Glacier cauldrons at top of Bárðarbunga volcano caldera rim

During the eruption in Bárðarbunga volcano and the collapse of the caldera. A hydrothermal activity was seen on top of Bárðarbunga volcano caldera. Since the eruption in Holuhraun ended in February-2015 this hydrothermal activity has dropped, it has increased if anything. At the moment there are several depressions in the Vatnajökull glacier that is on top of Bárðarbunga volcano. Largest of them are 400 meters wide, I am not sure about their length. This cauldrons are around 100 meters deep and for the first time in several hundreds of years have exposed a bed rock that is normally under the glacier. Hydrothermal activity in Bárðarbunga volcano is now such that is able to melt 100 meters of glacier in several months.

This high amount of hydrothermal activity in the main volcano increases my suspicion that Bárðarbunga volcano is far from over. Since this also means that fresh magma is reaching up to 1 km in the crust in the Bárðarbunga volcano caldera rim. I don’t have any map of the locations of the calderas at the moment since none exist or at least has not yet been published. The main concern now is that this is going to increase the risk of sudden glacier floods from Bárðarbunga volcano. This might also increase the risk of sudden short volcano eruptions in Bárðarbunga volcano, either in its slopes or close to the caldera rim. As it is clear that magma has rather clear access to that part of the volcano.

Rúv News article (in Icelandic)

Gat í gegnum jökulinn (Rúv.is, Icelandic, video)

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Article updated at 23:51 UTC. Text fixes.