This is a short update and second update for 6-April-2021 for Fagradalsfjall mountain that is part of Krýsuvík-Trölladyngju volcano system.
During the night a new fissure was discovered between the new eruption and the old eruption. The fissure is about 150 meters long and there is hot air coming up from it.
There are reports of a new fissure north of the new eruption and land has been sinking down at that location. No other changes have been reported at the writing of this article.
The lava going down into Meradalir valley slows down once it is there because it cools down quickly once it is there. There is a lava river going down in the Meradalir valley and that lava is moving quickly.
It is now estimated that this is a start of a long volcano activity period on Reykjanes peninsula that is going to last for centuries with breaks of 10 to 20 years between active periods of 30 to 50 years.
The situation is currently changes often during the day and the night and the risk of a new eruptions starting without any warning is now extremely high.
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This is a short update on the eruption in Fagradalsfjall mountain as it is part of Krýsuvík-Trölladyngja volcano.
There has been a slight increase in micro-earthquake activity along the dyke after the new fissures opened up in Fagradalsfjall mountain. Most of them are interestingly forced on a area close to Keilir mountain.
The earthquake activity on the Reykjanes peninsula. Copyright of this image belongs to Icelandic Met Office.
It has been reported that lava flow from the new and old eruption site is now more than what was most at the old eruption site (Geldingadalir valley). It is now estimated to be total 10m3/second.
Craters are building up at the new eruption site. That might change the lava flow long term and there is a risk that it is going to flow towards Geldingadalir valley when that change in lava flow happens.
There is a high risk of new fissures opening up both north and south of Geldingadalir valley (1st eruption) and north of Fagradalsfjall mountain eruption (2nd eruption).
Lava is now flowing into Meradalir valley. That valley is far larger then Geldingadalir valley and won’t be filled up easily. There seems to be more water in this valley and that might result in lava explosions if the lava gets that far down into the valley.
Currently there are no other new information that I can find. Next update should be on Friday 9th April 2021 unless something major happens.
New fissure started to open up at around 11:37 UTC on 5-April-2021 when a magnitude Mw1,5 earthquake (most likely) took place in Fagradalsfjall mountain. The new fissure is expanding and but I am now estimating that the current length of the new fissure is 1,2 km based on Rúv News web camera view. The new fissure is north-east of the earlier eruption in Geldingadalir valley any.
The new fissure opening up. Copyright of this image belongs to Rúv. From Rúv web camera.
I’ll post update about this later today when I know more.
Update at 16:29 UTC
The larger fissure is around 300 meters long according to reports. Part of it seems to be under its own lava flow based on what I am seeing on new videos of the fissure. The second fissure is about 10 to 30 meters long. There is also a one single eruption vent in the area just outside of the fissure areas. The lava flow is going into Meradalir below the new fissures. It might soon go into a what seems to be a lake or a dried up lake in that valley that is a lot larger and deeper than Geldingadalir valley that is now full of lava. The eruption in the original craters continues but at lot less energy levels than before. This might only be temporary change but it is impossible to know for sure what is going to happen.
Next update is going to be again in few hours as this situation develops.
Pictures are from Department of Civil Protection and Emergency Management.
The eruption from a helicopter as seen today. Picture is from Department of Civil Protection and Emergency Management. Free to use.The lava river into Meradalir valley. Picture is from Department of Civil Protection and Emergency Management. The pictures is free to use.
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.
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.
This is a short update of the activity in the eruption in Geldingadalir valley (former, as the valley has now filled up with lava or close to being filled with lava). The eruption is taking place in Krýsuvík-Trölladyngja volcano system. The eruption has been stable all week. On Sunday 28-March-2021 other side of the craters that had built up collapsed into the lava stream that has formed below the erupting craters. Both craters are now about equal erupting size.
The lava that is now erupting is primitive Tholeiitic magma based on the chemical analyse from University of Iceland. That report can be found here (pdf).
Both craters are unstable and often suffer a collapse and rock slides and that often changes their look suddenly and drastically in a moment.
