First a BIG thank you to all our readers for your contributions and especially for the way you have followed our proposed guidelines in respect to what you post. You are VolcanoCafé, a place where everyone contributes to a common interest!
The following is a loose collection of interesting maps, photos and figures and links provided by readers and collectively assembled by the dragons. The last 24 hours have been a bit chaotic, so have forbearance with us!
Where to get scientific updates
Note for everyone checking the IMO pages: the Institute of Earth Sciences at the University of Iceland has a news page with the same content as IMO. Checking this would help with not overloading the IMO servers while still getting the same information, so please, use this link for the official scientific updates.
http://earthice.hi.is/bardarbunga_2014
Today’s contributions about the eruption
This showed up as a large tremor spike on the Askja SIL-station that immediately died down:
Credit IMO
This map shows the location of the Holuhrauni eruption:
Credit IMO
This infrared image was recorded by the Icelandic Coast Guard aircraft TF-SIF and gives a good impression of the lava flows from the fissure. The image is recorded as ‘black-hot’ (the darker the tone, the higher the temperature). IR operators usually have the option of switching between ‘black-hot’ and ‘white-hot’ to help them analyse the image. (Icelandic Coast Guard)
Taken shortly after the IR image, this is a daylight image (‘EO’ – electro-optical) from TF-SIF’s sensor. Annotations on the image show that TF-SIF was flying at 10,270 ft and the ‘target’ (cross-hairs) was 6.6 nautical miles away. (Icelandic Coast Guard)
Image of eruption site from Thorbjorg Agustsdottir
Our readers kept seeing light on the new Milawebcam and they sent images.
Webcam screenshot improved by Islander
Some great video footage was recorded in the morning during a series of low-level passes along the fissure. Camerawork credited to Hjalti Stefánsson
http://www.ruv.is/frett/video-of-the-holuhraun-eruption
According to IMO lava effusion peaked between 00.40 and 01.00 UTC, and then slowly subsided. Lava flow had ceased by around 04.00 UTC, although the fissure continued to steam. The end of the eruption, or at least this phase of it, was reported by Icelandic news outlets, while the Icelandic Coast Guard flew its patrol aircraft over the region to conduct observations and confirm that lava was no longer flowing. At midday London VAAC (the volcanic ash advisory centre responsible for Icelandic airspace) issued a notice stating “No VA [volcanic ash] observed. Overflight conducted and no lava was observed flowing from fissure N of Dyngjujokull. Repeat no VA observed”.
With the aviation code at Red, the Icelandic Transport Authority initially imposed a large no-fly area for IFR air traffic around the fissure and extending to the north/northwest (downwind) and up to 18,000 feet altitude. Later the restricted zone was reduced in area, and the altitude limit lowered to 5,000 feet. Subsequently all flight restrictions were lifted.
At 10.00 UTC the aviation code was downgraded to Orange. Askja remains at Yellow.
Close-up of the new Holuhrauni lava by Thorbjorg Agustsdottir via Twitter.
Article in an Icelandic online Newspaper posted by Junior.
http://www.visir.is/aegifegurd-vid-holuhraun/article/2014140828772
Ekström model of the caldera.
Richat ring in Mauritania
Need more real-time info? Check this
Another good site for scientific updates is Bardarbunga’s own website. He also has a serious twitter account @Bardarbunga_IS and a crazy twitter alter ego @Bardarbunga. Incidentaly, so do Dygnjuokull @dygnjujokull and Eyjafjallajokull @Eyjafjalla.
You can also check the twitter feed of the University of Iceland @uni_iceland.
In general twitter is a great place to get quick updates and there are many volcanologists, geologists and other volcano-related professionals worth following. Here are a few that we know of and follow, but if the readers know of others, please, let us know:
Dr Erik Klemetti @eruptionsblog, Dr Dave McGarvie @subglacial, Gisli Olafsson @gislio, Dr Jascha Polet @CPPGeophysics, Prof Simon Redfern @Sim0nRedfern, Steven Hicks @seismo_steve, Prof Tim Wright @timwright_leeds
ETA: Further twitter reader suggestions:
Thorbjorg Agustsdottir @fencingtobba
The dragons
VolcanoCafé 
sorry far right …
Satellite imagery of the storm approaching Iceland. Iceland is notorious for it’s succession of storms starting in the late summer through to late spring.. Most storms (cyclones) that germinate in the mid Atlantic work their way up to Iceland . These are often originally hurricanes but become known as extratropical storms as they move over the cooler waters of the North Atlantic. They can have winds of hurricane force but are not actually hurricanes as they obtain their energy from the contrast between warm and cold air masses.
http://www.metoffice.gov.uk/satpics/latest_IR.html
With thanks to EUMETSAT/Met Office, UK
Really nice update on the storm, thanks.
While I”m here, I think it’s interesting that the Mid-Atlantic Ridge just had an earthquake Magnitude 5.3 well south of Iceland:
http://www.emsc-csem.org/Earthquake/earthquake.php?id=397646
I don’t think the Iceland activity and this area of the MAR could directly affect each other, but it makes you wonder about what could be going on far deeper below the surface to make the MAR more active.
There are regularly M5+ earthquakes along the entire MAR as the Mid Atlantic Rift is being pulled apart.
Is “pulled apart” the right description Carl, I thought the divergence was fed from below creating land or sea floor in both directions. It was always my impression that it was expansion pushing it apart?
