Second fissure opens in the Icelandic eruption

Superfast entry as I run out the door but ...

i-a5d5aa164ca655e4331663f22bceeb85-NewVents-thumb-400x307-43948.jpg
The new vent that opened on March 31 at Fimmvörðuhálsi in Iceland. The old vent is to the right in the image and new to the left. Image captured at 5:45PM EDT.

A second fissure has opened at the Fimmvörðuhálsi eruption in Iceland. Check out the webcam and you can clearly see a new set of vents (Icelandic - try Google Translate) on the left hand side of the image - and that wasn't there earlier today. You can see an image of the new vents here.

Thank you to all the Eruptions readers who have been keeping us posted!

More like this

might be a aircraft also to the far right on top of the black hill
or it could be a bad pixel goup in the cam

Fireman, look at Gordys #454 or Anne #465! Hold down Ctrl and use either "+"/"-" on the keyboard or the wheel on your mouse (Win XP and newer).

@Henrik: oh, that... that's not zooming the camera, that's just making the pixels bigger; doesn't show any more detail just makes it bigger. I thought people were talking about a zoom control for the camera.

@495 Fireman well if the mountain behind the vents blows don't say I didn't warn you! ;)

Wow, the whole hill is on fire tonite. :-D It will be lovely if the lava starts falling over a cliff within camera view.

PS checked the media, no mention of a new fissure.

Sorry Fireman, I expressed that badly. But it does allow you to get a closer view to some extent. Btw Erik W, Fireman has been up there, the lucky, lucky... ;D

@Henrik...I'm so jealous right now! I would love to be up there!!

Yes I was up there. Twice. Give me 30 mins and I'll have a page of photos up.

Look at these and blow them up any way you can and then tell me if you do not see several jets....not puffy white wisps but jets.
nixcomp.com/currentCAKC51BL.jpg
nixcomp.com/currentCAKGG30W.jpg

Really interesting how we keep seeing nearly continuous seismic activity at major fault zones: Tjornes northern and the southern transform systems and the young fractures at Bardarbunga.

Had a larger EQ the other day north of Iceland, along a zone of wider MAR spread.

the vodafone cam seems to be a rather good high definition unit so the electronic zoom in the computer will allow more detail to be visible he 2 cams on the mila network are not as high def so zooming them make the image fuzzier with a lot of lost detail
Fimmvörðuhálsi at max zoom the entire hill appears to be aflame

@Randall.... Are you speaking of the far right side of the pics? fire and smoke

Just for interests sake, Yellowstone had a 3.2 quake yesterday GMT time with 0.0 depth, poorly constrained. It was not very far from where the swarm was.

Yes, it does look like an active night. I think some of the odd areas of glow could be from blocks falling and letting the heat from under show itself. Just an idea.

@Randall
defiantly 2 jets there were 3 in that area before the image was flared out

Diane I know I have been watching it. I was going to post this last night but didn't want to upset anyone, Since you mentioned it I will post this now, notice the depth and location....by the way the swarm started last night.

In the last 24hrs:
3.2 2010/04/03 21:15:52 44.601N 111.000W 0.0 11 km ( 7 mi) SE of West Yellowstone, MT

2.4 2010/04/02 18:10:55 44.593N 111.003W 0.9 11 km ( 7 mi) SE of West Yellowstone, MT

Look at the coordinates of both quakes:
4-3 3.2
Coordinates 44 deg. 36.1 min. N (44.601N), 111 deg. 0.0 min. W (111.000W)
4-2 2.4
Coordinates 44 deg. 35.6 min. N (44.593N), 111 deg. 0.2 min. W (111.003W)

@Diane 512... If Yellowstone erupts we will not be watching on a web cam. We'll be running! That's one humanity has never experienced.

Just looking at the sequence of images from the Vodaphone webcam from 2100 to 2200 BST. To my untrained eye, that looks like increased activity, but is it just in fact the effect of diminished light as the sun sets? Or is it a bit of both?

Happy easter everyone!

I was checking the GPS data and the inflation to the west is a dangerous one. But this whole thing did start when Eyjafjallajökull started to inflate to the west. The deflation to the south is not the main issue it seems. But in 1999 it did inflate to a 10cm and nothing happened. What has normally happened when a the west side of Eyjafjallajöklull inflates the south part usually follows by a day or two delay.

This means that the pressure is increasing in Eyjafjallajökull at interestingly fast rate it seems.

i tend to think a increase look at the blue fringe at the base of the large hot spot the blue is a much hotter zone than the bright orange

Erik W., I didn't post it to scare everybody. LOL I don't think this means it will erupt. If it ever does, I can kiss my petuty goodbye. :-} It looks like there may be another swarm starting, eh, Randall? That will be interesting to watch, too, and we would really be inundated if Etna decides to do something. This is turning out to be an interesting year so far.

Diane... I think allot of us would be kiss it goodbye! there was a pretty strong swarm back in feb if I remember right. We'll see where this leads. This has been a fascinating couple months!

Randall
you bring to mind a old Chinese curse
"May you live in interesting times"

BTW, Mammoth is still quaking away with the depths being around 3 miles. It is not like a major swarm, but it is consistently getting around maybe 20 quakes/week sometimes less. Also the area south of Long Valley caldera gets just about as many that are scattered over a rather large area. Once in a while there will be one in the caldera itself someplace. I don't think this means an eruption at Mammoth, either. Most of the quakes are techtonic as there a couple of faults on Mammoth. At least that was what the seizmologist told me that I was in contact with and lately he has not responded so I have left him along. I figure he is too busy to communicate with me right now. Another issue at Mammoth is the CO2 seepage and the kill zones. I have mentioned it before that the geologists that are studying Mammoth think there might be a large reservoir of CO2 under the mountain. That, along with the snow, might be responsible for some of the quakes, especially if there is magma movement, which I haven't heard of any inflation there. I may just check on that.

Magnitude 6.9 - BAJA CALIFORNIA, MEXICO
2010 April 04 22:40:39 UTC

* Details
* Maps
* Scientific & Technical
* Tsunami

Earthquake Details
Magnitude6.9
Date-Time

* Sunday, April 04, 2010 at 22:40:39 UTC
* Sunday, April 04, 2010 at 03:40:39 PM at epicenter

Location32.093°N, 115.249°W
Depth32.3 km (20.1 miles)
RegionBAJA CALIFORNIA, MEXICO
Distances

* 26 km (16 miles) SSW (211°) from Guadalupe Victoria, Baja California, Mexico
* 61 km (38 miles) SW (227°) from San Luis RÃo Colorado, Sonora, Mexico
* 64 km (40 miles) SW (225°) from San Luis, AZ
* 173 km (108 miles) ESE (106°) from Tijuana, Baja California, Mexico

Location Uncertaintyhorizontal +/- 5.8 km (3.6 miles); depth +/- 21.1 km (13.1 miles)
ParametersNph=014, Dmin=76 km, Rmss=0.2 sec, Gp=292°,
M-type=local magnitude (ML), Version=1
Source

* California Integrated Seismic Net:
* USGS Caltech CGS UCB UCSD UNR

Event IDci14607652

Also, two quakes seconds apart up where the geothermal plant is north of SF. One 4.0 and the other 4.1. These quakes were just about 15 min. ago.

S CA got a bit shook up! Thanks for the info Randall.

The 4.0 occurred at 3.49.17 PDT and the 4.1 at 3.49.44 PDT. There was also a 3.4 at 3.55.16 in S CA not too far from Escondido.

On the earthquake. EMSC has upgraded it to Mw7.0 earthquake at 10km depth. This earthquake had a ML3.3 trigger event that happened just before the main big event.

I do not know if this is going to have any effect on Eyjafjallajökull eruption. But it is going to be interesting to see if it does. But the theory says it is not going to.

Different place:

Magnitude 5.1 - SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA
2010 April 04 23:15:20 UTC

* Details
* Maps
* Scientific & Technical
* Additional Info

Earthquake Details
Magnitude5.1
Date-Time

* Sunday, April 04, 2010 at 23:15:20 UTC
* Sunday, April 04, 2010 at 04:15:20 PM at epicenter

Location32.839°N, 115.585°W
Depth16.9 km (10.5 miles)
RegionSOUTHERN CALIFORNIA
Distances

* 1 km (1 miles) WSW (250°) from Imperial, CA
* 6 km (4 miles) NNW (336°) from El Centro, CA
* 11 km (7 miles) ENE (62°) from Seeley, CA
* 16 km (10 miles) SSW (197°) from Brawley, CA
* 139 km (86 miles) ENE (75°) from Tijuana, Baja California, Mexico

Location Uncertaintyhorizontal +/- 3.6 km (2.2 miles); depth +/- 5.6 km (3.5 miles)
ParametersNph=011, Dmin=13 km, Rmss=0.51 sec, Gp=220°,
M-type=local magnitude (ML), Version=1
Source

* California Integrated Seismic Net:
* USGS Caltech CGS UCB UCSD UNR

Event IDci14607836

BAJA EQ fits the pattern of ocean ridge with fast spread rate acting under exogenous, massively coupled induction forces.

