Posted on by Jón Frímann

Update on Bárðarbunga eruption at 17:32 UTC

This information is going to get outdated quickly.

A short notice: While I know a lot about volcanoes, earthquakes and such things. I do not know everything. I have read many science papers on the subject. But I have not read them all and I never will. What is also important is that nobody knows for sure what is going on in Bárðarbunga volcano. This is the first eruption in the volcano since recording of earthquakes started in Iceland and it appears that this eruption in Bárðarbunga volcano might be a big one (even if it not at that stage yet).

Update on the activity in Bárðarbunga volcano

  • Earthquake activity continues in Bárðarbunga volcano. The largest earthquake since midnight had the magnitude of 5,2 according to Icelandic Met Office.
  • Earthquake activity continues in the dyke  south of the eruption area. This suggest that the dyke is still expanding in the crust.
  • Minor eruptions have taken place south of the main eruption in Holuhraun. Most of this are like the minor eruption that started south of the main eruption, but in glacier free area. Other minor eruptions that have taken place are under the glacier. They have formed small cauldron in the process without making a glacier flood.
  • Cauldron in the glacier have been spotted at 2 km inside the glacier (I think this distance is correct. If it is not. I will correct it), 6 km from the edge of the glacier and 10 km from the edge of the glacier. This cauldron are directly above the dyke and as mentioned above are the results of minor eruption taking place under the glacier. One of this cauldron was discovered on Friday. I don’t remember if it was included in the news that day.
  • There are no signs of the eruption in Holuhraun is about to end. The lava field is now creating a dam as it goes over the Jökulsá á Fjöllum glacier river path. This has created minor explosions in the past few hours and in process throwing up minor volcano ash at the same time.
  • There is still a lot of gas in the lava coming from the eruption. Making it extremely dangerous to go close to eruption and the lava field. This gas is in so high consternation that geologist working in the field are often at great risk.
  • Smell of sulphur (SO2) has now been found in parts of Norway according to the news (in Icelandic, Norwegian, map in the news from Norway). It is far from being on dangerous levels in Norway due to distance travelled.
  • The lava field continues to create its own local weather. Small tornadoes can be spotted on the Míla web-camera.  There is also a lot of local cloud formations taking place. Sometimes limiting the view to the erupting area.
  • There is high risk of new eruption fissures opening up without warning.
  • Eruption activity in the main crater now happens in pulses according to latest news. It drops for a while and then goes high up. I think there is a reason for this behaviour.
  • It appears that the erupting crater are being closed slowly by there own erupting material. That might explain the pulsing behaviour that is now being observed from it. This also means there is enough pressure in the dyke to continue the eruption for a good while longer (in my view).
  • Inflow of magma and outflow of magma appears to be in balance for the time being. That balance might change without warning if something changes in Bárðarbunga volcano.

No confirmation on the eruption last night

So far there has not been any confirmation on the possible eruption that I did write about last night. This might not have been an eruption or there might not be any evidence of it on the surface of Vatnajökull glacier.

News update on 10-September-2014

“Gravely concerned” about Bardarbunga (Rúv.is)

More notes on comments

Please do not post all your text in caps lock. It is rude to everyone else reading the comments on this website. I also want to point out that not everything is known as I noted above. Some questions do not have any answers yet when it comes to volcanoes or earthquakes, but there are no stupid questions far as I am concerned. I offer no guarantee on the answers however.

I also ask people just to be nice to each other here. I also have to ask you to provide links when text is posted here, it is both good for everyone who want to read more from that website in question. There also a requirement on doing so from Icelandic Met Office and University of Iceland in the disclaimers they have.

Article updated at 10-September-2014 at 22:31 UTC.

307 Replies to “Update on Bárðarbunga eruption at 17:32 UTC”

  1. Jon, a lot of the people in live chat helped put together a FAQ that answers a lot of the questions people keep asking about the eruption.

    If you have a few minutes to go over it, I would really appreciate it if you would check my work to make sure it’s accurate (and that goes for other scientists who visit the blog). There’s a contact link if you find bad info or want to add something.

