Fun side note- I just popped in to the 'Reykjanes multiview - Live from Iceland' feed a few minutes ago, and caught some Icelanders talking about Shawn and lauding him! Rock-on, Shawn! 🤘😎🤘
11 місяців тому+186
15:22 Graben in German is actually more like a ditch. A grave would be a "Grab" - same root, but different word. A Graben is a shallow-ish hole in the ground that's significantly longer than wide. A ditch at the side of a road is a Straßengraben, a trench in a war zone is a Schützengraben and a moat is Burggraben. Also, famously the San Andreas fault in German is typically called Andreasgraben, although geologists seem to prefer Verwerfung in this case.
I want to thank you as an icelander for how warmly and respectfully you speak about us professor. We have battled with nature for almost 1200 years on this piece of land in the middle of nowhere and it has built up a stubborn and hard kind of people. We have lost thousands of men at sea, in snowavalanches, by eruptions, sickness and what have you. I´m not so sure about the youngest generation how the would react with true hardship.. ;-)
Hoping your island is just suffering from hard growing pains and you'll soon be able to return to your homes. This is how Iceland was formed over time isn't it? Fingers crossed the damage is not catastrophic. ❤
We're two retired geologists, and we've visited your country twice -- taking the long road around the entire country both times. We so love your island: the people, the culture, food, and the amazing sights and geologic features. Iceland in our hearts FoReVeR! We can not WAIT to return!!!! Every day there is a special day!!!!!!!!
Having personally been through evacuation of my home city with the uncertainty of when and what we would be returning to, my heart really goes out to the residents of Grindavik. 😢
Graben (noun) is German for trench; grave would be Grab. Graben (verb) means to dig. Greetings from Germany, and thank you for your perspective on this unfolding situation. To anyone from the area of Grindavik reading this, I'm sincerely hoping your town comes out of this largely unscathed; it is bad enough you guys had to evacuate, let's hope you're not going to have to rebuild it all!
I had to google what the plural for graves would be in German, because usually in Dutch you append an “en” to the end, so graf (grave) would become graven (graves). I noticed that it doesn’t seem that in Germany you call a graveyard/cemetery something similar to the Dutch either? At least here in Flanders it is usually called a begraafplaats. You can see where the etymology for the English comes from though.
@@Lderuddere Well, that is a whole different can of worms right there. In medieval Germany, people were usually buried on the church grounds; in those times, the graveyard was referred to as the "Totenacker" or "Gottesacker" (god's acre, the dead's acre). In contrast, outcasts and people who had greatly sinned were buried somewhere else, on the "Schindanger" (Anger being a synonym for Acker, and schinden meaning torturing, so the expectation of eternal damnation being obvious in the name). In later times, when that was no longer practical, this developed to the dedicated graveyard areas we know today, which are called "Friedhof"; hof again being yard as in churchyard or church grounds, even though this was no longer really the case, and fried having its roots in Frieden (peace) and Umfriedung (enclosement, with walls or hedges). The plural for grave / "Grab" is "Gräber" by the way. The formal word is "Begräbnisstätte", but that is only used in official documents. "Stätte" means a specific location, "Begräbnis" refers to the burial itself and the practice of burying the dead as a whole.
I’ve been watching several UA-cam channels and so many of them are just putting out drivel. Either misleading or just plain daft. Thanks for keeping to the task giving us science and behaving professionally 👏🏼👏🏼
I don't spend a lot of time looking up the science stuff, but your coverage of what's happening in Iceland (which i pretty heavily look at) is very amazing! I really appreciate your time and daily updates!
Thanks for the update! I turn to this channel before any others to learn about the latest in Iceland's volcanic updates. I majored in geology in Utah and on one of our field trips, our professor was explaining the grabens that make up the Basin and Range, along with the mountain ranges he called horsts. Then he said he learned that in a magazine called Better Horsts and Grabens. I love geology humor.
It’s interesting that crossing out the road sign had such an emotional effect on some of us. I was sitting here in California thinking that I wish they hadn’t done that.💛
Everybody knows why it was crossed out ! Making it out to be a “cancelling of our town” and getting upset about it clearly is an indication of that person’s priorities being their imagined feelings over facts and protecting others !
Thank you Shawn for making this latest update. And thank you for realising this is ALREADY a disaster no matter if the eruption will happen or not. The major of Grindavík made it pretty clear tonight in an interview - that just rebuilding the infrastructure after the eartquakes will take months to fix, cause we are now in the winter months here in Iceland.
I'm so thankful for your videos! I've been following this news with my 2 small children and we've really enjoyed learning from you thru this all. My 7 year old came home from school and asked if "volcano guy" had any new videos. You've inspired lots of interesting questions from the kids and we may have a new little geologist in the making. Thanks for all you do!
We have to be appreciative of this geologist perspective,people who are looking for a show you are in the wrong channel ! this is science not witchcraft ,nature is unpredictable ,so I am very thankful to learn every day about what is really happening in Grindavik ,thanks Mr Willsey for your clarity and knowledge to inform us so we ignorants can understand the secrets of our planet’s geology !
Shawn, LOVE YOUR UPDATES!!! You talk to us, respectfully so we can actually understand the current status, and give it to us, so we can understand the situation. My husband is thoroughly enjoying your updates! Watching you from Vancouver Island, BC Canada. 🇨🇦🇨🇦🇨🇦 Thank you!!
😊well done, Shawn! From your 75 yr old student in Washington state. I am writing to you from my hospital room. Came on Friday. I don't know when I can go home yet.
There seems to have been a flurry of activity in Grindavik over the past half hour. From the Live in Iceland webcam, unlike previous nights over half on the town is now plunged into darkness. There was also a convoy of police cars with flashing lights heading north our of the town. About 20 minutes later another group of four police cars headed east quickly out of town on the coast road. The webcam panned around and there appeared to be a distinct glow coming out of the valley south of where the line of old volcanic cones are to the north east of the town. Might we worth keeping an eye on this over the next few hours.
In a way, the evacuees are fortunate that they still have opportunity to return for belongings. As someone living through multiple wildfire seasons in BC, and evacuated in 2021, there is often little advance notice and absolutely no returning until the fire has moved through or been extinguished. It’s a harsh reality. Thank you for your ongoing coverage and analysis.
