Fridays Riddle:
Being a surgeon, the old man showed me how to put maps together!
Who are ‘we’?
Where am I found?
How old am I?
by AlanC
Name that Lava XXIV!
Here are 2 images of the same rock:
What am I?
What is my magmatic companion?
What national dish makes you swear?
Spica
VolcanoCafé 
Congratulations to all winners! You were great. And so were the riddles!
Let them keep coming, please.
Stone the crows! I’ve just read that they’ve axed Time Team, good to know that they’ve been immortalised here 😉
Eh?
No more Phil’s hat, or gorgeous Tracey Smith 😦
No more Baldrick either, what a shame 😦
OT: BioRant.
As I point out from time to time… this isn’t my specialty. In this case, I’m talking about biology.
While making an omelet, which I screwed up and offered to my wife as scrambled eggs, I overheard a news item. “boys reaching puberty as much as two years earlier than average”
The yammering bobblehead went on to question if it was due to chemicals in the environment or food… then the segment ended. (don’t you just love info crap-bites that don’t really tell you anything?)
It turns out that yes, there is some info on this in other news sources.
http://www.6minutes.com.au/news/latest-news/boys-mature-faster-than-earlier-generations
In a way… the news bobblehead may be partially correct, chemicals may play a part. In the US, there is a serious…and I do mean serious, lack of discipline. It all sort of began with Dr. Spock, baby doc, who preached against discipline. Since then, there has been a wholesale assault on chastising kids who screw up or act outside of what is considered normal. This mantra has permeated the school system, and the only way to keep the unruly one focused… is to jack them up on speed. Yes, speed. Amphetamines. In the right doses, it does allow one to focus on a specific task. Thats one reason why some accounts of speed junkies relate how they scrubbed the bathroom floor clean… with a toothbrush. (of their own volition BTW) or have other odd intense behaviors. Reportedly, the Nazis used a related concoction for their shock troops.
The modern concoction for kids is known as Adderall, or some variation of it under different brand names.
What is Adderall? A combination of Dextroamphetamine and Amphetamine.
So… News Babe may be correct.. it might be “the chemicals in the environment.”
What else could it be? Well… as a general rule, a species will respond to stresses in the environment. This can be in behavior, or in development. Faced with the loss of parental support and nurturing, an individual is best served by getting to adulthood as fast as possible. With the ongoing assault on the nuclear family, even those families that have just one parent, the hardships of growing up in this environment place a lot of pressure on the kids to grow up as fast as possible. Humans throughout history, have tended to exist as pairs… raising a family. This allowed for greater education possibilities, and allowed well developed socio-enculturalization as the member learned how to be a productive (as opposed to destructive) part of the community.
What do we have now? The glorification of “Gangsta” behavior, kids that can’t be disciplined (legal constraints) and as a fix, jacked up on speed or some variant. Living for the most part, outside of a home environment, dealing with life.
“Chemicals in the environment?” Okay, but you better open your eyes Ms Bobblehead. You may be more correct than you know.
Note: The “Ms” in that last line is a stab at the very politically correct phenomena that is another characteristic of the problem. “Miss” used to be the accepted norm when you didn’t know the marital status of the female being refereed to. Can’t have that, it’s sexist. So, we get “Ms” as a feminine version of “Mr”… what’s next?
“It?”
Additionally, the male bobblehead is just as inane as the female of the species.
oh! Lurking. You have opened a real can of worms here! Looking back in history Young men were considered adult and took on responsibilities of work, war, even government at an early age. Only back in the 1960’s Boys of 14 years were leaving school and entering the work place. mentally they had to be more mature. Girls however tended to be more immature and less apparently able to be responsible…..However they were often married at an early age but died young in childbirth. All of this is more about their mental health and maturity . Victorian girls were sheltered and often didn’t reach full physical maturity until around 17 years. All a far cry from today’s young “ladies” many of whom appear almost and are certainly sexually mature before they are 10 years old.
We know so little about the finer hormonal responses of human bodies to social stimuli and even less to the many contaminants that we are bombarded with daily.
This is quite a concise article and suggests some reasons for early physical maturity
http://www.ourstolenfuture.org/NewScience/reproduction/Puberty/potentialcauses.htm
That is my response as a biologist.
As a parent and member of a modern community I too am horrified at how many of our youngsters seem to be missing out on some of the more enjoyable and essential activities of pre- teen life. Adventure groups like scouts that taught and gave so much are not “Cool”. Young parents have more conversations with their cell phones than their spouses and children……… I could rant on about the drugs and the “do gooders”… but I wont.
I remember my grandmother being equally horrified at my hippy attire, my father’s worry and total lack of understanding of Rock music, There are a vast number of very well balanced Youngsters out there who’s life bears no comparison to my life at the same age. They have much pressures and I do feel sorry for their generation.
Lurking.. I do believe that society will learn that discipline is good……eventually!
It does seem that girls reach puberty so much younger now, my daughter was only 10 when she ‘started’ it was a shock to me, but she took it quite in her stride so I presume she was not unique amongst her primary school friends. Is this earlier puberty down to better nutrition and so on, or is that just a myth?
