Volcano Chaser

15/07/2024

Etna.

It's always amazing to be back here.
I took advantage of the only week off from work this summer to pay a visit to my homeland and to the volcano I grew up on.
In the last couple of weeks the summit crater named "Voragine" has been very active, with an almost constant strombolian activity and a couple of paroxysmal episodes with high lava fountains and ash plumes.
Last night I spent a few hours on the eastern side of the mountain to enjoy several explosions and we also observed a couple of gas rings (pic in my stories).
During the day, from the towns around the volcano, the sound of the explosions is pretty loud and impossible to ignore.
Even though Etna is capable of way stronger activity, this was a fairly good start of this trip.

Excited to see what will come next.

Shot w/ 7IV w/Sony FE 200/600mm - .italia

© Marco Di Marco/Volcano Chaser
• 14.07.2024

12/06/2024

Teaser.

Domenica 23 Giugno alle 20:45 a Trecastagni, in provincia di Catania, sarà un onore per me presentare un mio documentario su questi tre anni (fin’ora) di eruzioni Islandesi al Festival Vulcani https://bit.ly/FestivalVulcani2024

Il documentario sarà introdotto dall’intervento del prof. Marco Viccaro, presidente dell'AIV - Associazione Italiana di Vulcanologia.

Ringrazio tutti coloro che in questi anni mi hanno supportato (e sopportato), chi ha accettato di essere filmato (il mio amico Ingi su tutti) e all’organizzatore Giuseppe Riggio per l’invito.

Questo il trailer di “Andstæður - Contrasti”.

Immagini, montaggio e soundtrack - © Marco Di Marco

31/05/2024

Stabilizing.

A view of the two main active sections of the eruptive fissure yesterday evening, May 30th.
In the background is visible another small active vent at the northern end of the fissure, which is visible as a dark line behind the vents erupting in the central part of the pic.

A couple of hours after the impressive beginning the activity dropped rapidly and since Wednesday evening it has somehow stabilized.

The eruption continues.

* The area is closed to the public, there on assignment for international media. *

© Marco Di Marco / Volcano Chaser
• 30.05.2024

🇮🇸

29/05/2024

Chapter 5.

The fifth eruptive episode of the 2023-24 eruption of Svartsengi volcanic system started this morning at 12:45.

The Icelandic Met Office stated that the fissure is 3,4km long and the effusive rate is between 1,500 and 2000 cubic meters per second.

Here are two of my first shots I took roughly 20-30 minutes after the beginning of it.

More soon.

* The area is closed to the public, here on assignment for international media. *

© Marco Di Marco / Volcano Chaser
• 29.05.2024

14/04/2024

Breakout.

A moment from Friday evening at the eruption site, with a couple of lava breakouts in the foreground and the active crater in the background.

Breakouts form when the molten lava, still moving underneath the surface of the hardened lava field, breaks through forming relatively small and short-lived flows.

The eruption continues, but it's slowly decreasing day by day.
The level of lava into the crater on Friday looked lower than two days earlier, the crater itself got narrower and the active lava flow was smaller.
At the same time the inflation under Svartsengi continues, which means that the inflow of magma into the shallow magma chamber is not slowing down.

Also, this is officially the second longest eruption of the seven that have occurred on the Reykjanes peninsula in the last three years.

* The area is still closed to the public, I shot this one on assignment for international media. *

© Marco Di Marco / Volcano Chaser
• 12.04.2024

10/04/2024

Svartsengi.

A view of the eruption area on Monday during the solar eclipse. The high clouds and the sun partially covered by the moon created a very beautiful light during sunset.

The eruptive episode started on March 16th continues, but the activity is still gradually decreasing. As stated by Veðurstofa (Icelandic Met Office) the effusion rate is now just 3.6 ± 0.7 m3/s. At the same time the inflation rate under Svartsengi is increasing, a sign that the magma inflow from deep into the shallow magma chamber is not slowing down.

