After a silence of more than two months, a volcanic fissure has opened again on Iceland’s Reykjanes Peninsula. Lava from the eruption flowed down the roads, blocking access to a popular resort called Blue Lagoon.
According to the Icelandic Meteorological Office, the new eruption began on November 20, 2024. Its precursor was a series of earthquakes. About five hours after the eruption began, the VIIRS (Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite) camera mounted on the Suomi NPP satellite took a night-time image of the island. It’s not hard to see that the light from the eruption was brighter than the light from the Icelandic capital of Reykjavik.
A few days later, the eruption was also photographed by Landsat 9 satellite. The photo of it shows lava flowing from an eruptive fissure near Stóra Skógfell peak beside a series of Sundhnukur craters — the same location as the February 2024 eruption. The image is a composite one. A signal corresponding to the thermal signature of the lava was superimposed on the visible light image.
The lava flowed east and west of the fissure, not toward the town of Grindavik. Iceland’s national broadcasting service said the eruption forced the evacuation of some residents of the city and the Blue Lagoon geothermal resort, which is popular with tourists. A tongue of lava swept over the resort’s parking lot, engulfing the small office building located there. A plume of gas, consisting mainly of sulfur dioxide, also escaped from the lava, which, however, did not affect air travel in Iceland.
The eruption on the Reykjanes Peninsula is the seventh in a series of events that began in December 2023. As of November 26, 2024, the Blue Lagoon was closed to the public, but lava flow toward the resort has slowed.
Earlier we reported on the consequences of the volcanic eruption in Indonesia, which led to the cancellation of many flights.
Provided by Earthobservatory.org