Kelda I don’t think anyone really knows. There are many theories and much research and still the answer is not clear. Personally I think is is a combination of many triggers, chemical contaminents, diet (good and bad), and mental and social stimuli. It’s interesting searching google with the key words of “early puberty”.
Don’t forget that Europe (and presumably industrialised America) have just recovered from over 100 years when the poor (and people in general) were severely undernorished. The British Army had trouble recruiting men over 5ft 5ins for the Boer War and so on. Women were even shorter. This has given rise to the idea that “people in olden times were smaller” etc which is not necessarily true. Prior to the industrial revolution people seem to have generally been the same size they are now. This probably means they reached puberty at the same age they do now. I’m now into my 60’s and I reached puberty at age 10 – but I was brought up on good food and sunshine in Africa so it wasn’t uncommon. Margaret Beaufort gave birth to the future Henry VII at the age of 12!
P.S. I’ve always been happy to be called ‘Miss’ 😀
Miss Talla, complete with Morgan Freeman as her driver? 😉
What’s wrong with Ms instead of Miss or Mrs? If you were a married woman that got divorced then maybe going back to Miss is not comfortable, but being a Mrs is not comfortable either, to many women Ms is an acceptable compromise and why not?
There is nothing wrong with it, my point is the vociferous attacks against the use of the term “Miss.”
Generally the term “Miss” was used out of politeness in order to keep from offending the party in question. Now the use of the term is derided.
And how do you pronounce “Ms”?
You guys got me curious.
Things are definitely changing too fast. I don’t think that human bio clock can run that fast, so, my take is that extremely rapid changes can be harmful.
Just coming from the gym and the personal trainer in charge was saying out loud that one can loose weight by carrying heavy dumbbells unfed. I asked him “how about the danger to get lesions from lack of energy?” And he went on with an explanation that my knowledge as ex-biologist couldn’t take for granted.
Any clues?
OK, I see what you mean. Where I live it doesnt feel inappropriate to use the word Miss, but maybe that will change come time. Personally I do prefer Ms to Mrs, if it I am at work, otherwise it’s whatever…..depends if my OH is beside me or not. I’m way beyond the realms of Miss though…sadly!!
If there has to be two tastes for women (which I do not think is fair; nobody has anything to do with the fact if you have been married or whether you are a virgin or whatever) then there should be two tastes for men, too! What about Mr. and Murr?
I agree! There used to be two – Master and Mister – but Master then changed to only mean a child, not an unmarried man, while Miss and Mistress (Mrs) stayed with women to mean unmarried and married. I don’t really like Ms as it’s a made-up thing and is neither here nor there (and for Renato it’s pronounced Mzzz!) 😀
Oh, many thanks Talla. I was about to ask it again all caps locked!
Well, o dear!
What if we just called people by their names? Well, it wouldn’t work for some names…
O, dear!
How about the letters they put on the rest rooms doors? M and F is fine for most languages, but when they try to represent in symbols, like sun and moon? You may get into trouble in German speaking countries.
Once I went happily into a ladies room in a Japanese restaurant. There was a samurai depicted on the man’s room, ponytail and all – I just picked the other one. Of course I don’t recognize myself in a geisha either, but then it was too urgent, so I didn’t bother double checking the label…
🙂
Good evening, Misses and Mizzes and Herrn und Damen!
Signs and single letters can always be a problem! I always get confused in France with the taps – they are marked C and F for hot and cold, but ours are marked H and C for hot and cold. So my brain just tells me C is cold so the other must be hot. Result: no hot water in France!
How can you find those things? LOL
Ms? It’s a fact of biology that males have to court females, thus “miss” and “mrs” are vital social markers. The use for “ms”, apart as an abbreviation for a very nasty illness, is to signal that the female in question is of dubious orientation and not interested in male attentions. In short, a woman who styles herself “ms” has only herself to blame if men find her uniteresting and unattractive. Why waste time on someone who clearly belittles you?
@Diana Barnes
Thank You. That tends to support my idea that it is a response to stress changes in society at large.
I don’t support the use of drugs at all. Now where is my coffee….
(yeah, I know :D)
And a cigarette to follow… >;-)
and a glass of wine 🙂
and chocolate
OH says can we haqve Smores too…Lurking might know about them??
Geo, I suggest you stick to what you know 🙂
One of my kids is ADHD, and mildly autistic. It’s a real disease, and ‘speed’ is the real treatment. Without medication, it’s almost impossible for him to function. With it, he’s a totally different kid. You KNOW there’s some funky brain chemistry involved when you give a kid speed and it *slows him down and calms him down!*.
I’m not saying it isn’t sometimes prescribed wrongly – but to generalise like that is just wrong, and pretty insulting to those kids – and their parents – to be honest.
As for discipline – we’re Scottish! No lack of discipline, trust me!
Pleased that your kid’s ADHD is being treated.
I think that GeoLurking was referring to substance abuse, not the genuine medical use.
Yep… I’m aware of the pharmacological industry implications of ADHD. It’s a cash cow like you would not believe.
