY POWERFUL
VOLCANIC FORCES
205
00:12:18,433 --> 00:12:22,524
FROM BELOW, ICELAND
CONTINUES TO GROW.
206
00:12:22,567 --> 00:12:26,049
BUT THERE IS ONE
FORCE POWERFUL ENOUGH
207
00:12:26,093 --> 00:12:29,009
TO CHALLENGE ICELAND'S
FIERY HEART, ICE.
208
00:12:34,057 --> 00:12:38,235
ABOUT TWO AND A HALF MILLION
YEARS AGO, A MASSIVE ICE SHEET
209
00:12:38,279 --> 00:12:41,064
DESCENDED FROM THE NORTH
AND SMOTHERED THE ISLAND.
210
00:12:42,326 --> 00:12:44,285
Aoalgeirsdottir: WHOLE OF
ICELAND WAS COVERED WITH ICE
211
00:12:44,328 --> 00:12:46,548
AND THE BIG ICE CAPS,
GREENLAND AND ANTARCTICA,
212
00:12:46,591 --> 00:12:49,246
WERE QUITE A BIT BIGGER
THAN THEY ARE AT PRESENT.
213
00:12:49,290 --> 00:12:51,248
AND THAT MEANS THAT
THE SEA LEVEL WAS
214
00:12:51,292 --> 00:12:54,904
ABOUT HUNDRED, 110 METERS
LOWER THAN IT IS NOW
215
00:12:54,948 --> 00:12:57,211
BECAUSE ALL THE WATER
WAS STORED IN THE ICE.
216
00:12:59,343 --> 00:13:00,431
Narrator: 1/3 OF THE PLANET
217
00:13:00,475 --> 00:13:03,130
LAY TRAPPED UNDER
A BLANKET OF ICE.
218
00:13:05,654 --> 00:13:09,223
THEN, ABOUT 12,000
YEARS AGO, THE ICE SHEET
219
00:13:09,266 --> 00:13:12,052
LOOSENED ITS GRIP AND
BEGAN ITS RETREAT.
220
00:13:14,228 --> 00:13:18,493
TODAY, 11% OF ICELAND
REMAINS COVERED BY GLACIERS,
221
00:13:20,408 --> 00:13:23,106
GREAT RIVERS OF SLOW-MOVING ICE.
222
00:13:24,325 --> 00:13:26,196
SPREAD OUT, THEY WOULD SMOTHER
223
00:13:26,240 --> 00:13:30,810
THE ENTIRE ISLAND IN AN
ICY CLOAK 100 FEET THICK.
224
00:13:33,247 --> 00:13:37,207
ICELAND'S GLACIERS HOLD MORE
THAN 800 CUBIC MILES OF WATER,
225
00:13:38,687 --> 00:13:41,255
ENOUGH TO FILL
MICHIGAN'S LAKE HURON.
226
00:13:43,953 --> 00:13:46,956
INCH BY INCH, THESE
FROZEN MONSTERS
227
00:13:47,000 --> 00:13:49,393
POWER THEIR WAY DOWN
THE ISLAND'S MOUNTAINS.
228
00:13:55,051 --> 00:13:59,534
THIS IS VATNAJOKULL, THE
LARGEST GLACIER IN ICELAND
229
00:14:01,275 --> 00:14:04,408
AND THE GREATEST GLACIAL
MASS IN ALL OF EUROPE.
230
00:14:11,546 --> 00:14:13,591
IT COVERS MOST OF
SOUTHERN ICELAND.
231
00:14:17,552 --> 00:14:21,295
THE GLACIER IS SO IMMENSE,
IT GENERATES ITS OWN WEATHER.
232
00:14:25,560 --> 00:14:30,130
COLD WINDS BLOW OFF THE ICE
CAP, CHILLING THE VALLEYS BELOW.
233
00:14:33,089 --> 00:14:35,962
VATNAJOKULL IS
CONSTANTLY TRANSFORMING.
234
00:14:37,311 --> 00:14:39,356
AS IT PUSHES THROUGH THE VALLEY,
235
00:14:39,400 --> 00:14:41,358
IT MELTS IN THE BRIGHT DAYLIGHT,
236
00:14:42,142 --> 00:14:45,580
THEN FREEZES DURING
FRIGID ARCTIC NIGHTS.
237
00:14:48,365 --> 00:14:50,541
CREVASSES, CUT OPEN BY FRICTION
238
00:14:50,585 --> 00:14:54,197
AS THE ICE SLUMPS DOWN
THE MOUNTAIN, CAN PLUNGE
239
00:14:54,241 --> 00:14:58,898
MORE THAN 100 FEET INTO
THE GLACIER'S ICY HEART.
240
00:15:01,422 --> 00:15:03,467
BUT THE CRUSHING
MASS OF ICE MEETS
241
00:15:03,511 --> 00:15:08,037
AN EQUALLY POWERFUL FORCE
PUSHING EVER UPWARDS.
242
00:15:08,777 --> 00:15:12,215
60% OF ICELAND'S
ACTIVE VOLCANO SYSTEMS
243
00:15:12,259 --> 00:15:14,087
LIES UNDERNEATH ITS GLACIERS.
244
00:15:14,130 --> 00:15:16,480
[DRAMATIC ORCHESTRAL MUSIC]
245
00:15:16,524 --> 00:15:18,569
AND WHEN THE TWO FORCES MEET,
246
00:15:18,613 --> 00:15:21,572
IT CAN PRODUCE SOME
DRAMATIC RESULTS.
247
00:15:21,616 --> 00:15:24,749
[THUNDER CRASHING]
248
00:15:24,793 --> 00:15:29,102
GRIMSVOTN, IT HAS THE
HIGHEST ERUPTION RATE
249
00:15:29,145 --> 00:15:31,104
OF ANY VOLCANO IN ICELAND.
250
00:15:31,147 --> 00:15:34,150
[VOLCANO RUMBLING]
251
00:15:34,194 --> 00:15:37,066
IN 2011, IT UNLEASHED ITS FURY
252
00:15:37,110 --> 00:15:40,156
FOR THE FOURTH TIME IN 14 YEARS.
253
00:15:42,071 --> 00:15:43,681
[THUNDER CRASHING]
254
00:15:43,725 --> 00:15:47,772
TORRENTS OF MOLTEN ROCK SURGED
THROUGH SHATTERED ICE SHEETS,
255
00:15:47,816 --> 00:15:50,079
HURLING A BILLOWING
CLOUD OF STEAM
256
00:15:50,123 --> 00:15:53,082
AND ASH 12 MILES INTO THE SKY.
257
00:15:55,215 --> 00:15:57,782
[THUNDER CRASHING]
258
00:15:57,826 --> 00:16:00,046
BELIEVED TO BE THE
MOST VIOLENT ERUPTION
259
00:16:00,089 --> 00:16:04,050
IN ICELAND SINCE THE
1960S, IT PLUNGED
260
00:16:04,093 --> 00:16:06,704
PARTS OF THE ISLAND
INTO NEAR DARKNESS.
261
00:16:06,748 --> 00:16:09,664
[VOLCANO RUMBLING]
262
00:16:11,840 --> 00:16:14,799
THE TWO FORCES AT
PLAY, FIRE AND ICE,
263
00:16:14,843 --> 00:16:18,368
WHEN MIXED, ARE A POWER
TO BE RECKONED WITH.
264
00:16:22,546 --> 00:16:24,766
Steffensen: YOU HAVE THE
SUPER-COLD GLACIER
265
00:16:24,809 --> 00:16:26,289
AND THE SUPER-WARM LAVA,
266
00:16:26,333 --> 00:16:31,381
AND WHEN THE ERUPTIONS TAKE
PLACE UNDER THE GLACIERS,
267
00:16:31,425 --> 00:16:33,470
FIRST OF ALL, THE
HEAT FROM THE ERUPTION
268
00:16:33,514 --> 00:16:36,256
STARTS MELTING THE
GLACIER FROM UNDERNEATH.
