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Iceland, the largest
volcanic island on earth
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otherworldly panoramas sculpted
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by the spectacular clash of fire and ice.
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Home to fierce volcanoes
and powerful glaciers,
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the two always at odds.
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It's a bubbling cauldron of scalding steam,
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Exploding geysers and breathtaking falls,
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Where fantastic fireworks of lava
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Eternally battle the crush of ice.
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This Titanic struggle makes Iceland
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the most geologically
magical island on the planet.
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Iceland, a land of stark contrasts
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that lies in the middle of
the North Atlantic Ocean,
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about 200 miles east of Greenland,
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on the edge of the arctic circle.
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Just 300 miles wide, it's
roughly the size of Kentucky.
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This lone, rugged island is
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a place of extreme natural beauty,
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Created, in large part, by
its violent, volcanic heart.
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Iceland's 30 active volcanoes generate
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1/3 of the world's land-based lava.
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It's an island on fire.
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On average, Iceland experiences
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a volcanic eruption every five years.
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Lava has laid waste to great belts
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of the interior, creating
twisted landscapes.
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Just 1/5 of this hostile
land is inhabited by humans.
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200 earthquakes shake the island each year.
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All over Iceland, steam hisses,
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Water erupts,
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and lava spews from the mantle,
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deep beneath the earth's crust.
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April 2010, eyjafjallajokull,
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an 800,000-year-old volcano
in the southern reaches
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of Iceland, unleashes its terrible power.
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For 39 days, the formidable
volcano spews ash
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toward the sky, creating a plume that soars
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more than six miles into the atmosphere.
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The mammoth cloud of ash
creeps across Europe,
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bringing global air travel to its knees.
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Eyjafjallajokull is
by now our most famous volcano,
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and mainly of course
because of the problems
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that it caused during its eruption in 2010,
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when people were sitting in airports
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all over the world, cursing this mountain.
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Billions of dollars are lost
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as the world is forced to watch and wait.
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Looking at it was, it was scary.
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The mountain itself is big,
and you could clearly hear
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the explosions and the rumble
from this massive thing.
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And the plume of ash, even
though the mountain was big,
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it was dwarfing the mountain underneath.
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Looking at something so large,
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and there's absolutely nothing you can do
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about it, is not a good feeling.
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When nature takes over, you
just have to sit and wait.
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But this is a country
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that was built by volcanoes.
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And to this day, volcanoes
continue to shape the land.
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So what makes this rugged island
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such a colossal volcanic force?
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What inflames this lonely
outpost in the North Atlantic?
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Geological clues are everywhere.
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At thingvellir plain in
the southwest of Iceland,
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a giant gash in the
valley floor bears witness
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to the intense violence
that has shaped the island.
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We are standing within a fault
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that has been slowly moving
apart in the last 9,000 years.
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This is a basaltic lava wall
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that's been torn apart from this one.
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Some 9,000 years ago, they were together,
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and as all these years have passed,
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they are slowly moving apart.
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You think about the powers that are needed
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to tear apart this landscape.
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That is mind-boggling sometimes.
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Iceland is quite literally tearing apart
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at the rate of one inch per year,
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about the same speed that fingernails grow.
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The island is getting larger.
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Here in this cracked valley,
something powerful is at work,
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a geological juggernaut that
runs right through the middle
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of the island, the mid-Atlantic Ridge.
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It's one of earth's
longest mountain chains,
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yet it's almost entirely
hidden beneath the sea.
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Running about 10,000 miles
from the South Atlantic
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to the north, it's the boundary
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between north america and eurasia,
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two plates of land that
were once joined together.
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Driven by forces deep within the earth,
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the continental plates tear
apart, moving east and west.
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What you're looking into here is
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basically the side of North America.
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It's probably one of the
few places in the world
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where you can look into the side of it.
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On the blackened lava plains
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of the reykjanes peninsula,
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a 50-foot steel footbridge
spans a broad fissure.
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The bridge, named for the
Icelandic explorer leif Erikson,
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allows visitors to symbolically walk
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the distance from eurasia to North America.
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For more adventurous explorers,
there are places in Iceland
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where the edges of the north American
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and eurasian continents are
within touching distance.
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The silfra tectonic fissure on the rim
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of thingvellir lake provides
a unique opportunity
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for underwater explorers to
float between continents.
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In the narrowest reaches of the fissure,
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divers can touch both north
america and eurasia at once.
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This is the only place in the world
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where you can stand in the
North Atlantic dorsal rift.
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It's a Ridge that goes from north to south
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through the whole Atlantic Ocean,
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and it only rises to the
surface here in Iceland.
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So actually it's unique because we are
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in between two tectonic
plates and we are standing.
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Normally, you have to be 4,000
meters depth in the ocean
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to stand in a place like this.
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The water in silfra is
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among the clearest and
cleanest in the world,
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The result of a remarkable
natural filtration process.
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Water trickles underground
from a melting glacier
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30 miles north of the dive site.
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The glacial meltwater percolates
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down through porous lava
rock before it wells up
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from underground Springs
directly into silfra,
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a process that can take
between 30 and 50 years.
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This naturally-filtered,
crystal-clear water has made
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silfra one of the world's top dive sites.
