A study published in the journal Terra Nova on Wednesday suggests that the latest series of volcanic eruptions in Iceland could last for decades or even centuries.

The series of eruptions began in 2021 on the Reykjanes Peninsula, which is located in the southwest of the island, just 55 kilometres southwest of the capital, Reykjavik.

A large part of the population of the North Atlantic Island lives in the affected region.

It is also home to the only international airport and several geothermal power plants that supply the country with hot water and electricity.

Five major volcanic eruptions have occurred since December last year alone. Lava flows out of elongated cracks in the earth, a phenomenon known as a fissure eruption.

Some houses were engulfed by lava.

The researchers analysed earthquake data from the past three years.

They compared lava’s chemical and physical properties from various locations to determine whether it came from the same underground magma chamber.

They found that it was indeed magma with similar petrographic properties.

This suggests a coherent underground magma system, the researchers write.

Taken with the seismic data, they believe that it is a moderately large magma accumulation at a depth of around nine to eleven kilometres, which extends over a width of ten kilometres.

It formed between 2002 and 2020.

The research team concluded that the current series of eruptions could be the beginning of a long episode, though they cannot predict how long the series will last.

Iceland is located where the North American and Eurasian tectonic plates are moving apart.

Volcanic eruptions are, therefore, frequent, but the eruptions of the more central volcanoes usually only last a few days or weeks.

Fissure eruptions, on the other hand, can last much longer.

(dpa/NAN)