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This information is going to get outdated quickly.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. Greetings from Port Elizabeth, South Africa

    I really appreciate this blog. I have been following the blog in the shadows for many years.

    The articles/comments/links are most interesting – I’m hooked!

    1. Hi Nette, I love this site. I suggest you go back and read older comments from Jon, he is very informative and so are a lot of others who comment. I have learned so much from this site. Hope you are safe in south Africa from the virus.

  2. Lol if you listen to nasa whistleblowers which i do cos nasa stands for never a straight answer, then they suggest a lead hat, all i ask is you actually do research it and not just look at wikipedia or debunked theories cos the real scientific evidence is there and testimonies of high ranking people such as ex minister of defence to canada, time for full disclosure is now 🙂

    1. There are plenty of high ranking ‘officials’ (mainly the U.S) out there that believe the world is only 6000 years old.. and they all have proof.

      Back in the real world.. is it just me or has there been more seismic activity today? What could this possibly interpreted as?

  3. In answer to Alina’s comment, yes i did notice something or rather someone on cam one.
    Perhaps doing something to R2, nice twisters behind him!

  4. I just hope that my website can handle all the traffic when this starts full force. Because I am going to be posting rapid updates when the time comes.

    1. There are no aliens allowed to get closer to Earth than 1,5 light year. We are a protected zone. I am not allowed to tell you anything more. It’s classified above top secret what I do know.

      Now, please continue with volcano and earthquake discussion. There is plenty of other places on the internet for you to discuss aliens or UFOs that you think you did see.

  7. Jon, I’m from the USA, so if I wanted to donate to your site using my visa. Do I put in euro amount or dollar amount?

  8. Just a thought, but if there is an explosive event in Bardarbunga, the Hekla cam may be the best view. As it is, the lava fountains show up, faintly, in the distance. Also, thank you, Jon, for providing some of the most comprehensive commentary available. This has proved to be a very useful resource.

  9. Jon thanks for all
    Your start over postings are grounding.
    It sets the stage.
    It is good to ground us in facts and speculate from your knowledge base grounded in new facts.
    Drama is upon us and it brings out the extreme roller coaster implications.
    Grounding in renewed facts help.

  10. Hi zidefly,

    ok i was hoping it was the second coming :). I wish i knew what you do or maybe i dont haha. I will keep searching in this land of confusion haha, was i anywhere close, comet 67p? Thats not a comet is it?

  11. Hi jon sorry mate didnt mean to turn this into an et fest! You are doing amazing work ive been reading since the start of this one and thank you enormously for your tireless commitment and self taught knowledge which is a credit to you, i am skint at the mo but i intend to keep following and contribite when i can (financially). Great work jon im off to find out what the chuff.is going on in these here parts!! Norfolk, uk 🙂

  13. Why no volcanic lightning in effusive eruptions, or pseudoscience is fun!

    I know the basic theory of volcanic lightning is nearly the same as for regular lightning, particle friction, separation and interaction. But every study done lately has not found much to support that idea.

    http://www.wired.com/2012/05/examining-volcanic-lightning-during-explosive-eruptions/

    and

    Observations of volcanic lightning during the 2009 eruption of Redoubt Volcano
    Sonja A. Behnke
    http://www.agu.org/pubs/crossref/2012/2012EO200001.shtml

    Could we be seeing part of the answer in our webcams, and part in plasma physics ?

    Are whirlwinds the answer to the question of no volcanic lightning in effusive discharges ?

    With the temps involved, and the conjecture that lava and tephra emerge with an electrical charge, it is quite possible that when these whirlwinds emerge over a previously erupted field, you could get enough of a concentration of gasses to create a “bottled” plasma column, capable of returning charge to the ground.

    In explosive, stratospheric events, you don’t have a field of high temps to start the vortices, so you have to resort to lightning to transfer charge.
    Though most discharges are directly to the caldera rim and skirt, once the plume is further away from the caldera than the energy required to overcome the resistance of the air column below it, then you get what appears as a common electrical storm.

    but..
    Wet ground/dust doesn’t seem to affect the generation of the lightning, as Redoubt was in heavy weather, and still showed a lot of plume/ground lightning.

    http://www.wired.com/2010/04/electric-dust-grains/

    and
    Levitation of magnetic grains in plasma
    http://iopscience.iop.org/1367-2630/5/1/324/fulltext/

    Tests:

    Plasmas tend to be active on the AM band. Take an old am radio out there.
    Take radio triangulation equipment out there.
    Is interference showing on the cams when whirlwinds are close ? Forming?
    (Not likely, they are probably using GRMS cell fone bands, but antennas like signals….)

