Category: Hydrothermal

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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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Interesting harmonic signals appearing around Vatnajökull glacier

In the past few hours an interesting harmonic signals have been taking place on two sil stations (so far) around Vatnajökull glacier. I do not know what is creating this harmonic tremor spikes on them, it might be water on the move or starting to move from Skaftár cauldron in Vatnajökull glacier or it might be something different that I do not know about at present time. Currently the source of this harmonic tremor is unknown and it might never been known in the worst case. I do hope to figure out in next few hours what is creating this harmonic tremor spikes on this two sil stations.

skr.svd.02-September-2013.22.00.utc
The harmonic tremor signal at Skrokkalda sil station. The harmonic tremor signal can be found at the end of the tremor plot. Copyright of this image belongs to Icelandic Meteorological Office.

jok.svd.02-September-2013.22.01.utc
The harmonic tremor signal at Jökulsel sil station. It is at the end of the tremor plot. Copyright of this image belongs to Icelandic Meteorological Office.

As I say above, the source of this tremor signal is not known. It might be bad weather in the area, traffic (unlikely due to bad weather in this part of Iceland at the moment) or something that is not known at the moment. What I can rule out at the moment is this harmonic tremor signal does not appear to come from magma movement, the frequency of the harmonic tremor is too high for that at the moment and does not show little to no energy at 0.5 to 1 Hz band. This suggest the source is something else then magma, this however does not rule out magma. Since magma is known to due many strange things under pressure and high frequency harmonic tremors are not unknown, but they are unlikely to take place rather than being a common feature in volcano activity.

For the moment the best thing that can be done is to monitor the signal and see if there are any changes and on the nearby sil stations. For the moment I do not expect any major change in this area, risk of glacier flood is still in place for this part of Vatnajökull glacier. If this harmonic tremor signal connects to that is not known at the moment.

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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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Steam explosion in Kverkfjöll volcano on 16-August-2013

During the night of 16-August-2013 several steam explosions took place in Kverkfjöll volcano. This steam explosions were a result of glacier flood that took place few hours earlier, since under the glacier lake in question are hydrothermal areas (hot spring). This hot springs are so hot they do not emit hot water, they emit steam and that means they are warmer than 150 Centigrade. When under pressure this water has higher boiling point. When a glacier flood happens there is a change in pressure, the boiling point of the hot water moves down, this super heats the water and a pressure explosion takes place.

gufusprening.kverkfjoll.15-august-2013
Effects of steam explosion in Kverkfjöll volcano on 16-August-2013. Copyright of this image belongs to Almannavarnir (Civil protection in Iceland). Picture is from Facebook.

I do not know if there has been any change in hydrothermal activity in Kverkfjöll volcano over the past few years. This volcano is remote and it is not easy to go there, even during the summer time. It has been advised for tourist to be careful around Kverkfjöll volcano due to this changes that are taking place there now. Hot springs and other hydrothermal features are always dangerous to get close to.

More information on Hydrothermal explosions and superheated water

Hydrothermal explosion (Wikipedia)
Superheating (Wikipedia)

Blog post updated at 15:04 UTC on 17-August-2013.
Blog post updated at 15:08 UTC on 17-August-2013.

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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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Skaftárkatlar cauldrons full of water [Updated]

According to recent pictures and from Rúv News it appears that both Skaftárkatlar cauldrons are full of water at the moment. They might burst at any moment and create glacier flood, the right cauldron has not flooded for the past three years according to Rúv News, while the left cauldron flooded last year. When they might flood is impossible to know, but it is expected to happen in next days to weeks.

Update 1: Icelandic Meteorological Office has now declared that Skaftárhlaup glacier flood is going to happen soon. A glacier flood can start at any time without warning. The risk comes from gases in the water, along with the floodwater it self as it can reach up to 1500 m3 at peaks levels. There is also a risk the flood might go into new rivers and those rivers has bridges that might not be able withstand such glacier flood.

Details in Rúv News

Mikið vatn í eystri Skaftárkatli (Rúv.is, pictures)
Video of the Skaftárkatlar cauldrons in Vatnajökull glacier.

Skaftárhlaup vofir yfir og skapar hættu (Rúv.is, Icelandic)

Information in Icelandic from Icelandic Meteorological Office

Yfirvofandi Skaftárhlaup og möguleikar á hlaupi í Hverfisfljóti (vedur.is, Icelandic)

Blog post updated at 18:04 UTC on 14-August-2013.
Blog post updated at 19:04 UTC on 14-August-2013.

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Earthquake swarm in Katla volcano caldera

Yesterday (14.12.2012) from 20:50 UTC until 22:52 UTC there was an minor earthquake swarm in Katla volcano caldera. The largest earthquake in this swarm was a magnitude 2,2 earthquake. With the depth of 0,1 km. So it was a shallow earthquake. This is not uncommon for this part of Katla volcano. This earthquake activity has its origin in hydrothermal activity or changes in hydrothermal systems in this area of Katla volcano caldera.


Earthquake swarm in Katla volcano. This area has had earthquakes swarms before. Copyright of this image belongs to Icelandic Meteorological Office.

I do not expect anything special to result from this earthquake swarm. Since it is highly unlikely that Katla volcano is going to erupt in December. It is also a when it comes to earthquakes. Katla volcano has a lot of them during the year and earthquake swarm as this one should be expected to happen every once in a while.

Blog post updated at 10:42 UTC on 15.12.2012.

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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