Geological time is interesting, because even the geological now is decades long, if not centuries. The current geological episode at Reykjanes didn’t start with Fagrafjäll (it is no longer a valley, so let us drop the “dal” out of Fagradalsfjäll shall we).
Nor did it start with the large and very noisy intrusion over at Thorbjörn a couple of years ago. No, it started over at a relatively unknown diminutive volcano called Hromundartindur in 2007, where a minor root-filling occurred accompanied by some 80 000 small earthquakes.
Another minor one occurred at Krysuvik at little later, but everything was still small and benign. Over the years other small and noisy intrusions occurred all over Reykjanes Ridge and Reykjanes Peninsula. None of which caused an eruption.
In retrospect it was a sign that the pent-up strain in Reykjanes was reaching the breaking point, and that it needed to stretch out and moult like a butterfly from its cocoon.
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