    Do plume to ground discharges not happen if there is heat from pyroclastic or effusive discharges already on the ground beneath it, enabling whirlwinds?
    ie If plume moves away from ground heat vortices, does plume/ground lighting start ?
    or
    Do historical records show effusive and fissure volcano’s only have lightning at start of eruption, before a lava field is present, or only when ash formation is happening, and the plume blows away from the field?

    Do the whirlwinds contain higher concentrations of noble gases?
    They tend to go to plasmas easier. Also i believe argon will settle in atmospheric air, which would make it effective to put out mine fires.
    That would make it harder to collect unless you had a vortice starting,and collecting gasses.

    Are lightning discharges associated with higher percentages of pyroxene,
    another known semiconductor ?

    Atmospheric Charging

    For our Electric Universe folks, there are Flux Transfer Events.
    Huge voltages delivered straight from the sun, every eight minutes.
    Strong enough to punch right through our magnetic field shielding, and dumping mind boggling amounts of voltage onto the atmosphere..

    http://www.foxnews.com/story/2008/11/05/flux-transfer-event-links-suns-earth-magnetic-fields/

    and maybe related

    http://science.nasa.gov/science-news/science-at-nasa/2013/08mar_solarwind/

    There are other Flux Transfers around too, most of the papers are on solar phenoma, but the other interesting ones are on the plasma currents ejected from the sun during CME’s and other big eruptions, usually after a “reconnection pinch”. They are typically in layers, isolated sheets that have different charges in them, and they don’t mix together.

    solar
    http://www.scholarpedia.org/article/Flux_transport_dynamos
    or search for “flux ropes”.

    (NAS, not a scientist)
    why i am interested in mineralogy, am studying asteroids as hobby.
    http://www.psrd.hawaii.edu/index.html

  14. If there are depressions in the glacier, I assume that is because there is magma under there melting it away. If that is the case, magma and ice (water) produces steam. If that steam has no where to go, wouldn’t that create a tremendous amount of pressure under the glacier? If so, is that why we are seeing 150M – 200M eruptions in the fissure?

  15. How long can Big B go on like this without erupting? How far must she sink before she blows? The longer this continues the more worried I’d be living on Iceland.

    1. They’re clearly worried about that over at the Icelandic government. With good reason, in my opinion.

      The caldera subsidence is not a normal volcano activity and carries risk of a very large eruption. Which is concerning because Bardarbunga is quite a large volcano.

      2. I am not sure, why my other comment appears here as well, but ok. This kind of caldera subsidence has never been observed before by scientists (and not in real-time anyways), so this is completely new ground. So the only thing the geologists can do here is to watch, collect as much data as possible and the interpret them.

  16. Well to me it looks like the tectonic or separation movement has ceased. So if you are looking at this as the start of a bigger event I would watch the movement as charted on the DYNC chart (link below). If continental separation resumes then that would be a cause for greater concern.

    Otherwise it looks so far to me like the cause of the event has ceased and now it’s just going to let the lava flow until the magma source+pressure is released. That could of course include the caldera erupting because of the ensuing collapse but that would be a byproduct, not a cause of this event.

    Of course we have separation and the hot spot at work here so I guess a key question is what has the hot spot been doing under here since the last eruptive episodes. (how much magma is available to erupt? I don’t think we know for sure.)

    Here is the DYNC chart – http://strokkur.raunvis.hi.is/~sigrun/DYNC_3mrap.png Both the east and north graphs have stabilized.

  17. On the cam is there not a lot more steaming left of R2D2 I have not seen as much as this before ?

  18. “Otherwise it looks so far to me like the cause of the event has ceased and now it’s just going to let the lava flow until the magma source+pressure is released”

    Well, I’m not so sure we can say anything at this point with certainty but that is absolutely one of several possibilities. Keep in mind that the activity tends to increase and then decrease. I am also noting a lot of deeper EQ activity around the location of the existing vents. My worry would be the caldera floor “sagging”, causing cracks to occur in the crust and allowing water to penetrate into contact with live magma. This would cause phreatic explosions and could open the entire system up.

    Put another way, once small cracks open and allow water to seep in, explosions from flashing to steam could greatly open the system up. Once that happens we get even MORE water penetration, that causes even more explosive steam activity and now we have two things operating in tandem. We have the opening of a pathway from the magma to the surface without much resistance and we have the removal of the ice causing a reduction in pressure in the caldera. The whole system could potentially blow its lid. The only thing keeping the lid on that system right now is the fact that small eruptions are under some several hundred meters of ice and the vent would plug itself rather quickly. The subsidence inside the caldera brings the possibility of cracks forming in the crust itself and water seeping in. If that happens all bets are off. But you can’t really create explosive eruptions under even several hundred meters of liquid water. It would take an explosion or prolonged melting to remove that overlying ice in order for a small eruption to form fountains like we are seeing outside the glacier area. But if we were to get some large steam explosions, who knows, It could remove a lot of rock and ice and take the cover off.