269
00:16:36,299 --> 00:16:40,086
AND IN SOME CASES, THE
ERUPTIONS ARE BIG ENOUGH
270
00:16:40,129 --> 00:16:41,652
AND LAST FOR LONG ENOUGH TO MELT
271
00:16:41,696 --> 00:16:44,133
THEIR WAY ALL THE
WAY THROUGH THE ICE.
272
00:16:44,177 --> 00:16:46,092
AND THEN WE HAVE THIS
MAGNIFICENT DISPLAY
273
00:16:46,135 --> 00:16:48,442
OF FIRE JUST COMING
OUT OF THE ICE.
274
00:16:48,485 --> 00:16:50,313
THEY'RE KIND OF
BATTLING EACH OTHER.
275
00:16:50,357 --> 00:16:53,273
[VOLCANO RUMBLING]
276
00:16:53,316 --> 00:16:55,231
[WIND WHISTLING]
277
00:16:55,275 --> 00:16:58,147
Narrator: THE EXPLOSIVE
SHOWDOWN BETWEEN LAVA AND ICE
278
00:16:58,191 --> 00:17:03,196
CAN WREAK HAVOC IN OTHER
DEVASTATING WAYS, FLOODING,
279
00:17:03,718 --> 00:17:07,200
TRIGGERED BY THE ERUPTION OF
A VOLCANO BENEATH A GLACIER.
280
00:17:07,243 --> 00:17:08,723
[VOLCANO RUMBLING]
281
00:17:08,766 --> 00:17:13,728
EYJAFJALLAJOKULL, THE 2010
ERUPTION MELTED THE GLACIER
282
00:17:15,208 --> 00:17:17,253
AND SENT TWO BILLION CUBIC FEET
283
00:17:17,297 --> 00:17:19,516
OF WATER GUSHING
DOWN THE MOUNTAIN,
284
00:17:19,560 --> 00:17:22,302
[WATER ROARING]
285
00:17:22,345 --> 00:17:24,173
NEARLY THE VOLUME
OF WATER THAT GOES
286
00:17:24,217 --> 00:17:26,741
OVER NIAGARA FALLS IN SIX HOURS.
287
00:17:29,178 --> 00:17:31,137
Thordarson: THE FLASH FLOODS,
WHICH ARE KNOWN IN ICELAND
288
00:17:31,180 --> 00:17:33,748
AS JOKULHLAUP OR
THE GLACIAL FLOODS,
289
00:17:34,531 --> 00:17:37,317
THEY WILL GO DOWN
AND ONTO THE LOWLANDS
290
00:17:37,360 --> 00:17:39,406
AND CAUSE A LOT OF
DAMAGE WHEREVER THEY GO.
291
00:17:39,449 --> 00:17:41,669
THEY BASICALLY RUIN
EVERYTHING IN THEIR PATH.
292
00:17:42,496 --> 00:17:45,368
[CONTEMPLATIVE ORCHESTRAL MUSIC]
293
00:17:45,412 --> 00:17:46,891
Narrator: ICELAND'S
GLACIAL FLOODS
294
00:17:46,935 --> 00:17:48,676
ARE ENORMOUSLY DESTRUCTIVE.
295
00:17:50,243 --> 00:17:52,375
[WIND WHISTLING]
296
00:17:52,419 --> 00:17:55,422
RAGING TORRENTS OF
WATER WASH AWAY ROADS.
297
00:18:00,427 --> 00:18:04,387
AT THE FOOT OF VATNAJOKULL
LIES THE TWISTED WRECKAGE
298
00:18:04,431 --> 00:18:08,783
OF A STEEL BRIDGE, WIPED
OUT BY GLACIAL FLOODING.
299
00:18:14,310 --> 00:18:17,096
[WAVES CRASHING]
300
00:18:18,575 --> 00:18:21,230
GLACIAL FLOODS CARRY
MILLIONS OF TONS
301
00:18:21,274 --> 00:18:24,451
OF DARK VOLCANIC
ROCK CALLED BASALT
302
00:18:24,494 --> 00:18:29,325
TO ICELAND'S SOUTH SHORE,
RESHAPING THE COASTLINE
303
00:18:29,369 --> 00:18:32,633
AND CREATING STRETCHES OF
BEACH AS BLACK AS GUNMETAL.
304
00:18:36,289 --> 00:18:37,551
Thordarson: IT'S BECAUSE
IT'S ALL PRODUCED
305
00:18:37,594 --> 00:18:42,599
BY BREAKING DOWN BASALT,
WHICH IS A BLACK ROCK.
306
00:18:42,643 --> 00:18:45,385
AND MOST OF THE ROCK, THE
MAJORITY OF ROCKS IN ICELAND
307
00:18:46,299 --> 00:18:50,781
ARE BLACK IN COLOR BECAUSE
MOST OF IT IS BASALT.
308
00:18:50,825 --> 00:18:52,261
SO WE HAVE THIS DARK COLOR.
309
00:18:53,654 --> 00:18:55,003
I REMEMBER ONE TIME
GOING TO HAWAII
310
00:18:55,046 --> 00:18:56,744
AND EVERYONE TALKED ABOUT
THE BLACK SAND BEACHES.
311
00:18:56,787 --> 00:18:58,267
"YOU NEED TO GO AND SEE
THE BLACK SAND BEACH,"
312
00:18:58,311 --> 00:18:59,747
AND I SAID, WHY?
313
00:18:59,790 --> 00:19:01,966
I'VE SEEN NOTHING BUT BLACK
SAND BEACHES IN MY LIFE.
314
00:19:02,010 --> 00:19:04,404
I'M FROM A PLACE WHERE
ALL THE ROCKS ARE DARK.
315
00:19:04,447 --> 00:19:05,318
[WAVES CRASHING]
316
00:19:05,361 --> 00:19:10,279
[CONTEMPLATIVE ORCHESTRAL MUSIC]
317
00:19:10,323 --> 00:19:12,977
Narrator: AT SANDVIK
BEACH, TOWERING CLIFFS ARE
318
00:19:13,021 --> 00:19:17,286
HOME TO THOUSANDS OF SEA
BIRDS, INCLUDING PUFFINS.
319
00:19:17,330 --> 00:19:19,245
[BIRDS CAWING]
320
00:19:19,288 --> 00:19:21,595
MORE THAN HALF THE WORLD'S
ATLANTIC PUFFINS BREED
321
00:19:21,638 --> 00:19:23,684
ON ICELAND'S ROCKY CLIFFTOPS,
322
00:19:24,511 --> 00:19:27,644
LURED BY DENSE SHOALS
OF HERRING AND HAKE.
323
00:19:31,953 --> 00:19:33,650
ALTHOUGH THE NORTH
COAST OF THE ISLAND
324
00:19:33,694 --> 00:19:35,261
TOUCHES THE ARCTIC CIRCLE,
325
00:19:36,044 --> 00:19:39,221
ITS COASTAL WATERS
REMAIN FREE OF SEA ICE.
326
00:19:41,441 --> 00:19:44,661
A WARM OCEAN CURRENT DRIVING
UP FROM THE CARIBBEAN,
327
00:19:44,705 --> 00:19:46,837
THE ATLANTIC GULF STREAM,
328
00:19:46,881 --> 00:19:49,666
HEATS THIS PASSAGE OF
THE NORTH ATLANTIC.
