NASA Captures Dramatic Images of Lava Stream From a Volcanic Eruption, Iceland’s Blue Lagoon Shines as a Result

After a while of silence, a volcanic fissure burst open again on Iceland’s Reykjanes peninsula and the lava flowed through certain major roads and along the popular tourist spot Blue Lagoon. NASA’s Landsat 9 satellite captured the lava flowing from a fissure in the Sundhnúkur crater row on the peninsula, according to NASA Earth Observatory. The Suomi NPP satellite caught infrared feedback from the eruption and the light was brighter than Iceland’s capital, Reykjavík. The fissure which was created by the eruption reportedly began on November 20 and was followed by multiple earthquakes. As per NASA, this was the seventh eruption in the active region in less than a year.

“The lava flowed east and west from the fissure, rather than toward the town of Grindavík,” NASA’s Earth Observatory, commented in their statement with the release of the image. The eruption occurred from a 1.8 mile-long fissure in the ground which was near Stóra Skógfell peak. “The Icelandic National Broadcasting Service reported that the latest event forced the evacuation of some of the town’s residents and the Blue Lagoon resort, a geothermal spa. A tongue of lava flowed over the car park of the spa, enveloping a small service building located there,” NASA added, as per Newsweek. The lava slowed and cooled on the surface of the flow, but beneath the solid crust, lava might continue to flow near the Blue Lagoon and toward the protective barriers.

Knewz.com noted that Iceland’s government said that they “monitor any seismic and volcanic activity closely in collaboration with the Department of Civil Protection and Emergency Management and the Icelandic Meteorological Office, local authorities, and partners across industry, travel, and tourism.” The Icelandic Meteorological Office also stated that the volcanic activity of the recent eruption had not subsided at the same rate as previous eruptions which continued pace after five days, reported Live Science. Iceland was known for its volcanic events and a majority of its volcanic activity had occurred in north and east regions, areas that were less populated.

But the recent eruption was in western Iceland, a more densely populated area that included Reykjavik. West Iceland’s volcano was not likely to violently erupt as the volcano was formed by rift activity, a process where the surface of the earth was pulled apart by the diverging plates of the Mid-Atlantic Ridge, as per Discover. This caused lava to slowly seep out from the cracks in the Earth’s mantle, as opposed to a violent eruption from a single opening. The Landsat image combined the natural color scene with the infrared signal data to reveal the lava’s heat signature. A plume of gas which consisted mostly of sulfur dioxide was also found streaming from the lava. 

“We are now in one of these pulses,” said David Pyle, a volcanologist at the University of Oxford. “Each eruption releases just a bit more of the stored-up strain, and eventually, when all of that strain has been released, then the eruptions will stop,” he added. Beside most of the ridge, molten lava flowed onto the seafloor, cooled down, and was pulled away from the seam in the crust. This was the reason that the lava accumulated in sufficient amounts to rise above sea level. However, the location of Iceland was not only at the Mid-Ocean Ridge but also above a huge plume of magma that rose from the depths of the surface. Both these sources led to the lava eruptions building Iceland above sea level.