Tag Archives: Bob

El Hierro still going strong and a riddle

Some parts (?) of El Hierro experienced a short power outage last night, This was also viewable on the solitary working webcam at the moment which was noticed by some regulars. Quite some earthquakes Mag. 3+ and even some Mag 4+ have been recorded.
CJUL_2013-03-29

chryphia created a new plot which shows the action going on:

Quote:” Here is another 3D plot, no overlays this time ;-) .
It shows the current swarm and the older earthquakes in two separate color scales. I wanted to see where the central El Golfo bay earthquakes are located exactly: they are slap-bang in the middle of the northernmost, deep (magenta) swarm, barely visible in this plot. This is where all the other swarms originated, thus I am worried that there is even more magma arriving now. For a good 2D view look at http://www.01.ign.es/ign/resources/volcanologia/html/eventosHierro.html

“

Earthquake Report has a link to an image of all the spectrograms of this crisis stitched together: http://jdcv.es/Media/Hierro/2013/CHIE_upto2903_B.jpg
from http://earthquake-report.com/2011/09/25/el-hierro-canary-islands-spain-volcanic-risk-alert-increased-to-yellow/
Noted by Jim Ludwell.

Earthquake-report.com also used chryphias plot without giving her credit which I personally find absolutely not OK.

Many can explain the current crisis much better than I ever could. So here there are some comments to good to be lost:

GeoLurking says: March 29, 2013 at 04:37
Quote: “when this whole thing was first bopping along, the gov was reticent about doing anything until it became clear that Mag 4.0 quakes were a possibility. Mag 4.0 was where they flinched and it was clear that something could shake loose and hurt somebody, so that was about when they started taking precautions.

One thing that Carl noted was that the seismic gear was probably not set up for volcano monitoring and that IGN and Pevloca had to undergo a paradigm shift from watching for potential landslides to watching for volcanic activity. Outside experts were consulted and new gear was brought in. (the temporary seismic stations and the additional GPS units.)

Now 4.0s seem to be regular fare. It doesn’t lessen the hazard. A 4.0 still releases considerably more energy than a 3.0.
For now, the most immediate threat is still the same. Something getting shaken loose from the bluffs.

Then there is how it plays in the volcano scheme of things. If the quakes are being caused by magma forcing it’s way through the rock, the best that I can envision is a series of normal mode faults. A 3.0 has a maximum displacement of 0.275cm. A 4.0 has 1.17cm. That’s would be a crack about 4.3 times the size of the 3.0. Keep in mind that this is probably pushing the Wells-Coppersmith equations a bit outside of what they were intended for, but it does illustrate the differences in the two quake sizes.

If it is magma pushing through rock, what has happened is that the hoop stress of the rock around the area of the magma has been exceeded and the magma breaks open the rock with what is probably a mode 1 crack. This realm of math is beyond me, so I rely on the Wells-Coppersmith crutch to provide some level of understanding. Going whole hog, and looking at the rest of the formula… a normal mode fault of Mag 4.0 has a down dip rupture width of 1.82 km. If intruding magma is what is at play, it could conceivably make a path about half of that width higher each time it happens. If that starts to show up in the quakes…“

Read the whole comment by clicking it.

Renato Rio says: March 29, 2013 at 13:34
Quote: “The PEVOLCA maintains civil protection measures in El Hierro and follows the evolution of the phenomenon
03/29/2013 … 12:38 – Ministry of Economy, Finance and Security
* The data indicate that the seismicity has migrated to the southwest in the last 24 hours. The direction of the Civil Protection Plan for Volcanic Risk (PEVOLCA) maintains civil protection measures that were taken last Wednesday in El Hierro given the magnitude of the seismicity that is occurring to the west of the island.
As you may recall the steps taken by the management of PEVOLCA are the following:
Disabled the lane closest to the on the output side of Frontera tunnel closing the stretch of road between the HI 50 between Cruce de la Tabla and Sabinosa and the access road to the Playa La Madera, the Pozo de la Salud to the confluence with the HI 503. It is important to avoid transit through these areas because of the risk of landslides.
Accesses are opened to the Ermida de los Reyes and the southern Sabinar area, HI 400
Meanwhile it is maintained the yellow alert of information to the population in the area bounded by the HI 500 and the height of the Pozo de la Salud to the south, at the confluence of the HI HI 500 with 400 in the crossroads known as El Tomillar.
As for the seismo-volcanic phenomena, earthquakes located in the last 24 hours have migrated slightly to the southwest over previous days, reaching the west of Orchilla between 15 and 20 kilometers deep at a distance from the coast between 12 and 15 kilometers. The values ​​of CO2 in the atmosphere have increased but are still within normal parameters.
The direction of PEVOLCA wants to remind you that they are doing continuous monitoring and real-time of thr phenomenon, so any change in the pattern of movements that imply risk will be communicated immediately. It also recommends considering the advice of self-protection in the event of earthquakes, known to all, and can be viewed in http://www.gobiernodecanarias.org/dgse/descargas/sismo_hierro/autop_sismo.pdf“

