Incredible Satellite Images of the Latest Volcanic Eruption in Iceland
Archaeologist and satellite expert Marco Langbroek posted a satellite image of the latest volcanic eruption on Iceland’s Reykjanes Peninsula, near the city of Grindavik.
Wow. It’s worth clicking through to see it larger (mirrored here). You can see the Keflavik airport to the northwest of the fissure and Reykjavík is the darker area in the upper part of the image, just right of center. This image really underscores the extent to which volcanoes are fiery, slashing cuts to the Earth’s skin. It’s bleeding! Bleeding lava!
This image was taken by the European Union’s Copernicus Sentinel 2A satellite and processed by Langbroek. The Copernicus project posted their own view of the volcano today as well:
Again, worth seeing larger. And here’s a closeup view of the fissure.
The famed Blue Lagoon spa, circled in blue, is very close (less than a mile) to the lava flow and is currently closed.
If you want to check out the satellite imagery for yourself, you can find it on Copernicus Browser. I tried for a few minutes to duplicate Langbroek’s view (“combined natural colour + SWIR”) but couldn’t quite manage it.
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Iceland is so cool.
I haven’t been to many countries but Iceland was far and away the coolest place I have ever been. I would go back 1,000 times if I could.
Seeing the Blue Lagoon circled like that makes me realise I've been to two tourist destinations that have since been closed by volcanoes - here and White Island in New Zealand.
Iceland is amazing. The Eldheimar museum in the Westman Islands is also an incredible reminder of what's going on geologically under your feet when you're there. And then you can go hike up the volcano and it's steaming under your feet...just incredible.
I believe someone enhanced the original Copernicus image to enhance the lava flow. Still impressive!
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