Geldingadalir Volcano in CBS TV show 60 Minutes

Last Sunday, May 23, 2021, the CBS TV show 60 Minutes broadcasted a report on the newest volcano in Iceland. Bill Whitaker travelled to the country to learn about the eruption from geologists and volcanologists.

Bill Whitaker was with the renowned volcanologists Þorvaldur Þórðarson and Bruce Houghton, who have been chasing lava all over the world. He was able to experience the very high temperatures that the volcano gives off on his own skin and to know first-hand what volcanic glass is.

He also enlisted Texas-trained geochemist Ed Marshall, who couldn't believe how lucky he was to be working for the University of Iceland when the eruption occurred. While they were together, Bill was able to verify the valuable information that scientists get by examining the samples of lava crystals, how to get them, and how by studying its composition they can know where the lava came from and what's happened to it on the way to the Surface, in this case we are talking about a depth of 9 miles!

With Kristín Jónsdóttir, leader of the nature protection group at the Icelandic Meteorological Office, he was able to experience the incredible sensation of hearing the movement of lava, similar to thousands of broken glasses, full sensory experience along with the spectacle of seeing flowing lava. Later they had the opportunity to fly together by helicopter over the amazing volcanic landscape of the island, observing some ancient fissure volcanoes with the same characteristics as the current eruption, having an interesting talk about the study of volcanoes in Iceland. Kristín said that it is currently impossible to predict how long this eruption will last, as there are no signs that it is diminishing.

We remind you that you can watch the volcano live stream on the RUV website here.