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But with temperatures that
hover at 35 degrees year-round,
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it's not for the faint of heart.
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Diving in silfra is not easy at all.
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It's quite cold and it's quite demanding.
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Your body needs to burn a
lot of energy to stay warm.
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More than one hour is not recommended,
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not even with the best of the suits,
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because you lose your heat very fast,
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it's very cold, and it can be dangerous.
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It's a fissure which is very narrow,
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so it can be a little bit claustrophobic.
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Once you put your face in
the water and you get to see
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how clear the water is,
everything is worth it.
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Everything makes sense.
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Evidence for the powerful forces driving
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these tectonic changes is everywhere.
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At grjotagja, in the north
of Iceland, in a deep abyss,
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a hot spring beckons, heated
by magma deep within the earth.
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Water in this shimmering cave pool simmers
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at more than 120 degrees,
too hot for bathing.
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Hot Springs like this are pivotal
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to understanding how the island formed.
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Some mighty force is heating
the water from far below.
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That same force has pushed up the seabed
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and, with it, the mid-Atlantic Ridge,
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more than a mile above the sea floor.
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But what is it?
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Iceland sits on what's known as a hot spot,
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a plume of scorching molten rock
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believed to be 100 miles
wide and 400 miles deep.
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A similar plume lies beneath
the Hawaiian island chain.
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Lava, erupting from the hot spot,
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cooled and accumulated, gradually building
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an island above the sea,
this island of fire.
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Fueled by powerful volcanic forces
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from below, Iceland continues to grow.
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But there is one force powerful enough
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to challenge Iceland's fiery heart, ice.
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About two and a half million
years ago, a massive ice sheet
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descended from the north
and smothered the island.
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Whole of Iceland was covered with ice
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and the big ice caps,
Greenland and Antarctica,
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were quite a bit bigger
than they are at present.
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And that means that the sea level was
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about hundred, 110 meters
lower than it is now
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because all the water
was stored in the ice.
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1/3 of the planet
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lay trapped under a blanket of ice.
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Then, about 12,000 years ago, the ice sheet
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loosened its grip and began its retreat.
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Today, 11% of Iceland
remains covered by glaciers,
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great rivers of slow-moving ice.
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Spread out, they would smother
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the entire island in an
icy cloak 100 feet thick.
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Iceland's glaciers hold more
than 800 cubic miles of water,
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enough to fill Michigan's lake huron.
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Inch by inch, these frozen monsters
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power their way down
the island's mountains.
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This is vatnajokull, the
largest glacier in Iceland
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and the greatest glacial
mass in all of Europe.
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It covers most of southern Iceland.
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The glacier is so immense,
it generates its own weather.
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Cold winds blow off the ice
cap, chilling the valleys below.
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Vatnajokull is constantly transforming.
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As it pushes through the valley,
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it melts in the bright daylight,
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then freezes during frigid arctic nights.
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Crevasses, cut open by friction
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as the ice slumps down
the mountain, can plunge
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more than 100 feet into
the glacier's icy heart.
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But the crushing mass of ice meets
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an equally powerful force
pushing ever upwards.
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60% of Iceland's active volcano systems
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lies underneath its glaciers.
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And when the two forces meet,
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it can produce some dramatic results.
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Grimsvotn, it has the highest eruption rate
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of any volcano in Iceland.
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In 2011, it unleashed its fury
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for the fourth time in 14 years.
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Torrents of molten rock surged
through shattered ice sheets,
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hurling a billowing cloud of steam
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and ash 12 miles into the sky.
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Believed to be the most violent eruption
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in Iceland since the 1960s, it plunged
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parts of the island into near darkness.
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The two forces at play, fire and ice,
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when mixed, are a power
to be reckoned with.
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You have the super-cold glacier
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and the super-warm lava,
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and when the eruptions take
place under the glaciers,
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first of all, the heat from the eruption
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starts melting the glacier from underneath.
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And in some cases, the
eruptions are big enough
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and last for long enough to melt
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their way all the way through the ice.
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And then we have this magnificent display
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of fire just coming out of the ice.
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They're kind of battling each other.
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The explosive showdown between lava and ice
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can wreak havoc in other
devastating ways, flooding,
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triggered by the eruption of
a volcano beneath a glacier.
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Eyjafjallajokull, the 2010
eruption melted the glacier
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and sent two billion cubic feet
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of water gushing down the mountain,
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Nearly the volume of water that goes
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over Niagara Falls in six hours.
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The flash floods,
which are known in Iceland
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as jokulhlaup or the glacial floods,
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they will go down and onto the lowlands
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and cause a lot of damage wherever they go.
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They basically ruin
everything in their path.
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Iceland's glacial floods
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are enormously destructive.
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Raging torrents of water wash away roads.
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At the foot of vatnajokull
lies the twisted wreckage
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of a steel bridge, wiped
out by glacial flooding.
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00:18:18,575 --> 00:18:21,230
Glacial floods carry millions of tons
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of dark volcanic rock called basalt
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to Iceland's south shore,
reshaping the coastline
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and creating stretches of
beach as black as gunmetal.
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It's because it's all produced
252
00:18:37,594 --> 00:18:42,599
by breaking down basalt,
which is a black rock.
