A volcanic eruption in Vatnajökull National Park
A volcanic eruption started í Grímsvötn in Vatnajökull National Park at around 7 p.m. on the 21. of May. Today, on the 23. of May the eruption in Grímsvötn continues. The intensity of the eruption is less than when it reached its peak yesterday, but it remains steady. The plume reached as high as 20 kilometers yesterday, but is now consistent around 10 km.
Considerable ash has fallen in the southern parts of Iceland, and ash has been detected in all parts of the country, outside of the North-Western part of Iceland. According to geophysicists at the University of Iceland, the eruption is very different from the eruption in Eyjafjallajökull last year. This eruption is projecting basaltic magma, which is rarely explosive by itself. The melted ice water that is flowing into the crater, is causing the explosions, but that should cease, which would greatly reduce the production of fine ash particles from the eruption.
