It is now three days after the start of the Reykjanes eruption. What is the state?
The flow field is slowly expanding, and is thickening. It remains a touristy eruption, but tourism is up and down. Initially it was discouraged as events were still unfolding. On Sunday they came in large groups; our local correspondent commented that half of Reykjavik wanted to come. That caused some problems. The ridge next to the cones were popular, but evacuated around mid-day. In hindsight just in time as a little later a significant collapse of the cone pushed a lava surge in that direction. A video of the event shows it nicely. The ridge is now close to being surrounded by the lava.
https://www.ruv.is/frett/2021/03/21/gigbarmurinn-gefur-sig-og-ny-hraunrennslisaed-myndast
Some people got in trouble last night when the weather deteriorated and they got lost and cold on the 2-hour cross-country walk back. Today the weather was atrocious, and measurements indicated that gas concentrations close up to the lava reached dangerous levels – presumably that was true the previous day as well.
Lisabet, our local correspondent, send some very impressive photos and made many commenters feeling very envious. Click on the image for the full resolution.
The eruption is now concentrated in three cones. The dominant one had the collapse (and may have more to come). The smaller, middle one showed a mystery last night: in addition to the spatter, flames came from the top. They moved in the air exactly like real flames. But it is very unclear what caused it. Apparently this has also been seen in Kilauea. The most plausible combustant would be carbon, picked up from peat on the surface underneath the cone. But this is speculation.
Here is a video showing the f=mysterious flames at Kilauea.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sMMhJUegLsQ
The story about the groups of archeologist doing emergency excavation was overstated. There was only one, trying to do a very quick site survey before it was overrun by lava.
https://twitter.com/beinakerling/status/1373610128855998465
https://twitter.com/astro_graph/status/1374007538857951235
There are now some reports coming out on magma composition, as mentioned in the comments. The magma is a bit less gaseous than Holuhraun was. It originated from a magma chamber 17-20 kilometers below the surface. It may have spend considerable time there (one may guess centuries). This would explain why the lava is a bit blocky, as it will have become more viscous during long-term storage.
We estimated that over the first 24 hour, the eruption rate was roughly 15 m3/s. Today, numbers of 5-10 m3/s were reported. The eruption may have decreased a bit since the initial flush. But it is still going strong, without any indication that it would end soon.
The eruption rate can tell us a bit about how wide the feeder pipe of the eruption is. The magma is pushed up by two effects: buoyancy, and overpressure. The buoyance comes from the fact that the liquid magma is slightly less dense than the solid basalt of the crust. If we assume that this is the only effect, there is a simple equation which sets the flow rate. For a cylindrical conduit, it depends on the radius R, the viscosity, and the difference in density. Putting in the numbers, and assuming a difference in density of 100 kg/m3 and a viscosity of 104 Pa s, gives that a flow rate of 10 m3/s corresponds to a conduit radius of about 3 meters.
If it is overpressure, the numbers change. A rift suggest a dike rather than a spherical conduit. The picture shows the model: a magma chamber at 5 km depth, a flattened conduit going to 1 km depth, and a cylindric conduit for the final kilometer. For a magma overpressure of 20 Mpa, the dike could have a cross section of 500 m2 ( for instance 500 meter long, 1 meter wide), and the conduit t the surface a radius of 15 meters. This also gives a flow rate of 10 m3/s. This model is rather plausible. It allows for several conduits, each feeding a cone. Models of such a situation suggest the possibility of varying eruption rates over a period of weeks to months. (Costa et al., https://doi.org/10.1029/2006GL027466)
We do not expect a sudden end to the eruption in the next day or two (although this can never be excluded!). We are looking forward to days of envious staring at the camera. Reports that a shield may build should be taken with caution. That hasn’t happened here since the early holocene, and a more typical, smaller eruption is more likely. Whatever happens, like Holuhraun, we will learn a lot about how volcanoes work.
And a final point. Today our current VC site reached 4 million views, something the VC team is quite proud of. We try to provide a forum where volcano science and volcano experience can meet. We are glad that VC is appreciated.