253
00:18:42,643 --> 00:18:45,385
And most of the rock, the
majority of rocks in Iceland
254
00:18:46,299 --> 00:18:50,781
are black in color because
most of it is basalt.
255
00:18:50,825 --> 00:18:52,261
So we have this dark color.
256
00:18:53,654 --> 00:18:55,026
I remember one time going to Hawaii
257
00:18:55,046 --> 00:18:56,767
and everyone talked about
the black sand beaches.
258
00:18:56,787 --> 00:18:58,291
"You need to go and see
the black sand beach,"
259
00:18:58,311 --> 00:18:59,747
and I said, why?
260
00:18:59,790 --> 00:19:01,966
I've seen nothing but black
sand beaches in my life.
261
00:19:02,010 --> 00:19:04,404
I'm from a place where
all the rocks are dark.
262
00:19:10,323 --> 00:19:12,977
At sandvik beach, towering cliffs are
263
00:19:13,021 --> 00:19:17,286
home to thousands of sea
birds, including puffins.
264
00:19:19,288 --> 00:19:21,595
More than half the world's
Atlantic puffins breed
265
00:19:21,638 --> 00:19:23,684
on Iceland's rocky clifftops,
266
00:19:24,511 --> 00:19:27,644
lured by dense shoals of herring and hake.
267
00:19:31,953 --> 00:19:33,650
Although the north coast of the island
268
00:19:33,694 --> 00:19:35,261
touches the arctic circle,
269
00:19:36,044 --> 00:19:39,221
its coastal waters remain free of sea ice.
270
00:19:41,441 --> 00:19:44,661
A warm ocean current driving
up from the Caribbean,
271
00:19:44,705 --> 00:19:46,837
the Atlantic Gulf stream,
272
00:19:46,881 --> 00:19:49,666
heats this passage of the North Atlantic.
273
00:19:50,972 --> 00:19:54,541
But with warmer water comes rain.
274
00:19:54,584 --> 00:19:57,544
This stretch of coastline is
one of the wettest in Iceland,
275
00:19:58,762 --> 00:20:02,549
with average annual rainfall
of more than 90 inches.
276
00:20:04,899 --> 00:20:08,946
Isolated near the top of the
world, Iceland is ravaged
277
00:20:08,990 --> 00:20:13,342
by fierce winds and roiling Atlantic waves.
278
00:20:13,386 --> 00:20:15,866
Through the centuries, scores of mariners
279
00:20:15,910 --> 00:20:17,868
have drowned in its stormy waters.
280
00:20:19,130 --> 00:20:22,917
Even today, there is real
danger for the Icelanders
281
00:20:22,960 --> 00:20:25,789
who harvest these cold, dark seas.
282
00:20:30,577 --> 00:20:33,710
For hundreds of years, Iceland's fishermen
283
00:20:33,754 --> 00:20:35,799
have braved the Atlantic Ocean.
284
00:20:37,801 --> 00:20:39,130
The connection between the people
285
00:20:39,150 --> 00:20:40,630
living in these villages
286
00:20:40,674 --> 00:20:43,372
and the ocean is very, very strong.
287
00:20:43,416 --> 00:20:44,721
It is their livelihood.
288
00:20:45,809 --> 00:20:47,898
And sometimes in some areas,
289
00:20:47,942 --> 00:20:50,423
especially close to the south coast,
290
00:20:50,466 --> 00:20:53,730
where we have the rough surf
of the Atlantic hammering
291
00:20:53,774 --> 00:20:58,779
the coast, going out in
the boats to catch the fish
292
00:20:59,649 --> 00:21:02,130
has always been a big challenge.
293
00:21:02,173 --> 00:21:04,393
They have to go through the surf sometimes,
294
00:21:04,437 --> 00:21:07,091
and even today in the big fishing boats
295
00:21:07,135 --> 00:21:09,746
and with all the technology, this is often
296
00:21:09,790 --> 00:21:12,053
a very dangerous and difficult thing to do.
297
00:21:12,096 --> 00:21:15,404
So these are tough people
and they have learned
298
00:21:15,448 --> 00:21:18,668
to survive with this
giant, the Atlantic Ocean.
299
00:21:26,633 --> 00:21:28,809
The tectonic force that drove Iceland
300
00:21:28,852 --> 00:21:31,942
above the Atlantic waves continues today,
301
00:21:34,684 --> 00:21:38,949
As volcanoes erupt and magma
from deep within the earth
302
00:21:38,993 --> 00:21:41,996
rises to the surface to create new land.
303
00:21:47,001 --> 00:21:51,701
Iceland is forever being
reborn, something those who live
304
00:21:51,745 --> 00:21:55,575
in the shadows of the volcanoes
have learned to live with.
305
00:21:57,968 --> 00:22:00,124
These volcanoes that
are close to where people live
306
00:22:00,144 --> 00:22:02,451
are monitored quite
carefully so that scientists
307
00:22:02,495 --> 00:22:04,453
and the authorities can predict
308
00:22:04,497 --> 00:22:07,761
if something is going to happen
and they can issue warnings.
