Why Iceland’s Latest Volcanic Eruption Looks So Different | WSJ

A volcano in southwest Iceland erupted after weeks of intense earthquake activity and the evacuation of thousands from the area. The Reykjanes Peninsula is experiencing a fissure eruption instead of an explosive eruption, where lava is basically oozing from cracks in the ground. This runny magma can severely damage infrastructure as it can widely spread across the landscape.
WSJ explains the science of fissure eruptions and the particular dangers they pose to the Reykjanes Peninsula in Iceland.
Photo: Civil Protection of Iceland/Reuters
Chapters:
0:00 Situation in Iceland
0:28 Explosive vs. fissure eruptions
2:05 Iceland’s volcanic history
3:25 What’s next?
News Explainers
Some days the high-speed news cycle can bring more questions than answers. WSJ’s news explainers break down the day's biggest stories into bite-size pieces to help you make sense of the news.
#Iceland #Volcano #WSJ

[@stonew1927]

We here on the Big Island of Hawaii can relate. It's the same kind of eruption we experienced back in 2018, when Kilauea's Lower East Rift Zone erupted and massive amounts of lava destroyed hundreds of homes and covered hundreds of square miles of lower Puna district, even adding quite a bit of land mass to the island as the lava solidified when it hit the ocean and expanded into it.

[@DeusVult77763]

Unfortunately the local community is very against harnessing the abundant geothermal energy of the Kilauea Rift Zone, unlike Icelanders who readily seek to use their natural blessing to further their island's development. The sole geothermal plant on the Big Island faces continuous push back from local and native groups.

[@AlexMoreno-zj7po]

@@DeusVult77763 Why do they oppose it? There's no reason to

[@irenafarm]

@@AlexMoreno-zj7poThe volcanos are sacred. That’s understandable. The science is there when they’re ready for it.

[@stevenr8606]

The NEWS has NO CLUE 🙄

[@barbaradu75]

DEW))))??

[@Marylandbrony]

Quick somebody recreate the light saber battle between Obi-Wan and Darth Vader from Revenge of the Sith right now!

[@cydkriletich6538]

I have known only a few people from Iceland, and they were lovely, thoughtful people, proud of their unique country and heritage. My deepest hope for the Icelanders is that these eruptions do not destroy their homes and businesses, and that no one is injured or killed from an eruption. I’m so sorry this is happening, especially now, so close to Christmas. Here’s hoping that once the current eruptions subside, things quiet down for them for a long time to come. 💞💞

[@irenafarm]

It’s starting to look like this will be a windfall for Grindavik. Low energy rift eruptions are great for tourism! The timing is difficult but Icelanders take good care of each other. :)

[@davidlafleche1142]

Things like that are only going to get worse (Matthew 24:7, KJV).

[@asbisi]

Thank you for your kind words.

[@dresib]

Thanks for the kind words. There is little to no risk to human lives from this eruption. Everyone in the area has been evacuated. The damage to homes or infrastructure that may result from the eruption will take days, weeks or even months to unfold due to the position of the eruption and the slow moving nature of the lava.

[@cydkriletich6538]

@@dresib I am so glad to hear this. Icelanders, I know, are a very hearty breed of good folks!! Happy Holidays to all! 🧑🏻‍🎄🎄

[@user-tm7tw9tu7b]

This answered my questions so well. Thank you.

[@bjarkifreyrbjarnason9419]

The power plant doesn't just "produce hot water for the area" but electricity for around 30.000 people.

[@benedikthandrick4529]

Yes, thanks. I found at least 7 geothermal plants on the peninsula Reykjanes an around Reykjavik. 3 of them are sending only hot water to these areas. The others power and hot water. The pedestrian ways in Reykjavik are being warmed. A high level of luxury. Lovely.

[@alwaysfirstclassmedia5375]

Great info. Thanks for sharing

[@pahan228_killer]

Interesting. Thank you WSJ!

