Iceland warming up again - quakes swarming

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In summary, Iceland is experiencing a rise in temperatures alongside a significant increase in seismic activity, with an uptick in earthquakes indicating geological instability. This phenomenon highlights the ongoing impact of climate change on the region's environment and geological processes.
  • #36
Grindavik's mayor, Fannar Jonasson, said one of the fissures was only metres from his fence and he thought that he would be among those to lose their homes.

“Then it happened that the lava stopped flowing there so [the house] escaped, as well as the others who were there in danger,” he told RUV.
From BBC live stream near Grindavik, Iceland

Apparently, today the lava stopped flow, but it could start again. I think there is a concern that a lava channel runs under the city, and it does appear (from the map) that Grindavik is directly over a fissure or fault through which lava could flow.
 

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  • #37
Somewhat related to the lava chamber/volume in the Reykjanes Peninsular in SE Iceland, Iceland scientists want to drill a hole straight into a reservoir of molten magma about a mile underground.

https://www.businessinsider.com/ice...source-kmt-geothermal-energy-limitless-2024-1

The Krafla Magma Testbed (KMT) aims to create the world's first research center above a magma chamber to monitor, sample, and test the molten rock in situ for the first time.

Apparently, the group bored into a magma chamber in N Iceland at the Krafla fissure.
 
  • #38
Iceland eruption confirms faultline has reawakened: Expert
https://phys.org/news/2024-01-iceland-eruption-faultline-reawakened-expert.html

A volcanic eruption that has engulfed homes in an Icelandic fishing port confirms that a long-dormant faultline running under the country has woken up, threatening to belch out lava with little warning for years to come, an expert warned on Tuesday.
Sunday's eruption was the fifth in fewer than three years on the Reykjanes peninsula, which had not previously seen one in centuries.

"After eight centuries of a relative break and a complete cessation of surface activity, we have entered a new episode of plate separation which could last several years—possibly decades," volcanologist Patrick Allard from France's Institut de Physique du Globe de Paris told AFP.

I had wondered if the new eruption close to town indicated a potential further instrusion. If the plates are separating, then that fissure may be likely to extend southwestward.
 
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  • #39
Astronuc said:
At 1500 local time, it appears lava has reached some houses.
https://www.bbc.com/news/live/world-europe-67973655
The BBC page cited was live-streaming video of the lava flowing from the small fissure near Grindavik. The updated page shows the aftermath. Lava reached three homes on the north border of Grindavik; one home was newly constructed and not yet occupied. The whole town (fo about 3800 people) had been evacuated.
The main fissure further NE of the small fissure was mostly on the other side of a 3m berm/dam that diverted the lava away from Grindavik. An underground lava channel broke the surface near Grindavik. Concerns have been expressed that the fissure or fault could breach futher into the town, which would be catastrophic.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/worl...n-was-a-black-day-for-the-country/ar-AA1n0iW9

The lava has already caused major damage and severed the pipes that took hot water from the nearby power station into the town. Homes now have no heat, meaning that it is uninhabitable given freezing temperatures this time of year.

The volcanic eruption is Iceland’s fifth in three years, and second in less than a month. An eruption on Dec. 18 saw semi-molten rock projected into the air from a 2.5 miles long crack near Grindavik. Evacuated locals returned to their homes on Dec. 22 when volcanic activity had ceased.

Since then, emergency workers have been erecting a 3-meter (9.84-ft.) defensive walls around the town but they were not complete at the time of the second eruption. Jakobsdottir said the barriers were "serving their purpose" and had redirected the flow of lava. He added that the new fissure had, however, bypassed these defenses and made its way into the town.
 
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  • #40
Here we go again!

“
At 5:30 this morning an intense seismic activity started north-east of mt. Sýlingarfell. Around 30 minutes later, a volcanic eruption started at the site.

The eruptive fissure lengthened both towards north and south during the first minutes.

The first images from the Icelandic Coast Guard's surveillance flight suggest that the eruption takes place at a similar location as the eruption on the 18th of December 2023. The eruptive fissure is approximately 3 km long, from mt. Sundhnúkur in the south and stretches towards the eastern part of mt. Stóra-Skógfell. Lava flows mostly towards west at the moment and the flow seems to be slightly less than at the start of the 18th of December eruption.



The lava fountains reach about 50-80 m height and the volcanic plume rises about 3 km above the eruptive fissure.”

https://en.vedur.is/about-imo/news/a-seismic-swarm-started-north-of-grindavik-last-night
 
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  • #41
Addendum to the above post, from one of my favorite channels on Iceland.

