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accord toa translated statementfrom the Iceland Met Office ( IMO ) , magma is accumulate below the surface , as was the instance before theprevious eruptions on Dec. 18andagain in Jan. 14 . " When a magma vent forms near the surface , the ground ’s crust is constrained and land sinks over the center of the magma vent , " IMO representatives drop a line . " what is more , the solid ground ’s crust pushes up on either side of it . "
If magma accumulation had stopped , the land around Svartsengi should have pop out to lessen . " This is not the fount , and it is therefore clear that magma is accumulating as before , " the statement noted .
Three houses were destroyed in Grindavík after a fissure appeared spewing lava near the town on Jan. 14.
In Grindavík , the background is continuing to deform , with new cracks come out while existing ones are getting wider , according to the IMO statement .
With magma still amass and moving around , the risk of another crack opening and lava spilling out remains . The geology of the region is highly fractured , so working out exactly where another blast could take position is not potential , Carmen Solana , associate professor in volcanology and endangerment communication at the University of Portsmouth in the U.K. , secernate Live Science .
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The eruption on Jan. 14 saw two fissures appear, sending lava towards the fishing town of Grindavík.
" The arena has reactivate , " she said , adding that while expert ca n’t be sure whether another eruption will take place , the current signs suggest it is likely . " The fact that it [ the ground ] has n’t puncture as it should given the volume [ of magma ] that has come to the surface , it ’s more probable than not that more magma will come to the airfoil , " she said .
What happens next is unknown , but the situation on the Reykjanes Peninsula is shaky . The three fissure that have appear so far are all part of the same organization beneath the surface . Magma accumulates and tunnels into weak points in the gall , eventually bust through to the surface . In each of the previous events , lava has stopped flowing within days , then the cycle seems to start again .
Þorvaldur Þórðarson , professor of volcanology at the University of Iceland , tell the Iceland Monitorhe believe another extravasation is coming . " We could be look at a recurring consequence , " he said . " We satisfy it [ the magma bedchamber ] and run out it and fill it again and drain it again . "
The lava flows from the eruption on Jan. 14 subsided a few days later, but experts think another fissure could emerge.
How long this could last will depend on how much magma there is — something scientist do n’t know . So these eruptive phase could continue , with new scissure appear at any time .
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If the volcano does erupt for a third prison term , the magma will come up through different conduit to the control surface , with weak areas being the most likely points for an eruption , Solana said . The ground beneath Grindavík is extremely fractured — but this does n’t mean that is where the next fissure will seem . In November , the Ithiel Town looked to be one of the most probable points for the magma to offend through the surface , but then the clap eventually took place a few miles to the north .
" Where the magma will follow next can change over very chop-chop depending on where the magma happen the weakest point in the encrustation , " Solana say . " We do n’t know where the next one is run to happen and we do n’t make out how tumid it will be . That ’s the sad part of vulcanology — we jazz that something is going to happen and you know more or less where , but you may not nail with that preciseness . "
