Chasing Lava in Iceland! Geologist samples/collects lava at erupting Fagradalsfjall volcano, Iceland
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- Опубліковано 27 сер 2024
- Geology professor Shawn Willsey journeys to Iceland to observe and record the spectacular and currently ongoing eruption of Fagradalsfjall. Watch as he surveys the vast and still cooling lava field from the 2021 eruption before venturing down to the active lava margin to collect a fresh lava sample for chemical and mineralogical analysis. Video was taken on Aug 11, 2022. Learn more about how these fissure eruptions and basaltic lava behave. Look for more Iceland videos to come soon! Some from the eruption and some from less well known but equally compelling geologic sites.
GPS location: 63. 89876, -22.25333
I love doing these videos and will continue to do so but if you want to provide support or much appreciated travel money, you can send support via:
Venmo @Shawn-Willsey (be sure to put two L's in last name)
or PayPal: www.paypal.com...
or a good ol' fashioned check to this address:
Shawn Willsey
College of Southern Idaho
315 Falls Avenue
Twin Falls, ID 83303
What kid wouldn't love taking you to Parents Career day at school? Geology rocks!
im his kid and he rocked! career day sometimes he just had his own whole day because he had so many cool activities for us:)
I am also his kid. And he is the best and helps me with homework.
Erika and Tessa, you are two very lucky kids! Your dad's channel is one of my new favorites, and I'm learning a lot even though I'm 63...you're never too old to learn! Best wishes to you both!
That was truly gnarly, not much room for error! Thanks for showing us that!
Thanks
You nearly gave me a heart attack when you stumbled next to the flow!
All part of the dramatic effects of being a trained geo-actor. 😉
Yay! A real geologist at the volcano! Thanks for all your videos and what a treat - hope you post more info! 🌋👍🏻👍🏻
I've got a dozen or so videos from various areas of SW Iceland that will launch over next few weeks. Enjoy!
To cool to actually be there. Thanks for taking us along. Those are some good gloves. I was surprised when you picked up the lave with the gloves on.
Welding gloves. Works OK as long as you move the lava around a bit. You can't hold it one place or it starts to burn your hand.
I'm more surprised he was able to get within 100 feet near the lava. Usually, lava is more than capable of igniting things from more than 100 feet away due to the intense amount of radiant heat it gives off, but I guess he was blessed enough to not have stumbled upon a massive amount of the shit.
@@shawnwillsey I believe this is correct. Lava in the stage you picked it up is around 1200, which requires gloves very heavy on heat resistance. Most of the time, lava is somewhere around 500-600 degrees when cooling, so holding it for 20 seconds or so isn't usually harmful, so long as you have dropped it or lose the lava before those 20 seconds are up.
This is insanely good Shawn! Such a fascinating place. A really great video.
Awesome
I've finished the Iceland series now. It's wonderful and teaches a lot. I've saved it to a playlist to have it handy.
Last year I got hooked on watching the 2021 eruption in Iceland.
Thanks to the eruption, I started following UA-camrs who frequented the volcano, such as GutnTog
Thanks to GutnTog I started following the LaPalma eruption.
Thanks to LaPalma, I started watching Valentin Troll.
Thanks to the volcanos, I started watching Nick Zenter.
Thanks to Nick Zentner, I started watching other channels like Geology Hub & Shawn Willsey. Now Valentin Troll, Geology Hub & Shawn Willsey are all at the new eruption in Iceland!! Lotsa full circle. Thanks for this video!! I love it! Also, I'm jealous. I wanna go to Iceland and stab fresh lava with a hammer.
I started with Nick Zentner, and ended up here as well. When I watched the Geology Hub video this morning, I thought about Shawn being there, and actually thought I might have seen him in the background along the edge of the lava. Haven't seen anyone else try to pick up lava though...
@@Danika_Nadzan Oh really? Now I'll have to re-watch Geology Hub to see if I can spot the same thing. And if you want to search UA-cam for Reykjavik Grapevine #203 or Valentin Troll, you could find a couple other videos of scientists sampling the lava in Iceland this week.