Interesting.

I do not think we are done flexing on the Eastern Pacific Ridge. Appears that it's transfer walking north.

Figures, CA got record rains with the rolling storm express this winter and are at last not facing severe shortages entering the irrigation season.

Major fracture pore pressure.

Seattle, Portland, or Juan de Fuca maybe.

Jon, I don't think this quake will have any impact on Ejaf. It could if the condions are right for it to, but I have my doubts. You will know shortly if it does.

There have been a series of 3+ quakes along with the 6.9 (7.0) in S CA as well as the 5.1. It will be interesting to see how far this goes as it probably will affect the San Andreas. That fault breaks up along side of the eastern area of the Salton Sea and then south of that the Imperial Fault appears and I think it is actually the San Andreas that continues south into Baja Mexico and then into the Gulf of CA which is a fault feature. It is all part of the Pacific plate that moves N in reference to the North American plate.

I am sure Randall will keep us up on this and I probably will put in my two cents worth, too.

The news report said that the tall buildings in LA were swaying and it was felt in Phenix. Yuma may have some damage as it is pretty close to it. We will see how much this has affected the whole area soon. I know there will be some damage in S CA because it is close.

So, about the recent Yellowstone quakes, could someone please read the signatures and tell me whether they are magmatic or not? I doubt they are, but just wondering. Since they are under 1/2-mile apart, they most likely have the same source. I just don't know what kind of source that is.

Sorry for double-posting, but does anyone have access to the Yellowstone tremor graphs? I doubt I'll need them anytime soon, but you never know.

@StarBP, check out Randall's post #529. He gave the site to check out the seizmic signatures.

@Jon 519, I was noticing that inflation to the West also. It has been 10 days since it has moved much more than a mm a day. Deflation on North, deflation on up, it is a fluid system. My thoughts are that I would be much more concerned if I saw inflation in all directions...but an anomaly in one direction makes me go hmmm... It will be interesting to watch what happens.

I am glad that the zoom tip helped out(thank you also Anne 465).

@Randall, no worries.

@Passerby, wow.

StarBP daily seismograph thumbnails of Yellowstone so you can go back and look at any day you want.
theinterveners.org/Yellowstone/daythumbs.php

@Randall goodness no i really enjoy reading what you have to say 99% of the others who post here all the time

Imperial CA quake upgraded to mag 7.2 by USGS.

Passerby, don't you mean the Baja quake?

Here's the news in San Diego

http://www.signonsandiego.com/

Re lighting up: CA has earthquakes all the time, it's always got lots of lites shining on the usgs maps.

@Diane
the geothermal area north of S.F. started to have a huge increase in quake activity after the corp running it tried hydro fracturing to increase the power output
the same corp that caused quakes it Switzerland a couple years back using the same technology

Gina I was messing with you;) I didn't really think you had cursed me....I always thought it was better to be a man living in interesting times than to be a dog living in a quiet animal shelter;)

Also, am I the only one that sees a giant earthquake at Yellowstone starting around 22:43:50 UTC today? The seismographs all have it (albeit with much clipping removing the true strength), but neither the USGS nor the Univ. of Utah list it.

parclair yeah but not always like this:
earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/recenteqsus/Maps/US10/27.37.-120.-110.php
Wouldn't you agree Diane?

Here's another news source closer to the quakes

http://www.ivpressonline.com/

The quake was close to el centro. It's just a matter of time before damages are reported from that area.

Anyway, enough about Yellowstone (after you answer my questions about it)! Eyjafjallajökull is showing a sustained uptick on the tremor graph in the last few hours, indicating that more magma is pressing on the mountain.

LOL Randell

I wonder if the quake will effect the long vally volcano system
the 9. Denali quake in Alaska years past caused changes in the yellowstone geothermal system

Gina, I am aware of that geothermal area. They have taken the 4.0 and 4.1 off the map. The seizmologist I talked about earlier told me about the reinjection of water there. Thanks for letting me know it was the same corp that started quakes elsewhere.

Parclair, yes, CA gets lots of quakes. I have been monitoring them since I got on the internet. Minus the geothermal plant, there are about 350-550/week. We are doing much better at detecting them now than when I first started watching. At that time there was only about 250/week.

I have noticed several quakes along the border with Baja and that could affect the border and offset it a bit if they get strong enough. Not sure about that at the moment. There may be some slight offset that is insignificant, but you never know until surveyed.

I'm a little confused about the concern over Yellowstone. Over the past years Yellowstone has seen swarms of hundreds of earthquakes during each period. I would be concerned if you were seeing inflation on the increase. Last time I checked it wasn't doing much.

USGS took the 5.1 in S CA off the map.

USGS just put the S CA quake back on the map. Updated to 5.3.

This page: http://theinterveners.org/Yellowstone/interpret.gif shows how to interpret the seismograms. Only one problem: The seismograms are not zoomed-in enough. Is there any page for Yellowstone seismograms that is, say, about 30X more detailed? Maybe a special function to see a 1-minute period on a full line or two?

Induction magnetometer station reading at AK, these large ionosphere signals are commonly seen before and during very large earthquakes.

Those ionosphere signals are from the sun and not an earthquake or Harrp:

n3kl.org/sun/noaa.html

Let's not go off into science fiction here.

@Passerby 564... That's a very interesting reference to Cerro Prieto. You may be on to something down there.

Another EQ swarm just occurred at Eyjafjallajökull... looks a little farther east than past swarms.

@566 randall.. that's hardly science fiction. You should do a little research on the device.

From GVP website.

The Cerro Prieto geothermal field is located at the head of the Gulf of California, 35 km south of the city of Mexicali.

Cerro Prieto lies in an active continental rift that is transitional between the transform San Andreas fault system to the north and a spreading ridge of the East Pacific Rise in the Gulf of California to the south. The only surficial volcanic feature at Cerro Prieto, which is located near sea level on the Colorado River delta, is a small, 223-m-high compound dacitic lava dome.

(this ridge-transform fault system explains the northward walk energy transfer mentioned earlier)

A 200-m-wide crater is located at the summit of the NE-most dome. The Cerro Prieto dome was roughly estimated from paleomagnetic evidence to have formed during a series of events between 100,000 and 10,000 years ago.

Cucupas Indian legends described a monster that covered the land with hot rocks, which grew through the soil and emitted fire tongues, a possible reference to the growth of the volcano.

The Key Phrases here are Eastern Pacific Rise, eastern pacific ridge and transform fault systems (San Andreas).

HAARP? Dododododo.........

I'm speaking of the Induction magnetometer station. Not harrp....Two separate things.

Passerby 570.. Go onto Google earth and look at that location. I believe you can see the evidence of past eruptions. It's kind of interesting.

OK my real Iceland album is up on Facebook... I don't know how you folks manage to post URLs, but every post I've tried quoting a URL has been blocked for moderation and never made it to the blog. So here is a suitably munged URL which hopefully will make it through. Comments on photos welcome!

www dawt facebook dawt com slash album dawt php?aid=2053482&id=1528659644&l=1ee32e63fe

Should be easy enough to reconstruct the URL! ;-)

Ok I have been watching this cam http://www.ruv.is/katla call me crazy but does this look like an eruption??? the bright spot on the left has not moved from it's place. so I'm thinking it's not the moon.

Erik W, just kidding. Your addy for that magnetometer had haarp in it. LOL

I took a look at your post with the movie and I think it is the moon, but I can't tell.

Erik W I would say moon or Northern Lights....Jon is there he could tell you better than I can. I don't think it's Katla going off or anything like that.

Diane.. I have been watching it for over a half hour before I posted and it has not moved a bit...I think that I might see smoke also. There's something going on!

@Erik W, Randall... that's the eruption, visible across the shoulder of Hekla. Remember when the eruption started? First photo we got?

scienceblogs.com/eruptions/2010/03/eruption_started_at_eyjafjalla.php

Oh, and since URLs seem to be working again, here's my YouTube eruption video:

www.youtube.com/watch?v=q8Uf48Ydv4c

Enjoy!

But if it is the moon I need to go to bed!!!! lol

Fireman I wondered if it could be eyjafjalla but it seemed like quite a ways off but I would go with that over it being Katla doing anything.

Erik W: use http://www.flashearth.com/ to view the site in high res.

What is the very large structure nearby? Do you recognize it?

Bad location, whatever it is.

OK shoot me... you wrote 'Katla', I read 'Hekla' since I had just been checking the Hekla cam. No idea what that is on Katla... moon probably, it was full and rising around this time when I was there 3 days ago.