@@user-tw3pb2we7l I wasn’t critizing Forestry. In fact, I have nothing but admiration for them, having worked many years as crew transport for wildfire fighters in northern Alberta. I was referencing the speed and unpredictability of wildfires, the size they can become, all those things that make us remember how powerful nature is. If I had any complaint, it would be with management policy influencing by logging company lobbying. Fires have been suppressed for decades, creating unnatural ecosystems. Mother Nature WILL clean house and keep the forests health. We who live and work in those areas need to find way to coexist. Volcanoes and seismic activity scare me more. I lived and worked at the base of Mt. Taranaki many years ago. The ground rumbling and moving beneath my feet always made me nauseated.
Just to correct a few things or good to mention that they are building the defense barricade in conjunction with the two natural barriers i.e. hagfell and sundhnukar. Also, the barricades will be 6-8 meters high with the option to extend higher depending on where lava will flow, if it erupts. Edit: The main purpose, according to the main engineer of this construction is to redirect direction of the lava away from the main infrastructure, and not to stop the lava at its tracks.
The berm design for Hagafell / Sundhnúkur which I saw (which they strangely didn't draw here) in explicably didn't do anything to block off flow to Grindavík, so basically would be funneling lava *INTO* Grindavík. Also, better build it quickly, as they draw its south end a mere ~250m away from the centre of the dike. And what on Earth are they building this 3,5km barrier on the *north* and *west* sides of Svartsengi for? No, seriously, what's the point? If the eruption is so big that you're going around Sýlingarfell, uphill, several kilometers away, and looping back from the west, this is beyond a manageable disaster scenario... And why on Earth are they defending all of those barren lava plains? If lava does make it west past the Hagafell / Sundhnúkur berm, then what they've actually designed around Svartseng / Bláa Lónið is a lava *TRAP* that will ensure that the lava sticks around there and gets as deep as physically possible. Why on Earth block off all flow to the west at all? You WANT lava flowing between Svartsengi and Þorbjörn, out to the west where it has lots of room to fan out without hurting anyone. There's only two directions it can go that aren't terrible scenarios: E/NE, and W. You can't just hope that it's all going to go east, there's very little slope, so it'll build up height and wall itself off before too long. Literally nothing about this design makes sense. I keep thinking that this must be someone's idea of a joke.
@@karenrobertsdottir4101 I think the reason for the bern being planned around the north and west sides as well as the southern side is because of the possibility of the eruption occuring from the northern end of the dyke. If that were to occur the lava could flow west as well as south toward Grindavik. Lava flowing west could directly impact that northern bern. Then the lava could theoretically continue to flow around to the west. With a bern on the west side lava could be blocked there or diverted away from the Blue Lagoon. At this point it wouldn't make sense to build a berm near Grindavik because if the eruption occurs in town or just north of town the lava would be confined to the south and further accumulate there. Only if lava is observed to erupt further north would it make sense to build a berm to the south to block or divert that lava flow. I also don't see how the berm around the power plant and BL would divert lava toward Grindavik. Any lava erupting north ( except in the far north as I said) of Grindavik will naturally flow to the south. Only if the eruption is at the north east.end of the dyke might the lava flow west straight south which could end up east of Grindavik. That's enough rambling from me!
didn't they try this in East Rift Zone on the Big I? It didn't stop the flow...they did wrap the pole in the previous flow that was heading to Pahoa Town and that did work but the other actions to divert lava flow did not work.
Thanks for joining the Live from Iceland live! Idea: if you asked their mods to help mod your stream they would be more than qualified and happy to help (not regularly ofc 😅). Good folks there 👏
A (german) „Graben“ in the normal using in english is a „trench“. The verb „graben“ is equal to english „to dig“ Best regards from Bindlach, Germany and many thanks for this very informative channel of yours
As you were talking about how this situation is dragging out, from an onlooker viewpoint, it occurred to me that the "tourist eruptions" over the past couple of years have lulled us into forgetting how destructive volcanic systems like this can be when they impact human settlements.
Professor Willsey, thanks for feeding my inner nerd. I’ve been watching Iceland volcanos since 2021. Sending good thoughts and prayers to those displaced by this recent event. I hope you all are able to return home soon and if you can’t I pray for peace in your hearts. Much love from Indiana, USA.
Screw the parking lot...they'd need WAY more material to include the lot. There's plenty of space left for parking. Love your reports!! Thanks so much!👍🏼
I have learned so much and appreciate all of your efforts to provide such amazing information. Iceland has always been on my bucket list👍🏼 Prayers for all who live under such uncertainty 🙏🏼
Go soon! Do not wait until you are older with bad knees and limited aerobic capacity! Icelanders will tell you it’s an ‘easy’ route but it won’t be…. Prepare yourself for climbing irregular rock staircases at a steep incline in mud just to get to the top of a tourist waterfall trail.
Thanks for the thorough updates, Shawn. We spent a night at the Grindavík campground in 2021 and loved it. It’s disheartening to see what’s happening. Hello from Boise, BTW.
I'm a photographer - that photo of the graben would be relatively easy to get a photo without people, regardless of how many there are there. The technique includes putting the camera in a fixed location, usually a tripod, and taking several photos (I usually do 10+) a few moments apart. As people move, you "layer" the photos and keep the parts that don't change, and remove the parts that do, across the sets of photos. That way, as people move, they automatically "take themselves" out of the photo by telling the image processor what elements are temporal and what are permanent.
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Good explanation and well set up video. It’s fascinating to see several processes in action, real time. Like Horst and graben, faulting, magma intrusion, sill formation, inflation, extension and uplift, and eruption. Thanks for the video!
Solid work, Shawn. I appreciate both your expansive and qualifying comments in the case of human suffering and loss. Attention spans can be challenging to deal with and you continue to do a great job.
Been happily watching and waiting for thoughts and update from you since this morning, over here in the southeast of the United States 👍 Thank you for all you do and all you bring!
Thanks Prof Willsey - more very helpful updates, explanations, and translations (I plan to incorporate "graben" into my everyday speech 🙂). Sounds like you've gotten good counsel & have made good decisions about old videos and livestream. I'll check out your links to videos of past eruptions etc. It's great to have Amanda Jo's on-the-ground input.