309
00:22:07,804 --> 00:22:10,677
But usually when they do so,
if they do issue warnings,
310
00:22:10,720 --> 00:22:12,635
the farmers, they already know
311
00:22:12,679 --> 00:22:15,769
because they can judge by the
behavior of their animals.
312
00:22:15,812 --> 00:22:17,945
They seem to sense this way before we do.
313
00:22:25,909 --> 00:22:27,389
The geology is alive here.
314
00:22:28,608 --> 00:22:29,478
We have volcanic eruptions.
315
00:22:29,522 --> 00:22:30,546
You can watch the lava moving.
316
00:22:30,566 --> 00:22:32,525
You can watch the plumes come up,
317
00:22:32,568 --> 00:22:34,875
and so it seems to be alive.
318
00:22:39,923 --> 00:22:42,665
Nowhere is this living, breathing earth
319
00:22:42,709 --> 00:22:46,539
more evident than here,
in the southern lowlands,
320
00:22:50,630 --> 00:22:52,980
where the earth's inner furnace boils over.
321
00:23:11,694 --> 00:23:14,654
This heat powers fantastic fountains
322
00:23:15,872 --> 00:23:17,961
That soar into the Icelandic twilight.
323
00:23:30,583 --> 00:23:34,195
This tranquil pool belies its name, geysir,
324
00:23:35,370 --> 00:23:38,417
but it was once home
to an explosive geyser.
325
00:23:39,113 --> 00:23:42,899
It was the first natural
geyser known to Europeans.
326
00:23:45,119 --> 00:23:48,949
In Icelandic, geysa means to gush.
327
00:23:50,603 --> 00:23:51,952
It is from this place
328
00:23:51,995 --> 00:23:54,563
that the world's geysers take their name.
329
00:23:55,999 --> 00:23:59,612
The nearby geyser, strokkur,
is far more active,
330
00:24:00,569 --> 00:24:03,006
erupting every eight to 10 minutes.
331
00:24:04,007 --> 00:24:06,923
It explodes from vents
in the earth's surface
332
00:24:06,967 --> 00:24:08,969
that run deep into the crust.
333
00:24:10,579 --> 00:24:12,581
These hydrothermal eruptions are
334
00:24:12,625 --> 00:24:14,844
the result of cold rainwater seeping
335
00:24:14,888 --> 00:24:19,719
down through fractured bedrock
onto hot volcanic rock below.
336
00:24:20,850 --> 00:24:23,940
The water trapped
underground is super-heated
337
00:24:23,984 --> 00:24:27,944
to temperatures as high
as 280 degrees fahrenheit.
338
00:24:27,988 --> 00:24:30,338
It converts to vapor
that would normally fill
339
00:24:30,381 --> 00:24:35,561
1,600 times more space than
the original volume of water.
340
00:24:37,650 --> 00:24:40,522
But it remains trapped
under intense pressure.
341
00:24:41,697 --> 00:24:45,179
As the steam explodes from
this subterranean furnace,
342
00:24:45,222 --> 00:24:48,312
it passes through liquid
groundwater near the surface,
343
00:24:48,356 --> 00:24:51,577
which jets more than 60 feet into the air.
344
00:24:56,930 --> 00:24:59,323
On the flank of an active volcano,
345
00:24:59,367 --> 00:25:03,240
steaming fumaroles hiss
into the cold Atlantic sky.
346
00:25:08,202 --> 00:25:10,726
Fumaroles are vents in the earth's crust
347
00:25:10,770 --> 00:25:12,728
similar to geysers
348
00:25:12,772 --> 00:25:15,122
yet they emit steam, not water.
349
00:25:20,954 --> 00:25:24,044
Volcanic gases such as hydrogen sulfide
350
00:25:24,087 --> 00:25:26,916
and colorful minerals in the ground paint
351
00:25:26,960 --> 00:25:31,225
the geothermal field with an
almost extraterrestrial beauty.
352
00:25:47,197 --> 00:25:50,679
The hydrogen sulfide rising
through surface water produces
353
00:25:50,723 --> 00:25:54,074
sulfuric acid, strong enough to dissolve
354
00:25:54,117 --> 00:25:58,034
the surrounding rock and soil
to create boiling mudpots.
355
00:26:12,266 --> 00:26:14,050
Icelanders harness this energy
356
00:26:14,094 --> 00:26:16,270
by boring into the ground for the steam,
357
00:26:19,273 --> 00:26:23,103
which spins turbines to
generate geothermal power.
358
00:26:27,020 --> 00:26:30,763
The geothermal power
plants that we have produce
359
00:26:30,806 --> 00:26:33,679
about 30% of the energy
that we have in Iceland.
360
00:26:33,722 --> 00:26:35,811
Of course, it's brilliant to be able
361
00:26:35,855 --> 00:26:38,771
to produce energy in a green way like that.
362
00:26:39,772 --> 00:26:41,295
There's no or hardly any pollution
363
00:26:41,338 --> 00:26:44,690
and it's a very green way to
keep life in Iceland going.
364
00:26:45,604 --> 00:26:48,171
There's always the downside
that in order to create
365
00:26:48,215 --> 00:26:50,391
those power plants, you
have to build structures
366
00:26:50,434 --> 00:26:52,872
and you have to drill and
you have to have pipes
367
00:26:52,915 --> 00:26:55,439
on the surface, so there are mixed emotions
368
00:26:55,483 --> 00:26:57,311
when it comes to these power plants.