In the pic: in the foreground, the active crater with the small lava flows expanding on the new lava field. Behind it Sundhnjúkur, the most prominent part of the 2400 years old Sundhnjúkagigar crater row. In the background, Þorbjörn to the left and the steam produced by the geothermal powerplant of Svartsengi
and the Blue Lagoon to the right.
The dark horizontal line in between is a part of the defensive barriers built in November to protect the powerplant.

* The area is still closed to the public, I shot this one on assignment for international media. *

© Marco Di Marco / Volcano Chaser
• 08.04.2024

25/03/2024

Lights.

Last night aurora showed up again and this time I tried to catch it dancing above the eruption site in video.

Saturday a solar flare released a coronal mass ejection (CME) which impacted our planet yesterday, but a bit too early to display great aurora at the right time in Europe. We witnessed just the end of the geomagnetic storm right after twilight.

Here's a timelapse I shot yesterday at the eruption site plus a few scenes of the eruption itself.

* The area is still closed to the public, I shot this one on assignment for international media. *

© Marco Di Marco / Volcano Chaser
• 24.03.2024
🇮🇸

24/03/2024

Eruption & Aurora.

I tried to get a similar shot for years.
Last night the conditions were pretty favorable so Jeroen Van Nieuwenhove - JVN Photo and I gave it a try.

The sky exploded just a few minutes after we arrived, so we sent the drones out in order to get a decent composition, given that the northern lights were fairly high in the sky and with a drone would've been a bit faster to move around the eruptive area.

It's very hard to expose correctly for the Aurora while trying to tame the brightness of the lava. Especially when you try to get the shot with a longer exposure with a drone fighting against strong winds.
The result is kinda ok, but I'm not 100% satisfied.

The eruption is still ongoing and the aurora season is not over yet. Who knows if we will have other chances to witness this combination again before the summer.

* The area is still closed to the public, I shot this one on assignment for international media. *

© Marco Di Marco / Volcano Chaser
• 23.03.2024

🇮🇸

21/03/2024

Sunset.

The 4th eruption in three months of Svartsengi volcanic system, which started Saturday evening, continues pretty stable.

Today Veðurstofa (Icelandic Met Office) published data regarding the effusion rate, which in the last few days has been on average 14.5 cubic meters per second. At the same time, the area under the geothermal powerplant of Svartsengi is not either inflating or deflating. These elements might suggest that the system found a balance and now the magma coming from deep is not accumulating in the small "magma chamber" underneath the area, but it migrates directly from there into the Sundhnjúkagigar fissure, reaching the surface.

Also, this morning a lava breakout started producing a lava flow that is now moving south towards the barriers built north of Grindavík. Workers are now raising the barriers even more in order to divert it.

Let's hope this new lava flow will stop or move along the barriers without causing any damages.

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Here is a panoramic photo I shot yesterday at sunset on assignment for The Associated Press, with the active eruptive fissure in the foreground and the Svartsengi area in the background. The steam right behind the gas plume comes from the geothermal powerplant and the Blue Lagoon.

Check my stories for a clip video of the same moment.

© Marco Di Marco / Volcano Chaser
• 20.03.2024

🇮🇸

20/03/2024

Hi everyone!
Here are a couple of shots taken this morning.

The activity looked pretty similar to what we observed Monday evening, but it might've decreased a little bit. The two northernmost vents, which were still erupting yesterday, don't look active anymore and the active lava flow looked slightly smaller.

This is based exclusively on visual observations though. Veðurstofa (Icelandic Met Office) stated that measures of the lava field have been obtained by experts from the Land Survey of Iceland and the Institute of Natural Sciences this morning. From the results it will be possible to calculate the average effusion rate and it will be clear if something changed or not.

Minor fluctuations are normal and until data is published it's hard to say whether or not the activity is actually decreasing. It's also impossible to say for how long it will last.

© Marco Di Marco/Volcano Chaser
20.03.2024

28/02/2024

Geodynamics.

