AV¶ÌÊÓƵ

On the Land of Ice and Fire: An Adventure in Iceland

 

"There were 4,000 people living here," says Michelle Parks, a specialist in volcanic deformation and crisis management at the Icelandic Meteorological Institute (IMO). Some of these people have not returned home since November 2023, or only for very short periods to retrieve their belongings.

The town in question, Grindavík, is a small fishing village located in the south of the Reykjanes Peninsula, near Keflavík Airport. The region has been grappling with a seismic and volcanic crisis that began in February 2021. Indeed, a dyke—a vertical intrusion of magma beneath the Earth's surface—spread beneath the town, fracturing some homes, public places, roads, and causing significant subsidence in the town center. This area, surrounded by natural ridges up to one meter high, became riddled with open fissures, rendering the town uninhabitable.

On December 18, the first eruption began, threatening Grindavík, an important port town, as well as Svartsengi, the largest geothermal power plant in the region. On January 15, during the second Sundhnúkurgigar eruption, three houses were impacted by lava, which stopped just short of entering Grindavík. To protect the town, the government constructed barriers several dozen meters high using massive machinery working around the clock. These barriers proved invaluable, later stopping several million cubic meters of lava heading toward Grindavík.

After closely monitoring the tectonic, seismic, and volcanic activity around Grindavík during our regular Bachelor’s courses in Geneva, we decided to undertake an ambitious project: traveling to Iceland ourselves to study the ongoing volcanic activity. This educational project, designed from scratch, turned out to be immensely enriching for us, both scientifically and personally, particularly given the profound impact this crisis has had on the local inhabitants. We were about to witness in person what we had only seen in images until then!

It is evident that the reality on the ground is very different from theory. We therefore wanted to witness the eruption in January, shortly after the first resurgence of volcanic activity. Following several meetings with professors who fully supported us in this adventure, we decided to launch a more ambitious project that would be financially accessible to everyone. This latter aspect required extensive fundraising—an even greater challenge than the journey itself. From that point, the trip took on an organizational dimension we hadn’t anticipated... But after long preparations and securing financial support, we made it happen! To minimize our carbon footprint, we decided to travel to Iceland by car and ferry. Our journey began on July 21, with minivans provided by the Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences, heading to Denmark, then the Faroe Islands, and finally our destination: Iceland.

Once there, we had the privilege of meeting key figures in the Icelandic volcanology community. The AV¶ÌÊÓƵ of Iceland in Reykjavik also warmly welcomed us, offering exceptional lectures despite it being the holiday season.

Halldór Geirsson, a professor, explained that the tectonic plates in Iceland drift apart by more than 2 centimeters per year. He also showed us the continuous monitoring of about 30 GPS stations that help predict when eruptions are most likely to occur. Þorvaldur Þórðarson (also written Thorvaldur Thordarson) introduced us to the general geology of Iceland, particularly the Reykjanes Peninsula. He explained how collecting and analyzing data on recurring eruptions is a complex and exhausting task for him and his team. Finally, we met Þorsteinn Sæmundsson (Thorsteinn Saemundsson), a landslide expert, who took us to observe an impressive landslide located about a hundred kilometers from Reykjavik during a half-day field trip.

Michelle Parks, another iconic figure working at the IMO, also took the time to discuss the natural hazards threatening the Icelandic population. We had the opportunity to observe, directly from the emergency control room, not only volcanic systems but also various potential risk factors such as floods and storms. This encounter was a wake-up call for many of us. Realizing that our studies could have a tangible impact on the population and its safety was deeply significant, and this understanding was reinforced through our various meetings. We also spoke with residents of Grindavík, whose lives had been upended by the recent eruptions. This gave a human dimension to a science often considered purely "hard."

In the field, we conducted drone flights over areas where our professors had previously flown to observe and analyze changes in rockfalls and fractures caused by tectonic and volcanic deformation. We also collected GPS data with Simon Bufféral, one of the teaching assistants, who is researching this technique as part of his doctoral studies in Paris. His work aims to better define the deformation Grindavík has experienced and predict what might happen in the future. Additionally, we sampled successive lava flows to analyze, once back in Geneva, how and why the chemical compositions change over time.

The data collected was incorporated into our regular Bachelor’s courses to help us understand how the samples are analyzed and processed after collection. Moreover, this extra material enriches the curriculum and provides additional educational content for future cohorts. All the collected samples will remain with our professor, allowing them to serve as teaching tools for future students.

We would like to extend our special thanks to the institutions that supported us throughout this project (SACAD, CGTF, the General Fund of UNIGE, the Fondation du Domaine de Villette), our respective Departments, as well as the Faculty of Science, without whom none of this would have been possible. We never imagined that this trip would teach us so much. Our overall perspective on our studies has profoundly changed, and our career and life choices have been significantly influenced as a result. With the right drive and plenty of motivation, one can always move mountains (or volcanoes!), and the outcome can only be positive.

As a continuation of this project, we can only encourage future students of the AV¶ÌÊÓƵ to dream big and believe in themselves. Every experience is worth living!

Figure 1: Map showing the route taken to reach Iceland, the location of Grindavík on the Reykjanes Peninsula, its position relative to the dyke, and the fractures running through the town of Grindavík.

Figure 2: Preparing to head into the field to collect data, including rock samples, which will be analyzed in Geneva. The image also shows damage to houses in Grindavík caused by the subsidence of part of the town and numerous earthquakes associated with magmatic intrusions.

Figure 3: Deploying the drone to capture orthophotos and build 3D models. Below, a scoria cone and pillow lavas can be seen on the left.

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