Eruption imminent in Iceland

[Iowa_Flames_Fan]

Originally Posted by Thor

Yeah, this one doesn't look like it will hit the town at least, some risk to the south road but it’s already calming down.

Yeah, to me the real issue is the uncertainty this creates about what to do with basically an entire town. Will there come a point where it’s safe enough to move people back in and rebuild or is this heightened level of activity the new normal? And of course if they ever have to shut down not only the town but the Blue Lagoon (which is huge for tourism, even if Icelanders don’t really go there…) and Svartsengi then the collateral damage really starts to look bad.

And how many Grindvíkingar are currently crashing on their second cousin’s best friend’s spare futon and will need to find permanent alternative housing? Assume there is a plan for that, Thor?

[FurnaceFace]

I had read/heard the government has already put in place a buy back plan (or similar) for homeowners.

The blue lagoon shouldn’t be high on the list of importance. It can get rebuilt somewhere else if it gets covered in lava. The most important would be the power plant as I believe the bulk of the peninsula relies on it.

It’s all very interesting though as to what to do. It’s SimCity come to life.

[Iowa_Flames_Fan]

The Blue Lagoon’s only importance, particularly, is to tourism. Icelanders don’t use it all that much (it’s expensive and kind of gross if you know how it was created… and I personally don’t love standing ankle deep in mud when I’m in the pool…), but it’s one of the destinations people specifically travel to Iceland for.

It obviously can’t be a priority right now, but tourism dollars do matter at some point.

[D as in David]

Did the lava swallow the extra "r" in the thread title?

[Locke]

Originally Posted by FurnaceFace

I had read/heard the government has already put in place a buy back plan (or similar) for homeowners.

The blue lagoon shouldn’t be high on the list of importance. It can get rebuilt somewhere else if it gets covered in lava. The most important would be the power plant as I believe the bulk of the peninsula relies on it.

It’s all very interesting though as to what to do. It’s SimCity come to life.

Damned Icelanders would probably just turn that into an attraction.

"Come bathe in our Lava-warmed pools you fools valued guests!!"

[Locke]

Originally Posted by D as in David

Did the lava swallow the extra "r" in the thread title?

There is no 'r' in 'Iceland.'

[Iowa_Flames_Fan]

Originally Posted by D as in David

Did the lava swallow the extra "r" in the thread title?

I decided yesterday given the longevity of this thread I should finally fix the spelling in the title. Then I fixed one of the errors but not the other and had to go back and fix the other one today, so it was maybe not a shining example of my attention to detail….

[Iowa_Flames_Fan]

Originally Posted by Locke

Damned Icelanders would probably just turn that into an attraction.

"Come bathe in our Lava-warmed pools you fools valued guests!!"

Given how the lagoon formed in the first place, you’re probably not wrong:

The lagoon is man-made. The water is a byproduct from the nearby geothermal power plant Svartsengi where superheated water is vented from the ground near a lava flow and used to run turbines that generate electricity. After going through the turbines, the steam and hot water pass through a heat exchanger to provide heat for a municipal water heating system. Then the water is fed into the lagoon.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blue...eothermal_spa)

I mean, this is literally a pool of effluent from a power plant that someone decided to charge admission for bathing in, because it supposedly has “healing properties.”

And tourists love it…

[Wormius]

That doesn’t sound bad, actually. At least it isn’t untreated sewage or bio waste.

[FurnaceFace]

The thing is, there are bunches of spas in Iceland that are as warm, more interesting and cost way way less. There are some natural pools you just need to hike to and then you have your choice of different temperature natural pools. That’s way more interesting. Hell the cabin we rented in 2020 had a hot tub that was supplied by free super heated ground water. Beer was a lot cheaper too.

The Myvatn baths or the Vök baths were a fraction of the price of the Blue Lagoon and were used by the locals. They felt a lot more authentic as a result.

[Wormius]

Originally Posted by FurnaceFace

The thing is, there are bunches of spas in Iceland that are as warm, more interesting and cost way way less. There are some natural pools you just need to hike to and then you have your choice of different temperature natural pools. That’s way more interesting. Hell the cabin we rented in 2020 had a hot tub that was supplied by free super heated ground water. Beer was a lot cheaper too.