Since the beginning of the unrest of Svartsengi volcanic system last October, the sequence of events observed didn't change.

Magma ascending from deep has been feeding a sill (a horizontal intrusion) a few kilometers under the surface under the area of Svartsengi powerplant and the Blue Lagoon. As soon as this very small "magma chamber" is not able to withstand anymore the increasing pressure on its walls, the solid crust fails and a magma d**e (vertical intrusion) starts forming very rapidly, draining the largest amount of magma that has been accumulating in the previous weeks. This can end up in an eruption (like on December 18th, January 14th and February 8th) or not (November 10th).

Until the magma inflow from deep doesn't stop we will probably experience this pattern over and over again.

It looks like that the sill is able to withstand a defined volume of magma, between 8 and 13 million cubic meters according to Veðurstofa (Icelandic Met Office), and we reached the bottom of this threshold just yesterday.

Every day we get closer to the next event. Now it's just a matter of days to discover whether this will end up in an eruption or just in the development of a new magma intrusion.

The probable location is the same, between Stóra-Skógfell and Hagafell, along Sundhnjúkagigar, where the crust is the weakest.

When precisely?
No one can actually tell.

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I took this pic on December 19th, and it shows the northern part of the fissure opened the night before at Sundhnjúkagigar, a few hours before it stopped erupting.

© Marco Di Marco/Volcano Chaser
• 19.12.2023

21/02/2024

Sundhnjúkagigar.

Throwback to the first eruptive episode at Svartsengi volcanic system in December.

When I took this pic the activity was slowly decreasing, and just three segments of the 4 km-long fissure, opened up the previous evening, were still erupting.

The 2600 years old Sundhnjúkagigar crater row covered in snow is visible close to the active vents. Grindavík is also visible in the background.

In the meantime, after the last eruption of February 8th, the inflation resumed and it's still ongoing pretty stable.
Given the pattern observed in the last three months, if conditions don't change, we would probably see another eruption (or just a new magma intrusion) in the coming days/weeks.

If that happens, we just hope it ends up with no damages like in December.

© Marco Di Marco/Volcano Chaser
• 19.12.2023

15/02/2024

Contrasts.

Another moment of last week's eruption, when lava was finding its way along Norðurljósavegur, the road of the Blue Lagoon.

Here this portion of the lava flow, which was running parallel to the road, turned and crossed it again.
The black smoke rising from the lava flow front is produced by the burning asphalt.
Asphalt catches fire in a range between 428–530 °C (I. Androjić, S. Dimter, 2022). Low silica basaltic lava is considerably hotter (probably around 1100 °C in this case, considering the distance from the vents), so it takes just a couple of seconds to ignite the road.

The thing that caught my attention here, while I was framing this photo, is the contrast of elements, temperature and colours of the two sides of the picture.

Icy snow on one side, molten lava on the other one. Natural elements with a human infrastructure in between.
A minute later this portion of the road was covered and the flow was already on the other side, moving in the snowy ground.

Fire and ice, just separated by a line of asphalt.
But only for a few seconds.

© Marco Di Marco / Volcano Chaser
• 08.02.2024
A huge thanks to Lögreglan (Icelandic Police) for the support on location.

13/02/2024

Road crossing.

A short edit of the videos I shot on Thursday, with the moment when the lava flow of the last eruption crossed Grindavíkurvegur, the road to Grindavík.

Yesterday I went to Svartsengi on assignment for the international news to follow the visit of the Prime Minister of Iceland, Katrín Jakobsdóttir, who went there to see the amazing job the workers did to repair the damages.

The operation to fix the pipeline destroyed by the lava was initially working on Friday night, but a few hours after the water started to be pumped in, the pipe collapsed. The work to make a new, 600 meters long, pipeline started immediately on Saturday morning. It was estimated to finish the new pipeline within a week, but actually, thanks to the job of around 100 workers, everything was completed in just 48 hours. Last night hot water started flowing again towards the communities of the Reykjanes peninsula, which counts around 30,000 inhabitants.