Bruce Stout did some drawings:
BruceTo understand the images one needs to read Bruce’s comment and all the follow up’s by Peter Cobbold and Bruce. Bruce Stout says: March 29, 2013 at 14:23

Richie Lee gave us a link to a TV station in the Canary islands where some news might be broadcasted. Canary TV: They don’t stream everything but most live newscasts are available. The last few days they have had coverage of the El Hierro activity.

http://www.rtvc.es/television/enDirecto.aspx?canal=tv

I personally do not think any eruption is imminent, but it is interesting to watch. And in case you need the links again, just holler.

Spica

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A riddle for tonight, while we are watching what is happening in El Hierro and Iceland!
Same as last week …. so link the each clue to a volcano and spot the red herring ….

1 point for each volcano and 1 point for each red herring (with brief explanation)

All solved … Red herrings in bold … Answers ..

No 1 Big Ben

No 2 Mount Churchill

No 3 Hekla

No 4 Glen Coe

No 1 – 2745; Furious 50s; New York landmark; Augustus Pugin; SOLVED
No 2 – Bobsleigh run; Radiocarbon; Battle of Stepney; Infantry Tank; SOLVED
No 3 – 1750; 1104; 1864; 4892; SOLVED
No 4 – 1692; Easter Island; Cauldron subsidence; Harry Potter; SOLVED

Points .. Well done all

Kelda  4 points

Volcanic 2 points

Stephanie Alice Halford 1 point

Inge B 1 point

Kilgharrah

Continued activity at El Hierro

Since the last post has grown somewhat ‘large’, I thought I could better create a new post with some updated information, and less than about 600 (!) comments to scroll by. Because the last post (and the comments section) was really full with excellent links, I will start off by providing the link to the previous post:

http://volcanocafe.wordpress.com/2013/03/22/keeping-a-close-eye-on-el-hierro-and-ntv-riddle/

Several commenters have mentioned that the period between the flare-ups of earthquake activity has been steadily increasing, and that the intensity of the earthquakes has been increasing as well. Below is the tremor graph of today, which shows a phase of intense quaking/shaking just after midnight and another phase this afternoon, which produced the largest EQ of this renewed activity yet at M4.1

Tremor graph published by the IGN.

harrie has mentioned that over the last few days a clear trend in EQ’s could be seen, translating to a general westward and upward movement of the ‘active front’ where the quakes were generated. However, this afternoon he mentioned that this upward trend of EQ’s has stopped since about 100 listed EQ’s ago, while the trend of more intense EQ’s with time has not. This might mean that the mechanism that has been seen by many as being the growth of a sill, has come to a stop, while the magma flow has not. This could mean a hard stop has been reached, while pressure is now slowly rising in the system, looking for a way out in another direction, which might be directly upward through one of the many pre-existing-but-inactive dikes/conduits below El Hierro.

KarenZ mentioned that AVCAN has posted a warning on their Facebook page, stating that El Hierro inhabitants should keep an eye on the TV and an ear to the radio to be sure not to miss anything if official sources issue a warning, or other critical information.

Vulcanoelhierro.es (in Spanish) has published an article stating that so far nothing abnormal has been sighted while performing acoustic depth measurements to detect anomalies at the seafloor which might indicate the activity has reached the ocean floor. Sissel, an earthquake-report reader is being mentioned by earthquake-report.com for providing an image of the cruising traject of the ship. There it is also mentioned that INVOLCAN has sent in a team to reinforce measuring systems, and to measure CO2 as well.

Image by earthquake-report.com

On the other hand, the deformation is still ongoing. In fact, the scale had to be adjusted to still be able to see the deformation at the Sabinosa station. Below is the deformation image, for all to draw their own conclusion…

Sabinosa up-down GPS deformation. Image by IGN.

