Like blowing up a balloon
„Þetta er bara biðin núna eftir kvikuhlaupi.“ Hörður Kristleifsson
According to Jóhanna Malen Skúladóttir, a natural disaster expert, the land mass at the Sundhnúkagígar crater row has slowed down. Seismic activity remains high in the magma tunnel, up to 90 quakes per day.
"We’re just waiting now for a magma run." This could happen at any time, but we may also have to wait for up to two to three weeks considering that the inflation has slowed down a bit," Skúladóttir says, adding that the pressure in the area is great.
Difficult for magma to push through
Asked what might be behind that, she mentions that it is more difficult for magma to break through under ever-increasing pressure.
"The more inflation, the more pressure there is on the land, and it's harder for a magma to push its way into the ever-increasing pressure," Skúladóttir says.
She also says that you can think of the inflation as when a balloon is blown up. When the balloon is empty, it expands much more than when it is almost full, even though the same amount of air is blown into it both times.
"As the magma chamber grows, the inflation is more spread out, and then it actually flattens out a bit, even though there may be an equal amount of magma inflow," she says.
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