Magma – Page 60 – Iceland geology

November 15, 2015November 15, 2015

Deep earthquakes close to Trölladyngja (Bárðarbunga volcano)

During the night of 15-November-2015 a swarm of deep earthquakes took place not far from Trölladyngja. The thing about Trölladyngja is directly connected to Bárðarbunga volcano and its eruption cycles. Trölladyngja it self was formed in a eruption in the year 5000 BCE, according to historical overview from Global Volcanism Program. According to some sources, Trölladyngja is a shield volcano, I don’t know if that is exactly correct. Regardless of what type of volcano Trölladyngja is, there is clearly something going on in it. Since this is not the first time I see earthquake swarm at this depth at this location. I doubt that this are stress related changes in the crust due the collapse of Bárðarbunga volcano caldera.

The earthquake activity in Trölladyngja (red dot). Image is from 05:50 UTC. Copyright of this image belongs to Iceland Met Office.

All of the earthquakes taking place were small, the largest had the magnitude of 1,1 and the depth was from 18 – 15 km.

In the early days of the earthquake swarm that started in Bárðarbunga in August-2014 a dyke intrusion pushed into this direction and than it just stopped as it lost the energy, or hit a obstacle that it was unable to break trough.

Image from August-2014. The earthquake activity close to Trölladyngja is clear on this image. Copyright of this image belongs to Iceland Met Office.

I don’t know yet what the chances are for an eruption at this location. More earthquake swarm activity is needed until the magma that is clearly down there breaks up. However the rifting that is taking place in this location might speed things up by unknown factor. This rifting might and possibly is allowing more magma entering this area deep underground without any earthquake activity. It is difficult to know what is going on at this location, so a lot of this is a speculation on what might happen. What actually happens in the end is a whole different thing and only time is going to tell us what happens next.

November 14, 2015November 14, 2015

Earthquake activity in Bárðarbunga volcano

I’m sorry for lack of articles. It has been quiet in Iceland for the past few weeks and I needed some time off after the work I’ve been in. I’ve also been dealing with a tax problem in Denmark, that issue is on-going for me (sadly) and might delay my move back to Denmark, how much I do not know yet.

Earthquake activity continues in Bárðarbunga volcano continues, this are mostly minor earthquakes that are taking place. Most of the earthquake activity is taking place on the north-east part of Bárðarbunga volcano caldera. According to Iceland Met Office this is due to continued subsidence of the volcano at that location. It is my view that Iceland Met Office estimate is correct, with just one exception. It is my view that magma pressure inside Bárðarbunga volcano is increasing, based on latest data, the pressure increase might be happen at more depth than I first estimated.

Earthquake activity in Bárðarbunga volcano. Copyright of this image belongs to Iceland Met Office.

I’m also seeing cases of increased hydrothermal activity south of Bárðarbunga volcano, in Hamarinn volcano. This was best seen in the larger size of Skaftárkatlar cauldron. This change in size suggests higher output of hydrothermal activity and it might be connected to higher magma activity at depth in this volcano. It is difficult to be sure since the area is covered with a glacier, but it is a well known sign impending eruption in many cases. There are few cases when there is a increase in hydrothermal activity without an eruption taking place. It is impossible to know when anything might happen in Hamarinn volcano, if anything happens at all to start with. Last minor eruption that took place in Hamarinn volcano (in my view) was in July-2011, it lasted around 8 hours with breaks.

Donations

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Twich and Youtube

I’m currently testing my game stream on Twich here. My Youtube stream tests can be found here. This Youtube channel is a work in progress. I have a other YouTube channel (can be viewed here), it however mostly just contains nature video. Since I’m on slow 3G internet connect at the moment I won’t do a lot of streaming, just basic tests in order to learn how to properly due this. I won’t run many more tests with Youtube than I already have, it seems to work rather well as is.

Article update at 23:29 UTC. I changed the YouTube channel for streams. I’m going to use a other channel on YouTube with the same name as my Twitch channel. The name is Channel 99 on Twitch and YouTube.