The average website has a carbon footprint of 1.8 gm of CO2 per view. That means that VC is responsible for 7200 kg of CO2. How does that compare with the volcanoes that we study? Read
http://www.volcanocafe.org/volcanoes-and-co2-continued/
(and its precursor post https://www.volcanocafe.org/volcanoes-and-co2/ )
There is one volcano that produced less net CO2 than VC: Eyjafjallajokull, now exactly 10 years ago. It managed to offset all its CO2 by causing the flight ban. Icelandic volcanoes never cease to amaze.
Congratulation on the 4 million views. That is astonishing. This eruption has been exciting. Loved the pictures, Lisabet!
Change in wind direction at the site
Indeed 4M is huge. Congratulations! You may regret not having ads 😉
First petrology results! Coming from 17-20 km depth.
One more piece of evidence pointing out that this the potencial birth for a dyngja eruption. Exciting times.
Or flood basalts? Eagerly awaiting the geochemical analysis!!
Gas plume (past / present / prediction) of the current eruption:
https://dispersion.vedur.is/map.html?run_uuid=987de027-96dc-4754-b90d-1ce542798abb
*The birth of Fagradalsdyngja, the newest Icelandic shield volcano.*
I had, a few days ago, the thought that this eruption might be the beginning of the rare type of eruption, which is that of a shield volcano in Iceland.
Now it seems that Icelandic scientists share that opinion with me. https://www.mbl.is/frettir/innlent/2021/03/22/visbendingar_um_dyngjugos_sem_getur_varad_i_ar/
*Why did I make this claim?*
Many eruptions in the region of Reykjanes have been shields. Many, but most are still fissures.
This one happens right at atop the middle of the dike with the surrounding rock being Pleistocene hard solid rock. So the small feeder will erupt only there and a fissure will probably not form.
Because Krisuvik region eruptions.are long lasting, if this one happens solely at one singular vent, it might well indeed form a shield volcano.
*What do Icelandic scientists are saying?*
Because magma source is primitive and deep. And as long as supply is slow and steady, it will indeed form a shield.
Now repeat after me:
*Fagradalsdyngja*
Fagradalsdyngja
Fagradalsdyngja
This is the likely name of the future shield mountain being born. Dyngja means shield.
The first in many thousand years in the region. And the first in Iceland in 1000 years.
Isn’t Surtsey a shield volcano? Granted it is off shore.
I agree.
a funny wordplay would be
Geldyngja
From RUV
The lava in Geldingadalur comes so deep from the bowels of the earth that a scientist at the Institute of Earth Sciences says it resembles a high-speed connection to the center of the mantle.
The rock in the eruption has been accurately identified. It comes from much deeper than the lava that has flowed on the Reykjanes peninsula for the last seven thousand years.
The lava that flows up in Geldingadalur is basalt, which is the main characteristic of the Icelandic volcanic belts. But how far below does this lava flow come from? Compared to what has erupted before in historical time in Reykjanes, this is a much more primitive prey that is most likely coming from much more depth than we have seen before, “says Sæmundur Ari Halldórsson, researcher at the Institute of Earth Sciences.
This basalt is called olivine toluite and is at a depth of 17 to 20 kilometers. The earth’s crust on the Reykjanes peninsula is 17 kilometers thick.
Colors in a geological map from Ísor show different lava flows on the Reykjanes peninsula. The light purple colors are lava that flowed around settlement but those that are darker; Þráinsskjaldarhraun and Stapafellshraun flowed more than seven thousand years ago.
The lava in Geldingadalur is similar to the thousands of years old lava.
There is noticeably more of carbon dioxide e.g. I understand then there was, for example, in Holuhraun. It is again a sign of a deep source. ”
https://www.ruv.is/frett/2021/03/22/hraunkvikan-synir-beintengingu-vid-midju-mottulsins
In cursorily studying olivine tholeiite lava, I did come across something very interesting, Krafla emitted this lava in 1984 – see Morphology of the 1984 open-channel lava flow at Krafla volcano, northern Iceland https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0169555X9700007X
I did learn that olivine tholeiite lava is very common in Iceland and also on mid-oceanic ridges around the world. Several studies of lava flows in the Reykjanes peninsula have shown that this lava type is common to the area.
It would be interesting to read of how the depth is determined from the crystal morphology of the olivine and other minerals in the lava.
What I gather from Icelandic sources is that olivine tholeiite constitutes about 30% of rock found in Iceland and is found in the Mid Atlantic Ridge Zone.
Around 40% of all lava in holocene has been olivine tholeiite.
