Volcano Grímsvötn Ash Raw Minerals Lapilli Pumice Lava Bombs Stones Rocks Collecting

Volcanic Ash sample Raw Minerals Lapilli Pumice Lava Bombs Stones Rocks for Collection.
Rare specimen of Volcanic Sand erupted from the Grímsvötn Volcan during the eruption in the May 2011's. Fine grained.

Volcanic ash consists of small tephra, which are bits of pulverized rock and glass created by volcanic eruptions, less than 2 millimetres (0.1 inch) in diameter . Ash is created when the usually violent nature of an eruption involving steam results in the magma and solid rock surrounding the vent being torn into particles of clay to sand size.
Every ash samples is labelled and bagged in a vial with cap (mm 44 x 10), so thay can easily be removed if required for study under a microscope.
As with all volcanic ash, the material should be handled with care and not inhaled.


Grímsvötn is a volcano located in the south-eastern part of Iceland near the center of Vatnajökull, part of one of the most complex and powerful volcanic systems in the world, including the volcano Katla, Laki and the Eldgjá volcanic pit. The volcano is included in the Vatnajökull National Park, like the rest of the glacier and the surrounding areas. Most of the volcano is hidden under the vast Vatnajökull glacier, the second largest glacier in Europe after the Greenland cap. Grímsvötn is a word in Icelandic that means "the lakes of Grímur". The identity of this Grímur is not known, but could derive from Grímr, one of the names of Odin.
The Grímsvötn volcano has a large 6 x 8 km caldera that contains a sub-glacial lake of liquid water, generated by the melting of the ice caused by the thermal energy from the volcano. The lake is covered by the overlying glacier, but during the eruptions the lake's water pressure against the ice becomes strong enough to raise the ice cap and pour devastating floods known as jökulhlaups on the south side of the glacier.
During eruptions, the overlying part of the glacier is often melted, creating a gigantic crater in the ice, from where ash and steam can escape and allowing the satellite view of the lake.
The structure of the Grímsvötn volcano is surrounded by a series of volcanic cracks which are activated together with the volcano, as in the case of the great eruption in 1783, known as the eruption of the fissure volcano Laki, which simultaneously involved both the Grímsvötn and the Laki : approximately 15 cubic kilometers of basaltic lava were erupted from a 27 km long fissure over a period of 7 months. Accompanied by huge amounts of sulfur dioxide and gaseous fluoride emissions, the eruption caused widespread damage to crops, causing a severe famine in Iceland and the death of more than 50% of the island's livestock. As a result, the population decreased by about a quarter. Some consequences of the eruption have also been noted in other parts of the world: the gas cloud has spread throughout Europe and parts of Asia causing changes in summer temperatures. This eruption was the first case that led some scientists to believe that volcanoes have a major influence on the climate of the world.
In December 1998 and November 2004 there were brief eruptions that lasted about a week and did not result in the breaking of the glacier. However, the eruptions caused some discomfort to air traffic in Europe. Around the end of October 2010 there were warning signs of an imminent volcanic eruption, such as an increase in seismic shocks. The underlying magma caused a considerable warming of the surface around the volcano resulting in a significant increase in the flow of the Gijla river. Starting from May 2011, a further eruptive phase of the volcano began.
In 2004, some scientists found some prokaryotes in the lake below the glacier. This is the first time that bacteria that live in subglacial lake have been found. The lake does not freeze completely due to the presence of magma, thus allowing the survival of the bacteria.
The study of these bacteria could also help us to study the existence of life on the red planet.

Available on our website, besides ashes, pumice and bombs, also various volcanic rocks, such as Apache Teardrops, sulfur, obsidian, tuff, crystal chalk, etc.