The Myvatn baths or the Vök baths were a fraction of the price of the Blue Lagoon and were used by the locals. They felt a lot more authentic as a result.

Yeah, for sure, but it’s definitely not on the level of “you won’t believe what’s actually in the blue lagoon!” kind of talk.

Now, if it was heated entirely by pee, I’d be worried.

[Iowa_Flames_Fan]

Originally Posted by FurnaceFace

The thing is, there are bunches of spas in Iceland that are as warm, more interesting and cost way way less. There are some natural pools you just need to hike to and then you have your choice of different temperature natural pools. That’s way more interesting. Hell the cabin we rented in 2020 had a hot tub that was supplied by free super heated ground water. Beer was a lot cheaper too.

The Myvatn baths or the Vök baths were a fraction of the price of the Blue Lagoon and were used by the locals. They felt a lot more authentic as a result.

To be honest, pretty much everyone who owns a giant tub can put it in their backyard and fill it with geothermally heated water straight from their tap and create an instant geothermal hot tub.

Apparently it has to be filled with silica before you get to charge admission though?

[Thor]

Originally Posted by Iowa_Flames_Fan

Yeah, to me the real issue is the uncertainty this creates about what to do with basically an entire town. Will there come a point where it’s safe enough to move people back in and rebuild or is this heightened level of activity the new normal? And of course if they ever have to shut down not only the town but the Blue Lagoon (which is huge for tourism, even if Icelanders don’t really go there…) and Svartsengi then the collateral damage really starts to look bad.

And how many Grindvíkingar are currently crashing on their second cousin’s best friend’s spare futon and will need to find permanent alternative housing? Assume there is a plan for that, Thor?

At this point, the government has agreed to a buy-out plan for residents wanting to leave, which is a majority. Many have already found new homes but a lot are still renting or staying with family/friends.

I doubt that Grindavík will be more than a ghost town in the next 5-10 years, as this area is not going to quiet down for a long time. They expect these eruptions to keep popping up for the decades to come, but you never know it could just stop and things might change.

[Locke]

Originally Posted by Thor

At this point, the government has agreed to a buy-out plan for residents wanting to leave, which is a majority. Many have already found new homes but a lot are still renting or staying with family/friends.

I doubt that Grindavík will be more than a ghost town in the next 5-10 years, as this area is not going to quiet down for a long time. They expect these eruptions to keep popping up for the decades to come, but you never know it could just stop and things might change.

Hmm...and what if a Canadian decides to take their chances on purchasing in Grindavik....what are house prices like right now?

Perhaps slightly Volcano-adjacent?

Might be tough to insure though.

[Iowa_Flames_Fan]

Originally Posted by Thor

At this point, the government has agreed to a buy-out plan for residents wanting to leave, which is a majority. Many have already found new homes but a lot are still renting or staying with family/friends.

I doubt that Grindavík will be more than a ghost town in the next 5-10 years, as this area is not going to quiet down for a long time. They expect these eruptions to keep popping up for the decades to come, but you never know it could just stop and things might change.

Yeah, I get the sense that this situation is something of a new normal for the region. Just hoping it doesn’t become more widespread as there is a ton of pretty important stuff on the Reykjanes peninsula. (and yes, I know I just said “peninsula peninsula”….). Not just the blue lagoon, but Svartsengi—which is providing hot water for backyard hot tubs for Icelanders all the way to Keflavik.

And for that matter, if it ever gets that far, well…. It’s only another 20K to KEF.

I assume smarter people than me are considering all of that though.

[Locke]

Originally Posted by Wormius

That doesn’t sound bad, actually. At least it isn’t untreated sewage or bio waste.

[Wormius]

It’s silica. It wouldn’t be too dissimilar from swimming in any lake rich in glacial silts., like Lake Louise or Moraine Lake, if either of those weren’t cold af.

[Thor]

3D map of the area, must see

https://kuula.co/share/56lj7?logo=1&...s=1&alpha=0.60

[Iowa_Flames_Fan]

That’s amazing—really gives you a sense of the scope.

[D as in David]

It's amazing how informative that map is.