Where is Icelandic Volcano Katla located and when did it last erupt?

SCIENTISTS say Icelandic volcano, Katla, could soon blow its top, dwarfing an explosion that disrupted worldwide air travel eight years ago.

Here's what we know so far.

Where is Katla located?

Katla is a giant volcano in southern Iceland.

One of the biggest volcanoes in Iceland, it is situated north of  Vík í Mýrdal and to the east of the glacier Eyjafjallajökull.

Its peak reaches 4,961 ft and its caldera has a diameter of 6.2 miles.

The word Katla is Icelandic for “kettle” or "boiler".

When did it last erupt?

Just north of Hekla, scientists have long been keeping their eyes on Katla.

Katla's last eruption was 100 years ago in 1918 – the longest it’s been dormant since the 1100s.

Of its past ten eruptions, eight took place between September and November - when it's thought glacial melting creates the necessary conditions for magma to burst forth.

It is this glacial ice – hundreds of metres thick – that most worries locals.

Should such an explosion happen, the ice covering the volcano will melt, flooding the surrounding areas so severely that authorities have plans in place to evacuate Iceland’s entire southern coast.

What will happen if Katla erupts?

Icelandic and British volcanologists have detected Katla is emitting carbon dioxide on a huge scale which suggests magma chambers are filling up fast.

According to the Sunday Times, the scientists believe it could be an indicator that an eruption could be brewing which would overshadow the eruption of the Eyjafjallajokull volcano in 2010.

This saw a vast choking veil of boiling-hot ash drift into the world's busiest airspace, effectively grounding all European air travel.

A research report recently published in the journal Geophysical Research Letters found that Katla was releasing between 12 and 24 kilotons of carbon dioxide every day.

In the journal, the team wrote: “Through high-precision airborne measurements and atmospheric dispersion modelling, we show that Katla, a highly hazardous subglacial volcano which last erupted 100 years ago, is one of the largest volcanic sources of CO2 on Earth, releasing up to five per cent of total global volcanic emissions.”

Sarah Barsotti, coordinator for volcanic hazards at the Icelandic Meteorological Office, said: “There is no way of telling when it will erupt, just that it will.”