Posted on by Jón Frímann

No lava flow visible in Holuhraun main crater

Today (27-February-2015) there was no visible lava flow from the main crater in Holuhraun. The eruption is not officially over, this however seems to be the end of this eruption in Bárðarbunga volcano. It appears that gas emission continue from the crater and Holuhraun at the moment, it can be expected those are going to end in next few weeks to months.

New video of the crater in Holuhraun can be found here.

Ekki glóð í gígnum í Holuhrauni – Myndband (Rúv.is, video)

It is not known what happens next in Bárðarbunga volcano or when it is going to happen. All that can be done is to wait and see.

18 Replies to “No lava flow visible in Holuhraun main crater”

  1. All eyes on the eq and tremor patterns now, its going to be interesting. I note the GPS shift has settled too but I expect that to be short lived as it there has been so much there has to be a knock on effect.

  4. This is a geothermal event,more obvious geothermal activity in the caldera.Holuhraun may have stopped due to the caldera shallow magma system having fully reactivated,this gives an opportunity for unrestricted heat flow in the system and less chance of the development of these dikes?Stefan is going to hate this post lol.

    1. JB, I’m already sleeping, and it’s technically impossible to reply to your comment :-))

  5. The eruption at Holuhraun ended on 26 February, just as I accurately predicted. 😉

    IMO says that the subsidence of the caldera is continuing at 5cm a day. This is still a substantial enough force on the deep magma chamber to keep pressure up in the dike system. Since the path to Holuhraun appears to be blocked, the pressure in the dikes will slowly increase.

    Which means that many small eruptions or a big one could still follow.

  6. Maths was the best tool for predicting Holuhraun eruption.
    The subsidience equation was estimated to flatten around March, which would lead to Holuhraun eruption end.

    Guess that the math relating subsidience to eruption rate, was a correct model!

    1. Good point, it’s a bit too early, let’s wait rather 2 weeks for further interpretations, but if we have constant subsidence and the eruption just died out rather rapidly, then it might not be linked at all or not anymore. Or just a little. We will see.

  9. Icelandic Met Office just made it official.

    The eruption in Holuhraun, which began 31 August 2014, has come to an end.

    The area continues to be closely monitored.
    Gas contamination is still detected around the eruption site.
    No changes have been made to the restricted area north of Vatnajökull.
    The Civil Protection still operates in alert phase.
    Aviation Colour Code for Bárðarbunga has been downgraded from orange to yellow.

  10. RÚV interview with geophysicist Páll Einarsson: http://www.ruv.is/frett/eldgosinu-lauk-liklegast-i-gaer

    Satellite pictures showed the last heat around 04:00 on the 27th. A helicopter pilot reported that there was no more incandescence to be seen within the craters around noon the same day which was prooved by the FLIR pictures of scientists during a surveillance flight the same evening.

    If there would be another eruption on the same place, it would be counted as a new one. Though it is very probable that a new eruption activity would take place in the same region, it is not possible to say where it would break out.

    Acc. to Prof. Einarsson, there is no heightened probability that the next eruption would take place in the main volcano, but within the known big intrusion, where pressure could rise, perhaps more in the middle of it (which would be under the glacier).

    But he also adds, that they don’t have at the moment enough GPS data to indicate a possible new eruption site.

    1. Withdrawal of magma? That would be significant, I think…otherwise VERY rapid surface cooling

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