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National Geographic : 1951 Nov
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Hekla, Waking from a102-year Sleep, Hurls Out Clouds ofAsh Liveliest ofIceland's vol canoes, Hekla boasts 21 eruptions since 1104 (page 629). Medieval clergy lik ened itsfiery craters tothe gates ofhell; they pictured rocketing lava bombs as condemned souls shaped like blackbirds. After acentury's lull, Hekla awakened inMarch, 1947. Acolumn ofash more than twice the height ofBikini's atomic-bomb cloud poured from athree mile-long fissure. Thun derous rumblings were heard 200 miles away. Rivers ofmelting ice rushed down the slopes. Intheir wake, streams of lava flooded 10square miles in13months. Here, during thefirst day's eruption, Hekla spewed asmuch as100, 000,000 cubic yards ofash anhour. Innearby Flj6t shlidh, aterrified couple awakened by pumice rain ingontheir roof thought they had gone blind. The ash, sweeping across south ernEngland, showered Fin land two days later. +Riders ford aglacial stream inTh6rsmork (Thors Wood) Valley, a popular summer resort near thesouth coast. Th. Josefsson
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