CASE STUDY - Svartsengi, Reykanes, Iceland

Question 1

Where is the Svartsengi volcano located?

Answer 1

Along the Mid-Atlantic Ridge in the fishing town of Grindavik along the constructive plate boundary between the oceanic Eurasian plate and the oceanic North Atlantic plate.

Question 2

How can the tectonic setting of the Svartsengi volcano be described?

Answer 2

• The Eurasian and North Atlantic plates are diverging at a rate of 2cm per year. The plate boundary is constructive oceanic-oceanic and the process of the plates moving apart has created a basaltic island.
• There is a magma plume beneath this boundary, increasing the intensity of volcanic events.

Question 3

What is the nature of the Svartsengi volcano (what occured)?

Answer 3

• In areas with lava flow, areas of the crust inflated by 20mm (ground deformation)
• Lava fountains up to 100m high
• Fissure eruptions occured with basalt lava flow (100-300m cubed per second) and low intensity.

Question 4

What were the social impacts of the Svartsengi eruption?

Answer 4

-120 houses damaged and 10-20 uninhabitable
- Svartsengi power station damaged (providing 8% of Iceland with energy and heating)
- Lava flow damaged hot water pipe, 20,000 people cut off from their water supply.

Question 5

What were the economic impacts of the Svartsengi eruption?

Answer 5

• 144 businesses closed in Grindavik
• $10 billion worth of damaged to infrastructure
• Road destroyed to the Blue Lagoon (major loss to tourism industry)

Question 6

What was the dominant environmental impact of the Svartsengi eruption?

Answer 6

Sulphur dioxide combines with water vapour in the atmosphere to cause acid rain.

Question 7

What volcanic monitoring systems were used to monitor the Svartsengi volcano?

Answer 7

• Hazard maps regularly updated to inform emergency service workers and residents of the type and spatial distribution of the hazard
• InSAR imaging and GPS mapping showed ground inflation (deformation), indicating a magma intrusion at the surface
• Gas monitoring of sulphur dioxide at the surface.

Question 8

What were the immediate responses to the Svartsengi eruption?

Answer 8

• Icelandic Red Cross provided evacuation accommodation for 1700 people
• New lava channel created to divert lava flow away from Grindavik (5000m cubed of rock blasted away)
• Damaged hot water pipe repaired within 30 hours with additional protection

Question 9

What were the planned long-term responses to the Svartsengi eruption?

Answer 9

• Wage and rental subsidies given to those evacuated from the Icelandic government
• 210 new apartments to be built in safe zones of the peninsula
• 0.008% property tax issued by the government to cover the cost of building lava barriers.