Lava could be flowing to the main road by mid August
This is how the crater at Litli-Hrútur looked like on Monday. mbl.is/Árni Sæberg
A projection model of Hörn Hrafnsdóttir at Verkís indicates that lava will reach the south coastal highway Suðurstrandavegur from mid-August.
This would come to pass if the eruption will remain unchanged in terms of magma productivity, composition, temperature and viscosity of the emergence, as well as that the transmission system (i.e. the river of lava) will maintain itself and continue to increase in length.
The Icelandic National Institute of Volcanology and Natural Hazards at the University of Iceland published a video clip of the HEC-RAS simulation on Facebook.
The pictures below show what the prediction of the lava flow looks like.
The first picture shows the position of the lava field as indicated by the simulation on Monday, July 17 and matches up well with the observations.
The second picture indicates that lava is flowing out of the gap where the white arrow is located, which lies directly east of Meradalir on July 22.
The third picture suggests that the lava field will begin to approach Leggjabrótarhraun at the end of the month.
The fourth predicts that the lava flows off the Méltunnuklif from mid-August to reach the South Coast Highway, Suðurstrandavegur.