For 74,000+ years we have done just fine without it. But due to the “discovery” of this ailment, whether bona-fide or not had made the manufacture and trade of the “cure” worth about 511.2 million USD annually in direct sales to Shire Plc and 109.6 million USD annually in licensing. (and that’s just the one manufacturer)
I’m sure that there probably some instances where the use of it in treatment are valid, but like the privatization of prisons where the operators and their associated push for stricter and more rigid laws and penalties… so that it makes more prisoners… and therefore potentially more money for the prison operators, when a company sees an opportunity for locking in their product, they are going to push for it as hard as they can.
I have two grandkids on the stuff, and I can see the differences in how they are turning out behaviorally.
The ADHD mantra is a load of crap… in my opinion.
@Karen. “Substance abuse” has more than the generally accepted “user needs a fix” meaning. In my definition, it also applies to over diagnosing as an ailment, something that is normal. Unruly kids are unruly because (in many jurisdictions) it is illegal to discipline them.
True story… I had a work associate that was arrested. For throwing his kid through a wall. It didn’t matter that the little bastard had come at him with a knife. Nope. Kids 16, the adult is at fault. Child abuse. (in a pigs ass)
Personally, I nearly got in trouble back when I was a volunteer firefighter. One of the “Explorer” kids (15 to 17 and too young to be a blackcat) thought it was cute to let the air out of the tires of the cars in the parking lot. I confronted him, he pulled a knife. I took it away. Thinking better of not beating him to a pulp, I let him up. He pulls a fireaxe. At that point I told the station chief that he can keep his friken misfits and I’ll find something else to do with my spare time. Years later, the kid managed to reach adulthood and eventually became that stations chief. I had the opportunity to go back and drive for that station but would not… because of that little bastard.
Now… something to consider.
Kids are notorious for their imagination. The mind wanders when it is not actively engaged, or grows bored. How many future geniuses are we loosing out on because we try to lock our kids into a nice conforming little packages that do what they are told?
It may be overdiagnosed, or diagnosed inappropriately, that I accept. But I reject the ‘mantra load of crap’ description; that is insulting and I invite you to withdraw.
The ADHD disease/condition/syndrome is real. The treatment is real, and works. My wife & I are both trained scientists and say this from the closest and most direct personal experience and observation possible, of a fairly severe case. I won’t sit here and let that be dismissed so casually. I don’t buy a lot of crap about child-rearing either – but this IS real. Beyond that I’ll say no more, lest I contravene forum rules.
BTW…. a side note.
The other grandkid (not the one in the post below this) decided on his own to get off of Aderall, seing as he was 21. Now he chain smokes. Just something to note. I have no idea if it’s connected, or just coincidental.
Like I stated;
As for the whole concept of it being a load of crap, I will clarify that what I am referring to is the “overdiagnosed, or diagnosed inappropriately” charge, as you have noted.
If you interpret this as me belittling the condition, my apologies, that was not the intention.
Maybe this will help.
mantra n.
1. … A sacred verbal formula.
2. A commonly repeated word or phrase
My intention was meaning #2. Who do I blame? Teachers. Kids get referred, usually by teachers, who stir up the parents. Parents want the kid ‘fixed’ to that they are functional in school. Doctors get this “problem çocuk” and do what doctors do… try to fix the ailment.
Where does the problem originate? With the teachers… who are stymied by what sort of discipline they can issue in school. Call it laziness if you like, or call it incompetence. Call it over legislation.
The fact is, it’s a lot more prevalent and it sure as hell is not being fixed.
Caveat: I may have a personal thing against teachers. I was labeled as being “lazy” by one of my teachers at an early age. I found this out via a note the she sent home with me for my parents. She told me I could read it, so I did. My parents asked me why I wouldn’t do the problems on the blackboard that the teacher would put up. “I can’t see them.” Turned out I had 20/400 and 20/600 vision. (not that bad originally, but that’s how it eventually turned out) So yeah, I guess I have a thing against teachers.
Are food additives affecting the way kids brains work? As you said Lurking,we have been fine for the last 74’000 years but in the last 50 or so years that has changed and now medical conditions like ADHD are more commonly acknowledged. Food processing has moved on so much since the 50’s/60’s and maybe this has something to do with the problems that modern day parents have to cope with. Perhaps our own childhood diets have an influence on how our kids turn out…who knows?? I’m sure the food companies will have plenty of evidence to prove otherwise though.
I wouldn’t doubt that.
A lot of the meals that many people consume on a daily basis, are the sort of food that hundreds of years ago, were only served on holidays or festive occasions.
Personally, I hate sweets. Not that I actually hate them, but I avoid them to the point where I can pick off sugar being present at a moments notice. Sodas are notorious sources of high fructose corn syrup, and they are selling product like it’s going out of style. I managed to wean myself off of them and drink un-sweetened tea, black coffee, or ice water. It doesn’t make me any healthier in my opinion, but I don’t have trouble controlling my weight anymore. I have been at about the same weight for the last 20 years.
As noted earlier, one of my grandkids is an ADHD entity. Before they put him on medication, in order to keep him from being unruly, they limited his sugar intake. It seemed to work just fine. I had never seen candy act like a drug until I saw him purloin a piece of chocolate one day and to me, went literally nuts bounding off the walls afterwards.
But… he’s not my kid and I can’t preach about how to raise him.