[@bramsrockhopper3377]

Not a bad summary, but you missed out Iceland’s most important geological feature - it’s sitting on top of a hot spot, a mantle plume. It’s the reason that Iceland exists and the sea floor spreading ridge there isn’t just on the seafloor…That means it has a much larger potential volume of magma primed and ready. This has a lot of potential to get a lot worse, basically. Fingers crossed for the good people of Iceland,

[@pgypg]

An asteroid about 300 km to 500 km in diameter falls on the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Asteroid falls at a 48-degree inclination and penetrates Earth. As it passes through the Earth's mantle, it creates two doughnut mantle convection zones. One is the mid-ocean ridge from the Indian Ocean to the Atlantic Ocean. The second is the Pacific subduction zone. As the donut mantle convection rises and meets the crust, the crust separates. The remaining oceanic ranges (subduction zones) are caused by two doughnut mantle convection zones following an asteroid impact in the Himalayas. In other words, the asteroid falls into the ocean east of South Africa, and as it pierces the Earth and emerges into the Ural Mountains, it creates doughnut mantle convection. It fell at an angle. The first doughnut mantle convection creates underwater features from the Australian Southern Ocean subduction zone (undersea mountain range) to the Philippine Sea to New Zealand. The second causes the Arctic Ocean subduction zone. In other words, two large asteroids breaking apart (rifting) the continents. Other large asteroid impacts pulled or tugged at the donut mantle convection that was supposed to be circular, causing the African continent to not be circular! For reference, the primary vortex (doughnut mantle convection) of the asteroid that landed in the Democratic Republic of Congo, Africa, is the island of Iceland because the doughnut mantle convection was cut off by an asteroid impact in the Himalayas. Could an asteroid have cut through the doughnut mantle convection? It's pretty amazing to think about.

[@Mark-vf8op]

Can I assume that Iceland is like on the top of a mega giant underwater volcano? And that the earth crost “moves” over the earth? Like Iceland moves away from the “magmaspot” and then the same thing happens like the Hawaiian islands that the “land” will erode? Ps English is not my native tongue!

[@bramsrockhopper3377]

@@Mark-vf8op pretty much, yes! (and your English is very good 👍). So the hotspot is sitting right under Iceland at one point on the huge mid-Atlantic ridge running right down through the Atlantic Ocean. In this one point this hotspot brings a much larger volume of magma up at that ridge, so instead of normal sea-floor spreading, it’s built up this enormous mass of lava that’s big enough to break the surface and has, over thousands of years, formed Iceland. Iceland is built entirely of hotspot magma. What’s crazy is that although there have been ongoing eruptions, Iceland has actually been fairly quiet since humans began living there. This current eruption is the first in this region of Iceland for around 800 years. And historically, when one part of it becomes active, it ALL becomes active. So Iceland could be in for a lot more volcanic activity over the coming years… Imho

[@timoderpro4661]

​@@bramsrockhopper3377 about 15% of iceland is composed of sedimentary rock

[@bramsrockhopper3377]

@@timoderpro4661 true, I was trying to make a brief point, but yes I should have been more accurate…

[@JohnMcMahon.]

Thanks for this. Quick and informative. 😊

[@JelMain]

Well, for starters, this eruption isn't at the tip of the peninsula, but near enough in the middle, slightly east of the power plant. This one started about 3km long, and extended, mostly to the south, along a previous eruption line.

[@Mrbfgray]

Hope for more 'free' acreage creation, w minimal damage. "Live on (by) the volcano...."

[@barbaradu75]

​@@Mrbfgray DEW)))))?!?

[@Mrbfgray]

@@barbaradu75 Really hope no one is *that* ignorant.

[@Hartleymolly]

they built a power plant near a freaking volcano???

[@Mrbfgray]

@@Hartleymolly The entire island is a volcano and the power plant is geothermal, get the connection?? Good GRIEF.

[@cowboygeologist7772]

Thanks for posting.

[@butterflywatch4221]

Greeting from USA. I hope all those people up there in Iceland are safe, and there's not much property damage.

