Posted on by Jón Frímann

Bárðarbunga volcano update 12-December-2014

This is super short update for Bárðarbunga volcano.

  • The lava field is now around 76 km² in size. I am getting slightly conflicting reports on the size of the lava field. I don’t know why that is.
  • Lava tubes have started to form inside the lava, recent observation suggest this according to latest news.
  • Flow of the lava is now to the north (toward the Míla cameras). The lava breaks out at the edge of older and colder lava.
  • There is no change in the eruption at the moment according to best observations available at the moment.
  • Earthquake activity remains about the same as before. There has been a while since earthquake larger than magnitude 5,0 took place.

New video of the eruption can be found in the link below. Part of it is in English. Other than this there is nothing new to report. I have also not been able to properly follow the newest information on what is going on while I am moving back to Iceland.

Breytt landslag í Holuhrauni (Rúv.is, Icelandic, part in English, video)

Other: My belongings are now in transit to Hvammstangi. I am going to get them on Monday. This means I can start to provide more updates after than and on more regular basis. Since my laptop is no good for this type of job, since it is slow and not far from failing due to many faults that have appeared over the last seven years.

Donations: Please remember to donate or to by what you need from Amazon. Thanks for the support.

The storm: For those interested in how bad snow storm looks in Iceland. Please check the video below.

Farmer films crazy storm (mbl.is, English, video)

148 Replies to “Bárðarbunga volcano update 12-December-2014”

  1. That’s some storm, horizontal snow. Thanks for the link and update Jon. Glad to see you back on line.

  2. WOW, Jon, that looks like a cold place!

    Was that your childhood home town?

    I assume there’s plenty of solitude available there.

    Though it also seems like it wouldn’t take toooo many homes to host the whole town for Sonday dinner! LOL.

    I grew up in a small town. Lot better for growing up than a big city, imho.

      1. THANKS THANKS THANKS, Jon!

        LOL I searched for maybe an hour and a half to find out about Hvammstangi. I even stopped briefly at Wiki but somehow missed that page.

        Interesting about textiles. I’m also a weaver. I guess most of y’all’s textiles are knitted?

        May I ask what led you to this town for your new home?

        I thought maybe it would have an air-strip; but I couldn’t find one. I assume that once winter sets in hard, one doesn’t go that far?

        At least it appears to be far enough off ‘the beaten path’ that the globalist ‘big guys’ should leave the town alone for quite some time. LOL.

        Anyway–congrats on your new adventure in life.

        SteveG, THANKS for your kind words. I still feel that I, also, am a case of “too soon old and too late smart!”

      2. Used to live there during the years 2004 – 2011 and now I plan on doing so again.

        I don’t know anything about the textile industry in the town. Its not my area of knowledge. The town is small, just around 550 people and only around 1390 people in the whole municipality.

        As for adventures, they have never happened to me in Hvammstangi so far. I doubt that is going to change any time soon.

  3. For the “baseline” summary table 16Aug2014-31Oct2014 there were 8.5% of the 3.0+ EQs that were 5.0+. Based on taking the difference between the new 100 day table and the baseline table, we have had only 2% of the 3.0+ EQs being 5.0+ (13 out of 649) since Oct31. This is a statistically significant decrease. On the other hand, the percentage of 3.0 to 3.9 and 4.0 to 4.9 are comparable to those over the baseline period (no significant changes for the other two categories).

    2. stephen.thomas, you’re statistics seem to make a good physical point. Those 5+’s are major crushers. 3-4’s are much less powerful, and reflect diminished magma activity below. This is in line with earlier posts by Irpsit about the decreased strength of the eruption and less local gas pollution.