My nephews used to be manic on some of the fizzy drinks and processed foods with additives. They also used to only get about 6 hours sleep a night (through choice) and were wildly over-active – but that runs in the family. The fizzy drinks were stopped and they coped a lot better. Both grew out of it and got good Degrees. Food additives give me migraines so goodness knows what they do to children’s brains.
In the western world nearly everyone is sugar addicted. This is , I think, also a big cause why we’ve know more troubles with ADHD. To much sugar will make the most people hyper, but peolpe with ADHD will react much faster on it.
The (medical) problem of people with adhd is that they respond different to dopamines in their brain. Mostly they need more dopamine to achieve te same reaction as ‘normal’ people. Dopamine in small amounts allow you to concentrate, in high amounts it makes you high. Because ADHD people need more dopamine for concentration , they search for a substitute: nicotine, amphtamines, coke, marihuana …
People with ADHD have the tendency to smoke or starting on drugs because they feel better with it. So medication in this case is better.
A natural (and far more healthy) way to get higher dopaminelevels is to sport. You can become high of the dopamines when running. The only trouble is that the modern society don’t give enough oppportunities to move regular. In schools, children have to sit calmly on a chair for hours and the classic 9-5 office jobs are a nightmare if you need/want to move on a regular basis.
Agree that inappropriate diagnosis and prescription are wrong and could be considered substance abuse.
Don’t get me started on how over-nannying fails kids.
Lurk, smoking keeps one ‘grounded’, to use the ‘new age’ terminology. Friend of mine, an Austrian author, always says he cannot think without a smoke.
Sugar, additives and any perfumed goods are a big nono to me to keep me functioning. What I gathered from reading about the subject is that many persons on the right side of the bell curve (highly sensitive, creative, intelligent etc) react more fiercely to additives etc.
If there is one chemical compound that influences hormonal processes, it’s Bisphenol A that can be found in nearly all plastic bottles used for softdrinks and water, &c. San Pellegrino is about the only bottled mineral water available in glass bottles. Too bad it contains a good dose of uranium (German PDF Alert) which at least is a natural element, and unlike its plastic bottled twin, the glass one does not give me that funny feeling in the stomach.
@ Diana
trouble with just ‘Porphyry’ is that it isn’t specific eg ‘granite’ or ‘basalt’
The rock in question is rhomb porphyry and is related to laurvikite directly, where as just porphyry refers to a porphyritic texture- if you can follow that well done!!
@ Kelda
As punishment. you can select the next riddle category
1) Mineral
2) ‘pot luck’ of anything!!
🙂
And tell us too, Kelda!! 🙂
Don’t forget – ’tis Hallo’een week 👿
Oh that is scary!! BTW I hope to see a skeleton tomorrow, at least hopefully a part of it!
Another skeleton of a 13 meters long Mosasaurus has been found in a limestone quarry in Maastricht (september 2012): http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mosasaurus
Hope to get a glance of it on a guided tour in the quarry tomorrow.
How about this for a skeletal part!
Don’t think a quick bite has the same meaning
http://www.dorsetcountymuseum.org/the-dorset-pliosaur
@ Sissel
OK you really know how to make me envious 😦
Any chance of piccies or a little on the quarry geology he muses quietly…………….. 🙂
Many years ago i went to York for an exhibition of Chinese dinosaurs – superb!
I will certainly bring my cam, my backpack and some tools and small bags. So wish me good hunting! Will share the trophies here a.s.a.p.
😯
Just a little about the quarry: http://thebeal.home.xs4all.nl/PALEONTOLOGY/pal_g21.htm
Think you all did better not knowing the category. 👿
Well done Diana and Kelda 😀 😀 😀
* 👿 should be 😈 [looks happier 🙂 ]
Karen, what would you rather have? A disappointed devil or a happy, satisfied one? 😈
Wow..thanks Fred. I think it would have to be Pot Luck as that is more of a challenge, maybe? I am thrilled that I get to choose, but next few weeks for me may be so busy I wont have time to devote to hours of browsing for answers to clues. It is coming to Christmas and my business involves supplying decorated trees to local companies, so have started today on the first of what will likely be 85 – 90 trees…it takes over my life!! But Friday riddles will be a welcome distraction. Ho Ho Ho 🙂
Let me know via Spica/here by Thursday – when I’ll send off the riddle – if you can’t make next Friday – I’d hate you to miss out on your ‘selection’ 🙂 👿
Erm….You dont want me to make the riddle do you? Pot luck is my choice, and I’m now anticipating some spooky clues in honour of Halloween 🙂 I will always try and look at the riddles every Friday, but it usually takes me forever to work them out, so I will miss the early starts we have had lately. So what…it is fun for all of us and as far as I can tell a pretty unique thing for a blog. Long may it continue 🙂
Oh no the idea is for one of the ‘gang’ to select a category and I’ll ‘put one up’ from my store! I was going to ask each ‘top-dinger’ to select, but I may work through the ‘gang’ giving all a chance……Trouble is the mineral category has more in it………
Your’s is set tho’! 🙂
We’d better ask Spica how our clock changes alter the start times as from next week too.
Hey Kelda! I ran an Interior landscaping Company back in the Early 90’s…..I did the Xmas tree thing too. They took over the house as well as my Unit!! I don’t miss that part of the seasonal madness. 😀
@ Kelda
The Evility Generator has complied to your wish – the question is set in stone.