Look passingly familiar. Large solar evaporative or settling ponds of some sort. Evaporative wastewater treatment? Algae production?

Erik W, I know what you mean. I will say that I thought I saw some steam streaming to the right. I also thought I saw a very small faint light just to the right of the large blob of light which is probably the eruption. My guess is it was probably a jeep with some tourists. It was well away from the fissure.

Maybe it is the moon shining through some clouds above the fissure.

Moonrise over Katla. Full moon, or just past it. I saw such a moonrise about a month ago and wasn't sure what I was watching, just kept tracking it over an hour or so to see if it rose and moved westward.

Also pretty sure there are heavy auroral displays tonight.

You got that right.

BTW, where is Jon? We haven't heard from him lately. Probably asleep.

Fireman.. I don't know what it is. I've been watching that cam on and off for the last couple of weeks. Never seen anything like that before.

Sanity check here folks... someone have a look at the Fimmvörðuhálsi cam (the only one currently working) and tell me... is that something new, considerably to the left of the original fissure? It appears to be slightly *above* the level of the scoria cone, so unless lava can flow uphill...

Of course, I could be being deceived by perspective; it's difficult to get the geography straight at night; it *could* just be lava hitting snow downslope away on the other side from the cam.

I see it

I may be Katla?

If that's steam it's pretty dark...

Hi, been reading everything and watching since this eruption started but thought I say hello to everyone. It looked like a new vent to me, lots of light and steam seemed to be emitting from the left of where the main eruption has been taking place.

Also, what camera is this "moon or something else" being seen in because I can't see where that is.

By Dylan Ray (not verified) on 04 Apr 2010 #permalink

Uh, what's going on? The camera just went black.

High res map shows buildings close to the crater.

this must be the geothermal field mentioned in the GVP rightup. That's their settling/makeup pond.

Holy shit. We got the same elements as Iceland: heavily loaded transform fault butt-ended to a volcanic field, except here the geothermal field induction is right at ground zero.

http://www.blueroadrunner.com/cerroprieto.htm

HAHAHAHA. The irony is rich! Hope the Icelandic Institute geologists are paying attention.

This could be SISZ letting off a bit of coupled energy, BANG! A mag 7.5 rocker.

Fimmvörðuhálsi cam disconnected... seconds to minutes AFTER going black (but with the logos)

Passerby... New you would find something! Sometimes the pieces fit together.

The vodaphone cam works. As suggested earlier, switch your computer clock to GMT and all is fine.

passerby.. I can spell lol getting tired

Please stop babbling like children about a stupid moonrise. They're syncing their camera feeds for the day, it's early morning in Iceland.

We got something MUCH MORE INTERESTING here - the probable causal mechanics of a bigass earthquake that sent major shockwaves northward along one of the most active transform fault systems on the planet, which runs through a very heavily populated metro center.

This event is startlingly close in system components similarity to our Eyjaf in Iceland.

From the link above:

This area of the Baja is where the Cerro Prieto Geothermal Field (CPGF) lives, one of the largest producing geothermal fields in the world. It is also one of the few places where a spreading fault performs on land. They normally occur in ocean floor ridges. Because of this rarity and because of the manner in which the field is exploited to produce electricity, the geothermic field is closely monitored.

well I am curious why if it is the moon it has not moved in over an hour? and there is a definite vent at the top middle of the cam view?

Boy that SoCal/Baja USGS map looks like a Xmas tree. 17+ quakes in the last hour. Most running north on the fault line.

By Dasnowskier (not verified) on 04 Apr 2010 #permalink

No matter what direction you turn to something is going on!!!! that's one big time swarm going on there on the WC!!

I managed to record most of the earthquakes in the latest swarm that did happen in Eyjafjallajökull. Most of the earthquakes where magma related, as the magma was cracking rock to push it self up trough the crust. This also indicates that the pressure is increasing inside Eyjafjallajökull again, it seems.

I see that the large earthquake that did happen in Mexico has triggered many other small earthquakes. Lets hope that it doesn't trigger any other big one.

Just a note on this quake we have had in Baja. A geologist, can't remember the name, but I think it is the same man who wrote "Assembling California, has indicated that the Gulf of CA will eventually open all that area up and will end up in Nevada. If you look at the quake map of CA, you can see that the spread will take place along not only the San Andreas, but also the Sierra fault zone in the eastern part of the state. I asked the seismologist about this and he said it is true and that it would probably take millions of years to get to Nevada. Nonetheless, it is spreading and the sea will evenutally be up where the Salton Sea is now. It is my understanding that the water has been up into CA before so it is no surprise that it could get here again.

As for the geothermal plant in Cerro Prieto, I haven't heard of what is going on there right now, but I bet they have some damage. Certain of it. It will be interesting to see if that volcano erupts.

If you get on the USGS Map Centered at 33°N, 116°W and refresh every couple of min the are more quakes.

By Dasnowskier (not verified) on 04 Apr 2010 #permalink

Dasnowskier you and I must think alike:)

533

California is stating to light up like a Christmas Tree.
earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/recenteqsus/

Posted by: Randall Nix | April 4, 2010 7:30 PM

Those EQ coming in are amazing!! refresh every 30 sec or so and there's a new one... there's already 2 days worth of EQ activity compiled.

@576, Fireman, they are really great shots! I like especially the ones with the northern lights, they have some stunning beauty not just for the colours but I think it's really cool to have the power of our Earth and our Sun on the same image! How did your kids ( I think they are yours) enjoy the show?

You see that USGS US EQ Map? Look where the swarm pattern diverges towards the western border of Nevada.

Here's why: Geothermal activity.

Enel opens two geothermal plants in Churchill County.
April 15, 2009

Dignitaries and representative from Enel Green Power officially dedicated on Wednesday two new Churchill County geothermal plants which are (among) the largest in the world.

http://www.lahontanvalleynews.com/article/20090415/NEWS/904159989

This is what causes some concern. 2006 article on a super sized geothermal plant. Where? North Sumatra.

http://thefraserdomain.typepad.com/energy/2006/08/ormat_to_build_.html

This uptick in geothermal field activity would explain also the sudden uptick in Yellowstone and Mammoth Mt geothermal seismic activity.

And, it describes some of the persistent recent earthquake seismic centers in Iceland.

Ahhhhh.

Passerby.. It's going to be a fun ride!! I wouldn't want to be in any other time.

Here's the latest on the quakes news-wise

http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/2010/apr/04/69-magnitude-quake-shake…

Unfortunately, someone died. Search and Rescue have gone to Mexicali, houses collapsed. What surprises me is that such a deep quake caused damage in San Diego.

Re: lit up

This area has been quaking a bit for the last year. (I've been watching). Some biggies, lots of small-- ie, clustering. Also, a quake this size will have tons of aftershocks, as the earth twitches itself back into equilibrium.

Just to clarify: the power plants sitting on large geothermal fields aren't causing the earthquake swarms, as much as adding additional pore pressure stress, an ill-timed extra stress-strain push during a period relatively rare (2-3 times a century) crustal expansion flexing that is most pronounced at shallow, divergent ridge centers in response to larger physical field fluctuations, with an additional temporal component that has occurred only once in the past 100 years.

I hate to sound like a broken record, but can somebody look at this web cam of Katla http://www.ruv.is/katla and give me some thought on it. The bright light source and smoke have been there for over two hours.

It is the same geologist that wrote "Assembling California that predicted the Gulf of CA would be coming back and head into Nevada. He said this long before there were any geothermal plants. However, I can see how these plants might excelerate the process a bit and affect other areas. Thing is, I am not sure how far the effects will be from the plants. One of the plants in Nevada is right along I80. You can see the steam coming out of the ground. I can see why they want to use the geothermal areas for power because it is cheaper and available, though maybe very dangerous because of the faulting and magma chambers below. It will be interesting to see what has happend to the plant in Baja and what the implications are, and if it has wakened that volcano.

@bruce stout, It just haven't seen it there in the past several days.. Ok I'll let it go! hahaha...

Good night everyone.

@Passerby, the path that the quakes you see heading into Nevada is exactly the path I am talking about. That is what the geologist predicted. I wish I could remember his name! Oh fiddle.

"that predicted the Gulf of CA would be coming back and head into Nevada."

I have read that as well. Eventually the area that is now the Salton Sea, through Death Valley, all the way up to the dry Lake Lahontan region will probably be under water as the Sea of Cortez extends Northward.

But none of us here will live to see it.

In fact, while the current Salton Sea is an accident, the area did flood naturally at periodic as the course of the Colorado changed and it burst its banks from time to time. I read fairly recently (within the past few years) that it is estimated that the region had dried from the last such episode only shortly (within a century or so) before western explorers arrived in the region.

well, now that I said that, there is a huge glow appearing on the Hekla cam right now that I can only imagine is breaking dawn but it seems a bit early, everything is still black as pitch here in Germany.