      2. You are assuming “magma activity” correlates with earthquake frequency or strength. This may not be the case and depends on the “activity” which you need to define. For example a more freely flowing magma will lead to less pressure build ups and less eqs due to that particular cause. The eq causal mechanism could also have changed. Rather than larger movements of the other ring fault it could now be smaller movements of inner ring faults.
        http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1029/2010JB007636/full
        In the following http://m.iopscience.iop.org/1755-1315/3/1/012025/pdf/1755-1315_3_1_012025.pdf

        Page 4, Fig 2. c Seismicity related
        with the caldera collapse at Fernandina (after Filson et al., 1973)

        You can see the large eqs decrease whilst frequency of smaller eqs appears to increase. I think that I can see thae same thing happening at BB http://www.vedur.is/photos/volcanoes/barc_gps_all_is.png

        However the time duration is much longer, possibly because the magma chamber is much bigger.

      3. @steveG,In my not so humble opinion,your assumption is incorrect,the less 5 mag quakes,are due to a more geothermal active caldera?

      4. Porsche928, yes, only the mag 5+ EQ’s have gradually diminished since the start of the eruption. In the past 48 hours, I see 195 total EQ’s listed in the table, and a whopping 44 EQ’s of mag 3.0-4.6. The total of small EQ’s are an underestimate depending on the weather.

      5. Thank you for that great post, Andy!

        You’re right, I over-simplified the relation of EQ’s and magma flow. I usually think of three classes of quakes, the 5+ caldera droppers, the mag 3-4 rim crushers, and the mag 1-2 dike fillers. The eruption is being fed from deep vertical dike(s), one of which was opened by the initial east then north moving magma flow. There might (or might not) be at least another pre-existing deep dike source, but that’s just baseless speculation.

        Those are two wonderful articles on 3 caldera collapses, which I can only follow at my shallow level. One thing to notice is that Bardarbunga might be in a class all by itself because of the extensive and very deep rift produced dike system. The Holuhraun eruption and the dikes could easily slowly drain 3+ km3 magma directly from the deep magma chamber without resolving any of the ensuing possibilities.

      6. JB, I’d like to respond but I honestly can’t imagine your facts being likely. How do you see a ‘geothermal active caldera’ producing anything more than some insignificant lakes under the ice about where some cauldrons are? Wouldn’t the size of the cauldrons tell us about the size of the sub-glacial lakes?

    1. Friday
      12.12.2014 07:35:52 64.670 -17.433 8.9 km 3.3 99.0 5.6 km NE of Bárðarbunga
      Friday
      12.12.2014 06:31:41 64.684 -17.460 9.8 km 4.3 99.0 5.8 km NE of Bárðarbunga
      Friday
      12.12.2014 06:31:06 64.683 -17.432 9.6 km 4.0 99.0 6.5 km NE of Bárðarbunga

      Friday
      12.12.2014 05:52:46 64.644 -17.339 9.0 km 4.5 99.0 9.0 km E of Bárðarbunga

  5. Friday
    12.12.2014 10:57:48 64.619 -17.366 1.1 km 3.0 90.02 8.1 km ESE of Bárðarbunga

    Friday
    12.12.2014 10:05:38 64.662 -17.399 6.2 km 3.4 99.0 6.6 km ENE of Bárðarbunga
    Friday
    12.12.2014 08:26:34 64.681 -17.413 10.5 km 3.2 99.0 7.1 km NE of Bárðarbunga
    Friday
    12.12.2014 07:35:52 64.670 -17.433 8.9 km 3.3 99.0 5.6 km NE of Bárðarbunga
    Friday
    12.12.2014 06:31:41 64.684 -17.460 9.8 km 4.3 99.0 5.8 km NE of Bárðarbunga
    Friday
    12.12.2014 06:31:06 64.683 -17.432 9.6 km 4.0 99.0 6.5 km NE of Bárðarbunga

  6. I don’t want to spam with quakes… but today we have this “big” quakes in a row…

    1. This is nothing special. three over 5.0 quake would be something special! Or an earthquake swarm of 50 earthquakes per hour. Everything else is normal.

