Posted on by Jón Frímann

Update on the quiet time

It currently is quiet in Iceland, both in volcano and earthquakes. But it is not all without earthquakes. Few earthquakes have taken place in Krísuvík volcano, the largest being ML2.6 and in Kverkfjöll volcano. Few earthquakes have also appeared in TFZ, but all of them where small.

Besides this small activity. Everything remains quiet.

25 Replies to “Update on the quiet time”

  1. I have an offtopic question. Why has Tindfjallajökull so long been dormant, although it lies in an active volcanic region with very active volcanoes surrounding it? Have they all simply drained the magma supply away from it?

    1. I don’t know why this is. But it appears that old volcanoes are less active then young ones.

      I do not know how old Tindafjallajökull volcano is. But I do believe that is considerably older then Eyjafjallajökull volcano (~700.000 years old).

      1. Thanks. Maybe it’s actually extinct, how does one distinguish an extinct volcano from a dormant one?

      2. Typically it can be done after at least a million years from the last eruption. But not always even then…

    3. There’s been quite a swarm near Hekla today, with all but one measuring below a 1.0, and the other being a 2.5. Does 6-9km count as a deep enough earthquake for the possibility to arise that it might be caused by magma rising? I’m no expert, but I thought I’d point that out anyway in case it does actually mean something. It’s just that to me an entire area covered in little yellow dots looks very suspect.

    2. Thanks once more, Lurking.
      Couldn’t imagine that there had been so many quakes under Torfajökull volcano.
      Looks like a sill shaped intrusion under it, right?

  4. No.. no particular shape to it. Just a much more diffuse wedge similar to the other volcanos in Iceland Remember thats about 15 years worth of quakes. If there is sill activity, it’s in the area south of there (just off the plot) under the western slopes of Katla.

    Whats interesting is that its actually a noisy little volcano. It’s just sneaky about it and quietly does it’s thing while every body else is looking at Hekla ot Katla.

    1. And it’s a stunning beautifull volcano too, if anyone plans a trip to Iceland sometime, I strongly strongly recommend going there, the mountains are beautifully coulored and the view from Hraftinnuskur hut to Myrdallsjökull and Eyafjallajökull is amazing. I was able to take a nice picture of the steam plume above Eyafjallajökull in July.

      Most amazing example of these stunning mountains:
      http://www.panoramio.com/photo/23064143
      (all credits go to the author)

      Three pictures of Torfajökull area made by myself last summer:
      http://i54.tinypic.com/2cmkk8h.jpg > View from Hraftinnuskur to Mýrdallsjökull.
      http://i56.tinypic.com/vfci75.jpg > Near the hot springs of Storihver
      http://i56.tinypic.com/qohuuc.jpg > The lava flow from the 1477 eruption, which was at the same time as (and about 10-15km from) the Veidivötn fissures.

      1. Sorry, but the first image is by for to much saturated in the color. The mountains in the Landmannalaugar area are colored, but not so much.

      2. Nope, I’m pretty sure this isn’t edited or something. The green stuff you see is some kind of neon-green moss, the blue color seems to be too unnatural to be true, but I have also seen these colors, unless in a smaller concentration, I still give it a good chance this exists.

        Another example of a rhyolitic landscape (Ljotipollur, just outside the Torfajökull volcano, credits to the maker)
        http://commondatastorage.googleapis.com/static.panoramio.com/photos/original/14230592.jpg

        And an example of a smaller concentrated piece of blue-rhyolitic-debree, made by myself.
        http://i54.tinypic.com/1zyefia.jpg

      3. Your pictures look like correct colours, maybe a little bit too dark. The green moss can really be bright but the bright blue looks not correct to me.

    1. This one can be natural when made with some weird light conditions. But the first picture you linked to is from another photographer and this has too bright blue. They both may heve used some filters on the camera so they don’t need editing afterwards…

      1. I’m telling you, I’ve seen this mountain and whether it’s cloudy, raining or sunny, it’s always as spectacular. I haven’t seen the mountainslope of the first picture but yes this is 100% possible. These are just chemicals which possibly can take on any form or color.

      2. I have been there last summer too and have been on this mountain. Therefor I say that the picture of the slope of Brennisteinsalda can be natural. It is just a weak grey-blue colour and that is possible. The bright blue colours of the first picture are too bright.

      3. It is probably photographed with Fuji Press and a Nikon F3. That combination was famously known for it’s blue tint.
        I used it when I was younger and moon-lighted as a postcard photographer. (If you ever wondered how you could get deep blue skyes before we all got photoshoped).
        It was amazing what you could do with varying film, cameras and filters.

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