The monsters wakes up ! Katla Hekla Iceland Dead Zone and rift as uniform system ! A lot of others worldwide !

who knows. but

Kistufell swarm in Vatnajokull [link to en.vedur.is]

Renato Rio says:

December 18, 2012 at 03:29


Tuesday
18.12.2012 02:55:47 63.658 -19.390 1.1 km 1.8 30.94 5.0 km ESE of Básar
Tuesday
18.12.2012 02:55:29 63.935 -18.598 16.0 km 1.1 31.68 23.2 km SW of Laki
Tuesday
18.12.2012 02:55:17 65.046 -17.268 12.1 km 2.4 90.01 16.6 km N of Trölladyngja
Tuesday
18.12.2012 02:55:12 64.756 -17.242 1.4 km 3.3 90.04 3.2 km SSW of Kistufell

Tyler Mannison says:

December 18, 2012 at 03:47


Tuesday
18.12.2012 02:55:12 64.756 -17.242 1.4 km 3.3 90.04 3.2 km SSW of Kistufell

Reply


Inge B. says:

December 18, 2012 at 10:15


Bárdabunga is known for sending melt water often not only in one direction.

So this could mean elevated water levels in Jökulsá á Fjöllum and/or: Skjálfandafljót – both in northern direction, Kaldakvísl / Hágöngulón in western direction, Tungnaá in southern direction – perhaps. Also normally it takes some hours, till it is to be seen in the rivers.

But regrettably IMO hydrology is down at the moment.

Renato Rio says:

December 18, 2012 at 03:52


Tuesday
18.12.2012 03:35:28 64.760 -17.223 3.8 km 2.2 73.6 2.4 km SSW

[link to volcanocafe.wordpress.com]

Today this seams a Christmas tree with a star in the midle! [link to en.vedur.is]

Tuesday 18 December 2012
Tungurahua Volcano, Ecuador
Eruptions of Tungurahua volcano, Ecuador on 16th December created air waves which broke windows in nearby towns. Pyroclastic flows occurred on the upper flanks of the volcano. Ash emissions reached 3 km above the summit. The eruption was associated with new magma intrusion under the volcano. [link to www.volcanolive.com]

Ecuador

We’ve seen a couple spectacular images of explosions from Ecuador’s currently noisiest volcano, Tungurahua. This rejuvenated activity in December has promoted evacuations of people living near the volcano as both ash fall and pyroclastic flows are a very real hazard. The plume reached as high as 3 km / 16,500 feet over the weekend and seismicity remains high — all of which has the volcano on Orange Alert by the national civil defence agency of Ecuador.



Indonesia

Across the globe in Indonesia, Lokon has also been keeping active with numerous explosions, like this one from earlier today. That same brief Reuters report claims that Lokon has experienced over 800 explosions over the last 6 months, an impressive number to say the least. The plumes from the explosions are reaching 3-4 km / 11-14,000 feet. Lokon is joined by Paluweh in this week’s Global Volcanism Program Weekly Volcanic Activity Report and another 6 volcanoes are on Orange Alert status according to PVMBG.

Russia

The eruption of Tolbachik is still ongoing as this recent Terra image shows. Even with its remote location on the Kamchatka Peninsula, the eruption is drawing tourists – and I suppose it isn’t a shock considering how impressive the lava flows are (see below — be sure to check out all the images in the KVERT gallery). Some people are also trying to connect this fairly small eruption to my favorite, the Maya Apocalypse, claiming a sign of the end will be eruptions. Of course, as we all know, eruptions occur all the time, so why is this eruption in one of the most volcanically-active places on the planet a harbinger of doom? It isn’t. The latest GVP Report has the lava flows stretching 17-20 km from the vent, quite the distance for any lava flow, and the alert level remains at Orange. [link to www.wired.com]

Irpsit says:

December 18, 2012 at 11:44


Yes, there is quite on and off tremor at Bárðarbunga. And a 3.0 earthquake there this morning (in Kistufell, north side of Bárðarbunga).

