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Use of radar to monitor start of a volcano eruption under an glacier

During the start of the volcano eruption of Eyjafjallajökull volcano in the year 2010. Use of radar images during the start of the eruption from it’s top crater provided valuable information on what was going on in the volcano. But due to weather it was close to impossible to monitor the start of eruption when it started in it’s top crater on 14. April 2010. The radar did allow sciencetist to monitor the formations of the ice cauldrons in the glacier and see how they did empty of glacier flood water in the start of the eruption. This allowed warnings to be issued in time for the population living close to Eyjafjallajökull volcano.

Icelandic news about this

Radarmyndir notaðar á einstakan hátt (Rúv.is)

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Marriage proposal on top of Eyjafjallajökull volcano yesterday

While for most people Eyjafjallajökull volcano eruption of the year 2010 was mostly doom and gloom because of air plain delays and closed air spaces. Something good did come out of it too. But something good did also come out of this eruption. But it is rare to hear of those stories. But this is one of those stories.

Rúv News tells about marriage proposal on top of Eyjafjallajökull volcano yesterday. But two and half years ago Catarinu Echeverri was on travel in Europe when the eruption in Eyjafjallajökull volcano hit Europe airspace. But due to mistake in flight booking just here friend did go to Venice on planned travel date. Because of this she was left stranded in Berlin. A man named Kay Kuehne offered here to stay with him for one night, but here flight to Venice the day after. Then the ash cloud from Eyjafjallajökull volcano eruption hit and she did end up staying longer with him then planned.

I wish the happy couple all the best in there future. 🙂

Rúv News about this.

Bónorð á Eyjafjallajökli (Rúv.is)

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Minor earthquake swarm in Brennisteinsfjöll volcano system

When I was moving there was an small earthquake in Brennisteinsfjöll volcano. Because I was moving I was unable to track this earthquake swarm properly. But the largest earthquake was around ML1.5 from what I can remember. The earthquakes had the depth of at least 2 km. But I am not sure what the exact depth is. But I have not yet looked at the reviewed data on this earthquake swarm.


The earthquake swarm in south-west part of Brennisteinsfjöll volcano. Copyright of this picture belongs to Iceland Meteorological Office.

There has not been a lot of activity in Iceland during all summer. So I have not had lot to write about. But that might change without any warning. As is common in Iceland.

I did also move on 7th of August to a new town in Denmark. That means I am out of ADSL connection until 24th of August. So this blog is going to suffer from lack of updates until I am properly connected to the internet.

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Magnitude 4.4 earthquake between Denmark and Sweden

This morning there was a magnitude 4.4 earthquake between Denmark and Sweden. This earthquake was felt in Denmark and Sweden. No damage did take place during this earthquake, best to my knowledge. I did not record this earthquake, as I am currently moving to a new place in Denmark. But based on static I should record next earthquake that happens in or close to Denmark in about 2 to 3 years time. More information about this earthquake can be found on EMSC web page here.


Earthquake regional location according to EMSC. Copyright of this picture belongs to EMSC.


Earthquake location at local level according to EMSC. Copyright of this picture belongs to EMSC.

It is hard to know for sure if there are going to be any aftershocks following this event. This might just be one-off earthquake. But I would not rule out aftershocks in next few days with the magnitude of ML2.0 – ML4.0. But this are intra-plate earthquake. They are not connected with any fault zone as such. But continental plates have fault zones on there own. This fault zones sometimes move and make a earthquake in the process.

Danish news about this.

Jordskælv i havet mellem Danmark og Sverige (DR.dk)
Jordskælv i Danmark: Krig, tog eller et bump på vejen? (DR.dk)

Update 1: More news on this from Danish media

Vores fundament er presset (b.dk)

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New mountain found deep west of coast of Iceland

Marine Research Institute (of Iceland) has found new mountain off the coast of Iceland. The mountain is in a plateau in the same area. But it rises up from the ocean floor about 450 meters. The area that was mapped had the size of 300 square kilometer. Depth of the ocean at this location is around 1400 meters. This mountain is possibly an old tuff mountain (volcano). But that is not confirmed. According the news, this mountain has youthful look to it and around three craters where spotted on it. The age in this area is around 20 million years. So this might be a extinct volcano from the time period when volcano activity was ongoing in this area. But it most likely has never been above the coast line.


The unnamed mountain on the ocean floor off the west coast of Iceland. Copyright of this image belongs to Marine Research Institute.

They found more then just this mountain in this survey. They also found more mud volcanoes off the coast of Iceland. Some of them are reaching 350 meters off the ocean floor.


Mud volcanoes appears as spikes in this image. This image has has things four times larger then they actually are. Copyright of this image belongs to Marine Research Institute.

There are many more unknowns off the coast of Iceland. As the ocean floor is largely unexplored today. As are many other parts of the ocean floor around the world.

Icelandic news about this

Stórt og mikið neðansjávarfjall birtist með fjölgeislamælingum djúpt vestur af Íslandi. (hafro.is, Icelandic, pictures)
Hafró: Fundu 450 m hátt neðansjávarfjall vestur af Snæfellsnesi – tífalt stærra en Ingólfsfjall (Pressan.is, Icelandic)

Blog post updated at 06:25 UTC on 02.08.2012. Correct English name for Hafrannsóknarstofnun added.

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Earthquake swarm in SISZ this morning (31.07.2012)

This morning there was an earthquake swarm in SISZ. This earthquake swarm was located just south of Hveragerði and Selfoss town. The largest earthquake in this earthquake swarm had the magnitude of ML1.3. Most of the other earthquake where less the magnitude 1.0 in size. Focal depth for this earthquake swarm was 5 to 6 km. Total of 30 or so earthquakes where recorded in this earthquake swarm. This earthquake swarm is in continued activity in this area. But SISZ often has frequent smaller earthquake swarms.