By bruce stout (not verified) on 04 Apr 2010 #permalink

well, lord knows what that is... maybe atmospherics. It's not showing up on the Vodafone or the Katla webcam. But there are two very bright patches showing on the Hekla cam. Most strange.

By bruce stout (not verified) on 04 Apr 2010 #permalink

@bruce stout, daybreak is now around 05:30 UTC here in Iceland. But the night is getting shorter by the day. There won't be any night around 20th of May or so.

But it appears that the eruption got a huge energy spike tonight for some reason.

Morning Jón!! I'm looking forward to daybreak to see if there has indeed been any change. The Hekla cam is showing two small intense patches of glow that I take it are lava but if so they look too far apart to be the two original vents and above both of them is a lot of glow in the sky. Maybe lava has started going over the cliff in a new direction.

PS are you up early like me or just late to bed?

By bruce stout (not verified) on 04 Apr 2010 #permalink

well the two intense patches have disappeared leaving only the background glow, which is obviously the site of the vents. Looks very much like lava went over a cliff or a steam explosion occurred. Daylight will reveal all!

By bruce stout (not verified) on 04 Apr 2010 #permalink

There is a steam coming up in a intresting place. It does not appear to be lava related, or at least I don't think that magma has been flowing in that direction. But the location is to the west, near the cliff edge.

@Randall Nix, I did first think it was also a lava hitting the snow. But I am yet to see that lava as a dark rock there, like the rest of the lava in the area. But there also the issue of the fact that lava does not run upside yet to my knowledge.

There is something going on there and it doesn't appear to be lava.

I find a bit surprising the increase of very low frequency component of volcanic tremors manifesting itself mainly (proportionally speaking) on HVO station, which I suppose it's a shorthand for Lágu-Hvolar, a station located a few kilometers South-East of the Katla caldera. This could be either the result of regional weather noise (as you can see from webcams - or better, can't see), or instead, magma injection at high depths since all stations are recording about the same increase since about the same time.

Tremor plot:
http://hraun.vedur.is/ja/Katla2009/gosplott.html

Regional map with caldera and glacier boundaries, station names and locations:
http://hraun.vedur.is/ja/Katla2009/Myrdalsjokull.jpg

By Akira Shirakawa (not verified) on 04 Apr 2010 #permalink

Michael! (#576-7) some very nice photos from unusual angles. I like the creativity! Is that your children? Speak of an experience of a lifetime for them! Betcha you'll hear "Da-ad! Can we go to the volcano again, perleeeezze!" for years now. ;)

Blimey! Go to bed on April 4th 2010 and wake up on December 23rd 2012 with Passerby as the Horseman of the Apocalypse astride his twin hobby-horses geothermal powerplants inducing earthquakes and volcanic eruptions plus all the world's fault lines opening up like a giant zipper as a consequence.

On the bright side, no serious change in Eyjafjöllajökull apparently, apart from a snowstorm blanketing the mountain from view.

@Henrik, It's that butterfly thing of his you know. I think he has gone off the deep end.

There's been another magnitude 2.9 earthquake in yellowstone same location as the 3.2 previously only this time at a depth of 7 km.
On another note , i think some of you guys need a wee break from cam watching.

@Akira, I noticed the inflation this morning also. Yesterday East had finally moved off if it's trend line also.

@646: not knowing where the corresponding station is located, that could be simply noise caused by bad weather currently plaguing part of Iceland.

By Akira Shirakawa (not verified) on 05 Apr 2010 #permalink

It's a gray day like this that makes you realize how lucky we've been with the clear camera views of the passed two weeks!

But it's also rather frustrating and depressing not to know what's going on right now.

Incredible how quickly one get's used to the technical miracles of our time!

Incredible too how the steady stream of postings has dropped off!

I really hope the weather clears up soon!

By R. de Haan (not verified) on 05 Apr 2010 #permalink

yeah.............if i wanted to look at grey weather i
could look outside(left eye twitching spasmotically due
to withdrawls)

Best!motsfo

Henrik you forgot that Harrp and the geomagnetic field were also reasons for the earthquakes;)

I think you might be right Gordys....I still say Loki did it all....Hey it makes as much sense as power plants and "exogenous, massively coupled induction forces";)

First they ignore you, then they laugh at you, then they fight you, then you win.
Mohandas Gandhi

Good morning, it is now 9.54 PDT.

Say. Has any of you (I know Randall has) checked out the S CA quake map lately? Last time I checked it out, about half an hour ago, there were 491 quakes listed and that includes the 7.2 and a 5.1 near the border that was at 0.0 depth! I bet that one, if it was actually close enough to the border to do so, could have shifted the border some.

I guess we can check the rest of the world and see what is going on as far as volcanoes are concerned. I have to go to town *sniff sniff*. Catch everybody later.

HAARP have a webcam - http://www.haarp.alaska.edu/haarp/cam2.html

Unlike Iceland, that part of Alaska has clear weather today! Is it like that around your parts too Gordys?

While on the matter, what is it about scientific projects such as the Large Hadron Collider, the High Frequency Active Auroral Research Program or for that matter geothermal plants that makes some people react as if they were Doomsday machines? The stereotypical "Mad Scientist Who Destroys the World Out of Curiosity" is as realistic as Loki, yet people believe he is a fact, not fiction...

Henrik...Hey now don't be dissing Loki...he was here way before the LHC and HAARP.....Oh and by the way the weather is great in Florida right now;)

"And still The Weaver plies his loom, whose warp and woof is wretched Man. Weaving thâ unpatternâd dark design, so dark we doubt it owns a plan."
-Sir Richard Francis Burton; The Kasidah of Haji Abdu al-Yazdi

Space Weather Alert, first alert in six years!

"If this level of solar wind continues (it is falling slowly), there will be geomagnetic activity with Kp of 5 or more in the next three hours, according to our neural net predictions. Depending on how sustained the solar wind is, the prediction may go above 6⦠stay tuned!!"

http://wattsupwiththat.com/2010/04/05/spaceweather-alert-first-red-aler…

By R. de Haan (not verified) on 05 Apr 2010 #permalink

RE 559

@Randall
It amazed me when I read the reports that the Denali quake could cause changes in yellowstones hydrothermal system with the distance between them being so huge
yet it is possible for 7.2 quake a paltry 400 miles away to influence a volcano especially if it just a little unstable to start with I think the key is how well the bedrock couples the motion/energy and so. calf in a mess of faults that probably wont couple to much energy from the quake to the longvally system

Are the cameras in different locations?

Gina when I checked LV late last night there hadn't been much activity there before, during or even after the 7.2 quake...the Yellowstone swarm started the night before the 7.2

A 9.0 is like the energy release of 32 billion tons of TNT....a 7.0 is like the energy release of 32 million tons of TNT....BIG difference in the two.

"calf in a mess of faults that probably wont couple to much energy from the quake to the longvally system"

Yes, here in California quakes damp out fairly quickly with distance because everything is so broken up. Imagine one of those desk toys with the balls hanging from a pivot and you pull back the ball on one end, let go, and it swings down to hit the row of balls and the one on the end flies out. Now imagine you replace one of the balls with a beanbag and you have sort of the situation in some areas of California.

That said, California has some faults that can rupture for great distances so the notion of "epicenter" might go out the window when 100 miles of fault slips, as can happen about every hundred years or so. The Southern end of the SAFS has been quiet for some time now. The middle section hasn't moved much since the Ft. Tejon (c. 1857) when over 200 miles of fault slipped in one quake.

The frequency of M 8-ish quakes is, I believe, about every 100 years or so on the SAFS with the average being about every 300 years for any given specific location.

Looks like they moved the web cams miles back from the eruption.

Redoubt is maybe also getting a bit more active again: http://www.avo.alaska.edu/activity/Redoubt.php
"AVO is raising the Aviation Color Code to YELLOW and the Volcano Alert Level to ADVISORY at Redoubt volcano. This morning, at roughly 01:44 AKDT (0944 UTC) a series of small repetitive earthquakes began occurring in the vicinity of the volcano's summit. Activity is continuing this morning."
BTW: Thank you for the great discussion here!

@Erik W.: Vodafones web cams have not been moved.
Milas web cam - fra fimmvorduhalsi - has been moved quite a distance from the south of the eruption to the north or northwest. Looks to me it's not situated far from vodafones cams now. Perhaps a couple of km to the east. ;)

Anybody knows why they moved the cameras?

Off topic.
@Boris.
What is the best web site to monitor Etna ? Cams and web-corders.

Thanks

By Dasnowskier (not verified) on 05 Apr 2010 #permalink

@Summer, just to aggrevate us! LOL Seriously, it may have to do with weather or they may think where they were was too close. I wish they were back at the spot they started from. That had great coverage.

