"The system is again reaching its limits of tolerance"
Sundhnúkur and Hagafell lie over the dike, which extends from the ridgeline to the south-southwest under Grindavík. Map/mbl.is
Volcanologist Þorvaldur Þórðarson thinks that there are two probable explanations for the magma’s failure to reach the surface when it left the magma chamber last Saturday.
On the one hand, magma leaked from the chamber into a fissure that was not open to the surface, and on the other hand, the propulsion of the magma movement was not sufficient to break itself further than it was.
He considers the first explanation more likely given that similar pressures had built up in the magma chamber if measurements of magma levels had been made, and when a volcanic eruption broke out on February 8. The magma should therefore have been able to drift to the surface unless the fissure it went into was closed.
The volcanologist at the University of Iceland, Þorvaldur Þórðarson, thinks an eruption might happen as early as tomorrow, or later this week. mbl.is/Composite image
Something will happen soon
The Met Office estimates that 1.3 million cubic meters of magma have passed from the magma chamber under Svartsengi to the magma channel that was created on Saturday. The magma channel that was created is thought to have extended from Stóra-Skógarfell to Hagafell and is about 3 km long.
The volcanic mass of the magma that started is much smaller than in previous events that have led to volcanic eruptions on the Reykjanes peninsula in recent months.
Þórðarson thinks it’s likely that something will happen tomorrow or later this week, as a similar amount of magma has accumulated in the magma chamber now and before the magma started moving on Saturday.
“The system is again reaching its limit of tolerance,” he says.
It is also difficult to determine whether the event during the past weekend will cause the magma to reach the surface the next time it starts moving.
