The wait is over. After weeks of ominous earthquake swarms and warnings from geologists about a possible volcanic eruption, lava began gushing out of a new fissure on the Reykjavik Peninsula in southwestern Iceland late on December 18, 2023. The eruption site is about 4 kilometers (2 miles) northeast of the town of Grindavik and about 50 kilometers (30 miles) southwest of the Icelandic capital Reykjavik.
When the eruption began, lava fountains shot tens of meters into the air along a 4-kilometer-long fissure and flowed laterally from five vents. The brightness temperature image above (right) was collected by VIIRS (Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite) on the NOAA-20 satellite at 4 a.m. local time on December 19, when the eruption had begun. Another image (left) shows the same area earlier on December 18, just before the eruption. Brightness temperature measurements help differentiate between relatively cool and warm features on the land surface and in the atmosphere.
"What we can see in these images is that active lava flows are very hot compared to the surrounding land and clouds," said Simon Carn, a volcanologist at Michigan Technological University. "The dark areas with cooler temperatures appear to be lava flows." There are some terrains that have passed through, but these areas may also be areas where the eruption cracks are inactive, the lava temperature is lower, or areas where gas plumes or clouds obscure the surface. "Topographic maps of the area show that there are three hills on the west side of the eruption cracks, with a height of about 200 meters.
Reports from the Icelandic Meteorological Office indicate that the lava is flowing mainly to the east and north, posing minimal risk to Grindavik, the Blue Lagoon and other nearby infrastructure. "But that could change if the lava accumulates and starts flowing in different directions, if active fractures extend southward, or if new fractures appear," Kahn said. "If the lava continues to flow north, it could end up on the main artery leading from Keflavik Airport to Reykjavik."
Icelandic authorities stressed that the type of volcanic eruption that is occurring - a fissure eruption - does not usually result in large explosions or send large amounts of ash flying high into the sky. Icelandic officials stated that as of December 19, flights to and from Iceland were not interrupted and international flight channels remained open. Officials also noted that the nearby town of Grindavík was evacuated on November 10 as a precautionary measure and that the current eruption does not pose a threat to life.
NASA Earth Observatory image by Michala Garrison using NASA EOS DISLANCE, GIBS/Worldview, and Joint Polar Satellite System (JPSS) VIIRS data.
Compiled from: ScitechDaily