May your wits be with you! 👿
Where is Carl? Perhaps I missed something, but the last post I recall was something about starting a campaign to help Boris et al in Italy due to the impending cuts in budgets. Did anything more come of that?
Dunno … been waiting to hear more. 😕
Whatever caused the measle rash round vatnajokull yesterday seems to have moved on up to the North of Iceland
http://en.vedur.is/earthquakes-and-volcanism/earthquakes/tjornes-small/
Grabboides?
Irpsit says:
October 20, 2012 at 10:34
OK! So Not grabboides! Irpsit, thank you for your comment on the last page. Your description of the mantle plume makes sense of some of the quake happenings .
I really need to find time to read more about this. Once again I appreciate your time in explaining things iceland . You do it so well! have the next beer on me……. skaal! 🙂
Swarm starting again… http://www.vedur.is/skjalftar-og-eldgos/jardskjalftar/tjornesbrot_litid/
Saturday
20.10.2012 23:03:26 66.312 -18.753 6.2 km 2.4 69.1 20.6 km NNE of Siglufjörður
Saturday
20.10.2012 22:56:06 66.263 -18.664 1.1 km 2.8 76.54 18.4 km NE of Siglufjörður
Saturday
20.10.2012 22:56:06 66.275 -18.721 1.1 km 2.8 90.01 17.8 km NE of Siglufjörður
Saturday
20.10.2012 22:54:25 66.281 -18.705 1.1 km 3.9 90.03 18.7 km NE of Siglufjörður
Saturday
20.10.2012 22:54:21 66.411 -19.287 1.1 km 3.4 90.01 33.3 km NNW of Siglufjörður
Saturday
20.10.2012 22:54:06 66.366 -19.036 4.7 km 2.8 66.83 25.0 km N of Siglufjörður
Saturday
20.10.2012 22:53:17 66.263 -18.715 1.1 km 1.9 68.45 16.9 km NE of Siglufjörður
Saturday
20.10.2012 22:52:10 66.265 -18.731 1.1 km 2.6 40.61 16.6 km NE of Siglufjörður
Saturday
20.10.2012 22:50:43 66.257 -18.635 15.2 km 3.2 76.99 18.9 km NE of Siglufjörður
Saturday
20.10.2012 22:50:42 66.281 -18.595 1.1 km 3.2 90.01 19.0 km NW of Gjögurtá
Saturday
20.10.2012 22:50:40 66.385 -18.773 0.7 km 3.3 90.02 27.9 km NNE of Siglufjörður
It looks like a firework display on the tremors map.http://en.vedur.is/earthquakes-and-volcanism/earthquakes/tjornes-small/
Just noticed this “Blood Rain” for Sweden.
http://www.thelocal.se/43936/20121020/
Red mud from the sky how, ah unique…
Ahh… but what of any wayward microbes contained in the Sarharan Dust?
Here’s an image of that could over the netherlands and Germany (pink thing inside circle) that left all cars in my street roughly the same color: http://www.onweer-online.nl/images/userimages/forum/user_8136/126456.jpg
cloud, not could…
I had some reddish sand on my car on Friday afternoon ! (northern France, very near Belgium)
Yes, a cloud with sahara-sand went over the benelux on Friday. Where I live a haze was the whole they blocking the sun.
Cerro machin is rattling with another strong quake
Saturday
20.10.2012 23:38:16 66.343 -18.770 13.4 km 3.8 57.5 23.5 km NNE of Siglufjörður
And a 4.5 now too:
Sunday 21.10.2012, 00:20:29 66.292 -18.627, 1.1 km, 4.5, 90.02, 20.9 km NW of Gjögurtá
Quake activity on the Tjornes is really getting heavy.
http://en.vedur.is/earthquakes-and-volcanism/earthquakes/tjornes-small
People in North Iceland are calling the newspapers with reports of the earthquakes. They have been felt widely across the northern part of Iceland and even to Isafjordur in the Westfjords. things have been falling of shelves and beds and furniture shake and move. http://www.vedur.is/skjalftar-og-eldgos/jardskjalftar/tjornesbrot_stort/
Northern Iceland looks like the Walk Of Fame in Hollywood…!
I think Tjornes is well past ‘measles’ and fast approaching ‘major herpes outbreak’! But better this than a single M6.x… the energy is being released….
Scarlatina
Iceland is lit up like a christmas tree!
What is happening in Iceland?
Can anyone tell if all of these earthquakes are tectonic? It seems that some of them are getting rather close to Theistareykjabunga.
According to Jón this is a purely tectonic swarm and there is no ovlcanic activity in the area. I wonder if such an intense swarm cannot trigger one of the volcanoes nearby.
Trigger? No. They erupt when they want to. If now, then its just so.