[@cbpd89]

Fortunately Grindavik was evacuated months ago, which means no one there is at risk. I hope the eruption and lava flow doesn't spread far enough to disrupt the power plant or anymore communities!

[@audreyjohnston999]

Great explanation! Thanks

[@fapmashina1]

Great explanations! 👍👋

[@travisstamp7428]

1:52 that truck is awesome!

[@katherineweber8955]

Thank you. This was interesting.

[@youngslimeworld]

Sending prayers 🙏🏽

[@michaelgarrity6090]

I hope that for the sake of those who live in this region, this cycle of eruptions don't threaten the places they live.

[@janshand7092]

In the earthquakes preceeding this eruption. 44 homes have been damaged and enough to be torn down. No injuries thankfully.. I hope that continues. ❤❤

[@aerodicus]

I think the town was built in an old lava flow, and it’s headed that way again.

[@lydis284]

come on its a tiny island and how are islands created? LAVA the whole island will be destroyed no doubt

[@harmanthind2147]

@@lydis284it’s literally the largest volcanic island 😂 it’s not going to be destroyed at all

[@lydis284]

@harmanthind2147 it's a tiny newly formed island read back and understand how counterintuitive your sentence is 🤣

[@pyroman2918]

I never expected Harry Potter would grow up to be a volcanologist.

[@grindupBaker]

"Harry Potter And The Magical Brimstone Pit".

[@godzilla0974]

I like that one bro.😂😂😂

[@cosmoshfa88savant66]

Nature is Beautiful....

[@annipetratos9401]

Nice video. Funny moment at 1.30. commentator was say about the danger of this kind of larva spreading, And at that moment we see an officer closing a gate. I know not connected, but😊 Interesting information, thankyou

[@jpjh8844]

It literally looks different because this is an on land version of what has been happening along the Mid-Atlantic Ridge for as long back in the Earths 4.5 Billion years as we can record.

[@aidenstoat5745]

The mid Atlantic Ridge only formed about 200 million years ago when Pangea broke up. But similar mid ocean ridges have existed for as long as plate tectonics has been happening (maybe 3 billion years or so)

[@irenafarm]

This is how oceans form! It’s amazing to think that the North American east coast and Morocco were once only divided by a river valley. Then this started happening down here in North Carolina (probably), rifted northward, and kept going and going and going until it was wide enough for the sea to come through. Then things got super bad but that’s not relevant to this event at all.

[@sueelliott4793]

Holding thumbs nere in New Zealand, hope ours don't erupt any time soon. My heart goes out to Islandic people as they are awesome. I have met quite a few.

[@BigFloofinGiant81]

Good work Dr. Bacon

[@GauntletKI]

Kinga reminds me of the o'ahu Ridgeline

[@dresib]

A very good explanation and a nice antidote to the alarmist reporting on this eruption we see in a lot of foreign media.

[@antigravityworkshop1436]

I had a semester of Volcanology with lab at University. My all-time favorite class!

[@PuddinPie]

As a geologist it’s disappointing to see so much incorrect information in this video.

[@torsteinnorbertson]

As a geologist, don't hesitate to correct the information.

[@zzeus43]

Its all about clicks.

[@PuddinPie]

@@torsteinnorbertsonI’m on my phone in a remote area, I just might when I’m back in civilisation

[@irenafarm]

I legit thought it was narrated by AI. 0_o It feels written by AI, though. I clicked for the purty pictures. There’s actual geologists out there with great, evidence-based commentary. Shawn Willesy has a good series and two lives last night and one update this morning.

[@PuddinPie]

@@irenafarmthey are actually typical AI type errors so you might be onto something

[@jordanarriaga6791]

Rumor has it Anakin and Obi-Won were seen dueling it out.

[@nonsibi1087]

In my early 20's, I lived in Iceland a year, but thought seriously about staying. I assiduously studied the language, made progress, and discovered how deeply connected to me my Icelandic friends became. My thoughts are and hopes are with them in these concerning times. Given a choice, I will return to Iceland.

