The Katla Volcano is a large active volcano in southern Iceland that erupted some twenty times between 930 and 1918. The fact that it hasn’t erupted since 1918 means that it’s about fifty years overdue for an eruption. Katla is just north of the town of Vik which is on the southern coast of Iceland.

The Katla caldera has a diameter of 6.2 miles and is covered by up to 2300 feet of glacial ice. The flood discharge when Katla erupted in 1755 was estimated to be 9 to 14 million cubic feet per second.

The 1918 Katla eruption extended the coast of Iceland by over three miles. The flow from that Katla eruption was estimated to be equal to the flows of the Amazon, Mississippi, Nile, and Yangtze rivers combined.

The landscape is, to say the least, peculiar. It was raining as I stood here but it was a joy to be there. This side of that mountain you can see but the other side was very green. Micro-climates abounded in this area of Iceland.

This is looking left from the prior photo. The volcano did not flow in this direction very far and they were farming not too far away. The ocean is to the right of this photo.

Recent filming in this location includes Noah, Game of Thrones, Transformers, and the upcoming (Dec 2016) new Star Wars movie. The Force is strong with Vicky.

Our local guide lived a few miles away and grew up here. He said we needed to watch where we walked because there is quicksand in this area. What sort of vehicle do you drive when you are in a quicksand area...

This is looking farther up the Katla Volcano. You can see the lower section of the glacier which is covered with ash, so it may not be clear that it's all ice. Further up, you can see a waterfall. I'm taking this photo from the black ash area in the prior photos. With the green hill, just a great landscape.