Lava Output Slows at Iceland Volcano But Magma Continues to Accumulate Below: Geologist Analysis

[@shawnwillsey]

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[@jmuehlbauer42]

Thanks Shawn. I find your videos refreshing, no drama...only fascinating science. This is one of the best places to learn. Cheers!

[@shawnwillsey]

Many thanks for your kind words. It's great fun to learn and share with folks.

[@ultraviolettp3446]

Once again, Professor Willsey - I want to compliment you on your professionalism and your clarity in your descriptions. I do wish 45 years ago that I had a geology professor like you and I would have found the information more of use. You explain concepts well and your presentations and communication are simply first class. Keep up the great work and I hope that your students realize how lucky they are to work with you on their studies!

[@shawnwillsey]

Thanks for your kind words. I am still looking to improve my communication skills and knowledge each day.

[@user-wk1mw9nj3i76]

Shawn, at least 104,000 people agree with me that you are outstanding at what you do. That’s one heck of a bunch of positive reviews. Keep on doing your channel the way you want to! Your integrity and instincts are on the mark. I’m always *eager* to see what’s in your videos, Shawn. 🙏 Thank you!

[@shawnwillsey]

I appreciate that! Many thanks. It’s a fun side project.

[@LizWCraftAdd1ct]

Thank you Amanda-Jo and Shawn for the update.

[@jackienaturelover9761]

Thank you Shawn for the Iceland update. This is your 2nd update today. Once in Hawaii and now Iceland. Greatly appreciated.

[@timpointing]

I haven't watched this video yet but I just wanted to say how much I appreciate Prof Willsey's delivery in all of his videos. He's not giving a presentation to the camera, he is talking to his viewers as if they are students or colleagues sitting in his classroom right in front of him. 👍

[@JEMHMEJ]

Love that you call the spatter cone cute!

[@SaltAndVinegar42]

Because it is 🥰

[@delilahboa]

Thank YOU Shawn, I’m sure I’m speaking for many here, but we really appreciate all you do, your updates really help us understand this amazing, incredible process Xx❤xX

[@joane8651]

Thank you, Amanda Jo and Prof. Willsey.

[@sheilagraham8543]

Thanks for this second update today Shawn from one side of the world to the other! We appreciate your commitment to keeping us in the loop.

[@StirlingLighthouse]

Thank you Prof Willsey 🙏

[@patpashley]

Thanks

[@Jesselespaul]

Absolutely top notch! Thank you!

[@Travelling_Jonoberries]

Thank you Shawn for another most informative update on Iceland, certainly between your good self and Gylfi we are certainly well informed. Have a wonderful day and god bless

[@tonyagarcia1928]

Hi from Sugar Land Texas Been watching your other videos. Great job. Thanks

[@jacquelinebell6201]

I was happy to see your update this time within a couple of hours. Usually you come on about 1am or 2am in Brisbane so I dont get to see it fresh. Its always interesting and I understand what you're saying lol. Now Ill go watch your Hawaii update!

[@susiesue3141]

Goodnight! Thanks for sharing! Always great info!😊

[@Julie-OSN]

Many thanks for your updates. I'm really enjoying learning about the geology which is happening. Your posts are always something I look for. Many thanks also to Amanda-Jo. I hope things are settling down a bit for her there in Iceland.

[@DianeSmith-h3t]

Thank you Shawn for giving us the time to explain what’s going on.

[@williamlloyd3769]

Thank you for the update!

[@suziejones7962]

Thank you too, Shawn for the update. Loving learning and watching all this. It is fascinating. xx

[@nolongerlistless]

Thank you for all going to all the effort required to get these videos uploaded to KZbin. Much appreciated ❤.

[@jeffreymorris1752]

Great update. When no one can confidently predict what's going to happen, we shift into a higher gear of learning stuff. With access to all the cams, this show is even 24/7!

[@omie5763]

Thanks to you and your helpers for producing these interesting videos.

[@gladysdecelles9951]

Thanks Shawn. You make it so easy to understand what is happening. Really appreciate it.

[@donnablue4794]

Thank you Professor Shawn for another great informative update. I really appreciate you and the giving of your time!

[@sokaikat674]

Thank you Shawn for all your updates. Every morning I get online and see the volcano, and if things have changed I hope you will give us an update. I hope there will still be some activity for your vacation.

[@maryt2887]

Shawn, thank you for distilling the pertinent information for us.

[@sueellens]

So amazing that I’ve learned so much about volcanoes and Iceland. I hope to one day visit there. Thanks to you and Amanda Jo. 😊

[@hardrockgirl5844]

Thank you for this update😊 👍

[@KarenNZ]

Kia Ora from NZ…love watching and learning more every video 🩶

[@louisramosa]

Yes, watching from NZ too, very interesting

[@SaltAndVinegar42]

Your updates are simply the best, and so very quickly put together and recorded❤️🌋 thank you & your team. Take care

[@nataliew8061]

Two updates today thanks 😊

[@joannekellam191]

Wow, we lucked out with two updates today! Thanks so much!