Sabinosa east-west GPS deformation. Image by IGN.

Let’s also not forget dfm‘s rotating 3D plots which show the earthquakes in time-lapse mode, projected with the El Hierro geography, with an explanation in his comment. I will try to keep this one updated if he decides to post a new one with updated data as time progresses.

And last but not least….

I would also like to point to some of Kilgharrah‘s ’Name those Volcano’ riddles. Only one has been solved so far, so lots of opportunities for a volcanophile to rise on the volcanophile-list-of-fame (currently dominated by Alison and several other women) remain for all!.

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Name those Volcanoes Riddle

Note – this weeks riddle is a little different …. In order to identify each volcano you have to establish a link (some are more tenuous than others) between the volcano and various classifications, dates, places, events, people etc …. each clue has three genuine links and one ‘red herring’ included!

1 point for each correct volcano and 1 point for each ‘red herring’ (which must be identified with an explanation) guesses wont count ….. good luck!

No 1 - Lord Byron’s wife ; November 5th 2013 – Australian sporting event; Lethal mud slides; Pacific Ring of Fire; SOLVED

No 2 - Stratovolcano; Canada; Formula 1 Team; Angels – song; SOLVED

No 3 - Stromatolites; 40,000; Rain forest; UNESCO; SOLVED

No 4 – UK; Dormant; Summer Rain – song; Vintage Car Museum owner; SOLVED

Hints: ‘red herrings’ are now marked in bold! I have added to the clues as well to help get them solved!

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El Nathan

Keeping a close eye on El Hierro and NtV Riddle

The situation in El Hierro is interesting but it is unlikely an eruption is already taking place because there are no reports of stains so far. We here on Volcanocafe have a soft spot for this island because the action there in autumn/winter 2011 was one big reason why this blog came into existence at all. So here is the newest information I could assemble today.

CTAB_2013-03-22

CTAB_2013-03-22

Map of the stations at El Hierro

Map of the stations at El Hierro

Sites were you can get information:

Earthqake Report has a nice summary of the 2011 eruption. Reading this might bring back some memories.

Early february 2013 Involcano reported that there had been more vents to the west of the island. M Betzwieser reported.

Involcan admitted 5 more vents.

Involcan admitted 5 more vents.

I personally do not think an eruption is imminent because it took month of earthquakes till “Bob” became visible and watchable on the cams last year. But something is definitely going on and the information is by far not as good as in other countries like Iceland. Last year, while we all watched the spot of the shore of La Restina there was also an eruption of the west point of the island and if you watch the pattern of earthquakes it seems likely to me that something could go into action there again. But this is only a personal speculation.

Update:

Islander noticed the graphs have been downscaled! ( Just like it happened last year)

Renato Rio noted:
“Here is an image of possible emissions of gas Radonium from present activity in El Hierro.
I suspect we have a vent, and this time I really mean it.”
https://fbcdn-sphotos-a-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-prn1/c128.0.403.403/p403x403/31445_568621886504541_324729827_n.jpg

Manfred Betzwieser reported that the latest earthquakes happened in a depth of 13km and that the ship “Roman Margaleff” is on its way to the western tip of the island. ( Site is in german.)

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A page had been created here last year called Wonder what Bob is up to. It contains a huge ammount of links and papers. Maybe some links are out of date (the cam links are for sure) but i do not have the time to check them all again. So maybe you people here could help me check and update them. Please leave a comment directly at “Wonder what Bob is up to” and i ll try to work in the “news” in a.s.a.p.

Here is what is stored there so far:
Wonder what Bob is up to?

Some links to monitor our Bob & his mysterious-though-as-yet-hidden friends at El Hierro:

Info about Canary islands:

  1. Detailed map of Canary Islands - use Busquedas to find a particular place or check the 3D lidar model
  2. IGN variation of Google maps – Iberpix
  3. Geological map of El Hierro
  4. Volcanic history of Canary islands
  5. El Hierro – videos from the air
  6. Aerial photos of Canary islands
  7. Beautiful photos of El Hierro

Webcams:

Tanganasoga related info:

  1. Location on map and Google Earth picture (by Sissel)
  2. Longpre et al. 2009, Ankaramitic Lavas and Clinopyroxene Megacrysts From the Tanganasoga Volcano, El Hierro Island (Canary Archipelago), AGU 2009

Chemical composition

Floating stones off El Hierro, Canary Islands: xenoliths of pre-island sedimentary origin in the early products of the October 2011 eruption. Published on solid earth net.

