The Iceland Volcano Thread

rickdangerouss

Stephen Hicks @seismo_steve ·
Earthquakes from #Bardarbunga dyke causing formation of ground fractures at edge of glacier HT @uni_iceland photo:

rickdangerouss

Photo

tomcosgrave

Reading about Laki etc - while I certainly don't expect the apocalypse to occur, I also don't think Europe really understands what might happen in terms of physical loss, environmental impact short-term or in terms of inconvenience if there is a really serious eruption - in fact, I don't think Europe has had a serious volcanic eruption at all since commercial flight became truly mainstream - nothing like say, Pinatubo in the Phillipines, St. Helens in the US or countries in South America. Vesuvius hasn't erupted since 1944 and that is due for an eruption in the next couple of decades as well as Iceland.

All in all it will be an interesting few years ahead and I suspect Eyjafjallajokull was only a taster.
Um, when I was typing in "Eyjafjallajokull" my spell checker suggested "ejaculatory"...heh!

maquiladora

Icelandic news are reporting that 6km long cracks have been discovered at Dyngjujökli. Civil Defense officials and scientists are meeting now to discuss the implications of this. National Crisis Coordination Center has been activated.

Earthquake activity still continuing, +1300 quakes since midnight though no large ones since the early hours of the morning.

maquiladora

Cauldron has been seen, can only be explained by magma melting the ice. Scientists now believe an eruption of sorts happened or is still happening inside the caldera.

"Melt­ing in the glacier was revea­led when the Co­ast Guard aircraft TF-SIF flew over Vatna­jök­ull tonig­ht. The Met Office said that this kind of melt­ing has un­likely been cua­sed by anything ot­her than an erupti­on."

tomcosgrave

"According to @almannavarnir there are no signs of harmonic tremors which would indicate magma and ice mixing." - @gislio (Gisli Olafsson)

maquiladora

tomcosgrave wrote: »

"According to @almannavarnir there are no signs of harmonic tremors which would indicate magma and ice mixing." - @gislio (Gisli Olafsson)

Which means it probably happened during one of the previous tremor spikes and has ended now. Takes time for effects to be visible on the surface.

Iancar29

maquiladora wrote: »

Cauldron has been seen, can only be explained by magma melting the ice. Scientists now believe an eruption of sorts happened or is still happening inside the caldera.

"Melt­ing in the glacier was revea­led when the Co­ast Guard aircraft TF-SIF flew over Vatna­jök­ull tonig­ht. The Met Office said that this kind of melt­ing has un­likely been cua­sed by anything ot­her than an erupti­on."

That would explain the river level rising reports on twitter that i saw earlier .

would be interesting to find out if its an actually eruption albeit small one taking place or is there just some sub glacial steam venting off in some cracks that may have formed.

tomcosgrave

maquiladora wrote: »

Which means it probably happened during one of the previous tremor spikes and has ended now. Takes time for effects to be visible on the surface.

This is what Olafsson is saying now.

maquiladora

Iancar29 wrote: »

That would explain the river level rising reports on twitter that i saw earlier .

would be interesting to find out if its an actually eruption albeit small one taking place or is there just some sub glacial steam venting off in some cracks that may have formed.

Glacier is around 400m thick where cauldrons were seen, so it would have taken some significant heating for the effect to be seen on the surface, but may have been small scale.

maquiladora

More earthquakes this morning both at the caldera and closer to Askja where the magma continues to push.

Another inspection flight is happening this morning to get a better idea of what the new features spotted on the surface might mean.

Duiske

After a (relatively) calm previous 24hrs, seismic activity seems to be on the upswing again since midnight. 3 quakes of roughly mag 4, and a Mag 5 in the last 30 mins or so.

rickdangerouss

Thursday 28.08.2014 08:13:40 64.666 -17.387 3.0 km 5.0 99.0 7.3 km ENE of Bárðarbunga. As per the IMO charts.

No spikes in the tremor. Just a normal day in Iceland.

rickdangerouss

Picture of the area affected, for the quakes\cracks in the Ice\possible eruption

Iancar29

maquiladora wrote: »

Glacier is around 400m thick where cauldrons were seen, so it would have taken some significant heating for the effect to be seen on the surface, but may have been small scale.