 
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  • #42

Iceland Feb 8 eruption Threatens Blue Lagoon: Livestream w/ Geologist Shawn Willsey​

 
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  • #44
Astronuc said:
I wonder if this will be a monthly occurrence.
I have just watched Shawn Willsey going through the updates (thanks @Astranut !)
The GPS data suggests a trend of rise of land again, a fourth cycle of gradual rise over time to 10-15 cm, eruption, sink, then the process starts again.
As a non geologist/volcanologist I agree with V50, lots of small "manageable" earth quakes rather than a cataclysmic event.

Issue is the close proximity of the power plant to the fault and natural hot water pipeline that has already been breached.
 
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  • #45
Astronuc said:
North of Grindavik but just east and near Mount Sýlingarfell and town of Svartsengi, which is west of Sýlingarfell. The lava will go wherever gravity and the land allows it.

https://apnews.com/article/iceland-volcano-eruption-1938ec2da163f6d2f5dcdd553aea812d

I wonder if this will be a monthly occurrence.
Unless the influx of fresh magma stops, yes, it’s going to be a cyclical event. The folks in charge of the response are starting to realize just how much of a problem this is going to be. Between the aforementioned hot water supply interruptions, the direct threat to power generation facilities at Svartsengi, the indirect threat to the power grid due to disruptions to the aforementioned power plant… yeah, it’s not a pretty picture.
 
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  • #46
Images from space of the lava north of Grindavik
https://www.newsweek.com/iceland-volcano-update-lava-river-seen-space-1869062

An image, taken from orbit by the European Union's Copernicus' SENTINEL-2 satellite, shows the stream of lava around ten hours after the eruption began, roughly 2.5 miles (~4 km) northeast of the fishing town of Grindavík.

"The lava fountains reach about 50-80 m [164-262 feet] height and the volcanic plume rises about 3 km [1.9 miles] above the eruptive fissure."
 
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  • #47
Whoever coined the term "Terre Firma" didn't know what the hell they were talking about. There is a connundrum with human settlements. Volcanoes produce wonderful soils for growing stuff, and also have the potential to wipe you out in an instant. Russian Roulette on a grand scale. Watching "Riccardi" on PBS which takes place in Naples in the 1930s, you are constantly impressed with just how close Vesuvius is to that large city. Settlements on the Big Island of Hawaii comes to mind. Even Halleakula on Maui is not extinct, only sleeping. No wonder ancients worshipped the gods that controlled volcanoes. Maybe we just shouldn't live near them in the first place.
 
  • #49
This article in phys.org gives a summary of the situation in the area.
https://phys.org/news/2024-02-unprecedented-magma-river-surged-beneath.html

The paper https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.adn2838

Some frightening numbers in there from the met office

-Before Thursday's eruption, 6.5 million cubic meters of magma had accumulated below the region encompassing Grindavik

-The magma flowed at 7,400 cubic meters per second (not measured before in Iceland)

-800 years of dormancy prior 2021

The hot water pipeline has been restored to the towns and airport, and the road to the blue lagoon has been repaired according to this source. He gets a little edgy and satirical but the posts are informative.

 
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  • #50
pinball1970 said:
This article in phys.org gives a summary of the situation in the area.
There is a link to a paper at the bottom.
https://phys.org/news/2024-02-unprecedented-magma-river-surged-beneath.html

Some frightening numbers in there from the met office

-Before Thursday's eruption, 6.5 million cubic meters of magma had accumulated below the region encompassing Grindavik

-The magma flowed at 7,400 cubic meters per second (not measured before in Iceland)

-800 years of dormancy prior 2021

The hot water pipeline has been restored to the towns and airport, and the road to the blue lagoon has been repaired according to this source. He gets a little edgy and satirical but the posts are informative.


The author of the video mentions the volcanic system near Lake Kleifarvatn in the area of Hafnarfjarðarkaupstaður, or along the border with Grindavíkurbær. Is that a dormant set of volcanoes? There seems to be a ridge or two west of Kleifarvatn.

And what of Fagradalsfjall Volcano?
 
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  • #51
Astronuc said:
The author of the video mentions the volcanic system near Lake Kleifarvatn in the area of Hafnarfjarðarkaupstaður, or along the border with Grindavíkurbær. Is that a dormant set of volcanoes? There seems to be a ridge or two west of Kleifarvatn.

And what of Fagradalsfjall Volcano?
Shawn Willsey mentioned seismic activity there due to the faults but not linked to magma fields from memory.
There are designated danger zones along the fissure and other hazards and Fagradalsfjall volcano and the lake are currently outside those zones to the West( 1-6, Open fissures, magma flow, gases etc)

The video maker thinks there is potential at the lake but I have not seen anything so far from the science updates. He mentioned an "expert" possibly Prof Pordarson? Shawn Willsey says Pordason has "made statements" but not supported them. One was wrt to a movement in the West not the east where the lake/Fagradalsfjall but I would need to revisit the updates.