    2. Since 3 months it goes up and down with the quake. Sometimes more, sometimes less. Intresant are quake swarms and earthquakes above 5.0. And if I want to know how it looks with the quake, I look hier.http: //en.vedur.is/earthquakes-and-volcanism/earthquakes/vatnajokull/#view=map or here http: //baering.github. io / But only my opinion

    1. THX THX.

      Been waiting for an updated one of those images. Now, I wish they’d overlay the river’s ‘stream-lets’ (little streams) onto that pic.

      It appears to me that the lava flow is now thick enough that it’s starting to encroach on some of those ‘islands’ in the middle of the flow???

      2. It didn’t take much to fill that space once the process started, did it? Has the lava flow increased lately?

  8. Dear everyone,
    I saw a 3.1 quake at 5:52 hrs. at only
    0.0 km depth, 10.3 km ENE of Barda with a reliable quality of 99%, which means amplitude and depth are accurate, right?
    For my understanding: the 0.0 means the surface of the caldera and the bottom of the glacier, am I correct?
    If correct then it’s a relatively strong quake at a very shallow depth!
    What could this mean?

    Kind regards,

    Henk Weijerstrass
    Holland

    2. As a non-expert, I guess that 0.0km would be at or just under the surface of the rim under the ice cap. More or less. That quake was part of a swarm of shallow quakes, and it means the same as most other quakes of magnitude 3-4 under the volcano’s rim. The rock is being split and fragmented as the caldera and the rim slowly collapse over a deep (more than 9 km) and shrinking magma chamber.

  9. Jon, Maybe this old dog should leave this old bone alone but I’m still concerned about your computing capacities. IIRC (If I Recall Correctly), you don’t want a new laptop unless it’s one around $400 USD?

    A new HP desktop with 8Gig RAM is around $5xx USD.

    It seems to me that we ought to be able to get some good deals after CHRISTmas.

    I’m just persistently concerned that you are trying to do a lot with antiquated equipment that’s flawed or with increasing glitches in it. That’s no fun.

    Anyway–IF–you’d think it fitting . . . I don’t see why we couldn’t establish a “computer fund” and if and when it reached suitable robustness, you could get what you wanted and needed. Limping along “nickel and diming” it with bailing wire and duct tape is no fun, either.

    It just seems to me that with all the power available in new machines now at fairly reasonable prices . . . it’s worth trying to get you something better. imho.

      1. Just a small earthquake swarm, it has stopped in the meanwhile.

        But it sits at a location, where we have had swarms before (see eg. http://icelandgeology.net/?p=2872 ), not far from the Hellisheidi Geothermal Station and within the Brennisteinsfjöll volcanic system http://www.volcano.si.edu/volcano.cfm?vn=371040 , one of the four or five volcanic systems (depends on the scientist’s definition) on the Reykjanes Peninsula. Interestingly, the quakes where checked very fast 99% by IMO, though it is weekend.

      2. Thanks for these infos, Inge!
        Do we know, if the actual swarm has been tectonic or magmatic?
        2 quakes came some ours later. So it seems to be over..for now.

    3. Petrology of the new fissure eruption north of Dyngjujökull
      Enikő Bali, et al., (apologies to all the other authors, I know that ‘et al.’ is not fair)
      Institute of Earth Sciences, University of Iceland

      The emerging magma can be classified as olivine tholeiite …, containing up to 5% normative olivine. This is the most common magma type formed within the Icelandic axial rift system and is most frequently produced by flood lava eruptions out in the fissure swarms of the volcanic systems.

    4. Magma types and mantle sources of the Bárðarbunga
      volcanic system
      Sæmundur Ari Ha lldórsson, Guðrún Sverrisdóttir og Gylfi Sigurðsson
      Institute of Earth Sciences, University of Iceland

      individual segments of the [Bárðarbunga volcanic system] appear to be associated with different magma reservoirs, most likely located at mid to lower crustal levels (>10 km)

      1. From the same article

        From the major element chemistry of the BVS, it is thus evident that fairly primitive magmas have been generated in this system throughout the Holocene, at least. In accordance with this, we note that evolved basaltic compositions, often associated with large and mature caldera system in Iceland, such as Krafla and Askja, appear absent, but cannot be entirely excluded given the limited number of samples available from the base and flanks of the partially ice- covered Bárðarbunga volcano. Significantly, no highly evolved rocks (dacite, rhyolite) have been associated with the BVS. It is therefore unlikely that a long-lived and a relatively shallow (<5 km) magma chamber has been present beneath Bárðarbunga throughout the Holocene and possibly longer.