@Gina #663, the strenght of quakes from 1 on up is a logrithmic scale of 31. That means a 2 is 31 times stronger than a 1. So a 9 is so much stronger than a 7 that you almost can't compare it. Both are very stong, but a 9 just does some much more damage. Another thing that affects how far quakes affect things is how long the earth shakes. A short 7 may not do as much damage as a long 5. Also the depth of the quake has a lot to do with how much damage is done.

East of the Rockies, quakes are felt farther than they are here in CA. A 4.5, say, in LA would not be felt were I live, yet a 4.5 in Illinois can be felt for 300 miles. So topography also has an affect.

I hope this helps, as well as what George said, you to understand it a little better. If the quake is strong enough and the P and S waves hit right, quakes from far away can affect things. Conditions have to be right for that to happen.

Cheers

@Diane
yes i didn't know the math part :)
the New Madrid quakes rang church bell and toppled chimneys in Boston to me that said the relatively solid bed rock between Missouri and mass was a really good coupling medium for the radiated energy

@Henrik, The sky was clear for the drive in today. It sure is nice out now...if I could just get the last of these snowbanks to melt. I noticed the Northern Lights on Friday morning, not so much today. It sounds like I will have to make sure to notice in the morning. My drive in is 23 miles and for much of that I have a clear view to the North. Every once in a while I just have to stop, get out and watch.

I notice that there is still inflation at Eyjafjallajökull. East is back into it's trend line, North and UP have inflated some few mm.
Off to dinner and bed. I'll drop a note if I see any auras in the morning.

@Randall, the Northern Lights are something that I am reminded from time to time, that I take too much for granted(like when a friend comes up and we take a night ski). It is a bit on the remote side. I miss the grocery store the size of a small stadium. I miss the favorite restaurants. But man, when I can step out on my deck and hear the Timber Wolves howling..and that is it, no traffic sounds, no city smell, no lights...Yeah, there are some things that I miss about the city, but a lot more that I don't. I've been here 18 years now, and I love it.

Hmmm, I'd have to look back to see the card count, but if the inflation keeps up at the rate that it is, I'll bet one of my aces and one of my jacks that a new fissure opens up tomorrow...somewhere.

Earthquakes appeared in Eyjafjallajökull just now, and it seems that Katla (Mýrdalsjökull) is starting to wake up. But there was also a well located earthquake in the caldera of Katla wall at the same time as the Eyjafjallajökull earthquakes.

The earthquakes in Eyjafjallajökull are on the same place as usual, and signal that new fissures might open up at any time.

Jon one good thing is that the Katla quake occurred outside of the caldera....but I think you and Gordys are right something is about to happen at Eyjafjallajökull

Maybe it is my imagination but I have been seeing some of what I might considered some odd behavior in a new location:

http://tinypic.com/view.php?pic=15g48so&s=5

It might be rockfall from the old lava flow but it seems to be continuing. Looks like it might be a new vent?

There should not be any lava there, I think. Because of the lay of the land over there. Hills and stuff.

I did notice earlier. But I was not ready to call it a new fissure. But it smokes unusually dark clouds.

Fascinating discussion. Thanks Everyone. Being a life long amateur meteorologist, I was wondering what the effect of low barometric pressure on magma flows and seismicity is?! Does this allow magma to rise more as tides would at sea when a deep atmospheric depression passes over, or does the force of the rising magma - more than cancel it out anyway. With a 969mb and lower depression over Iceland at the moment, I would have thought it would have some consequence. It is well known that the sea bubbles up opn a large scale when pressure is low.

JUST A meandering passive thought. I notice interesting seismic activity this morning, but I maybe correlating and probably are - incorrectly.

Your thoughts please?
F.R.met.S

These plumes are much darker than the clouds and they seem to be hugging the ground. The origin of the plume seems to be a bit left of where I have pointed to in the pictures. It seems to hug the ground and then rise at about where I have indicated.

Watch for yourself:

http://eldgos.mila.is/eyjafjallajokull-fra-fimmvorduhalsi/

hi,al;this is cool stuff btw.so glad i founf this site! :-)
Im just looking at the webcam now and yeah id say its a new vent right at the point you have circled.

By VulcanEye (not verified) on 05 Apr 2010 #permalink

Yes, something is definitely going on right behind that rift.

It is actually happening to the left of where I have indicated in the linked graphics but it seems to be windblown and it takes some time to rise up to where it can be seen.

Where I have indicated does not seem to be the exact location of whatever is producing that material. Of course it could be just another tractor tire in Veyo (old local prank in Southern Utah ... burning a tractor tire at the peak of the Veyo cinder cone).

George I still can't see that but if you look at:
eldgos.mila.is/eyjafjallajokull-fra-thorolfsfelli/
Hit control and + and bring it up to about 300% and then look to the far left of the pic and you will see a steam plume where there shouldn't be one on the inside of that ridge just below the rim.

Randall, it is hard to see at the moment because of that dark cloud above it that has now moved in, we are going to have to wait for that to pass, but there is a darker material, look closely at the edge of the ridge. You will see it moving left to right once that passes.

I believe your right,im watching on a 42" in 1080 and the steam is slightly distinguishable as different from the cloud backdrop and is covering that cliff face.
Pity theres not an infa red cam.

By VulcanEye (not verified) on 05 Apr 2010 #permalink

It might also be tricks of the light. Wind gusts could be picking up puffs of snow and with the low light angle, it could appear dark. We are going to have to wait for the weather to clear, I suppose.

Jonathan! The interest in EQs is because each change in the eruption, such as when the second vent opened, has been heralded by EQ swarms - some 4-7 EQs magnitude ~1.1 - 2.8 within the space of a minute at different depths. When the first and second vents opened, there were +2 EQs at 0.0 km depth, so every time there are EQ "swarms", a large one (M2.5+) or at zero or very shallow depth, our pulses rise. At other times, an increased EQ activity has heralded an increase in the eruption a few hours later.

George! What your pictures seem to show is a lava flow eating its way through snow. That the clouds seem dark may be a result of the light conditions. Compare with other low clouds! I'm not saying it's not a new vent, it may very well be.

"George! What your pictures seem to show is a lava flow eating its way through snow. "

Could well be because I believe that the initial lava flow from the original vent flowed in that direction.

But what causes me to temper that thought is the fact that it doesn't look like steam, seems to look more "ashen" to me.

I would expect steam to be about the same brightness as the clouds, even the dark ones. This material seems to be much darker like a lava fountain being blown in the wind might be expected to produce.

If it is a new vent, we will have confirmation soon enough.

I don't know guys I am even beginning to doubt what I thought I saw...damn clouds....I gotta get some sleep....3am here and I gotta be up at 8.

@George (#685 and following) - what you've seen there may be a new lobe of lava travelling a bit further north (that is, closer to the webcam relative to the previous flows from the first fissure), because over the past couple of weeks the lava from that fissure must have accumulated to quite some thickness. So a new flow will not travel on top of that accumulation but rather along its margine.
I am fairly confident that in the moment a new fissure opens or something else of major proportion happens, this will be all over the Icelandic on-line newspapers like RUV, Visir, and MBL. They've been remarkably fast in reporting all of the more notable events during this eruption, and I bet my derrière that (at least some of) the journalists there are also clinging to the webcams :-)

"I am fairly confident that in the moment a new fissure opens or something else of major proportion happens, this will be all over the Icelandic on-line newspapers like RUV, Visir, and MBL."

Yes, I agree, which is why I thought we would hear soon enough if there was a new vent.

Boris I posted this yesterday and showed Erik he said he thought there was at least 1 new vent in these pics...blow them up and look at the jets.....what do you think?

507 Look at these and blow them up any way you can and then tell me if you do not see several jets....not puffy white wisps but jets.
nixcomp.com/currentCAKC51BL.jpg
nixcomp.com/currentCAKGG30W.jpg

Posted by: Randall Nix | April 4, 2010 5:06 PM

@Randall (#704) - what we see in these images is certainly a large plume, though I failed to see clear evidence for explosive jets, the resolution is too low. Yet, such jets can occur even at a great distance from an eruptive vent simply when lava flows interact explosively with snow and ice, or water-soaked ground. Such explosions can even produce pyroclastic flows and are documented at a number of volcanoes, obviously including Etna but also Klyuchevskoy in Kamchatka and Llaima in Chile. I am working with a group of colleagues on a publication on this issue, because it does indeed represent a previously unknown hazard - explosive activity of this kind was known, but not its capability of producing pyroclastic flows.

Thanks for the link Angela! Some really beautiful pictures (but some of Fireman's (#576-7) are as good!) Correct me if I'm wrong, but doesn't picture 5 (5/49) show the mouth of an older scoria cone, the car parked on its lip?

The Northern Lights were out this morning, faint but there.