An eclectic collection of scientific papers related to El Hierro, as suggested by readers . Please, suggest some more:

Spica

Name those Volcanoes Riddle

Note – this weeks riddle is a little different …. In order to identify each volcano you have to establish a link (some are more tenuous than others) between the volcano and various classifications, dates, places, events, people etc …. each clue has three genuine links and one ‘red herring’ included!

1 point for each correct volcano and 1 point for each ‘red herring’ (which must be identified with an explanation) guesses wont count ….. good luck!

No 1 - Lord Byron; November 5th 2013; Lethal mud slides; Pacific Ring of Fire;

No 2 - Stratovolcano; Canada; Formula 1; Angels;

No 3 - Stromatolites; 40,000; Rain forest; UNESCO; SOLVED

No 4 – UK; Dormant; Summer Rain; Vintage Car Museum;

Kilgharrah
Update:
IGN Graph showing latest ‘action’ 23.3.2013Imagenes sismicas para ese dia

Renewed activity at El Hierro

VC-commenters arjanmm and Alison noted at 14:54 and 14:59 UTC today that some tremor was going on at our famous Canarian friend El Hierro. A clear rise in tremor, combined with several earthquakes were seen at the seismic stations on El Hierro, most notably on the CHIE-station.

The tremor and EQ’s seen at the CHIE-station. Image by IGN.

Another view of the onset of the tremor and quakes. Image by IGN.

Diario El Hierro (the local newspaper) has already posted a news item about the renewed activity on their island, stating that “an important seismic reactivation” has occurred at their volcano. They state that up to now, 30 earthquakes between M1.9 and M2.6 have been measured, making this a significant reactivation event indeed. A quick look on the list of EQ’s published by the IGN tells that so far (19:00 UTC) 55-60 EQ’s between M1.7 and M2.7 have been detected.

The locations of the earthquakes. Image by IGN.

dfm has been very quick in 3D-plotting the renewed activity as well, as can be seen below. Thanks for that dfm and others!

Image by VC-commenter dfm

Whether this new activity will lead to a baby brother or sister of Bob will remain to be seen, but it is sure that something is on the move again deep below El Hierro. As we have seen with the birth of Bob, there don’t need to be many shallow quakes in an area for a new fissure to open and allow the lava to erupt, whether this is on the seabed or not.

We should definitely keep an eye on what is happening, since the combined knowledge of all commenters and the powers of data processing by some of them, can surely help in painting a picture of what is actually going on, even though official sources might sometimes disagree. In Bobs case, several commenters have had a better grip of the reality at times than official sources, so don’t be afraid to speak out if you think you have found something important.

And finally, a short note to all readers and commenters; try not to swamp the IGN website or any other site that locals might need to get the information they need. If possible, quote text and provide the source, and upload images and post the link to the uploaded image instead of linking directly to the source to prevent overloading of those websites. With that in mind, please don’t forget VC’s special section about Bob/El Hierro: 

http://volcanocafe.wordpress.com/volcano-monitoring/

El Nathan

Apocalypsathon; Post 21/12/12 Appeal…

I think Tyler Mannison found this one...

I think Tyler Mannison found this one…

Send your urgent and much needed donations for those poor unfortunate endotheworlders who were not wiped out (they must be devastated) to schteve’sschwissbanking.ch

Please spare a thought and a dime for those not raptured up to heaven in the recent non- apocalypse; give generously, it’s nearly christmas after all…

since this didn't happen everywhere all at once...

Since this didn’t happen everywhere all at once…

I intend to set up a refuge high in the hills of La Gomera with a nice piece of (terraced) land and a look out tower; we’ll charge post 2012ers top- whack to come and contemplate… Me n’ Lizzie will be there most of the year looking after the goats and generally taking care of the place (and going for long walks and jaunts to El Hierro and stuff.) So once again Volcanocafers please dig deep for this very worthy cause…

Somewhere like this, Pico del Teide is in the distance...

