Deep crustal assimilation during the 2021 Fagradalsfjall Fires, Iceland

Active basaltic eruptions enable time-series analysis of geochemical and geophysical properties, providing constraints on mantle composition and eruption processes^1–4. The continuing Fagradalsfjall and Sundhnúkur fires on Iceland’s Reykjanes Peninsula, beginning in 2021, enable such an approach^5,6. Earliest lavas of this volcanic episode have been interpreted to exclusively reflect a change from shallow to deeper mantle source processes⁷. Here we show using osmium (Os) isotopes that the 2021 Fagradalsfjall lavas are both fractionally crystallized and strongly crustally contaminated, probably by mid-ocean-ridge gabbros and older basalts underlying the Reykjanes Peninsula. Earliest eruptive products (¹⁸⁷Os/¹⁸⁸Os ≤ 0.188, platinum (Pt)/iridium (Ir) ≤ 76) are highly anomalous for Icelandic lavas or global oceanic basalts and Os isotope ratios remain elevated throughout the 2021 eruption, indicating a continued but diluted presence of contaminants. The 2022 lavas show no evidence for contamination (¹⁸⁷Os/¹⁸⁸Os = 0.131, Pt/Ir = 30), being typical of Icelandic basalts (0.132 ± 0.007). Initiation of the Fagradalsfjall Fires in 2021 involved pre-eruptive stalling, fractional crystallization and crustal assimilation of earliest lavas. An established magmatic conduit system in 2022 enabled efficient magma transit to the surface without crustal assimilation.