Neither this eruption nor any other recent eruption in Iceland is characteristic of shield volcanoes. A shield volcano requires a certain viscosity of lava and

Neither this eruption nor any other recent eruption in Iceland is characteristic of shield volcanoes. A shield volcano requires a certain viscosity of lava and flow rate. There are a few shield volcanoes in Iceland, the term "shield volcano" even comes from Icelandic; From the eponymous volcano Skjaldbreiður ("broad shield"), but none are formed recently. Most Icelandic lava is too thick to form shield volcanoes. It forms mountains, ridges, lava fields etc. The lava that's now bubbling up in Iceland is referred to as "Apalhraun". Which in a fun bit of linguistic happenstance originates from the Hawaiian ʻAʻā, Hawaii in turn borrowing a derivative of the word "Skjaldbreiður" to refer to the volcano type it's most known for.