FAGRADALSFJALL VOLCANO UPDATE

You’ve probably heard about the newest volcano of Iceland: Fagradalsfjall. The eruption began on the 19th of March, the first move made by the dormant volcano in 800 years. It is situated on the south side of a mountain called Fagradalsfjall, less than an hour drive away from Reykjavik.

It’s been almost two months already, and the volcano keeps on erupting for a spectacular show! Nonetheless, the volcano has evolved a lot. At first, some fissures appeared after months of earthquakes. At the end of March, the activity was concentrated at two adjacent vents of a growing cone in the central part of the original eruptive fissure. They were filled with spectacularly boiling lava that flowed away to form thin flows that overlaped on a growing lava field, that began slowly to fill the Geldingadalur valley. One week later, in April, three more fissures opened. Mid-April, there were a total of 6 fissures in the valley, with a giant lava field already. At the end of April, the eruption from Fagradalsfjall continued with little changes. Fluid lava was erupting from several vents along 3 fissure segments, which slowly formed growing shields piling up in the valley floors.