369
00:27:04,013 --> 00:27:05,754
But Iceland is hardly lacking
370
00:27:05,798 --> 00:27:07,626
when it comes to pristine beauty.
371
00:27:10,803 --> 00:27:13,719
Its great sculptor, ice, has created
372
00:27:13,762 --> 00:27:15,851
fabulous works of natural art,
373
00:27:19,246 --> 00:27:20,813
none more breathtaking
374
00:27:20,856 --> 00:27:23,685
than Iceland's magnificent glacial valleys.
375
00:27:25,469 --> 00:27:28,037
These canyons formed when glaciers pushed
376
00:27:28,081 --> 00:27:31,824
slowly through channels
already cut by flowing streams.
377
00:27:37,090 --> 00:27:42,095
Year after year, decade after
decade, century after century,
378
00:27:42,878 --> 00:27:46,229
a glacier eats away at the
sides of the original valley,
379
00:27:48,579 --> 00:27:53,236
transforming a narrow gully
into a wide and mighty canyon.
380
00:27:57,588 --> 00:28:00,069
Meltwater from the glacier now feeds
381
00:28:00,113 --> 00:28:02,376
the stream that flows through this valley.
382
00:28:05,118 --> 00:28:08,469
Clearly too small to have
created this majestic canyon,
383
00:28:09,252 --> 00:28:11,690
it's known as a misfit stream.
384
00:28:17,304 --> 00:28:20,829
These humble streams merge together to form
385
00:28:20,873 --> 00:28:24,964
powerful rivers, which in turn generate
386
00:28:25,007 --> 00:28:27,488
another erosive force
that has shaped Iceland,
387
00:28:30,273 --> 00:28:31,273
Waterfalls.
388
00:28:46,594 --> 00:28:50,032
Iceland's climate and
topography combine to create
389
00:28:50,076 --> 00:28:52,905
some of the most stunning
waterfalls in the world.
390
00:28:57,083 --> 00:29:00,913
On some parts of the island,
waterfalls outnumber people.
391
00:29:04,046 --> 00:29:05,874
In this North Atlantic climate,
392
00:29:05,918 --> 00:29:08,877
snow and rain frequently drench the land.
393
00:29:13,360 --> 00:29:16,232
High in the mountains,
melting glaciers feed
394
00:29:16,276 --> 00:29:19,801
frigid rivers already
swollen from precipitation.
395
00:29:24,937 --> 00:29:27,896
Over dozens of miles, these glacial rivers
396
00:29:27,940 --> 00:29:29,419
gather pace and volume.
397
00:29:33,467 --> 00:29:38,167
Finally, they roar over rocky cliffs.
398
00:29:43,042 --> 00:29:47,046
At selfoss, an endless
flow of glacial meltwater
399
00:29:47,089 --> 00:29:50,789
cascades over the Ridge,
battering the rocks below.
400
00:29:54,967 --> 00:29:59,145
More than 30 feet high, selfoss
generates immense power.
401
00:30:00,407 --> 00:30:03,976
But it is a trickle compared
to what lies downstream.
402
00:30:07,327 --> 00:30:08,327
Dettifoss.
403
00:30:10,243 --> 00:30:15,248
150 feet high, 300 feet wide,
404
00:30:17,119 --> 00:30:19,339
it is the largest waterfall in Europe,
405
00:30:21,428 --> 00:30:24,170
powerful enough to fracture solid rock.
406
00:30:28,130 --> 00:30:30,219
Early Icelanders called dettifoss,
407
00:30:30,263 --> 00:30:32,178
the king of all waterfalls.
408
00:30:34,310 --> 00:30:38,271
On an average day, enough water
cascades over its crest line
409
00:30:38,314 --> 00:30:42,492
to fill an olympic-sized
swimming pool every five seconds
410
00:30:46,148 --> 00:30:49,108
in warm weather, which boosts meltwater,
411
00:30:49,151 --> 00:30:52,851
or on rainy days, even
more water is unleashed.
412
00:30:53,939 --> 00:30:57,290
Dettifoss is a magnificent display
413
00:30:57,333 --> 00:30:58,987
of the power of water.
414
00:30:59,031 --> 00:31:01,120
It's a breathtaking thing to see,
415
00:31:01,163 --> 00:31:02,405
and when you're standing next to it,
416
00:31:02,425 --> 00:31:05,428
not only can you, of
course, see it and hear
417
00:31:05,472 --> 00:31:07,256
the rumble from the water, but if you touch
418
00:31:07,300 --> 00:31:10,216
the rocks around it, you
can feel them trembling.
419
00:31:12,087 --> 00:31:14,916
So the power there is just unbelievable.
420
00:31:20,226 --> 00:31:21,488
The river that feeds
421
00:31:21,531 --> 00:31:24,970
the largest waterfall
in Europe is in turn fed
422
00:31:25,013 --> 00:31:28,887
by the largest glacier
in Europe, vatnajokull,
423
00:31:29,800 --> 00:31:32,891
which lies more than
100 miles south of here.