    So far as I know we haven’t seen any unusual fumerole activity in the caldera which is another good sign so far.

    1. I see that Jay. I think we’re all holding our breath a bit to see what happens with the big one. Magma is flowing freely down there. Jon noticed that there are still signs of the plates tearing apart, showing this activity. He also spotted some coincidence between graph peaks and subglacial eruptions a few days ago.

      He suggested an eruption may be taking place in his last article and I think that will turn out to be correct. The VON graph and others are showing a bigger rise than those immediately previous so maybe there is something else subglacial going on.

      I personally think there is bigger pressure behind the large Holuhraun vent this morning.

  20. 4.9 earthquake at 05.28 gmt at 10km depth showing on USGS site, not yet reported by Iceland

  21. Red sky at night, shepherds delight, red sky in the morning shepherds warning.

    I wonder if that applies to sunrise in Bárðarbunga 2 webcam this morning.

    Very beautiful!

  22. The MILA webcams are just fantastic right now.
    What a stunning show of nature we are so lucky to see.

  23. Yes drymartini I agree, glad to be a part of it, also some wonderful stories to tell the grankids. Providing I get back to England in 48hours from now.

  24. Hi completely new to this but the eruptions have fascinated me. I have been following John’s site for a couple of weeks. The views of the eruption are fantastic this morning. Managed to screen grab a couple of pictures of a massive rainbow coming out above the glacier. But not sure how to post!

    Keep up the good work Jon and all of the commentators. Thanks

  26. A 5.5 just now: 5:28 hours (local time); 4,5 NE of B., depth 2,6 kilometers, quality 99%.

    1. Quite a delay in reporting compared with the USGS automatic system.

      I suppose that’s because they really need to be checked before release into the scientific community.

      I would still rather everything with this eruption would just stop!

  28. the power of mother nature!

    I am afraid something big is going to happen!
    i pray for all of us it’s not

    thnx for all the good information Jon and everyone else i am learning from!

  31. is that just cloud? looks very dark and cam 2 is jumping about all over, is it windy today??

    1. I think it’s safe to say it’s always windy somewhere in Iceland. I’ve never experienced quite so much horizontal rain/sleet/snow anywhere else.

      It’s the only place I’ve been told by car hire companies to ensure I park facing into the wind so the doors don’t get ripped off when getting out.

      But it’s also extremely changeable. It can go from a blizzard to calm with warm(ish) sunshine in 20 minutes.

  32. Current plume from fissure on live cam showing signs of deeper darker more poisonous emissions at present.

    Bada soon to lose its crown of Icelands 2nd largest peak?

    1. Lucky you. Here in Devon, UK I can’t get any mila webcams at the moment. it just says the server not found. Overload problem.

      3. Try this Youtube reflector site. Shows two camera views and some graphs. There are several out there.
        https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GwkqhTa2Bh0

        The output from the fissure is interesting..first going up in a V shape, now you see the pulses of the smoke/gases along the ground, wind driven I think. Looks like waves. The pulse of the rift.

      1. M guess in that it is just bad weather coming in, but because no one really knows we are all overloading mila’s servers.

      2. Am not sure, whats going on with Askja, the tremor there has slowed but was quite constant for a while, is it about to get in on the act?

      3. There is a small wave system moving over Iceland just now, so lower cloud and rain . It will always be breezy at height but it’s not a gale. Fast moving so will soon clear the country and then breezy type southwesterly tonight. Typical very changeable Icelandic weather as a block over UK and Scandinavia. Nothing particularly severe forecasted just front after front after front …. Brief rest bites

  35. There ware black smoke pufs coming from white fog up to clear sky.
    In the middle between R2D2 and eruption.

  36. Hmmmm! The eruption from the rift has died down. That could mean there is no pressure because it is erupting elsewhere since the 5.5 quake. The earthquakes have also gone dowm which would be consistent with the lava flowing with less obstruction now. However all this might just be my pessimism.

  38. What Rich R. says at 12:18 hrs is right! Once I was parked on the cliff near Vik where you can see Dyrhólaey very well; a car parked next to mine and a woman opened the door which immediately got smashed agains the frontwing of their car, completely dislocated. Also very dangerous walking on that cliff with those high winds.
    The quick climate changes took the life of a man in june 2004 on route from Landmannalaugar to Hrafntinnusker. He was hit by a sudden blizzard and lost his live only a few miles from the save hut! There is a monument erected for him; you pass it when you walk there. When rou’re in Iceland, think before you do; especially when you plan to stay or walk in the beautiful interior! I lost two tents there because of the wind, but whatever happens, it won’t keep me away from this beautiful island!