      2. @ianF,that seems contrary to the interview that was posted a little while back,that indicated the presence of shallow magma at less than presumably 5km?

      3. It appears to me that amongst the experts opinion is somewhat divided,with some holding on to a purely drainage model and others tending to something more complex?

      4. The problem with these theories is they are just that. Educated yes, concrete no. The prime elemental indicators can be influenced by adiabatic melt especially when the magma is at very high temperatures.

        The temperatures at the Holuhraun have initially been measured at 1150C but there have been changes and those temperatures could be even higher.

        I expected the Holuhraun to have dimished by now, but it is still going, which means the temperatures is high enough to prevent crystalline deposition of higher melting point rocks, it is therefore high enough to melt elements into the magma on its route to the surface – giving what may be false indications as to the source depth by virtue of it containing elements that may be associated with shallower depth.

        imho.

      5. @Scots John,that would only mean that the magma is coming from greater than 9km anyway,so it does nothing to solve the 9km to 0 km mystery of the caldera,a large percentage of the quakes have been shallower than 9km,so that does tend to indicate that magma is present in significant quantity at shallower depths.Is this magma migrating to the surface?The lack of significant tremor suggests no.Is this shallow magma increasing in temperature?The evidence suggests yes.Now the current erupting magma was very hot from day one,that suggests to me that any magma at shallow depth was originally a lot cooler than 1150°C.But what do I know lol

      6. From the article:
        … given the limited number of samples available from the base and flanks of the partially ice-covered Bárðarbunga volcano.
        [… we surmise that …]
        Significantly, no highly evolved rocks (dacite, rhyolite) have been associated with the BVS. It is therefore unlikely that a long-lived and a relatively shallow (<5 km) magma chamber has been present beneath Bárðarbunga throughout the Holocene and possibly longer.

        They do carefully add unlikely to indicate that this is an educated probabilistic best guess based on the available evidence.

        My unprofessional take on this:
        More recently, IMO suggested a shallow magma layer under the caldera, at 1-3km, if I remember right. This is also supported by an EQ free zone beneath the caldera at 3-5km, or so. While I accept the above scientists’ conclusions, it is nevertheless still possible, though highly unlikely, that the shallow magma layer, that they were missing at that time, is rhyolite or dacite. This is supported by the finding of rhyolite at Askja (J. Stevenson), another unlikely site.

        The difference is that rhyolite has a considerably lower melting temperature and is loaded with H2o, therefore is a likely source of a secondary explosion (like at 2010 Eyjafjallajökull).

      7. Involvement of rhyolite in an eruption would be primary with phreatomagmatic basalt eruption secondary?.If a basalt eruption occurred first than the rhyolite(if present) probably is not very eruptible and may just extrude as a dome?

      8. @SteveG, 19:12
        Re. Askja: This was not at all an “unlikely site” to find rhyolites, because Askja is a big volcanic centre, and in Iceland, most of these, active or no, contain (also) more evolved material like rhyolite or dacite.

        See eg. Krafla central volcano: http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007%2FBF00302832 , Hofsjökull / Kerlingarfjöll: http://www.volcano.si.edu/volcano.cfm?vn=371090&vtab=References , or the extinct Thingmúli volcano http://wiki.web.ru/images/7/78/Carmichael64.pdf in East Iceland, one of the first extinct central volcanoes to be thoroughly geologically analysed. This is rather easy to do in the east of the country, because there, erosion has had a timespan of some million years to eat away about 2.000 m of rock.