[@cantrell0817]

Iceland is also sitting atop a hot spot in the mantle which increases volcanic activity

[@GeoAce777]

to run alongside or near the magma would be divine 😌

[@nelsonjackson5718]

Its making the place larger atleast in the long run

[@hunzhurte]

I was wondering why fire resistance potions suddenly trippeled in price...

[@Woobieeee]

imagine dying to slow moving lava

[@jjreddick377]

Popping a pimple vs having a cut

[@ul7439]

спасибо, очень ясно всё рассказано и проиллюстрировано.

[@catalinacurio]

It’s beautiful, sad for the people who lost their homes but still Mother Nature showing us her power.

[@bardika1]

It coincides with not just increased solar activity but also a weakened magnetosphere.

[@Keinapappa]

To give some perspective: Those molten rock plumes in Iceland eruption now are some 60m/200ft - 200m/650ft high. The fissure is kilometers/ miles long.

[@interesting2709]

There are so many Volcanoes on Earth. Why not stick a Pipe on its side at the top area first and keep inserting more pipes going towards the bottom, where heat is pushed into the pipe. Volcano does not yell at you and erupt !

[@crystaln6988]

that islands about to get bigger.

[@alliwishis_2]

" With Benefits comes risk " that's more aptly put in this case people basically living on top or on the side of a big volcano

[@Boviathan]

0:21 flew for you ! What’s that clip from?

[@peadarruane6582]

Joe vs the Volcano

[@Boviathan]

@@peadarruane6582 no kidding? I saw that movie around 15 years ago. Worth the watch.

[@peadarruane6582]

@@Boviathan Funnily came up in a Quiz night I was in last week, with the bonus question being what three 90's films did Hanks and Meg Ryan co-star in. Everyone remember Sleepless in Seatle and You got mail. Only one team remembered this one lol

[@Boviathan]

@@peadarruane6582 I know of them and saw very short moments of those movies on tv back in the TV days, but I’ve never seen them. I like that one part when he’s in the ocean.

[@JS-wg4px]

The plates do not slip past one another here - they are separating.

[@jokerace8227]

Yes, this type of fissure eruption is SE Idaho's future and geologically recent past.

[@IdontSkipAds]

A BEAUTIFUL DISASTER.🇮🇸🇮🇸🇮🇸❤

[@place_desjardins]

This would have been an opportunity to play "Volcano Man: by Fire Saga as the background music for this video.

[@opsecmusic3947]

Mother nature at her best. We are so lucky to have a good old planet

[@maggiemomo9259]

That's like the final battle scene in the Northman movie

[@derrick9635]

Adapt and overcome .

[@TraustiGeir]

Pretty sure we are.

[@SongMom8]

Exactly the same as Kilauea. This is a fissure system. There is more than one type of volcano.

[@deemisquadis9437]

It's different because it is a Fissure. Not volcano. The earth is cracking and it is full of molting rock.

[@barbaradu75]

👁️ 👁️👌 WetterKRIEG DEW)))))))???!

[@garrettfornea1088]

A volcano is a rupture opening in the earth whereby molten rock and other volcanic material is released - not necessarily a mountain with a rupture up top. Fissures qualify as volcanoes.

[@akyhne]

Without volcanos, no Iceland... or Hawaii, for that matter.

[@SGALAXIA]

Team Magma woke up Heatran 🌋💥

[@danieldevito6380]

The terrifying nature of volcanoes is often overlooked, despite being able to render mankind extinct, because most people don't live anywhere near one.

[@gr8daysue838]

My Aunt lives in Yakima Washington. St.Helens and Mt. Hood aren't two hours from her. I was living in Portland when Helens went off I watched it with my friends . I was 7 the next day it looked like grey snow over everything especially cars in the driveway

[@heaupsage5291]

It's So Different

[@md.alaminpatwary8268]

I have explosive eruption and my girl friend has fissure eruption ✋✋

[@lorrainyhippohernandez4796]

It looks like a smile

[@brianredmond4919]

Iceland seems to be the world’s blow off safety valve.

