Scientists warn Iceland’s volcanic eruptions could go on for decades

The latest series of volcanic eruptions in Iceland could last for decades or even centuries, according to a study published in the journal Terra Nova on Wednesday.

The series of eruptions began in 2021 on the Reykjanes Peninsula in the southwest of the island, just 55 kilometres southwest of the capital Reykjavik.

A large part of the population of the North Atlantic Island lives in the affected region.

It is also home to the only international airport and several geothermal power plants that supply the country with hot water and electricity.

There have been five major volcanic eruptions since December last year alone. Lava flowed out of elongated cracks in the earth, a phenomenon known a fissure eruption.

Some houses were engulfed by lava.

The researchers analysed earthquake data from the past three years and compared the chemical and physical properties of lava from various locations to determine whether it came from the same underground magma chamber.

They found that it was indeed magma with similar petrographic properties.

This suggests a coherent underground magma system, the researchers write.

Taken with the seismic data, they believe that it is a moderately large magma accumulation at a depth of around nine to eleven kilometres, which extends over a width of ten kilometres.

It formed between 2002 and 2020.

The research team concluded that the current series of eruptions could be the beginning of a long episode, though they cannot predict how long the series will last.

Iceland is located where the North American and Eurasian tectonic plates are moving apart.

Volcanic eruptions are therefore frequent, but the eruptions of the more central volcanoes usually only last a few days or weeks.

Fissure eruptions, on the other hand, can last much longer.