Per se, it does not mean nothing yet.

In 1996, a 5.0 earthquake there in Kistufell started an eruption in Grimsvotn
[link to volcanocafe.wordpress.com]

[link to www.igepn.edu.ec]
Tuesday, December 18, 2012 5:48 Updated: Strombolian activity and emission column westward in the Tungurahua volcano
...The lava fountains reached heights of about 1 km above the crater. It also hear occasional noise and roar of varying intensity...

Is it staring my friend????

well some unrest for shure... lets see if this evolve.

Magnitude 3.3 earthquake in Bárðarbunga volcano during the night
Posted on December 18, 2012 by Jón Frímann
At 02:55 UTC today (18.12.2012) there was a magnitude 3.3 earthquake in Bárðarbunga volcano system. Earthquakes are common in this area so this activity is no surprise. Origins of this earthquakes are due to tectonic movements in the area. Not magma related changes.

Aftershocks have followed this earthquake. So far the largest one got the magnitude 2.2. More earthquake activity can be expected in this area. But that is normal and not unexpected.

[link to www.jonfr.com]

It's great experience!

iceland quite sleep now, imo Tingurahua the best show this time, thanks for soonest updates!

to me all here very well adds information, except that vc comments bit boring and long overdue

Paluweh volcano (Flores, Indonesia): A stronger phase of activity occurred at the lava dome this morning. VAAC Darwin reported an ash plume rising to 11,000 ft (3.4 km), i.a. 2.5 km above the dome. [link to www.volcanodiscovery.com]

increasing seismic activity at Nisyros.
[link to bbnet.gein.noa.gr]

update: The eruption Plosky Tolbachik continues with vigorous lava emission and strong tremor as during the beginning of the eruption.
Lava flows have now reached a reported length of 20 km. [link to www.volcanodiscovery.com]

volcanodiscoverVolcanoDiscovery 7 m
Turrialba volcano (Costa Rica) activity update - A relatively strong SO2 cloud was detected [link to twitter.com]

Adatara volcano (Fukushima province, Japan) activity update

Location of the recent earthquake at Adatara volcano
A shallow magnitude 3.7 quake occurred yesterday under the Adatara group of volcanoes. [link to www.volcanodiscovery.com]

Volcanic activity world-wide 18 December 2012: Tungurahua, Tobachik, Paluweh, Popocatépetl, Fuego, Pacaya, Santiaguito, Turrialba, Reventador, Galeras, Ruiz, Machin, Adatara

Tuesday Dec 18, 2012 20:42 PM | Age: 0 min

BY: T

The eruption of Plosky Tolbachik volcano in Kamchatka continues with vigorous lava emission and strong tremor as during the beginning of the eruption.
Lava flows have now reached a reported length of 20 km.
The seismic activity from the volcano is so strong that the seismic recordings from nearby Klyuchevskoy and Bezymianny are obscured.

Tungurahua volcano in Ecuador remains very active, although the strength of explosions, compared to Saturday-Sunday, has calmed down since yesterday. Constant ash emissions, strong strombolian explosions and pulses of lava fountain up to 1 KM (!) height above the crater were reported seen during the night.
In the morning, a small small pyroclastic flow descended through the gorge of La Hacienda. Occasionally, roars of varying intensity were heard. A dark ash column rises about 1.5 km and drifts westward. Tremor remains at high near saturation levels.

Seismicity has recently decreased and become more discontinuous at Reventador volcano, the second currently active volcano in Ecuador.

A stronger phase of activity occurred at the lava dome of Paluweh volcano this morning. VAAC Darwin reported an ash plume rising to 11,000 ft (3.4 km), i.a. 2.5 km above the crater.

The number of emissions of Popocatépetl volcano in Mexico has further increased; there were 121 events, i.e. about 4 per hour counted since yesterday. Most produced only puffs of steam and gas, and in some cases very small amounts of ash. Other monitoring parameters remain unchanged. During the night glow was observed in the crater. In the morning, a steam and gas plume was seen rising about 800 meters above the crater and drifting to the southeast.

