Note: This article was written on August 5th – some information may be outdated.
On Wednesday, August 3rd, at 1:18 PM Icelandic time, just around 17 miles southwest of Reykjavik, the capital city of Iceland, lava began pouring out of the Fagradalsfjall volcano – less than a year after the eruption in 2021.
The volcanic eruption is still ongoing, exhibiting a similar pattern to last year’s events, where the volcano erupted for over six months. This had been the first major eruption in Iceland in nearly 800 years. After the return of the volcano on Wednesday, Dave McGarvie, a volcanologist at Lancaster University, even said, “This could herald the start of decades of occasional eruptions.” As of right now, it’s unclear how long the
eruption will last, but most predict it will be similar to 2021. However, local reports have stated that this year, the lava is flowing out much more vigorously, which means it could potentially end earlier due to the volcano running out of fuel faster.
Luckily, no one lives near Fagradalsfjall. The lava flows into the uninhabited Merdalir Valley, and there are also no bodies of ice or water nearby, which could potentially cause violent ash explosions. At the moment, the volcanic eruption poses little danger to the public. In fact, many spectators and scientists are able to safely observe the volcano’s eruption.
Iceland sits over an area where two tectonic plates diverge, making it a hotspot for volcanic activity. Fagradalsfjall is situated atop the Mid-Atlantic Ridge, where the North American plate and Eurasian plate are gradually pulling apart from each other. At the same time, superhot
gasses from the magma rise up, stretching the crust and creating cracks, which lets lava flow through.
This region had been dormant for centuries, but last year’s eruption indicates that something has been happening under the surface for a long time. According to Tobias Dürig, a volcanologist at the University of Iceland, several sheets of magma ascended toward the surface, which was demonstrated by earthquakes and ground deformation in recent years. The reason Fagradalsfjall didn’t erupt until 2021 is because magma didn’t make it to the surface – either it lost momentum or the crust didn’t have enough cracks.
In late 2019, earthquakes were becoming more frequent and powerful, so scientists were already suspecting an eruption in the future. Their suspicions were confirmed on March 19, 2021, when lava began flowing out of a 1,650-foot-long fissure in a valley in the Geldingadalur region. Tons of visitors came to watch the eruption; there was no damage to infrastructure and no casualties.
Then in late July 2022, according to the Icelandic Meteorological Service, more earthquakes and ground deformation indicated that magma was once again moving upwards. By August 2nd, the magma was half a mile below the surface. On that day, seismic activity also decreased, which is similar to what happened in 2021. The next day, lava shot up from a fissure only a few hundred feet away from the cone created by last year’s eruption. Now that the eruption has begun, the earthquakes have ceased.
Fagradalsfjall will continue erupting for the foreseeable future, attracting hundreds of tourists to observe the waves of lava, and providing a treasure trove of potential information to volcanologists.
Sources:
- https://weather.com/news/video/iceland-volcano-erupting-no-disruptions-to-air-travel-so-far
- https://www.nationalgeographic.com/science/article/iceland-eruption-may-be-the-start-of-decades-of-volcanic-activity
- https://abcnews.go.com/International/video/icelandic-volcano-erupts-amid-series-earthquakes-87993527
- https://www.volcanodiscovery.com/fagradalsfjall/news/138202/Fagradalsfjall-volcano-Reykjanes-peninsula-Iceland-high-resolution-lava-flow-map-update.html