      9. IngeB, thank you for enlightening me on that broader topic of rhyolites in Iceland.

        That opens up two, so far untouched problems of geology and volcanism in Iceland. The first is the origin and history of rhyolitic magma. The second is the apparent absence of rhyolite around Bardarbunga . (I know, you don’t believe in such an unlikely gap)

      10. A nice blog post based on an interview with an American geologist on the “split nature” of Icelandic volcanoes: http://arstechnica.com/science/2010/04/understanding-the-split-personality-of-icelands-volcanoes/

        Re. the question from where this rhyolite might orginate: Mafic magmas like basalt may evolve to felsic magmas like rhyolite in shallow magma chambers or reservoirs under the influence of pressure and temperature with time. See eg. at Austurhorn in the southeast of Iceland (near Höfn): http://petrology.oxfordjournals.org/content/33/6/1405.short

      11. Looking at the literature, to the extent that I can decipher the technical details. You are actually making a very interesting argument.

        If I understand, shallow chamber magmas gradually evolve into mixed composition and eventually rhyolite. Deeper, much larger, much hotter regularly resupplied basaltic sources repeatedly heat and mix the shallow magma. Gradually, lighter magma floats to the top.

        Has BB done this?

    5. To add insult to injury. What does the following sentence mean, my open university english isn’t good enough:

      “Sulfide globules have not been found in
      glass inclusions, which suggests that sulfide saturation, manifested by the
      formation of immiscible sulfide melt, only occurs after the crystallization of the phenocrysts begins with concomitant increase in the sulfide content of the remaining melt.”

      Or is it similar to “Soils were once rocks”.

      1. All the maths and sciences are like that. Specialized lexicons are needed to keep up with the latest publications. Even specialists from different areas of science or geology have trouble understanding each other.

      2. As crystals form sulphides are not part of those crytals and so increase in concentration in the remaining melt. At some point the sulphide concentration reaches sauration and globlules form. These globules are then surrounded by the crystals as inclusions.

      3. @Andy As it stands there, it’s more like a description of a physical process which cannot be reproduced under laboratory conditions.

        After having read it a dozen times.

      4. “Sulfide globules have not been found in
        glass inclusions,

        (implies that sulfide globules HAVE been found, but not inside the glass inclusions)

        which suggests that sulfide saturation

        (implies that globule formation happens when the material becomes saturated with sulfides)

        manifested by the
        formation of immiscible sulfide melt

        (implies that the sulfide does not easily mix with other materials)

        ,” only occurs after the crystallization of the phenocrysts begins”

        (Since there is no sulfide globules inside the glass inclusions, they must occur after those crystals began to form.)

        “with concomitant increase in the sulfide content of the remaining melt.”

        (so the crystal formation increases the sulfide content in the remaining melt increasing its concentration until globules form)

        Analogy: It would be as if sea water freezes forming ice crystals increasing the amount of salt in the remaining brine. In this case imagine it got SO cold that all of the water freezes and leaves globules of pure salt behind. The globules of salt would form well after the water has frozen but this isn’t a perfect analogy as salt dissolves in water. In this case the sulfide does not mix.

    6. @SteveG,absence of any evolved magma,whether completely cooled or otherwise in such a large system when it exists elsewhere,does not seem a logical conclusion,why they think a caldera in Iceland will resemble one in Hawaii defies reason?

      1. @JB.
        The first: just my opinion also, though I think that there won’t be a lot of evolved magma in Bárðarbunga, as there wasn’t found any eg. in analyses of tephra from the ground of the Arctic Sea, by G. Larsen etal. And the hot spot under the volcano will mostly produce mafic magmas.

        The second re. the resemblance with Hawaiian volcanoes: 1) Bárðarbunga has the form of a big shield volcano; 2) it seems to be a collapse caldera http://volcano.oregonstate.edu/hawiian-calderas .