A relatively strong SO2 cloud was detected over Turrialba volcano in Costa Rica today, suggesting increased degassing.

Mild strombolian activity was observed at Fuego volcano with with ash plumes rising up to 400 m and incandescent bombs reaching 150 m above the crater. The lava flow remains active and was about 300 m long this morning.

Weak incandescence was seen from the Santiaguito lava dome at night and the lava flows descending its flanks remained active.

Pacaya volcano remains calm at the surface, but small volcanic earthquakes are occurring frequently.

Occasional weak ash explosions continue to occur from time to time at Galeras volcano in Colombia, such as observed during exceptionally clear weather yesterday.
Nevado del Ruiz volcano in Colombia continues to have pulses of small quakes and produces a significant steam and gas plume, occasionally accompanied by ash venting.
Seismic unrest continues at Cerro Machin volcano. On December 14 and 16, 2 felt earthquakes occurred under the volcano.

Our earthquakes near volcanoes page showed that a shallow magnitude 3.7 quake occurred yesterday very near Adatara volcano near Fukushima City in Japan. Adatara is part of a group of overlapping active stratovolcanoes and was last active in 1990. [link to www.volcanodiscovery.com]

Luis, this is a really great thread, including through your efforts to spend lavishly on it!
But why are you so much and often repeating the same news here is that someone before you publish? Or whether need in sometimes very little informative replics of generally not the most competent members of vc ? I think it can greatly reduce its attractiveness

Bárdarbunga calling

Posted on December 18, 2012by Spica Bárdarbunga, a big volcanic edifice and central volcano located under Vatnajökull in Iceland, has been showing unrest for some time now. There was esp. the glacier run (jökulhlaup) from June 2011 into the reservoir Hágöngulón in the highlands of Iceland. But also lately, growing unrest showed on the tremor charts of IMO:

Under the five big ice caps which together cover about 10 % Iceland’s surface, there are located 9 or 10 central volcanoes incl. parts of their fissure systems. Under Vatnajökull alone, there are 2 twin systems of basaltic and rhyolitic central volcanoes, i.e. Grímsvötn-Gjálp and Bárdarbunga – Hamarinn/Loki-Fögrufjöll, Kverkfjöll in the north, all of these part of the EVZ (Eastern Volcanic Zone of Iceland), and two separate active central volcanoes, Esjufjöll and Öraefajökull, forming a separate belt in the east. (Thordarson, 2007)

Bárdarbunga central volcano, proudly presenting a 80 km2 caldera with a depth of 700 m, and reaching heights of 2100 m at its summit, is placed in the northwestern part of Vatnajökull ice cap, north of Grímsvötn.

Of these volcanic systems, Grímsvötn is by far the most productive with 480 eruptions in 6.500 years, whereas Bárdarbunga prehistoric eruption frequency (which means in Iceland till 1.000 BP) reaches 330 eruptions during the same period of time and an average of 5 per century. On the other hand, tephra layers from Bárdarbunga are dispersed more widely, which indicates „more voluminous and/or longer lasting eruptions than these of Grímsvötn“. Additionally, there were 135 tephra layers which could be identified with Grímsvötn, 87 originating from Bárdarbunga and only 17 from Kverkfjöll since Icelandic settlement started in the 9th century. This gives Bárdarbunga the place of the 2nd or third most active volcanic system in Iceland in historic and prehistoric times – rivaling Hekla. (Larsen, 2011). But probably there were much more eruptions, mostly very small ones which couldn’t break the glacier surface. See also GVP: [link to www.volcano.si.edu]

But Bárdarbunga also has the longest or perhaps – if Askja is competitive enough – the second longest fissure system of Iceland (around 190 km), extending to the south into the Landmannalaugar region (Veiðivötn, Vatnaöldur) and also some 50 km in northeastern direction from her outlet glacier Dyngjujökull. It produced not only one of the most important flood eruption events in historic time (Veiðivötn in 1480), but also an enormous lava field, the so-called Þjórsárhraun (2130 km3) 8.500 years ago.