@@jensoboleski Thanks, I'll check them out! ...hard to believe there's actually people out there who think geology is boring...
Ditto! ( I started back in 2014 with Bardarbunga fissure eruption in the Holuhraun Valley, then 2018 Hawaii, Leilani. Back to Iceland in 2021 then to La Palma, and, now back to Iceland again!)
I actually watched this eruption at meraldallir happen live.. I was SO EXCITED it was amazing to see the lava appear and the fissure grow, couldn’t believe what I was seeing ❤
Alright! We're off on an adventure. Love the vid. Thx so much 💓
Does it have to be still molten? I would have thought a solidified bit would give you the same material to study. What additional info do you get from collecting it hot?
Thats a low-silica basalt I guess? Also I think they can measure the lava temp to have some ensight as to how deep the channel is? The last eruption they were saying the channel the magma was coming from was very deep in the mantle thus super heated as well.
Yes, basalt is low in silica. Around 50% or so silica as compared to rhyolitic lava which is around 70% silica. The silica content dictates the viscosity of the magma, how much gas it traps, and therefore, how explosive it is.
Just don't be on a fucking hill when you're around low-silica basalt. Those bitches come down hills like runaway trains descending Cajon Pass.
Great video. I never saw someone actually take a sample like that before.
✈🌋⛏👏👍 Thank you for sharing this, Shawn and Erica! I must admit that "mom mode" kicked in for a moment there, worrying you might fall forward into the lava, Shawn 😯
Wow - that was pretty badass!
Congrats on the samples. I think you showed one during one of the newer episodes on Grindivik’s activity. It’s just so amazing how hot it is.
Truly awesome, and excited for you to be there. Thanks so much!!
That steam plume is from a Spring in the bottom of that little valley that was covered during the eruption.
*ICELAND* - please return 100% of our Shawn to us! Thanks.
Back home safe and sound! Thanks for the well wishes.
Excellent!! Thank you for sharing. 🔥
When I was a kid I was a Rockhound and I had a dream once where a dirt hill nearby turned into a volcano. In the dream I ran over to where lava was pouring out and scooped some up in a ladle. When I woke up I was very disappointed it was a dream. So it's really neat to see the reality.
Geologists be like: "oops, dropped my liquid rock, let me pick it up by hand"
What an awesome opportunity.
I have field trip envy.
Go if you can. This is as accessible and tourist friendly as eruptions get.
Man you got a great summer going! Good on Ya!
Customs: Do you have anything to declare?
Shawn: I brought back a piece of Iceland from the bowels of the Earth.
Customs: But no demons, right?
While you’re in Iceland, waiting for the lava to cool… There are some wonderful columnar basalts, tuyas and hyaloclastites to film. Also be sure to try their salty, licorice ice cream.
Yes on all these. Look for some new videos soon on hyaloclastite and tuya/moberg ridges.
Looks like you burned your glove at the end! Great seeing a collected piece of hot lava put in a can of water.
The radiant heat must have been pretty brutal -- you need one of them silver suits. Given the names used to describe various aspect of volcanic activity it's obvious that a lot of the terminology has Hawaiian roots.
AMAZING 🤩 Now listen there hot shot please be careful!! There is still a lot I would like to continue to learn from you!! Make good memories !!👍👍 THANKS
I've sampled lava before several times in Hawaii so knew the drill. Back home safe and sound now. Thanks!
That was awesome! Loved seeing it from a different perpective than a regular tourist video. Also, great Oils t-shirt!!
My all-time favorite band. Nice that someone recognized it.
@@shawnwillsey You need to visit Australia before October then as that will be their last concert😔
@@laraweston7719 I know. I am beyond bummed about this. Wish I could see them again. I did see them in concert twice in the 90s. Best band ever.