Seems to me there is definitely something going on at the left of the http://eldgos.mila.is/eyjafjallajokull-fra-fimmvorduhalsi/ camera. It looks like fountaining with steam generation to the left of it and steam coming from something going over the cliff.
Then again I could have a fertile imagination but I don't think so.

By Brian Smith (not verified) on 06 Apr 2010 #permalink

Jonathan #689 I am not sure about the barimetric pressure affecting the current eruption in Iceland. I do know it does affect the CO2 output at Mammoth Mt. That is my knowledge of the subject.

I guess the cam is down until Wed. :-( If there has been another fissure open up, we will have to rely on the news for a while.

My take on the steam or jet is that it is lava coming into contact with snow as that is what it looked like to me. Has anyone checked the news? I haven't gotten that far yet.

@ angela, thanks for the link

@fireman, wow your kids just had a great experience. Wonderful pics (the first time I tried to look, there were problems).

Just noticed a large mag 3.5 EQ at 2.0 km depth, in the usual magma pipe location 5.8 km SV af Básum

I think this is the fist one over mag 3 since Mar 21 or before. Sounds like lots of life is left in Eyja.

Also, a 3.7 just inside the Katla caldera rim. I will make no conclusions on that one.

The Katla quake that I mentioned in 713 started just 5 seconds after the 3.5 Eyja quake.

In order not to alarm anyone, I will make the suggestion that the Katla quake was just caused by settling of fractured rock on the caldera rim, triggered by the Eyja quake.

But I will leave it to the real experts here to come up with a real analysis.

The Katla earthquake is a SIL dislocation in the system. You can tell by the less quality of that earthquake.

There is something going on in Eyjafjallajökull now. This might be a signal for a new fissure opening in Eyjafjallajökull where the earthquake did happen.

OK the 'new' Mila cam is working now: It seems Valahnjúk is the new name for what was the repositioned Fimmvörðuhálsi cam; the original Fimmvörðuhálsi cam near the vents is going to be back tomorrow!

Thanks Jón. I see now that the katla quake has been removed from the vedur.is report.

IIRC the M 3.5 is also the largest quake since activity started over a month ago. At 2.7 km depth, it's still "within" the current magma conduit, but most certainly something broke. To a layman, it's hard to imagine that there will be no other effects than the quake. Let's wait and see!

PS. The Iceland Met Office does not show any other quake but the one 5.9 km SSW Básar.

Iceland Met now give it as a M 3.6 at 0.2 km depth 4.2 km SW of Básar. This is just below the glacier(?) I wish the cloud would lift so we can see that area!

I agree that this 3.5 or 3.7 EQ is big news and must indicate that a major change is about to occur at Eyja. The Met Office (vedur.is) has changed the reported quake details. It is now mag 3.6, and they changed the depth from 2.0 km to just 0.2 km, and moved the location slightly closer to the existing fissure.

Still, this quake and the 3 smaller ones which have come after appear to be getting shallower. And they are all under the glacier.

@722 ... Andrew, from what I have read this is what Jón FrÃmann has been predicting?

@723 Jon, Yes, I think these signs are an indication of Jón's prediction starting to happen. Also, look back to comment #211 where Bruce Stout describes a scenario where a cap on the main magma pipe is forcing the magma to travel sideways and come out at Fimmvorduhals. An earthquake like this could indicate that the cap is breaking.

Redoubt may be the next to erupt.

Some great shots here... and have a look at 'time-lapse' on this page:

http://www.steinifjall.com/#p=-1

This guy went up the mountain with me in the Jeep on my first trip. He had spent the entire previous night near the vent - got dropped off in the evening, picked up in the morning. Further proof, if it were needed, that all Icelanders are mad, but some are crazier than others...! :-D

After a small thinking. I now believe that magma is now pushing it self upward to the surface at this moment. It should reach it around 22:00 to 02:00 UTC in my opinion.

The is just going to show if I am right or not.

726 Fireman, he is a professional photographer!
Very nice work.

He could very well be crazy but I would not know how he could have made his time lapse series without spending the night at the volcano!

By R. de Haan (not verified) on 06 Apr 2010 #permalink

it is the correct assumption that if the second Vodafone webcam were to zoom out, we could see the icetongue and surroundings of the 3.6 quake a little better?

A fair number of EQs in a specific location(one of them the largest in the entire episode).

http://hraun.vedur.is/ja/skjalftar/myrjokull.html

Inflation turning to deflation in the same time frame...hmm.

http://hraun.vedur.is/ja/gps/predorb/theypred.html

I mentioned on comment 679 that IF the inflation keeps up I would expect to see a fissure open up today. We may see it yet, I would not bet against you Jon #727.

At this point in time it seems to be a low intrusion/extrusion rate event. Will it stay that way? I have no clue. Very interesting to watch and learn from though.

Vodaphone and mila cams are black. Did the earthquake take them out?

@parclair, No the conditions are just bad up there. It's been like that for the last two days.

@parclair
I guess it is simply foggy up there, without any close light source -> complete darkness on a webcam.

On Wednesday and Thursday the weather will be hopefully clear, the Vedur site anticipates rising air pressure.
From Friday on there will be much rain during the whole weekend.
Well, i hope Mila will place their webcam to a very close spot, looking from east to west, to offset the cloudy weather.

@Suw #732; Yes, I liked that.

fresh quake at eyj

By VulcanEye (not verified) on 06 Apr 2010 #permalink

is there a new eruption location below and to the left of the existing on on vodafone

Weather is clearing and something interesting... either a lava flow or a new fissure much lower down the mountain than anything seen previously on Vodaphone cam... not visible from the angle of the Valahnjúk cam, and the Ãórólfsfelli cam has gone black...

OK as the weather moves through it's clearer... the glare from the eruption reflected off multiple layers of cloud created an illusion the flows were further down the hill than they really are

it would be interesting if a fissure opened in the cliff face and gave a direct vent to the feeder if so how long before it filled the valley
UCONN women's bb just finished a perfect season no losses

@Fireman
i think your right and there is a lot of activity

*Off topicish* *back from shop*
Coffee (check)Sugar (check)Milk (check)Tobacco (check)
Vodaphone web cam url :-( anyone have that please?

By VulcanEye (not verified) on 06 Apr 2010 #permalink

Thank You!Gina.

By VulcanEye (not verified) on 06 Apr 2010 #permalink

Interesting to see a quake at 5.3 2010/04/06 23:50:23 73.775 8.794 10.0 GREENLAND SEA This is on the extension of the North Atlantic ridge joint I guess.
No idea how common these are. I guess they occur pretty regular. New to this! WEather should be calm with a shallow ridge over Iceland today.

Yea, I agree. This does look like a new vent. But it is hard to confirm that at the moment. But I did notice the flood water rushing down the cliffs few moments ago.

Wow, it's gotten lively!!!

Randall Nix - Yes indeed. Volcanoes and Meteorology have a fascinating link, as you know.Great pictures on webcams today. I am in England, Market Rasen, Lincolnshire.
So what is going on now experts? Clearly three flaming areas and powerful uplift and reflection off those clouds but clearance is moving in so should get a great view

I think it's on the thorosfelli cam too.

Randall & Jon, A Question.... Is that a new vent in lower image OR just a hell of a lot of vapour/steam caused by increased lava flow from a more intense eruption overnight OR is it a new one opening up now! I guess it is hard to tell from imagery as scale is so suppressed and perception distorted.

Jonathan Witty Clouds are making it hard but earlier it sure looked like several vents may have opened and lots of lava hitting snow too.

It looks like all the action is on the other side of the hill from eruption 2. (Valahnjuk cam)

Has the cone collapsed?

The area that had a lot of steam this morning now shows some interesting other activity. It does not look like it is lava from the view of the web cameras. But I am still waiting official confirmation if this a new vent or not.

Just seen what looked like annother 1,but im not too sure now.
The trajoctory did not look right,but appeared too large to be a helicopter,and to me was hard to determine with time lapse.

By VulcanEye (not verified) on 06 Apr 2010 #permalink

Thank you for the Morgunblaðið article, Henrik, and the link to the map. I'm a volcanology newbie, but have been in and out of research for the past year (also in and out of Iceland for the past three years) as I develop a new poetry manuscript that includes Icelandic volcanology. My primary work is as a poet and interdisciplinary artist (based in Canada), and I was fortunate to be in ReykjavÃk when the Fimmvörðuháls eruption began (actually attending a Peaches concert that I've since reviewed for the ReykjavÃk Grapevine). I'm now in southern France, and very thankful for this blog. I'm learning much by following discussion.

The map you posted intrigues me greatly, and I have been wondering this morning (and searching online to no avail) if magma tube cartography exists. Any pointers would be greatly appreciated.