329
00:19:49,710 --> 00:19:50,928
[DRAMATIC ORCHESTRAL MUSIC]
330
00:19:50,972 --> 00:19:54,541
BUT WITH WARMER
WATER COMES RAIN.
331
00:19:54,584 --> 00:19:57,544
THIS STRETCH OF COASTLINE IS
ONE OF THE WETTEST IN ICELAND,
332
00:19:58,762 --> 00:20:02,549
WITH AVERAGE ANNUAL RAINFALL
OF MORE THAN 90 INCHES.
333
00:20:04,899 --> 00:20:08,946
ISOLATED NEAR THE TOP OF THE
WORLD, ICELAND IS RAVAGED
334
00:20:08,990 --> 00:20:13,342
BY FIERCE WINDS AND
ROILING ATLANTIC WAVES.
335
00:20:13,386 --> 00:20:15,866
THROUGH THE CENTURIES,
SCORES OF MARINERS
336
00:20:15,910 --> 00:20:17,868
HAVE DROWNED IN
ITS STORMY WATERS.
337
00:20:19,130 --> 00:20:22,917
EVEN TODAY, THERE IS REAL
DANGER FOR THE ICELANDERS
338
00:20:22,960 --> 00:20:25,789
WHO HARVEST THESE
COLD, DARK SEAS.
339
00:20:30,577 --> 00:20:33,710
FOR HUNDREDS OF YEARS,
ICELAND'S FISHERMEN
340
00:20:33,754 --> 00:20:35,799
HAVE BRAVED THE ATLANTIC OCEAN.
341
00:20:37,801 --> 00:20:39,107
Steffensen: THE CONNECTION
BETWEEN THE PEOPLE
342
00:20:39,150 --> 00:20:40,630
LIVING IN THESE VILLAGES
343
00:20:40,674 --> 00:20:43,372
AND THE OCEAN IS
VERY, VERY STRONG.
344
00:20:43,416 --> 00:20:44,721
IT IS THEIR LIVELIHOOD.
345
00:20:45,809 --> 00:20:47,898
AND SOMETIMES IN SOME AREAS,
346
00:20:47,942 --> 00:20:50,423
ESPECIALLY CLOSE
TO THE SOUTH COAST,
347
00:20:50,466 --> 00:20:53,730
WHERE WE HAVE THE ROUGH SURF
OF THE ATLANTIC HAMMERING
348
00:20:53,774 --> 00:20:58,779
THE COAST, GOING OUT IN
THE BOATS TO CATCH THE FISH
349
00:20:59,649 --> 00:21:02,130
HAS ALWAYS BEEN A BIG CHALLENGE.
350
00:21:02,173 --> 00:21:04,393
THEY HAVE TO GO THROUGH
THE SURF SOMETIMES,
351
00:21:04,437 --> 00:21:07,091
AND EVEN TODAY IN
THE BIG FISHING BOATS
352
00:21:07,135 --> 00:21:09,746
AND WITH ALL THE
TECHNOLOGY, THIS IS OFTEN
353
00:21:09,790 --> 00:21:12,053
A VERY DANGEROUS AND
DIFFICULT THING TO DO.
354
00:21:12,096 --> 00:21:15,404
SO THESE ARE TOUGH PEOPLE
AND THEY HAVE LEARNED
355
00:21:15,448 --> 00:21:18,668
TO SURVIVE WITH THIS
GIANT, THE ATLANTIC OCEAN.
356
00:21:22,455 --> 00:21:23,325
[VOLCANO RUMBLING]
357
00:21:23,369 --> 00:21:26,589
[DRAMATIC CHORAL SYMPHONY MUSIC]
358
00:21:26,633 --> 00:21:28,809
Narrator: THE TECTONIC
FORCE THAT DROVE ICELAND
359
00:21:28,852 --> 00:21:31,942
ABOVE THE ATLANTIC
WAVES CONTINUES TODAY,
360
00:21:33,161 --> 00:21:34,641
[VOLCANOES ROARING]
361
00:21:34,684 --> 00:21:38,949
AS VOLCANOES ERUPT AND MAGMA
FROM DEEP WITHIN THE EARTH
362
00:21:38,993 --> 00:21:41,996
RISES TO THE SURFACE
TO CREATE NEW LAND.
363
00:21:47,001 --> 00:21:51,701
ICELAND IS FOREVER BEING
REBORN, SOMETHING THOSE WHO LIVE
364
00:21:51,745 --> 00:21:55,575
IN THE SHADOWS OF THE VOLCANOES
HAVE LEARNED TO LIVE WITH.
365
00:21:57,968 --> 00:22:00,101
Steffensen: THESE VOLCANOES THAT
ARE CLOSE TO WHERE PEOPLE LIVE
366
00:22:00,144 --> 00:22:02,451
ARE MONITORED QUITE
CAREFULLY SO THAT SCIENTISTS
367
00:22:02,495 --> 00:22:04,453
AND THE AUTHORITIES CAN PREDICT
368
00:22:04,497 --> 00:22:07,761
IF SOMETHING IS GOING TO HAPPEN
AND THEY CAN ISSUE WARNINGS.
369
00:22:07,804 --> 00:22:10,677
BUT USUALLY WHEN THEY DO SO,
IF THEY DO ISSUE WARNINGS,
370
00:22:10,720 --> 00:22:12,635
THE FARMERS, THEY ALREADY KNOW
371
00:22:12,679 --> 00:22:15,769
BECAUSE THEY CAN JUDGE BY THE
BEHAVIOR OF THEIR ANIMALS.
372
00:22:15,812 --> 00:22:17,945
THEY SEEM TO SENSE
THIS WAY BEFORE WE DO.
373
00:22:17,988 --> 00:22:20,643
[SHEEP BAAING]
374
00:22:25,909 --> 00:22:27,389
Thordarson: THE GEOLOGY
IS ALIVE HERE.
375
00:22:28,608 --> 00:22:29,478
WE HAVE VOLCANIC ERUPTIONS.
376
00:22:29,522 --> 00:22:30,523
YOU CAN WATCH THE LAVA MOVING.
377
00:22:30,566 --> 00:22:32,525
YOU CAN WATCH THE
PLUMES COME UP,
378
00:22:32,568 --> 00:22:34,875
AND SO IT SEEMS TO BE ALIVE.
379
00:22:34,918 --> 00:22:38,792
[MYSTERIOUS ORCHESTRAL MUSIC]
380
00:22:39,923 --> 00:22:42,665
Narrator: NOWHERE IS
THIS LIVING, BREATHING EARTH
381
00:22:42,709 --> 00:22:46,539
MORE EVIDENT THAN HERE,
IN THE SOUTHERN LOWLANDS,
382
00:22:50,630 --> 00:22:52,980
WHERE THE EARTH'S INNER
FURNACE BOILS OVER.
383
00:22:57,288 --> 00:23:00,074
[WIND WHISTLING]
384
00:23:11,694 --> 00:23:14,654
THIS HEAT POWERS
FANTASTIC FOUNTAINS
385
00:23:14,697 --> 00:23:15,829
[GEYSER ROARS]
386
00:23:15,872 --> 00:23:17,961
THAT SOAR INTO THE
ICELANDIC TWILIGHT.
387
00:23:20,137 --> 00:23:22,836
[GEYSER ROARS]
388
00:23:30,583 --> 00:23:34,195
THIS TRANQUIL POOL
BELIES ITS NAME, GEYSIR,
389
00:23:35,370 --> 00:23:38,417
BUT IT WAS ONCE HOME
TO AN EXPLOSIVE GEYSER.
390
00:23:39,113 --> 00:23:42,899
IT WAS THE FIRST NATURAL
GEYSER KNOWN TO EUROPEANS.
