Esjufjöll – Iceland geology

September 3, 2021

Earthquake activity in Esjufjöll volcano

Today (3-September-2021) an small earthquake swarm took place in Esjufjöll volcano. This is the first earthquake activity in a while and suggest that there might be about to start more earthquake activity in Öræfajökull volcano. Since activity in Esjufjöll volcano seems to result in activity in Öræfajökull volcano. How that works and why is unknown.

Last eruption in Esjufjöll volcano may have happened in the year 1927 but that remains unconfirmed. If that eruption happened, it only lasted for 4 to 5 days at most. This area is covered with a glacier, so any eruption there is going to result in a glacier flood.

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February 6, 2018

Earthquake activity in Öræfajökull and Esjufjöll volcanoes

I am writing about both Öræfajökull and Esjufjöll volcanoes in this article.

Öræfajökull volcano

Earthquake activity continues in Öræfajökull volcano. As before most earthquakes are smaller than magnitude 1,0. Earthquake activity is mostly in the caldera but reaches a little outside of it at times. Míla webcamera for Öræfajökull volcano can be found here.

Esjufjöll volcano

After a long time with no earthquake activity. Earthquake activity suddenly appeared in Esjufjöll volcano. As with Öræfajökull volcano, earthquakes do not happen in Esjufjöll volcano unless it is connected to magma movements. I don’t know anything useful about Esjufjöll since no eruptions are documented in the last 12.000 years. There might have been a small eruption in the year 1927 that lasted for 4 days, but I don’t have any useful information about that eruption if it happened. If an eruption does happen in Esjufjöll a glacier flood would go down to Jökulsárlón (this webcamera here).

Earthquake activity in Öræfajökull and Esjufjöll volcano. Copyright of this image belongs to Icelandic Met Office.

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November 5, 2016November 5, 2016

Minor earthquake activity in Esjufjöll volcano

For the few hours (on 05-November-2016) there has been a minor earthquake activity in Esjufjöll volcano [Wikipedia information]. Esjufjöll volcano is not a volcano that gets a lot of attention because most of the time its completely quiet, with last notable activity taking place in the year 2013. Earthquake activity started to appear in Esjufjöll volcano in the year 2002 (IMO map here and here).

Earthquake activity in Esjufjöll volcano (north east of Öræfajökull and south of Grímsvötn volcanoes). Copyright of this image belongs to Icelandic Met Office.

At the moment not many earthquakes have taken place in Esjufjöll volcano. That might maybe change, but I don’t expect it to. Maximum number of earthquakes recorded so far (in 2002 at least) is around 40 – 80 (I’m not sure to the exact number). The reason why Esjufjöll volcano is having earthquake activity is due to fresh magma pushing up the volcano from deep inside it. At the moment there isn’t anything suggesting that an eruption is about to happen and if an eruption does happen I would not expect it to be big. The chance of an eruption taking place in Eskjufjöll volcano is around ~2% at the moment in my view.

The only eruption that might have happened took place in the year 1927, at the moment it has not been confirmed. It may have only been active for around 4 days at maximum and took place on September 5. The information is not that good due to how remote this volcano is (map can be found here, Esjufjöll are located south of Grímsvötn, north-east of Öræfajökull volcano).

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June 17, 2016June 17, 2016

Increased activity in Öræfajökull volcano noticed

It has been noticed that earthquake activity in Öræfajökull volcano is slowly increasing. At the moment this increase is just in the form of minor earthquakes taking place in the volcano at 5 – 10 km depth (at the moment). This was covered in a Icelandic news two days ago (when this is written), the volcanologist in the news (Páll Einarsson) says this is nothing to worry about at the moment, that I agree with, mostly, he also put forward that idea this process, if it evolves into an eruption might take up to 18 years from start to finish, as was the case with Eyjafjallajökull volcano. This is where I disagree with the professor Páll Einarsson, the reason being that this process already started good 10 years ago, I also suspect that Öræfajökull volcano to be a volcano that erupts suddenly and with a lot of force once it does erupt.

The eruption in the year 1362 had the VEI of 5 and the eruption in 1727 had the explosive force of VEI=4. Both eruptions lasted several months. Öræfajökull volcano only makes ash rich, explosive eruptions, based on latest historical data and studies into the volcano history. The processes that power Öræfajökull volcano might also be different, since there is an slab of old continental crust (study: Continental crust beneath southeast Iceland) under Öræfajökull volcano, that is slowly melting due the nearby hotspot. This means the magma is mostly silica, not far from the magma found in volcanoes found at subduction zones around the world.

There is also a second volcano this same area that has been showing sign of increased activity. That volcano is called Esjufjöll, it has even less understood activity (if any) since people moved to Iceland ~1300 years ago. There is a chance of an unconfirmed eruption in the year 1927, but it didn’t last long, maybe up to five days, it was mostly noted due a glacier flood from the area this volcano is located (small according to historical documents).

December 20, 2013

Earthquake activity in Esjufjöll and Kverkfjöll volcanoes

Earthquake activity started again in Esjufjöll volcano today (20-Desember-2013). The largest earthquake had the magnitude of 2,9 and had the depth of 5,0 km. So far only two earthquakes have been recorded, but it is not uncommon that earthquake activity in Esjufjöll volcano starts slow before it picks up. Earthquake activity remains low in Esjufjöll volcano, but there is now more earthquake activity in Esjufjöll volcano for the past few years then in past several decades (perhaps, recording is missing in the past)

Kverkfjöll volcano

Earthquake activity continued in Kverkfjöll volcano today. None of the earthquake did reach the magnitude of 3,0. The largest earthquake had the magnitude of 2,0 and the depth of 5,3 km.

Earthquake activity in Esjufjöll volcano and Kverkfjöll volcano. Copyright of this image belongs to Icelandic Meteorological Office.

I am expecting more earthquake activity in Kverkfjöll volcano. But I expect it to remain small as it currently is at least I do not expect any earthquake above the magnitude of 3,0 to take place as is.

November 27, 2013

Minor earthquake swarm in Esjufjöll volcano

Today (27-November-2013) an minor earthquake swarm took place in Esjufjöll volcano. This earthquake swarm was just three earthquakes according to Icelandic Meteorological Office website. There is a chance of more earthquakes not being detected due to bad weather in this area at the moment.

The three earthquakes in Esjufjöll volcano. Copyright of this image belongs to Icelandic Meteorological Office.

The largest earthquake in this minor earthquake swarm had the magnitude of 1,8 and had the depth of 4,5 km. Last eruption in Esjufjöll volcano was possibly in the year 1927, but it is not confirmed according to Global Volcanism Program.

September 6, 2013

Minor earthquake swarm in Esjufjöll volcano

Today (05-September-2013) an minor earthquake swarm took place in Esjufjöll volcano. Largest earthquake in this swarm had the magnitude of 2.2 and the depth of 4.9 km.

Earthquake swarm in Esjufjöll volcano. Esjufjöll volcano are located in south part of Vatnajökull glacier, just northeast of Öræfajökull volcano. Copyright of this image belongs to Icelandic Meteorological Office.

Earthquakes in this area are because of magma movement it is believed. Now there are more SIL stations in the area, so more earthquakes are being recorded. Few years ago the lowest magnitude that Icelandic Meteorological Office was able to detect in Esjufjöll volcano was magnitude 1.5 and above.

September 5, 2013

Earthquake activity in several volcanoes

Today (04-September-2013) had some minor earthquake activity in several volcanoes in Vatnajökull glacier. All of this earthquakes were small and less than magnitude 3.0 in size.

Kverkfjöll volcano

The deepest earthquake activity was in Kverkfjöll, with earthquakes at 31 km depth and 24 km depth. This deep earthquake activity is possible connected to magma movements since tectonic earthquakes are unlikely to take place this deep in the crust.

Grímsfjall volcano

One earthquake was recorded in Grímsfjall volcano, it was minor and shallow. This might even just be a glacier quake, rather than normal earthquake.

Öræfajökull volcano

Öræfajökull volcano did see two earthquake today, at the depth of 4 to 5 km. Both were small and tectonic in nature from the looks of it. Earthquakes are not common in Öræfajökull volcano so I am not sure why this increase has now taken place. It is worth noticing that sil network is now more sensitive in this area than before since new stations have been added in this area. This means that smaller earthquakes are now being detected than before.

Esjufjöll volcano

Esjufjöll volcano had two earthquake, the third earthquake might be a ice-quake. I am not sure if it was an real earthquake or not. Esjufjöll volcano normally do not have any earthquake activity, but few years ago an earthquake activity started with earthquakes that had magnitude of 2.5 to 3.0 so there is something going on in this volcano. What that might be I am not sure of yet.

Earthquake activity in Kverkfjöll, Öræfajökull, Esjufjöll, Grímsfjall volcanoes. All small earthquakes. Copyright of this image belongs to Icelandic Meteorological Office.