Also two new gravel roads have been built over the new lava flow. One on Grindavíkurvegur, the road lava is crossing on this video. The other one is a service road close to the powerplant, used also as a base to put the new pipeline. Both roads are not open to the traffic, but made just for easing the operations in the area.

© Marco Di Marco/Volcano Chaser
• 08.02.2024
A huge thanks to Lögreglan (Icelandic Police) for the support on location.
🇮🇸

11/02/2024

Volcano watchers.

During the first hours of this last series of eruptions at Svartsengi, people used to stop in the parking lots along Reykjanesbraut, the road that connects Reykjavík to the international airport in Keflavík, to get a view of the volcanic activity.
That's basically the easiest location to get a glimpse of the glowing lava from a distance.

We went there as well to start reporting for the international news, shooting the 3 km long line of lava fountains that started erupting, like in December, at Sundhnúkagígar.

I was about to jump back in the car and change location, when this group of photographers showed up, standing between me and the gas plume rising from the eruptive fissure. I took a couple of extra shots and left.

In the end, this shot ended up in some of the major international newspapers worldwide.

Shot with 7III.
© Marco Di Marco / Volcano Chaser
• 08.02.2024

09/02/2024

And again, it's over.

The eruption started yesterday morning at Sundhnjúkagigar ended this morning.
According to Veðurstofa (Iceland Met Office), during the first 7 hours it produced around 15 million cubic meters of lava, with an effusion rate of 600 cubic meters per second.

From last night workers rushed to fix the pipeline that was hit and destroyed by the lava flow, leaving the whole peninsula without hot water. Today I visited the area on assignment for The Associated Press, to check the progress in the repairs which have been completed later this afternoon.
Hot water pressure will slowly be increased during the evening and the system should reach full capacity soon, according to HS Orka, the company that operates the Svartsengi geothermal powerplant.

I took this pic yesterday, while lava was flowing over the road to the Blue Lagoon, just a few minutes before it hit the pipeline.

In the meantime, the next couple of days will be crucial to understand whether or not the inflation will resume under Svartsengi, like after the previous events.

Like always, just time will tell.

© Marco Di Marco / Volcano Chaser

21/01/2024

Hi everyone!
I just processed the satellite data that arrived today and made a new interferogram.

This shows the deformation produced by the emplacement of the magmatic intrusion on January 14th.

The interferogram is a bit glitchy because of the presence of snow on the ground, but at high resolution it is possible to recognize roughly the position of the magmatic d**e and the horizontal displacement which is between 1.2 and 1.5 meters in total.

The intrusion, oriented roughly NE-SW or N30°E, stretched for roughly 5km, with the northernmost tip located 1.9km east of Sýlingarfell and the southernmost tip located under the town of Grindavík.
The intrusion lies about 550 meters further east than the one formed on December 18th.

The displacement is somehow comparable to what was observed on December 18th and smaller than November 10th, which is normal given that the area was already fractured by the events of the previous months.

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In the meantime (January 21st, 18:25), the inflation measured by the GPS stations around the Svartsengi area is still ongoing.
After a few days where the data was affected by the emplacement of the intrusion on January 14th, now it looks like that the inflation is increasing at a similar rate than was observed before the last eruptive event.

Given the data and the similarities with the pattern observed in the previous months, a new event in the coming weeks, either an eruption or the development of a new magma intrusion, is therefore still likely.

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Credits:

- Top pic: the interferogram I made that shows the displacement produced by the magma intrusion on January 14th, the rough location of the intrusion is highlighted with a black line - © modified Sentinel-1 data, processed by Marco Di Marco

- Bottom pic: the vertical component of the GPS station installed at Skipastigshraun - © Jarðvísindastofnun Háskólans, Veðurstofa Íslands.