Oh man! When you grabbed it with your hand I admit I cringed a little! 😂 As your camera assistant said, those are some good gloves! Even solid lava that is just losing incandescence can be 500-600°C!
Enjoy your time there, must be amazing!
Hi Avana. Yes, welding gloves work well. Just need to be sure not to hold it in one hand for more than a few seconds or your hand gets hot quickly. It was an awesome trip and even exceeded my lava experiences in Hawaii. Look for lots of other videos soon, mostly on other aspects and features of Iceland geology. Hope you can come experience this sometime.
Great video - love the Oils shirt too. Geo in West Au here too
Best. Band. Ever. Thanks for watching and learning with me.
Finally someone taking a sample! I've been waiting for that since the last eruption. So now what,take it to the lab?
Check out Valetin Troll, he's a volcanologist and geologist. (He even went to La Palma and got many samples plus some footage most couldn't get.)
I have some colleagues that asked me to send them a sample for analysis of chemistry which provides insight on source of magma and its ascent history.
Hot stuff!
Very interesting , thanks. Does dropping the sample on the ground have the potential to influence the chemical/mineral analysis?
Whoaaa. So cool. Is it still active right now? I'm coming to Iceland for New Year and would love to see some oozing lava.
Nope. Eruption ended by late August.
Am I the only one disappointed that Shawn didn't have an actual thermometer he could stick in the lava? As long as it's made of something with a higher melting point than rock. Tungsten should do. 😁
Really cool, Shawn. Maybe you should have worn one of those shiny silver fire fighting suits for added effect.
It was Marlin Perkins in the helicopter. He was telling viewers how he was safe in the air while you were standing next to molten rock.
Thank you for report! @2:37 why the “chunky” basalt? Are those spatter or are they cracked cooled lava flow? And please tell me what the white coloring on those chunky lava is, rhyolite?? Ash?? Melted country rock? Again thank you!
Good questions. These are older basalts (not sure of actual age). White material on rock is lichen. Dark material between rocks is moss. Moss and lichen are early colonizers of rock surfaces after an eruption and can get quite thick and extensive after 100s of years.
Great video. Went in April to see the aftermath of last year's eruption. Hoping to get out at the end of the month. Heard it's slowing so hopefully it's stíll erupting to some degree.
Good luck on your trip. Hope its still going then.
Wow!
Nice Shawn, maybe off to a glacier next?
This trip was too short but I've been to Iceland twice before and both involved being out on glaciers. I'll have to do a glacier video when I come back next year.
That glove gets hot looks like a welding glove pick up hot steel at first you like, "Not so bad until the heat gets through the layers" then can't wait to get that glove off.
❤
OL probably means over limit.
Now that I've finished it...
Ha! At the end, I was thinking he's going to want to pick up the lava with his hand. I'm jealous. Though, you know, Chuck Norris wouldn't have needed gloves. Maybe you should have found an oven mitt manufacturer to sponsor you. "You can pick up lava with these!"
About how hot was the air right around the flow?
I know Hawaii is over a hot spot and this is a plate boundary, but the lavas seem to be similar. They're not of the overly explosive variety.
I was surprised when you picked up the lava with the glove, dropped it on the ground and then clap your bare hand to the glove. Seems a bit risky.
I've picked up lava before in Hawaii so I felt comfortable.
What kind of gloves are those, these Ove gloves i have start to get hot even with my cast iron pan. I have been looking for a decent pair of gloves.
Welding gloves.
Does quenching introduce any changes to the sample?
Just to texture, not to composition. Quenching the lava makes it a bit more glassy with smaller crystals. It captures (as close as possible) the magma feeding the eruption.
I'd like to suggest for the sake of your glove budget that you start carrying a pair of tongs as well ;-)
For Science !!
Thank you for info dense comments and easy prohibitions. Skin PrOtEcTiOn. Yes.
Fantastic Journey, question- can you see phenocrysts of olivine? Augite rich basalts? Great job!
I didn't see any in the samples I collected but they are definitely in there, just small.