391
00:23:42,943 --> 00:23:45,075
[DRAMATIC SYNTH MUSIC]
392
00:23:45,119 --> 00:23:48,949
IN ICELANDIC, GEYSA
MEANS TO GUSH.
393
00:23:50,603 --> 00:23:51,952
IT IS FROM THIS PLACE
394
00:23:51,995 --> 00:23:54,563
THAT THE WORLD'S
GEYSERS TAKE THEIR NAME.
395
00:23:54,607 --> 00:23:55,956
[WATER SPLASHING]
396
00:23:55,999 --> 00:23:59,612
THE NEARBY GEYSER, STROKKUR,
IS FAR MORE ACTIVE,
397
00:24:00,569 --> 00:24:03,006
ERUPTING EVERY
EIGHT TO 10 MINUTES.
398
00:24:04,007 --> 00:24:06,923
IT EXPLODES FROM VENTS
IN THE EARTH'S SURFACE
399
00:24:06,967 --> 00:24:08,969
THAT RUN DEEP INTO THE CRUST.
400
00:24:10,579 --> 00:24:12,581
THESE HYDROTHERMAL ERUPTIONS ARE
401
00:24:12,625 --> 00:24:14,844
THE RESULT OF COLD
RAINWATER SEEPING
402
00:24:14,888 --> 00:24:19,719
DOWN THROUGH FRACTURED BEDROCK
ONTO HOT VOLCANIC ROCK BELOW.
403
00:24:20,850 --> 00:24:23,940
THE WATER TRAPPED
UNDERGROUND IS SUPER-HEATED
404
00:24:23,984 --> 00:24:27,944
TO TEMPERATURES AS HIGH
AS 280 DEGREES FAHRENHEIT.
405
00:24:27,988 --> 00:24:30,338
IT CONVERTS TO VAPOR
THAT WOULD NORMALLY FILL
406
00:24:30,381 --> 00:24:35,561
1,600 TIMES MORE SPACE THAN
THE ORIGINAL VOLUME OF WATER.
407
00:24:37,650 --> 00:24:40,522
BUT IT REMAINS TRAPPED
UNDER INTENSE PRESSURE.
408
00:24:41,697 --> 00:24:45,179
AS THE STEAM EXPLODES FROM
THIS SUBTERRANEAN FURNACE,
409
00:24:45,222 --> 00:24:48,312
IT PASSES THROUGH LIQUID
GROUNDWATER NEAR THE SURFACE,
410
00:24:48,356 --> 00:24:51,577
WHICH JETS MORE THAN
60 FEET INTO THE AIR.
411
00:24:51,620 --> 00:24:54,188
[WATER HISSING]
412
00:24:56,930 --> 00:24:59,323
ON THE FLANK OF
AN ACTIVE VOLCANO,
413
00:24:59,367 --> 00:25:03,240
STEAMING FUMAROLES HISS
INTO THE COLD ATLANTIC SKY.
414
00:25:08,202 --> 00:25:10,726
FUMAROLES ARE VENTS
IN THE EARTH'S CRUST
415
00:25:10,770 --> 00:25:12,728
SIMILAR TO GEYSERS
416
00:25:12,772 --> 00:25:15,122
YET THEY EMIT STEAM, NOT WATER.
417
00:25:18,212 --> 00:25:20,910
[FUMAROLES HISSING]
418
00:25:20,954 --> 00:25:24,044
VOLCANIC GASES SUCH
AS HYDROGEN SULFIDE
419
00:25:24,087 --> 00:25:26,916
AND COLORFUL MINERALS
IN THE GROUND PAINT
420
00:25:26,960 --> 00:25:31,225
THE GEOTHERMAL FIELD WITH AN
ALMOST EXTRATERRESTRIAL BEAUTY.
421
00:25:32,095 --> 00:25:34,881
[WIND WHISTLING]
422
00:25:39,450 --> 00:25:43,846
[CONTEMPLATIVE ORCHESTRAL MUSIC]
423
00:25:43,890 --> 00:25:47,154
[WATER SPLASHING]
424
00:25:47,197 --> 00:25:50,679
THE HYDROGEN SULFIDE RISING
THROUGH SURFACE WATER PRODUCES
425
00:25:50,723 --> 00:25:54,074
SULFURIC ACID, STRONG
ENOUGH TO DISSOLVE
426
00:25:54,117 --> 00:25:58,034
THE SURROUNDING ROCK AND SOIL
TO CREATE BOILING MUDPOTS.
427
00:25:58,078 --> 00:26:00,863
[WATER BUBBLING]
428
00:26:07,261 --> 00:26:10,177
[FUMAROLE HISSING]
429
00:26:12,266 --> 00:26:14,050
ICELANDERS HARNESS THIS ENERGY
430
00:26:14,094 --> 00:26:16,270
BY BORING INTO THE
GROUND FOR THE STEAM,
431
00:26:19,273 --> 00:26:23,103
WHICH SPINS TURBINES TO
GENERATE GEOTHERMAL POWER.
432
00:26:23,146 --> 00:26:26,976
[CONTEMPLATIVE SYNTH MUSIC]
433
00:26:27,020 --> 00:26:30,763
Steffensen: THE GEOTHERMAL POWER
PLANTS THAT WE HAVE PRODUCE
434
00:26:30,806 --> 00:26:33,679
ABOUT 30% OF THE ENERGY
THAT WE HAVE IN ICELAND.
435
00:26:33,722 --> 00:26:35,811
OF COURSE, IT'S
BRILLIANT TO BE ABLE
436
00:26:35,855 --> 00:26:38,771
TO PRODUCE ENERGY IN
A GREEN WAY LIKE THAT.
437
00:26:39,772 --> 00:26:41,295
THERE'S NO OR
HARDLY ANY POLLUTION
438
00:26:41,338 --> 00:26:44,690
AND IT'S A VERY GREEN WAY TO
KEEP LIFE IN ICELAND GOING.
439
00:26:45,604 --> 00:26:48,171
THERE'S ALWAYS THE DOWNSIDE
THAT IN ORDER TO CREATE
440
00:26:48,215 --> 00:26:50,391
THOSE POWER PLANTS, YOU
HAVE TO BUILD STRUCTURES
441
00:26:50,434 --> 00:26:52,872
AND YOU HAVE TO DRILL AND
YOU HAVE TO HAVE PIPES
442
00:26:52,915 --> 00:26:55,439
ON THE SURFACE, SO
THERE ARE MIXED EMOTIONS
443
00:26:55,483 --> 00:26:57,311
WHEN IT COMES TO
THESE POWER PLANTS.
444
00:27:00,183 --> 00:27:03,970
[DRAMATIC ORCHESTRAL MUSIC]
445
00:27:04,013 --> 00:27:05,754
Narrator: BUT ICELAND
IS HARDLY LACKING
446
00:27:05,798 --> 00:27:07,626
WHEN IT COMES TO
PRISTINE BEAUTY.
447
00:27:10,803 --> 00:27:13,719
ITS GREAT SCULPTOR,
ICE, HAS CREATED
448
00:27:13,762 --> 00:27:15,851
FABULOUS WORKS OF NATURAL ART,
449
00:27:19,246 --> 00:27:20,813
NONE MORE BREATHTAKING
450
00:27:20,856 --> 00:27:23,685
THAN ICELAND'S MAGNIFICENT
GLACIAL VALLEYS.
451
00:27:25,469 --> 00:27:28,037
THESE CANYONS FORMED
WHEN GLACIERS PUSHED
452
00:27:28,081 --> 00:27:31,824
SLOWLY THROUGH CHANNELS
ALREADY CUT BY FLOWING STREAMS.