09/01/2024

Hi Everyone!
I just processed the satellite data that arrived today and made a new interferogram.

This shows the near-vertical displacement of the Svartsengi area between December 28th and today, January 9th.

The area inflated roughly 6 cm during the period (about 5 mm per day), matching the values of the GPS data taken by Veðurstofa and Háskóli Íslands.

Magma keeps accumulating horizontally under Svartsengi after last month's eruption.
As expected, the wrapped phase (not shown here) doesn't show any vertical magma intrusion yet.

I also checked the Krýsuvík/Trölladyngja area to see if there was any difference after the seismic swarm of January 2nd, but the data is heavily affected by the presence of snow on the ground.

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According to Veðurstofa, the volume of magma accumulated underneath Svartsengi is comparable to the volume that led to the emplacement of the magma d**e and the subsequent eruption on December 18th. The chance of the formation of a new magma intrusion and, subsequently, of a new eruption in the coming days is therefore increased.

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In the pic: the interferogram I made, which shows the near-vertical displacement of the Svartsengi area in the last 12 days, between December 28th and today, January 09th. - © modified Sentinel-1 data, processed by Marco Di Marco

28/12/2023

Hi everyone!
I just processed the satellite data that arrived today and made a new interferogram.

This shows the deformation produced by the emplacement of the magma intrusion on December 18th close to Sundhnjúkagigar.

The interferogram is glitchy because of the presence of snow on the ground, but at high resolution it is possible to recognize roughly the position of the magmatic d**e and the horizontal displacement which is about 100cm, maybe 120cm in total.

The displacement is smaller than the one observed on November 10th, but it's normal given that the area was already fractured by the events of last month.

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In the meantime (December 28th, 19:22), the inflation measured by the GPS station at Svartsengi is still ongoing and it's just a few millimeters away from the same values as November 10th and December 16th-18th.

According to Veðurstofa, "based on insights from the previous eruption, the likelihood of a new eruption (or for the emplacement of a new magma intrusion, ed.) increases day by day."

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Credits:

- Top pic: the interferogram I made that shows the displacement produced by the magma intrusion on December 18th - © modified Sentinel-1 data, processed by Marco Di Marco

- Bottom pic: the vertical component of the GPS station installed at Svartsengi - © Jarðvísindastofnun Háskólans, Veðurstofa Íslands.

26/12/2023

One of my pics on National Geographic.

Links:
- EN: https://www.nationalgeographic.com/science/article/iceland-reykjanes-peninsula-fourth-volcanic-eruption
- ITA: https://www.nationalgeographic.it/l-ultima-eruzione-in-islanda-potrebbe-essere-la-piu-pericolosa-della-storia-recente

23/12/2023

Some of my photos and videos published on international news media in the last few days.
One is the cover of the 20 photos of the week on The Guardian.

Links below:

The Guardian - CNN - The New York Times - Washington Post - TIME - CBS - NBC - Sky News - AP - ABC News - People - Euronews English - Forbes - USA TODAY - The Mirror - New York Post

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https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/gallery/2023/dec/22/the-week-around-the-world-in-20-pictures

https://edition.cnn.com/2023/12/20/world/gallery/iceland-volcano-eruption/index.html

https://edition.cnn.com/europe/live-news/iceland-volcano-eruption-12-19-23/index.html

https://www.nytimes.com/2023/12/19/world/europe/iceland-volcano-eruption-lava.html

https://time.com/6335396/iceland-volcano-earthquakes-travel/

https://www.washingtonpost.com/science/2023/12/19/iceland-volcano-flights-air-travel-lava-danger/

https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2023/12/22/iceland-volcano-eruption-earthquake-return-home/483f6c64-a102-11ee-9e0f-972979a6c22b_story.html

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/volcano-erupts-iceland-reykjanes-peninsula-thousands-evacuated/

