Water Sprayed On Advancing Lava in Iceland For First Time Since 1973: Geologist Analysis 

**Correction** The lava spillover location over the berm was actually at the north end of the hill Sylingarfell. I apologize for this mistake. Please be sure to LIKE and SUBSCRIBE. You can support my educational videos by clicking on the "Thanks" button just above (right of Like button) or by going here: www.paypal.com/donate/?hosted_button_id=EWUSLG3GBS5W8 Or: www.buymeacoffee.com/shawnwillsey

I have developed a great respect for the Icelanders. No hesitation. Just get in there and get it done. Thanks for this unexpected update.

I remember when I was a kid back in the 70's when water was used to slow down the lava flows in Iceland. Surprisingly effective. They used lots of water cannons and sea water and pumped millions of gallons of water on to the lava continuously for many days. And it worked.

Thanks for the update. I have so much admiration for the Icelandic people, who just never give up, are willing to try anything, and think outside the box on a grand scale.

When the rescue teams decided to stop the lava with water to save the harbour in 1973, half the world laughed. Initially, they had pumps that were too weak. But with the 32 pumps supplied from the USA with a much higher pumping capacity, the "crazy Icelanders" - as they were called - managed it and nobody laughed when the approach to the harbour was saved. I admire the Icelanders for their courage and inventiveness in finding solutions, then as now. The idea of the protective walls is great. I was able to admire such a dam when I was on my way to the 2nd volcanic eruption of this decade in 2022. I'll be back in this beautiful country with your lovely people on 6 July. I'm very curious to see how the landscape - seen from a distance - has changed since my holiday last year.

Thank you for the update. It's quite remarkable how quickly the landscape is changing. Mother Earth at work. Kudos to the people of Iceland for their resilience. That, too, is amazing.

Thanks for the update, Shawn! I love the resourcefulness of the Icelandic people!

I believe you may have the spot wrong, and that the water is being sprayed on the southern side of the northern section of the wall near the eastern end of the barrier that abuts Sylingarfell. This is consistent with where the arrow is showing the drainage of the lava lake to be heading north and then west along the north edge of the barrier.

Thank you. God speed and protection for the teams protecting lives and infrastructure.

Thanks for the update Shawn and Amanda Jo. I had just read of the overflow and came immediately to your site hoping for an update. My heart is broken for the people of Grindavik. During my recent visit to Iceland, I was taken to Grindavik and saw first hand the devastation. Heard heartbreaking personal stories. I am forever holding the people of Grindavik in my heart.

Your comprehensive reports are always so informative and concise. Thank you Professor Willsey 🙏

Thank you for the update, Shawn. Icelanders just think of a solution and go for it!

Professor, I thank you, the update and time you take to inform us is precious.

Thank you for YOUR time, Shawn. So much appreciated! 😊

Thanks for this update - I hadn't seen the news about the threat to the power plant. My mom was from Keflavik and I have a lot of family there... I felt a sense of pride seeing "our" Keflavik airport fire trucks spraying water on the lava. I too am impressed with the determination and decisive actions by the Icelandic authorities in the face of this ongoing challenge. The fierce determination of the Icelanders!

Another great update! I didn't know about the most recent developments. Thanks for taking the time to share! ❤👍

Thanks for the update...fingers crossed that they can get the berm higher, cool the flow down, and get more diversionary berms built! So sorry about the loss of the sports center, but that kind of damage is hard to fix, given that the building seems to straddle that monster crack. Hats off to the people of Iceland and especially the folks of Grindavik!!❤❤

Thanks Shawn and Amanda Jo

DW Documentary RU-vid channel posted a 28 minute documentary yesterday on the exodus of the people from the town of Grindavik. Worth a view.

Thank you for the update. You and your colleagues throughout the last months are much appreciated for your work in getting information out there.

Thanks Shawn for the update. Appreciate all you are doing to keep us informed.

It’s great that the Grindavik sports complex, as a prefab building, can be taken apart and reused at another site unlike the majority of the houses. The site was compromised by the large crack running through the land. PS - interesting the Icelanders were using the airport fire truck pending the arrival of the heavy duty pumps and pipes to cool down the leading edge of the flow.

Appreciate the update!

The real Hero’s are the people who is in each movers. I thank you for this service

The world can learn a lot from the Icelandic people and government who actually work together to get things done that benefit the people, community and country as a whole. Well done Iceland....you set the bar!

Thank you for the update.

Thanks for the update 🙂

"North West of Power Plant" - so the northern berm i guess - not the "single berm" between Sylingarfell and Hagafell (my guess) - no sign on overflow on cams for the short berm there

I can't even imagine how much water they need to dump on that lava to even cool it a little let alone enough for it to slow/stop. It's good to see the Icelandic government caring about its people and going all out in preventative measures, emergency measures and helping people affected by it

Thanks Shawn. Our.local and federal authorities here in Canada could learn a lot from their Icelandic counterparts!