Thank you, Shawn, for these knowledgeable updates, they are clear and honest which is a nice change to all the scare mongering and hyperbole that is out there. Please keep them going and "fingers crossed" that whatever transpires causes minimal impact to the people of the area.
This is fascinating and informative. It’s also an interesting study in human behaviour. It appears we haven’t lost our ability to distinguish between sensationalist garbage and attempts to truly understand how things are. Thank you.
This is my first time to watch you, Shawn. And I really appreciate how informative and straightforward you are! My heart goes out to the poor residents who have had to evacuate their homes and endure such a difficult situation! They are all in my prayers! Hopefully there will be no loss of life! And praying also, that the wall goes up in time and will indeed protect the power plant!
Thank you for popping in to our chat at LFI tonight @Shawn Willsey - very informative for the time you were able to spare! FYI did you know that the Quake app is also created by the Admin of Live From Iceland? Richard (Mod at LFI)
Thanks for the reports- I find this the best source for a straight-forward summary and scientific evaluation of the situation as well as a respectful perspective on the impact on those affected. I find myself consistently fascinated by what I have learned!
One of the questions I have is what happens to Grindavik going forward, even if there isn't an eruption? Based on the images, it looks like a large portion of the town is compromised by the cracks, subsidence, and earthquakes. I imagine many of the structures will need serious repairs, at the least. But will the ground be stable enough to be safe.
It will need a lot of repairs and inevitably some residents will not return. The mayor was quoted as saying the repairs will not even begin until next spring or summer at the earliest, meaning best case scenario most residents will be displaced for many months. And that's if nothing gets worse...
Also, what do you do if you don't want to live there any more? Many people can't imagine going back since this area probably will be active for the rest of our lives. What do you do, who do you sell your house to, how do you buy another house when you can't sell the house you want to leave?
there are vehicles that bounces signals (I don't know exactly what, like sonar perhaps?) that can tell the density of underlying ground. They use them on motorways ect to make sure the ground is solid and no potholes etc are forming. Iceland seems to be very resourceful country and incredibly proactive. In the UK we would still be saying, let's have a meeting about the meeting and talk some more after tea.
@@reekoreeko1857Ha ha ha! In the U.S. we would hire someone to do a study to see if we need to form a committee to investigate the matter. Only then would we solicit bids from companies to do the work. 😂😂😂
I taught Earth Science to middle schoolers in U.S. I used Snickers bars to demonstrate all three faults. I had them stretch the candy apart for normal fault, pulled two sides past each other for strike slip fault, and squish each side up for compression. Then they could eat them!
You are doing an awesome job of keeping us updated without the sensationalism. Thank you! My heart goes out to the people of Grindivik...I was just there in September for the best lobster soup.
Considering I came here because I was watching a live feed on another channel and several comments were about this one, you may want to learn more about UA-cam and particularly protecting your content from being stolen. Your popularity will continue to grow.
One possible reason why not to include the parking lot: the larger the area enclosed by the barrier, the greater the odds an eruption happens on the inside of that area. Parking lots are cheap to rebuild, so it's not worth the added risk to enclose it.
Trying such an extensive barrier at this late of date seems to be a rather dubious plan. The Sundhnúkar crater row seems to be most likely place for outflow. Start by trying to get some flow isolation along the line of hills to the west of the crater row.
HI SHAWN - A QUESTION FOR YOU --Given that the length of magma intrusion is 15 km, would this have lessened some of the underlying pressure, and possibly reduce the likelihood of an actual surface eruption? ie because the magma pressure has been dispersed laterally, rather than vertically? Or does it not really make any difference? Thanks for your commentary - have been watching from afar in Australia, and finding it really informative.
Thank you for the awesome daily updates. Those of us who are volcano nurds are loving the details and the commentary and the graphics. Please keep the info coming! I'm in NZ.
They probably left the parking lot out at the Blue Lagoon because as you walk up, there is a natural barrier there at the entrance in between the parking lot and the building and they might be building into it. Also, it is aesthetic there because it can look more or less like what you see when you walk up. Great Video!!
QUESTION: Have you seen any data related to the geothermal wells at the power plant, I'm wondering if there have been changes temperature or other changes of note.
Hey, thank you for _not_ reposting your archival footage of old eruptions. My own mother got confused by network television news doing exactly that, and she mistakenly thought that she was looking at a brand new 2023 Grindavik eruption. Really, that's a sad testament to the current state of network TV.
Hello Shawn, firstly thanks for doing these videos. As a self confessed nerd I love watching them. I do have a question with regards to the barrier around the power plant and blue lagoon. While this mitigation may assist with diverting lava flow I would imagine the main threat would be from the tube system that runs underneath both locations and which the power plant actually actively taps into. So what are the chances that both locations will be affected from below? Such as the water in the blue lagoon becoming more acidic and the power plant being overloaded with regards to raising temperatures. Thanks in advance. BLS
From one rock licker to another, well done from sunny Florida! I only have one item I will take umbrage with you. It pertains to lava staying molten for years. Look at Hawaii, the eruption and flows in 2018 were cooled and solidified within months. Crews were able to rebuild roads soon after the flows stopped. It really depends on several factors. The make up of the lava, depth, so on and so forth.
MY QUESTION (all caps per request): is it possible that high volumes of run-off water from Svartsengi power plant and the Blue Lagoon, which has high silica mineral composition, can impact underground magma flow when it perkolates back down through the earth and back into underground reservoirs? Thank you, Shawn!
Thank you Shawn for all your helpful videos on this topic! Re that empty path in Þingvellir National Park, the photo you're using might have been taken while pandemic travel restrictions were in place.
QUESTION: Can you show the ground-deformation and earthquake trends before the Fagradalsfjall-area volcanos erupted? I heard (I think through one of your earlier videos) that the earthquakes became very quiet before the last eruption. Just wondering if there is any pattern that can be determined from the Fagradalsfjall seismic 2019-2021 activity and the 2021, 2022 and 2023 eruptions (Wikipedia has a list of vents but would love to see these graphed). Thanks-I appreciate the depth of the information!
It might also be worth mentioning just how difficult it is to build towns in Iceland in the first place. You have mountainous terrain, active volcanoes, fields of volcanic rock stretching for miles. Good land to build a sustainable town is difficult. Even families living in Vik especially understand that one day their fate will be the same Grindavik in the near future.