However it is mostly found in and around the large Shield Volcanos.
In Reykjanes/Langjökull: Þráinsskjöldur, Selvogsheiði, Borgarhólar, Reykjavíkurblágrýti, Lyngdalsheiði, Skjaldbreið, Stálpanes and Kjalhraun.
In the north: Trölladyngja, Vaðalda, Kollóttadyngja, Grjótháls and Þeistarreikjabunga among others.
Olivine tholeiite is I think the same thing as picrite basalt, basically means the magma is derived from near total melting of the mantle. I would imagine that underneath Reykjanes the magma generation is continuous but the tectonic situation prevents eruptions most of the time so it collects at the bottom of the crust. When the spreading component of plate motion increases it allows magma to rush up into the gap and erupt readily.
Thing is this is the case for all the volcanoes. The anticipated large quake at Brennisteinsfjoll will very likely lead to an eruption there too maybe later in the century or maybe it will rupture next year and we get even more lava 🙂
It is exiting that there is actually the serious possibility of two simultaneous eruptions in Iceland now too if Grimsvotn does erupt this year which is likely. I dont think theres any recent examples of two volcanoes in Iceland erupting at the same time.
Oh it double posted 🙁
Olivine tholeiite is I think the same thing as picrite basalt, basically means the magma is derived from near total melting of the mantle. I would imagine that underneath Reykjanes the magma generation is continuous but the tectonic situation prevents eruptions most of the time so it collects at the bottom of the crust. When the spreading component of plate motion increases it allows magma to rush up into the gap and erupt readily.
Thing is this is the case for all the volcanoes. The anticipated large quake at Brennisteinsfjoll will very likely lead to an eruption there too maybe later in the century or maybe it will rupture next year and we get even more lava 🙂
It is exiting that there is actually the serious possibility of two simultaneous eruptions in Iceland now too if Grimsvotn does erupt this year which is likely. I dont think theres any recent examples of two volcanoes in Iceland erupting at the same time.
today’s timelapse has finished uploading: it is a bit faster and longer than yesterday, I think the changing weather conditions are quite fascinating, and the inserted tv footage is irritating: https://youtu.be/AsEpPCHm9Zs
4 M visits!!! Thanks to all in the dragon team who keeps the site going and to all who provide us with a steady feed of exciting, entertaining geoscience and good stories! And what a way to celebrate! Volcanic fireworks and a birth of a baby dyngja! 👶
RVK Newscast #87: This video gives a bit of background on the rescues last night (March 21 – 22).
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WfLNTn-eomw
Not sure who has a better time Value or Polly (the dog). Actually, given the weather, it’s Polly hands down…
That’s supposed to say ‘Valur’, of course. Not ‘Value’ – stupid spell check…
Love the way Polly so expectantly gives the Search and Rescue guy the ball to throw… and i also respect that he didn’t pay any attention to the dog. Excellent dog handling.
Thanks for the update, Albert. I’m feeling that warm, cosy glow of sitting down with a cuppa and watching a volcano again. Good days from Eyjafjallajökull and Restinga!
It amuses me slightly that if you search in Google (other search engines are available) for – Volcano Cartoon – the resulting images are so very like the main cone in the Icelandic eruption.
VC’s first Playgroup volcano?
Woah! The main cone output has just gone mad (2:22am UK time). Huge outpourings and ejecta. I would not be surprise at another collapse.
And there it goes at 2:28am – massive rush of lava!
Wow
The main cone is very effusive now and overflowing the top like a gushing soda. I noticed overflow at 2:19 am and 2:28 am, Clive also mentioned this. The whole top of the cone was bubbling pink white froth flowing down onto the sides.
One question in regards to the article. Is it possible, that the constant stream of lava widens the tightest restrictions in the feeding system so that the eruption gets bigger over time? Just asking as we seem to see increased output
Do we know yet what is causing the flames above the lava?
Bake-out from long-buried peat beneath previous flow ? Akin to ‘Coking’…
Or burning sulphur ??
Could also be hydrogen, that forms when lava reacts with water under reducing conditions because the fresh lava contains Fe2+ which is oxidised by oxygen under ambient conditions. Water can act as a source of oxygen, so it goes to iron III oxide and hydrogen.
Thing is if there is a lot of SO2 or CO2 then that shows the magma isnt a reducing environment, probably the easiest answer is that it is actual normal fire from erupting through carbon-rich soil.
