Eyjafjallajökull Caldera Eruption

If you look through the table, the 74 EQ's in the area since Friday, have come in a series of swarms. While the output of the volcano is down, it looks to me as if it is recharging magma based on the various depths of the activity:

en.vedur.is...=table

If you look through the table, the 74 EQ's in the area since Friday, have come in a series of swarms. While the output of the volcano is down, it looks to me as if it is recharging magma based on the various depths of the activity:

en.vedur.is...=table

Goodday to you all, here some news:

Iceland volcano loses intensity

Posted on22 May 2010. Tags: Eyjafjallajokull, Iceland, volcano

Iceland’s Eyjafjallajokull is erupting with much less force than before – spewing just five tonnes per second instead of 200 at its peak earlier in the week.
The material being produced is tephra rising to 1.5 to 2 km into the air. No lava is flowing from the crater, Visir.is reports.
Nearly 30 earthquakes have shaken the Eyjafjallajokull glacier since yesterday; but most were very small.

The force of the eruption has diminished considerably and the cloud blowing up from the west of the volcano contains little ash. Explosive activity is also said to be minimal.

Although it may appear the volcano is coming to an end, it could equally intensify again at any moment, so it is not surprising that no scientist has yet come forward to say that he/she believes the eruption is ending

www.icenews.is...-15124

Here the official report of today 22 may:

Eruption in Eyjafjallajökull
Status Report: 14:00 GMT, 22 May 2010
Icelandic Meteorological Office and Institute of Earth Sciences, University
of Iceland
Compiled by: Sigþrúður Ármannsdóttir, Sigrún Hreinsóttir, Teitur Arason, Steinunn S.
Jakobsdóttir and Hrafn Guðmundsson.
Based on: IMO seismic monitoring; IES-IMO GPS monitoring; IMO hydrological data;
web cameras, ATDnet – UK Met. Offices lightning detection system, Satellite
images and web-based ash reports from the public.
Eruption plume:
Height (a.s.l.): According to a reconnaissance flight, the plume is estimated at 4
km/14,000ft. A light easterly wind blows the plume to the west
Heading: West.
Colour: Lightgrey and grey, with a small amount of ash to the west, according
to the reconnaissance flight.
Tephra fallout: No reports of ashfall today.
Lightning: No lightning strikes have been detected since 13:00, two days ago.
Noises: No reports.
Meltwater: Small discharge from Gígjökull.
Conditions at eruption site: The eruption rate is similar as yesterday. Still some
explosive activity seen from the reconnaissance flight. Crater or lava
flow not visible due to overcast cloud layer over the volcano.
Seismic tremor: Volcanic tremor levels similar to yesterday.
Earthquakes: About twenty earthquakes have been recorded since midnight, the
majority at shallow depths.
GPS deformation:Horizontal displacements toward the centre of Eyjafjallajökull volcano
and subsidence.
Overall assessment: The eruption is ongoing similar as yesterday. There are
occasional explosions in the crater.

en.vedur.is...

the other swarm was at grimsnes volcano.......

Grímsnes is a relatively small volcanic system located SE of Thingvallavatn lake east of an en echelon group of volcanic fields extending across the Reykjanes Peninsula.
Grímsnes lava flows cover 54 sq km and were erupted from a group of 11 fissures that produced a series of NE-SW-trending crater rows. The eruptions of the basaltic Grímsnes lavas were restricted to a relatively short interval between about 6500 and 5500 years ago.

quote: 6500 years ago is close to an quarter of the time of the 26.500 years of the presession cycle...interessting...

[edit on 22-5-2010 by ressiv]

[edit on 22-5-2010 by ressiv]

Things definately seem to be a little gentler at the volcano ... she looks to be expelling a white cloud (would this be steam maybe instead of ash) ?

And there are a couple of people enjoying a picnic up there on the poro cam.

I wonder if she might be considering going back to sleep ... or is this the proverbial 'calm before the storm' senario ?

Woody

Here some amazing pics:

Iceland Volcano Blows Spectacular Smoke Ring: Big Pics







news.discovery.com...

May 20, 2010 -- Iceland's Eyjafjallajokull seems to know no bounds when it comes to amazing us. On May 1 geologist Joseph Licciardi of the University of New Hampshire could barely believe his eyes as he snapped these amazing images of the volcano blowing a ring of steam and gas high into the air.




Volcano photographers captured images of a similar event at Italy's Mt. Etna in 2000, but despite good documentation, Licciardi said that just how the rings form remains a mystery. It's possible that bursts of gas through narrow vents would do the job, much like cigar or cigarette smokers blow rings with their mouths.



