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Report on Grimsvotn (Iceland) — 8 September-14 September 2021


Grimsvotn

Smithsonian Institution / US Geological Survey
Weekly Volcanic Activity Report, 8 September-14 September 2021
Managing Editor: Sally Sennert.

Please cite this report as:

Global Volcanism Program, 2021. Report on Grimsvotn (Iceland) (Sennert, S, ed.). Weekly Volcanic Activity Report, 8 September-14 September 2021. Smithsonian Institution and US Geological Survey.

Weekly Report (8 September-14 September 2021)

Grimsvotn

Iceland

64.416°N, 17.316°W; summit elev. 1719 m

All times are local (unless otherwise noted)


Icelandic Meteorological Office (IMO) reported that the jökulhlaup from the [eastern and western Skaftá cauldrons, NW of Grímsvötn] that began on 1 September had decreased during 8-10 September. IMO warned of continuing flood conditions in the downstream parts of the Skaftá river.

Geological Summary. Grímsvötn, Iceland's most frequently active volcano in recent history, lies largely beneath the vast Vatnajökull icecap. The caldera lake is covered by a 200-m-thick ice shelf, and only the southern rim of the 6 x 8 km caldera is exposed. The geothermal area in the caldera causes frequent jökulhlaups (glacier outburst floods) when melting raises the water level high enough to lift its ice dam. Long NE-SW-trending fissure systems extend from the central volcano. The most prominent of these is the noted Laki (Skaftar) fissure, which extends to the SW and produced the world's largest known historical lava flow in 1783. The 15 km3 basaltic Laki lavas were erupted over 7 months from a 27-km-long fissure system. Extensive crop damage and livestock losses caused a severe famine that resulted in the loss of one-fifth of the population of Iceland.

Source: Icelandic Meteorological Office (IMO)