Shawn, I wouldn't even consider myself even an amateur geologist, but I am fascinated by the awesome power of our planet. I really appreciate the time your are taking to explain the situation in Iceland in a way that everyone can understand. We've visited Iceland multiple times and are familiar with all the areas you've discussed. Iceland is an incredible part of the world, and we hope the best for the residents.
Don't forget that recorded history in Iceland goes all the way back to before 1100 CE (AD) in one form or another. I strongly suspect there is memory of at least one lava flow in the vicinity of Grindavik in the Chronicles if nothing else.
QUESTION: in the scenario where there does not end up being an eruption, at what point could that be confirmed with certainty? What type of change in the data would need to be seen before the area could be considered safe again?
Also, a great point re barriers as coastal barriers made me think of the 2011 Japanese tsunami and levees reminded me of the 2005 Katrina event in New Orleans. New Orleans was much more a case of poor maintenance but Japan got unlucky in that they planned and built them well but in some spots the earthquake lowered the land by around a meter, which was just enough to render the very tall tsunami walls useless.
Depending your intent small town can be a term of endearment. Haven't watched much of your content, this is my 3rd vid, but you are a nice and respectful person :P
QUESTION: If Iceland is entering a new era of volcanic activity (after ~800 years of relative quiet), do you think this would eventually affect all/most of Iceland, or just a specific area/areas?
No, it just the Rejkanes Peninsula that goes through weird long term eruption cycle. Shawn has an earlier video in which he talks about the volcanic fields that laid out along the peninsula in kind of a 45 angle rotated clockwise from vertical. Slanted east in other words. There are 7 of these volcanic fields each side by side running east to west on the peninsula. The three eruptions in the last couple years are in the Fagradalsfyll volcanic field to the north east from grindavik. This current potential volcanic activity is in fact the fifth magmatic intrusion in this volcanic field called Svartsengai. Those intrusions started in 2020. These volcanic fields have been as quiet for almost 800 years!! The kind of scary thing about this volcanic cycle is that the other five volcanic fields on the peninsula could also start to wake up sooner or later, but no can say for sure. But the volcanic activity in these volcanic fields can go on for up to 500 years!!! It looks like two are active now. There have been some small earthquakes occuring in some of the other volcanic fields, but it's to early to say if that is significant.
The pools of the Blue Lagoon are actually part of the power plant, since it is a percolation field built over a natural 1 meter thick layer of volcanic material that filters the highly mineralized waste water from the geothermal source, and allows it to return to the ground water as clean water without the minerals.
I do appreciate your videos - excellent explanation about what is going on, easy for us non-geologists to understand. What damage the quakes have inflicted on Grindavig! so frustrating for the Icelanders in not knowing what is going to happen! 🤔
Thanks for your videos; I very much appreciate your calm, informative and sympathetic assessments. One aspect of the desaster which I don't see mentioned much so far is the economic impact it probably has. As far as I know especially the harbour with its fishing industry is of nationwide importance. Don't know how long they might be able to sustain this situation, or how they could cope with maybe even having to abandon the harbour permanently.
Shawn thank you once again for such an informative and educational episode. Your wealth and knowledge is far reaching and we are now totally absorbed on this topic👍😎💪🌋
Hats off to you for all the time your taking to share your knowledge. And, although you owe us nothing, thank you for explaining why you have chosen to run your channel as you see fit. I'm confident, as this volcanic situation evolves, your going to be rhe "main voice" on this topic. Just like Bushcraft Bear was during the eruption in the canary islands.❤
Fun side note- I just popped in to the 'Reykjanes multiview - Live from Iceland' feed a few minutes ago, and caught some Icelanders talking about Shawn and lauding him!
Rock-on, Shawn! 🤘😎🤘
15:22 Graben in German is actually more like a ditch. A grave would be a "Grab" - same root, but different word. A Graben is a shallow-ish hole in the ground that's significantly longer than wide. A ditch at the side of a road is a Straßengraben, a trench in a war zone is a Schützengraben and a moat is Burggraben. Also, famously the San Andreas fault in German is typically called Andreasgraben, although geologists seem to prefer Verwerfung in this case.
Kl…sch… ? ;-)
... und dann kommt Horst... klasse erklärt
Gut erklärt ❤
Perfect explanation! Just wanted to jump in and explain this myself, but could not do it any better.
The english grab(ing) has the same roots as the germanic Grab(en). But english is closer to the indo-germanic heritage "*ghrebh-" (greifen/to grab).
I want to thank you as an icelander for how warmly and respectfully you speak about us professor. We have battled with nature for almost 1200 years on this piece of land in the middle of nowhere and it has built up a stubborn and hard kind of people. We have lost thousands of men at sea, in snowavalanches, by eruptions, sickness and what have you. I´m not so sure about the youngest generation how the would react with true hardship.. ;-)
💜💜💜💜💜
Hoping your island is just suffering from hard growing pains and you'll soon be able to return to your homes. This is how Iceland was formed over time isn't it? Fingers crossed the damage is not catastrophic. ❤
We're two retired geologists, and we've visited your country twice -- taking the long road around the entire country both times. We so love your island: the people, the culture, food, and the amazing sights and geologic features. Iceland in our hearts FoReVeR! We can not WAIT to return!!!! Every day there is a special day!!!!!!!!
Having personally been through evacuation of my home city with the uncertainty of when and what we would be returning to, my heart really goes out to the residents of Grindavik. 😢
Graben (noun) is German for trench; grave would be Grab. Graben (verb) means to dig.
Greetings from Germany, and thank you for your perspective on this unfolding situation.
To anyone from the area of Grindavik reading this, I'm sincerely hoping your town comes out of this largely unscathed; it is bad enough you guys had to evacuate, let's hope you're not going to have to rebuild it all!
And this is why I love the German language. It makes so much sense.
@@OccamsSledgehammer At least until the time you meet irregular verbs for the first time ;)
Lol
I had to google what the plural for graves would be in German, because usually in Dutch you append an “en” to the end, so graf (grave) would become graven (graves). I noticed that it doesn’t seem that in Germany you call a graveyard/cemetery something similar to the Dutch either? At least here in Flanders it is usually called a begraafplaats. You can see where the etymology for the English comes from though.
