Lava breakout in Iceland! Learn about pahoehoe vs a'a lava at the Fagradalsfjall volcano in Iceland
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- čas přidán 15. 08. 2022
- Enjoy this video collage with geology professor Shawn Willsey as he takes you to the edge of the active lava flow at the Fagradalsfjall volcano in Iceland on Thur, Aug 11, 2022. Witness a breakout of pahoehoe (hot, runny) lava (or helluhraun as it is called in Icelandic) as it overtakes a bare patch of ground in the Meradalir valley. Also learn how pahoehoe lava transitions into slabby pahoehoe then to a'a (cooler, sticky) lava (or apalhraun in Icelandic) as it cools and/or gets torn up. Finally, observe the eruption from a nearby hill to the north for an overview of the eruption and an explanation of how awesome this multisensory experience is.
I love doing these videos and will continue to do so but if you want to provide support or much appreciated travel money, you can send support via:
Venmo @Shawn-Willsey (be sure to put two L's in last name)
or PayPal: www.paypal.com/donate/?hosted...
or a good ol' fashioned check to this address:
Shawn Willsey
College of Southern Idaho
315 Falls Avenue
Twin Falls, ID 83303 - Věda a technologie
I don't watch TV much any more but, when I do, it really strikes me how over-scripted, stilted, (or sensationalist) pompous and dumbed down a lot of the presenting is. This beats TV production hands-down! It really is the next best thing to being there with an expert guide / teacher! Thank you!
Thank you. I was so excited that I felt like most of these were quite rambling and scattered. If it resonated and you learned, then we did something right.
@@shawnwillsey Your excitement adds another dimension that is exactly what is missing in TV production, and it is contagious. You obviously have a lot of knowledge to share, and a lot of experience sharing it, so even if you think you're rambling, it's good information we're hearing. Nothing better than to hear someone be knowledgable and passionate about a topic, in my opinion. Let's face it, you make dirt and rocks exciting....not everyone can do that!
@@shawnwillsey No, not rambling - conversational, and pitched at normally-intelligent-adult level. You were genuinely excited about your subject, and that came through beautifully. Reading other comments, I can see other people got the same feeling as I did, of almost-being-there, sharing in this amazing event. Yet you also packed in a ton of information.
Once in a lifetime experience! Thank you so much for making the trip and sharing these clips with us.
You bet. This was my third trip there but first one during an eruption. I plan on going next summer too and getting to some other areas for videos.
Which hiking path did you go path A? Or path c?
@@memelukes4001 Path A
Absolutely Incredible! Almost hypnotic. Like you, I would be there for hours and hours just watching this awesome primeval event. Fantastic filming to.
Thanks Shawn for sharing this once in a lifetime experience.
As good as it gets ! That is a beautiful description. Enjoy.
Thank you so much for taking us, right down to the action, with your experience with our dynamic Earth! The sounds were something that are often overlooked & they really are wild! Looking forward to the next chronicle!
Blimey Shawn that is first class, it's certainly ramped up now, I could stay there and watch that all day Shawn, thanks for sharing. Jim from Dartford UK.
So interesting! We tend to think of all these processes happening a million years ago, but indeed it's still happening right in front of us.
Your videos and narration are incredible and very well put together. You make me feel as though I were sitting on that hill right along with everyone else watching the lava inch along. Thank you! Stay well and stay safe!
I can imagine you really were giddy standing there watching. I'm giddy sitting here watching your video months later. You pointed out so much as it happened. WOW, doesn't begin to express it. Thanks for sharing the sensory experience with us.
As always, you give amazing information. It never fails to astound me all the aspects of an eruption that I would never have taken into consideration. I will look at eruptions more carefully now to try and distinguish if there are things happening that you have mentioned. Thank you. I must admit, running red hot lava is mesmerizing.
That is just spectacular. I’ll never be this close to an eruption. Thanks!
I watched a number of Fagradalsfjall vids during the eruptions - not many had this detailed commentary - Thank you sir! 😁
You are so lucky! Thank you so much for sharing. It’s mesmerizing! I wouldn’t want to leave either!
Both types of lava sound wonderful as it moves. Thank you for sharing your footage with us.
Thanks for this really informative video - it's just terrifying to me watching the lava flowing on video - nature is so amazing. Glad you were there to show us.
Thank you Shawn for describing and showing us everything so vividly, and explaining the types of lava and what they look like and the features that differentiate them. Great video and you are much appreciated and you’ve got yourself another subscriber🌟
Thanks for your comments and welcome aboard. Enjoy the existing videos and look for new ones soon, from Iceland and other locales.