453
00:27:37,090 --> 00:27:42,095
YEAR AFTER YEAR, DECADE AFTER
DECADE, CENTURY AFTER CENTURY,
454
00:27:42,878 --> 00:27:46,229
A GLACIER EATS AWAY AT THE
SIDES OF THE ORIGINAL VALLEY,
455
00:27:48,579 --> 00:27:53,236
TRANSFORMING A NARROW GULLY
INTO A WIDE AND MIGHTY CANYON.
456
00:27:57,588 --> 00:28:00,069
MELTWATER FROM THE
GLACIER NOW FEEDS
457
00:28:00,113 --> 00:28:02,376
THE STREAM THAT FLOWS
THROUGH THIS VALLEY.
458
00:28:05,118 --> 00:28:08,469
CLEARLY TOO SMALL TO HAVE
CREATED THIS MAJESTIC CANYON,
459
00:28:09,252 --> 00:28:11,690
IT'S KNOWN AS A MISFIT STREAM.
460
00:28:17,304 --> 00:28:20,829
THESE HUMBLE STREAMS
MERGE TOGETHER TO FORM
461
00:28:20,873 --> 00:28:24,964
POWERFUL RIVERS,
WHICH IN TURN GENERATE
462
00:28:25,007 --> 00:28:27,488
ANOTHER EROSIVE FORCE
THAT HAS SHAPED ICELAND,
463
00:28:28,881 --> 00:28:30,230
[WATERFALLS ROARING]
464
00:28:30,273 --> 00:28:31,144
WATERFALLS.
465
00:28:42,895 --> 00:28:46,550
[CONTEMPLATIVE ORCHESTRAL MUSIC]
466
00:28:46,594 --> 00:28:50,032
ICELAND'S CLIMATE AND
TOPOGRAPHY COMBINE TO CREATE
467
00:28:50,076 --> 00:28:52,905
SOME OF THE MOST STUNNING
WATERFALLS IN THE WORLD.
468
00:28:57,083 --> 00:29:00,913
ON SOME PARTS OF THE ISLAND,
WATERFALLS OUTNUMBER PEOPLE.
469
00:29:04,046 --> 00:29:05,874
IN THIS NORTH ATLANTIC CLIMATE,
470
00:29:05,918 --> 00:29:08,877
SNOW AND RAIN FREQUENTLY
DRENCH THE LAND.
471
00:29:10,966 --> 00:29:13,316
[WATERFALLS ROARING]
472
00:29:13,360 --> 00:29:16,232
HIGH IN THE MOUNTAINS,
MELTING GLACIERS FEED
473
00:29:16,276 --> 00:29:19,801
FRIGID RIVERS ALREADY
SWOLLEN FROM PRECIPITATION.
474
00:29:24,937 --> 00:29:27,896
OVER DOZENS OF MILES,
THESE GLACIAL RIVERS
475
00:29:27,940 --> 00:29:29,419
GATHER PACE AND VOLUME.
476
00:29:29,463 --> 00:29:32,292
[WATER ROARING]
477
00:29:32,335 --> 00:29:33,423
[WATERFALLS ROARING]
478
00:29:33,467 --> 00:29:38,167
FINALLY, THEY ROAR
OVER ROCKY CLIFFS.
479
00:29:43,042 --> 00:29:47,046
AT SELFOSS, AN ENDLESS
FLOW OF GLACIAL MELTWATER
480
00:29:47,089 --> 00:29:50,789
CASCADES OVER THE RIDGE,
BATTERING THE ROCKS BELOW.
481
00:29:54,967 --> 00:29:59,145
MORE THAN 30 FEET HIGH, SELFOSS
GENERATES IMMENSE POWER.
482
00:30:00,407 --> 00:30:03,976
BUT IT IS A TRICKLE COMPARED
TO WHAT LIES DOWNSTREAM.
483
00:30:04,977 --> 00:30:07,283
[WATERFALL ROARING]
484
00:30:07,327 --> 00:30:08,154
DETTIFOSS.
485
00:30:10,243 --> 00:30:15,248
150 FEET HIGH, 300 FEET WIDE,
486
00:30:17,119 --> 00:30:19,339
IT IS THE LARGEST
WATERFALL IN EUROPE,
487
00:30:21,428 --> 00:30:24,170
POWERFUL ENOUGH TO
FRACTURE SOLID ROCK.
488
00:30:28,130 --> 00:30:30,219
EARLY ICELANDERS
CALLED DETTIFOSS,
489
00:30:30,263 --> 00:30:32,178
THE KING OF ALL WATERFALLS.
490
00:30:34,310 --> 00:30:38,271
ON AN AVERAGE DAY, ENOUGH WATER
CASCADES OVER ITS CREST LINE
491
00:30:38,314 --> 00:30:42,492
TO FILL AN OLYMPIC-SIZED
SWIMMING POOL EVERY FIVE SECONDS
492
00:30:46,148 --> 00:30:49,108
IN WARM WEATHER, WHICH
BOOSTS MELTWATER,
493
00:30:49,151 --> 00:30:52,851
OR ON RAINY DAYS, EVEN
MORE WATER IS UNLEASHED.
494
00:30:53,939 --> 00:30:57,290
Steffensen: DETTIFOSS IS A
MAGNIFICENT DISPLAY
495
00:30:57,333 --> 00:30:58,987
OF THE POWER OF WATER.
496
00:30:59,031 --> 00:31:01,120
IT'S A BREATHTAKING
THING TO SEE,
497
00:31:01,163 --> 00:31:02,382
AND WHEN YOU'RE
STANDING NEXT TO IT,
498
00:31:02,425 --> 00:31:05,428
NOT ONLY CAN YOU, OF
COURSE, SEE IT AND HEAR
499
00:31:05,472 --> 00:31:07,256
THE RUMBLE FROM THE
WATER, BUT IF YOU TOUCH
500
00:31:07,300 --> 00:31:10,216
THE ROCKS AROUND IT, YOU
CAN FEEL THEM TREMBLING.
501
00:31:10,259 --> 00:31:12,044
[WATERFALL ROARING]
502
00:31:12,087 --> 00:31:14,916
SO THE POWER THERE
IS JUST UNBELIEVABLE.
503
00:31:17,571 --> 00:31:20,182
[CONTEMPLATIVE ORCHESTRAL MUSIC]
504
00:31:20,226 --> 00:31:21,488
Narrator: THE
RIVER THAT FEEDS
505
00:31:21,531 --> 00:31:24,970
THE LARGEST WATERFALL
IN EUROPE IS IN TURN FED
506
00:31:25,013 --> 00:31:28,887
BY THE LARGEST GLACIER
IN EUROPE, VATNAJOKULL,
507
00:31:29,800 --> 00:31:32,891
WHICH LIES MORE THAN
100 MILES SOUTH OF HERE.
508
00:31:35,241 --> 00:31:37,286
[WATERFALL ROARING]
509
00:31:37,330 --> 00:31:40,376
AT THE TOP OF DETTIFOSS,
THE FORCE OF THE WATER IS
510
00:31:40,420 --> 00:31:44,424
POWERFUL ENOUGH TO POLISH
ROCKS FLAT AND SMOOTH.
511
00:31:46,469 --> 00:31:49,603
AT THE BOTTOM, THE
BASIN BECOMES LARGER,
512
00:31:49,646 --> 00:31:53,215
AS RUSHING WATER AND SEDIMENT
WEAR AWAY AT THE ROCK,
513
00:31:53,259 --> 00:31:56,218
CAUSING THE WATERFALL
TO RECEDE UPSTREAM
514
00:31:56,262 --> 00:31:58,481
AN AVERAGE OF A FOOT EACH YEAR.
