Magma accumulation will likely increase
Svartsengi power plant last April. mbl.is/Árni Sæberg
The magma accumulation under Svartsengi will likely increase in the coming days, as the eruption at the Sundhnúkagígar crater row has now ended. Earth scientists do, however, see signs that the magma flow is slowing down, although it is too early to say.
The Icelandic Met Office announced this weekend that the fifth volcanic eruption in six months in the Svartsengi system, which began on May 29, had ended 24 days after it began. And now, as inflation has started again, another event is set to take place.
Evidence of a change
According to the Icelandic Met Office’s deformation measurement director, Benedikt Gunnar Ófeigsson, land will probably rise faster than it is now.
“We’re just as expecting that the speed of the inflation will increase, now that there’s no longer any magma going into this volcanic eruption,” he tells Morgunblaðið.
He notes, however, that there are indications that the magma flow from the deeper magma chamber to the shallow chamber may have slowed down slightly. Further data may reveal this in the coming days.