@@Lderuddere Well, that is a whole different can of worms right there.
In medieval Germany, people were usually buried on the church grounds; in those times, the graveyard was referred to as the "Totenacker" or "Gottesacker" (god's acre, the dead's acre). In contrast, outcasts and people who had greatly sinned were buried somewhere else, on the "Schindanger" (Anger being a synonym for Acker, and schinden meaning torturing, so the expectation of eternal damnation being obvious in the name).
In later times, when that was no longer practical, this developed to the dedicated graveyard areas we know today, which are called "Friedhof"; hof again being yard as in churchyard or church grounds, even though this was no longer really the case, and fried having its roots in Frieden (peace) and Umfriedung (enclosement, with walls or hedges).
The plural for grave / "Grab" is "Gräber" by the way. The formal word is "Begräbnisstätte", but that is only used in official documents. "Stätte" means a specific location, "Begräbnis" refers to the burial itself and the practice of burying the dead as a whole.
I’ve been watching several UA-cam channels and so many of them are just putting out drivel. Either misleading or just plain daft. Thanks for keeping to the task giving us science and behaving professionally 👏🏼👏🏼
True dat.
Wonder if Mr. Willsey could’ve
answered some questions on
2021 volcano?🤔
I don't spend a lot of time looking up the science stuff, but your coverage of what's happening in Iceland (which i pretty heavily look at) is very amazing! I really appreciate your time and daily updates!
One couldn't ask for a better interpretation of the volcanic events in Iceland! Thank you Shawn! Our prayers go out for the people.
Thanks for the update! I turn to this channel before any others to learn about the latest in Iceland's volcanic updates.
I majored in geology in Utah and on one of our field trips, our professor was explaining the grabens that make up the Basin and Range, along with the mountain ranges he called horsts. Then he said he learned that in a magazine called Better Horsts and Grabens.
I love geology humor.
🤣That is funny! @Kimmyers5648. I like your humour too!
LOL! 😂
I don't believe you Lahar!
It’s interesting that crossing out the road sign had such an emotional effect on some of us. I was sitting here in California thinking that I wish they hadn’t done that.💛
A road closed sign..or authorized vehicles only sign... the red tape idea wasn't good.
Everybody knows why it was crossed out ! Making it out to be a “cancelling of our town” and getting upset about it clearly is an indication of that person’s priorities being their imagined feelings over facts and protecting others !
Thank you Shawn for making this latest update. And thank you for realising this is ALREADY a disaster no matter if the eruption will happen or not. The major of Grindavík made it pretty clear tonight in an interview - that just rebuilding the infrastructure after the eartquakes will take months to fix, cause we are now in the winter months here in Iceland.
Thanks for your great videos Shawn. The information is fascinating, clearly presented, and your empathy to the situation is appreciated too.
Shawn comes across as a lovely mindful guy. I would have loved to have been one of his students. I guess I am right now, lol.
@@reekoreeko1857 And the tuition costs are pretty affordable too, right?🤩
Absolutely, I'm with you!@@reekoreeko1857
Thanks for your hard work, presenting measured and well-researched facts.
I’ve learned SO much about basic tectonics!
I'm so thankful for your videos! I've been following this news with my 2 small children and we've really enjoyed learning from you thru this all. My 7 year old came home from school and asked if "volcano guy" had any new videos. You've inspired lots of interesting questions from the kids and we may have a new little geologist in the making. Thanks for all you do!
Love this.
We have to be appreciative of this geologist perspective,people who are looking for a show you are in the wrong channel ! this is science not witchcraft ,nature is unpredictable ,so I am very thankful to learn every day about what is really happening in Grindavik ,thanks Mr Willsey for your clarity and knowledge to inform us so we ignorants can understand the secrets of our planet’s geology !
Shawn, LOVE YOUR UPDATES!!! You talk to us, respectfully so we can actually understand the current status, and give it to us, so we can understand the situation. My husband is thoroughly enjoying your updates!
Watching you from Vancouver Island, BC Canada. 🇨🇦🇨🇦🇨🇦
Thank you!!
😊well done, Shawn! From your 75 yr old student in Washington state. I am writing to you from my hospital room. Came on Friday. I don't know when I can go home yet.
Best wishes
The tension there has to be overwhelming. It's like knowing a battle is coming you just don't know when.
Be safe!
There seems to have been a flurry of activity in Grindavik over the past half hour. From the Live in Iceland webcam, unlike previous nights over half on the town is now plunged into darkness. There was also a convoy of police cars with flashing lights heading north our of the town. About 20 minutes later another group of four police cars headed east quickly out of town on the coast road. The webcam panned around and there appeared to be a distinct glow coming out of the valley south of where the line of old volcanic cones are to the north east of the town. Might we worth keeping an eye on this over the next few hours.
In a way, the evacuees are fortunate that they still have opportunity to return for belongings. As someone living through multiple wildfire seasons in BC, and evacuated in 2021, there is often little advance notice and absolutely no returning until the fire has moved through or been extinguished. It’s a harsh reality. Thank you for your ongoing coverage and analysis.
@@user-tw3pb2we7l I wasn’t critizing Forestry. In fact, I have nothing but admiration for them, having worked many years as crew transport for wildfire fighters in northern Alberta. I was referencing the speed and unpredictability of wildfires, the size they can become, all those things that make us remember how powerful nature is. If I had any complaint, it would be with management policy influencing by logging company lobbying. Fires have been suppressed for decades, creating unnatural ecosystems. Mother Nature WILL clean house and keep the forests health. We who live and work in those areas need to find way to coexist.
Volcanoes and seismic activity scare me more. I lived and worked at the base of Mt. Taranaki many years ago. The ground rumbling and moving beneath my feet always made me nauseated.
Better yet, they can get their pets that were abandoned during the initial evacuation. Hopefully, all survived.
Just to correct a few things or good to mention that they are building the defense barricade in conjunction with the two natural barriers i.e. hagfell and sundhnukar. Also, the barricades will be 6-8 meters high with the option to extend higher depending on where lava will flow, if it erupts.
Edit: The main purpose, according to the main engineer of this construction is to redirect direction of the lava away from the main infrastructure, and not to stop the lava at its tracks.