515
00:32:00,353 --> 00:32:02,746
Steffensen: AND IT'S SLOWLY
CARVING THE CANYON
516
00:32:02,790 --> 00:32:05,184
THAT WE HAVE BELOW
THE WATERFALL.
517
00:32:05,227 --> 00:32:10,102
SO, IN TIME, IT'S SLOWLY
MOVING FURTHER INLAND,
518
00:32:10,145 --> 00:32:12,278
CARVING THE ROCK
THAT IS UNDERNEATH.
519
00:32:12,321 --> 00:32:15,759
SO THAT'S ANOTHER
FORM OF ICELAND BEING
520
00:32:15,803 --> 00:32:17,587
[WATERFALL ROARING]
521
00:32:17,631 --> 00:32:20,286
[DRAMATIC SYNTH MUSIC]
522
00:32:20,329 --> 00:32:22,462
Narrator: NOT ONLY HAVE
ICELAND'S WATERFALLS SCULPTED
523
00:32:22,505 --> 00:32:26,770
ITS EVER-EVOLVING LANDSCAPE,
THEY'VE ALSO PLAYED
524
00:32:26,814 --> 00:32:29,469
A PIVOTAL ROLE IN
SHAPING ITS CULTURE.
525
00:32:31,775 --> 00:32:35,779
GODAFOSS, IN NORTH ICELAND,
IS CLOSELY CONNECTED
526
00:32:35,823 --> 00:32:37,781
TO ONE OF THE MOST
INFLUENTIAL EVENTS
527
00:32:37,825 --> 00:32:42,961
IN THE COUNTRY'S HISTORY,
THE CONVERSION FROM PAGANISM
528
00:32:43,309 --> 00:32:46,138
TO CHRISTIANITY
IN THE YEAR 1000.
529
00:32:49,315 --> 00:32:52,405
ACCORDING TO LEGEND,
ICELAND'S LAW SPEAKER,
530
00:32:52,448 --> 00:32:54,798
HIMSELF A PAGAN
PRIEST, WAS FACED
531
00:32:54,842 --> 00:32:57,323
WITH A GROWING RELIGIOUS CRISIS
532
00:32:57,366 --> 00:33:00,369
BETWEEN THOSE WHO WORSHIPED
THE OLD NORDIC GODS
533
00:33:00,413 --> 00:33:03,329
AND BELIEVERS IN THE
NEWLY-ARRIVED CHRISTIAN RELIGION
534
00:33:04,286 --> 00:33:07,289
THE LAW SPEAKER DECLARED
ICELAND WOULD BECOME CHRISTIAN.
535
00:33:08,682 --> 00:33:11,250
IN A SYMBOLIC ACT,
HE HURLED STATUES
536
00:33:11,293 --> 00:33:13,469
OF THE OLD NORSE
GODS INTO THE FALLS,
537
00:33:15,602 --> 00:33:20,520
HENCE ITS NAME, GODAFOSS,
THE WATERFALL OF THE GODS.
538
00:33:23,436 --> 00:33:26,526
HERE, WATER JOINS FIRE AND ICE
539
00:33:26,569 --> 00:33:30,356
AS THE GREAT SCULPTORS OF
THE ISLAND'S SINGULAR VISTAS.
540
00:33:30,399 --> 00:33:31,531
[DRAMATIC ORCHESTRAL MUSIC]
541
00:33:31,574 --> 00:33:33,837
[VOLCANOES ROARING]
542
00:33:33,881 --> 00:33:36,753
IN THE ONGOING CONSTRUCTION
PROJECT THAT IS ICELAND,
543
00:33:37,580 --> 00:33:42,150
POWERED BY VOLCANOES CAPABLE
OF WREAKING GREAT CHAOS,
544
00:33:42,194 --> 00:33:44,848
SOMETIMES LAVA
SPILLS FROM THE EARTH
545
00:33:44,892 --> 00:33:47,242
TO CREATE FORMATIONS SO UNIFORM,
546
00:33:47,286 --> 00:33:48,809
[REFLECTIVE ORCHESTRAL MUSIC]
547
00:33:48,852 --> 00:33:52,552
SO ORDERED, THAT
THEY APPEAR MANMADE.
548
00:33:52,595 --> 00:33:55,381
[WAVES CRASHING]
549
00:33:57,296 --> 00:34:00,690
AT REYNISFJARA, ICELAND'S
SOUTHERNMOST BEACH,
550
00:34:00,734 --> 00:34:03,432
THOUSANDS OF BASALT
COLUMNS STAND
551
00:34:03,476 --> 00:34:06,479
300 TALL ABOVE THE
SLATE-GRAY SAND.
552
00:34:10,265 --> 00:34:12,746
THE QUESTION THAT HAS
PUZZLED PEOPLE FOR CENTURIES,
553
00:34:13,747 --> 00:34:18,621
HOW DID A VOLCANO PRODUCE SUCH
PRECISE GEOMETRIC STRUCTURES?
554
00:34:20,580 --> 00:34:23,452
THE ANSWER COMES DOWN TO
THE PHYSICS OF COOLING.
555
00:34:29,502 --> 00:34:33,506
Thordarson: COLUMNS FORM BECAUSE
WHEN THE LIQUID LAVA COOLS DOWN,
556
00:34:33,549 --> 00:34:38,554
IT CONTRACTS, AND SO THE
SOLID LAVA, IT HAS A VOLUME
557
00:34:39,164 --> 00:34:42,123
THAT'S ROUGHLY ABOUT 10%
LESS THAN THE LIQUID LAVA,
558
00:34:42,863 --> 00:34:46,301
AND SO IT ACCOMMODATES FOR
THIS VOLUME CHANGE BY FORMING
559
00:34:46,345 --> 00:34:51,219
THESE JOINTS WHICH ARE
DEMARCATED AS COLUMNAR JOINTS.
560
00:34:51,263 --> 00:34:53,221
SO YOU FORM THE COLUMNS
BECAUSE OF THIS CONTRACTION,
561
00:34:53,265 --> 00:34:55,615
AND THEY'RE USUALLY
HEXAGONAL IN FORM.
562
00:34:55,658 --> 00:34:57,921
[WAVES CRASHING]
563
00:34:57,965 --> 00:35:00,750
Narrator: THIS
ASTOUNDING BASALT FORTRESS,
564
00:35:00,794 --> 00:35:03,753
BELIEVED TO BE FORMED
DURING THE LAST ICE AGE,
565
00:35:03,797 --> 00:35:06,626
HAS WITHSTOOD EONS OF
WEATHERING AND EROSION.
566
00:35:09,933 --> 00:35:13,415
[CONTEMPLATIVE ORCHESTRAL MUSIC]
567
00:35:13,459 --> 00:35:15,678
BUT ANOTHER LEGACY
FROM THE ICE AGE
568
00:35:15,722 --> 00:35:17,854
IS LOSING ITS BATTLE TO SURVIVE.
569
00:35:20,335 --> 00:35:23,469
THE ICE CAP IS VANISHING
AT AN ALARMING RATE.
570
00:35:24,731 --> 00:35:29,562
5% OF ICELAND'S GLACIERS HAVE
MELTED IN THE LAST 40 YEARS.
571
00:35:31,825 --> 00:35:36,308
EACH YEAR, 11 BILLION TONS OF
ICE DISAPPEAR FROM THE ISLAND.
572
00:35:41,008 --> 00:35:43,402
THE GLACIERS ARE
ESTIMATED TO BE MELTING
573
00:35:43,445 --> 00:35:46,144
AT A RATE OF THREE
FEET PER YEAR.
574
00:35:49,059 --> 00:35:51,975
Aoalgeirsdottir: SO THIS GLACIER
IS ACTUALLY MOVING QUITE FAST.