I have no idea!
and another big one: http://www.simnet.is/jonfr500/earthquake/tremoren.htm
Quite heavy earthquake swarm in North of Iceland, Siglufjörður region and tjörnes Rift Zone. Currently 31 quake larger than 3 Richter (them stars), several over 4. Some broken windows and Church bells ringing them selves have been reported. No serious damage yet, but this can go on all night long.
http://www.vedur.is/skjalftar-og-eldgos/jardskjalftar#view=map
(Likely there are lots of Ghost quakes on map, but VC gang, this is such times we can swamp IMO servers if not careful, so use website sparingly, I only use one tab at a time watching, refreshing only now or then) And I felt a quake here, seems there has been some larger than that, perhaps close to five, according to strain meters at Hek and Bur …)
One 5,6 North of Iceland
IMO main page is not updating (last ones from 01:22 UTC) but the swarm is ongoing.
New M5.6 @ 1:25 UTC
http://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/eventpage/usb000d9x3#summary
Yes, thats the one I felt 280 km away. Noted abowe. Swarm is ongoing. IMO lists show 45 over 3 Richter. No news of more real damage (there is little fear of such, only after about 6 there happens structural damage to buldings, and these are 20 kom off nearest villages)
I’ve been monitoring the IMO website for the last couple of years, and this is definitely the most intense swarm I’ve seen in that time. As you say Tyler, IMO is not updating, but the USGS has registered a 5.6 at the TFZ. I bet the folks up there are having a very shoogly night !
oh, IMO is updating (slowly). Likely “swarmed” by local folks watching. About 200.000 (95%) of all homes in Iceland have internet connection and access!! And lots of pepople has been awakened in the North, so no wonder… Cilvil Warnings are already out 🙂
Civil Warnings are out, but no crises. The IMO is watching this closely, but no Volcanic activity is expected. Only news is Icelandic so far. visir.is and mbl.is
Upgraded to 5.7
Wow!
Yup. Wow is only word. All tremour plots are swamped. I expect this go on for some more, might spread west or into my region (South-West of Iceland). Usually that large swarms have consiquences in changing strain in other parts of Iceland so do expect quakes in south also, today or next days. Volcanic activity is not expected. *not expert*
Now 50 quakes over 3.0
seem one of them largest swarms for some years, but not dangerous untill over 6 Richter and near to settlements. Mostly these are in TFZ and are tetonic. Some are at 18 km depth, but hard to see exactly as so much is going on (and these are automatic values). The 5,6 has yet to appear in IMO lists, but its seen on other websites.
Largest quake corrected to 5,2 R. Swarm seems abating.
Sunday
21.10.2012 01:25:15 66.301 -18.765 10.8 km 5.2 99.0 19.3 km NNE of Siglufjörður
20.10.2012 23:34:19 66.333 -18.789 6.9 km 4.1 90.01 22.2 km NNE of Siglufjörður
20.10.2012 23:34:18 66.472 -18.632 1.1 km 4.0 39.79 28.6 km WSW of Grímsey
21.10.2012 01:03:42 66.321 -18.858 12.1 km 4.4 90.01 20.1 km NNE of Siglufjörður
21.10.2012 01:43:38 67.144 -20.248 8.9 km 4.1 49.14 67.7 km W of Kolbeinsey
USGS has raised the strongest one to 5.7. That’s an earthquake!
unday
21.10.2012 03:51:24 66.294 -16.734 2.6 km 2.7 90.02 12.6 km W of Kopasker
21.10.2012 03:50:59 66.083 -18.223 1.1 km 2.0 41.7 10.2 km S of Gjögurtá
21.10.2012 03:50:52 66.266 -18.717 0.7 km 2.3 79.06 17.1 km NE of Siglufjörður
21.10.2012 03:48:10 66.140 -18.339 1.1 km 1.9 65.27 5.0 km SW of Gjögurtá
21.10.2012 03:43:35 65.850 -17.518 26.6 km 2.9 90.02 22.8 km SSW of Húsavík
21.10.2012 03:43:25 66.338 -18.730 5.0 km 4.4 90.02 23.7 km NNE of Siglufjörður
There are many stations showing tremor pikes in all frequencies. I guess this is normal for a big a swarm like this.
Renato and all earlier today at about 1400hrs. I looked at the Iceland quake sheet.
What I noticed was that Tjornes looked like it had measles. I thought”Hmm-interesting.”
Now it is real “Interesting.”
Wow! that is incredible! i’ve watched Iceland for a while to use an old Appalachian
phrase from my Granma and my Wife’s mom “Lord have mercy!” if either one ever said that you could count on it being bad. In-laws at the gate bad. Fire on the mountain Bad. Still blowing up bad…
Amazing…
Indeed!
Biggest earthquakes during the last 48 hours (IMO)
Size Time Quality Location
5.2 21 Oct 01:25:15 Checked 19.3 km NNE of Siglufjörður
4.9 20 Oct 22:53:46 38.3 116.8 km NE of Kolbeinsey
4.8 21 Oct 00:10:20 Checked 20.4 km NNE of Siglufjörður
4.4 21 Oct 03:43:25 90.0 23.7 km NNE of Siglufjörður
4.3 21 Oct 02:20:01 90.0 27.5 km NNE of Siglufjörður
4.1 21 Oct 00:10:21 90.0 16.6 km NE of Siglufjörður
From the pattern of quakes, I wonder if a fissure is opening, or could this just be tectonic? Largest quake I can see was a 5.2
Sorry – missed a bunch of comments above. Tremor signals are all normal apart from quakes, so at this time, it looks purely tectonic. What I am curious about is the stressor effect this will place on Carl’s ‘lock’.