You have to quench a sample instead of just break off a newly formed and hardened piece because why?
Quenching the lava creates a sample that best represents the chemistry of the lava which yields insights into its origin and ascent to the surface. If you let the lava cool and harden, much of the gas has escaped.
Wondered when your Iceland trip was going to air? Question answered, thanks.
Oils huh? Cool shirt mate..
The brown/tan rock toward the last part of the video at the edge of the flow...might that be felsic?
These are older basalts (not sure of age). Probably 1000+ years old so more weathered.
@@shawnwillsey Thank you Shawn!
what do you do with samples? just overseers
These samples were sent to some colleagues for analysis of lava's mineralogy and chemistry which provides info on how the magma ascended to surface and where it originated.
@@shawnwillsey sorry for spelling not wearing glasses souvenirs. Thanks
Why did you record yourself taking the lava like that? It probably would've looked better if you weren't trying to get a selfie while you did it.
I don't know much about geology. But I think this is a really mean spirited comment. Let's see you taking a 1000 degree lava sample while filming with one hand!
Shawn, at 02:36 is that grass among the rubble? I guess the temperatures there are more moderate than some other of the places you have recently been.
Moss and a bit of grass. The moss is an earlier colonizer that grows on lava surfaces and can get quite thick in places. Its nice to walk on, soft and spongy.
Did that lump of lava change into obsidian in the water with that quick cooling off ?
No, obsidian only forms from silica rich (rhyolitic) lava. This lava is basaltic so it doesn't have enough silica to form obsidian. The quenched lava is a glassy basalt but not true obsidian.
Manu thanks for explaining that about Obsidian. I never knew It formes from Rhyolitic lava and not Basalt nor why..
"Fahrenheit"? You seriously have a modern scientific instrument set to display measurements in a mediaeval unit of measurement?
I know, I know. Believe me, I prefer metric and Celsius by far. However most of the viewers are US based so I use the other system. I do try to give both when I can.
And I thank you for doing F. It saves me from grabbing another tablet to look up the conversion. I know 0 C is 32 F and 40 C is about 100 F.
I've been hoping that someone would take samples of the different colored lavas to analyze the chemistry of each. Watching you trying to take a sample of molten lava a few times unsuccessfully made me laugh (thinking . . you're not very good at this are you!) 🤣 . . . kidding.
I was thinking NO! don't pick it up! and so you did 😲 🙄
So when can we expect the chemical analysis results? 🤞🏻
I need to send the samples off to a colleague. Not sure how long it will take.
@@shawnwillsey ☺ Thanks for the response, understandably it isn't always forth coming.
I've been making the suggestion to Gutntog a few times (even last yr) to bring a little chemistry test kit with him, but I guess it's not that simple . . . hehe maybe that's just me! 🤣
I'm just intrigued to understand why there are many different colors in the new lava field when it is all coming from the same outlet.
Thanks again, I subscribed and hope the best for you.
Those words sound Hawaiian. Are they?
They're Hawaiian, adopted to english in the 1800's. Pahoehoe- smooth, ropey, billowy flow; A'a- rough, broken, & loose
@@jbrewster4577 Thanks
Insanity. I've always wondered if that turns to obsidian, if it's high enough in silica, when volcanologists quench their samples like that. My understanding is a rapid cooling is needed for obsidian rhyolite to form.
Also depends on water content in rhyolitic lava. Dry rhyolitic lavas often produce obsidian but need not involve flowing into water.
@@shawnwillsey Interesting. I didn't know that! I imagined iceland covered in obsidian, erupting under the snow and ice. That probably explains places like the Glass Buttes areas of Oregon, with its literal mountains of obsidian. I've always wondered how that much obsidian could possibly form.
What is the composition of the sample. Any trace amounts of gold or silver?
I will need to send it in for analysis to find out.
May we assume that you had permission from the landowner group to take samples?
There were several scientists there taking samples for analysis and the government officials were aware of this.