CO is also flamable
Thank you Albert. I seem to have lost the RUV cam. Just black and buffering. Anyone else lost it? Update on our lack of flow. We have a collapsed drain which means a complete excavation of the sandstone flags which cover our back yard to lay a new drain. Not covered by our insurance policy and very expensive work. Also days more without toilet and washing. Luckily we have camping toilet and next door has good drains so minimal washing waste goes there and we have offer of shower. So Volcano flow beats our flow even if the lava slows! Very deep magma it is providing interesting speculation. I love these discussions. I learn so much from them. Well doe VC for providing this opportunity for live lessons on so much more than pure geology.
Here it works perfectly (again?)
How much do the services of a rindler go for these days? At least you’re not the only one having plumbing problems. The livestream kept glitching, then went to a blue screen and then talking heads(?!) speaking Icelandic (I think) before another blue screen and an eventual return to normal. At that time they switched from their own player widget to a Youtube embed. At least they could replace their busted plumbing basically for free with something tried, tested, and true for the kind of volume they must be getting now! Sad that you are not so lucky.
livefromiceland.is/webcams/geldingadalur-volcano/
I have a few questions; If this is the first phase of a new shield volcano formation fed straight from the mantle/crust boundry as suggested from 17-20 km is it even possible to guesstimate how long this will go on? What total volumes we could see? Is there any recent/modern cases of similar eruptions from this depth other places on the planet?
As it is not observed in Iceland in modern times by most statements from the scientists I guess little is fully understood. Other than that shields are fairly small in the area. At the same time there is evidence of high EQ-activity leading up to the event, subduction and a dyke in the close area. Could we see a rifting episode too, or is the stress probably relieved for now since EQ activity is gone down?
Amazing to follow! Amazing updates! And amazing photoes Lisabeth! Almost looks like the undisturbed ground in front of the base of the main vent (shield?) was cracked open when this began.
A small shield is common on the Penninsula like Þráinsskjöldur 5km3 .. that gives 15 years of slow constant pahoehoe eruptions.
But the really huge shields happens north of Vatnajökull like
Theistareykjarbunga, thats many 100 s of years of nonstop eruptions… souch things we wont get in Reykjanes
Reykjanes has too thin a crust to support really large shields. They will weigh the underlying crust down and push a “keel” down into the mantle, eventually blocking their own magma supply (or diverting it around the keel to make new vents elsewhere). The thicker crust in central Iceland (40 vs. 20 km or so) would be able to support shields of twice the dimensions, so eight times the volume, if not more.
5 km3 is about the same size as Pu’u O’o, so eruption could have been 30-40 years if at a low rate that forms only pahoehoe. Eruption rate of this is higher than that so as Jesper says it could last maybe 15 years to turn into a 5 km3 shield. But remember we are also only a few days into what is likely to be a multi-year if not multi-decade event so theres really all manner of possibilities here. Statistically speaking this is probably going to be a rifting eruption, its early days yet.
Vatnajokull shields I suspect are probably not monogenetic, they reach a size that is comparable to a small central volcano which likely just reflects their relative age being much less. If you compare these sorts of eruptions to an equivalent in Hawaii, the Reykjanes eruptions are like Pu’u O’o being monogenetic eruptions of several decades but the Vatnajokull shields and Theistareykjarbunga are more like the Kilauea summit overflow sequences, probably spanning several centuries of shield formation that might not be fully continuous. In both these cases the volumes involved are several tens of km3.
I actually do wonder if the shield formation eruptions of Trolladyngja were ultimately terminated by a major rift eruption, as Bardarbunga is prone to every few centuries. That sequence of shields followed by big draining eruptions is well observed in Hawaii obviously, and Trolladyngja is much higher in elevation than Veidivotn where most rifts would be, and GVP does list an eruption in Veidivotn within a 500 year period of their date for Trolladyngja. I guess this is a different matter entirely though.
There must be a lot of places where trolls live in Iceland 🙂
Great thanks to all of you. Since this just might be a “patient” eruption levels of speculation should be reduced as all the good minds observes more as this develops over time. Lots of updates are already in. Looking forward to more. Bjarki said some new might be in today…
The research and knowledge on Reykjanes will for sure grow. Very sparse info on GVP and other resources on Trolladyngja for instance. Is it dated more presisely than here?
https://www.volcanocafe.org/volcano-ecology/
Explosive eruptions naturally will have better historical records than slow basaltic ones in remote locations. And what triggered this just now? In March of the year 2021?
