Episodic events of oblique rifting using InSAR time series and seismicity (2016 – 2023), Reykjanes Peninsula (Iceland)

Oblique rift zones and bookshelf structures in the Reykjanes Peninsula are part of the intricate boundary that separates the North American from the Eurasian plates. Studying their evolution over several years provides a deeper understanding of plate tectonic processes and also aim to better understand the tectonic conditions that precede volcanic eruptions. After a period of dormancy lasting 800 years, the Reykjanes Peninsula has experienced strong episodic plate boundary motions since at least 2017 and four eruptions in 2021, 2022, and 2023 (twice). These events have been accompanied by significant seismic activity and ground displacement related to strain release at the plate boundary and around dike intrusions.

Here we employed D-InSAR, stacking-InSAR, and PSI time series to investigate the deformation occurring in the Reykjanes Peninsula from June 2016 to December 2023, covering the period before and during the onset of the eruption phases. Due to the fast deformation during large earthquakes and eruptions, we separately analyze dike intrusions before the four eruptions, five earthquake swarms, and seven time series between the above-mentioned events. The discretization of the observation period allows us to improve the InSAR process for different events and to avoid confusing the deformations originating from different events. Using InSAR and seismicity, we identifiund displacement and earthquake swarms in the Fagradalsfjall area in July 2017, July 2020, August 2020 and October 2020, highlighting an activation of localized portions of the plate boundary at least four years before the first eruption. The overall earthquake distribution aligns with the plate boundary (N070), but suggests a bookshelf structure composed of north-south fault ruptures.

We use the vbmethod to decompose the InSAR time-series into independent components of deformation such as intrusions, earthquakes, and tectonic plate motion. From the InSAR time series analysis, we observed that before each dike intrusion, the Southern Fagradalsfjall-Krysuvik () area exhibits an overall southeastward movement. The results of vbICA also suggest that this area has been accelerating since 2020.  

The comprehensive observations of tectonic and volcanic activity in the Reykjanes Peninsula, using both InSAR time series and seismicity over seven and a half years provide valuable insights to better understand the onset of oblique rifting events at divergent plate boundaries.