[@ellyraborn007]

Ty for taking @ my country & giving us updates away from home, I am in USA & my Icelandic name is very long but dual citizenship, if T wins might move back! 😎

[@kewajodo]

Thanks once again for the clarity & considered presentation, focused on the key data. The significance of that short news item about the civil defence is that, to increase the berm height at L7 and L12 where the lava sits, they need to build out laterally. The berm has to be 3-4 times as wide as it is high. They can’t access the outer edge of the current berm so they have to broaden it inwards in order to then build it upwards. Adding 5m height means up to 20m breadth, so they need permission for such a structure as the berms in question are also 1.5km to 2km long. Despite their immense hard work that amount of construction is going to take weeks rather than days. They are also working flat out on finishing the work west of town which was scheduled until mid-May.

[@sarahtoland1754]

Love listening to this guy

[@lindaarchinal9008]

Thank you Shawn!!

[@xwiick]

Thanks for all of your hard work man!

[@alasdairmunro1953]

Thanks for another excellent update Shawn! 😀

[@ericfielding2540]

Another great update. I looks like there is a hill west of the vent, so lava flows in that direction can’t go far, but I don’t have a high resolution topographic map.

[@kathleentanti4387]

Loving the updates.

[@reekoreeko1857]

So, anyone tell me why this cute little spatter, or now a splutter cone is managing to keep on going? I thought if the pressure fell below 3 cubic m per second or so, it would stop, but it just keeps on giving. Also, anyone seen a latest drone flight? I really need to see the cone within the cone. Awesome viewing though. Thanks for the update shawn.

[@SharonDennis-u1w]

Great timing. Sick of politics!! Yea geology!! Sharon in AZ🌵🌵🌵🌵🌵🌵🌵🌵🌵

[@sheilaathay2034]

Thanks for keeping us up on our tippy toes🎉❤

[@gailgreen5012]

Thanks again. Great as always.

[@cindywagner4182]

This question may be out there a little bit but.... Where does the lava come from that goes into the magma chamber? Is this leaving a hole in the middle of the earth or is that "hole" always being refilled?

[@richarddavies7419]

Lava emerging at Iceland generally comes from the mantle, which circulates and is constantly replenished by subducted material at some plate boundaries. Iceland sits above a major spreading ridge where magma wells up, also a "hot spot" that pushes up magma from deeper within the mantle. (Magma that erupts at the surface is termed "lava.")

[@basbass429]

The amount of liquid flowing lava away from the cone does not visually confirm the flow is nearly down to zero. How do they determine that? Calculate that?

[@allenra530]

mbl has another view from the east, that shows the new flow. It looks like the movement is going north as well as west.

[@robertslugg8361]

Start digging a trench along the lava by Berm #13 down to the sea. Create a preferred pathway with a better slope gradient to build a lava channel which will create its own berms/levees with sporadic overflow. Letting the lava build up to the north of town was never a good idea, and it gets worse each day. Lava to the sea. Lava to the sea.

[@TheSair85]

Thanks love these updates

[@londonlavalout9762]

If the defensive wall is breached to the east as looks likely, it might, as you say, avoid most of Grindavik's infrastructure, but the lava will have a direct run into the harbour which would be a disaster for the town. Spending a fortune to build a wall to protect a housing stock that is close to worthless, is less important than saving the harbour which after all the reason why the town is located where it is.

[@JoelButlerMW]

Thanks for update Sean- we will be there May 20-21, and would like to know if there are now, or will be any areas off the roads (#43 or other) where visitors can go to safely and observe the 'action'. Have you received any information about the safe viewing of the eruption(s), especially now with the area around the Blue Lagoon apparently closed off? Thanks Joel

[@robbirobin9657]

I am imagining, like myself, that many many people around the world now, whilst driving, are wondering about their landscape and how it formed, because of your influence, and imagining plates that once collided, volcanoes that have erupted, fissures that have spurted and glaciers that have swept down valleys. I have to admit though that my concentration on the road as I sweep through The Peak District has dwindled, and I must try to keep my eyes on where I am going.

[@Deltroyer1963]

Take a look on RUV's cam "Grindavik - Mosaic". That new lava output area is pretty large! I think all the fresh lava and lava from old lava channel flows to the west now.

[@waynehutton6133]

Hi Shawn. I'm not an expert but talking about GPS showing slowing of uplift has happened multiple times on the current uplift event. So I dont really understand why you didn't see the similarities which happen along the uplift plot?. And the "little" spatter cone is still 30+ metres high on the highest side. Measurement was made using laser hight Measurement by drone.!!!

