Fissure Eruption Begins in Iceland - "Fagradalsfjall"

Hi all, this has been building up considerably for the last month, but there were indications of this starting last year. Since the midlle of February we've been getting daily shakes, averaging around 1200 a day (mostly less than Mag 3) in the southwest of Iceland.

I stay in Reykjavik and I can attest to the 4s and 5s that we've felt. GPS data has indicated for over a year now that the Reykjanes peninsula was filling up and tonight the pimple burst.

The area is called Fagradalsfjall, google that and you'll get up to date. This is close to the International Airport, so.. I'll be here.

I went to the coast closest to me, which happens to look right over the bay to where this is happening. It was a pretty dense north-atlantic evening, but my camera picked it out better than my eyes could, behind the town Gardabær:

imgur.com...

Here's a bbc article on it:
www.bbc.com...

Cheers!

Are they usually bad when you get the eruptions over there?

a reply to: rickymouse

I was here for an eruption that was on the other side of the country, that didn't affect anyone. It looks like this is going to be an effusive eruption, there's no central cone this is erupting from.

By expert's estimates, it couldn't have happened in a better place - it'll likely bowl up in this valley. That said, they have put out word for bulldozers and water pumps. They've done this before..

en.wikipedia.org...

a reply to: rickymouse

It's bad when one of the glacial-capped volcanoes go off, like in 2010/2011. This isn't one of those.

a reply to: Revolvacron

Stay safe and thanks for posting. I got a notification earlier today.

a reply to: Bigburgh

Thanks man, it's going to be what they call a "Tourist Eruption" I'm sure. Regardless, me and my SO ran out of the house to see it. What a country.

a reply to: Bigburgh






Lol

Wow!!!! ...That’s kind of pretty combined with kind of scary ! Is it on land or in the ocean ? Ans How will this affect the animal , wildlife , or any people living in its path ?

a reply to: Revolvacron

Well i just read the area is uninhabited and they dont expect it to pose any danger to people. So thats a good thing looks like you get to enjoy natures light show. Though i will say be careful and stay safe and thank you for posting i find this interesting. I know i would want to get a closer look so im one of those stupid people that gets hurt. Did the same thing in a hurricane i had to see it

a reply to: Meldionne1

It's on land so far. Whether it flows into the sea nobody can say for sure. Depends on how big this burp is

a reply to: dragonridr

You have the right of it, I think. Pretty to see with one's own eyes, probably not so pretty with one's breath.

Some in-line pics now that I'm not half-cut:

a reply to: Revolvacron

Dang those are sweet pics. This what ya meant by "tourist eruption" ? 🤗

My understanding is this particular volcano has been quiet for thousands of years. Is that correct?

Pretty cool that you get to witness it's waking.

a reply to: MrRCflying

Yeah, you're mostly correct. I believe that the freshest lava in the area is around 800 years old, but prior to that it's in the region of 10,000 years. The whole area is just a layering of effusive eruptions, if you ever get the chance to fly to Iceland, the drive between the Intl Airport and Reykjavik takes you through these same fields.

If anyone is interested in watching LIVE

Here is a YouTube channel link

www.youtube.com...

This type of eruption is only really bad if it either happens to ooze into your backyard or if it lasts long enough starts deep enough to tap into gas.

There was one fissure eruption that killed off a lot of livestock on the island and caused a lot of air quality problems on the continent of Europe. The Laki eruption I think.

The system erupted violently over an eight-month period between June 1783 and February 1784 from the Laki fissure and the adjoining volcano Grímsvötn, pouring out an estimated 42 billion tons or 14 km3 (3.4 cu mi) of basalt lava and clouds of poisonous hydrofluoric acid and sulfur dioxide compounds that contaminated the soil, leading to the death of over 50% of Iceland's livestock population, and the destruction of the vast majority of all crops. This led to a famine which then killed approximately 25% of the island's human population.[4] The lava flows also destroyed 20 villages.

The Laki eruption and its aftermath caused a drop in global temperatures, as 120 million tons of sulfur dioxide was spewed into the Northern Hemisphere. This caused crop failures in Europe and may have caused droughts in North Africa and India.

Obviously, the odds that this is anything like that are very low.

a reply to: ketsuko

Unlike those in the Puna district of Hawaii, Icelanders seem to have some sense.
www.sfgate.com...

Didn't work out so well for many.

a reply to: Revolvacron

Live feed YT.

An update from the Icelandic Meteorological society on this quite interesting eruption. Basically there are no signs of a magma chamber beneath the peninsula and analyses of the lavas that have been produced indicate that they come from primitive magma (directly from the mantle, as opposed to coming from a chamber in the crust):

How long can the eruption last? On the Reykjanes peninsula, wave refraction measurements show that the earth's crust is usually about 15 km thick, and below the earth's crust the mantle takes over. Geophysical measurements can detect signs of magma or magma chambers in the earth's crust, but on the Reykjanes peninsula there are no signs of this, neither magma nor magma chambers. Therefore, magma that arises in eruptions on the Reykjanes peninsula can be expected to come directly from below the crust, straight from the mantle.

Chemical analyzes by the University of Iceland's Institute of Earth Sciences on the new lava field in Geldingadalur have now confirmed that this is the case, i.e. that the magma that arises is primitive and comes directly from a mantle from a depth of 15-17 km. It is estimated that the magma flow in Geldingadalur is around 5-6 m3/s and the flow has changed little since the eruption began. A tremor graph from the FAF seismometer, east of Fagradalsfjall about 2.5 km from the eruption fissure, shows the strength of the eruption well in the frequency range 2-4 Hz (blue line). According to the unrest, the intensity of the eruption has not diminished but rather the opposite, been steadily increasing in recent days, especially at night. These observations of turbulence compare well with other observations, e.g. images from satellites. But how long can the eruption last?

A direct connection has now been formed from magma at the top of the mantle to the surface in Geldingadalur. First and foremost, it is the amount of magma at the top of the mantle that determines how much material reaches the surface. There are examples of shield volcano eruptions on the Reykjanes peninsula that undoubtedly lasted for years and produced a lot of lava, e.g. Þráinsskjöldur, Sandfellshæð and Heiðin há which are the largest shield volcanoes in the area.

It can be assumed that a direct connection was also formed from magma in the mantle to the surface based on chemical analysis. There are other examples of eruptions where magma chambers in the crust were not known and lasted for a long time, such as e.g. the Surtsey eruption from 1963 to 1967 [that rose straight from the sea]. It is unknown at this time how long the eruption will last but based on the steady lava flow and other indicators, the eruption could last much longer than initially was expected based only on the [small] size of the eruption.

Vedur.is (Icelandic)