[Rockhounds] Earth's newest 'baby volcano'

[Kreigh Tomaszewski]

On the afternoon of 10 July, the Earth cracked open. Three fissures
appeared north-east of the base of Litli-Hrútur – a small mountain on the
Reykjanes Peninsula in south-western Iceland – and began to spew molten
lava high into the air accompanied by plumes of gas.

Iceland's latest eruption wasn't a total shock; Litli-Hrútur (which
translates to "Little Ram") is part of the Fagradalsfjall volcanic area
that erupted in March 2021 and August 2022 after a break of almost 800
years, and the surrounding area had been shaking for several days with more
than 12,000 earthquakes recorded prior the start of the eruption.

The fissures initially stretched more than 1km, spluttering three lines of
red-hot lava into the air. Two of the fissures had closed by the following
morning, with the lava then forced out from a single elongated active cone.
This quickly grew to a large crater as the lava accumulated, creating what
some are describing as "Earth's newest baby volcano
<https://www.livescience.com/planet-earth/volcanos/earths-newest-baby-volcano-is-painting-icelands-fagradalsfjall-region-with-incandescent-lava>".
In just one week, the crater had grown to about 30m tall and continues to
grow each day.


The lava volume that was emitted on the first night was enormous (up to 50
cubic metres per second) and travelled in all directions, resulting in the
dry moss that covers this barren landscape catching alight.

Strong winds then spread the moss fires over a very wide area, and it was
deemed too dangerous for visitors to the site for a few days due to a
combination of gases from the volcano and noxious smoke from the moss
fires. The local fire service used helicopters to directly drop two tonne
batches of water on the fires as well as deliver tanks of water for local
fire fighters to use at ground level. Eventually the fires were brought
under control and the winds changed to a more north-westerly direction; on
17 July, a path was opened and visitors started flocking in to see this
rare event up close.

https://www.bbc.com/travel/article/20230724-earths-newest-baby-volcano