And here… is the really aggravating part of it all.
As of yet, USGS has not released a moment tensor solution. They have the phase data, and they have the shakemap… but no tensor.
I really… really, want that tensor.
With that tensor, I can calibrate how IMO data equates to USGS data in strength. But on the plus side, I can take the shake map and figure out the power fall off with range for a generic chunk of Iceland. That’s important in nailing down what size the Laki quakes may have been back when Lakiskagar occurred. My last rumination was based on a generic set of MMI vs ranges that were an average.
I guess I’m going to spend the next few hours updating my listi…
And here is where it gets fun….
00:10:20 66.311 -18.760 6.2 km [M] 4.8 99.0 From IMO
00:10:21 66.234 -18.654 1.1 km [M] 4.1 90.02 From IMO
And the closest thing USGS shows:
21 OCT 2012 (295) ot = 00:10:36.18 +/- 1.72 ICELAND REGION lat = 66.372 +/- 10.0 lon = -18.554 +/- 9.2 MAGNITUDE 4.8 (GS)Unless you want to count the [M[ 2.28 that IMO shows at 2012-10-21 00:36:59
The 2012-10-21 01:25:15 [M] 5.2 is a good time match with USGS.
My guess is that the USGS data may not take the local conditions into effect as well as IMO.
Hi GeoLurking.
I found a moment tensor on geofon potsdam, i hope that’s what you’re looking for.
site:
http://geofon.gfz-potsdam.de/eqinfo/list.php
tensor:
http://geofon.gfz-potsdam.de/data/alerts/2012/gfz2012urgs/mt.txt
Not the exact one I was after, but much more than I had.
And the beachball is something totally unexpected…. by me. That one is not typical off strike-slip. It’s more typical of Grabben-Horst, type mechanics.
Good Morning Everyone and Goodness me!!! Thank goodness we have Islander and Irpsit to help us appreciate what is happening in Iceland . Thank goodness to that the area is not heavily populated but my thoughts go to anyone living in Northern Iceland. A Worry for them!
may I also remind Volcanocafe visitors to refrain from Hogging the IMO pages at times like this when Local people need the safety information from the IMO site. Here is the request again in Islander’s words……. “Likely there are lots of Ghost quakes on map, but VC gang, this is such times we can swamp IMO servers if not careful, so use website sparingly, I only use one tab at a time watching, refreshing only now or then) And I felt a quake here, seems there has been some larger than that, perhaps close to five, according to strain meters at Hek and Bur…..” Thanks also to IMO staff who do such an amazingly organised job of monitoring Iceland’s many moods!
If you tally up all of the theoretical displacement for all the quakes in the set (that have made it into listi as of now) it comes out to 0.00147 meters. Or about 1.5 mm.
And good morning to all from me too. Amazing what can be happening when one is sleeping soundly. I thought it all looked interesting yesterday but WOW we were to find out just how interesting. Looks to be slowly moderating now thankfully. Just under 6 is quite enough excitement.
I have had a rumination that is geologically based!!
For the last few weeks I have noticed much activity under the SILs that follow the Rift northwards. Have we been seeing the pressures building up that has culminated in this big shift?
There was a big ish event in the Reykjanes Peninsula. Then we have had assorted activity Along the corridor of the rifting Zone through central Iceland. The peculiar sudden quakes around Vatnajokull on the 19th ? Were they a precursor of this? Was the MAR doing a Zip fastener impression?
Absolutely fascinating and more questions than ever before!!!
Hey, Mzzzz Barnes.
I share your zip fastener theory. Earthquakes in Iceland proceed very much as you describe.
If you add Irpsit’s reasoning on the bifurcation of the mantle plume, you’ve got an even more interesting food for thought.
My take on this: although it is ‘purely tectonic’ it could have been enhanced by the pressure from the tip of the mantle plume below. We have sen some magma injection in Kverkfol. I wonder if this rifting episode had no link to the action of the referred mantle plume. In this case, Askja and Theyrstarbunga are under stress, right now. But that’s merely speculation on my part.
There have been one or two large EQs to the north of Iceland on the MAR so perhaps accumulated strain (stress?) has been released in TFZ 😕
Yes Karen. And affecting south of Iceland. Here is the activity caught on the British Geological Society’s monitoring equipment in Sornfelli, Faroes.
Just not enough coffee, I was referring to the larger EQs much further north eg near Jan Mayen Island and to the north of there earlier this year.
Before the IMO have reviewed all the quakes, let’s not get carried away. Here are two pieces of information worth considering once they do:
a) The crustal thickness in the affected area ranges from 25 to 15 km with 20 km at the epicenter. See http://tobias-weisenberger.de/6Iceland/Introduction/Abb2.4.jpg
b) Although the descriptions given roughly match eyewitness accounts from 1783, the run-up to that event went on for weeks and got worse
Nevertheless as many have commented, the cumulative energy release of this swarm (proper use of the term) is definitely out of the ordinary.