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/iceland-volcano-photos-eruption-reykjanes-peninsula-grindavik/

https://www.nbcnews.com/news/world/iceland-volcano-eruption-lava-evacuated-town-rcna130402

https://news.sky.com/story/iceland-volcano-their-hazard-and-their-beauty-are-two-sides-of-the-same-coin-13034591

https://news.sky.com/story/iceland-volcano-latest-lava-pouring-from-two-mile-crack-and-may-head-towards-nearby-town-13033889

https://apnews.com/article/photojournalism-trump-photo-guiliani-volcano-5180730a7c04db818c4da4a138aae91d

https://abcnews.go.com/International/iceland-volcano-eruption-toxic-air-warning/story?id=105806785

https://abcnews.go.com/International/video/scientists-concerned-toxic-gas-released-icelandic-volcano-105843027

https://people.com/hiker-trying-reach-erupting-iceland-volcano-rescued-by-helicopter-authorities-issue-warning-8419350

https://www.euronews.com/2023/12/20/iceland-volcano-eruption-experts-not-worried-about-gas-pollution

https://eu.usatoday.com/story/news/world/2023/12/19/iceland-volcano-explosion-reykjanes-peninsula-evacuations/71969500007/

https://eu.usatoday.com/picture-gallery/news/world/2023/12/19/iceland-volcano-erupts-on-reykjanes-peninsula-after-earthquakes/71969335007/

https://www.forbes.com/sites/tylerroush/2023/12/19/iceland-eruption-volcanic-and-seismic-activity-decreasing-as-fissure-expands/?sh=5d5d97b518ea

https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/world-news/gallery/iceland-volcano-could-erupt-again-31714685

https://www.mirror.co.uk/travel/europe/iceland-volcano-erupts-causing-travel-31705748?int_source=mantis_rec&int_medium=web&int_campaign=more_like_this

https://nypost.com/2023/12/19/news/gawkers-flock-to-erupting-volcano-in-iceland-as-authorities-warn-of-danger-something-from-a-movie/

https://metro.co.uk/2023/12/18/iceland-volcano-eruption-live-news-19994526/

https://theweek.com/photos/the-weeks-best-photojournalism-december-22-2023

20/12/2023

Fire and Ice.

A scene from yesterday, during my visit to the area on assignment for The Associated Press.
For a few minutes wind, snow and hail made things a bit tricky while we were flying the drones, but also enhanced the whole ominous mood of the scenery.

This shot looks what was the central segment of the original eruptive fissure, which was still active during our visit. This part stopped erupting during the evening. The eruption dropped a lot in intensity after the first few hours, being stable pretty much the whole day yesterday, before starting to drop even more during last night.

Even though it looks like it might be over soon, geophysical data show that the ground deformation is still pretty high, so different options are still possible.

The coming hours and days might give us some answers.

Check my stories for a video of the same scene.

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Please remember the area is really dangerous and it's still closed to the public.

A huge thanks to the guys of Björgunarsveit (ICE-SAR) for the support on location.

© Marco Di Marco / Volcano Chaser

19/12/2023

Eruption.

The first pic I shot of the new eruption started tonight a few kilometers northeast of Grindavík.
The eruption started at 22:17 close to Sýlingarfell, a small mountain north of Grindavík.
The fissure is 3,5 to 4 km long, pouring lava fountains all along its length.
The eruption is significantly larger than the previous three occurred on Fagradalsfjall in the last couple of years.
It has been estimated an effusion rate of 100-200 cubic meters per second.
As stated by the Icelandic Met Office "This development of the seismic activity together with measurements from GPS devices is an indication that the magma is moving to the southwest and the eruption may continue in the direction of Grindavík."

More details soon.

Let's hope for the best for the town of Grindavík.

© Marco Di Marco / Volcano Chaser
🇮🇸

18/12/2023

A new eruption started northeast of Grindavík, according to Veðurstofa close to Hagafell. More later.
Video taken from the MBL we**am placed on Þorbjörn pointing NE.

14/11/2023

Today has been the hardest day of my career as a video and photo reporter.