Not getting any better .Just watch and wait.Thanks Shawn 🥰

Those water cannon trucks are the ones that are used by the airport fire department in the case of a plane crash or fire at the international airport.

Thank you for your time and teaching.

Really admire the Icelandic government for their proactiveness. Many thanks for this interesting update Professor.

Thank you Shawn.

Thanks for your time too, greetings from Belgium 😊

Once again, those earth mover operators are very brave, working on what looked like a very steep slope, immersed in gases and heat, only meters from the lava. They’re like superheroes fighting a monster. And now they’re fire fighters too. The drama continues.

John McPhee published a short piece called "Cooling the lava" and included in his book "The Control of Nature" from the last time they did this. I'm just rereading it now and it is of course quite relevant to this year, and the writing style is McPhee at his best. Apparently the technical name for the process is "pissa a hraunid".

Great information and photos! Thank you for sharing! 😊

Thank you for the very interesting update. I really enjoyed Monday's drone flight.💥💥💥

Thanks for the update. Also congratulations on 110K.

Thanks for the update Shawn.

Thank you for the update, Shawn

I don't think that's the berm to the east of Svartsvengi but the berm to the north.

My go to update, thank you @shawnwisley. They can be extremely lucky the fissures opened up where it did.. Could have been worst case possible outcome. Thinking geological...in time and space, earth time, it was very close to town. Hats off to the vikings fighting a lava flow 😁

Thanks for update

Wow. The measures the Icelanders are taking to protect the power plant and other infrastructure are superb. Sorry to hear about the sports complex, though.

excellent report! thank you

Thank You, Shawn!

Sad news about sports center. Watching the hard working workers trying to protect the plant. Awesome people!

Thanks for the update. Let's hope the lava advances no further towards the power plant! Good thinking to try and cool and slow the lava advance. They are serious about protecting the power plant. I think I'm learning a new Icelandic word as seen on the good map around 5:10. Hraunpollur: "Hraun" is lava, "poll" might be pool (?) and "ur" is place. So place of the lava pool.

Amazing, thanks Shawn.

Thank you, Shawn. I will look into what kind of equipment is made to cool lava. Sounds very interesting.

Many thanks Shawn. Sue, Adelaide

Thanks for the update Shawn. You might be doing quite a few of these in the years to come

Thanks, Shawn!

thx for the update :))

My suggestion: If the weather allows use helicopters to get really big loads of water at a time onto the lava. Lake Kleifarvatn is not far away, probably no more than 5 minutes of flight. There are water bags available for wildfire use that hold around a ton of water each. A lava tongue shock-cooled by such a load of water would get porous and allow gases to escape through the solidified and hardened surface which would assist a solidification deeper down into the material. A cubic metre of water would mean 2.2 Megajoule of heat get taken out of the lava with every drop. Depending on what helicopter is available for the job, that can be several times more! A Sikorsky CH-53 can carry 7 tons on its hook under the belly! This, of course, depends on good visibility. But I do think there's good reason to spend a thought on that idea.

Thanks Shawn, it is always a continuous fight for the Icelandic people. They’re in my prayers 🙏

Great update! Prefer yours to others. Thanks Amanda Jo too!

This lava is like a soap opera with loads of twists and turns in the plot. Di..Cumbria

Problem with water is it requires a huge water supply. It is not easy to move that much water. Its not on the coast where they can pump directly from the ocean.

Thank youShawn very informative and interesting

Hey Shawn! Awesome update as always! I would love to hear you make a video about the 1783 Laki eruption. From my understanding, that was one of the largest basaltic eruptions in human history. Your insight would be awesome! Love your channel!

Thank you Shawn 😊 fascinating and informative 👍 ❤😊

Keep up the great work !!! ❤😊🌋

@Shawn Willsey I think you're showing the wrong berm Shawn, it seems to be the spot where it crossed the berm just to the east of the road the day the lava went over the road. I think it's berm L1. Also MBL Sandholl closeup cam shows a view of cone from northeastish side, so shows the activity in the cone more. 👍

And @ShawnWillsey, thank you for the 3 first episodes of Geology 101 and also the series Minerals with Willsey🙏👍

"The Control of Nature" 1989 by John McPhee 'Cooling the Lava' p. 95 I wonder if anyone has looked at the Old River Diversion Structures lately...

Good, interesting info, thanks. Man sees separate eruptions while nature, with her timeframe, sees just one ongoing one.

Thanks Shawn

Thanks!

Thx Prof. ✌🏻

Someone on FB Iceland Geology group posted a very recent picture (2pm MDT) and there was only a tiny puddle of lava in the bottom of the cone. Thankfully, I think things are about done.

Thank you

Those are the biggest current earthmovers in iceland. Also the waterspraying was a test, this all goes into the experience bank for future scenarios.

Shawn! You're at 110K subscribers now! Excellent!

