Iceland eruption blasted lava into the sky
Today’s Image of the Day from NASA Earth Observatory features a volcano eruption in southwestern Iceland on February 8, 2024. This eruption – the third in the region since December – blasted jets of lava into the sky up to heights of 260 feet along a 1.8-mile long fissure near Mount Sýlingarfell.
“The small peak is north of the fishing village Grindavík and east of the Svartsengi power station and Blue Lagoon geothermal spa,” said NASA.
“The topography around the fissure meant that much of the fresh lava flowed east into unpopulated areas rather than south toward Grindavík.”
Even though some lava flowed into the vicinity of the power plant and spa, defensive walls protected both facilities.
According to the Associated Press, several communities on the Reykjanes Peninsula were cut off from heat and hot water after a river of lava engulfed a supply pipeline.
“After the initial burst of activity on February 8, the intensity of the eruption faded. In an update on February 9, the Icelandic Met Office reported that seismic sensors had stopped detecting volcanic tremors and that a recent drone flight showed no activity over the eruption site – signs that the latest eruption was ending,” said NASA.
“However, on February 12, the agency reported that the land surface above an underground magma reservoir near Svartsengi had again begun to swell by 0.5 to 1 centimeters per day, a rate similar to what was observed prior to other recent eruptions.”
The image above was captured on February 10, 2024 by the OLI-2 (Operational Land Imager-2) on Landsat 9.
Image Credit: NASA Earth Observatory
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