The berm design for Hagafell / Sundhnúkur which I saw (which they strangely didn't draw here) in explicably didn't do anything to block off flow to Grindavík, so basically would be funneling lava *INTO* Grindavík. Also, better build it quickly, as they draw its south end a mere ~250m away from the centre of the dike.
And what on Earth are they building this 3,5km barrier on the *north* and *west* sides of Svartsengi for? No, seriously, what's the point? If the eruption is so big that you're going around Sýlingarfell, uphill, several kilometers away, and looping back from the west, this is beyond a manageable disaster scenario...
And why on Earth are they defending all of those barren lava plains?
If lava does make it west past the Hagafell / Sundhnúkur berm, then what they've actually designed around Svartseng / Bláa Lónið is a lava *TRAP* that will ensure that the lava sticks around there and gets as deep as physically possible.
Why on Earth block off all flow to the west at all? You WANT lava flowing between Svartsengi and Þorbjörn, out to the west where it has lots of room to fan out without hurting anyone. There's only two directions it can go that aren't terrible scenarios: E/NE, and W. You can't just hope that it's all going to go east, there's very little slope, so it'll build up height and wall itself off before too long.
Literally nothing about this design makes sense. I keep thinking that this must be someone's idea of a joke.
@@karenrobertsdottir4101 I think the reason for the bern being planned around the north and west sides as well as the southern side is because of the possibility of the eruption occuring from the northern end of the dyke. If that were to occur the lava could flow west as well as south toward Grindavik. Lava flowing west could directly impact that northern bern. Then the lava could theoretically continue to flow around to the west. With a bern on the west side lava could be blocked there or diverted away from the Blue Lagoon.
At this point it wouldn't make sense to build a berm near Grindavik because if the eruption occurs in town or just north of town the lava would be confined to the south and further accumulate there. Only if lava is observed to erupt further north would it make sense to build a berm to the south to block or divert that lava flow.
I also don't see how the berm around the power plant and BL would divert lava toward Grindavik. Any lava erupting north ( except in the far north as I said) of Grindavik will naturally flow to the south. Only if the eruption is at the north east.end of the dyke might the lava flow west straight south which could end up east of Grindavik.
That's enough rambling from me!
didn't they try this in East Rift Zone on the Big I? It didn't stop the flow...they did wrap the pole in the previous flow that was heading to Pahoa Town and that did work but the other actions to divert lava flow did not work.
Can't lava melt rock?
More likely, it will push and upheave!@@billywalker21
Thanks for joining the Live from Iceland live! Idea: if you asked their mods to help mod your stream they would be more than qualified and happy to help (not regularly ofc 😅). Good folks there 👏
A (german) „Graben“ in the normal using in english is a „trench“. The verb „graben“ is equal to english „to dig“
Best regards from Bindlach, Germany and many thanks for this very informative channel of yours
As far as I understood a trench is man made so it doesn’t match here. But maybe a native can help here.
Trench = a narrow channel dug into the ground: „I dug a trench around the tent to keep rain water from getting in.“
In earth science a trench is also a long, deep valley at the bottom of an ocean. (Definition of trench from the Cambridge Academic Content Dictionary © Cambridge University Press)
So, a trench is not necessarily manmade.
As you were talking about how this situation is dragging out, from an onlooker viewpoint, it occurred to me that the "tourist eruptions" over the past couple of years have lulled us into forgetting how destructive volcanic systems like this can be when they impact human settlements.
Professor Willsey, thanks for feeding my inner nerd. I’ve been watching Iceland volcanos since 2021. Sending good thoughts and prayers to those displaced by this recent event. I hope you all are able to return home soon and if you can’t I pray for peace in your hearts. Much love from Indiana, USA.
Screw the parking lot...they'd need WAY more material to include the lot. There's plenty of space left for parking.
Love your reports!! Thanks so much!👍🏼
Hey Shawn watching here in Ireland and loving your very informative updates , keep up the good work and hope everyone is safe?
I have learned so much and appreciate all of your efforts to provide such amazing information. Iceland has always been on my bucket list👍🏼 Prayers for all who live under such uncertainty 🙏🏼
Go soon! Do not wait until you are older with bad knees and limited aerobic capacity! Icelanders will tell you it’s an ‘easy’ route but it won’t be…. Prepare yourself for climbing irregular rock staircases at a steep incline in mud just to get to the top of a tourist waterfall trail.
Thanks for the thorough updates, Shawn. We spent a night at the Grindavík campground in 2021 and loved it. It’s disheartening to see what’s happening.
Hello from Boise, BTW.
You and @GeologyNick are making geology accessible for everyone- thanks! 🙏🏼
I'm a photographer - that photo of the graben would be relatively easy to get a photo without people, regardless of how many there are there. The technique includes putting the camera in a fixed location, usually a tripod, and taking several photos (I usually do 10+) a few moments apart. As people move, you "layer" the photos and keep the parts that don't change, and remove the parts that do, across the sets of photos. That way, as people move, they automatically "take themselves" out of the photo by telling the image processor what elements are temporal and what are permanent.
As a photographer myself and quite amateur I find that description fascinating. Thanks for posting!
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
Good explanation and well set up video. It’s fascinating to see several processes in action, real time. Like Horst and graben, faulting, magma intrusion, sill formation, inflation, extension and uplift, and eruption. Thanks for the video!
Thanks Shawn. We await developments patiently, whilst hoping for the best for those people who are affected directly by this event.
Solid work, Shawn. I appreciate both your expansive and qualifying comments in the case of human suffering and loss. Attention spans can be challenging to deal with and you continue to do a great job.
Been happily watching and waiting for thoughts and update from you since this morning, over here in the southeast of the United States 👍 Thank you for all you do and all you bring!
Thank you so much for your informative reporting. My best wishes to affected Icelanders.
Thanks Prof Willsey - more very helpful updates, explanations, and translations (I plan to incorporate "graben" into my everyday speech 🙂). Sounds like you've gotten good counsel & have made good decisions about old videos and livestream. I'll check out your links to videos of past eruptions etc. It's great to have Amanda Jo's on-the-ground input.
Utterly fascinating, thank you (and totally admire your Icelandic place name pronunciations!)
Thank you, Shawn, for these knowledgeable updates, they are clear and honest which is a nice change to all the scare mongering and hyperbole that is out there.
