As of May 22nd, 2022, there are 51 volcanoes actively erupting on the planet.
One of these erupting volcanoes is Mount Etna in Italy, which this week produced a new flank
lava flow from its new southeastern crater.
This crater represents the easternmost of 4 summit craters at Etna, and sent a lava
flow 2.6 kilometers to the east.
With this being said, here are this week's major volcano related news stories.
In New Zealand, Mount Ruapehu is continuing to show signs of unrest, resulting in the
emission of a plume of steam from its central crater due to high crater lake temperatures.
Meanwhile, in the Philippines, the Taal volcano has been displaying unusual levels of gas
emissions which wildly fluctuate.
And, in Iceland, it is becoming increasingly likely that a new volcanic eruption will begin
on the highly populated peninsula southwest of the nation's capital city.
The volcano I am referring to is known as Reykjanes, which is a loosely defined complex
that covers several hundred square kilometers of ground on the peninsula.
It consists of a cluster of low prominence shield volcanoes, spatter cones, cinder cones,
and explosion craters which coated a large swath of land in black basaltic lava flows.
Reykjanes is one of four separate volcanic complexes which make up the majority of the
Reykjanes peninsula, which exists due to a major plate boundary running through the vicinity.
Although these 4 volcanoes can erupt individually, they tend to erupt in rapid succession during
several century long eruptive episodes which span the peninsula.
The last such eruptive episode occurred from 840 to 1240 AD.
Local scientists now believe the peninsula is once again in a prolonged eruptive period,
which began in early 2020.
That year, a series of 3 magmatic intrusions with a volume of 1 to 3 million cubic meters
of magma occurred southwest of the Svartsengi geothermal power plant.
These all caused ground uplift, but solidified at 3 kilometers beneath the surface without
causing an eruption.
In April of 2022, the peninsula's 6th magmatic intrusion since 2020 occurred in the same
area, sending the ground upwards by as much as 3.5 centimeters with its center being just
west of the ancient volcano Þorbjörn.
Currently, the volume of magma causing this intrusion is 1.5 million cubic meters of molten
rock, and is located at a depth of 4 kilometers.
Based on its location, it could produce a new eruption over an 8 kilometer long stretch
of ground, which in a worst case scenario would send a thick lava flow into the populated
city of Grindavik.
The southwest portion of Grindavik would be most at risk during an eruption, as shown
by the paths lava took during two previous eruptions in the last 2500 years.
In New Zealand, the Ruapehu volcano is continuing to show elevated levels of earthquakes and
volcanic tremor, marking its longest continuous period of unrest during the last 2 decades.
For context, Ruapehu is the most active volcano on the north island of New Zealand, having
erupted 42 times since 1950.
Between its eruptions which are typically small to moderate in size, the volcano experiences
numerous several month long heating and cooling cycles at its crater lake.
Generally speaking, the higher the temperature of the crater lake, the more likely an eruption
becomes.
One of these heating cycles began on March 13th, when the crater lake temperature was
initially 28 degrees Celsius.
This temperature subsequently continued to rise for 2 months straight, reaching a temperature
of 41 degrees on May 11th.
Because of this, a steam plume was observed coming from the lake as its higher temperatures
favored cloud generation.
However, since then the crater lake temperature has declined, along with earthquakes and gas
emissions.
Given its current yellow alert level, a new volcanic eruption could theoretically occur
with little warning, but is less likely to do so given a decline in activity.
At the Taal volcano in the Philippines, the caldera complex has been producing a greatly
decreased level of sulfur dioxide, suggesting that very little magma is present below its
central island.
Between January of 2020 and March of 2022, absurdly high sulfur dioxide emissions averaged
between 4,000 and 20,000 tons a day.
However, since its two hour long eruptive episode on March 27th, gas emissions have
instead averaged under 1,000 tons a day.
Although one spike in emissions did occur on April 29th, this volcano is unlikely to
produce a major explosive eruption for at least the next several months.
Here is a quick list of every volcano which is currently erupting.
Also, here are some volcanoes showing signs of unrest which are not erupting but could
erupt in the near future.
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