Land seems to be rising faster than before the eruption last Sunday
The tarmac is a mess after the earthquakes in Grindavík. Photo/Þorbjörn
The magma intrusion which occurred on the Reykjanes peninsula on January 14 has reduced deformation and seismic activity. The velocity of the magma intrusion at Svartsengi has increased. Further measurements and data are needed to confirm this.
“There are not a lot of changes,” says Benedikt Gunn Ófeigsson, director of de-formation measurements at the Icelandic Met Office, after a meeting of experts on the situation on the Reykjanes peninsula this morning.
Expect an updated hazard assessment map for Grindavík later today.
Deformation and seismic activity over the magma dike that formed on January 14 on the Reykjanes Peninsula has decreased. However, the speed of the land rise at Svartsengi seems to have become higher than before the eruption. Further measurements and data are needed to confirm this.
"There are not a lot of changes," says Benedikt Gunnar Ófeigsson, head of deformation measurements at the Icelandic Met Office, after a meeting of experts going over the situation on the Reykjanes Peninsula this morning.
An updated hazard assessment map for Grindavík can be expected later today.
Checking gas pollution
He says that now scientists are headed to Grindavík, where the location for a new GPS meter is to be checked, as one meter fell prey to the fire in the recent earthquakes.
The geoscientists are also going to check gas meters, but gas pollution was measured in wells connected to the utility system in Grindavík on Tuesday.
In an announcement from the Met Office last Wednesday it was reported that the matter needs to be looked into more closely, as the Met Office does not monitor local gas pollution within Grindavík. It is a possibility that the contamination is related to the fact that magma can be found not far from the surface in the area.
Magma accumulating in the same chamber
According to Ófeigsson, the increased land rise is clear and it is most likely that magma continues to accumulate in the same magma chamber as before at Svartsengi.
However, he says it is still too early to tell the exact speed of the land rise. It seems to have become bigger than before the eruption on Sunday. This will probably become clear after the weekend.
"But there is clearly ongoing land rise and magma accumulation in Svartsengi. It seems to continue in a similar way."
Asked what the reduction in deformation and seismic activity across the magma dike might mean, he says: "There is probably some adjustment in the dike after the intrusion on the fourteenth [of January]."
He says it cannot be ruled out that there is still a small influx of magma into the dike.