    Please note–this is non-commercial so I offer it as a helpful link, not as a way to drum up business. 🙂

    http://zolaweb.com/bardabunga_facts.htm

      2. Thank you. Last night I finally figured out how to get on mila, I thought I messed it up today.

    5. Hello Zola!
      I knew next to nothing coming in, and the questions provided help me see the light a little bit!
      Thank you!
      Barb

  2. On the 2nd of the two webcams, it does look as though smoke is coming from the glacier in the background far behind current eruption site, the smoke from the main eruption is obscuring the view somewhat….but as you thought we may well have activity under the glacier.

  4. Before anyone asks tonights supermoon won’t promote volcanic/ seismic activity in Iceland or anywhere else!
    Just larger spring tides for places that get them (i.e Clevedon in Somerset UK due to get a 46 foot high tide tomorrow).

      1. I noticed the Environment Agency is issuing flood alerts along the Somerset coast for tonight & tomorrow due to the high tide!
        Had a look at your FAQ Zola, i like.

      2. Thanks wurzeldave. The biggest thing is to keep the info accurate, you would be amazed at how many panicked people come in and ask if the volcano is going to blow up.

    3. I’m willing to accept the conventional wisdom on this but it bears saying, tidal flexing does cause volcanism elsewhere in the Solar System, notably Jupiter’s moon Io.

  5. Thank you for all you do Jon. I have learned so much for you. This is uncharted territory, even all the scientists agree with that. No one is sure as to exactly what is going to happen next. And, I for one, am thankful to be able to come here and learn from you!

  8. I just wish to add another huge thank you to Jon for providing this fascinating blog, with great insights into these amazing displays of mother nature. I know little on the subject matter, so add no comments, but I feel I’ve learned a lot over the past few years, reading the information here. I also wish to add, that I hope the current situation does not escalate into something detrimental to the local population… or further afield for that matter.

    I will keep reading with great interest… thanks Mark.

  10. Lol will shut up did not realise so many users from there, lol lovely place and not far from m5 if you need out

    1. Although trapped in most weekends in the Summer because the M5 is a mugs game!

      I need the cams back!

      EQ activity spookily quiet after last nights multiple biggies! Is the lid “stuck”? Will the next big quake be a BIG quake?

    2. Good ! Send him a check. He is living with old computers and very swollen looking capacitors on them. Motherboard go bye bye if they pop.

  13. Hi everyone I am loving this all, we have had some super sunsets here in Angus this week, not sure that it is to do with whats going on but keep it up I am finding it all very informative and a special thanks to Jon I love the updates.

  17. I see a lot of constant mini quakes at askja and more magma movement at other stations watch this space…

  20. I read in earlier comments today about ash scratching windscreens and car paint. It happened once too with a British Airways Boeing who lost all 4 engines after having flown through an ashcloud caused by an Indonesian volcano; luckely for everyone on board the pilots managed to start their engines only a few kilometers from the ground.
    They had a very difficult landing, because the windscreen was so badly scratched, they could hardly see! After having touched down, they saw that all the paint had disappeared from the wings and the front of the fuselage! This proves very well how dangerous the ash is for things and humans!

    Henk Weijerstrass
    Holland

    5. BBC broadcast a very interesting documentary about the aircraft, not sure if it will be available on the iPlayer. They also broadcast an excellent documentary about the Mount St Helens eruption, including on how just a few years later nature had already re-colonised the devastated landscape.

  21. I am really missing the webcams right now. I think we are either looking at a significant event soon or it will quickly die out and be over. Hard to read all the data out there.

  22. Since the cams seem to be working for some right now and not for others (not for me right now) there’s a work around — there’s an ever changing group of youtube folks who are kind enough to stream the cams to youtube. Instead of waiting for a new site to be announced, I’ve found a query can work, e.g. “mila bardarbunga”. Buyer beware, they aren’t all actually live, some are long recordings from past days, but this one (linked earlier too) is live: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GwkqhTa2Bh0

  23. It’s all coming to a head, things are starting to happen, if the fissures start closing up pressure could build and another eruption could happen anywhere on an unstable dyke.