By angela rawlings (not verified) on 07 Apr 2010 #permalink

Your most welcome, Angela, but no thanks neccessary. We all help out here! Somewhere, there is a graphic listing of all the quakes that shows a different picture then the one on MBL (which after all is a newspaper). From that, it would appear that the magma conduit runs almost straight up under the ~5.5 SW Básar location to a depth of approximately 1.5-2km, then veers off ENE towards the eruption site. I'll see if I can find the link for you!

PS. I'm only a retired Army officer who happens to hold MAs in History and English (linguistics)... ;)

That's the one! Thank you Chris & Philipp!

@Henrik
I also think that the schematics are somewhat different from reality. I would rather say there is a chamber-like formation between around 6-12km, and the 'finger' grown from there also has a different path (going straight upwards, then turning to east just below the surface).
Though, i started looking into this only 3 weeks ago, so there are probably more experienced people in this area ;)

Btw, what could be the scientific explanation of the difference between the Katla chamber and the Eyja 'magma-matrix' underground? Perhaps different EQ maps?

@viktor #782 These are most likely different lava supplies. The lava of Eyjafjallajökull has been described low in tatanium, while the lava of Katla has quite of lot of it.

@ Henrik, Chris, Philipp: Takk fyrir!!

By angela rawlings (not verified) on 07 Apr 2010 #permalink

@Chris,
Thanks, i agree with the fact that they are from two separate sources, the only thing bothering me is that they are shown with a different structure. Katla has a clear chamber on the schematics, while Eyja has some labyrinth, although the EQ maps rather show a more homogeneous chamber.

I think this is interesting in order to understand how the eruption will continue:
1. Either there is a significant amount of magma waiting in the hallway to erupt
2. Or some small chunks of magma will come, but the majority of the remaining part will stay there and cool down quickly.

I also recall some news back in this thread about the magma coming directly from the mantle and not from any chamber. Does anyone know what was the proof behind this claim?

#719 Looks like there were 2 big quakes yesterday after all.
Tuesday
06.04.2010 15:32:24 63.631 -19.236 4.5 km 3.7 80.37 1.2 km SE of Goðabunga
Tuesday
06.04.2010 15:32:19 63.647 -19.532 0.2 km 3.6 99.0 4.2 km SW of Básar

Just bought a new car, so been watching in case I'll need to buy a cover to keep the dust off.

I just came across a new bit on Mbl, which contains an interview with world-fame icelandic volcanologist, Haraldur Sigurðsson. He states that in spite of the large eartquake(s) yesterday the state of the activity has NOT changed; rather he notes that the "old crater" (the 21 March fissure) has ceased erupting, and the second (31 March) fissure has one vigorously active vent - which by the way has built a nice little cone, that is now well visible in the new Fimmvörðuháls webcam (nice, this one).

One one of the newer threads on this blog there has been a bit of discussion about the group of three people who possibly came to see the eruption yesterday, got lost in bad weather, and two of them died, a woman and a man; another woman survived. This, unfortunately, is something that we've seen on various occasions on Etna - the most recent and particularly tragic accident was in late-2008 - and we will see over and over again during volcanic eruptions. Volcanoes can be extremely hostile environments for a number of factors other than their eruptions, like weather conditions and rough terrain.

It has been confirmed that the original fissure has sealed up and now there is just one vent open. That would also explain why inflation has started again in Eyjafjallajökull, as this new vent cannot keep up with the inflow of magma into Eyjafjalljökull at the moment.

This going to get interesting from now on.

New information (mostly in Icelandic) at Nordvulk:

http://www.jardvis.hi.is/page/jardvis_eyjogos

This tells mostly who is doing what at the eruption site today, but also has a link to two pdf files. One (in English) gives the results of gas measurements taken by some of my colleagues of the INGV (Mike Burton, Giuseppe Salerno, and Alessandro La Spina) together with Icelandic colleagues. The emission of SO2 was about 3000 tons per day, which is similar to values we see at Etna during non-eruptive periods (during eruptive periods it can rise to more than 20,000 tons per day). The other pdf file shows a map of all known fissures and vents in the Eyjafjallajökull-Katla area.

Boris, isn't the 30 tonnes of Hydrogen Fluoride per day a more serious issue than the amount of SO2?

eldgos.mila.is/eyjafjallajokull-fra-fimmvorduhalsi/

on the air ;)

EQ activity is past due...

New steam vent on valley floor!

Seeing quite a few lava bombs. Is the current activity showing an increase of intensity or is it at about the same level as the last few days?

By Dylan Ray (not verified) on 07 Apr 2010 #permalink

@ Eric on the valley floor or the wee plateau just below the cones???

@Gina, On the Vadafone cam by the bottom of the guy wire in lower left of frame in the valley.

@Dylan... I was about to post on that. Yes, I also think we're seeing more and larger bombs going higher and further. I wish the Fimmvörðuhálsi cam had sound! Starting to look more Strombolian IMHO.

On this webcam:
eldgos.mila.is/eyjafjallajokull-fra-valahnjuk/

Down over the cliff and to the left of the main eruption.

on the Ãórólfsfelli cam to the left of the last black hill down is the large gully i see a steam plume

Have a close look at the Fimmvörðuhálsi cam. Look over the left shoulder of the scoria cone around the obvious active vent. Watch it for a while. Is anyone else seeing an occasional hint of fire fountains in that area? As if there was another vent *behind* the active vent...

Question is, if I'm not seeing things, is that another portion of the active vent, the first vent reactivated, or a new vent?

Yes Fireman I'm seeing it too.....

By DatManChris (not verified) on 07 Apr 2010 #permalink

Been watching the fountain that seems to be behind the cone for some time. It gets easier to see as it gets dark.

I love Google Translate, it is good humor sometimes. This is a translation from the link that Boris posted.

"They went to the wood, which they pledged themselves to return and rescue workers for the IES were in the region"

Volcanologists are a noble sort are they not?

Thank you Boris.

And the new steam vent? What does that signify? It is clearly visible on the Ãórólfsfelli, valahnjúk and vodafone cams and far from the erupting vent(s) and current lava flows.

@Gina. The Valahnjúk camera gives a good view of the lava flow that has - finally after three weeks - come down the cliff! "Crtl" "+" ;)

@Fireman (@800) - that's one of the vents on the 31 March (the second) fissure. This cam is looking straight along that fissure, and the cone of the first (20 March) fissure is seen standing at right. So the vent that does produce the occasional lava spray behind the main active cone is on the fissure that opened on 31 March.

There's something important I should remark on the seismic activity. Pleeeeeeaaaase folks, be careful jumping into wild speculations on what little you can see from the seismic activity. Volcano seismicity is terribly complex, and here on Etna, for example, we see an incredible variety of seismic signals, from volcanic tremor over long-period and very-long-period and all sorts of other signals (except for "tornillo" signals that seem to lack on basaltic volcanoes). And then, we also see enormous amounts of noise - wind, man-made, and all. Each tiny variation means something but you'd need to be a volcano seismology specialist to understand them. I would be very careful from looking at the signals in Iceland from a distance - they can mean everything and nothing from what we get on the internet. As a matter of fact, when trying to understand what certain seismic signals at Etna mean, I always ask a seismologist among our colleagues here - actually, in the control room in Catania, where all the data are coming in in real-time, it is mandatory that there is always a seismologist present, 24/7, in order to prevent misinterpretations of the seismic signals. The one seismic signal at Eyjafjallajökull that seemed pretty clear to me was prior to the eruption - that was a very typical and intense seismic swarm of the kind that we usually see before an eruption (not necessarily a big one, though - there is no proportional relationship between the intensity or energy release of a seismic swarm and the magnitude of the ensuing eruption).

Finally, there's no such thing as "due" in the world of volcanoes, at least not in the sense as we understand it. A volcano may behave completely differently from what would seem logical to us, and it does so always with good reasons, only that we don't understand them. It's like saying "Yellowstone is due" because its last overwhelmingly powerful eruption occurred so long ago. What we easily overlook is that Yellowstone has erupted many times since its last BIG cataclysm. Or Vesuvius .. between 1631 and 1944 it produced a moderate-to-large (but not Pompeii-size) eruption approximately once every 10-20 years. It has not erupted since 1944, so that's now 66 years without eruption, and many people come to the misleading conclusion that a new eruption is overdue since at least 46 years. That's human reasoning. If we look at Vesuvius's eruption in AD 79 (the one that destroyed Pompeii and other Roman towns), we see that before that event the volcano had been quiescent for about 800 years. So what about that 10-20 year-interval?

In any case, now the view from the new Fimmvörðuháls webcam becomes delightful.

Has anyone thought about moving up to the "Monday Musing" comment section? Some of us have been bouncing back and forth. People with slow Internet access have problems opening the comments section after there are more than a couple of hundred comments posted.