Thank you! Wonderful observations and descriptions. The best!
Definitely a multi sensory experience!!
Awesome video. That is the amazing!!!
Ahh your enthusiasm shows… thanks for sharing
Thank you so much from New Zealand
It's scary, as I lay here on my sofa. I swear I can smell it. Incredible video.
An unconformity in the making...h
...sweet!!!
Thanks for sharing!!!
You really did share the feeling of being there with us!
My wife and I were there 2 months ago. Thank you Shawn for the next best thing to witnessing it for myself. Love all of your insight, videos, and books.
Hi Vince. Hope you are well. Thanks for watching.
Thanks, Shawn!
Lovely commentary Shawn... Thanks... You lucky git ! ... x ;-)
Nice.
Amazing!
Great seriesof videos
You sound very knowledgeable with all the correct terms for everything.
Great video, thanks.
Well, this was what I do professionally as a college geology professor so good to hear I'm in good standing. Thanks for watching and learning.
Amazing and fascinating! You give us a real sense of what it's like to be there, with your great explanations of what all is going on around you. Thanks Shawn!
I can imagine being down there. Like being at the ocean, the sights and sounds are even far older than we are so it all seems to be a part us. I cant remember when the last one started with its fits and starts but, this one did go quiet for a short time then, started back like it never quit. I expect another off cycle as it forms and collapses the walls inside the channel as a matter of course.
Hells bells, if you’re lucky and live long enough you might see similar in the east central SRP.
Just amazing thanks
Thank you, Thank you, Thank you so much. Absolutely incredible. Be safe and Idaho is waiting for you to come home.
Made it home Monday morning safe and sound. Thanks.
Really cool. Maybe terrifying!
Excellent video and explanations. Many thanks from the UK.
Thanks and cheers to you.
Really cool!
Good stuff
its good because it gives you perspective of how big it all is !!!!
What a wonderful experience, for anyone - but particularly for a geologist! Thank you Professor.
You mentioned feeling the heat, that's for the same reason you feel the heat from the Sun 93 million miles away. Heat (infrared radiation) is just light that we can't see, it travels in a straight line. A cool thing about it is it's just light - until it touches something, then it deposits its energy and we feel it. A pit viper can better 'see' it directionally, we have to 'see' it with our skin.
Prodessor Willsey, I enjoy your work (adventures) so much, if I wasn't retired on a fixed income, I would contribute monetarily. Carry on, and I shall follow closely - and revel in the education I'm being given.
Thanks for watching and learning with me.
Great and informantive report Shawn! I've been following it assiduosly since day one, watched some astounding drone footage, posted lots on Facebook hoping to enlighten and entertain people with the c ompelling aspects of geosciences.
Very nice video, thanks from Germany!
You bet. Many Germans were there when I visited as well.
Just a thought but it's pretty cool to hear words from Hawaii and Iceland together. Lol simple meets super complex.
What do volcanos smell like?
Rotten potato or rotten egg.
Good question. Yes, if you are downwind, sulfur is the main odor you notice.
I was there too. Missed the first one, we were prepping to go and it stopped erupting. As soon as this started we took off. When we got there you could get to it from route 43 from the north. They had stopped people driving to it just as we got there. When I was driven in by the search and rescue guys because I'm disabled (they stopped that too) that spatter cone on the hill was still going and people were walking right up to it. The Just Icelandic Channel guy was right next to it while it was still spluttering away, you weren't getting close to it when it first started though, it was splattering lava all over. The lava lake wasn't as big as this is in the video.
I honestly do not know why they started making people hike in from the coast highway when it was flatter and shorter to come in from 43. After we looked at the volcano and flew around that area we spent the next 8 days exploring Iceland, what a beautiful place. We had a guide and he really was excellent on Icelandic history and geography. He said he wished all eruptions were like this one.
