The rise of land could be increasing
Benedikt Gunnar Ófeigsson. mbl.is/Eyþór
According to the Icelandic Met Office’s geophysicist and de-formation measurement director, Benedikt Gunnar Ófeigsson, the rise land could be increasing now in the Svartsengi.
“At least it’s not slowing down like it was,” says Ófeigsson. But he notes that it’s too early to determine the outcome. There is still quite a good amount of seismic activity in the magma channel, although most of the earthquakes are quite small.
An eruption soon should not surprise anyone
He says the development can be interpreted in many ways. For example, the inflow of magma has been slowing down, but is now increasing again.
“It can also be that we’re seeing some changes in how the land rise is behaving. It can be spreading, and that’s why the speed has been getting a little bit slower. We need to get a much better scope before we can start to interpret the development. I would like to see an InSAR picture of this,” says Ófeigsson, adding that a satellite will be in the air this week, but it’s uncertain how good it will be due to weather conditions.
According to Ófeigsson, it shouldn't surprise anyone if an eruption starts again soon. "If we just look at the flow that has been measured, it should be almost a week before the same volumes as those seen in the eruption in December are at play. That was some eleven million cubic metres. By contrast, the height of the land rise appears to have risen somewhat above the level of the 18th of December. It's also always difficult to interpret exactly what that means. A system like this doesn't necessarily always operate in the same way between events. The Earth's crust and all conditions change with each eruption," he says.