424
00:31:37,330 --> 00:31:40,376
At the top of dettifoss,
the force of the water is
425
00:31:40,420 --> 00:31:44,424
powerful enough to Polish
rocks flat and smooth.
426
00:31:46,469 --> 00:31:49,603
At the bottom, the basin becomes larger,
427
00:31:49,646 --> 00:31:53,215
as rushing water and sediment
wear away at the rock,
428
00:31:53,259 --> 00:31:56,218
causing the waterfall to recede upstream
429
00:31:56,262 --> 00:31:58,481
an average of a foot each year.
430
00:32:00,353 --> 00:32:02,746
And it's slowly carving the canyon
431
00:32:02,790 --> 00:32:05,184
that we have below the waterfall.
432
00:32:05,227 --> 00:32:10,102
So, in time, it's slowly
moving further inland,
433
00:32:10,145 --> 00:32:12,278
carving the rock that is underneath.
434
00:32:12,321 --> 00:32:15,759
So that's another form of Iceland being
435
00:32:20,329 --> 00:32:22,462
Not only have Iceland's waterfalls sculpted
436
00:32:22,505 --> 00:32:26,770
its ever-evolving landscape,
they've also played
437
00:32:26,814 --> 00:32:29,469
a pivotal role in shaping its culture.
438
00:32:31,775 --> 00:32:35,779
Godafoss, in north Iceland,
is closely connected
439
00:32:35,823 --> 00:32:37,781
to one of the most influential events
440
00:32:37,825 --> 00:32:42,961
in the country's history,
the conversion from paganism
441
00:32:43,309 --> 00:32:46,138
to christianity in the year 1000.
442
00:32:49,315 --> 00:32:52,405
According to legend, Iceland's law speaker,
443
00:32:52,448 --> 00:32:54,798
himself a pagan priest, was faced
444
00:32:54,842 --> 00:32:57,323
with a growing religious crisis
445
00:32:57,366 --> 00:33:00,369
between those who worshiped
the old nordic gods
446
00:33:00,413 --> 00:33:03,329
and believers in the
newly-arrived Christian religion
447
00:33:04,286 --> 00:33:07,289
the law speaker declared
Iceland would become Christian.
448
00:33:08,682 --> 00:33:11,250
In a symbolic act, he hurled statues
449
00:33:11,293 --> 00:33:13,469
of the old norse gods into the falls,
450
00:33:15,602 --> 00:33:20,520
hence its name, godafoss,
the waterfall of the gods.
451
00:33:23,436 --> 00:33:26,526
Here, water joins fire and ice
452
00:33:26,569 --> 00:33:30,356
as the great sculptors of
the island's singular vistas.
453
00:33:33,881 --> 00:33:36,753
In the ongoing construction
project that is Iceland,
454
00:33:37,580 --> 00:33:42,150
powered by volcanoes capable
of wreaking great chaos,
455
00:33:42,194 --> 00:33:44,848
sometimes lava spills from the earth
456
00:33:44,892 --> 00:33:47,242
to create formations so uniform,
457
00:33:48,852 --> 00:33:52,552
So ordered, that they appear manmade.
458
00:33:57,296 --> 00:34:00,690
At reynisfjara, Iceland's
southernmost beach,
459
00:34:00,734 --> 00:34:03,432
thousands of basalt columns stand
460
00:34:03,476 --> 00:34:06,479
300 tall above the slate-gray sand.
461
00:34:10,265 --> 00:34:12,746
The question that has
puzzled people for centuries,
462
00:34:13,747 --> 00:34:18,621
how did a volcano produce such
precise geometric structures?
463
00:34:20,580 --> 00:34:23,452
The answer comes down to
the physics of cooling.
464
00:34:29,502 --> 00:34:33,506
Columns form because
when the liquid lava cools down,
465
00:34:33,549 --> 00:34:38,554
it contracts, and so the
solid lava, it has a volume
466
00:34:39,164 --> 00:34:42,123
that's roughly about 10%
less than the liquid lava,
467
00:34:42,863 --> 00:34:46,301
and so it accommodates for
this volume change by forming
468
00:34:46,345 --> 00:34:51,219
these joints which are
demarcated as columnar joints.
469
00:34:51,263 --> 00:34:53,245
So you form the columns
because of this contraction,
470
00:34:53,265 --> 00:34:55,615
and they're usually hexagonal in form.
471
00:34:57,965 --> 00:35:00,750
This astounding basalt fortress,
472
00:35:00,794 --> 00:35:03,753
believed to be formed
during the last ice age,
473
00:35:03,797 --> 00:35:06,626
has withstood eons of
weathering and erosion.
474
00:35:13,459 --> 00:35:15,678
But another legacy from the ice age
475
00:35:15,722 --> 00:35:17,854
is losing its battle to survive.
476
00:35:20,335 --> 00:35:23,469
The ice cap is vanishing
at an alarming rate.
477
00:35:24,731 --> 00:35:29,562
5% of Iceland's glaciers have
melted in the last 40 years.
478
00:35:31,825 --> 00:35:36,308
Each year, 11 billion tons of
ice disappear from the island.