[@shirleyswaine4701]

Another benefit of the volcanoes is that they are a huge tourist attraction, which brings money in. Unfortunately, the last one, nearby, was during the Covid restrictions.

[@azzyyy734]

They don't even flinch.

[@queenmab1999]

Fissures are the most spectacular of all the types of eruptions!

[@jeffreyhancock8831]

I wonder what minerals will be found in these latest flows.

[@EperogiLimousine]

Probably lava

[@user-cy9sm7lb5m]

Связка хорошо работает, также объяснено все очень понятно и детально

[@jameswalker7459]

Must save the energy plant,, sending prayers from Plymouth Devon uk

[@user-pf7sl7ko6s]

🔥

[@sudilos1172]

I often feel when friends have near death experiences and bad times. So why did I feel this eruption happening before reading about it on the news. I can’t imagine anyone is even in the danger zone. So why is this such a thing worthy of feeling.

[@jessehansen10]

Because it’s gonna open up and hells legions are gonna be released.

[@kjartanthorvaldsson5598]

what? @@jessehansen10

[@frydguy2331]

Joe vs. the Volcano? You reached for that Tom Hanks flick

[@kennethchia4194]

Seeing "Joe vs. the Volcano" so early in the video was a pleasant surprise

[@tapen678s6]

Will all flights be cancelled tomorrow?

[@michaeldeierhoi4096]

No flights will be canceled because this is not a volcano that threatens air flight.

[@EperogiLimousine]

No ash

[@RockDodger]

Clearly Wizardry didnt work out for Harry Potter and hes chosen Volcanism as his new career.

[@anghogan826]

I was thinking the same thing. Harry Potter grew up & got a real career.

[@shoveldoggermafia]

Would it be possible to put about 100 winches on either side of the volcano crack thing and some strong steel cables and just sew the crack together? It could work especially if they put some strong concrete on top. Could even repurpose the concrete as a landing strip.

[@EperogiLimousine]

Caseoh, if you think of something stupid, I mean smart, think if someone has thought of it before

[@shoveldoggermafia]

Well somebody should have reminded the first person who said he was going to invent fire or invent a calculator. Just because nobody thought of it doesn't mean it wont work.@@EperogiLimousine

[@grindupBaker]

@cassowarycorner This is brilliant ! Get started on it right away ! Send us monthly progress updates ! Don't worry we've all got your back ! (As Trudeau told all Canadians at start of Covid 19 before heading off on vacation on his friend's private island in the tropics).

[@russell7489]

What eruption? 7secs? Minutes on bacground u could havevjust linked to

[@janshand7092]

It's only begun but it's already flowed for 8 hours

[@lyndasullivan5522]

Conor Bacon...??? Now Im really confused

[@krishnakanth77]

I have a crack in my wall . I used white cement , I think that will help iceland

[@United_Wings]

Wow

[@MikeSmith-ye9ho]

I thought it was magma that comes out of a volcano. It is only called lava once it’s injected

[@thegods2622]

Hey, I just saw Obi-Wan and Vader fighting over there.

[@charcelsalamanca5711]

So sad😢😢

[@Kalosius]

Mad respect for throwing in Joe vs Volcano lol

[@barbaradu75]

DEW )))))))?!? Weatherwar ?!?!

[@HiThisIsMine]

Those earthquake fissures are the ones from every parody apocalypse movie & cartoon scene… cracks into the hellish voids of earth…

[@elvastan]

I never thought I'd live to see a Basalt flood. This is _So Cool_

[@irenafarm]

It’s a very very tiny one. :) The Hawaiian islands have them fairly often, as their hot spot “moves” slowly east-ish. This was a slight surprise because they thought the Icelandic mantle plume had moved (eastward? I think?). Seeing this happen in real time does make it a little easier to imagine continental sized flood basalts.

[@realdealtrades]

Has this happened before?

[@TraustiGeir]

Oh, yes.

[@breakalegfpv9532]

I wonder why households were built there ?