    1. This man does not like. I don’t know why. He at least blocked me from twitter long time ago before I even knew who he was. So I blocked him back and got over it.

  26. I cannot get either cam. USA. I see some others cant also.
    The full and new moons have an effect on earthquakes and tides – and even the human psyche.
    I would expect they do affect a volcano also.

    Bardabunga
    http://en.vedur.is/earthquakes-and-volcanism/articles/nr/2947

    O LQQK! earthquakes all over on this link
    http://en.vedur.is/earthquakes-and-volcanism/earthquakes

    WOW! 😮
    Norwegians smell sulfur from Holuhraun
    Smell of sulfur gas thought to be from the Holuhraun eruption, has been detected at the west coast of Norway, some 1300 kilometres away (807 miles). Sattellite photos have shown migration of gasses in that direction.
    http://www.ruv.is/frett/norwegians-smell-sulfur-from-holuhraun

      1. Well the moons gravity does affect a volcano differently from its surounds due to distance, its just that the effect is tiny. From chaos theory you can demonstrate that small forces can trigger large effects. The thing with volcanoes is that there is also large host of much more significant factors that effect eruptions. So while can demonstrate that the moon is not a significant player in most eruptions (unless your on the moon of Io), we can’t eliminate the possibility that it plays a role in some volcano at some point. Even then the moon would only effect the timing slightly!

  27. Very interesting Tim, at least it’s showing an aero engine maker like Rolls Royce are learning to understand the effects of ash clouds. This is properly due to pressure from airlines wanting to know what is actually a safe level to fly in. Especially after the 2010 eruption that grounded nearly every flight in and around Europe costing billions to the airline industry.

  28. This is such an interesting website, thank you. I hunted in the library here (Cambridge, MA) for good books on the subject & they had a few in the children’s section only (which I read, much to the amusement of the kids who were there) and none for adults…and of the sites I’ve read around in, this is the best one.

    A question: the U of Iceland site had a post on the results of lava sample analysis, but no interpretation on what these results might indicate (if anything)?

  30. Can’t get the cams tonight – a bit bored. Has anyone ever tried the Icelandic delicacy of Hakarl ?

    1. Aye – I have tried Aquavit that’s similar I think – again best out of the freezer.

  35. They are running Burre’s stream, you can go to it direct on youtube. Watching it on youtube helps Mila because it reduces the load on the server, no matter whose channel you prefer.

  36. Evolved Basalt seems to be state when temperatures are 1 to 2 degrees above its melting point from the article you posted Jon.

    Living on North Coast of Ireland I understand evolved Basalt well, after it’s cooled over millions of years. It can really cut your knees when you take a tumble on it. Sharpest rocks I’ve ever fell on.

  38. It seems obvious to me now that the scientific community and many of those that follow them prefer to have a view of these events that is minimizing, discounting and even dismissive of less desirable outcomes in preference for outcomes that are more palatable, albeit the former are usually less likely. The Volcano blogs tend to create an atmosphere where all possibilities can be explored and conjecture in “most ” occurs without disdain, however, the milieu consensus generally is one of purporting or asserting palatable outcomes.

    Now, most will agree, no one knows for sure how things will play out and that less desirable outcomes are possible. Like the old saying goes, keep all possibilities open and hope for the best. For example, no one would have said that when Barda started having quakes that it could open up a rifting fissure to Askja that could potentially result in an eruption there is the near future. No one is willing to say now that this rifting fissure eruption could go on for an extended period of months and worsen over time including subglacial, while an eruption at Barda occurs as well and that the level of dangerous gas could become a serious issue. In fact, one site that asked the question, “could this lead to a global winter’ said a flat, “NO”. Not, well, that would depend if these events evolved, which surely is a possibility. Just NO. Are they able to predict how this will evolve and say assuredly, “NO”? No one knows, ok. This eruption coming from Barda could just be in the beginning of what could be extended period of months. No one knows. Hope for the best, plan for the worst. Mother earth does not always do what is palatable. I personally feel this become an extended event that will affect global weather. In fact, I am sure of it. Why? I can’t tell you, why. I just know.