Hey Shawn, thanks for the update! That perched lava pond has been pretty persistent. Very cool. Just wanted to add that significant amounts of lava are moving towards the east there, towards the end of Meradalir. In fact, the first place it’s expected to overspill the valley is the low saddle at its easternmost extent. There is also a potential spillover in the far southeastern limb of the valley. Both spillover points empty into a low trough between various Pleistocene hyaloclastite and lava ridges (tindars, or móbergs as the Icelanders call them) of the Krýsuvík volcanic system, namely to the west of the ridges called Hófði and Sandfell, down towards the sea over the Einihlíðarsandur alluvial plain and Leggjabrjótshraun lava field, until it meets the coast. Looking at the elevation profiles on 2m DEM data, there is at least one, maybe two all-downhill pathways to the sea. The northern exit there will also probably spill over at some point when the vent builds up enough of a shield around it, and after it gets out there, it can also spill down over the old profile of the Holocene Thráinskjoldur shield volcano, down to the north/northwest towards the city of Vogar dance the coast. My guess is most of the lava will go to the east and then south, though.
Yes, it was hard to see the eastern extent of flows from this vantage point. I've got some videos coming showing/explaining tuyas and tindars/mobergs so nice you mentioned them. I agree that east then south is the most likely path although I wonder if the lava supply is there right now for this to happen. Its anyone's guess though but fun to watch while we can.
takes a while to edit for sure, but the way the main vent looks this was the 12th or 13th ? (nvm I see you said the 11th) but I'm glad you are explaining why I see some crazy people getting close to the flows. There is a reason and it's more scientific than curiosity.
If that tiny bit of tundra that is surrounded by lava, survives, we will have witnessed the process of a kipuka being isolated... very cool! Thank you, Shawn, for bringing us along!
Unfortunately, it did not even survive the day. It's completely covered.
@@shawnwillsey It did look pretty tentative... thanks for the update! 🙂
Another great informative video. Is there an example of a lava blister to video?? Thanks Shawn ...................... like 390 .......
Excellent job explaining and presenting. Enjoyed your style of reporting , keep it going! 👍😎.
Liked and subscribed..
Awesome. Welcome aboard. Enjoy the existing videos while awaiting new ones coming soon.
@@shawnwillsey 😁 yeah,.. got them in my binge view collection for later..
(I always bump the algorithm by liking/comment when watching the list.)
@@alfrede.newman6626 Much appreciated. I'm new to this whole YT world so still figuring out why some videos do well and others not so much. Thanks again!
@@shawnwillsey ... from my observation and listening to content creators talking about that...
It's WAYYY inconsistent and impossible to handle.. YT has its suggested vids algorithm, but what and when PEOPLE take a fancy to videos, is not comprehendible. 🙃🤪
Please try not to 'chase the dragon' .. it makes creators lose their charm and get robotic (and not a little frustrated/unhappy) then most end up sucking.
Not your mom here 😆 but the only approach is 'Be yourself'.. and F the outcome..In My Arrogant Opinion 🤣
@@alfrede.newman6626 Great advice for sure and I will take it to heart. I am not trying to be a pro at this and I have a real job and plenty of other things keeping me busy, but this has been a fun way to spread my love of geology to a wide audience and hear mostly good things from folks. So far its going well. And I agree that I can only be me. Take it or leave it.
I would imagine this is what the flows looked like in eastern Oregon and Washington, except probably on a much bigger scale.
Shawn, can u give us some insight how this area will look 100k, 1mil, yrs from now? Compare how it will look to a place u have been in USA? Great video!
Jeepers, what a great but complex question. The entire part of SW Iceland and maybe much of the country is so active in terms of volcanism, tectonism, and glacial/fluvial erosion that it would be hard to say. Near term future eruptions will occur to create new cones and volcanic vents which will feed lava that will fill low areas. Big eruptions will make it to the coast and add land to Iceland.
Well, I'm glad none of the photographers intently taking pictures found themselves lava-locked on that isolated patch of tundra.
Yeah, someone could get into a pickle if they aren't paying attention.
"You can spread out and find your own little patch of volcano." I trust you had good binoculars--
If the cellular signal is good enough there, might it be possible to do a live stream? Be pretty cool to ask questions in real time. Great video, BTW. Thanks!
Up on the ridge, where the hiking path ends, the cell service is pretty good but when you drop down the hill to the east, toward the eruption, it dies quickly.
A drone would have been great here.
Just discovered your channel. Thank you for your professional observations. Cheers from Australia ( an armchair tourist, unfortunately )
Welcome aboard. Enjoy the existing videos and look for new ones soon from Iceland and beyond.
@@shawnwillsey thank you 😊
Just for the record, pahoehoe and a'a are Hawaiian words for these two basic types of lava. I guess because it was first extensively studied in Hawaii. Kilauea, the most active volcano in the world is 50 miles from where I live, on the slopes of Mauna Loa.