Please keep them going and "fingers crossed" that whatever transpires causes minimal impact to the people of the area.
This is fascinating and informative. It’s also an interesting study in human behaviour. It appears we haven’t lost our ability to distinguish between sensationalist garbage and attempts to truly understand how things are. Thank you.
This is my first time to watch you, Shawn. And I really appreciate how informative and straightforward you are! My heart goes out to the poor residents who have had to evacuate their homes and endure such a difficult situation! They are all in my prayers! Hopefully there will be no loss of life! And praying also, that the wall goes up in time and will indeed protect the power plant!
Thanks for the detailed updates and the time you're putting in to keep all of us informed on the situation.
Thank you for popping in to our chat at LFI tonight @Shawn Willsey - very informative for the time you were able to spare! FYI did you know that the Quake app is also created by the Admin of Live From Iceland? Richard (Mod at LFI)
@arteepeeThat is a great app, and so nice to hear this bit of information. It personalizes it somewhat. Thanks.
Thanks for the reports- I find this the best source for a straight-forward summary and scientific evaluation of the situation as well as a respectful perspective on the impact on those affected. I find myself consistently fascinated by what I have learned!
One of the questions I have is what happens to Grindavik going forward, even if there isn't an eruption? Based on the images, it looks like a large portion of the town is compromised by the cracks, subsidence, and earthquakes. I imagine many of the structures will need serious repairs, at the least. But will the ground be stable enough to be safe.
It will need a lot of repairs and inevitably some residents will not return. The mayor was quoted as saying the repairs will not even begin until next spring or summer at the earliest, meaning best case scenario most residents will be displaced for many months. And that's if nothing gets worse...
Also, what do you do if you don't want to live there any more? Many people can't imagine going back since this area probably will be active for the rest of our lives. What do you do, who do you sell your house to, how do you buy another house when you can't sell the house you want to leave?
there are vehicles that bounces signals (I don't know exactly what, like sonar perhaps?) that can tell the density of underlying ground. They use them on motorways ect to make sure the ground is solid and no potholes etc are forming. Iceland seems to be very resourceful country and incredibly proactive. In the UK we would still be saying, let's have a meeting about the meeting and talk some more after tea.
@@reekoreeko1857Ha ha ha! In the U.S. we would hire someone to do a study to see if we need to form a committee to investigate the matter. Only then would we solicit bids from companies to do the work. 😂😂😂
I taught Earth Science to middle schoolers in U.S. I used Snickers bars to demonstrate all three faults. I had them stretch the candy apart for normal fault, pulled two sides past each other for strike slip fault, and squish each side up for compression. Then they could eat them!
You are doing an awesome job of keeping us updated without the sensationalism. Thank you! My heart goes out to the people of Grindivik...I was just there in September for the best lobster soup.
I am so glad that more people got to go get their belongings. Thank you for this video. Prayers for all of these people.
Thanks Shawn for all your hard work reporting this event in Iceland. I appreciate your fair and honest reporting of what is going on there.
Considering I came here because I was watching a live feed on another channel and several comments were about this one, you may want to learn more about UA-cam and particularly protecting your content from being stolen. Your popularity will continue to grow.
One possible reason why not to include the parking lot: the larger the area enclosed by the barrier, the greater the odds an eruption happens on the inside of that area. Parking lots are cheap to rebuild, so it's not worth the added risk to enclose it.
Plus the increased length and thus time to build the barrier. Would not help if it gets perfect but finished years after the fact.
Parking lots aren't expensive.
Trying such an extensive barrier at this late of date seems to be a rather dubious plan. The Sundhnúkar crater row seems to be most likely place for outflow. Start by trying to get some flow isolation along the line of hills to the west of the crater row.
Time is short to build any barrier.
Yes, a new parking lot can be built to the south, within the walled-off area.
HI SHAWN - A QUESTION FOR YOU --Given that the length of magma intrusion is 15 km, would this have lessened some of the underlying pressure, and possibly reduce the likelihood of an actual surface eruption? ie because the magma pressure has been dispersed laterally, rather than vertically? Or does it not really make any difference? Thanks for your commentary - have been watching from afar in Australia, and finding it really informative.
I think he mentioned a day or two back that stretching is a theory
Thank you for the awesome daily updates. Those of us who are volcano nurds are loving the details and the commentary and the graphics. Please keep the info coming!
I'm in NZ.
They probably left the parking lot out at the Blue Lagoon because as you walk up, there is a natural barrier there at the entrance in between the parking lot and the building and they might be building into it. Also, it is aesthetic there because it can look more or less like what you see when you walk up. Great Video!!
I was going to say the same thing - it makes sense to build the existing barrier higher rather than start a new one outside the parking area.
QUESTION: Have you seen any data related to the geothermal wells at the power plant, I'm wondering if there have been changes temperature or other changes of note.
Hey, thank you for _not_ reposting your archival footage of old eruptions. My own mother got confused by network television news doing exactly that, and she mistakenly thought that she was looking at a brand new 2023 Grindavik eruption. Really, that's a sad testament to the current state of network TV.
Thank you for these videos. We appreciate all the information without all the drama!
You explain geology in a clear simple way!!! Thanks
Hello Shawn, firstly thanks for doing these videos. As a self confessed nerd I love watching them. I do have a question with regards to the barrier around the power plant and blue lagoon. While this mitigation may assist with diverting lava flow I would imagine the main threat would be from the tube system that runs underneath both locations and which the power plant actually actively taps into. So what are the chances that both locations will be affected from below? Such as the water in the blue lagoon becoming more acidic and the power plant being overloaded with regards to raising temperatures. Thanks in advance. BLS
From one rock licker to another, well done from sunny Florida! I only have one item I will take umbrage with you. It pertains to lava staying molten for years. Look at Hawaii, the eruption and flows in 2018 were cooled and solidified within months. Crews were able to rebuild roads soon after the flows stopped. It really depends on several factors. The make up of the lava, depth, so on and so forth.
MY QUESTION (all caps per request): is it possible that high volumes of run-off water from Svartsengi power plant and the Blue Lagoon, which has high silica mineral composition, can impact underground magma flow when it perkolates back down through the earth and back into underground reservoirs? Thank you, Shawn!
