Iceland’s longest volcanic eruption in half a century

It will be six months on Sunday since the volcanic eruption that currently fascinates spectators near Reykjavik began, making it the longest Iceland has seen in more than 50 years.

The first lava began to erupt from a fissure near Mount Fagradalsfjall on the evening of March 19 on the Reykjanes Peninsula southwest of Reykjavik.

And the ensuing spectacle, ranging from a slow trickle of lava at times to more spectacular jets of rocks and stones resembling geysers, has become a major tourist attraction, drawing 300,000 visitors so far, according to the ‘Iceland Tourist Board.

Iceland’s sixth volcanic eruption in 20 years is already longer than the previous one in Holuhraun, in the central-eastern part of the island, which lasted from late August 2014 to late February 2015.

“Six months is a pretty long eruption,” vulcanologist Thorvaldur Thordarson told AFP.

The lava field that formed this time was named “Fagradalshraun” – which can be translated as “beautiful lava valley” – and takes its name from nearby Mount Fagradalsfjall.

Almost 143 million cubic meters of lava have been spat out so far.

But it’s actually relatively small, representing just under a tenth of the volume of the Holuhraun eruption, which spewed out the largest basaltic lava flow in Iceland in 230 years.

The latest eruption is “special in the sense that it maintained a relatively stable outflow, so it was quite strong,” said Halldor Geirsson, a geophysicist at the Institute of Earth Sciences.

“The usual behavior we know from volcanoes in Iceland is that they really start to be active and pour lava, then the flow decreases over time until it stops,” he said. he declares.

Iceland’s longest eruption took place over 50 years ago on the island of Surtsey, just off the southern coast, and lasted almost four years, from November 1963 to June 1967.

No end in sight

After calming for nine days, lava reappeared in Fagradalshraun in early September, sometimes spouting red from the crater and accompanied by a powerful plume of smoke.

It also accumulated in flaming tunnels beneath the solidified surface, forming pockets that eventually gave way and unrolled like a wave on the shore.

The actual number of visitors walking the rugged hills to witness the show is probably even higher than the estimated 300,000, as the first meter installed on the paths leading to the site was not put in place until five days after the eruption .

In the first month, 10 cracks opened, forming seven small craters, only two of which are still visible.

According to the Institute of Earth Sciences, only one crater is still active, measuring 334 meters (1,100 feet), a few tens of meters from the highest peak in the region.

Nonetheless, the volcano shows no signs of fading anytime soon.

“It looks like there is still enough magma from whatever reservoir the eruption is drawing from. So it could go on for a long time,” Geirsson said.

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© 2021 AFP