November 4, 2015November 4, 2015

Earthquake swarm in Bárðarbunga volcano

Today (4-November-2015) a earthquake swarm took place in Bárðarbunga volcano. This is now almost a weekly feature in the Bárðarbunga volcano system. This is suggesting that magma pressure inside Bárðarbunga volcano is currently increasing at rather fast phase. If and when this might start a new eruption is impossible to know. Largest earthquake in this swarm had the magnitude of 3,1.

Earthquake activity in Bárðarbunga volcano. Copyright of this image belongs to Iceland Met Office.

I’m expecting this earthquake activity to continue for some time now. At least until a new eruption occurs in Bárðarbunga volcano, since the rifting process that started all this has not ended and this is going to last few more years.

Donations

Please remember to support my work with donations or by using Amazon banners that I have up here. Thanks for the support.

Article updated at 23:14 UTC.

November 2, 2015

Overview of week 44 activity in Iceland

This is a short overview of activity in week 44 in Iceland.

Tjörnes Fracture Zone (TFZ)

Earthquake swarm took place in TFZ in week 44. Largest earthquake had the magnitude of 3,5 and other earthquakes had the magnitude of 3,1. Other earthquakes where smaller in magnitude.

Earthquake swarm on the TFZ. Largest earthquake swarm took place where the green stars are. Copyright of this image belongs to Iceland Met Office.

A second smaller earthquake swarm took place south of Grímsey. It is not connected to the stronger earthquake swarm east of Grímsey island.

Bárðarbunga volcano

A magnitude 3,0 earthquake took place in Bárðarbunga volcano. This suggests increased pressure inside Bárðarbunga volcano. I forgot to save image of last week activity in Bárðarbunga volcano.

Tungnafellsjökull volcano

Earthquake activity continues in Tungnafellsjökull volcano. As before all of the earthquakes taking place are small in magnitude. At the moment the earthquake swarm activity appears to be centered around the top of the volcano, one of the main craters. Earthquake activity is steady in Tungafellsjökull volcano at the moment. It sometimes drop down, as is to be expected when magma moves inside volcano.

Earthquake activity in Tungnafellsjökull volcano. Copyright of this image belongs to Iceland Met Office.

Skaftárkatlar cauldrons in Vatnajökull glacier

Recent survey of Skaftárkatlar cauldrons in Vatnajökull glacier has shown that the eastern cauldron has grown considerable in size. This is now thought to be the main reason why the glacier flood from eastern skaftárkatlar cauldron was the largest in recorded history. The cauldron is now 2,5 sq/km in size and 150 meters deep. Video of the overflight can be found here (Facebook). Measurements and other details can be found here at University of Iceland Earth science website (Icelandic). This are early results from recent survey.

Other things

Please remember to support my work with donations or by using Amazon. Due to problems with the Danish tax authorities I did not get my social welfare paid out this month in Iceland. Reason being that I have not got my copy of the tax statement for the year 2014, that I have . I hope this is resolved in November as has been promised to me. This however means that I have to use the salary for last months work to survive this month, money that I was saving in order to pay for moving cost when I move back to Denmark. If this is not resolved by December, I have to go on emergency income from my municipality. I won’t move to Denmark until this issue with the Danish tax is resolved. The temporary work that I was in is over so I’m going to be updating now when things happen in Iceland or close to it.

Once I’m back in Denmark I can start uploading detailed images of earthquakes and keep a real time watch about what is going on in Iceland. Its difficult for me to do that at the moment.

September 24, 2015

Increased activity in Tungnafellsjökull volcano

This is going to be short update on the activity in Tungnafellsjökull volcano. I just don’t have the time to write long article about it, doing so takes up to two hours to write. A time that I just don’t have at the moment due to work (and school) tomorrow.

Today (23-September-2015) there has been a sharp increase in earthquake activity in Tungnafellsjökull volcano. Largest earthquake so far had the magnitude of 3,0. Other earthquakes have been smaller in magnitude. Most of the earthquakes that have been taking place are shallow, but all of them (at least that appear on my geophones) are appearing to be long-period earthquakes. Suggesting that magma created them, rather than tectonic forces in the crust.

The earthquakes in Tungnafellsjökull volcano. Copyright of this image belongs to Iceland Met Office.