Lots of interresting aspects. Best stay on here for more knowledge. And coffee. 😉 Btw; what’s with the bandaids on my avatar? 😀
There are going to be science flights today, so we should get some meassurments of various kinds today https://www.visir.is/g/20212088485d/fljuga-yfir-gos-stodvarnar-til-ad-meta-um-fang-hraunsins-og-hraun-flaedid
A cracking view in the dawn light this morning.
https://flic.kr/p/2kNpbgM
I see what you mean about the flames – very flickery.
Who did Albert talk to in order to get the volcano to spew in our direction so we get to see into it’s jaws. i’ve cleaned up too many little chins to not think of vomit… sorry…. i’ll get that…
The hell? A flying saucer just buzzed the eruption site (7:46 Iceland time). I shit you not.
Science planes… that last pass was tooo close.
the plane came across low and at camera level so it looked like it had no wings. Most things are just normal but observation can make normal things look weird. One help is to just observe without preconception or fear. Best!motsfo
Is it too much to hope for a lidar survey? A model of the flow would be ewesome.
That lava field really grew over night!
https://www.ruv.is/frett/2021/03/20/beint-vefstreymi-fra-borgarfjalli-ad-eldstodvunum?fbclid=IwAR1HjP9wEFNW2bLIaJQj5X96BK8NJsTadE35FC7d0OeEXDJtzzunerfxebg
Eruption still going .. webcam working
https://www.nu.nl/286386/video/wetenschappers-grillen-hotdogs-op-lava-ijslandse-vulkaan.html
Scientists are grilling hotdogs there!
Thanks Benja. I see it again
A question for the geologists, please: where the steam continually bubbles up on the right-hand side of the picture, is there something like a stream-line where water in the soil & overlying strata hits less permeable rock? I live in an area (edge of the Winterbournes) where water sometimes bubbles up out of the road at a certain point when it’s very wet, but can’t quite see how that would happen in a more recently-formed landscape. Unless the hill on the right isn’t volcanic rock, but has been uplifted at some point? Or the water is just running down the hillside in a gully there, which we can’t see? – just curious!
I’m no geologist, but as a lover of mountains both fiery and cold, I have been assuming that it is just the flow from the ridge to the right of the camera. The ground looks quite broken, centuries of frost-shattering will have built quite a depth of soil that holds water and allows if to flow through. That is naturally seeking the lowest point and just happens to meet a lava flow rather than a river. The more steamy areas will just be due to the exact shape of the hillside focussing the flow in certain areas.
There did appear to be evidence of some sort of water flow under where the lava is on on that side. It was just beyond where Isolf’s reputed grave was and it looked like a small bank, a bit like what you get in sand on the beach where water flows down.
https://twitter.com/Vedurstofan/status/1374283813895950336
2/2 The figure clearly shows the thermal output from the eruption site and the new lava, but the outline of the thermal anomaly is a little bit scattered due to clouds at the time, and the red area does not reflect the size of the flow.
It’s official, the mooon has life:
1/2 The LANDSAT-8 satellite, owned by NASA and the US geologist, was launched in 2013. Since then, the moon has emitted a large number of images, including this thermal image taken over the Reykjanes peninsula at 22:38 20 March, just over a day after the eruption began
https://twitter.com/Vedurstofan/status/1374286034985484288
I didn’t think Iceland did traffic jams:
https://www.ruv.is/frett/2021/03/18/helstu-tidindi-svipad-hraunflaedi-en-faerri-skjalftar
A two-kilometer series of cars on Suðurstrandarvegur
Many people are on their way to the eruption sites in Geldingadalur to see the eruption. Hólmfríður Dagný Friðjónsdóttir, a journalist, says that there is a two-kilometer-long row of cars on Suðurstrandarvegur. There is a large number of cars and jeeps but also a few buses. They have brought geology students from the University of Iceland who are now getting eruptions to explore in their studies.
All those that Hólmfríður Dagný has seen on her journey to the eruption sites have been well equipped for walking.