"The ring lasted about 5 minutes or so before dissipating," Licciardi told Discovery News. "The apparent fact that Eyjafjallajokull has blown only one observed smoke ring in the past month or so seems to indicate that this is an exceedingly rare occurrence during the present eruption. I feel incredibly fortunate to have witnessed it!"



Readers will recall the two-month long eruption first went through a lazy, picturesque phase before bursting into headlines with an ash cloud that grounded the Europe's commercial air fleet. It's been one heck of a ride -- and if the volcano's track record is any indication, it may be a long time before Eyjafjallajokull is done with us.

news.discovery.com...

[edit on 23-5-2010 by ni91ck]

Here the official report from 23 may:

Eruption in Eyjafjallajökull - Status Report: 17:00 GMT, 23 May 2010
Icelandic Meteorological Office and Institute of Earth Sciences, University of Iceland

Compiled by: Sigþrúður Ármannsdóttir, Sigrún Hreinsóttir, Teitur Arason, Magnús Tumi Guðmundsson, Matthew J. Roberts, Hrafn Guðmundsson and Steinunn S. Jakobsdóttir.

Based on: IMO seismic monitoring; IES-IMO GPS monitoring; IMO hydrological data; web cameras, ATDnet – UK Met. Offices lightning detection system, Satellite images, web-based ash reports from the public and observations from aircraft.

Eruption plume:
Height (a.s.l.): According to a pilot, the plume is estimated at 3 km/10,000ft. A light northerly wind.
Heading: South.
Colour: White, steam.
Tephra fallout: No reports of ashfall.
Lightning: No lightning strikes have been detected.
Noises: No reports.

Meltwater:
Low discharge from Gígjökull.

Conditions at eruption site:
Measurements with heat camera made from an aircraft gave almost 100°C as the highest temperatures at the crater. The crater could not be observed due to steam rising from it. No signs of extrusion of magma could be seen.

Seismic tremor:
Volcanic tremor is still decreasing and is approaching the level it had before the eruption.

Earthquakes:
About twenty earthquakes have been recorded since midnight, mainly at shallow depths.

GPS deformation:
Horizontal displacements toward the centre of Eyjafjallajökull volcano and subsidence.

Overall assessment:
The eruption seems to be dormant today. There is still a considerable amount of steam coming from the crater, but no ash can be seen in it. The tremor is still higher than before the onset of the eruption, especially in the frequency band 1 – 2 Hz, but that might be due to the rising steam.

www2.norvol.hi.is...

Here is the link of the conditions over the volcano

conditions

And here maybe some....?

RSOE Emergency and Disaster Information Service
Budapest, Hungary

In the past 48 hours 3 earthquakes occurred at Katla volcano, Iceland. The earthquakes may be due to ice movements within Mýrdalsjökull glacier or magma movement under the volcano. Scientists have been keeping a close watch on Katla volcano, due to the possibility of an eruption triggered by the activity at nearby Eyjafjallajokull. An eruption of Katla volcano has the potential to be more devastating than the current eruption of Eyjafjallajokull.

Situation Update No. 1
On 23.05.2010 at 19:34 GMT+2

The earthquakes at the Katla volcano site appear to possibly be increasing in frequency as of this moment (time will tell however). Since May 17 there have been four earthquakes at or very near Katla, while a 5th just on the edge of the Myrdalsjokull glacier. Although 4 or 5 earthquakes at the volcano site in 4 days does not indicate a drastic change in pattern, the interesting notation at the moment is the fact that the two most recent earthquakes occurred within 3 hours of each other on 21 May, 2010, at depths of 5km and 13km. That in itself is an increase in occurrence. It may be an anomaly, but it justifies keeping one eye on Katla, the big sister of Eyjafjallajokull.

hisz.rsoe.hu...

[edit on 23-5-2010 by ni91ck]

Is the volcano come to an end? Then this tread is doomed

Iceland volcano coming to an end?

Posted on23 May 2010. Tags: Eyjafjallajokull, Iceland, volcano

There are now clear indications that the Eyjafjallajokull volcanic eruption in South Iceland is about to stop.
Volcanic activity in the area has decreased rapidly over the last day. The journalist, environmentalist and aviator, Omar Ragnarsson flew over the volcano this morning and saw no ash production at all, according to Visir.is
Volcanologists at the Icelandic Met Office say that a small upsurge occurred at around midday yesterday, but say volcanic activity has been decreasing ever since. It is, however, not yet possible to say that the eruption is definitely stopping. Scientists are on their way to the volcano this afternoon to investigate.

