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Freysteinn Sigmundsson is geophysicist at University of Iceland studying volcanoes and other processes causing ground deformation in Iceland, and associated natural hazards. He is studying the ongoing eruptive and unrest period on the Reykjanes Peninsula in SW-Iceland including the effects on the town of Grindavík, with focus on what magma movements inside the crust of the Earth. He studied at University of Iceland and University of Colorado in Boulder, and finished a Ph.D. degree in 1992. Since then he has been involved in numerous collaborative international research projects and has published over 100 articles in the international scientific literature.
Volcanoes continue to have had a profound influence on live in Iceland, and volcanic activity that began in 2021 on the Reykjanes Peninsula in SW-Iceland poses major societal challenges. Repeated eruptions, and intrusions of magma have occurred inside the crust, releasing forces that have accumulated due to the movements of the tectonic plates in Iceland, causing ground fracturing with devastating effects in the town of Grindavík. Geologic history indicates that more activity is to come in this part of Iceland, as volcanic activity in the last 3000 years there is characterized by eruptive periods of a few hundred years, separated by 800–1000 years of no eruptive activity. An overview of recent volcanic events and their origin, as well general outlook for volcanic activity in Iceland, will be presented.