Geology Bites

Ed Marshall on Iceland's 2021 Eruption


Listen Later

After months of high earthquake activity, a fissure opened up near the southwestern tip of Iceland on March 19, 2021. Over a period of about seven months, several other fissures opened up, generating lava flows several kilometers long that filled several valleys and created a new 150-meter high mountain, a sort of mini-shield volcano. The eruption has been intensively studied by geologists because it is the first eruption of its kind in Iceland in living memory, and also because it’s extremely accessible – just a short drive from Reykjavik.

Ed Marshall has made dozens of visits to the eruption site to sample the lava.  He then performs geochemical analyses in his lab which show that the magma originates from the very bottom of the crust where it meets the convecting mantle.  Such eruptions generally only occur at mid-ocean ridges, so this is a rare opportunity to study what is happening on the crust-mantle boundary.  It appears to be a place where heterogenous batches of mantle are mixing vigorously, injecting rapidly changing melts into the conduit carrying the magma to the surface. 

Ed Marshall is a Postdoctoral Research Fellow at the University of Iceland.

...more
View all episodesView all episodes
Download on the App Store

Geology BitesBy Oliver Strimpel

  • 5
  • 5
  • 5
  • 5
  • 5

5

3 ratings


More shows like Geology Bites

View all
Global News Podcast by BBC World Service

Global News Podcast

7,646 Listeners

Science Weekly by The Guardian

Science Weekly

412 Listeners

Astronomy Cast by Fraser Cain and Dr. Pamela Gay

Astronomy Cast

2,846 Listeners

Science In Action by BBC World Service

Science In Action

342 Listeners

99% Invisible by Roman Mars

99% Invisible

26,195 Listeners

Origin Stories by The Leakey Foundation

Origin Stories

492 Listeners

Curious Cases by BBC Radio 4

Curious Cases

764 Listeners

Pod Save America by Crooked Media

Pod Save America

86,656 Listeners

Fall of Civilizations Podcast by Fall of Civilizations Podcast

Fall of Civilizations Podcast

4,915 Listeners

You're Dead to Me by BBC Radio 4

You're Dead to Me

2,966 Listeners

The Ancients by History Hit

The Ancients

3,092 Listeners

PlanetGeo: The Geology Podcast by Chris and Jesse

PlanetGeo: The Geology Podcast

228 Listeners

The Rest Is History by Goalhanger

The Rest Is History

13,126 Listeners

The News Agents by Global

The News Agents

906 Listeners

Dark Matters – Geheimnisse der Geheimdienste by SWR3, rbb24 Inforadio, Eva-Maria Lemke

Dark Matters – Geheimnisse der Geheimdienste

13 Listeners