Good morning Oliver. I agree you are right. I don’t think Renato and I are describing a !Laki event precursor here. I was certainly just thinking that, as the rift releases energy the slips and movements deep within the rift sort of travel along it’s length like a zip. fastener, releasing in the south West and onwards northwards. This would account for the srtange tremor readings along that line in the last few weeks.
I do think the plume “Glob” is a very interesting theory too.
It is good to remember that these events today are not new to Iceland but they are “New” to the human beings who live and watch. We have only been able to “see” the smaller quakes relatively recently. 200 years ago probably only one or two of these quakes would been “seen and felt” causing comment and concern.People would then have got on with their activities.
Good afternoon Diana! No, I know neither you nor Renato were describing such an event, but. For every commenter, there must be scores of readers and it’s for their benefit I post comments such as this. 😉
Google translation of RUV (Iceland’s “BBC”) article:
Hundreds of earthquakes have been recorded yesterday, last night and this morning outside Siglufjörður. The largest was the second time in the night, 5.2 in size. Human habitations quaking in Akureyri, dogs rushed up óhljóðum and items moved from one place. People were troubled, according to reporters in the north.
No reports have been received of injuries, however, people or property. Several other earthquakes have been recorded over four dozens of tremors over three large. Bergthora Thorbjarnardottir, geophysicist at the Meteorological Institute, says a shaky offense that is not preceded volcanic activity. The epicenter is about twenty miles north of the town accounted for, at 6-9 kilometers.
Earthquake had begun the previous night 20 km north SIGLUFJORDUR. Activity has come in waves but calm was between 15 and 23 o’clock yesterday. Furthermore, the cycle may come back with great force. She says that the area has calmed down tonight but it is not possible to predict whether earthquakes recurrence. The last quake of three large measured shortly before seven in the morning. He was of size 3.5 according óyfirfarinni automatic measurement. You can monitor the earthquake on site certified.
Bergthora says shaking Tjörnes Seismic Zone could reach up to seven large. It can not be excluded a large tremor, but there is no evidence, however, especially for a large earthquake is coming.
Earthquakes were well over the north and west, to form a Blönduósi in Fnjóskadal, Sauðárkrókur in Staircase,-exhibition, in Isafjordur, in dollars, in Húnaþing and Reykjadalur.
Earthquakes are common in this area but has not previously been so dramatic cycles in this place.
Some help with understanding “giggle” 🙂
The original article ( http://www.ruv.is/frett/mikil-skjalftahrina-vid-nordurland ) talks about “one hundred” – but at this moment, it would be true: 289 quakes measured until now. http://www.vedur.is/skjalftar-og-eldgos/jardskjalftar#view=table
Dogs went barking and whining.
Bergthora (IMO geologist) is not talking about a “shaking offense” – whatever that may be – , but about “tectonic earthquakes” (isl. brotaskjálftar).
The location of the hypocenter is at about 20 km (not miles) to the NE of Siglufjördur, at a depth of 6-9 km.
After 23h, the cycle took up again with force (not “may”… – it’s is just an Icelandic grammar rule to use conjunctive in indirect speech).
“óyfirfarinn” means “not confirmed”, automatic measurement.
And the next paragraph means:
The quakes were felt rather widely around in Northern and Western Iceland, eg. in (the town of ) Blönduós, in Fnjóskadalur (valley), in Sauðárkrókur (town), in Ólafsfjörður, in Hofsós, in Ísafjörður (town), Dalir, in Húnaþing (region) og in Reykjadalur.
(isl. Skjálftarnir fundust vel víða Norðanlands og vestan, til að mynda á Blönduósi, í Fnjóskadal, á Sauðárkróki, í Ólafsfirði, á Hofsósi, á Ísafirði, í Dölunum, í Húnaþingi og í Reykjadal.)
And this means, even in the West Fjords (Ísafjörður) and on the northern Snaefellsnes peninsula (Dalir), not only in the regions next to the hypocenter like Tröllaskagi (Ólafsfjörður, Hofsós). But this is just normal for bigger quakes, compare eg. to the South Iceland quakes in 2008.
And RÚV does not talk about “dramatic” cycles – this also would be very “unicelandic”, where people rather tend to “play things down”. It would be: .. “there have not yet been measured so intense swarms at this location up to now “- but as has been mentioned before, there were no good seismometers in place in 1934. (And this swarm must have been very much stronger as the ongoing one, went up to a quake of around 7 on Richter.)
Ok People. Would it be OK if i started a new post with the information we have so far and update it constantly as the news come in?
A very good idea Spica. It would form a useful account for future reference. I think whilst this activity is happening the time filling banter will subside a little :D.
Indeed a very good idea as lots of people will go searching for more information and interpretations.
Yes, that’s a good idea. What a swarm!!
And although completely different, Hekla has a beautiful lenticular cloud on her head right now. http://eldgos.mila.is/hekla/
Btw, are any of the mila cameras in the north where the swarm is happening?
Here is the nearest I think http://eldgos.mila.is/akureyri/
New post is up Earthquake swarm in northern Iceland on the 21st. of October
TFZ of today from top: http://i45.tinypic.com/2affjpi.jpg
The three green dots are from north (red arrow) to south: Kolbeinsey Ridge, Tjörnes Fracture Zone submarine volcano, Theistareykjarbunga.
Have to go out now with some hyperactive kids…