575
00:35:52,019 --> 00:35:54,543
DURING THE LAST HUNDRED
YEARS, IT'S BEEN RETREATING
576
00:35:54,587 --> 00:35:56,545
VERY RAPIDLY, SO NOW
IT'S FURTHER BACK
577
00:35:56,589 --> 00:36:00,723
THAN IT HAS EVER BEEN IN
THE LAST 20 YEARS OR SO.
578
00:36:00,767 --> 00:36:03,248
SINCE EARLY '90S, ALL THE
GLACIERS HAVE BEEN RETREATING
579
00:36:03,291 --> 00:36:04,771
AND LOSING MASS QUITE RAPIDLY.
580
00:36:12,474 --> 00:36:14,476
Narrator: SVINAFELLSJOKULL,
581
00:36:14,520 --> 00:36:16,609
ONE OF THE LARGEST
OUTLET GLACIERS
582
00:36:16,652 --> 00:36:19,916
AT VATNAJOKULL, ADVANCES
DOWN THE MOUNTAIN
583
00:36:19,960 --> 00:36:23,703
AT A SPEED OF 80 TO
100 FEET EACH YEAR.
584
00:36:27,489 --> 00:36:31,319
BUT DESPITE THIS IMMENSE
FORWARD PUSH OF ICE,
585
00:36:31,363 --> 00:36:33,713
SUMMER MELTING CAUSES
ITS LEADING EDGE
586
00:36:33,756 --> 00:36:37,499
TO RECEDE MORE THAN
130 FEET ANNUALLY.
587
00:36:40,546 --> 00:36:44,550
GREAT SWATHS OF THE VALLEY,
ONCE ENVELOPED BY THE GLACIER,
588
00:36:44,593 --> 00:36:49,207
NOW LIE EXPOSED AS VATNAJOKULL
RETREATS UP THE MOUNTAIN.
589
00:36:50,077 --> 00:36:54,299
IT IS A GRIM REMINDER
THAT THE GLACIER IS DYING.
590
00:36:56,388 --> 00:36:59,391
[CONTEMPLATIVE ORCHESTRAL MUSIC]
591
00:36:59,434 --> 00:37:01,958
AT THE FOOT OF THE
GREAT VATNAJOKULL,
592
00:37:02,002 --> 00:37:06,441
ICELAND'S LARGEST GLACIER,
LIES A VAST LAGOON.
593
00:37:06,485 --> 00:37:09,618
HERE, HUGE CHUNKS OF
ICE HAVE BROKEN OFF,
594
00:37:09,662 --> 00:37:11,533
OR CALVED, FROM THE GLACIER.
595
00:37:18,148 --> 00:37:21,587
CALVING BEGINS WITH A FRACTURE
IN THE EDGE OF THE GLACIER
596
00:37:21,630 --> 00:37:25,547
CAUSED BY EROSION FROM
WIND, WATER OR MELTING ICE.
597
00:37:29,072 --> 00:37:32,511
WHEN THE CRACK PENETRATES THE
FULL DEPTH OF THE GLACIER,
598
00:37:32,554 --> 00:37:34,948
THE SHEER WEIGHT OF
THE ICE TAKES ITS TOLL
599
00:37:35,775 --> 00:37:39,996
AND HUGE BLOCKS BREAK
AWAY, CREATING ICEBERGS.
600
00:37:44,131 --> 00:37:48,701
AS TEMPERATURES RISE AND
ICE WEAKENS AND MELTS,
601
00:37:48,744 --> 00:37:51,443
MORE AND MORE BERGS CRACK
AWAY FROM THE GLACIER.
602
00:37:55,969 --> 00:37:57,579
AS THE ICE SHEET BREAKS APART,
603
00:37:58,319 --> 00:38:01,366
LAGOONS SWELL AND
FLOOD THE LOWLANDS.
604
00:38:06,849 --> 00:38:10,940
THESE CAST-OFF RUINS FROM
VATNAJOKULL'S DWINDLING ICE CAP
605
00:38:10,984 --> 00:38:12,768
PROVIDE A GLIMPSE
INTO THE FUTURE
606
00:38:12,812 --> 00:38:14,640
OF ALL OF ICELAND'S GLACIERS.
607
00:38:18,992 --> 00:38:20,167
Aoalgeirsdottir: WE HAVE
DONE SOME MODELING
608
00:38:20,210 --> 00:38:22,735
FOR THE ICELANDIC GLACIERS,
609
00:38:22,778 --> 00:38:25,999
AND TAKING SOME ASSUMPTIONS
ABOUT HOW THE TEMPERATURE
610
00:38:26,042 --> 00:38:27,522
IS GONNA INCREASE IN THE FUTURE,
611
00:38:27,566 --> 00:38:30,395
WE SEE ACTUALLY QUITE A BLEAK
FUTURE FOR THE GLACIERS.
612
00:38:30,438 --> 00:38:34,529
SO MOST OF THEM WILL
PROBABLY BE GONE
613
00:38:34,573 --> 00:38:37,053
IN ABOUT 200, 250 YEARS.
614
00:38:37,097 --> 00:38:40,100
[EERIE SYNTH MUSIC]
615
00:38:40,883 --> 00:38:43,146
Narrator: THE PROSPECT
OF A GLACIAL COLLAPSE IS
616
00:38:43,190 --> 00:38:45,497
A DISTURBING ONE FOR
THE PEOPLE OF ICELAND.
617
00:38:48,195 --> 00:38:50,719
LOCKED INSIDE THE ICE CAPS IS
618
00:38:50,763 --> 00:38:54,027
THEIR LARGEST RESERVOIR
OF FRESH WATER AND POWER.
619
00:38:56,638 --> 00:38:59,728
Steffensen: IF ALL THE GLACIERS
WOULD DISAPPEAR ENTIRELY,
620
00:38:59,772 --> 00:39:02,992
IT WOULD HAVE VERY NEGATIVE
EFFECT ON OUR WATER SUPPLY,
621
00:39:03,036 --> 00:39:04,559
[WATER LAPPING]
622
00:39:04,603 --> 00:39:08,476
AND NOT ONLY IN FORM OF THE
DRINKING WATER THAT WE NEED,
623
00:39:08,520 --> 00:39:12,785
BOTH HOT AND COLD WATER,
BUT ALSO THE FACT THAT 70%
624
00:39:12,828 --> 00:39:15,440
OF THE ENERGY THAT WE HAVE
IN ICELAND IS PRODUCED
625
00:39:15,483 --> 00:39:18,051
IN HYDRAULIC POWER PLANTS
BY DAMMING THE RIVERS.
626
00:39:18,921 --> 00:39:21,184
SO THEY ARE A VERY,
VERY BIG PART OF
627
00:39:21,228 --> 00:39:23,665
OR IMPORTANT PART OF OUR LIVES.
628
00:39:26,015 --> 00:39:27,582
Narrator: WERE ALL
OF ICELAND'S GLACIERS
629
00:39:27,626 --> 00:39:29,192
AND ICE CAPS TO DISAPPEAR,
630
00:39:29,236 --> 00:39:31,891
[HAUNTING SYNTH MUSIC]
631
00:39:31,934 --> 00:39:35,764
NOT ONLY WOULD IT LOSE WATER
AND POWER, BUT IT COULD RESULT
632
00:39:35,808 --> 00:39:38,506
IN A COMPLETELY DIFFERENT
KIND OF CATASTROPHE.
633
00:39:40,769 --> 00:39:42,684
[VOLCANOES ROARING]
634
00:39:42,728 --> 00:39:45,861
GEOLOGICAL EVIDENCE FROM
THE LAST ICE AGE SUGGESTS
635
00:39:45,905 --> 00:39:48,777
THAT VOLCANIC ERUPTIONS
IN ICELAND INCREASED
636
00:39:48,821 --> 00:39:51,563
30-FOLD AFTER THE
GLACIERS RETREATED.
