Post by Shibumi-Mandeville I-12/Hwy59 on Mar 23, 2021 14:31:54 GMT -6
here is a 24hr live cam set up showing the eruption.
Have been reading about this area...its been 600 some odd years since this area saw an eruption.
There is a conversation that this might be a shield eruption since the lava is being identified as coming straight from the earth's mantle instead of most of the recent volcanic eruptions in Iceland that are shallower pools of magma.
Many shield volcano eruptions last for a long time...even years. Way too soon to tell.
If it is a long-lasting shield eruption depending on the lava flow it could affect travel to and from Iceland by air as the main road from the airport passes as close as 8 miles from the eruption site...though it's further given the terrain it would have to overcome to reach it. It's closer to the coast to the south in the opposite direction.
Post by Shibumi-Mandeville I-12/Hwy59 on Apr 5, 2021 8:44:54 GMT -6
I have noticed over the last 24 hours a visible lessening of lava flow from the twin cinder cones at the eruption site...and now perhaps the reason for it...a new fissure eruption has opened about a half-mile from the main eruption site. The fissure is estimated at 500 meters long.
Post by Shibumi-Mandeville I-12/Hwy59 on Apr 10, 2021 16:46:28 GMT -6
Really cool....this is a guy from a very small news outlet in Reykjavik (I actually remember going into their office for some tourist info).
You get to hear a Icelandic accent....though he isn't exactly the polished field reporter.
If you want to get to the good stuff......go to about 10:45....you will hear exclamations in the background as a large lava pool breaks through the harder lava holding it back and it absolutely pours out....then around 16+ he flies the drone for some amazing video. All of the red hot lava in the foreground came from the break mentioned earlier in a bit more than an hour. Amazing.
And when the drone lands I think it might have been unplanned....it seems it landed on the lava!
Post by Shibumi-Mandeville I-12/Hwy59 on Apr 10, 2021 16:52:23 GMT -6
Some drone-only video today showing the daytime lava pool before the later break....you can see the size of the new mini volcano that was not there 5 days ago.
Later in the video is the original twin crater eruption.
Post by Shibumi-Mandeville I-12/Hwy59 on May 3, 2021 20:59:25 GMT -6
Interesting.....this timelapse of the current eruption in Iceland from a nearby coastal town.....it doesn't show the eruption that well (though at the very end is a still shot from night which is pretty cool).
The reason I'm posting is notice the standing cloud formed by the eruption. You can clearly see the gasses being emitted from the eruption site....but above that is an impressive 'normal' water vapour cloud.....my thinking is that particles (ash?) are seeding the atmosphere creating nucleation points for the eater vapour to condense around.
Post by Shibumi-Mandeville I-12/Hwy59 on May 14, 2021 7:40:41 GMT -6
So this is interesting. Iceland is building an earthen dam to try to stop the lava flow that could bring it towards a main road to the local coastal town. See the blue arrow. The red line denotes the fresh lava that has been laid down in just the last day... It's darker in color than the lava towards the center of the valley.
Iceland historically has a bit of knowledge on stemming the flow of lava. On a small island (major fishing port) off the south coast in 1973, they used water to save the harbor from the eruption of Eldfell......though many homes were lost. See the documentary link here....
Post by Shibumi-Mandeville I-12/Hwy59 on May 22, 2021 14:10:30 GMT -6
Lava breaches the earthen damn...not the one in the last post but just to the 'right' of that pictured before.
Pathway to the coast ( and only road east-west on that side of the peninsula) is know open.....assuming the volcano continues to erupt, eventually it will make it there.
This evening I saw a commercial, that the volcano will be featured on 60 Minutes, Sunday. (May 24)
As far as the 50 some-odd volcanoes that are actively erupting at any given time on land, this one is somewhat unique.....it's small and very accessible....unlike the 2014 Bárðarbunga eruotion when I was in Iceland..... and none explosive. Tens of thousands of people have seen it up close...maybe over 100,000 by now...with perhaps months more of chances to be seen ahead of us. It's also a mantle plume eruption which is more uncommon.....
So it is small in terms of output, but small is a relative term.