Iceland Volcano: Considerable Pollution -- Iceland Met Office

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From the Civil Defense patrol flight on May 9. No lava splashes are visible in the crater, although smoke continues to pour out of it. (Photo: Civil Defense)From the Civil Defense patrol flight on May 9. No lava splashes are visible in the crater, although smoke continues to pour out of it. (Photo: Civil Defense)

Considerable pollution measured from the eruption

The lava field formed in this eruption is the largest of the five lava flows that have formed in the eruptions at Sundhnúkur.

Iceland Met Office

Updated 13. June at 16:30 UTC

  • The eruption has lasted for 15 days. One crater remains active
  • The lava field in this eruption has reached 9.2 km2 and a volume of about 41 million m3, making it the largest since December 2023
  • The lava pond remains rather stable, but lava flows from it into the active lava stream north of Sýlingarfell
  • Gas pollution is likely to continue in the coming days. See gas dispersion forecast
  • Hazard assessment updated – few changes

 The volcanic eruption that started on 29 May is still ongoing and has therefore lasted for 15 days. It has been fairly stable for the past few days and only one crater is still active, as it has been since June 4. Very little seismic activity has been detected in the area.

The main lava flow continues to be from the crater towards mt. Sýlingarfell and along the mountain on its northern side. A lava pond is still present at Sýlingarfell, but lava flows from the pond into the active lava stream north of Sýlingarfell. That stream is in a similar channel as the lava that inundated Grindavík road last Saturday. The lava flow front near Grindavík road is moving very slowly but thickening.

The photogrammetry team of the Icelandic Institute of Natural History (IINH) and the National Land Survey of Iceland (NLSI) has processed data collected by experts from Efla, Verkís and Svarmi during a drone flight over the eruption site on 10 June. The data show that the lava flow field has reached 9.2 km2 and a volume of about 41 million m3. This makes the lava field formed in this eruption the largest of the five eruptions that have occurred in the Sundhnúkur crater row area since December 2023, both in terms of area and volume. For comparison, the lava field formed in the eruption that started on 16 March and lasted until 9 May was about 6.2 km2 in area and 35 million m3.

Based on this data, the average flow of lava from the eruption during the period 3-10 June is estimated at 10 m3/s. Between the afternoon of 29 May – 3 June, the lava flow was estimated at 27 m3/s, so the vigor of the activity has decreased somewhat between these two measurements.

GPS measurements indicate that land uplift in Svartsengi continues and that the location of the magma accumulation zone beneath Svartsengi is unchanged. This can suggest that the magma flow from depth continues and is greater than the flow out of the crater on the surface, causing magma to accumulate beneath Svartsengi. There are no clear signs of a reduction in magma flow. The activity is closely monitored, and scientists continue to interpret any developments.

Time series from the GPS station SENG at Svartsengi since 11 November 2023, in north, east and vertical directions (top, middle, bottom images, respectively). The bottom time series show land uplift in millimeters, and yesterday's datapoint (12 June) is shown with a green dot. The red vertical lines are timings of the last five eruptions (18 December 2023, 14 January, 8 February, 16 March and 29 May 2024). The blue vertical lines represent the timing of magma propagations that have occurred without resulting in a volcanic eruption (10 November 2023 and 2 March 2024).Time series from the GPS station SENG at Svartsengi since 11 November 2023, in north, east and vertical directions (top, middle, bottom images, respectively). The bottom time series show land uplift in millimeters, and yesterday's datapoint (12 June) is shown with a green dot. The red vertical lines are timings of the last five eruptions (18 December 2023, 14 January, 8 February, 16 March and 29 May 2024). The blue vertical lines represent the timing of magma propagations that have occurred without resulting in a volcanic eruption (10 November 2023 and 2 March 2024).

Substantial gas pollution in the last days

Gas pollution from the eruption has been quite high yesterday and today. Gas meters located close to the Blue Lagoon and at Hafnir detect considerable gas pollution. Easterly winds last night blew the gas to the west and the highest concentration of SO2 was measured over 8000 µg/m3. Gas pollution can be expected to persist for the next few days. Easterly winds continue today and the gas will then travel to the west over the Svartsengi area and onwards over the western part of the Reykjanes peninsula. Tomorrow, the wind direction vary and the gas will dispersed widely over the peninsula, but as the day goes on winds will turn to northerly directions and gas will blow south over Grindavík.

The hazard assessment has been updated in light of the developments in the eruption and weather- and gas distribution forecasts. The assessment is mostly unchanged, aside from zone 5 where the hazard due to lava flow has increased. There is still a very high hazard in zone 3, the Sundhnúkur crater row, where the eruption started. There is also a high hazard (red) in zone 4 (Grindavík) and zone 6. In zones 1,5 and 7 there is a considerable hazard (orange). The hazard map is valid until 20 June, barring any development.

(Click on the map to see it larger)(Click on the map to see it larger)

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