Iceland's newest volcano is now spewing out tornadoes

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Iceland's newborn volcano is announcing its arrival with a bang, spewing out methane explosions and tornadoes to complement the ribbons of lava painting the landscape.

Loud bangs echoed from the eruption site on the Reykjanes Peninsula, the Icelandic Met Office reported on July 27, indicating that pockets of methane gas trapped in the lava flow are exploding. As if that wasn't explosive enough, Earth's newest "baby volcano" triggered a whirling tornado, which can be seen rising into the sky in a YouTube video posted on July 24.

Litli-Hrútur, or "Little Ram," was born via a fissure that fractured the ground on July 10 and has been spewing rivers of lava ever since. "When lava flows over a vegetated area, methane gas can be produced when the vegetation does not burn completely," the Icelandic Met Office said in a translated Facebook post. "The gas then accumulates in gaps and cavities in the lava."

These pockets of methane mix with oxygen to form a highly flammable cocktail of gasses. "When an ember or flame from the fire breaks into it, an explosion occurs," the post said. Officials warned that this poses a danger to anyone venturing too close to the lava flow.

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As for the tornado, it formed above Litli-Hrútur due to a meteorological and geological union. Intense heat from molten rock spewing from a crater warms the air directly above it, making the air less dense and causing it to rise. Under certain wind conditions, this column of hot air can spin up a tornado.

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