479
00:35:41,008 --> 00:35:43,402
The glaciers are estimated to be melting
480
00:35:43,445 --> 00:35:46,144
at a rate of three feet per year.
481
00:35:49,059 --> 00:35:51,975
So this glacier
is actually moving quite fast.
482
00:35:52,019 --> 00:35:54,543
During the last hundred
years, it's been retreating
483
00:35:54,587 --> 00:35:56,545
very rapidly, so now it's further back
484
00:35:56,589 --> 00:36:00,723
than it has ever been in
the last 20 years or so.
485
00:36:00,767 --> 00:36:03,248
Since early '90s, all the
glaciers have been retreating
486
00:36:03,291 --> 00:36:04,771
and losing mass quite rapidly.
487
00:36:12,474 --> 00:36:14,476
Svinafellsjokull,
488
00:36:14,520 --> 00:36:16,609
one of the largest outlet glaciers
489
00:36:16,652 --> 00:36:19,916
at vatnajokull, advances down the mountain
490
00:36:19,960 --> 00:36:23,703
at a speed of 80 to 100 feet each year.
491
00:36:27,489 --> 00:36:31,319
But despite this immense
forward push of ice,
492
00:36:31,363 --> 00:36:33,713
summer melting causes its leading edge
493
00:36:33,756 --> 00:36:37,499
to recede more than 130 feet annually.
494
00:36:40,546 --> 00:36:44,550
Great swaths of the valley,
once enveloped by the glacier,
495
00:36:44,593 --> 00:36:49,207
now lie exposed as vatnajokull
retreats up the mountain.
496
00:36:50,077 --> 00:36:54,299
It is a grim reminder
that the glacier is dying.
497
00:36:59,434 --> 00:37:01,958
At the foot of the great vatnajokull,
498
00:37:02,002 --> 00:37:06,441
Iceland's largest glacier,
lies a vast lagoon.
499
00:37:06,485 --> 00:37:09,618
Here, huge chunks of ice have broken off,
500
00:37:09,662 --> 00:37:11,533
or calved, from the glacier.
501
00:37:18,148 --> 00:37:21,587
Calving begins with a fracture
in the edge of the glacier
502
00:37:21,630 --> 00:37:25,547
caused by erosion from
wind, water or melting ice.
503
00:37:29,072 --> 00:37:32,511
When the crack penetrates the
full depth of the glacier,
504
00:37:32,554 --> 00:37:34,948
the sheer weight of the ice takes its toll
505
00:37:35,775 --> 00:37:39,996
and huge blocks break
away, creating icebergs.
506
00:37:44,131 --> 00:37:48,701
As temperatures rise and
ice weakens and melts,
507
00:37:48,744 --> 00:37:51,443
more and more bergs crack
away from the glacier.
508
00:37:55,969 --> 00:37:57,579
As the ice sheet breaks apart,
509
00:37:58,319 --> 00:38:01,366
lagoons swell and flood the lowlands.
510
00:38:06,849 --> 00:38:10,940
These cast-off ruins from
vatnajokull's dwindling ice cap
511
00:38:10,984 --> 00:38:12,768
provide a glimpse into the future
512
00:38:12,812 --> 00:38:14,640
of all of Iceland's glaciers.
513
00:38:18,992 --> 00:38:20,190
We have done some modeling
514
00:38:20,210 --> 00:38:22,735
for the Icelandic glaciers,
515
00:38:22,778 --> 00:38:25,999
and taking some assumptions
about how the temperature
516
00:38:26,042 --> 00:38:27,522
is gonna increase in the future,
517
00:38:27,566 --> 00:38:30,395
we see actually quite a bleak
future for the glaciers.
518
00:38:30,438 --> 00:38:34,529
So most of them will probably be gone
519
00:38:34,573 --> 00:38:37,053
in about 200, 250 years.
520
00:38:40,883 --> 00:38:43,146
The prospect of a glacial collapse is
521
00:38:43,190 --> 00:38:45,497
a disturbing one for the people of Iceland.
522
00:38:48,195 --> 00:38:50,719
Locked inside the ice caps is
523
00:38:50,763 --> 00:38:54,027
their largest reservoir
of fresh water and power.
524
00:38:56,638 --> 00:38:59,728
If all the glaciers
would disappear entirely,
525
00:38:59,772 --> 00:39:02,992
it would have very negative
effect on our water supply,
526
00:39:04,603 --> 00:39:08,476
And not only in form of the
drinking water that we need,
527
00:39:08,520 --> 00:39:12,785
both hot and cold water,
but also the fact that 70%
528
00:39:12,828 --> 00:39:15,440
of the energy that we have
in Iceland is produced
529
00:39:15,483 --> 00:39:18,051
in hydraulic power plants
by damming the rivers.
530
00:39:18,921 --> 00:39:21,184
So they are a very, very big part of
531
00:39:21,228 --> 00:39:23,665
or important part of our lives.
532
00:39:26,015 --> 00:39:27,582
Were all of Iceland's glaciers
533
00:39:27,626 --> 00:39:29,192
and ice caps to disappear,
534
00:39:31,934 --> 00:39:35,764
Not only would it lose water
and power, but it could result
535
00:39:35,808 --> 00:39:38,506
in a completely different
kind of catastrophe.
