1 00:00:00,826 --> 00:00:02,263 [DRAMATIC ORCHESTRAL MUSIC] 2 00:00:02,000 --> 00:00:07,000 Downloaded from YTS.MX 3 00:00:02,306 --> 00:00:05,657 Narrator: ICELAND, THE LARGEST VOLCANIC ISLAND ON EARTH 4 00:00:06,745 --> 00:00:09,400 OTHERWORLDLY PANORAMAS SCULPTED 5 00:00:08,000 --> 00:00:13,000 Official YIFY movies site: YTS.MX 6 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. 20 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, 23 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] 29 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, 91 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.