      2. My idea, is that there has not been a large explosive eruption from the caldera in thousands of years(hence my earlier woolly mammoth analogy) but the shallow depth caldera picks up remnant magma that is mainly erupted elsewhere,such as at Holuhraun and this evolves at shallow depth into a possible shallow rhyolite deposit?Most of the eruptions (except some effusive ones)at the system occur outside the caldera?

  14. Heklubyggð geophone station is down due to a computer failure. I don’t know what type of computer failure has taken place. It won’t be fixed until next week at the earliest.

  15. from:

    http://icelandica.net/2014/03/20/repeat-after-me-hvammstangi/

    Meaning is one challenge; pronunciation is another. One must beware of treacherous blended consonants. When I say a place name like “Hvammstangi” to an Icelander, they look quizzically at me. I have to explain, “It’s in Iceland. It’s a town around here.” Oh, ho, ho, and they repeat it back to me. The “Hvamm” is said in a way my tongue won’t curl with a ‘pwhoo’ and a ‘vrrrm,” and a lilt and a whisper that confirms the futility of my learning to speak the language.

    An oral pronunciation is available here:

    http://www.forvo.com/user/hlodver/added-words/

    about 2/3rds of the way down that page. Said a bit fast for foreigners but clear enough.

      1. aha,. thank you 🙂 now I understand a littlebit more,.
        And and the video really shows how explosive it gets,. Think if this was even bigger or a block of ice! and this shows,that even a small amount of water can create havock and why Volcanoes with water or ice in the mix gets so dangerous,.

    2. I guess it is because of the rapid conversion of water to steam which means rapid expansion. Rapid expansion = explosion. Put water into boiling oil…

      1. Yes, in itself the volume increase doesn’t fragment the lava into airborne particles as it is the case when it penetrates into cracks of a’a type lava.

  18. Saturday
    13.12.2014 05:21:36 64.669 -17.485 4.2 km 4.8 99.0 3.8 km NNE of Bárðarbunga

    Saturday
    13.12.2014 02:35:48 64.608 -17.422 1.1 km 4.7 99.0 6.2 km SE of Bárðarbunga
    Saturday
    13.12.2014 02:34:20 64.659 -17.397 11.0 km 4.5 99.0 6.5 km ENE of Bárðarbunga

  19. Andy, IngeB and others – many thanks for the illuminating references providing much food for thought.

  20. Saturday
    13.12.2014 13:19:17 64.670 -17.437 8.5 km 4.1 99.0 5.4 km NE of Bárðarbunga

  21. This link regards the abstract volumes (agripahefti) of the sessions of the Icelandic Geographic Association of the last about 10 years: http://www.jfi.is/radstefnur/

    Most of them are pdf-downloads, and as with the a.m. one, most of these abstracts are in English. They all contain themes regarding Icelandic geography and geology and often could be a “teaser” to look for the whole article later on the internet (eg. by using scholar.google.com or other search engines).

  22. Well it’s just me or the dyke is conecting to Bardarbunga on several places? At least it seams looking to quakes now…

      1. Well it seams at least for me, that quakes are “drawing” one or two more connections to Bardarbunga caldera…

  24. This is the best satellite photo I have seen of Bardarbunga Volcano and caldera. It is taken from directly above, and shows what appear to be large fractures (?) around the caldera. The photo is mislabeled, Ambrym; Vanuatu but the coordinates are listed as Lat: 65.110157° North   Lon: 16.704783° West and it is obviously the BB caldera. Taken on 24 Nov 2014.

    https://astereds.cr.usgs.gov/show_data_browse_fullsize.php?id=14474&mode=1&desc=Ambrym;%20Vanuatu&type=TIR&date=11/24/2014%2022:29:29

    Here are a couple other photos of the caldera taken on 08 Nov 2014.
    TIR browse of ‘Bardarbunga Volcano (T); Iceland’
    11/08/2014 12:49:07 – Don’t know what the large dark areas are in this one.:

    https://astereds.cr.usgs.gov/show_data_browse_fullsize.php?id=14422&mode=1&desc=Bardarbunga%20Volcano%20(T):%20Iceland&type=TIR&date=11/08/2014%2012:49:07