Great update, Shawn, we appreciate you!
Appreciate these excellent instructive, compassionate and non hyperbolic updates about these unfolding natural events in Iceland.
New viewer, excellent information! Refreshing to hear someone who knows what they are talking about. So happy to have found you- thank you!
The best commentary and analysis on the web for this unique event.
Good stuff man. Appreciate what you are doing! Much love from Texas.
Thank you Shawn for all your helpful videos on this topic! Re that empty path in Þingvellir National Park, the photo you're using might have been taken while pandemic travel restrictions were in place.
LOVE THE UPDATES! WISH I STUDIED UNDER YOU IN COLLEGE! NOW I DO!
thanks Shawn very helpful and well explained for those of us with limited knowledge
Just wanted to add my thanks to those of the other commenters. Excellent job, Doc!
Best updates and explanations. Thank you. So appreciative.
Thank you for your clear and simple explanation of what is happening in Iceland.
QUESTION: Can you show the ground-deformation and earthquake trends before the Fagradalsfjall-area volcanos erupted? I heard (I think through one of your earlier videos) that the earthquakes became very quiet before the last eruption. Just wondering if there is any pattern that can be determined from the Fagradalsfjall seismic 2019-2021 activity and the 2021, 2022 and 2023 eruptions (Wikipedia has a list of vents but would love to see these graphed). Thanks-I appreciate the depth of the information!
It might also be worth mentioning just how difficult it is to build towns in Iceland in the first place. You have mountainous terrain, active volcanoes, fields of volcanic rock stretching for miles. Good land to build a sustainable town is difficult. Even families living in Vik especially understand that one day their fate will be the same Grindavik in the near future.
Shawn, I wouldn't even consider myself even an amateur geologist, but I am fascinated by the awesome power of our planet. I really appreciate the time your are taking to explain the situation in Iceland in a way that everyone can understand. We've visited Iceland multiple times and are familiar with all the areas you've discussed. Iceland is an incredible part of the world, and we hope the best for the residents.
Great channel. Good info, explained clearly and with a scientific point of view always forgotten at general media
THANK YOU for the continued updates.
Thank you for all your information!
Thanks for your report. Still teaching me heaps and your insights are so helpful.
Thank you so much for your updates!
I appreciate your approach to geology.
Don't forget that recorded history in Iceland goes all the way back to before 1100 CE (AD) in one form or another. I strongly suspect there is memory of at least one lava flow in the vicinity of Grindavik in the Chronicles if nothing else.
I love how the candy bar analogy turned into a story about a enjoyable jog during the summer. 😅🥰🤗
QUESTION: in the scenario where there does not end up being an eruption, at what point could that be confirmed with certainty? What type of change in the data would need to be seen before the area could be considered safe again?
Big cheers for the officials who adjusted the sign! Thoughtful and supportive. ❤❤
Overreaction on the residents part, IMO, but no problem either way
@@skepticalfaith5201 Yea, maybe so, but then again I think it’s hard to judge them when we aren’t in their shoes. It’s a hard time for them right now.
Thanks for the update Shawn!
these updates are amazing, thank you very very very much
Also, a great point re barriers as coastal barriers made me think of the 2011 Japanese tsunami and levees reminded me of the 2005 Katrina event in New Orleans. New Orleans was much more a case of poor maintenance but Japan got unlucky in that they planned and built them well but in some spots the earthquake lowered the land by around a meter, which was just enough to render the very tall tsunami walls useless.
Depending your intent small town can be a term of endearment. Haven't watched much of your content, this is my 3rd vid, but you are a nice and respectful person :P
QUESTION: If Iceland is entering a new era of volcanic activity (after ~800 years of relative quiet), do you think this would eventually affect all/most of Iceland, or just a specific area/areas?
No, it just the Rejkanes Peninsula that goes through weird long term eruption cycle. Shawn has an earlier video in which he talks about the volcanic fields that laid out along the peninsula in kind of a 45 angle rotated clockwise from vertical. Slanted east in other words. There are 7 of these volcanic fields each side by side running east to west on the peninsula. The three eruptions in the last couple years are in the Fagradalsfyll volcanic field to the north east from grindavik.
This current potential volcanic activity is in fact the fifth magmatic intrusion in this volcanic field called Svartsengai. Those intrusions started in 2020. These volcanic fields have been as quiet for almost 800 years!! The kind of scary thing about this volcanic cycle is that the other five volcanic fields on the peninsula could also start to wake up sooner or later, but no can say for sure. But the volcanic activity in these volcanic fields can go on for up to 500 years!!! It looks like two are active now.
There have been some small earthquakes occuring in some of the other volcanic fields, but it's to early to say if that is significant.
My 6th grade class is learning about Geology by checking this site each day.
Shawn Willsey is an excellent clear-speaking teacher, so good-
This is great. Hope they are enjoying learning geology as it happens.
The pools of the Blue Lagoon are actually part of the power plant, since it is a percolation field built over a natural 1 meter thick layer of volcanic material that filters the highly mineralized waste water from the geothermal source, and allows it to return to the ground water as clean water without the minerals.
I do appreciate your videos - excellent explanation about what is going on, easy for us non-geologists to understand. What damage the quakes have inflicted on Grindavig! so frustrating for the Icelanders in not knowing what is going to happen! 🤔
Wow, that is a lot of people for their country. Thank you for that analogy.
Thanks for your videos; I very much appreciate your calm, informative and sympathetic assessments. One aspect of the desaster which I don't see mentioned much so far is the economic impact it probably has. As far as I know especially the harbour with its fishing industry is of nationwide importance. Don't know how long they might be able to sustain this situation, or how they could cope with maybe even having to abandon the harbour permanently.
Shawn thank you once again for such an informative and educational episode. Your wealth and knowledge is far reaching and we are now totally absorbed on this topic👍😎💪🌋
Thanks for your videos! Been following this closely. I have a geology degree, so it's all very interesting stuff to me.
Hats off to you for all the time your taking to share your knowledge.
And, although you owe us nothing, thank you for explaining why you have chosen to run your channel as you see fit.
I'm confident, as this volcanic situation evolves, your going to be rhe "main voice" on this topic.
Just like Bushcraft Bear was during the eruption in the canary islands.❤
I really like your updates. Very informative.