Blow the view up to 250% and look past the vent to across the valley I tthink I see steam rising from another hill in the distance.
eldgos.mila.is/eyjafjallajokull-fra-fimmvorduhalsi/

Ahhh, they are just trying to roast marshmallows Randall.

The view those people on the old scoria cone (to the left and in front of on the repositioned Fimmvörðuháls webcam) must have of the vent right now!

@810; check the vodafone and other two mila cameras. I´ve been wondering about that steam plume for the last 1,5 hours or so, after ErikW (@793) mentioned it.

@816: That's just a flow of lava finding it's way down the canyon ...

Really long marshmallow sticks.

Yeah, looks like a bit of steam rising from a discreet location. Maybe a little gas coming up over there, the ground getting a bit warm?

It deflated during the EQ swarm yesterday, but the inflation has picked up it's slow and steady pace since then. Something has to give.

The tremor seems to be declining at all frequencies. This eruption might just settle down.

@George. Not as long as it is still inflating.

@820: it could also be the opposite: if volcano conduits are full or obstructed, magma won't be able to flow and therefore generate tremors as easily as before. In this case we should also start seeing added ground inflation as internal volcano pressure rises and consequently also more earthquakes.

By Akira Shirakawa (not verified) on 07 Apr 2010 #permalink

Just before sunset the cone on the fimmvorduhalsi/ cam was tossing bombs but they were coming up from inside the cone and for the most part appeared to fall back inside now it is raining hot rocks the lava being ejected verticaly is much higher than it was at 7 GMT

the watched pot never boils but this one is proving that old saw false

Wow .. fantastic new cam position , i tip my hat to those doing the work thx. Is the cam now looking at the 2nd vent or is it vent 1 ? I can't see in the low light.

Ah. Must have gotten the directions confused. Thank you Tubby.

edit^: thank you, Tubbe.

Zander... that's the 2nd vent. Apparently the first vent has stopped (so I read somewhere here, I think)

By Dylan Ray (not verified) on 07 Apr 2010 #permalink

Well, I think we pretty much have someone covering all the bases no matter what happens :)

@ Dylan thanks. It's amazing the first vent has stopped, considering this second one is so active.

Gordys! Did you see what Google made of the tab "Myrdáls- og Eujafjallajökull"? Wait for it...

"Murder and Eyjafjallajökull"

Loved your one btw.

The people in those cars to the lower right of the cone had better watch it. It seems to be throwing more and more bombs farther out and in that particular direction.

@Henrik. Ah, I finally lost a post. I was posting to Motsfso on Monday Musing the same time I hit submit here. So I try again.

Yep, Google Translate and Icelandic were made for each other. It lets you understand just enough and makes for some fine humor. Google Translate(I use the translate function in Google Chrome), really has opened up the world for me though. English only speaking person that I am, and I only speak Northern Minnesotan. You ever watch the movie "Fargo"? It's not that far off.

@Henrik. I knew I'd miss something from my original post. I loved your post #40 in Monday Musing.

@Randall. That is good. So you wanna go roast some wienies over a lava flow. I'll bring a couple of snowmobile helmets.

@Randall. Inflation is up, seismicity is down, and the world keeps spinning round and round. It is anybody's guess as to what happens next.

And I'll bring the venison steaks.

There was a steam plum where you pointed out earlier. Is that actually the direction that the conduit runs underground to the eruption site?

Gordys, the point where the steam emanated from glows brightly from time to time on the Valahnjúk camera. I've been watching it since it got dark. If that is the end of a lava stream I can't understand why we can't see any of the path it would take from the cliff top. Not by glow or earlier by steaming.
It's also the location I think of one of the earlier small EQs.

I think I'm talking about a different steam plume. The one down in the valley to the east and below.

Gordys yeah the one I saw was just to the right of the vent on the
eldgos.mila.is/eyjafjallajokull-fra-fimmvorduhalsi/ web cam....but it was way off in the distance coming from a hill across the valley and it looked to be even higher or at least as high sa the eyjafjallajokull vent. I am glad you saw it too....sometimes this stuff plays tricks on you but I really thought I saw it.

@Randall, that was the same thing that I was looking at..once you pointed it out. A small plume coming from a discrete location. I should have taken a screen shot. It must have been close to 3/4 of the way up the view. Now, which way is the camera pointed and which way does the conduit run? Could it be something else? Time will tell. Ah speculation...but speculation is kind of fun and makes one think. As long as it is kept in context.

There looks to be 2x vents (01:50UT) along the roadside on the bottom right of the Eyjaf camera here.

http://eldgos.mila.is/eyjafjallajokull-fra-fimmvorduhalsi/

Its not people with Torches as cars have driven past the vents and whatever is being gassed out has vortex'd from the passing Cars. New Fissures or simply Venting Gasses?

By SNOW_JOKE (not verified) on 07 Apr 2010 #permalink

Gordy I don't know whether you saw this in the other thread or not but here is the context I keep it all in:)

âThe thing that a lot of people cannot comprehend is that Mother Nature doesn't have a bullet with your name on it, she has millions of bullets inscribed with 'to whom it may concernâ
Anonymous;)

Quick question: Which ways are the webcams pointing?

Yep I did Randall. That's cool. I like it.

Ya just know the bullets are comin, just gotta be smart enough ta know when to git yer head down.

By the looks of the web cams, it wouldn't be a good night to be roasting wieners up there. The guys in the trucks sure aren't sticking around long.

Yeah, it's quite a show. Have to thank those that set up the web cams.

It's hard for me to say what was up there. There was steam coming up from something though.

I hope to see the current eruption site open up more so it can release some of the pressure in the system. That would be the best for the people of Iceland and the tourists...I know how stupid tourists can be. 8 pickups went through the ice up here this Spring, not to mention the wheelers and snowmobiles...most of it was because of stupidity. One snowmobiler lost his life on the Canadian side of the lake. Every year somebody dies on the lake, most of it because of stupidity and overconfidence.

@Randall. Yep.

This pickup now sits on the bottom of the lake, about 8 miles from where I a sitting now.

Hmm, why should I wonder why my Father gets concerned when we jump on our snowmobiles and run across the lake.

An important first rule, no alcohol while playing on the lake.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-f-ucZvW5-g

I am transfixed by the eruption tonight. Very impressive.

By Dasnowskier (not verified) on 07 Apr 2010 #permalink

The harmonic tremors are similar today. I am worried that the inside pressure of the magma in Eyjafjallajökull is increasing fast at the moment.

I am not sure what direction the Fimmvörðuháls camera is facing. But I try to find out when daylight comes.

Jon, I was just watching the eruption and a lot of steam came from the left of it. I am wondering now if another fissure has opened up. It looked to be too much for just snowmobiles and other vehicules.

It is just awesome.

BTW, I have my poem finished and I will post it under Mondays Musing. I think we need to start another thread.

Diane I am looking forward to the poem:) I am also up for moving the thread but it seems like everyone is coming here....We are not far from 1000 posts....I wonder what Erik's record is for most posts in a thread?

Randall, I have no idea. Anyway, I went back to the cam after seeing the steam and I see clouds coming in now so maybe that is what I saw, or it could have been lava coming in contact with the snow.

Well, it is almost ten here (1:00am where you are?) and I need to get to bed. Catch everybody tomorrow.

I am wondering what you think of my poem when you see it. every body else, too. ^_^

According to GPS data from IMO it appears that expansion has started again in Eyjafjallajökull. It starts slow. But I fear that it might speed up at any time.

I was impressed with the axial image graphs released by Icelandic MET on the 31st. They plotted the quakes from 13 March through 24 March vertically as well as horizontally (using the highest magnitude tremours)... linking also that excellent article of Eyjaf quake propagation from earlier studies, that I had mentioned back on 10 March.

I've taken their plots and repositioned them relative to one another to make dual-axis interpretation easier (plus links back to the original story and graphs) - see http://michaelbix.livejournal.com This also gives an idea about where the magma did some up-level exploration... which could be the basis for later breakthroughs.

So, has the eruption ended?

With the bad weather of the past three-four days, it's hard to tell what, if anything, is going on. As Jón Friman says on a more recent topic, the harmonics seem to have dropped below the background (wind/weather?) noise on his geophone/seismometer. Then again, right now there's a gap in the cloud and the Valahnjúk camera shows steam above both vent and lava flows. Whether this is due to an eruption or heavy rain is not immediately clear to a layman such as myself.

We'll have to wait and see - and have a look at the www.ruv.is and www.mbl.is newssites!

I was able to catch a moment last night where I saw a glow on the Poro cam. It was moving like it was still the eruption going on so I think it is, just not as vigorously. Have to wait and see when the weather clears.

OK... so maybe the propogation is skipping Katla altogether and going to the much larger Bardarbunga?

anyone know whats happening? they closed all the flights & airports over the uk because the volcanic ash

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