A new effusive eruption began on the Reykjanes Peninsula at about 14:00 local time today. This marks the 5th eruption in the same area since December last year.
The eruption site is located north of Grindavík, about 300-400 meters north of the recent March eruption site.
A 2.5 km-long eruptive fissure opened northeast of Sýlingafell and is extending to the south.
Impressive lava fountains began to shoot to about 50 meters above the eruptive fissure following the eruption onset as narrow vents, typical of early eruption phases, favor high fountaining and spatter cones. As the eruption will go on, vent will be widening by erosion with time, favor formation of lava shields and pahoehoe lava flows.
Fountaining continues to pour incandescent and fluid lava from a cluster of vents, feeding a new lava flow in the west direction, currently about 1 km long. Another lava arm branched off the main flow, heading south towards the Grindavíkurveg main road. Whether the lava is on the way to the Grindavík is not clear yet.
The eruption came during a relatively short phase of generally an intense seismic activity over the past few days and had probably 5 minute-long precursor. Sulfur dioxide is contained in solution in magma at greater depths, but as magma is getting closer to the surface and is under less pressure, i.e. undergoes decompression, its solubility decreases with decreasing pressure, thus leaves magma sooner through cracks fumaroles form or by diffuse degassing. Since gas is much more mobile than molten rock (magma) itself, it usually arrives at the surface before eruption starts as we see in the attached eruption onset video.
The town of the Grindavík, the Blue Lagoon, and the Svartsengi power plant were evacuated before noon today.
Links to webcams:
Grindavik – Mosaic
Grindavik – Mosaic 2
Þorbjörn Þorbjörn 2
Húsafell
The eruption onset (source: @RUVfrettir/X)
Upphaf eldgossins við Sundhnúksgíga náðist á vefmyndavél RÚV. Hér má sjá fyrstu fimm mínútur gossins á 30 sekúndum. pic.twitter.com/NYU6mvgyvm
— Fréttastofa RÚV (@RUVfrettir) May 29, 2024
JUST IN: A new volcanic eruption has just started on Iceland’s Reykjanes Peninsula, making it the eighth eruption in this area since March 2021. This one comes only 20 days after the last eruption was officially declared over. pic.twitter.com/xU50fgI1tk
— Nahel Belgherze (@WxNB_) May 29, 2024