[@uduflee]

Thank you for your videos. Since 2020, after La Palma eruption in Canary Islands I hoticed that Iceland reacts somehow after some seismic activity on South Sandwish Islands, Azores Islands, Portugal and Reykjanes Ridge. Over time, one may notice that full Altlantic Ridge somehow wakes up and something happens in Iceland. I can't recall who proposed that, recently the Euroasian Plate is trying to settle down after earthquake 26 December 2004 and earthquake of Fukusima, Japan 2011. As a consequence of this settle down of plates, we had large quakes in Europe like Turkey and Marroco. And this is only what I recall of easthern side of Atlantic. Even New York has recent seismic activity too.

[@TheIdahogrl]

As always, am a rockhound from birth, always interested in geology always look at the roadsides where ever I travel, wondering and interested, the earth sciences always have fascinated me. I have a friend who is a professor of geology at BSU. You more than likely know her, or have heard of her. Always loved your updates. Thank you.

[@jenibylsma9845]

Thank you Shawn - always appreciate your updates. Have learned so much just from watching your videos - so many people have had their interest in geology awakened by watching the content on your channel. It’s been an awesome journey so far - will be interesting to see what unfolds in the near future. Cheers from Down Under … 😁🌴🌴🌴

[@shawnwillsey]

Many thanks for your kind words and viewership.

[@katebatt7538]

Earthquake swarm at Eldey tonight 05/05/24 - 06/05/24. Most between 4km and 8km depth, two moderate sized qukes earlier at 10km, so probably just the mid-Atlantic ridge doing its thing, but it's been pretty intense over the last hour or so.

[@gonemadinnz]

Great update. Waiting for what comes next??

[@RobertMurdock-ou8gt]

hey shawn i have a ? do think the magma under ground in the storage area have a tide like movement because in the morning the cone gets slow but around 7 or 8 iceland time it picks up alot till morning what do you think ???????

[@zlm001]

I hope Hordur Kristleifsson (The photographer, I don’t know how to type the characters correctly) keeps taking that photograph again and again over the year and years to come. That spot has been a great and interesting photography site for centuries before and it looks like it will stay great for a long time to come. A monthly time-lapse would be phenomenal, but I have no idea how much time or effort taking the shot entails.

[@siobhanmck]

A reflection of life we really know nothing look forward to out come good luck and thanks Shawn 💫

[@bal20]

Another great update. Who would have thought that this system and current situation could become even more interesting. With Kilauea showing signs of movement there could be a lot happening over the next months

[@Selah-dl3ef]

Still waiting and wondering.Thanks Muches Shawn.😽

[@jandejonge2881]

Hi Shawn, thank you for your regular updates on the situation on Iceland. I have two questions. You showed us the photos from the Sundhnukar craters before and after thd eruptions. What suprised me is that the old craters did not open up again but new fissures have appeared. You see the new lava just east of the old craters. Especially on the foreground of the foto its good visible. Can you explain why that is? The other question, is it possible that the current active vent is feeded by the magma of the march 2nd intrusion and not by the magma filling the chamber under Svartsengi? Thank you

[@Steviepinhead]

Succinct and to the point. Thanks, Shawn!

[@beckyavila6225]

Thank you

[@mikequinn6827]

Hello I was just wondering if there are any underwater vents around the peninsula And if they play any part in helping degas the main lava chamber

[@michaeldeierhoi4096]

To the southwest of the Reykanes Peninsula is a seamount called Elder that becomes active occasionally usually more with earthquakes than any eruptions. It is most likely fed by a different magma chamber, but I can't speak to the details.

[@CybAtSteam]

There's youtube webcam footage from 2 days ago of glowing lava in the gap between berm 12 and 13, so there's definitive confirmation of fresh lava making it that far south.

[@Ari-jj9op]

I've heard they bought out 500 homes in Grindavik? That's the end of the town if so. Very sad.

[@neomortalgirl]

My daughter and I have guessed that the magma chamber could blow. We have no idea about this stuff but so interesting to watch. She is only 6 and I said one day she might get to do a project on this very volcano. 😊

[@skyedog24]

🔨 🔨 🔨 🔨 Is there indication that grindavik is collapsing between the two plates , thereby sinking.?

[@susannell544]

I did watch a video of Professor Cooks yesterday about the Treelike sandstone.....pretty interesting,did you see it yet? Yr ago

[@DeannaGilbert616]

Wow. I had no idea the spatter cone was that tall.

[@HH.......]

Thank you Shawn 😊 Brilliant lesson 👏 👍 thoroughly enjoyed and understood the way you explain things bravo Professor 👏 👍 😊

[@jk9300111]

I have been watching your podcast off and on for about 8 months now. I's great information but the only thing I wish you would do is somehow place a figure of a person or vehicle next to the spatter cone or eruptions to scale the size. It's hard to tell if the cone is 25 meters high or 100 meters.

