Lava flows out of a fissure in a valley near Mount Fagradalsfjall in Iceland

Mount Fagradalsfjall (Iceland): Lava flows out of a fissure in a valley near Mount Fagradalsfjall in Iceland. Noxious gases from the volcano threaten to pollute the air of a nearby village and risk spreading to the capital Reykjavik, according to the Icelandic Meteorological Office. 

According to NASA, a new volcanic eruption began on Iceland’s Reykjanes Peninsula on Aug. 3, 2022. It said the recent eruptions come after an 870-year quiet period in the Krýsuvík–Trölladyngja volcanic system. The space agency said the volcanic system is composed of two groups of fissures or swarms- Fagradalsfjall and Krýsuvík. Quoting the Catalogue of Icelandic Volcanoes, the American Space Agency said these fissures trend northeast-southwest for 50 kilometers (30 miles) in the rift zone where the North American and Eurasian plates are moving apart.

The Meradalir eruption, in the beginning, emitted fountains of lava along a 300-meter (1,000-foot) segment of the fissure. The brilliant display attracted crowds of tourists, who hiked in to see the slow-moving basaltic lava as it flowed east-northeast. Iceland’s Institute of Earth Science estimated that 10.6 million cubic meters (14 million cubic yards) of lava had covered an area of 1.25 square kilometers (0.5 square miles) by August 15, NASA said. (with AFP inputs)