Icelanders continue to act like idiots in front of the web cameras that show the eruption online (I think all of them). The Rúv web camera is a large structure there that is easy to avoid (with solar panels and everything).
Lava boiling is a common occurrence that often breaks up through the newly formed crust in the new lava field. This happens without warning and often reshapes the lava field in a instance.
Spatter activity in the eruption craters often drops but the flow of lava seems to be stable based on the web cameras and observation reported in the news by volcano scientists according to the latest news I was able to find.
It is unclear when lava is going to start flowing out of Geldingadalir valley (former). It might start to happen this weekend or by next week.
Based on what I am observing on the web cameras at the writing of this article. A collapse might happen in the erupting crater on the right side on the screen (I don’t know what is north and south on the web camera). When that or if that happens is impossible to know, but the whole structure that I am seeing doesn’t look that stable when I write this article.
At the writing of this article a large collapse took place in the erupting crater on the left side on the camera. Resulting in block of the erupting vent and resulting in a lot of spatter activity as a result as it clears it self of the rock that fell into it.
Currently there are no signs of this eruption about to end. This eruption might go on for a long time. Next update about the eruption in Geldingadalir valley (former) should be on 9-April-2021 unless something major happens in the eruption.
Update 14:12 UTC on 3-April-2021
The eruption craters at 13:56 UTC on 3-April-2021. Copyright of this image belongs to Rúv. From Rúv YouTube stream of the eruption.
There is now in the northern crater (right side on screen?) a small lava fall. Its not big but it is few meters high. There are variations in spatter activity and the whole crater structure remains unstable. There are many collapses and changes now over one day.
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This is a short update on the situation about the eruption on 27-March-2021. This eruption is now classified as to be happening in Krýsuvík volcano system.
The eruption seems to be slowly increasing. The small craters on the left (on the web camera) have now merged into one larger crater. It is possible that the two remaining craters might merge into one large crater.
The magma fro this eruption is coming from 17 – 20 km depth and that can result in a eruption that can last a long time.
Geldingadalir valley is now almost filled with lava. It is expected to overflow by Easter in about 6 days based on current eruption rate of the lava.
Lake of lava has formed in the Geldingadalir valley. Videos have been posted on Facebook and other social media showing how dangerous the lava field currently is. Do not walk on the fresh lava. It is going to take decades and possibly centuries to cool down to a safe level.
The lava at it thickest is estimated now to be 20 to 30 meters deep.
There are fluctuations in the eruptions. Sometimes its slightly more and sometimes slightly less based on observations with the web camera on Rúv.
It seems that a mountain is being built by this eruption. How that is going to progress is difficult to know for sure.
In general there has not been a lot of change in the eruption since it started a week ago (19-March-2021). Next update is going to be hopefully on 2-April-2021 unless something major happens in this eruption.
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This is not a update on the eruption. There has not been any major change in the eruption at the writing of this article.
University of Iceland has released a report that can be read here (pdf) showing that the magma that is now erupting comes from the depth of 17 to 20 km. Crust at this location on the Reykjanes peninsula is around 17 km deep. A 3D map can be found here of the eruption. I think it is going to updated regularly by ÍSOR. The lava that is now erupting is part of Tholeiitic magma (Wikipedia). The lava is 1180C when it erupts from the ground.
What seems to be now happening is that a shield volcano is forming. It is a question if this is going to result in a formation of new magma chambers along the dyke where it formed. There is continued risk that new vents and fissures eruptions opens in this change can happen without warning. Based on earthquake activity it seems that the dyke continues to be active rather than having turned into rock by cooling.
It is now estimated that the Geldingadalir valley is going to overflow in 8 to 18 days and currently a lava pond is forming at this location. Once that happens the lava is going to flow into nearby valley (I can’t find the name of it). One of the valley the lava is in the end going to flow into Nátthagi valley if the eruption lasts long enough.
This information is going to get outdated quickly. This article covers Krýsuvík-Trölladyngja volcano. This article is written on 21-March-2021 at at 00:40 UTC.