Newest development at Svartsengi on 23 June. I can't imagine that the water sprayed by the pumps has any effect on the lava flow: it can only harden a few cm of the surface but the sheer volume of the advancing flow (several meters high) and the pression exerted behind it by some million cubic m³ is in no relation to that. The deeper part of the flow remain viscous and ductile and red spots are still visible way downstream of the "shower".

Theyve done i believe in Italy also with success, it slows down the lava and may even stop it depending on viscosity.

sorry I’m behind on my RU-vid videos, had a loss & im skipping some & or not commenting! But it’s hard to ignore my Iceland. So onwards & upwards & best of everything to Iceland ❤️

I am optimistic about the safety regarding the citizens, I am very pessimistic regarding the long term stability regarding the power plant and the natural water lagoon. This is Mother Nature and she could work here for months, years, decades, centuries. I cannot say if planning for any power contingencies is priority, but if they are not planning at all for the plant to be destroyed then they may wish they had.

I really hope that the health of the workers, who intensify the berms and therefore are so close to the lava and thus to the sometimes toxic gases, is taken into account. I hope that they have some kind of respirator masks and are not exposed to the gases for hours.

Around thirty years ago, large concrete blocks wee dropped into an Italian volcano to cool it down. Perhaps worth a try.

Those fire vehicles are airport crash rescue or, ARFF trucks. Reason being they carry 3,000 us gallons of water and a pump rate of 1,500 gal a minute or higher. Plus they can pump at higher pressure than most common fire engines, notice the distance change in the stream of water. For ARFF geeks, single rear axle usually means 1,500 gallons, dual rear means +/- 3,000 gallons, dual front and rear 4,000gal+ gallons carried. ARFF also has limited off road capability that city rigs usually don't have. and now ya know......

Shawn the ʻAʻā Lava flow is what is coming over the northern protective Barrier wall of the Geothermal power plant , the eastern protective barrier wall is still holding and the molten lava from the southern pond has not reached it as of yet. Just Iceland posted a video of the ʻAʻā lava coming over the wall, it is tower over the top of the protective barrier at least 3 meters or more at the area where it has topped the barrier. It is the Northern flow out of the vent that overtopped. It is just east of Grindavíkurvegur where the 'A'a Lava over topped barrier and the 'A'a Lava continues to advance toward the west of Grindavíkurvegur very slowly, and is piling up,

The volume accumulation matches the day 15-25 of the last erruption while the spatter cone was lightly active. So I would expect, without other changes, it to raise the same kind as after the march erruption. ... Next erruption like calculated somewhere in September, probably endangering the Powerplant on three points nort berm, north of hagafell, south along the street to grindavik.

I cant imagine Australian authorities acting so quickly .iceland knows how to get things done. Thanks for the update wendy albany western albany western Australia

I'm surprised that important installations and towns have not been ringfenced with concrete walls years ago

I hope they rescue the slide! Kids will remember it. I think that would help allot

Did vary good on the drone flight;!👍

Do you know why they created the second berm down by the town to act as a funnel to prevent the lava from spreading farther west into seemingly empty land away from the town? Allowing the flow to spread way from the town seemed like a good idea. I've been wondering why they hadn't tried using water spray to build up the lava levees. Man can't stop the lava, but using water might be able to use the lava to redirect itself. The article answered my question of why they were using fire engines, which have a very limited capacity against a lava flow. The pumps have been bought, but haven't arrived yet. I was a kid the last time Iceland hosed a lava flow. I don't remember many details, just that they did it.

Good luck. If they cool it after it is over the wall, it might have little effect. If they cool it on top of the wall, that that might allow the hot lava build up more pressure before it breaks through, creating a faster succen flow.

The Icelanders learned a valuable lesson with the sports complex. Back in 1956-58 a fisher opened up in the same area as the sports complex. Years later they backfilled the fisher and built the sports complex over it. Now 2023-4 the fisher has open again and the Icelanders are not going to make the same mistake twice. Down comes a costly mistake, and I hope they will learn moving forward.

Thank you ... Can you tell us more about the lava cooling equipment? I'm curious when and where it was conceived, built, and used. Thanks again, Shawn.

Thanks for the update! I had completely the wrong idea of where the lava had crossed the berm. Do you have any thoughts on the report that the lava composition is different from the last few eruptions in this area but is very similar to the lava from the Geldingadalir eruption?

Is Iceland thinking of building a new power plant somewhere else as a backup? It seems like if this activity continues for years it's only a matter of time before the power plant is overrun?

after reviewing various cams, the eruption is has lessened quite a lot from what I could see visually....a drone flight in the evening could answer a lot of questions on what is going on there....

You are wrong on the location of the spillover. It's on the the northwest of Sýlingarfell

Aloha from Makaha....looking at various cams, it appears the activity in the cone has slowed a bit.....it's barely splashing up high enough to see it......but that could change....

How large is the area being uplifted, and is there sign of fracturing from the repeated change in elevation? 240mm cycles seems pretty substantial.