Tag: eruption

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Changes in the eruption in Fagradalsfjall mountain

This is the short update on the eruption in Fagradalsfjall mountain. That is part of Krýsuvík-Trölladyngja volcano system.

From 22-June to 29-June the eruption in Fagradalsfjall mountain changed. It started to from being stable output of magma to intermittence magma output. That phase lasted from 22-June to 29-June until around 19:30 when activity started to increase again. The magma output seems to have more than doubled based on what I am seeing on the web cameras (when not blinded by fog).

It is unclear but there might have a new crater opened up just south of the main crater. Right next to him and that location is making confirmation on this difficult. There has been splatter activity seen from that location. It is also possible that this crater has already shut down in the latest changes. I don’t know yet.

Some lava fountain activity has been seen on web cameras in the last hour. As the lava activity continues to increase. The flow of lava seems to be increasing from before and is now flowing out on all sides of the crater. That did not happen before. Activity seems to drop to almost nothing between lava flows. If this is permanent or just temporary phase of the eruption I don’t know. This might take weeks to change into stable lava flow again.

It has also been reported in the news that most of the lava flow happens underground and goes directly into the lava field where it collects into lava ponds before it goes into Meradalir, Geldingadalir (already full of lava) or Nátthagi valleys.

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Update on the eruption in Fagradalsfjall mountain on 18-June-2021

This is a short update on the eruption in Fagradalsfjall mountain. It is still classified as Krýsuvík-Trölladyngja volcano eruption. That might change in the future.

  • There is no sign of the eruption is about to stop.
  • Most of the week the lava was flowing in lava tubes that where invisible from the surface. Today (Friday 18-June-2021) that changed and lava is now again overflowing over the crater.
  • The crater remains unstable and collapses from the inside walls are frequents, or used to be. It is possible that for now the amount of lava in the crater is holding the walls up.
  • Nátthagi is now flooded with lava and the lava is on its way out of Nátthagi in next few hours to days. There won’t be any attempt made to stop the lava reaching the road or the ocean.
  • Geldingadalir valley is now full of lava and has overflowed a little. Lava might flow into Nátthagakriki in next few days, but small dirt walls where pushed up to try and delay that from happening. It is unclear if that worked. But for now the lava has not flowed into that direction.
Yellow lava flows out of the crater into a lava field and creates a new lava river.
The crater overflowing with lava. Copyright of this image belongs to Rúv.
A lot of smoke blocks the clear view into Nátthagi where the lava field is and is about to leave Nátthagi. Car can be seen at the end of the lava field.
View into Nátthagi but is in part blocked by gas pollution from the eruption. Copyright of this image belongs to Rúv.

Currently there are no other news about this eruption. Next update should be on 25-June.

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Update on the eruption in Fagradalsfjall mountain on 11-June-2021

This is not going to be a long update since there has not been a lot of change during the last week. There has been some and this is what happened. This is part of Krýsuvík-Trölladyngja volcano system (until the studies are updated).

  • The main crater is slowly closing and lava fountain activity has almost or has ended at the writing of this article.
  • The main crater is now around 100 meters high. Lava depth is from 10 to 70 meters thick depending on a location. There is a map but for copyright reasons I can’t show it here.
  • Lava flow is now permanent and does not happen between overflows necessary.
  • Lava lake might be forming in the crater, but the status of that remains unclear at the writing of this article.
  • There are overflows happening in the crater but according to the news the main lava flow happens underground in large dykes that go from the main crater into the lava field. Creating lava ponds that regularly break and expand the lava field at random.
  • Today (11-June-2021) people that are idiots where seen walking on the fresh lava that has a surface temperature from 50C to 100C in order to get to the viewing area (blocked by fresh lava flows) and one did even go as far walking on the slopes of the crater and almost ending up as part of the lava field him self. Video of that can be seen here on mbl.is website. As can be seen the lava flows them self are human height and can bury a person in a few seconds time.
  • Fresh lava in Fagradalsfjall is hot. While it is only 100C on the surface it can be 900C just few centimetres down and can go as high as 1100C if a surface of a lava tube is broken.
  • Yesterday (10-June-2021) a change happened in the eruption and that resulted in a change in the harmonic tremor that continues. Suggesting a permanent or a long term change to the eruption. What this mean is unclear currently.

There are no other updates as is. Next update should be on 18-June-2021 unless something happens in this eruption. Other parts of Iceland are quiet at the writing of this article.

Blue, green and purple show the harmonic tremor from the eruption in Fagradalsfjall. The change on 10-June shows a sharp edged harmonic tremor plot.
The harmonic tremor on nearby SIL station to the eruption in Fagradalsfjall mountain. Copyright of this image belongs to Icelandic Met Office.

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Update on the eruption in Fagradalsfjall mountain on 5-June-2021

There has not been a lot of change in the eruption during this week (28-May to 5-June) in the eruption of Fagradalsfjall mountain that might be part of Krýsuvík-Trölladyngja volcano system.

  • The crater continues to get bigger. The crater grows by collapsing on the inside and expanding it walls following that it seems. Current height of the crater is 300 to 500 meters. This is a bad estimate based on web camera views.
  • The main viewing area is now cut off from walking people because lava has flowed over the lowest point on the walking path.
  • There is now a risk because of the overflow over the walking path that the western barrier is going to be breached soon.
  • In general the lava doesn’t travel far but it builds up close to the erupting crater and is now at locations hundreds of meters thick.
  • If the eruption continues as it has been doing the whole area is going to go under lava in next 6 to 10 months. As the lava just keeps building up.
  • There are no signs that this eruption is ending.

