Closer Look: It’s Volcano Time

While waiting for Iceland to (possibly) erupt, we take a closer look at Icelandic and global volcanism.

Beth Johnson
6 min readDec 9, 2023
Several spread out groups of people in winter clothes stand and sit, watching the eruption of a cinder cone volcano in Iceland in 2021.
Credit: Berserkur via Wikimedia Commons

One of the daily activities that is helping me stay sane is volcano watching. I love volcanoes. I especially enjoy when they erupt in places that have webcams but don’t affect the lives of people. Unfortunately, those are both rare, unless, it seems, you are in Iceland.

Over the past decade, Iceland has given us hours of entertainment watching lava flow out from rifts and cones. People gather nearby to watch, set up webcams for science, and even fly drones to catch amazing imagery that they then share with the world at large. And as long as no one gets hurt, that’s fine.

But volcanoes aren’t always polite. In fact, they usually are not polite. They erupt where people live, partially because we keep building near them for the rich soil. They erupt in backyards. They destroy towns. And when your home is on a volcanic island created by both a hot spot and the Mid-Atlantic Ridge, there’s always a risk that magma will find its way up through the rocks under you.

Terrain map view of Iceland around Grindavik, showing a recent spat of earthquakes due to magma emplacement.
Credit: Icelandic Met Office

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Beth Johnson
Beth Johnson

Written by Beth Johnson

Planetary scientist, podcast host. Communication specialist for SETI Institute and Planetary Science Institute. Support my cats: https://ko-fi.com/planetarypan

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