This eruption is tiny. The amount of magma erupted is now around 0.02km3 but this number might not be fully accurate since I’ve not seen any published number about of volume of lava erupted so far.
This is unconfirmed but it is possible that an new fissure opened up under the lava field next to the hill side (seen on the web camera, this is on the left side).
The current erupting fissure is now about 200 meters long and might be getting shorter.
Earthquake activity has almost stopped at the writing of this article.
This eruption might only last 1 to 3 days before it stops.
There is no sign of deflation in the GPS data at the writing of this article.
There are no other reports about this eruption at current time. This might change without warning.
Beint vefstreymi af eldgosinu – Vogastapi (Rúv.is) – Added 22-March-2021. View from a distance. Should show a red glow from the eruption if the weather isn’t too bad. – This web camera is no longer active!
Update at 15:28 UTC – One side of the main crater collapses
Here is a video of the main crater collapse on one side and give lava a new path for short period of time. At the writing of this update that path for the lava has closed down again.
Kvikustreymið braut sér nýja leið (Rúv.is) – This is a new video of the crater collapse that took place at 14:20 today (21-March-2021).
Article updated at 15:29 UTC. New information added. Article updated at 21:21 UTC. New information added. Article updated at 03:06 UTC on 22-March-2021. Web camera added.
em>Article updated at 16:34 UTC on 22-March-2021. Web camera has been removed by Rúv – comment added to that web camera.
This is a short overview of the eruption that is now ongoing in Geldingadalur in Fagradalsfjall mountain area. This is part of Krýsuvík-Trölladyngja volcano system according to latest information. This information might change as the time and more information is collected. This article is written on 20-March-2021 at 02:58 UTC.
This is the first eruption in Krýsuvík-Trölladyngja volcano system since the year 1340.
The eruption started at 20:45 UTC according to Icelandic Met Office. The harmonic tremor from the eruption is almost invisible.
The fissure is at the writing of this article estimated about to be 1 km long with the direction south-west and north-east.
Currently the eruption is small and there is no risk of damage to any infrastructure. Next road (currently closed because of earthquake damage) that might get damaged is 2,5 km distance from the eruption site.
This eruption suggests that more eruption might start in different fissures once this eruption is over.
The valley that the lava is flowing into might get filled with lava if the eruption lasts long enough. The valley next to it is equally deep so there is no danger of this lava flow.
The eruption is in a area that is difficult to access even by a car.
The earthquake activity in the dyke. Copyright of this image belongs to Icelandic Met Office.
The eruption might only last for two to three days as it currently looks but that might change without warning since it is impossible to know for sure what is going to happen next with this eruption.
There are no good web cameras of this eruption since it is remote and started late on Friday night and the weather on Reykjanes peninsula is not good for today (20-March) or tomorrow (21-March).
Updated at 04:49 UTC. Web cameras added to this article.
Article updated at 03:49 UTC. Information added. Spell check fixes. Article updated at 04:52 UTC. Web cameras added. Article updated at 14:44 UTC. New web camera added from Rúv.
This article is going to go get updated soon as possible or a new article is going to be written. This information is going to get outdated quickly. This is Krýsuvík-Trölladyngja volcano.
This volcano eruption seems to have started without any earthquake activity or major harmonic tremor as of writing of this article. More information later this evening.
Update at 22:46 UTC
Here is a web camera link from Rúv. It might work. But all the web cameras are getting heavy traffic now.
Update 22:56 UTC
This is the possible location of the eruption based on satellite images of the area. This is in eastern side of Fagradalsfjall mountain. This is from Icelandic Met Office.
Update at 23:13 UTC
This the first picture of the eruption. The fissure is about 200 meters long at the writing of this article. Picture is from Icelandic Met Office.
Update 00:05 UTC on 20-March-2021
Video of the eruption. Video from Icelandic Met Office. Downloaded from Twitter.
Update at 00:56 UTC on 20-March-2021
Here is a new video of the eruption on Rúv website.
Title of the article was also fixed.
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