You'r right about that ! :eek:

"Satelital view of #Vatnajokull icefield showing clearly the #Bardarbunga #caldera under the #glacier #Iceland"

rickdangerouss

Askja has gone to yellow. No news so far why this is the case. I understand the quakes are low and not so strong, but with the cracks visible
at ground level, could mean a pressure drop or things are developing quicker now.

http://en.vedur.is/earthquakes-and-volcanism/volcanic-eruptions/


Also watch this video for the cracks outside and on top of the Glacier.

http://www.ruv.is/frett/sprungur-i-holuhrauni-a-myndbandi

maquiladora

rickdangerouss wrote: »

Askja has gone to yellow. No news so far why this is the case. I understand the quakes are low and not so strong, but with the cracks visible
at ground level, could mean a pressure drop or things are developing quicker now.

http://en.vedur.is/earthquakes-and-volcanism/volcanic-eruptions/


Also watch this video for the cracks outside and on top of the Glacier.

http://www.ruv.is/frett/sprungur-i-holuhrauni-a-myndbandi

Askja upgraded to yellow due to increased signs of unrest. Magma is heading in that direction and a stress related quake of 4.5 there the other day was the biggest at Askja since 1992.

rickdangerouss

Gisli Olafsson ‏@gislio · 23m
Magma intrusion (dyke) from #Bardarbunga has reached #Askja system - ICAO alert code for Askja raised to Yellow. #ashtag

The One Doctor

maquiladora wrote: »

Askja upgraded to yellow due to increased signs of unrest. Magma is heading in that direction and a stress related quake of 4.5 there the other day was the biggest at Askja since 1992.

I'm going to assuming that's not good news.

Duiske

maquiladora wrote: »

Askja upgraded to yellow due to increased signs of unrest. Magma is heading in that direction and a stress related quake of 4.5 there the other day was the biggest at Askja since 1992.

There was a huge landslide off the slope of Askja near the end of July. Can't find any info on wether that was due to ground deformation, seismicity or just erosion. Just having a look at Askja on Google Earth, and it looks pretty similar to a post eruption Mt St.Helens (apart from the lake in the crater, obviously). Result of a huge eruption in late 1800's apparently.

El_Dangeroso

How great is the hashtag #ashtag?

maquiladora

The One Doctor wrote: »

I'm going to assuming that's not good news.

Askja is known to have erupted with a type of magma that causes explosive eruptions. The magma from Bardarbunga is now starting to enter into the Askja volcanic area, so one theory is that this mixing of magma could trigger an explosive eruption at Askja. But even just the stress and deformation caused by the magma may itself lead to changes. Nobody really knows what will happen, quite possibly nothing, but this is unprecedented activity in this area in modern times so you have to keep an open mind.

rickdangerouss

A great person to follow on Twitter. You will see photos with lots of volcanic areas. Thorbjorg Agustsdott is in the exclusion area today.

https://twitter.com/fencingtobba

Iancar29

Great video showing the magma progressing towards Askja , ends on the 26 so 2 interesting days not added ...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dQWzLPyRY8I

cyclops999

Just spotted this blog:Update on Bárðarbunga and Askja volcanoes at 13:34 UTC
August 28th, 2014 by Jón Frímann

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This is a none picture update on Askja and Bárðarbunga volcanoes. The reason for this none picture update is that I haven’t had time to work on the images yet. This is the first time this has happened in Iceland since modern recording started. What is going to come out of this I do not know yet.

If you are in the area. Please don’t go into the closed area. There are fines for during so and it is also extremely dangerous since we don’t know properly what happens and risk of sudden flood is high and growing. Eruption might start at any time without warning, both outside the glacier and inside the glacier. If an eruption takes place in a glacier covered area, that means sudden glacier flood that are going to kill you if you are in flood path. In such glacier flood it is not just mud, volcano material, but also an ice bergs that are larger than 5 floor houses. If you get lost in such flood, the chance of being rescued from such flood are none. If you want to watch what is now unfolding do so at the save distance, this show is going to big according to my earliest estimate and guess work (not going to publish that here).

