![]() That's right, the last few months' seismic activity has been happening right along an alignment of fissures. You told us that the earthquakes that anticipated the eruption of Fagradalsfjall in recent weeks were concentrated along one of these bands of fissures… ![]() In the peninsula we are talking about, this geodynamic regime has led to the development of 4 fissure volcanic systems: Reykjanes, homonym of the peninsula, Svartsengi, Krýsuvík and Brennisteinsfjöll. Thus originates the fissural volcanism typical of the island, without excluding the formation of tabular stratovolcanoes (due to the presence of ice caps) and calderas. This series of long faults correspond to the "opening" and moving away between these two plates, periodically allowing the formation of fissures through which the magma rises. In other words, the island is crossed by a complex system of faults and fractures that stretch from the south-west to the north-east and then assume a more north-south trend. Iceland is located, as I said, between the North Atlantic and the Eurasian plates: it is a so-called region of the Earth rift and is located along the Mid-Atlantic Ridge. In this regard, can you better explain the type of structure of Iceland from a geological and volcanological point of view? The magma emission area is therefore located in a crucial area for Iceland, and does not correspond to a real volcanic structure - a cone or a stratovolcano (like Etna, to be clear) - but to an extensional system of fractures and fissures corresponding to the zone of separation of the North Atlantic tectonic plate from the Eurasian one. More generally, the eruption can be referred to the volcanic system called Krýsuvík–Trölladyngj, located in the central part of the Reykjanes peninsula, not far from Keflavík international airport, the main Icelandic airport. ![]() Reykjavík and some strategic infrastructure in its vicinity are only 40 km away from the Fagradalsfjall area where the eruption actually started and is still ongoing. Although the earthquakes were initially identified as being of tectonic origin, since 1 March the type of tremors has been associated with the presence of magma in a belt between two mounds, Mt. It is an eruption that began on the evening of March 19 in the Reykjanes peninsula, after several months in which tens of thousands of earthquakes had been recorded which, until then, had been of low magnitude: on February 24 instead, therefore shortly less than a month before the start of the eruption, a significantly stronger earthquake occurred, measuring 5.7, with its epicenter about 30 km from Reykjavík, the capital of Iceland, where many important infrastructures and most of the of the country's population, who felt the shock well. Gianfilippo, what do we know so far about the Fagradalsfjall volcano eruption? We went on a journey with him through the lava fields of Iceland, letting ourselves be captivated by the breathtaking views and colors of that land, caressed by the suggestions that that sometimes very wild nature pours into local music and literature. To find out more, we interviewed Gianfilippo De Astis, an INGV volcanologist who combines his profession as a researcher with a soul extremely sensitive to the calls of art and culture. Risk reduction projects and information campaignsĪ spectacular eruption that we were able to appreciate from the photos and many videos that the locals have posted on the net.Īn island on which ice and fire coexist, shaping together one of the most evocative landscapes in the world.Īfter more than eight centuries of silence, the Icelandic volcano Fagradalsfjall has awakened, attracting the attention of the general public but also and above all of the international scientific community.Activities with schools and universities.Museums, exhibitions and information centres.Subsoil Activity Monitoring Center (CMS).
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |