Category: Glacier flood

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Increased conductivity in Múlakvísl glacier river

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It has been reported in Icelandic media today that there is an increased conductivity in Múlakvísl glacier river that comes from Mýdalsjökull glacier. This increased conductivity started in Múlakvísl on 31-December-2013 and has lasted until today (it might last for few days longer).

Mýrdalsjökull glacier is on top of Katla volcano. There are no signs of increased activity following this and according to the news this is most likely a cauldron under the glacier empting it self of water melted by hydrothermal area under the glacier. So far there is no risk to this increased conductivity in Múlakvísl glacier river.

There are no signs of glacier flood is about to take place, at least it is not going to a large one if it happens. That is the current idea at the moment anyway. No earthquake activity or tremor activity has taken place following this changes in Múlakvísl glacier river.

Icelandic News about this

Aukin rafleiðni en ekki útlit fyrir hlaup (Rúv.is)
Fylgjast vel með Múlakvísl (mbl.is)
Vaxandi rafleiðni í Múlakvísl (Vísir.is)

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Conductivity spike in Skjálftandafljót glacier river

Last week there was an conductivity spike in Skjálfandarfljót glacier river. It is not clear what did create this conductivity spike that was detected and it’s unknown what volcano or hydrothermal area was leaking water into the river. No glacier flood did follow this spike and no extra activity was detected following this. This conductivity spike was detected on the Thursday 22-November-2013 at 20:20 UTC.

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Source of the glacier flood in Hofsjökull volcano found

In August-2013 there was an glacier flood from Hofsjökull volcano, this glacier flood was minor and did not cause any damage. The source of this glacier flood has now been found according to Icelandic Meteorological Office. A new glacier cauldron has been found in Hofsjökull glacier, where none was before. The cauldron is around 700 meters long and about 30 – 50 meters deep. The glacier is cracked a lot around the cauldron and it’s dangerous to travel to this area because of that. The hight of this cauldron is around 1700 meters above sea level.

hofsjokull_24sept2013
Hofsjökull volcano and glacier. The new glacier cauldron is located at ~64°49,5‘N; 18°52‘W. Click on the image for full resolution. Image from NASA/USGS/Icelandic Meteorological Office/Geological Department of University of Iceland (Jarðvísindastofnun Háskólans).

According to Icelandic Meteorological Office this part of the glacier has not had any glacier cauldrons before that they know of. This cauldron has the volume of 1 million cubic meters (106 m3) according to Icelandic Meteorological Office. This area now has highly active hydro-thermal area and hot-springs. What formed this glacier cauldron is unclear at the moment, it was not an eruption since no such signals have been recorded from Hofsjökull volcano before or after the glacier flood in August-2013. It is also unclear if this glacier cauldron is going to create new glacier flood in the future.

Icelandic Meteorological Office announcement

Hlaup úr Hofsjökli í ágúst 2013 (vedur.is, in Icelandic)

Icelandic News

Fundu sigketil á Hofsjökli (mbl.is, Icelandic)

Blog post updated at 21:02 UTC on 11-October-2013.
Blog post updated at 01:45 UTC on 12-October-2013.

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Possible glacier flood from Skaftár cauldron

It is possible that glacier flood from Skaftákötlum cauldron has started some hours ago. According to Rúv, Icelandic Meteorological Office is now monitoring for signs that glacier flood has started. Changes in conductivity in glacier rives from Vatnajökull glacier (South-West) and the rivers that normally flood from Skaftárkötlum cauldron. It has not been confirmed that glacier flood has started yet.

At the moment it has not been confirmed that glacier flood has started, but it might start soon. I am going to post more information once I have them or when they are published.

Icelandic News about this

Fylgjast náið með Skaftárhlaupi (Rúv.is)

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Glacier flood from Hofsjökull volcano continues

Yesterday (21-August-2013) saw the start of small glacier flood from Hofsjökull volcano, this glacier flood has continued today and west Jökulsá in Skagarfirði continues to smell of sulfur and is dark color. Conductivity remains high in the glacier river following this glacier flood. It is not known currently for sure what areas of Hofsjökull volcano this comes from or what cauldrons are emptying of hydrothermal water build up.

Announcement (seen on Facebook) from Almannavarnir (Iceland Civil Protection) and Icelandic Meteorological Office on the strength of sulfur following this glacier flood is so high that it is dangerous to be close the source of the glacier flood (closest to Hofsjökull volcano). Strength of sulfur in the area is high enough to damage people lungs, travellers in the area advised to stay away from the source of the glacier river Jökulsá until this glacier flood is over, that might take few days at most. No earthquake activity has been observed in Hofsjökull volcano following this glacier flood. The volcano has been completely quiet during this glacier flood and at current time do not expect it to show any activity. Currently there is little known about Hofsjökull volcano and the activity in it, since it has never erupted during modern era (past 12.000 years).

Icelandic news about this glacier flood

Kanna hvað er á seyði í Vestari Jökulsá (Rúv.is, Icelandic)
Lítið jökulhlaup í Hofsjökli (Rúv.is)
Hlaup í Vestari Jökulsá (mbl.is, pictures)

Blog post updated at 16:56 UTC on 22-August-2013.

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Possible glacier flood from Hofsjökull volcano

It has been reported today that possible glacier flood has taken place in Hofsjökull volcano. Reports did come to Icelandic Meteorological Office that a glacier river named Jökulsá Vestri in Skagarfirði (Wikipedia). It is not known what is causing this change in the glacier river, it might be anything from a mud slide to change in the glacier itself. Amount of water in the glacier river has not changed according to IMO monitoring of the river.

Smell of sulfur has been reported with this change in the glacier river. That means the water has been in contact with hydrothermal areas that are under Hofsjökull glacier (volcano). No earthquake activity or change of any type has taken place following this change in Jökulsá Vestri in Skagarfirði.

If anything more happens. I am going to update this blog post or post an new one if I need to.

Icelandic News on this event

Jökulsá Vestari óvenjuleg á litin (Rúv.is)
Brennisteinslykt við Goðdali (mbl.is)

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Minor glacier flood from Kverkfjöll volcano [Updated]

In a announcement from Icelandic Meteorological Office, an minor glacier flood has now taking place from Kverkfjöll volcano, it appears to have started yesterday (15-August-2013). This is one of the minor glacier lakes in Kverkfjöll volcano. This glacier flood in minor and the water levels are not expected to reach more than normal summer level in the glacier river the flood is going into. The glacier river is called Volga and is a glacier river from Kverkfjöll volcano glacier area.

Currently Icelandic Meteorological Office is taking a trip over Kverkfjöll volcano to see the local changes and what is exactly is going on. Current status of the glacier flood is not well known, but latest report suggested that some subsiding was taking place, if that is because the glacier flood is over or something else is taking place I am not sure about at present time.

Update 1: Icelandic Civil Protection has confirmed that steam explosion took place in Kverkfjöll volcano following the glacier flood (due to sudden pressure release) that took place during the night and in the morning. News about that can be found here in Icelandic.

Web cameras of Kverkfjöll volcano

It is possible to view web cameras of Kverkfjöll volcano here. Weather information can be found here.

Icelandic news about this glacier flood

Óvenjulegur vöxtur í Volgu (mbl.is)
Hægt hefur á vexti hlaupsins (mbl.is)

Blog post updated at 20:47 UTC on 16-August-2013.
Blog post updated at 21:29 UTC on 16-August-2013.

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Comparison of volcano eruptions

When there is nothing going on in Iceland. It is good to prepare for the future by checking out what has happened in the past. Here is a comparison of harmonic tremor data from few past eruptions. I only have limited set of data to work with here.

Grímsfjall volcano eruptions 2004 and 2011

Harmonic tremor indicates how strong the eruption is when it is happening. This is clearly visible on the harmonic tremor plots from the Grímsfjall volcano eruptions in the year 2004 and compared to the eruption in Grímsfjall volcano eruption in the year 2011.


Harmonic tremor in Grímsfjall volcano eruption in the year 2004. Copyright of this image belongs to Icelandic Meteorological Office.

This harmonic tremor plot is from the early start of the eruption. It clearly shows when the eruption starts and how it progressed during it’s first few hours.


Here is the volcano eruption start in Grímsfjall volcano on 23. May 2011. This is the start of the eruption. It clearly shows the difference from the eruption that took place in the year 2004. Both is that starts sharper. But is also a lot more powerful then the eruption in the year 2004. Copyright of this image belongs to Icelandic Meteorological Office.

Eyjafjallajökull volcano and Katla volcano

Sometimes it is useful to compare two eruptions of two different volcanoes. This is useful when you really don’t have anything else to compare with.


Harmonic tremor in Eyjafjallajökull volcano eruption back in the year 2010. This is from the second phase of the eruption. But I seems to have misplaced or not saved harmonic tremor data from the first phase of the eruption (at least I cannot find them for the moment). Copyright of this image belongs to Icelandic Meteorological Office.


Harmonic tremor connected to a minor eruption in Katla volcano in July 2011. This eruption was minor. But created a flood that took out a bridge. Copyright of this image belongs to Icelandic Meteorological Office.


Diffrent SIL stations from the same minor eruption in Katla volcano in July 2011. This clearly shows that this minor eruption in Katla volcano was possibly larger then eruption in Eyjafjallajökull volcano year earlier (2010). But it did not manage to break the ice of Mýrdalsjökull glacier. Copyright of this image belongs to Icelandic Meteorological Office.

Past data show and are useful to learn what happens in a volcano. For this reason I now save important information on what is happening in a volcano. So I can compare it with future activity when it takes place.

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Harmonic tremor level drops in Grímsfjall volcano

During the night. Harmonic tremor levels started to drop in Grímsfjall volcano. The reason for this harmonic tremor level increase remain unknown and unclear. But no volcano related activity has been seen or recorded so far in Grímsfjall volcano.


Harmonic tremor levels in Grímsfjall volcano. This is high resolution image. Copyright of this image belongs to Icelandic Meteorological Office.


Harmonic tremor levels in Grímsfjall volcano. This is low resolution image. Copyright of this image belongs to Icelandic Meteorological Office.

Some earthquake activity has been taking place following this events. But the earthquakes have been small and do not suggest anything is about to take place in Grímsfjall volcano.


Earthquake activity in Grímsfjall volcano for the past 48 hours. Copyright of this image belongs to Icelandic Meteorological Office.

So far Grímsfjall volcano has remained quiet during this glacier flood. With nothing suggesting that it is going to change soon. As for the glacier flood it self. According to latest news it seems to have peaked and is now dropping. But this was a small glacier flood. With just rise about 153 cm. But that is quite small compared to many older glacier floods from Grímsfjall volcano.

Icelandic News about this glacier flood

Hlaupið í Grímsvötnum virðist hafa náð hámarki (Vísir.is)
Hlaupið í Gígjukvísl í rénun (Rúv.is)

Blog post updated at 12:48 UTC on 27.11.2012

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Unclear what is going on in Grímsfjall volcano

It is unclear what is going on in Grímsfjall volcano at this moment. Harmonic tremor level continue to rise. They are currently way above what is normal for minor glacier floods from Grímsfjall volcano. This might be a minor eruption, or it might just be glacier on the move inside caldera. Whatever it is. This is not a strong event. As it only appears so far on only one SIL station. The one located on top of Grímsfjall volcano. Other SIL stations do not show any change so far. There is no earthquake activity in Grímsfjall volcano so far following this activity.


Grímsfjall volcano tremor levels this morning at 09:20 UTC. This is high resolution image. Copyright of this image belongs to Icelandic Meteorological Office.


Tremor levels at Grímsfjall SIL station (low resolution). The spike is maybe an earthquake. Copyright of this image belongs to Icelandic Meteorological Office.

So far nothing there is no word from Icelandic Meteorological Office on what is going on in Grímsfjall volcano. I am also uncertain what is going on in Grímsfjall volcano at present time. But I am sure that is going to get clearer in the next few hours. The harmonic tremor level appears to be continue to rise. So it might get confirmed in the next few hours if there is an eruption in Grímsfjall volcano or not.