[@shawnwillsey]

About 25 m.

[@markscopel9561]

What is the actual size of this cone, can you put something to scale to show the size. Can’t get a good idea on how big it is?

[@michaeldeierhoi4096]

It's about 100 feet 30 m high and about 300 ft or 90 m wide at the base.

[@joblo341]

The world is watching the volcano like a sporting event that someone else's life depends on.

[@wendywright-pw6ud]

Thanks for the update. Cant wait to see what happens wendy albany western Australia

[@LarsVad]

I am surprised that you talk about the development coming to a standstill at some point. as far as I know, the eruption is right below where the two continental plates migrate away from each other, and in my view you have to expect it to be a recurring event, perhaps not in the same way every time, but after all an area that is constantly changing or taking Am I wrong there?

[@shawnwillsey]

I believe I was referring to this eruptive episode, not in general. The area has been volcanically quiet for 800 years until this past December.

[@loribelknap8101]

On the pulse with Silki

[@Le3eFrereBrunet]

Yeah, if too much lava makes it’s way, the floor will really turn to lava! 😊

[@johntrotter8678]

Why is this coming out in 360p resolution?

[@shawnwillsey]

Just checked and it’s HD here. Maybe refresh?

[@cindywagner4182]

Go to settings and change the quality there. Settings can be found by putting the cursor over the vid and you will see the little round gear, click on that. ( at least on my computer)

[@golfish8589]

If a fighter jet flew in there and fired a missile at the cone and knocked down the north side if the cone. Would the lava flow north. Away from the city

[@sandrine.t]

Wow, two updates in one day! Lucky us! Thank you @shawnwillsey for explaining the latest data to us in a clear and simple way. And thanks as usual to @MandieJo for her invaluable help :) Hörður Kristleifsson's before and today photos are superb, they really allow us to see how much and how fast the Sundhnúks craters area is changing. As much as I am excited about these eruptive events and learning great stuff, I can't help but feel compassion for the people of Grindavík. In his latest video, Gylfi said that "over 500 properties have now been purchased from their owners, they can invest elsewhere and move on with their lives" but this is "sealing the fate of the community that once was, so there are mixed feelings"...

[@josephastier7421]

When a volcano is this small you're supposed to throw them back.

[@katesommerville7217]

It’s all so interesting but I have to admit to some disquiet knowing the lava is up to the top of the barriers 🤞🤞🤞 it doesn’t go too much further.

[@michaeldeierhoi4096]

The town is evacuated and many of the residents bought out by the government. As long as the eruptions continue the town is at risk. I would guess that it is likely that eventually a sizable eruption will overcome the barriers and there is little that authorities can do or even should do about it. At some point the expense at protecting the town with berms could become a losing game financially and a lava flow that is too great to mitigated.

[@lilysceeliljeaniemoonlight]

🌋 Good vibesz to The God of the Vulcans 🔥💫🔙

[@michaeldance6879]

Mother Nature is running us through a loop

[@hjumper8238]

Thank you Shawn. An educated guess is always better than a WAG, right? Any bets being made? That’s the gambler’s thought pattern, not mine.

[@RobertMurdock-ou8gt]

sorry 7 or 8 in the evening

[@jenna924]

Have you considered online classes so people all over can learn geology? I think lots of your KZbin viewers would be interested.

[@shawnwillsey]

I will be launching some Geology 101 videos soon.

[@reekoreeko1857]

Thanks shawn. To think that less than ten hours before the current breakout, I was watching some dulltard walking on that very area to get to the lava pond. Imagine it happening while he, or she, was there? A long diverted route back or worse. Also, did you notice we now have an even cuter crater within the cute crater? have a good day shawn and everyone 😁

[@Xris-FJ1200]

Could speak slowly please ? It would be interresting, but, here, we can't understand well what you tell. Could you understand the problem ? Many thanks

[@susannell544]

95 EQ and Tremors now......looks like an increase! It's Clogged and looking for another way out🤔 Hopefully it's not trying to go through the Mtn at the Geothermal?

[@KrisKat-g1x]

WOW I'm the first one here.

[@cyberslayer1437]

I love your knowledge and enthusiasm of geology. I know you are acutely aware of the human consequences of geologic processes, but using a sport analogy to these volcanic observations seems to neglect the situation of the people of Grindavik. We shouldn't eagerly anticipate further "drama, intrigue, or excitement" that threatens human lives or their livelihood.

[@shawnwillsey]

Did not intend for my comment to be taken that way. I was speaking about the anticipation and uncertainty of another event while current eruption goes on. I’ve shown true empathy to residents in many of my videos.

[@sandrine.t]

@@shawnwillsey you have and we know it :)