"The eruption there was quite unexpected, but still there had been indications for almost ten years of something happening."DW-TV: The view from up here to the volcano Eyjafjallajökull is just perfect. But this must be a very special situation for a for a geologist.   Sigurdur Steinthorsson: It is clear that it is a great privilege to be a geologist in Iceland. Iceland is in the making at the present time, and always is. There is a very rapid creation of land, but also very rapid erosion. So one can study these processes, the processes that have been active on earth for billions of years. That is one of the very interesting parts of the geology in Iceland, and a very unique part, too. Now the eruption of Eyjafjallajökull was actually quite surprising. What kind of personality does this volcano have? The eruption there was quite unexpected, but still there had been indications for almost ten years of something happening. But eruptions of Eyjafjallajökull are very far between. The last one was in 1823. So it ist not one of the vulcanoes that are normally in the news, so to speak. It’s amazing. Where did all this amount of ash come from? Why is there so much? It is said that every eruption is different, in some way. We learn something from each eruption, but this one is quite unique in many ways I think, one is how fine grained the ash is, it is much finer grained than usual. Has Eyjafjallajökull gone to sleep now completely Or do you expect another eruption? Well, that is also a difficult question. But based on the eruption in 1823, it started similar to this one for a few months, then it was dormant for an entire winter and then started again the following year, and went on for a long time, for an entire summer. It continued for three years from 1823 to 1825. I mean, there is no indication now of a new eruption, but it is a possibility. Thanks a lot for the great trip, Sigurdur Steinthorsson. Interview: Ingolf Baur