There is an update at 4pm GMT from Willsey.
 
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  • #52
Astronuc said:
The author of the video mentions the volcanic system near Lake Kleifarvatn in the area of Hafnarfjarðarkaupstaður, or along the border with Grindavíkurbær. Is that a dormant set of volcanoes? There seems to be a ridge or two west of Kleifarvatn.

And what of Fagradalsfjall Volcano?
I asked the question to Shawn Willsey on the live stream in the QnA.



Right now in terms of risk, answer, yes. From eruption is a different question and is not an immediate risk based on seismic data, in terms of eruptions. In terms of what has been happening since 2021 and recently that could change.


EDIT: One thing you may be interested in is the seismic activity represented graphically, prior to the original eruption in 2021 then through to the latest Feb eruptions (sped up many times)

To an untrained eye it made very little sense/no pattern to me apart from increased activity during the eruptions.


Anyway it was interesting listening to the commentary and Prof Willsey view, and the graphics are pretty cool.

It is a long video and those graphics starts bang on 39 minutes if you want to watch that.

He does the Q and A at the end, and he reads out your question from me at 1:23:10 ish, You may prefer to get it from the horses mouth @Astronuc
 
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  • #53
Prof Willsey and Prof Pordarson discuss the current situation in Iceland.



0-7.49: Geology, tectonics and volcanic activity of the peninsula and rest of Iceland.

7.49: Current state. Seismic activity related to the eruptions. Different "systems" across Iceland. Comparison to Hawaii.

14.12: Can previous crater systems in the area re-open?

18.20: Rock composition role, bore hole data.

23.57: Reaction to the emergency, mitigation and preparations.

32:40: Iceland volcanic misconceptions and what could happen next.
 
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  • #54
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  • #55
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  • #56
 
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  • #57
  • #58
Astronuc said:
Seems to be a monthly occurrence now.
That seems to be view and the eruptions are following that pattern. Hopefully the defences they have put in place will hold for now and the infrastructure will not be damaged again.

I need to watch the updates, catch up up on what the next steps will be with the town, roads, pipeline, power plant and Blue Lagoon.
Presumably the defences were not constructed to protects for many months of similar eruptions?
 
  • #59
Reuters - Iceland lava flows slow after fourth eruption since December 2023 - so it seems on a montly cycle now. I wonder if the cycle length will increase with time.

https://www.reuters.com/business/en...er-fourth-eruption-since-december-2024-03-17/

The new fissure extended approximately 1.9 miles (~3 km) long, with lava flowing to both sides, but apparently more to the east away from Grindavik and toward the coast to the south.

In addition to the upheaval of the surrounding ground, I'd be interested in the lateral expansion. Is Iceland growing?
 
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  • #60
Astronuc said:
Reuters - Iceland lava flows slow after fourth eruption since December 2023 - so it seems on a montly cycle now. I wonder if the cycle length will increase with time.

https://www.reuters.com/business/en...er-fourth-eruption-since-december-2024-03-17/

The new fissure extended approximately 1.9 miles (~3 km) long, with lava flowing to both sides, but apparently more to the east away from Grindavik and toward the coast to the south.

In addition to the upheaval of the surrounding ground, I'd be interested in the lateral expansion. Is Iceland growing?
Shawn Willsey's YouTube videos often have 3 axis GPS movement data.
 
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  • #61
It's still going. Those cones are getting huge.
 
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  • #62
 
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  • #63

Iceland's Eruption Reaches Three Weeks, Only One Vent Active: Geologist Provides Analysis​

 
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  • #64
The cone has been breached. Spectacular images.

 
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  • #65
 
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  • #66
 
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  • #67
Large eruption.



It's live so T minus 3:48:57 is when the smoker appears in two places then camera zooms in a few seconds later.
 
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  • #69
So, the name of the volcano, or volcanic complex is Sundhnúkur.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2023–2024_Sundhnúkur_eruptions
As of 16 March 2024, there have been four eruptions between December 2023 and March 2024, following an intense series of earthquakes. Although localised, the seismic and volcanic activity have caused significant disruption across the western part of the peninsula.

The eruptions were preceded by an intense earthquake swarm in the Eldvörp–Svartsengi volcanic system that began on 24 October 2023, caused by a magmatic intrusion underneath the area.

Now, it seems a monthly occurrence.
 
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