    TIR browse of ‘Bardarbunga Volcano (U); Iceland’
    11/08/2014 22:29:23:

    https://astereds.cr.usgs.gov/show_data_browse_fullsize.php?id=14423&mode=1&desc=Bardarbunga%20Volcano%20(U);%20Iceland&type=TIR&date=11/08/2014%2022:29:23

  25. Glaciologists in Iceland have been working with mapping the outlet glaciers of Vatnajökull to see their development. The outcome was that most of these in the eastern and southeastern part of the country will have vanished after another 200 years. This is also the case with the biggest ones, i.e. Fláajökull, Heinabergsjökull and Skálafellsjökull (they are all of them not far from the town of Höfn). The draw-back at the moment is up to no less than 300 m within the last 120 years. http://www.ruv.is/frett/skridjoklar-sem-verda-horfnir-eftir-200-ar (see also the film included, the commentary is in Icelandic, but the animations show the development very well)

    1. Maybe I’m not awake enough yet . . . but I’m not understanding how/why they will vanish in 200 years? Additional eruptions will have covered them over, or what?

      1. Ahhhhh . . . should have read the link first. I see now. Hmmmm

        Would have implications for power generation, or not?

        Earth changes are clearly coming . . . evidently in dramatic ways.

      3. No comment I could read about methodology used for their prediction. At a guess, it was probably a straight line graph that allows for no possible changes in climate conditions, since that tends to be the case in these kinds of stories. Nice for doom & gloom, bad for scientific predictions.

    1. Wind is very strong in the east part right now. Up to 65 m/s wind gusts so far, that is 234 km/h.

      1. Really crazy weather again in Iceland. This is on the main road, the National Road no. 1, which goes around the country. The scene is on a mountain pass called Vikurskard, not far from Akureyri, and just 325 m high: http://www.ruv.is/frett/%E2%80%9Ealveg-gufuvitlaust-vedur%E2%80%9C

        And most of the roads in the country, except around the capital city of Reykjavík are just about closed (red colour): http://www.vegagerdin.is/ferdaupplysingar/faerd-og-vedur/faerd-um-allt-land/island1.html

  27. Sunday14.12.2014 06:51:03 63.669 -19.108 0.8 km 3.1 99.0 7.7 km ENE of Goðabunga
    Sunday14.12.2014 04:27:04 63.668 -19.116 0.1 km 2.6 99.0 7.3 km ENE of Goðabunga Green star on Katla caldera…

  28. It was tough top in the area of the lava between last measurements 11 and 12 December, or 1.1 m ^ 2, which is five times more than the average for the past month. This could be due to a slight increase in earthquakes under the lava these days which could cause it to settles or just a dam in the lava has burst. However, there is a simultaneous increase in the big earthquake in Bárðarbunga the ones mostly associated with subsidence, so here could also be an indication of an increase in the flow of magma to HH. It is the first time since September, increases is measurable. It will be interesting to see what happens when we get the next satellite image of the lava.

    http://mummij.blog.is/blog/mummij/entry/1542465/

    1. I think “a dam in the lava has burst”. That is why the “island” (the gap in the lavafield) was filled up. So the overall area of Nornarhaun increased that day very much. Doesn’t mean neccessarily, the flow volume has increased.
      But would be interesting if it had indeed!

      3. Sorry, i don’t get it… i just want to say it was a post from his blog… not my intention!

  31. Sunday
    14.12.2014 20:15:52 64.671 -17.518 13.3 km 4.4 99.0 3.5 km N of Bárðarbunga
    Sunday
    14.12.2014 20:14:54 64.683 -17.483 11.4 km 4.3 99.0 5.2 km NNE of Bárðarbunga

  32. There is a forming hot spot on the left hand side of Mila 1 . If you look you can occasionally see flashes of light higher up in the back ground. Can anyone give me a clue about what it might be.

