Scientists deployed on the island of La Palma are already monitoring the appearance of a new lava flow that originated last night in the area of the secondary cone and is currently flowing towards the sea, parallel to the main lava flow.
The director of the Volcanic Surveillance Area of the Volcanological Institute of the Canary Islands (Involcan), Luca D'Auria, has indicated "that although it does not seem to be a very large lava flow, it is affecting areas that have not been affected by the lava before."
Scientists hope that "it will not be a very extensive lava flow and that it will not have a very long life." Luca D'Auria indicated that this evolution of the lava field "is normal" and has a behavior "that depends a lot on the temperature, so if one side of the lava flow cools down, it can slow down, there can be an overlap of lava flows, break gaps and the lava flow can come out on the other side."
D'Auria added that it is "a continuous evolution that is not possible to foresee in the short or medium term." "The only thing that can be done is to monitor the situation and make forecasts when there are new changes like this, but until the area is overflown, it will not be known what the extent, the speed and the dynamics of this new lava flow are," adds the director of the Area.