Askja volcano

The dyke from Bárðarbunga volcano has entered Askja volcano. Not the fissure swarm, the volcano it self.
Askja volcano status has been elevated to Yellow.
Bárðarbunga volcano

Cauldrons in Vatnajökull glacier that is on top of Bárðarbunga volcano have not grown during the night.
The water seems to be flowing into Grímsvötn (Grímsfjall volcano) lake. It has risen close to 15 meters in the past few days.
Earthquake activity is high. Both in the main volcano were a magnitude 5,4 earthquake (EMSC magnitude, USGS magnitude) took place today (28-August-2014) at 08:13 UTC. The earthquake took place in the caldera rim as most of the large earthquakes have happened.
Over 1300 earthquakes happened yesterday in the north end of the dyke swarm.
Cracks have started to happen in the crust above the dyke. This means the dyke is getting wider and is higher up in the crust then suggested by earthquake activity. There are reports of small cauldrons in Dyngjujökull glacier in the area, in the place were the glacier is thinnest and ending.
Harmonic tremor remains high on all SIL stations around Bárðarbunga volcano.
The situation is extremely dynamic and is going to change fast in next 24 to 48 hours. I am now close to 80% sure that an eruption is going to take place in both Askja volcano and Bárðarbunga volcano, since minor eruptions have been taking place under the glacier already.

Posted in Askja, Bárðarbunga, Dike intrusions, Earthquakes, Eruptions, Glacier flood, GPS data, GPS Monitoring, Harmonic tremors, Magma, Monitoring, Swarm, Volcano | 63 comments

Previous post: Unclear what is happening in Bárðarbunga volcano

rickdangerouss

I would not agree with the 24-48 hrs, I read that via his Blog. Nothing in my view has changed the chances of anything dynamic and change in That time scale.

I would agree with what he typed, eruptions are going to take place in both Askja volcano and Bárðarbunga volcano, just not highly likely in the coming days, weeks, months or even years. Wait and see.

I follow Eric's blog too.

http://www.wired.com/2014/08/signs-of-ice-melting-inside-the-bardarbunga-caldera-in-iceland/

rickdangerouss

The vedur / en.vedur servers are VITAL to the Icelandic authorities responsible for Public Safety. Do not UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCE post a link / picture here or on ANY other website as this can cause and has caused their main server to crash!!! .

I have been guilty of this via posting a few links on this site and twitter, not many. This request was sent to myself, so I am posting it hear, due to a number of people do follow up on that site.

morticia2

rickdangerouss wrote: »

I have been guilty of this via posting a few links on this site and twitter, not many. This request was sent to myself, so I am posting it hear, due to a number of people do follow up on that site.

Now, that's interesting. I don't remember them doing that when Eyjafjallajokull or Grimsvotn erupted, and there were plenty of links posted then. Volcano Cafe were stopping people from posting such links earlier today and I hadn't figured out why... Guess we know now.
Regardless of their assurances that nothing may come of this, it would indicate to me that they're pretty worried.

morticia2

morticia2 wrote: »

Now, that's interesting. I don't remember them doing that when Eyjafjallajokull or Grimsvotn erupted, and there were plenty of links posted then. Volcano Cafe were stopping people from posting such links earlier today and I hadn't figured out why... Guess we know now.
Regardless of their assurances that nothing may come of this, it would indicate to me that they're pretty worried.

Probably down to the fact that there has been an exponential increase in the number of active devices that open up every link when a page is opened, rather than static links that the user chooses to open.

They really need to set up a number of proxy servers to handle the traffic, but I doubt that such a thing is high on their priority list.

rickdangerouss

Deleted User wrote: »

Probably down to the fact that there has been an exponential increase in the number of active devices that open up every link when a page is opened, rather than static links that the user chooses to open.

They really need to set up a number of proxy servers to handle the traffic, but I doubt that such a thing is high on their priority list.

A number of cloud support companies, could provide that bandwidth ramp on a temp basis, I understand, the budget would be required to be adjusted.