[@joshuaharper372]

Two reasons. First, the system had been quiet for hundreds of years when the town was built; it has only become active again in the last decade or so. Second, because Iceland has so many volcanic systems that you have to live near at least one of them. It is like learning to deal with earthquakes in California or hail, tornados, and hurricanes in Texas.

[@TraustiGeir]

What Joshua said. Oh, and also fish.

[@JohnDoe-sy6tt]

Aloha From Hawaii! We have to deal with this every several years!

[@LanceHall]

It's a rift eruption not a volcano.

[@carelgoodheir692]

Semantics?

[@michaeldeierhoi4096]

More specifically it is a fissure eruption but still a volcano. If you look up different kinds of volcanoes fissure volcanoes are of them.

[@middleagedudem.a.d.5478]

Its not explosive due to being on a divergent boundry on the mid atlantic ridge. Your explosive eruptions happen at convergent boundries such as continental volcanic arcs, such ad Cascades and island volcanic arcs such as Aleutians, hawaii is a hot spot.

[@michaeldeierhoi4096]

It is only partly true that volcanoes of Iceland being on a divergent plate boundary are not explosive. Hekla and Katla are both stratovolcanoes producing basaltic/andesite lava. They had eruptions up in the VEI 4-5 range. Eyjafjallajökull another stratovolcano which erupted in 2010 has a basaltic andesite magma which produced ash intense enough to shut down air traffic into northern Europe for several days.

[@middleagedudem.a.d.5478]

@@michaeldeierhoi4096 thank you..novice geologist I am

[@greenman6141]

gee, in other words, exactly like all the other extensively reported upon eruptions in Iceland for the past 4 years. The Wall St Journal, always several years late.

[@sohail789]

Didnt know harry potter knew so much about volcanoes

[@reverseuniverse2559]

What’s with the dribble

[@ExploreTravelCapture]

Anyone else bugged by the narration? It sounds like text generated narration.

[@artificialtelemetry]

"Iceland" is now "Lavaland"

[@thegrassyknoll7792]

The Earth is bleeding

[@cynthiagelmirez3738]

OMG - I didn’t know they had so many Volcanoes! I think they need to get out of there - how scary to think they are living on that type of foundation. I understand the benefits - but what the Risk that comes with it (in my opinion outweighs the benefits)😮

[@irenafarm]

Their risk of being harmed by volcanic eruptions is WAY WAY WAY lower than our risk of harm from almost any other weather event. The earth’s crust is more like a tire, than a balloon. If your tire gets thin and starts leaking air, it doesn’t explode. It just leaks slowly. Your tire would have to be REALLY messed up to explode. In Iceland, volcanoes only get really spicy when they go off under a glacier.

[@michaeldeierhoi4096]

If you look a little deeper you'll find why Iceland is a relatively peaceful place to live. Just because there are 130 volcanoes on the island nation doesn't they all erupt. Many are extinct. And there are eruptions maybe a couple times every decade. Even the Eyjafjallajökull eruption in 2010 that shut down air traffic around northern Europe did not directly impact Iceland seriously. On the island of Sumatra a volcano called Marapi erupted without warning a couple weeks ago killing a couple dozen people hiking on the mountain. And the Indonesian country is composed of 130 active volcanoes and people have learned to live with them with only occasional casualties. Compare what is going on Iceland to the hurricanes that threaten the east coast and Gulf of the US and the island nations. Somewhere in that area there are hurricanes EVERY SINGLE YEAR. And tornadoes are common through the central to eastern part of the US. Would you tell all of them to move as well??

[@JJONNYREPP]

Why Iceland’s Latest Volcanic Eruption Looks So Different | WSJ 1054am 21.12.23 some guy who shot drone footage of the events suggested it could all have petered out by the weekend. which is a tad disconcerting - as i wanted to see some new landmass formed...

[@AlphaGeekgirl]

Who knew that Harry Potter knew so much about volcanoes

[@Shifty51991]

Wait they need a plant just for hot water???

[@B4theend4]

Did not know Harry Potter was a volcanologist. Very cool!