I do not expect anything major to take place in Vatnajökull volcano. Since the current quiet period in Iceland just seems to be ongoing as is.

March 18, 2013

Earthquake activity in Esjufjöll volcano

Earthquake activity has started again in Esjufjöll volcano after some time with no activity. The two earthquakes that where detected by the SIL network only had the magnitude of 1.0 and 1.1. But what is most interesting is there depth. But registered depth is around 0.1 km (around 100 meters). This really shallow depth for earthquakes in this location. While it is unclear what is creating this earthquake activity. The most likely reason is that an minor dike intrusion is taking place in the volcano. Last eruption in Esjufjöll volcano is believed to have taken place in the year 1920. But that has not been properly confirmed yet.

Earthquake activity in Esjufjöll volcano is marked by the red dots in Vatnajökull glacier. Copyright of this image belongs to Icelandic Meteorological Office.

It is impossible to know for sure what is happening in Esjufjöll volcano. Not only is there little known about earlier eruption history of this volcano. It has also been poorly studied in the past. So what to expect if anything happens is not known properly. Based on earlier earthquake activity in this volcano from the year 2011 more earthquakes might happen in next few days to months. But it is impossible to know that for sure at the moment. But it is not an bad idea to monitor this volcano for any more activity in next few weeks.

December 20, 2011December 20, 2011

The dormant volcanoes in Iceland

While all the active volcanoes in Iceland get all the press and coverage. There are volcanoes in Iceland that are not so active and have remain dormant for thousands of years now and currently do not show any signs of activity. Some have some hot spring activity. But that is about it for them. The following volcanoes in Iceland have not erupted in historical times. Some have not even erupted in past 12.000 years best to my knowledge. But as history has proved in other parts of the world. An dormant volcano can start to erupt when it feels like it and without any warning at all in some cases.

This is based on Global Volcanism Program data. So it might be subject to errors and updates.

Volcano

Hrómundartindur – Last eruption is unknown. This volcano is an stratovolcano.

Grensdalur – Last eruption was in Pleistocene and its current status is Pleistocene-Fumarolic. This volcano is an stratovolcano.

Grímsnes – Last eruption is believed to have taken place around 3500 BC. But this volcano is marked as tephrochronology. This volcano makes crater rows when it erupts.
Geysir – This volcano last erupted in Pleistocene and is marked as Pleistocene-Geysers. This is an stratovolcano.

Hveravellir – This volcano last erupted around the year 950 AD. It is currently marked as radiocarbon. This is an subglacial volcano.

Hofsjökull – This volcano has erupted sometimes in the last 12.000 years. It has the marking holocene. This is an subglacial volcano. The second volcano in this system is not marked in GVP database. But that volcano is named Kerlingarfjöll. I do not know when it last erupted. There is also an embeeded second volcano in Hofsjökull volcano that is Independent from the main Hofsjökull volcano (yes, this is the case it seems). I do not have any idea when that did last erupt.

Esjufjöll – This is an sub-glacier volcano in Vatnajökull glacier. Its last eruption is uncertain. But is believed to taken place in the year 1927. From the year 2000 this volcano has been showing signs of increased activity. This volcano is an stratovolcano.

Fremrinamur – This volcano is last believed to have erupted in the year 1200 BC. This volcano is an stratovolcano.

Þeystareykjabunga – This volcano last erupted around the year 900 BC. This volcano is an shield volcano.

Snæfellsjökull – This volcano last erupted around 200 AD. It is currently marked as radiocarbon. This is an stratovolcano.

Helgrindur (also known as Lysuhóll) – This volcano has no record of eruption. But it is thought that it erupted sometimes in the past 12.000 years. But exact time is not known. This volcano makes pyroclastic cones. This volcano is the smallest volcano system in Iceland.

Tindafjallajökull – It is unknown if this volcano has erupted during holocene. But the GVP information say that dozen of small eruptions took place in early holocene. This is an stratovolcano.

Snæfell – This volcano is located east of Vatnajökull glacier and south of Kverkfjöll volcano. It was once believed that this volcano was extinct. But new research into it has changed that opinion. This is most likely an stratovolcano. But I do not have it confirmed. This volcano has at least not erupted for several thousands years or more. Currently there are no information about this volcano in the Global Volcanism Program database.

Skrokkalda – This volcano is dormant. But I do not know if it has erupted in historical times or not, but I do no think that is the case. I am also not sure what type of volcano it is.

There are few more volcanoes missing due the fact that they are not in the Global Volcanism Program database. But I have them on a map that I own. So they are going to be added later when I update this blog post.

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