Volcanology

ᔥ Stuff.co.nz

Stuff is running a headline that Wellington stinks because of the eruption on Tongariro…that isn’t true though…Wellington has always smelled it is just that the residents are well used to the fetid stench of politicians and copious amounts of bullshit:

Gas and sulphur smells from the Mt Tongariro eruption have travelled as far as Wellington this morning.

The crater spewed rocks and ash when it came to life for the first time in more than 100 years at 11.50pm on Monday night.

Many people have reported a smell of sulphur in the air in the capital.

GNS Science duty vulcanologist Craig Miller said it was most likely the smells were caused by the eruption and there had been quite a few reports from the lower North Island of a sulphur smell.

“It’s a little bit surprising it has gone as far as it has. It will be dissipating as it goes.”

ᔥThe Telegraph

Iceland is now running tours inside a volcano. Seriously cool if a tad expensive.

Visitors to Iceland are being given the opportunity to be among the first tourists to enter the magma chamber of a volcano.

The interior of Thrihnukagigur, which has been dormant for around 4,000 years, will be opened to ordinary travellers for six weeks this summer, from June 15 to July 31.

The volcano is a 30-minute drive from Reykjavik, the Icelandic capital. Visitors must then embark on a short 40-minute hike across a lava field to reach the volcano, before descending 120 metres to the bottom of the crater in an open cable lift. They will be able to spend around an hour inside the volcano in the company of a team of expert guides.

The tour costs ISK 37,000 (£180) per person, a portion of which will go towards further research into the country’s volcanoes. Visitors must be aged 12 or over, and are advised to bring walking boots, water, sensible outdoor clothing and a camera.

The chamber was first accessed by scientists in 2011, in what was described at the time as an historic development