Although still very powerful, the eruption in Holuhraun is slowly cooling down. According to volcanologist Ármann Höskuldsson, at the Institute of Earth Science, this increases the risk of a strong, explosive eruption in Bárðarbunga, the sub-glacial caldera under Vatnajökull glacier.
Ármann told TV channel Stöð 2 that the magma dyke feeding the volcanic crater in Holuhraun could get blocked and that could lead to an eruption in Bárðarbunga. It's believed that magma has been building up in the huge chamber underneath the caldera since 1974.
Yet another scenario, according to Ármann, is that the ongoing eruption could either progress southwards under Dyngjujökull, an outlet glacier in Vatnajökull glacier, or a new volcanic fissure could open there. If a sub-glacial eruption begins in Dyngjujökull it would lead to immediate flooding hazards on the floodplain in front of the outlet glacier. The eruption in Holuhraun is only 5 km (3.1 mi) from the ice cap.
Dyngjujökull and Holuhraun are parts of Bárðarbunga, Iceland's largest volcanic system and one of the largest volcanic systems on the planet.
Embedded below is Stöð 2's news report with a new video of the eruption in Holuhraun.
Although still very powerful, the eruption in Holuhraun is slowly cooling down. According to volcanologist Ármann Höskuldsson, at the Institute of Earth Science, this increases the risk of a strong, explosive eruption in Bárðarbunga, the sub-glacial caldera under Vatnajökull glacier.
Ármann told TV channel Stöð 2 that the magma dyke feeding the volcanic crater in Holuhraun could get blocked and that could lead to an eruption in Bárðarbunga. It's believed that magma has been building up in the huge chamber underneath the caldera since 1974.
Yet another scenario, according to Ármann, is that the ongoing eruption could either progress southwards under Dyngjujökull, an outlet glacier in Vatnajökull glacier, or a new volcanic fissure could open there. If a sub-glacial eruption begins in Dyngjujökull it would lead to immediate flooding hazards on the floodplain in front of the outlet glacier. The eruption in Holuhraun is only 5 km (3.1 mi) from the ice cap.
Dyngjujökull and Holuhraun are parts of Bárðarbunga, Iceland's largest volcanic system and one of the largest volcanic systems on the planet.
Embedded below is Stöð 2's news report with a new video of the eruption in Holuhraun.