There has now been some earthquakes, one of them magn. 3.3. Like many other calderas, she shows unrest from time to time, which may or may not mean more. This is anyways a volcano which deserves some attention.

See also Carl’s post about Hamarinn: [link to volcanocafe.wordpress.com]
[link to volcanocafe.wordpress.com]

+1

we just have to be united...

GeoLurking says:

December 18, 2012 at 20:55


Bárðarbunga sits pretty much on top of the Icelandic Hotspot. Or at least the location where the center of it is believed to be. While Grímsvötn is a bruiser, Bárðarbunga is the one sitting in the corner that you don’t want to get pissed off. Though mostly quiet when compared to the other ones making a racket in the bar, this is the one that can become quite irritable.

One small factoid that most people forget. The Hreppar and Tröllaskagi microplates. Between these two lie a tranform fault where each side slides past the other. Where this tranform ends at, is at or close to Bárðarbunga, where it meets the spreading center that runs down through Iceland.

NOTE: The Tröllaskagi microplate/block may be locked to North America since it shows no or minimal motion with relation to it

Together, this is an RRF configured triple junction (ridge-ridge-transform). Triple junctions themselves, are some of the most seismically active regions on Earth. FFR types are inherently unstable, and (according to Global Tectonics 3rd ed) eventuall evolve into FFR. (transform-transform-ridge)

So.. you have a rather large semi-unknown volcano, sitting on a hotspot, at a triple junction.

Is it any wonder why it can get nasty if it wants to?

September 29, 1996 – A magnitude 5.6 (Mw) quake occurred under Bárðarbunga. This quake caused a lot of questions to be asked. It didn’t show an offset, like a strike-slip, it didn’t show one side sliding over another. It had a “non double-couple” solution that yielded no volumetric displacement.

Read the analysis here:

[link to www.iris.edu]

And a more indepth look at it here

“Insights into the kinematics of a volcanic caldera drop: Probabilistic finite-source
inversion of the 1996 Bárdarbunga, Iceland, earthquake” Fichtner and Tkalčić (2009 / 2010)

[link to www.geo.uu.nl]
[link to volcanocafe.wordpress.com]

John Seach@johnseach
#Kilauea volcano, #Hawaii. Variable lava ocean entry near Kupapa'u. 8 earthquakes in past 24 hours.
[link to mobile.twitter.com (secure)]

John Seach@johnseach
10h
#Ambrym volcano, #Vanuatu. Satellite image shows sulphur dioxide plume extending northwest across #Malekula Island.

John Seach@johnseach
15h
#Tolbachik volcano, Kamchatka. Eruptions continue. Ash emissions reach height of 3 kilometres over past few days.

John Seach@johnseach
16h
#Ambrym volcano, Vanuatu. Satellite images show hotspots at Benbow and Mbwelesu craters. 12 December 2012.

John Seach@johnseach
#Manam volcano, Papua New Guinea. Satellite images show hotspots at volcano on multiple days in December 2012.

John Seach@johnseach
16h
#Bagana volcano, Papua New Guinea. Satellite images show hotspots on 13 December 2012.

John Seach@johnseach
16h
Heard Island volcano, Australian territory. Satellite images show hotspots on 12,15,16 December 2012.
[link to mobile.twitter.com (secure)]

updated: Wednesday, 19 December, 2012 at 04:25 UTC
Description
Volcano monitors say Ecuador's Tungurahua volcano shot lava 1km above its crater overnight and blasted hot rock and gas nearly 3km down its flank. The regional director for the government's emergency agency is Lourdes Mayorga and she says officials have prepared shelters and are working to evacuate any people in danger. The country's National Geophysics Institute said the volcano blasted lava well above its crater overnight and sent out a plume of ash and gas about 1.5km high. The renewed eruption in central Ecuador began last week and plumes on Sunday rose as high as 5km above the 16,479-foot (5,023-metre) crater.
[link to hisz.rsoe.hu]