    1. If I read you correct, I’m guessing it’s the automatic aperture of the cam. When the light from the fissure dims, more light from the surroundings is let in making the low-lit clouds/steam/smoke low in the sky look brighter.
      But I might be wrong!

      It’s a nice eerie view at Mila1 tonight!

    1. Many 5.4 have happened without any change in behaviour of BB. There appears to be a minor swarm which is interesting. Need to look at the focal mechanism to see the strike slip.

    2. Yes it is… but not only the biger quakes are important… at least it’s my view. 😀

      5. The volcano I think is currently in a stable state,a rather alarming stable state but nonetheless stable.The earthquakes are the current new normal,so maybe the next 5 mag quake could be the precursor,but that is now unlikely.I think the the thing to watch is the glacier,any deterioration may be apparent from major changes there?

  36. great input by all by the way!

    Q:
    With the ongoing eruption and all the new lava, will the weight of this have any effect on the way BB behaves.

    1. Nature is interactive, as you imply. But there is no new magma. The old magma is just being spread out more over a somewhat greater area.

      But the dike system is now filled with magma, and that magma spreads pressure equally in all directions, just as the arteries of the body spread blood pressure from the heart pumping.

  39. Why are there no earthquakes showing show then ?
    BB seems immune to all the earthquakes over the past 100+ days. When this fissure eruption ends, it will be fascinating to know what happened when all the data is analysed.

  40. On the IMO update today and the link to the “depressions & cauldrons” under the lava photo…..is that a massive cauldron at the top of the glacier? and was that where the GPS instrument was that was measuring the subsidence?

    1. Yes and yes!
      Thank for the link. I haven’t looked today at the update…
      Looks very impressive now…

    2. This photo is very revealing. Aside from all the data pointing toward an eruption to the nw area of the caldera, this shows previous flows in that zone. I maintain this is the high risk zone toward tungnafellsjokull. It is the weak link in my opinion, it lines up with the quiet zone between the eq high activity areas and the highest consistent tremor areas. Right in the midst of the tectonic shift and hreppar plate multi planar shift.

      I realise many favour the north, but I see previous eruptive material reinforcing that zone rather than it be in vulnerable.

      This is conjecture on my part, but so is everyone’s theory.

      2. All that material is at that north east end because I assume the shallow magma tends to get pushed that way,that is the zone of greatest pressure?The shallow magma forms an oval shape?,perhaps that indicates a gradual northeast drift by the deep source plume that reinforces the the shallow caldera?

    1. I only see the large centralized glacial subsidence and the cauldrons?Those features you are referring to,look like long standing geological features?

  45. Due to lack of time and that I don’t have my main computer up and running today. I am going to write the new update tomorrow on what has been going on in Bárðarbunga volcano. I did only see that a magnitude 5,4 earthquake had happened once I became online just now.

    I now have all my belonging in storage and my main computer with me, so that from tomorrow I am going to be able to start writing regular updates on what is going on.

    Heklubyggð geophone remains offline due to some type of computer or network failure. I don’t know when it is going to get back online. The weather forecast is not good for next three days in Iceland.

  46. Jon, Welcome back to your old home, Iceland – and you old computer (LOL). I am still curious about the calderas formed as result of ice melting in the glacier Votnajokull over the main volcano, as to whether they are exhibiting any convex mounding? Or are they growing more concave? I cannot tell from the photos. I think this is the best indicator at this point of what will happen at Votnajokull. Thanks.

  47. I am glad to read your possessions are now organised and those which need to be are safely in storage. Moving countries is such an upheaval and I would like to congratulate you on your swift resettlement in your temporary abode. I so look forward to reading your regular reports!

  49. we have a star near Tugna: Monday
    15.12.2014 22:21:33 64.788 -17.778 5.1 km 3.2 99.0 15.4 km ENE of Nýidalur

Comments are closed.