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By Aleks Phillips
U.S. News Reporter
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The latest eruption on Iceland's Reykjanes Peninsula has spread lava across an area of 5.85 square kilometers (2.26 square miles), officials have said based on satellite imagery.
In its latest update, the Icelandic Meteorological Office said the eruption, which began late on Saturday night, occurred from several vents across two volcanic fissures in the region and had since slowed to a "fairly steady" rate. As of Monday morning, lava had flowed to within 330 meters (1,083 feet) of a coastal road that runs out of the evacuated fishing town of Grindavík.
The eruption is the fourth on the peninsula in as many months. The first occurred in mid-December, after more than a month of seismic activity in the region. The second took place on January 14 and the third in early February.
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Volcanic fissures have been opening up above an approximately 9.3-mile-long vertical dike of magma—which runs northeast to southwest—formed in a weak point in the Earth's crust in November. This is being fed by a horizontal intrusion causing crustal uplift around the nearby geothermal power plant at Svartsengi.
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Each of the eruptions has released pressure from the vertical dike and led to a reduction in crustal uplift around Svartsengi. But pressure from magma pushing into the Earth's crust has then risen again each time, propagating magma in the dike and building until another eruption occurs.
Ben Edwards, an American volcanologist who has visited the Reykjanes Peninsula multiple times, previously told Newsweek that the December 18 eruption could mark the start of over a century of volcanic activity in the region.
Unlike during previous eruptions—when lava breached earth defenses built around Grindavík and ruptured a major water pipeline running from the geothermal power plant at Svartsengi—the lava from this eruption has so far not penetrated the earth walls, despite reaching them. The latest bout of lava has largely flowed over an area already covered by previous eruptions.
The Icelandic Meteorological Office said on Sunday that lava flowing west had stopped within 200 meters (656 feet) of the pipe that transports hot water from Svartsengi to the surrounding region. When lava last reached the pipe, residents were left without heating and hot water for several days while a bypass pipe was activated.
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HS Orka, a majority publicly owned utility company that operates the power plant at Svartsengi, has said the new pipeline "is now adequately protected" in case of further lava flows.
Volcanologists have previously said that much of Iceland's infrastructure was built on the Reykjanes Peninsula during a dormant period in terms of volcanic activity. Edwards said that such activity served as a double-edged sword: It provided the heat energy needed for geothermal power but also had the capacity to destroy such an amenity.
Officials said that winds are carrying gas from the fissures northwest over the settlement of Keflavík and away from the peninsula and that strong winds mean it was unlikely to reach the capital, Reykjavík.
However, gas pollution over Svartsengi prompted HS Orka to evacuate staff, state broadcaster RÚV reported on Monday.
Meanwhile, officials are concerned about the southern tongue of the lava flow reaching the sea near Grindavík, which sits just 350 meters (1,148 feet) from the coastal road. As well as the hazard of pyroclasticity—explosions of volcanic matter into the air—due to the rapid cooling of lava meeting seawater, the reaction could create hydrochloric acid gas, which is poisonous if inhaled, Icelandic Meteorological Office said.
"In a radius of about 500 meters [1,640 feet] from the point where lava would come into contact with the sea, conditions would be life-threatening," it warned.
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