637
00:39:55,741 --> 00:39:58,091
SCIENTISTS ESTIMATE
A GLACIAL COLLAPSE
638
00:39:58,134 --> 00:40:01,703
COULD LEAD TO A MAJOR
ERUPTION EVERY SEVEN YEARS.
639
00:40:02,878 --> 00:40:03,749
[VOLCANO RUMBLING]
640
00:40:03,792 --> 00:40:05,533
ERUPTIONS ON THIS SCALE CAN LEAD
641
00:40:05,577 --> 00:40:07,840
TO LOCAL AND GLOBAL DISASTER.
642
00:40:12,845 --> 00:40:17,850
IN 1783, AN ERUPTION AT LAKI
IN SOUTH-CENTRAL ICELAND SENT
643
00:40:18,067 --> 00:40:21,984
A POISONOUS CLOUD OF SULFUR
DIOXIDE INTO THE ATMOSPHERE.
644
00:40:26,946 --> 00:40:30,471
THE THICK FOG OF FUMES
PLUNGED ICELAND INTO FAMINE,
645
00:40:31,516 --> 00:40:34,693
THEN SPREAD OVER
EUROPE AND BEYOND,
646
00:40:34,736 --> 00:40:38,610
POSSIBLY KILLING AN ESTIMATED
TWO MILLION PEOPLE WORLDWIDE.
647
00:40:40,786 --> 00:40:43,266
IT WAS ONE OF THE DEADLIEST
VOLCANIC ERUPTIONS
648
00:40:43,310 --> 00:40:44,703
IN HUMAN HISTORY.
649
00:40:49,142 --> 00:40:51,797
AS ICELAND'S GLACIERS
CONTINUE TO MELT,
650
00:40:51,840 --> 00:40:54,843
ATOP SOME OF THE WORLD'S
MOST DANGEROUS VOLCANOES,
651
00:40:55,714 --> 00:40:58,238
THE THREAT OF
ERUPTIONS INCREASES.
652
00:40:59,282 --> 00:41:02,938
SOME GEOLOGISTS BELIEVE A
MASSIVE NATURAL DISASTER,
653
00:41:02,982 --> 00:41:05,811
SIMILAR TO LAKI,
COULD HAPPEN AGAIN.
654
00:41:08,640 --> 00:41:10,119
Sigurdsson: THERE WILL BE
ANOTHER ONE LIKE THAT
655
00:41:10,163 --> 00:41:11,512
IN THE FUTURE, YES.
656
00:41:11,556 --> 00:41:14,341
EVERY NOW AND THEN, ABOUT
THOUSAND YEARS APART,
657
00:41:14,384 --> 00:41:16,299
WE GET HUGE ERUPTIONS,
658
00:41:16,343 --> 00:41:20,782
WHICH WILL EVEN AFFECT
GREATLY MODERN SOCIETY.
659
00:41:20,826 --> 00:41:23,872
WE'LL PROBABLY HAVE
A MUCH BETTER WAY OF
660
00:41:23,916 --> 00:41:26,005
DEFENDING OURSELVES
661
00:41:26,048 --> 00:41:29,922
THAN PEOPLE HAD THEN, WHEN
10% OF THE PEOPLE DIED
662
00:41:29,965 --> 00:41:34,317
FROM THE FAMINE AND THE
RESULTS OF THE HAZE.
663
00:41:34,361 --> 00:41:35,623
[VOLCANO ROARING]
664
00:41:35,667 --> 00:41:38,800
BUT THERE MAY VERY WELL
BE VOLCANIC ERUPTIONS
665
00:41:38,844 --> 00:41:43,022
THAT WILL AFFECT THE
WHOLE SOCIETY OF ICELAND,
666
00:41:43,065 --> 00:41:46,808
IN SUCH A WAY THAT IT
WILL HARDLY BE HABITABLE.
667
00:41:49,202 --> 00:41:52,901
Narrator: THE VAST LAKI
LAVA FIELD, WHICH LAID TO WASTE
668
00:41:52,945 --> 00:41:56,775
MORE THAN 200 SQUARE
MILES, IS A REMINDER
669
00:41:56,818 --> 00:42:01,040
OF THE HORROR THAT BEFELL
ICELAND NOT SO LONG AGO.
670
00:42:01,083 --> 00:42:05,000
[INSPIRATIONAL ORCHESTRAL MUSIC]
671
00:42:05,044 --> 00:42:08,395
IN THIS LAND OF CONTRASTS,
WHERE FIRE AND ICE
672
00:42:08,438 --> 00:42:11,877
NEVER CEASE TO
BATTLE, LIGHT AND DARK
673
00:42:11,920 --> 00:42:14,053
HAVE THEIR OWN
BRILLIANT WAR DANCE.
674
00:42:17,143 --> 00:42:20,973
ON THIS NIGHT, A COSMIC
SPECTACLE UNFOLDS,
675
00:42:21,800 --> 00:42:25,543
AURORA BOREALIS,
THE NORTHERN LIGHTS.
676
00:42:27,414 --> 00:42:30,765
ELECTRICALLY-CHARGED PARTICLES
OF SOLAR WIND COLLIDE
677
00:42:30,809 --> 00:42:34,116
WITH THE EARTH'S MAGNETIC
FIELD, CREATING ONE OF NATURE'S
678
00:42:34,160 --> 00:42:36,989
MOST ELUSIVE AND
SPECTACULAR SIGHTS.
679
00:42:39,905 --> 00:42:42,995
ICELAND IS RENOWNED AS ONE
OF THE BEST PLACES ON EARTH
680
00:42:43,038 --> 00:42:46,041
TO CATCH A GLIMPSE OF THIS
AWE-INSPIRING LIGHT SHOW.
681
00:42:55,703 --> 00:42:59,620
THE SUN RISES OVER A
LANDSCAPE LIKE NO OTHER.
682
00:43:05,017 --> 00:43:06,845
[WAVES CRASHING]
683
00:43:06,888 --> 00:43:09,587
BORN OF GEOLOGICAL VIOLENCE,
684
00:43:11,284 --> 00:43:15,288
RISING FROM A GREAT GASH
THAT TEARS THE WORLD IN TWO,
685
00:43:18,465 --> 00:43:21,773
AND SEATED ATOP A
BOMB OF MOLTEN EARTH,
686
00:43:22,600 --> 00:43:25,733
ICELAND'S ETERNAL
WAR OF VOLCANIC HEAT
687
00:43:25,777 --> 00:43:28,344
AGAINST ARCTIC COLD PLAYS OUT,
688
00:43:31,043 --> 00:43:32,479
EXPLODING,
689
00:43:32,522 --> 00:43:33,175
[GEYSERS ROARING]
690
00:43:33,219 --> 00:43:36,265
SPOUTING, HISSING,
691
00:43:36,309 --> 00:43:37,005
[WATER BUBBLING]
692
00:43:37,049 --> 00:43:39,834
BUBBLING, AND CASCADING.
693
00:43:39,878 --> 00:43:41,967
[WATERFALL ROARING]
694
00:43:42,010 --> 00:43:44,970
THIS LAND OF
SPELLBINDING CONTRASTS IS
695
00:43:45,013 --> 00:43:49,975
A CONSTANT REMINDER NEVER
TO TAKE NATURE FOR GRANTED
696
00:43:50,758 --> 00:43:54,066
ON THIS ISLAND
THAT BREATHES FIRE
697
00:43:54,109 --> 00:43:56,111
[VOLCANO ROARING]
698
00:43:56,155 --> 00:43:57,025
AND ICE.
52126
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