Somewhere like this, Pico del Teide is in the distance…

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/a/a5/La_Gomera_1.jpg/1280px-La_Gomera_1.jpg

But seriously, and since we are still here; a genuine appeal (and some of my highlights):

This rather special place was started by Carl and Ursula after a group Volcanoholics decided they wanted their own place with their own rules… Those that wanted to go multidisciniplary, collaborative and friendly came here and (boy!) the discussion was, and still is, far ranging… The Welcome page and blog rules are here:

http://volcanocafe.wordpress.com/2011/11/15/volcano-cafe/

The average post rate is ~ one every 3 days, (that includes before and after Carl statistics…) some volcanoblogs manage more, but usually these are brief updates. What we get here are crafted pieces, made by amateurs in their spare time…

The hit rate is around ~150 visits per hour; this doesn’t include dragon visits…

I won’t lie to you; a blogpost can be quite a bit of work, depending on your skills… Carl once mentioned that he could write a 1200 word opera review in 20 minutes, and Geolurking seems to be able to get something revolutionary on tectonics done in only slightly more time…

Birgit deserves her own paragraph; she can research, compile, edit, post and get an intelligent layman up to speed on a particular subject in less time than it takes a crocodile to swallow an unwary victim!!!

Me? I’m at the other end of the scale; maybe 20 hours work on Teneguia Technicalities and Context, but that did include editing with wordpress which was a first for me… Don’t let me scare you, I can be quite ambitious…

I am asking everyone to keep the posts coming; think of it as an extended comment and you will do fine…

This one's for our resident geologist...

This one’s for our resident geologist… The little engine that could x

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/d/d2/Snowdon_Mountain_Railway_No_6.jpg/1280px-Snowdon_Mountain_Railway_No_6.jpg

Visits to volcanoes “a la Ukviggen” are always popular; (Mount Snowdon anyone? The narrow gauge, rack and pinion railway is the only one of it’s kind in the UK.) as are summaries of your favorites; (Karenz on Sakurajima is a very good example.) and memories of eruptions that were special to you; (Bobbi’s piece on Redoubt is a classic, and don’t forget Newby’s uncle on Erebus.)

Ascending eruption cloud from Redoubt Volcano as viewed to the west from the Kenai Peninsula April 21, 1990 (R. Clucas)

Ascending eruption cloud from Redoubt Volcano as viewed to the west from the Kenai Peninsula April 21, 1990 (R. Clucas)

For the more ambitious how about an original piece of research? (Irpsit wrote a fascinating series about a big hole!!!) Controversial stuff is great, got an alternate theory? (Peter Cobbold on El Hierro is excellent.) What about something inter- disciplinary? (Diana Barnes on Scheeps helping to revive volcanic badlands is wonderful!) Technicalities more your bag? (Wagabond on marine seimic sounding; great insights.) Plotters, hows about “beefing up” a special plot? (Plotting for Beginners 2 may get done one day, but feel free to jump in!!!)

One of Birgit's SEM images of material from El Hierro

One of Birgit’s awesome SEM images of material from El Hierro…

If none of these inspire how about something outrageously off topic for the Scheeepy Dalek?

Nothing is like the smell of a Motorcade in Depresneyville in the morning. Remember that when people shoot at you, they just wish to greet you welcome to Ukraine.

Nothing is like the smell of a Motorcade in Depresneyville in the morning. Remember that when people shoot at you, they just wish to greet you welcome to Ukraine.

So please, go and do yr research, track down the info on yr chosen subject and write something up… Include the standard Volcanocafe disclaimer and a reasonable list of references; and you’re done…

Posts are best submitted as plain text word documents; attached to an email. Pictures should be separately/ individually attached; most formats are fine but please no psd, crw or nef (they are too big and probably not supported by WP either; they need to be converted first). Jpg, gif, png, tiff are commonly supported formats and will do well.

However; when I asked Sissel about this, she said: “Just send it, I will edit what is neccessary!” (another inspirational blogger; remember The Little Prince?)

Have you ever made a comment that you (later) wished you’d saved for a guestpost? Then we want to hear from you; (give us as much detail as possible: approx dates, subject, etc. and we will go digging) dragons can search all 70,000 comments and extract that moment of inspiration…

My top tip (I know it’s environmentally unfriendly) is to print out the papers that you are really interested in; the references for yr article; that kinda thing…

Posts and comments are the lifeblood of the blog, there are (almost) no stupid questions or statements.

So there you have it, no more excuses for not handing in your homework!!!

With Love and Respect,

Schteve x

Links to inspirational articles: