MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Flight to check volcanic eruption in South Sandwich

Mount Belinda on Montagu Island in the South Sandwich Islands is erupting, reports the South Georgia government.

The Royal Air Force plans to fly a maritime patrol to the remote island from the Falkland Islands as soon as the weather allows to investigate the scale of the eruption.

A representative of the Government of South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands plans to go on the flight to see first hand the effects of the volcano, including changes to the coastline in the areas in which seabirds normally breed. From the satellite images it seems that the major colonies are unaffected as they lie on the far side of the island.

The four and a half thousand foot mountain was thought to be inactive until RAF patrols and satellite imaging four years ago showed low level activity, with ash staining the snow covered mountain top. For the past two years the volcano has been erupting more forcefully, and a recent satellite image shows a large, fast moving lava flow, 90 meters wide, which is reported to be adding 50 acres a month to the island.

The South Sandwich Islands are made up of a volcanic arc of eleven islands in the Weddell Sea, and together with South Georgia, they form one of the British Overseas Territories.