Omar Ragnarsson said: “We went with two well-known foreign photographers and went all the way along Gigjokull and up to 2,100 metres and down again. It was not possible to see any ash coming up, only steam.” He added that ash production could of course start up again at any time.

www.icenews.is...-15128

It looks very quiet through the cams. A little bit of steam, and that's it:

eldgos.mila.is...

Perfect view on Poro cam right now.... very quiet indeed... not sure it's over though...

eldgos.mila.is...

The Iceland volcano has stopped erupting.

reply to post by jazz10


Wow!
It`s so quiet!

I can finaly go out on a picnic with my telescope!!

reply to post by MoorfNZ


Time to start a Katla thread?

Little bump there a while ago, and I note that the tremor graph for most of the recorders had a little lift in the wee small hours.

It may well be over for EyjaFjoll but.........


[edit on 24/5/2010 by PuterMan]

Originally posted by PuterMan
reply to post by MoorfNZ

 

Time to start a Katla thread?

Little bump there a while ago, and I note that the tremor graph for most of the recorders had a little lift in the wee small hours.

It may well be over for EyjaFyoll but.........

[edit on 24/5/2010 by PuterMan]

Hey there Puterman,

I've read your posts on the other volcano threads and it's obvious that you know what you're talking about when it comes to this subject ... so can I ask ... in your opinion do you think (from the data you mention) that this could be a preliminary to eruption at Katla ?

Woody

[edit on 24-5-2010 by woodwytch]

reply to post by woodwytch


A difficult question indeed and I would not like to make a guess on that one, and I don't even think an Icelandic geologist would either other than to say there may be reason to suspect this. Whilst on the last three occassions that Ejyafjoll has erupted Katla has subsequently erupted within 6 months or so, there is nothing to suggest that this would be the case again. Mother Nature is just not that predictable when it comes to these things.

There is also no foundation for presuming that any eruption at Katla would necessarily be a very bad one. It may be minor or it may be a world event - who knows. Do you remember the last one? If you look on Wikipedia you find...

The last major eruption occurred in 1918, although there may have been a couple small eruptions that did not break the ice cover: one in 1955 and another 1999

Source

So my point is that a Katla eruption may not be a doomsday event.

Sorry I can't be more helpful, but I am afraid these things you cannot predict very far in advance without access to a Geofon or two and a crystal ball perhaps. One thing I would say is that Katla, unlike Hekla, gives due warning so you would expect to see increased earthquakes and tremors (not the same things) before anything happened. What is on the tremor graphs at present is so far below the max of the recent eruptions that I don't think it could be taken as an indicator of anything other than the fact that things are not totally quiet, which was why I mentioned it.


[edit on 24/5/2010 by PuterMan]

reply to post by PuterMan


You are absolutely correct. One of the biggest differences with this eruption is the amount of seismic data that has been collected. If Katla erupts (and that is a big 'if') this time, scientists would have a much better chance of predicting the next one, but they have no idea currently what the seismic schedule is prior to an eruption of Katla.

However, with the recent seismic activity at Katla, that we have not seen much of in the last few months, it does make great sense to keep an eye on Katla. If she becomes more active, and with EQ's more at the magma level, then I would say that we need a new Katla thread, IMO.

Hello everyone, still put a official report here. You never now.:

Eruption in Eyjafjallajökull
Status Report: 14:00 GMT, 24 May 2010
Icelandic Meteorological Office and Institute of Earth Sciences, University
of Iceland
Compiled by: Sigþrúður Ármannsdóttir, Þorsteinn Jónsson and Björn Sævar Einarsson.
Based on: IMO seismic monitoring; IES-IMO GPS monitoring; IMO hydrological data;
web cameras, ATDnet – UK Met. Offices lightning detection system, Satellite
images and web-based ash reports from the public.
Eruption plume:
Height (a.s.l.): According to a webcamera, the plume is estimated at 2 km/6600ft. A
light northerly wind.
Heading: South.
Colour: White, steam.
Tephra fallout: No reports of ashfall.
Lightning: No lightning strikes have been detected.
Noises: No reports.
Meltwater: Low discharge from Gígjökull.
Conditions at eruption site: Similar as yesterday, estimated through a webcamera.
Seismic tremor: Volcanic tremor is still decreasing and is approaching the level it had
before the eruption.
Earthquakes: Earthquake activity has decreased since yesterday. One earthquake has
been recorded since midnight.
GPS deformation:Horizontal displacements toward the centre of Eyjafjallajökull volcano
and subsidence.
Overall assessment: The eruption seems to be dormant. There is still a considerable
amount of steam coming from the crater, but no ash can be seen in it.
The tremor is still higher than before the onset of the eruption,
especially in the frequency band 1-2 Hz.

en.vedur.is...