It looks like people are being let back on to the strip of land between the Southeast and Southwest lava flows again. I can see quite a group over there on the live cam.
That area is still closed and nobody should be there. How vigorously this is enforced is a different matter.
it looks like it has calmed down a bit, the lava fountain doesn’t reach as high anymore and hardly overflows the crater.
The Uni. Iceland geochemistry team is aiming to publish a full description of the major element composition today. I have heard some mind blowing rumors… so prepare for a treat.
https://twitter.com/PNikkola/status/1374286288073920514?s=19
That depth of 17-20 km would not be unexpected as that is where melt will accumulate in this region. The question is how long has it been there, did it spend any time in the upper crust (5 km depth: days or weeks), and where did the melt actually melt as that may be rather deeper than 20 km.
Dr. Þorbjörg Ágústsdóttir retweeted links to these papers indicating they could shed a light on what might be happening below ground.
Clinopyroxyne.
Perhaps you can make more sense out of it than this non geologist(me) 😃
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41561-019-0376-9
https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/feart.2020.00188/full
Clinopyroxene crystals form at depth in the mantle. Olivine crystals form later, from whatever the first crystals left behind. From the composition of the olivine, you can see whether the pyroxene had formed. But the clinopyroxene can dissolve in the crust. So if the olivine suggest the crystals were present, from whether or not clinopyroxene is present you can guess how long the transport took. The earthquakes probably let the magma rise from 20 km to 5 km and that may have been very fast. After that it may have spend 1-2 weeks in the dike. The current eruption is fed either by the dike or directly from the conduit below. I guess the results may address that question.
Thank you..that was very informative.
For what it’s worth they all seem to be implying that this is coming directly from deep down and that this is the most primative magma that has erupted in Iceland in at least 7000 years.
Þorvaldur Þórðarson say’s in the latest interview that the “storage chamber”is below the crust.
But yes, the report will give us all the juicy details.
How much do Hornitos usually weigh?
This is a large spatter cone … not a small hornito
The typical hornito weights a few tens of tons, down to many 100 s of kilos
Thank you. I was looking at the early stages of the eruption.
WOW heavy snow fall on eruption site! The volcano disapear…
Lots of steam coming from the ‘crack’ in the ridge in the ridge at the moment. Much more than there has been and I cannot see a fresh lava flow there.
Yes, saw that earlier this morning, significant amounts and it was appearing a long way up the slope.
I think it is probably steam, it’s been belting it down and if it is a gully, there will be a flow of snow/rain water being focused at that point on the lava flow. That said, it could be more burning peat, and i’ve still not discounted a fissure.
Sadly that area has been downwind so no one has been in that area to take photos to show exactly what is going on.
Decreas. SW-ly wind today, unhealthy air quality exp. near the eruption site after 19:00 today. SO2 concentr. close to the volcano can go over 9000 µg/m3, and gather in valleys/dells in the landscape. It is advised to leave the area before 17:00 and keep away from valleys/dells
https://twitter.com/Vedurstofan/status/1374336669327974400
It seems to be much quieter this afternoon.
It looks like the main vent now has a vent at the bottom which has stopped flow from the top of the vent.
It also looks like the volume may have increased as the area to the left of screen looks very fresh and the lava is flowing to the bottom left of the screen quite quickly now in comparison to previous flow rates. I may be wrong.
To bad the cam from the backside is no longer streaming
A bit of a collapse on the side facing the live camera, just now. Lava is flowing freely down the side again. A helicopter was circling the cone at the time, so some of the passengers would have had an awesome view of that.
That was an overflow, rather… The snow cleared and the rim still appears intact.
Its a hole in the spatter cones wall .. and lava flows out
Perhaps coud form a tube over time like halemaumau cone channels did in january
13:55:00 timestamp for the collapse
Orange man in blizzard alert…
The hill to left of the crater does not have any snow on it. Is that because of the volcanic gases, heat from the erupted lava or because there is magma underneath it?
It’s down wind of the lave field and has been since the start.
I suspect as a result of that, it has likely absorbed enough heat from the air that will have been warmed over the lave field, plus radiant heat direct from the eruption, to be too warm for snow to settle.
Maybe it is because the wind is blowing in that direction. The smoke blows the same way. So is the wind transporting heat from the lava-field in the very same direction? Maybe…?