The area of earthquake activity in SISZ this morning (31.07.2012). Copyright of this image belongs to Iceland Meteorological Office.

This doesn’t mean anything special. But SISZ (South Icelandic Seismic Zone) is always at risk having large earthquakes. But based on how short it was since last one took place (May 2008). It is unlikely that is going to happen now.

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Donations for replacement geophone hardware needed

I have been having some issues with one of my new geophone station. This is the geophone station at Skeiðflöt. That geophone station monitors the activity in Katla volcano. So if anything happens in Katla volcano. I am going to see it first and best on that geophone station. My web page with all my geophone stations can be found here.

The problem seems to be hardware (failure in the hardware), or at least hardware incompatibility over USB port. This has resulted in that Skeiðflöt geophone station is always freezing. This happens every 2 to 4 days. I have to reboot the computer to get it working again (suggesting hardware incompatibility rather then anything else). But I cannot have this geophone station working like this. As frozen station means lost data from it. I do not know why the station is failing as it is doing. But

The cost of new replacement station (that is going to be serial, not USB) is $405 (2457 DKK) at current time. I do not know what the customs duties are for this in Iceland. But I do think they are none into Denmark (EU) on this type of electronics. I am going to replace the hardware in December 2012. As then I am going to Iceland over Christmas. At the same time I hope to install backup power at Skeiðflöt geophone station. But cheap backup power (650VA/360W) costs 10950 ISK (547 DKK, 73€, $90).

At current time I cannot pay for the replacement station, even if I wanted to. For that reason I am asking for donations to help fix this issue. I have already done a lot and spent some money on this issue. But I did move Skeiðflöt geophone station to 3G connection few weeks ago in order to improve connection stability. But that had been a issue for some time, as at first the station was connected over WLAN and ADSL.

Thanks for the support!

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Fish dying in Kleifarvatn lake due to increasing toxic and hydro-thermal activity

According to Icelandic news today. Fish has been dying in Kleifarvatn lake. But Kleifarvatn lake is inside Krísuvík volcano system. The exact reason why the fish is dying is not known at this point. But report suggests that large amount of fish has been seen dead already. I do not know how much fish there is in Kleifarvatn lake.

This suggests that hydro-thermal and hot spring activity in increasing in the lake. This also suggest that increased toxic levels (for the fish) are now changing in the lake. What toxins are at work here I do not know. But it can be assumed that it is what comes with magma.

For the past three to four years. Krísuvík volcano has been inflating and deflating at regular time intervals. What this means in unclear at present time. But this is signs of increased activity in the volcano anyway. Hydro-thermal and hot spring activity has also been increasing during this period. This has also been followed by increased earthquake activity in Krísuvík volcano when inflation takes place. What happens next is impossible to know for sure. But it is clear that Krísuvík volcano is still far away from erupting any time soon.

Icelandic news about this

Fiskar í Kleifarvatni sagðir í andarslitrum (Vísir.is)
Fiskar i Kleifarvatni sagðir drepast í stórum stíl (Vísir.is)

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Earthquake swarm on TFZ and in Þeistareykir volcano

This is going to be short blog post.

Earthquake east of Grímsey Island

Earthquake with the magnitude of ML3.5 (estimate) did take place at 19:48 UTC. This is normal tectonic activity for this area. But this area of Iceland has the most earthquake activity most of the year.


Earthquake activity in TFZ. Copyright of this picture belongs to Iceland Meteorological Office.

Þeistareykjabunga volcano

It was noticed by a reader of this blog that Þeistareykjabunga volcano was having few earthquakes. Þeistareykjabunga volcano last erupted in the year 900 BC (+- 100 years). This earthquake swarm was small. Mostly earthquakes with the magnitude of ML0.5 to ML1.0. The focal depth of this earthquake swarm was around 5 km. So this in all, is most likely an tectonic earthquake swarm. Rather then volcanic. Þeistareykjabunga volcano is an active volcano. But at current time I do not think anything has changed in that volcano at present time.


Þeistareykjabunga volcano is located north of Krafla volcano. Copyright of this picture belongs to Iceland Meteorological Office.

I do not expect anything more to happen in Þeistareykjarbunga volcano. But if there are changes, they won’t go unnoticed.

Thanks to Mafl for the tip on Þeistareykjabunga volcano.

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Quiet in Iceland earthquake wise

Currently it remains quiet in Iceland in terms of earthquakes and other geological activity. I am using that chance to have a bit of summer break. I am also going to move in August, so there is that. I am not moving back to Iceland. I am just moving inside Denmark. From Åbenrå to a small town named Padborg. But I think smaller towns work better for me then larger towns.

Because I am moving. I have to pay double rent in August. I hope that I do not have to pay double rent in September and October (that means more and new overdraft for me. Something I do think is an bad thing for me). This is going to leave me bit out of pocket. So all support is welcomed.

I am going to be on part-break until after I move to Padborg. But if anything major happens. I am going to write about it soon as possible.

Katla volcano

Katla volcano continues to have small earthquake swarm. What that means is still unclear. Largest earthquake in few days was earlier this week. That earthquake had the magnitude of 2.6 and had the depth of 0.3 km. Several smaller earthquakes did take place following this earthquake swarm. Since then Katla volcano has remained quiet. Small glacier floods are still a high risk from Mýrdalsjökull glacier.