A small fissure eruption, now scale that up to a traps style with the gas output, I can see how that would be a climate modifier. I assume the gasses are primarily water, CO2 and Sulfur oxide variants.
Not likely, but possible, you may see similar in your home Central east SRP. Save on the airfare.
Can you please add the date when this was recorded to your description? Must be older than August 17th. And by the way: Lots of lava going to the east, into Meradalir valley which is behind the volcano in your video. Atm, everybody is waiting for an overspill there. Great explanation, thank you!
Yes, it is added now. These videos from Aug 11. I have another set of videos from Aug 14 that I will launch sometime soon. And yes, everyone is eager to see how much lava emerges, where the spillover occurs, and how far the flows get out of the valley.
❤
How much is radiating off the molten surface? How close can you get before it becomes too hot to stay? And how close can you get to the fountain?
See my previous video where I collect a lava sample with my rock hammer. You can get close briefly if your skin is covered. Most of the heat rises so its less hot approaching from the side.
Crazy how long it stays hot and not just hot. How long it’s stays molten
I am sorry if I missed it written somewhere but I was wondering when was this video taken?
Edit: very interesting video and channel.
Date is added in description now. This video collage from Aug 11. I filmed more on Aug 14 and will launch those very soon.
@@shawnwillsey thank you very much.
I'm curious how intense that heat feels from how close you are standing.
Like opening your oven door. Not too intense. Most of the heat goes up so approaching the lava laterally is quite tolerable.
Do you ever get intrusive thoughts about touching the lava
You could touch it without hurting yourself, but you need to do it very fast.
Depends on how much you like having hands.
8:11 actually that upper area is part of the fissure, some of the early livestreams and videos you could see the fissure and then lava pour out from there
May I ask, how long is the hiking time to that location? Easy hike?
About 1.5-2 hours one way. It was pretty tough with lots of angular rocks on ridge.
Love to see also a video on a tripod zoomed in on the vent.
You'll have to find a much more adept videographer than I.
@@shawnwillsey OK then I'll bite. I only did 20 seconds or so as I prefer to do still. - czcams.com/video/s4D4Q6u0wCU/video.html
@@shawnwillsey I am so appreciative of what you do! Thanks!
Boy I’d love to see a drone shot.
Several folks flew drones out there and several have crashed flying over the vent due to the heat.
@@shawnwillsey interesting.
Is there any danger in being so close? Can you feel the heat radiating?
Most of the heat is going up (or downwind). My previous video shows me grabbing a sample with my rock hammer so you can get quite close briefly if you cover your skin. Not much real danger. Just use common sense.
I wonder what the word for that lava is in Icelandic? Good luck pronouncing it!
I believe "hraun" is the Icelandic word for lava.
It’s easy - lava is “hraun” in icelandic. Slab kind is hellu-hraun and “ apala-hraun” for the rough one.
@@vergakot Thank you for this. I so much want a better grasp of the language. Thanks for spreading your insights.
@@vergakot awesome! Thanks for Southern California.
Do your best of what you like most out of your editing.
I'll watch anything Icelandic & or volcanic vid you post.
Peace.
I shot a dozen or so geology videos in Iceland. Only a few are of current eruption. Most are on other cool geologic features. Look for them soon.
The larger fountain shooting up,..... in elevation, ......in the hundreds of feet?
Yes, probably up to 200-250 ft
Why no ash like la palma eruption ?
Good question. Even though both eruptions involved basaltic lava, the La Palma eruption likely had a higher amounts of dissolved gases which triggered higher lava fountains and more explosive behavior which shredded lava into ash. Interestingly, it also had very low viscosity lava flows which travelled fast downhill.
@@shawnwillsey ty sir
Run across those slabs, double dare you
Wildly cool and low-key cringeworthy simultaneously.
Don't use Hawaian terms for Icelandic volcanoes please. They have their own terms for different types of lava.
Yes, I just learned these (but after video was shot) and added them to the description.
they should limit the obnoxious helicopters. just use drones.
Yeah, but the helicopter tours are big business, especially for folks who want to see it but can't make the rough hike out there. Look for my future videos when I went back out early in the morning of Aug 14 when there was no helicopters.
You're stupidly close!
I've been watching your posts religously lately and my goodness you haven't let us down.
What a phenomenal experience, awe-inspiring and the noise must be almost deafening.
The next thing to being there in person.
Thank you again for your detailed explanations.
👍👍👍👍 from 🇦🇺🦘
I didn't know I needed someone to lava and then I found your channel! ≽ܫ≼