I'll not post anything about today, I'll keep my visual silence I decided to maintain since the crisis started on Friday night, because to me it's the right thing to do.

My heart is with everyone in Grindavík, everyone helping in any form and everyone just sending some positive thoughts towards this wonderful community.

If you want to help you can donate at this link.
Even the smallest donation will help so much:

The Icelandic Red Cross has launched an emergency fundraising campaign to support the Red Cross emergency response due to the events in Grindavík.

11/11/2023

🔴 !!!IMPORTANT!!! 🔴

The situation is escalating fast. Today a new seismic swarm started just north of the town of Grindavík.
A magma intrusion is now moving up into the crust and according to Veðurstofa there is evidence that is extending even under Grindavík.
The civil defense is evacuating the town right now.
This is the last thing we all wanted to see.

Given the situation, in the form of respect for the inhabitants of Grindavík and for anyone working on getting everyone safe, if the town is involved, I will not post anything about this in the coming days. This is not time for social media. If an eruption occurs, and now it looks very likely, it's not gonna be a nice one like we experienced in the past 3 years.

It's crucial that nobody unless authorized gets close to the area during such an event where so many people are involved. Please respect the closures and the operations.

And let's hope this thing will stop without any damage.

01/11/2023

🟡 UPDATE ON THE SEISMIC SWARM ON THE REYKJANES PENINSULA - 01/11 h:09:03 🟡

The seismic swarm started on Reykjanes peninsula on October 25th, between Þorbjörn and Eldvörp, continues. More than 10,000 earthquakes occurred, 23 of them larger than 3.0M, of which three over 4.0M. The largest is a 4.5M that occurred at 08:18 on October 25th.
The swarm is likely triggered by crustal deformation spread in different areas on the peninsula.

Yesterday new Sentinel-1 data have been released by ESA. I processed them and I made an interferogram which shows the near-vertical displacement of the Svartsengi area between October 19th and yesterday, October 31st.
The deformation pattern shows around 5-6cm of maximum inflation centered west of Þorbjörn. These figures are also supported by the GPS data recorded by the station installed by Veðurstofa and Háskóli Íslands in the area.

The pattern is really similar to what have been observed other few times in the last 3 years in the same area (February 2020 and May 2022).

As mentioned in my previous update, while the deformation ongoing since August under Fagradalsfjall is compatible with magma accumulation underneath the crust (10-15km deep), the reasons of the inflation at Svartsengi might be different:

- 1) magmatic gases migrating underneath the Svartsengi high-temperature field:
According to a research paper by ÍSOR - Iceland GeoSurvey et al. published on Nature Geoscience on May 2nd 2022, the inflations occured in the same area in 2020 and 2022 may be caused by magmatic volatiles, mainly CO2 with maybe some contribution of magma, migrating upwards from a magma reservoir at 15–20 km depth under Fagradalsfjall towards the geothermal aquifers of Svartsengi at 4km depth, where the gas intruded and inflated the overburden.
The paper called "Cyclical geothermal unrest as a precursor to Iceland’s 2021 Fagradalsfjall eruption" is available at the following link: https://go.nature.com/3ld22Nh

- 2) According to preliminary results by Veðurstofa, there might be magma accumulating west of Þorbjörn. In this case it might be at a depth of 4-5 km.

The ongoing activity on Reykjanes is another "chapter" of a cycle started with the late 2019 unrest. Although many factors suggest that magma might be involved at depth, at this very moment it's too early to consider an eruption imminent.

In my opinion the situation is still too premature to make any assumptions about future eruptions, which eventually will happen on the peninsula given the history of the area. The situation is constantly evolving and it might nevertheless develop quickly with very short notice in the coming days/weeks/months.

In the pic the interferogram I made, showing the near-vertical displacement of the Svartsengi area between October 19th and October 31st.
© Marco Di Marco/Volcano Chaser - contains modified Sentinel-1 data.