  40. I think there is a new eruption plume nearer the glacier now. The other seems to have stopped.

  41. Sept 10 Dawn USA time

    My observations on cams
    R2D2 has his friend there. And I see a person moving around.
    I saw a faint sun thru the haze – smoke, cloud – ?
    Cam 2 is shaky but not jumping wildly.
    The KATLA cam is jumpy too – so I presume – windy.
    I cannot find a mila Askja cam. The view is nice from several cams!

    Eruption continues north of Dyngjujökull.
    10th September 2014 06:40 – from geoscientist on duty
    Updated information
    Earthquake activity is continuing in Bárðarbunga and in the northern part of the dike intrusion. Fewer events were detected at Herðubreiðartögl. Nearly 50 earthquakes were measured this night in the Bárðarbunga area between 00 and 06. The largest one occured at 05:28:34 at the northern caldera rim of Bárðarbunga and was of magnitude 4.9 (not manually checked yet; USGS magnitude estimate).
    http://en.vedur.is/earthquakes-and-volcanism/articles/nr/2947

    1. Looks like something is moving between the fissure and the glacier, in cam 2. But maybe the wind is tricking me.

  42. Is that smoke plume frommthe old fissure which looks at a different position because they have changed the cam position? Or is that a new plume?

  44. Wish we could see over the ridge.

    The pressure will still be building somewhere, or its already releasing somewhere else.

  45. That cloud behind the low dark one moving from right to left, far in the distance and reaching high up, looks weird. Like a developing thunderstormcloud on a hot humid day, building quickly upwards…

    1. My thoughts too. Almost looked like an ash cloud when I first saw it. Has that localised vertical look.

  46. Dear Lord!

    I’d advise people not waste their time chasing “weird” or “suspicious” looking clouds near the glacier…IF a large eruption starts under there then there’ll be no doubt about it – The plume would be unmistakable, and the tremor graphs would be going crazy.

    No change this morning.

    IMO have updated their scenarios however:

    “Three scenarios are still considered most likely:

    ** Subsidence of the Bárðarbunga caldera stops and the eruption on Holuhraun declines gradually.

    ** Large-scale subsidence of the caldera occurs, prolonging or strengthening the eruption on Holuhraun. In this situation, it is likely that the eruptive fissure would lengthen southwards under Dyngjujökull, resulting in a jökulhlaup and an ash-producing eruption. It is also possible that eruptive fissures could develop in another location under the glacier.

    ** Large-scale subsidence of the caldera occurs, causing an eruption at the edge of the caldera. Such an eruption would melt large quantities of ice, leading to a major jökulhlaup.
    Other scenarios cannot be excluded”

    1. Nonchalent, thank you so much for your advise.
      Having followed this blog with great interest as a complete newbie, it is a great source to learn substantially about geology and volcanology. Some people come here for that purpose, others share their knowledge with enthusiasm.
      A little netiquette has been added at the top of each article, and I think it is always nice to give rookies like me the patience I allow others that are not so familiar with the business that I am a specialist in, and that is more than twenty years of flying!
      So I do apologise that my post of an unusual ‘plum’ (you may wanna call it that) that appeared out of place at the time has crossed your own opinion. But lets move on, the show continues! Kindest regards

      1. Tone is hard to get over on the internet and it came off harsher than intended! That said, it wasn’t aimed at you, just a general musing – We’re all here for the same reason and that’s fascination with Iceland’s volcanoes. I just don’t want people to be lead up the garden path 🙂

        Sorry if I came off as a tad ranty

  47. As an Iceland holliday-addict from Holland it is very interesting to follow the discussion in this blog. Especially the actuality and high level of Jón’s comments are worthwhile and highly appreciated.
    My knowledge on vulcanism and Iceland’s geology most certainly is increasing!

  48. That cluster of five magnitude 1 plus EQ’s in 14 minute spell. Has the fissure opened up more it looks like ash going upwards at speed or is in cloud interaction with the heat from fissure?

  49. Maybe the fissure opened near to the glacier or even under it and that’s why there is so much plume from the ground? Or maybe a jokulhlaup reached the lava?

    1. Or maybe the strong wind pushes the cloud and mist toward the camera giving the impression that is more.

  50. Difficult to see with all that dark cloud passing. I don’t think there is more gas/smoke but it does seem to be propagating faster. There seemed to be more pressure in the main vent earlier when it was clearly visible.

    2. The coloring of the smoke is interesting, first pinkish brown, now seeing spots or areas of green all the way up to the clouds in the sky. Must be sun thru the emissions as the sky on the right side of Mila is bright blue, clear with white clouds showing thru. Beautiful but what is the color from?Now the steam is really pouring out into the sky in billowing clouds.

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