There are no other news about this eruption that I know of. It continues as it has been doing since 19-March-2021. In other parts of Iceland it has also been quiet or minimal activity not worthy of reporting.

This article is a little late because I was dealing with headache issue for the last 12 hours.

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Update on the eruption in Fagradalsfjall mountain on 28-May-2021

This is a short update on the eruption in Fagradalsfjall mountain that is currently erupting and is part of Krýsuvík-Trölladyngja volcano system.

  • There have not been any major changes since last update. Minor changes seems to be happening but at the writing of this article, those changes have remained small.
  • Large lava fountain activity has stopped in later part of this week. There is still some lava fountain activity going on but it is minor based on what I’ve seen on the web cameras.
  • Lava is now flowing into Nátthagi. It is expected to reach Suðurstandarvegur road in 20 to 60 days depending on the lava flow into Nátthagi.
  • The western barrier for the lava has stopped the lava flow into Nátthagi at the writing of this article. Bad weather today (28-May-2021) has prevented any observation of the current situation in the eruption area. Its fog and heavy rain in this location currently.
  • Lava reservoir have formed in the lava field. They fill up slowly and then empty them self quickly into the lava field both on surface and with lava tubes that have formed in the lava field. This allows the lava field to expand quickly and without warning into new areas.
  • The lava field is slowly building upwards from the height it has been in recent weeks. Results of this is that soon the walking path to the viewing area on the ridge might soon be blocked by lava going over the area at its lowest points. This might only take few weeks to happen but that depends on how quickly the lava field builds up.

Other then this there has not been a lot of change in the eruption. This phase of the eruption might go on for months. There are clues that this is the first step in the building of a shield volcano or maybe a stratovolcano. What happens is a wait and see on this eruption.

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Update on the eruption in Fagradalsfjall mountain on 21-May-2021

This is a short update on the eruption in Fagradalsfjall mountain on 21-May-2021. This is part of the Krýsuvík-Trölladyngja volcano system.

There has not been a lot of change since last update on the eruption. The eruption has now been going on for two months and few more days. There are no signs of the eruption ending.

  • The lava fountain activity continues as it has been doing for the last month.
  • Output of lava has been increasing and is now around 11m3 compared to 5m3 at the start of the eruption.
  • Lava is now on its way to the ocean by flowing down into Nátthagadalur valley. There is an attempt to try and stop or delay that from happening by pushing up defences and try to hold back the lava field. It is my personal view that this attempt is going to fail, at most it is only going to delay the lava a little bit. Since the lava field also has to get over a hill that is in its path anyway. That is only going to take few days to a week depending on how much lava is being fed into this part of the lava field. That changes all the time with no warning.
  • Most of the lava goes into Meradalir valley where it is for now not putting anything in danger or risking infrastructure.
  • SO2 pollution is starting to show in south Iceland. There was also report of static electric charge build up around the eruption site yesterday (20-May-2021). It didn’t result in a lightning but the risk was in place for a good while.

There are for now no other news of the eruption and it has been quiet in other parts of the Iceland during the last week.

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Update on the eruption in Fagradalsfjall mountain on 15-May-2021

This is a short update on the eruption in Fagradalsfjall mountain. This eruption is part of the volcano system Krýsuvík-Trölladyngja volcano system.

The eruption continues as before but increase in lava output has been detected and is now 70% more according to latest news from Icelandic Met Office and Earth science of University of Iceland. Compared to the start of the eruption on 19-March-2021.

  • The eruption continues in one main crater. It erupts in lava fountain style at the writing of this article. With highest lava fountains reaching the height of 400 to 500 meters. The lava fountains can be seen from Reykjavík and other nearby area.
  • The lava field is about to reach Nátthagi valley and there is now an attempt to stop that from happening. Because of nearby road and fibre optic cable that runs through that area. It is my estimate that attempts to stop the lava flow are going to fail when the lava flow starts going back to Nátthagi valley.
  • The main crater is now 50 to 90 meters high. But his height is always changing because of continued collapse from it inside it and outside it. The process of collapse is slowly growing the crater volume and size.
  • The magma seems to be coming from even deeper part of the mantle compared to with start of the eruption. Based on lava changes in the chemical makeup.
  • There are no signs of the eruption about to be ending soon.

It is difficult to know for sure what happens next in the eruption. Opening up of new craters outside of current line of craters is something that might happen. With the eruption growing in size it is difficult to know for sure what is going to happen next in Fagradalsfjall mountain.

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Earthquake activity South-West of Keilir mountain

During the night 4-April-2021 at 02:04 UTC an earthquake with magnitude Mw3,0 at 5,7 km depth took place 1,5 km south-west of Keilir mountain. This earthquake was felt in Reykjavík area and outside of it. Based on the earthquake location it looks like it is located in the dyke or close to it. This is part of the Krýsuvík-Trölladyngja volcano.

Few dots on Reykjanes peninsula that shows the earthquake activity during the last 48 hours
Earthquake activity on Reykjanes peninsula. Copyright of this image belongs to Icelandic Met Office.

Along the magma dyke there seems to be forming focused points of earthquake activity. Currently I am seeing two location. The first location is around the eruption in Geldingadalir valley (former) and the second location that seems to be forming is just south of Keilir mountain. It has been my experience during the eruptions over the last few years that this type of earthquake activity might suggests that new location where eruptions might take place based on this earthquake activity. It is impossible to know if anything is going to happen. There is no change in GPS data since the eruption started. The GPS data can be viewed here.