IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/nat/natcom/v14y2023i1d10.1038_s41467-023-42569-9.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Near-surface magma flow instability drives cyclic lava fountaining at Fagradalsfjall, Iceland

Author

Listed:
  • Samuel Scott

    (University of Iceland)

  • Melissa Pfeffer

    (Icelandic Meteorological Office)

  • Clive Oppenheimer

    (University of Cambridge, Downing Place)

  • Enikö Bali

    (University of Iceland)

  • Oliver D. Lamb

    (University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
    Wairakei Research Centre)

  • Talfan Barnie

    (Icelandic Meteorological Office)

  • Andrew W. Woods

    (University of Cambridge)

  • Rikey Kjartansdóttir

    (University of Iceland)

  • Andri Stefánsson

    (University of Iceland)

Abstract

Lava fountains are a common manifestation of basaltic volcanism. While magma degassing plays a clear key role in their generation, the controls on their duration and intermittency are only partially understood, not least due to the challenges of measuring the most abundant gases, H2O and CO2. The 2021 Fagradalsfjall eruption in Iceland included a six-week episode of uncommonly periodic lava fountaining, featuring ~ 100–400 m high fountains lasting a few minutes followed by repose intervals of comparable duration. Exceptional conditions on 5 May 2021 permitted close-range (~300 m), highly time-resolved (every ~ 2 s) spectroscopic measurement of emitted gases during 16 fountain-repose cycles. The observed proportions of major and minor gas molecular species (including H2O, CO2, SO2, HCl, HF and CO) reveal a stage of CO2 degassing in the upper crust during magma ascent, followed by further gas-liquid separation at very shallow depths (~100 m). We explain the pulsatory lava fountaining as the result of pressure cycles within a shallow magma-filled cavity. The degassing at Fagradalsfjall and our explanatory model throw light on the wide spectrum of terrestrial lava fountaining and the subsurface cavities associated with basaltic vents.

Suggested Citation

  • Samuel Scott & Melissa Pfeffer & Clive Oppenheimer & Enikö Bali & Oliver D. Lamb & Talfan Barnie & Andrew W. Woods & Rikey Kjartansdóttir & Andri Stefánsson, 2023. "Near-surface magma flow instability drives cyclic lava fountaining at Fagradalsfjall, Iceland," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 14(1), pages 1-9, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:nat:natcom:v:14:y:2023:i:1:d:10.1038_s41467-023-42569-9
    DOI: 10.1038/s41467-023-42569-9
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-023-42569-9
    File Function: Abstract
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1038/s41467-023-42569-9?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Patrick Allard & Mike Burton & Filippo Muré, 2005. "Spectroscopic evidence for a lava fountain driven by previously accumulated magmatic gas," Nature, Nature, vol. 433(7024), pages 407-410, January.
    2. Freysteinn Sigmundsson & Michelle Parks & Andrew Hooper & Halldór Geirsson & Kristín S. Vogfjörd & Vincent Drouin & Benedikt G. Ófeigsson & Sigrún Hreinsdóttir & Sigurlaug Hjaltadóttir & Kristín Jónsd, 2022. "Deformation and seismicity decline before the 2021 Fagradalsfjall eruption," Nature, Nature, vol. 609(7927), pages 523-528, September.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. A. Rosa & C. Pagli & H. Wang & F. Sigmundsson & V. Pinel & D. Keir, 2024. "Simultaneous rift-scale inflation of a deep crustal sill network in Afar, East Africa," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 15(1), pages 1-8, December.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:nat:natcom:v:14:y:2023:i:1:d:10.1038_s41467-023-42569-9. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Sonal Shukla or Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.nature.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.