Sucks because Corona I cannot go to the eruption! : (
Wants to see the eruption
Theeeee fiiiitlthy … corona thieeef… it ssssooole.. from ussssss.. .my preeecuuuioussssssssss……
Courseee it… weee haaaates it…. it ouuurs it is… .. aand WEE WAANTS IT!
The number of shallow quakes between Keilir and Fagradalsfjall has increased in number today, ranging from 0.0 to 0.7 km.
Report is out
“The Geldingadalahraun lava has a porphyritic texture, it contains, in order of decreasing abundance, the following minerals: plagioclase > olivine > clinopyroxene > spinel. It has an olivine tholeiite composition with Mg#=60.1. The bulk rock measurements lie at the primitive end of the spectrum of magmas that have erupted on the Peninsula over the Holocene.
Preliminary geothermobarometric calculations suggest a magma temperature of 1180-1190 °C on the surface. Furthermore, microphenocrysts of plagioclase, augite and olivine crystallized in equilibrium with the basaltic glass in the shallow dyke, in accordance with geophysical observations. The bulk magma itself on the other hand is probably derived from a significantly larger depth (as deep as the crust-mantle boundary), suggesting that the shallow dyke is fed from a much deeper magma storage zone.”
Full report in link
http://earthice.hi.is/characterisation_rock_samples_collected_1st_and_2nd_days_eruption_geldingdalur
So the eruption is currently fed from the dike, and the dike is or was fed from the mantle.
Was just listening to Páll Einarsson on RUV talking about the dyke. According to him a dyke of this width should solidify in about a week or so and he thus thinks most of it is solid already except forthat pipeline that is feeding this eruption from deep down.
True: a 1 meter stationary dike should solidify in about a week. But it depends whether there is a single pipeline, or the the diks has several inlets in which case there may be some circulation.
We see s surge in small quakes today, from Tuesday 00:00 UTC forward, so could that reflect the dyke material solidifying? I am guessing if the dyke does freeze out, a new round of pesky earthquakes will occur.
The lava comming out is over 1180 C ?
Then thats.. as hot as Holuhraun was… but its comming from the deeper parts of the rift
Holuhraun.. was 1180 C but cooled on its way up from a still much hotter orginal source
The lava does appear to be very fluid now… 1190 C is in line with Hawaiis eruption temperature.
Still the lava haves some texture on it.. and quickly turns into rough pahoehoe
But it have gotten more and more fluid over the week. I think we are seeing a small lava shield in the formation
Read the full report and since this is based on samples from day one and tho could the composition change lets say to even more primitive magma as the channel/dyke is plumbed?
Also note: “Trace element and isotopic characterization are coming soon!” More to come…
The LH vent seems to be more active now. But since the field is smoking more than the inside of my parents VW Beetle in 1975, the view is not the best right now. 😀
It’s a lot weight on the ground that is pushing down. And a cavity under ground. If or when it fill up the valley. Will the ground fall down into the cavity?
Or can this be a permanent fixture that builds and builds if it’s feed from the mantel and will not have a empty cavity.
There is no shallow magma chamber that feeds the eruption and that can collapse. Magma comes from the narrow dyke, which in turn is fed directly from the mantle.
The thick lines and blobs on the ISS seismometer, is that the weather or small earthquakes? The other meters around it don’t show it at all.
The Kri drum plot? That’s interesting.
The overnight stuff might be weather, but it could be tremor. The blob at 5pm today, could be someone walking past close by, 2-3 min duration, may be a fair few hikers in the vicinity?
Looks like activity is increasing… this suggest its going to be a very long lived eruption, its soo constant
https://www.ruv.is/frett/2021/03/20/beint-vefstreymi-fra-eldstodvunum?fbclid=IwAR1HjP9wEFNW2bLIaJQj5X96BK8NJsTadE35FC7d0OeEXDJtzzunerfxebg
No. 2 on the left appears to have shut down. No3 still looks to be going strong though and looks to be producing a flow towards the southeast breakout point.
If it is long-lived Jesper, you might get over to see it LoL!
Has there been any more InSAR updates after the eruption started? It would be interesting to see how the eruption affects ground deformations.
Where i Carl?
I probably missed some of the comments from recent days, but I find it strange his absence.
Any word from him?
Maybe he is in Iceland…
Last seen cooking sausages on the lava outflow in Iceland…? 🙂