536
00:39:42,728 --> 00:39:45,861
Geological evidence from
the last ice age suggests
537
00:39:45,905 --> 00:39:48,777
that volcanic eruptions
in Iceland increased
538
00:39:48,821 --> 00:39:51,563
30-fold after the glaciers retreated.
539
00:39:55,741 --> 00:39:58,091
Scientists estimate a glacial collapse
540
00:39:58,134 --> 00:40:01,703
could lead to a major
eruption every seven years.
541
00:40:03,792 --> 00:40:05,533
Eruptions on this scale can lead
542
00:40:05,577 --> 00:40:07,840
to local and global disaster.
543
00:40:12,845 --> 00:40:17,850
In 1783, an eruption at laki
in south-central Iceland sent
544
00:40:18,067 --> 00:40:21,984
a poisonous cloud of sulfur
dioxide into the atmosphere.
545
00:40:26,946 --> 00:40:30,471
The thick fog of fumes
plunged Iceland into famine,
546
00:40:31,516 --> 00:40:34,693
then spread over Europe and beyond,
547
00:40:34,736 --> 00:40:38,610
possibly killing an estimated
two million people worldwide.
548
00:40:40,786 --> 00:40:43,266
It was one of the deadliest
volcanic eruptions
549
00:40:43,310 --> 00:40:44,703
in human history.
550
00:40:49,142 --> 00:40:51,797
As Iceland's glaciers continue to melt,
551
00:40:51,840 --> 00:40:54,843
atop some of the world's
most dangerous volcanoes,
552
00:40:55,714 --> 00:40:58,238
the threat of eruptions increases.
553
00:40:59,282 --> 00:41:02,938
Some geologists believe a
massive natural disaster,
554
00:41:02,982 --> 00:41:05,811
similar to laki, could happen again.
555
00:41:08,640 --> 00:41:10,143
There will be another one like that
556
00:41:10,163 --> 00:41:11,512
in the future, yes.
557
00:41:11,556 --> 00:41:14,341
Every now and then, about
thousand years apart,
558
00:41:14,384 --> 00:41:16,299
we get huge eruptions,
559
00:41:16,343 --> 00:41:20,782
which will even affect
greatly modern society.
560
00:41:20,826 --> 00:41:23,872
We'll probably have a much better way of
561
00:41:23,916 --> 00:41:26,005
defending ourselves
562
00:41:26,048 --> 00:41:29,922
than people had then, when
10% of the people died
563
00:41:29,965 --> 00:41:34,317
from the famine and the
results of the haze.
564
00:41:35,667 --> 00:41:38,800
But there may very well
be volcanic eruptions
565
00:41:38,844 --> 00:41:43,022
that will affect the
whole society of Iceland,
566
00:41:43,065 --> 00:41:46,808
in such a way that it
will hardly be habitable.
567
00:41:49,202 --> 00:41:52,901
The vast laki
lava field, which laid to waste
568
00:41:52,945 --> 00:41:56,775
more than 200 square miles, is a reminder
569
00:41:56,818 --> 00:42:01,040
of the horror that befell
Iceland not so long ago.
570
00:42:05,044 --> 00:42:08,395
In this land of contrasts,
where fire and ice
571
00:42:08,438 --> 00:42:11,877
never cease to battle, light and dark
572
00:42:11,920 --> 00:42:14,053
have their own brilliant war dance.
573
00:42:17,143 --> 00:42:20,973
On this night, a cosmic spectacle unfolds,
574
00:42:21,800 --> 00:42:25,543
Aurora borealis, the northern lights.
575
00:42:27,414 --> 00:42:30,765
Electrically-charged particles
of solar wind collide
576
00:42:30,809 --> 00:42:34,116
with the earth's magnetic
field, creating one of nature's
577
00:42:34,160 --> 00:42:36,989
most elusive and spectacular sights.
578
00:42:39,905 --> 00:42:42,995
Iceland is renowned as one
of the best places on earth
579
00:42:43,038 --> 00:42:46,041
to catch a glimpse of this
awe-inspiring light show.
580
00:42:55,703 --> 00:42:59,620
The sun rises over a
landscape like no other.
581
00:43:06,888 --> 00:43:09,587
Born of geological violence,
582
00:43:11,284 --> 00:43:15,288
rising from a great gash
that tears the world in two,
583
00:43:18,465 --> 00:43:21,773
and seated atop a bomb of molten earth,
584
00:43:22,600 --> 00:43:25,733
Iceland's eternal war of volcanic heat
585
00:43:25,777 --> 00:43:28,344
against arctic cold plays out,
586
00:43:31,043 --> 00:43:32,479
exploding,
587
00:43:33,219 --> 00:43:36,265
Spouting, hissing,
588
00:43:37,049 --> 00:43:39,834
Bubbling, and cascading.
589
00:43:42,010 --> 00:43:44,970
This land of spellbinding contrasts is
590
00:43:45,013 --> 00:43:49,975
a constant reminder never
to take nature for granted
591
00:43:50,758 --> 00:43:54,066
on this island that breathes fire
592
00:43:56,155 --> 00:43:57,155
And ice.
48225
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