    1. Well, senior Iceland scientists and their civil defense office (which is directly advised by IMO) are openly discussing the idea of a major eruption in Bardarbunga. That’s quite notable under either the “downplay” theory or the idea that they’re not downplaying anything.

      News media have not picked up on this, even the trashy news media in the UK. But the folks on Iceland who are in the know are not talking about a 2010 “I can’t pronounce this thing” repeat.

      1. They are now discussing the idea what might happen is going to be the worst eruption in Iceland for many decades and the land changes that are going to follow it are going to be the biggest one in at least a century in Iceland.

        When they get nervous, I get terrified.

  39. Your quite right Zydefly, everyone has got a hand full of cards, but it’s Barda and the fissures that hold all the aces. This is all new no one knows how it going to play out, could Askja get involved maybe and if not she sure would have been weakened through all the seismic activity. I am also keeping an eye on the continuing swarm to the north of Askja. I am not a volcano expert, but do certain things I learned at school, I also find them fascinating and intriguing. Nothing beats the raw power of mother earth.

  40. I put live web cam into the search engine and I found that site and have been watching pictures all evening. If it is a dodgy site then fair enough, but there was nothing spam in my message! Shame not to have seen some great pictures.

    1. At least from a scientists chair, there is the potential for a lot more fall out affecting their reputation should they warn that events could unfold that could impact global weather, travel, or worse. They will offer up a disclaimer that worse case scenarios could occur, however, when there are unknowns that could materially affect the outcome, they will error on the side of supporting the unknown that results in a favorable outcome. Things evolve and in a way that is not always predictable based on observation of past events. Granted, they tend to follow a pattern similar with past patterns, however, don’t try to second guess mother nature to the point of saying, “NO”, this won’t occur or, even, it is very unlikely. Note how the IMO is neutral in this regard. The media is the absolute worst in terms of minimizing or flat out being dismissive at the exclusion of even mentioned scenarios that would impact consumer confidence. Their job is basically to say, “nothing to see here, nothing to be afraid of, just move on and keep buying stocks and products”.

  45. Hmm, IMO is awfully slow in releasing larger quakes, we had a 4+ about an hour ago and its not listed yet on the IMO site.

  46. Hi jon and everyone, i agree with zydefly and i
    will tell you why, theres a pole shift going on due to an incoming 10th planet from the aquarius constellation, called nibiru. Call me a crazy conspiracist if you like but the data is out there is you look past the internet trolls. Nasa discovered it and now it makes its approach, happens every 3600 years i believe, our lives are mapped.out in the bible, again call me crazy but all science, sumerian tablets and religion point to us being in end days look it up please
    I am a messenger 🙂 we are entering times of change hopefully new age of aquarius, volcanoes increase when aliens are about again im open to being called crazy but the evidence is all there

    2. oh geeze, not to be rude but I am wearing a tin foil hat. I suggest you get one. I got mine on Amazon using Jon’s site. I hope you get the commission Jon.

      1. Mark, it’s really not what it seems, trust me. Its understandable to be very concerned, but there are other explanations.

        Yes, there are a lot of things changing rapidly around us and some people get afraid and come up with all kinds of ideas as result. There are many savvy business people cashing in on this and trying to scare the h** out of you so you will buy something. Its kind of like a covey of birds hiding in the brush cause danger is lurking all around. There is a reason they are changing though, just not the ones you think.

  47. I wonder why the cams are out. I am in USA – they are still out.
    Thank u for posting Iceland is concerned now too.
    Little note – When cams are out our thoughts turn to – FOOD. Dont consider it spam. Its a bit of play. Some are nervous. I like silly sometimes.
    And fried spam with eggs is good!

  50. Haha, perhaps you could tell me whats changing the planets in our solar systems orbits and global temperatures? Up 18 degrees on one planet and as far as i know we arent contributing to global warming on that planet, there os a pole shift going on that is a fact, sorry

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