It is the official view of the Iceland Met Office that this activity is due to tectonic stresses in the volcano, due to adjustment of Bárðarbunga volcano. This is true, that is not the whole story in my view. Some of the earthquakes taking place in Tungnafellsjökull volcano are due to tectonic adjustment of the crust (stress changes). What adds complexity to this image is the fact that magma is involved in Tungnafellsjökull volcano, the problem that since there are no documented eruptions from Tungnafellsjökull volcano, it’s impossible to know for sure what happens before an eruption in it. If the current influx of magma results in an eruption is difficult to say for sure, at the moment I don’t rule it out. It is my view that there is now more chance, rather than less of an eruption in Tungnafellsjökull volcano.

September 22, 2015

Earthquake activity in Katla volcano

Today (22-September-2015) there was an swarm of earthquakes in Katla volcano at shallow depth. Largest earthquake had the magnitude of 3,3 with the depth of 0,1 km. The earthquake looks long period from the looks of my geophone at low resolution (I will get the higher resolution back when my main earthquake computer is back on-line). Other earthquakes in this swarm were smaller in magnitude.

The earthquake activity in Katla volcano. Copyright of this image belongs to Iceland Met Office.

Last week there was a swarm of earthquakes at 15 – 24 km depth (about) in Katla volcano. I did notice it and monitored it, I didn’t evolve into anything serious so I didn’t write about it. I don’t think the two activities are directly connected. This might be changes to the hydrothermal systems in the volcano or just normal activity for Katla volcano. At the moment I don’t see any changes in the volcano it self, even if there is deep earthquake activity taking place. For the moment, there is nothing to worry about.

September 21, 2015September 21, 2015

Increased activity in Bárðarbunga and Tungnafellsjökull volcanoes

I don’t have the time or the energy to write a long article about what is going on in Bárðarbunga and Tungnafellsjökull volcanoes. What I do know is that magma appears to be pressuring Tungafellsjökull volcano, creating earthquakes, the largest earthquakes so far have reached magnitude 2,9. Other earthquakes have been smaller. Some of the earthquakes appear volcanic in nature based on what I’m seeing on my geophones (at poor resolution at the moment).

In Bárðarbunga volcano there has also been earthquake activity today. I don’t know yet if its due to inflation or deflation of the magma system in Bárðarbunga volcano. Largest earthquake today (21-September-2015) had the magnitude of 3,2. Other earthquakes have been smaller, this earthquake activity has been small so there is a chance this does not mean anything yet.

The earthquake activity in Bárðarbunga and Tungnafellsjökull volcanoes. Copyright of this image belongs to Iceland Met Office.

The activity in Tungnafellsjökull volcano is likely to continue and might increase. I’m not sure what happens in Bárðarbunga volcano at the moment.

Working schedule: In September and until end of October I’m working Monday to Friday from 07:00 – ?? (Monday/Wednesday/Friday) and 10:00 – ?? (Tuesday/Thursday). Due to the nature of the work (its a slaughterhouse work) I don’t have my mobile phones with me and therefor I don’t know what is going on if anything happens. The longest days are now in process and are going to last until second or third week of October I think.

September 12, 2015September 12, 2015

Something is going on in Hamarinn (Bárðarbunga) and Tungnafellsjökull volcanoes

Today (11-September-2015) an earthquake swarm started in Hamarinn volcano (no GVP profile, see Bárðarbunga volcano). This is a volcano that is inside Bárðarbunga volcano fissure swarm and might be connected to it, that connection is unclear, but historical data suggests that once Bárðarbunga volcano gets erupting sometimes Hamarinn volcano does too. There is a similar pattern in Grímsfjall volcano and Þórðarhyrna volcano (no GVP profile) as an another example.

Current sequence of earthquakes in Hamarinn volcano started with a small earthquake at 22,5 km depth. Few shallower earthquakes happened before that event, those earthquakes however might be connected to changes in hydrothermal systems in the volcano, rather then something else. The deep earthquake that took place started a series of smaller earthquakes at shallower depth, suggesting that pressure is already high inside the volcano, how close it might be to erupting is impossible to know, but the clues that I’m not seeing do not look good. This might die out, but I think the chance of that are small. Last eruption in Hamarinn volcano took place in July-2011, I wrote about it here, here and here.

