A glacial outburst started today in the river Skálm east of the glacier Mýrdalsjökull, flooding and closing the Ring Road in Iceland, leaving thousands of tourists stranded.
This morning, the Icelandic Met Office (Veðurstofa Íslands) sent out an announcement that increased electrical conductivity has been measured in rivers around the glacier Mýrdalsjökull.
An increase in electrical conductivity began to be measured in the river Skálm last night, Friday the 26th, and this morning Saturday the 27th an increased unrest was evident under the glacier. An outburst began to be measured in the river Skálm around 13:20 today coming from the glacier Kötlujökull on the eastern side of Mýrdalsjökull. It is a big outburst, possibly even bigger than the last big outburst back in 2011.
According to information from the Icelandic Road and Coastal Administration (IRCA), water now flows over the bridge over the river Skálm and the ring road in a section of about one kilometer to the east of the bridge. Personnel from the IRCA and the police have arrived and the ring road has been closed due to the run. The road is already washed away on the east side of the bridge and the ends of the bridge are damaged due to the flood. Water has also flooded the road down to Álftaver.
The possibility of much more runoff coming from under the glacier
All things considered, it takes several hours for the flowing water to travel under the glacier and down into the riverbed. Late last night, a sign of turbulence was seen that could signify the beginning of the outburst. Unrest then increased significantly around 11 this morning. This increased turbulence that was measured this morning could be a sign that even more liquid water is to be expected from under the glacier. Then it cannot be ruled out that runoff water comes from under the glacier in more places, possibly reaching Múlakvísl.
It is impossible to predict when the outburst will peak. In a run that occurred in 2011, it took about 10 hours from the time of high continuous turbulence until the flow of water from under the glacier. It is not possible yet to state that this current run is behaving in a comparable way to the run in 2011. However, it is most likely that this current run has not reached its peak and that significantly more runoff water is yet to come from under the glacier.
The flight color code for volcano Katla moved up to yellow. The area at Sólheimajökull has been evacuated
Due to the activity in the glacier Mýrdalsjökull, the flight color code for the volcano Katla has been changed to yellow. It means that the volcano is showing activity beyond what is considered basic activity. The National Police Commissioner's Public Defense has declared a level of uncertainty regarding the incident in consultation with the police chief in South Iceland.
Due to the great uncertainty about the ongoing development of events in Mýrdalsjökull and the possible danger of glacier slides down Sólheimajökull (glacial tongue of Mýrdalsjökull), the Icelandic Met Office proposed to the National Commissioners Office that the glacier Sólheimajökull, the area in front of the glacier and the service area at the end of Sólheimajökull road be evacuated. The time for warning due to an impending outburst in Jökulsá at Sólheimasandi could be very short and thus the risk in the area is high, should that happen.
Experts from the Icelandic Met Office together with scientists from the University of Iceland are now working to further analyze data to assess the possible development of the activity in the glacier Mýrdalsjökull.
Source: Vedur.is
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