The Year in Volcanoes at Rosetta Stones
2021 was an excellent year for eruptions that were fascinating to watch and not terribly dangerous to humans! Let’s look back on the eruptions we covered, and see where they are now, and what might be in store for 2022.
Kilauea, United States
Tūtū Pele has celebrated the last couple of New Years with sweet summit eruptions. From late December 2021 through most of May of 2021, we were treated to a spectacular end to the water lake in the crater and entertained by the dancing islands of the new lava lake. Pele took the summer off before abruptly returning on September 29th. She’s been putting on a crater lava show ever since, with just a few breaks, including a pause over Christmas. By the new year, she was back in action and put on a lovely show over the holiday.
Since Pelee’s only taken one year off since the 1980s, I’m expecting this year to include some gorgeous lava action from her current home. And stay tuned to see if she does any remodeling at Mauna Loa!
Geldingadalir (Fagradalsfjall), Iceland
We got to watch a new lava shield being born in Iceland this year! The first eruption on the Reykjanes Peninsula in around 800 years was a brilliant and beautiful show from start to finish, and relatively safe despite the foolishness of some tourists. It turned out to be Iceland’s longest eruption of the century, and gave us many insights into mantle processes. The eruption ended on September 18th, but in December, the volcano gave signs of a potential reawakening: we may be hearing much more from the Reykjanes area in the coming year.
Loowit (Mount St. Helens), United States
She didn’t erupt this year, but we paid a visit to our favorite United States active volcano. She’s as beautiful as ever, and looked particularly fetching in the Johnston Ridge Observatory Webcam on New Year’s Day.
Mount St. Helens from Johnston Ridge on New Year’s Day 2022. Credit: USGS
We know her magma chamber is slowly recharging, but there are few signs she’ll reawaken this year. However, she is a tempestuous volcano and could rouse at any time, so we’ll be keeping a close watch on her.
La Palma, Canary Islands
I thought Iceland’s eruption was the most exciting one of the year, but then La Palma went “Hello, look at meee” and I mean. It ate sizeable parts of a few towns. It was the longest historical eruption on the island. It was spectacular to watch. And it led us to start learning about the fascinating geology of the Canary Islands, which are super neat.
La Palma’s newest volcano erupting on September 20th, 2021. Credit: Eduardo Robaina (CC BY-SA 3.0)
The newborn volcano gave the islanders a very nice Christmas present by ceasing to erupt. There’s no indication it’ll start back up, and we probably won’t see another eruption on La Palma for a generation or so. But volcanoes can be surprising critters, so we won’t tear our eyes away for some time yet. Besides, I haven’t finished writing up the geological history of the island, so we’ll be back even if the lava isn’t!
There’s no telling where eruptions in 2022 will take us, but we do have a few volcanoes we’ll keep an eye on.
But I predict that the most exciting eruption we encounter will take us entirely by surprise. Where do you think it might be?
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