Current area of activity in Hamarinn volcano. This area is covered with a thick glacier up to 300 – 400 meters. Copyright of this image belongs to Iceland Met Office.

Harmonic tremor data is showing that current earthquake activity are low and long period earthquakes (green and red spikes). I also noted that on this image a harmonic tremor spike can be seen on the green band. It does not appear visible on the red and blue bands. I’m unclear on why this is. Copyright of this image belongs to Iceland Met Office.

The harmonic tremor spike does not appear on the SIL station Skrokkalda. I don’t know why that is. Earthquake activity appears clearly on it (spikes). Copyright of this image belongs to Iceland Met Office.

Activity in Tungafellsjökull volcano

There has been interesting earthquake activity in Tungafellsjökull volcano today. Today earthquake swarm started with the depth of 12,3 km and it mostly stayed there. Suggesting that magma dyke injections are taking place in the volcano at the moment. If and when this might lead to an eruption is impossible to know. Magma might be at shallower depth already due to high activity during the eruption in Bárðarbunga volcano.

The earthquake activity in Tungafellsjökull volcano, it’s located north of both Bárðarbunga and Hamarinn volcano (NE of Hamarinn). Current activity is a small cluster of earthquakes in north-east part of Tungafellsjökull volcano. Copyright of this image belongs to Iceland Met Office.

Largest earthquake in this swarm so far had the magnitude of 1,9. It was also the shallowest earthquake in this swarm. So far no change on the surface of Tungnafellsjökull volcano, meaning that no hydrothermal vents have appeared so far. That might not happen since formation of hydrothermal vents does not always happen before an eruption.

August 25, 2015November 18, 2017

Earthquake in Kerlingafjöll volcano

Kerlingafjöll volcano (no GVP profile) did have a earthquake today (25-August-2015). This was just one earthquake. Not of any special magnitude. Earthquakes are rare in Kerlingafjöll volcano and they don’t have any known historical eruptions. This one earthquake had the magnitude of 2,2 and depth of 11,1 km.

A rare earthquake in Kerlingafjöll volcano. Kerlingafjöll volcano are located south-west of Hofsjökull volcano. Copyright of this image belongs to Iceland Met Office.

Earthquakes appear to be extremely rare in Kerlingafjöll volcano. There were no earthquakes during the large earthquakes in 2000 and 2008 from SISZ due to stress changes that follows such large earthquakes. Since I started monitoring earthquakes in the current form this is the first earthquake I’ve seen in Kerlingafjöll volcano and that is over 9 year period. In that time, it is worth noting more SIL stations have been added, making the network more sensitive to smaller earthquakes around Hofsjökull volcano.

Missing person

Body of person unknown was found in Iceland on 17-August-2015. The remains where of a male that was 186cm, with blond/white shoulder long hair, in a hood that had “quicksilver” written on it. He was also wearing a shoe that had a star on the side. According to latest news the police now believe this might be a young French man that did come to Iceland in the summer of 2014, he did go to Höfn í Hornafirði in October-2014 (date unknown). He never left Iceland. This is being investigated by authorities in Iceland in cooperation with authorities in France. If you have any details or more information please contact the police in Iceland here. Latest Icelandic news about this can be found here in Icelandic.

Article updated at 22:36 UTC.

August 18, 2015

Deep earthquake activity in Katla volcano

Yesterday (17-August-2015) a swarm of small earthquakes took place in Katla volcano. This type of activity has been happening place this summer and has been happening for several years now. The reason for this is that magma is pushing or moving in the magma chamber of Katla volcano.

Earthquake activity in Katla volcano, the cluster of earthquakes is the deep earthquake activity. Copyright of this image belongs to Iceland Met Office.

The dept of this earthquake swarm was around 27 – 18 km. Meaning it was taking place deep inside the magma chamber of Katla volcano. No other activity has been detected at Katla volcano today. This type of earthquake activity might continue for next few days to weeks.

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