Injection of basaltic magmas into silicic crustal holding chambers and subsequent magma mingling or mixing is a process that has been recognised since the late seventies as resulting in explosive eruptions. Detailed reconstruction and assessment of the mixing process caused by such intrusion is now possible because of the exceptional time-sequence sample suite available from the tephra fallout of the 2010 summit eruption at Eyjafjallajökull volcano in South Iceland. Fallout from 14 to 19 April contains three glass types of basaltic, intermediate, and silicic compositions recording rapid magma mingling without homogenisation, involving evolved FeTi-basalt and silicic melt with composition identical to that produced by the 1821–1823 AD Eyjafjallajökull summit eruption. The time-dependent change in the magma composition suggests a binary mixing process with changing end-member compositions and proportions. Beginning of May, a new injection of primitive basalt was recorded by deep seismicity, appearance of Mg-rich olivine phenocrysts together with high sulphur dioxide output and presence of sulphide crystals. Thus, the composition of the basaltic injection became more magnesian and hotter with time provoking changes in the silicic mixing end-member from pre-existing melt to the solid carapace of the magma chamber. Finally, decreasing proportions of the mafic end-member with time in the erupted mixed-magma demonstrate that injections of Mg-rich basalt was the motor of the 2010 Eyjafjallajökull explosive eruption, and that its decreasing inflow terminated the eruption. Significant quantity of silicic magma is thus still present in the interior of the volcano. Our results show that detailed sampling during the entire eruption was essential for deciphering the complex magmatic processes at play, i.e. the dynamics of the magma mingling and mixing. Finally, the rapid compositional changes in the eruptive products suggest that magma mingling occurs on a timescale of a few hours to days whereas the interval between the first detected magma injection and eruption was several months.

The 2014 Bárðarbunga rifting event in Iceland resulted in a 6‐month long eruption at Holuhraun. This eruption was characterized by high lava discharge rate and significant gas emission. The SO₂ flux for the first 3 months was measured with satellite sensors and the petrologic method. High‐resolution time series of the satellite data give 1200 kg/s that concurs with 1050 kg/s obtained from melt inclusion minus degassed lava sulfur contents scaled to the mass of magma produced. A high‐purity gas sample, with elevated S/Cl due to limited chlorine degassing, reveals a similar degassing pattern of trace metals as observed at Kīlauea (Hawai'i) and Erta Ale (Ethiopia). This suggests a common degassing mechanism at mantle plume‐related volcanoes. The trace metal fluxes, calculated from trace element to sulfur ratios in the gas sample and scaled to the sulfur dioxide flux, are 1–2 orders of magnitude stronger at Holuhraun than Kīlauea and Erta Ale. In contrast, volcanoes at convergent margins (Etna and Stromboli, Italy) have 1–2 orders of magnitude higher trace element fluxes, most likely caused by abundant chlorine degassing. This emphasizes the importance of metal degassing as chlorine species. Short‐lived disequilibria between radon daughters, ²¹⁰Pb‐²¹⁰Bi‐²¹⁰Po measured in the gas, suggest degassing of a continuously replenished magma batch beneath the eruption site. Earlier and deep degassing phase of carbon dioxide and polonium is inferred from low (²¹⁰Po/²¹⁰Pb) in the gas, consistent with magma transfer rate of 0.75 m/s.