There are two scientific camps.
1. in favor of slab-pull. Ie. that as the slab subducts in the other end a pull-factor is started.
2. in favor of a mantle convexion the pushes the plates apart.
And 3, me, that considers that most likely you have both things in action at the same time. Call me a Pull-pushian (but not in high end hifi, there I favour single end single stage)
I’m more in the Push-pullion camp and totally disagree with your Pull-pushion propaganda.
And this is exactly how a scientific argument starts, academical careers are made, Professors are born, and beer runs a plenty around Universities…
I am in the ‘pull’ camp – but could be persuaded to make an exception for Iceland!
Like this?
https://www.google.com/search?q=push+me+pull+me&espv=2&tbm=isch&imgil=pMAOy1HnK2DRjM%253A%253BHTLHIW6jKNudaM%253Bhttp%25253A%25252F%25252Feclectech.co.uk%25252Fb3ta%25252Fpushmepullme.gif.html&source=iu&fir=pMAOy1HnK2DRjM%253A%252CHTLHIW6jKNudaM%252C_&usg=__MeANxTzzYNY7l4A_fX6ADpTAHCE%3D&sa=X&ei=sBwCVMTcKsScygT0voHADA&ved=0CCAQ9QEwAA&biw=1440&bih=785#facrc=_&imgdii=_&imgrc=pMAOy1HnK2DRjM%253A%3BHTLHIW6jKNudaM%3Bhttp%253A%252F%252Fwww.eclectech.co.uk%252Fb3ta%252Fpushmepullme.gif%3Bhttp%253A%252F%252Feclectech.co.uk%252Fb3ta%252Fpushmepullme.gif.html%3B270%3B270
So sorry, that was much more than I intended! But you get the idea.
LOLing at GY! 😀 😀 😀
Gisli Olafsson @gislio 1m
Scientists believe #eruption near #Bardarbunga last weekend was 10x larger than yesterday’s #Holuhraun eruption
The RUV article mentioned above has now been published in English:
http://www.ruv.is/frett/eruption-at-bardarbunga-now-more-likely
Magnitude mb 5.3
Region NORTHERN MID-ATLANTIC RIDGE
Date time 2014-08-30 15:29:53.6 UTC
Location 43.42 N ; 27.93 W
Depth 2 km
EMSC
This is possible evidence that the entire MAR currently is under strong tectonic shifts. Definitely a link to the current changes in Iceland.
Highly normal, you have 1 or 2 every day along the MAR.
According to this, I have a feeling that it will happen one “echo” earthquake, similar in magnitude near Bardarbunga. We’ll see
* In next few hours
What I meant is that the earthquakes that much south of Iceland will not at all affect what is happening at Bardarbunga.
Any chance of estimating when the new post will be up? 🙂
Looking into the crystal ball and breaking out in song… *Soon and very sooon!*
Carl, do you know which kinds of rocks in southern Askja belt ? Is there a lot of granite in the upper layers of the crust?
Fresh to vitrified basalt, no granite.
Have to go to a wedding. Won’t be back till tomorrow. Withdrawals will start in a little while. Can someone put a BIG cork in Bardy until I get back?
Big cork already in Bardy (the plug in Göran Ekström’s model) – fingers crossed it will stay in place until you get back! 😀 Enjoy the wedding! 🙂
looks like afternoon glacial runoff just hit the fissure – dont think this is dust storm
Yeah, it looks to localized to be dust…. Steam I’d say…
It’s noticeable that the camera has been zoomed in too.
Watching this as we speak…. Crikey, that is not dust!!!
If not dust,it looks like SO2 emission?
I wondered the same, but didn’t want to look silly reopening the dust/steam debate.
It seems to be unzipping ……
Or…. fissure is opening wider (ouch)
Dust. Check the colour, it’s brown. Steam = sparkling white and there is none of it there.
Here is a photo from yesterday for colour comparison:
Ah LambSoup – you’ll have Frances and me popping back up shouting “Steam steam!” We were convinced until Carl and his pals took us out the back of the Dragon’s Den and had a quiet word with us… 🙂
DragonChuckle: Here is your cookie!
LOL Clive. I now look at EVERTHING and just think, “Ah that is dust” I am still finishing off all the egg I got on my face a couple of days ago. 🙂
Good think I like egg. 😉 😀
😀
Well it looks just like every other localised dust storm to me, they seem to be a regular event here.
Hi guys, are any of you seeing what’s happening on the live feed? Is this part 2?
No it is old ash/dust being kicked up by the rising wind.
A slight change of wind direction pushing dust up towards the camera?
I think it’s more like Part 76 of the webcam dust storm saga 😎
1 point for you!
🙂 😀 🙂
Excellent stuff, how many points do I need to trade for 100g of pure Icelandic dust 🙂
Tremor rising again on the charts :
Yep there seems to be notible increase in .5-1hz activity across most of the charts
sorry a stupied question, but what is this?
That is the tremor lavels on one of the Icelandic Seismometers.
This is a chart showing tremor intensity at three different frequencies, blue for high, green for medium and red for low frequencies. Very, very simplified one could say, blue stands for “normal” earthquakes (plus a lot of human made artefacts, weather, etc.) and red for volcanic tremor. In further detail described in this post. 🙂
https://volcanocafe.wordpress.com/2013/05/09/how-to-read-the-icelandic-borehole-strain-and-seismicity-plots/
I wish I could see a live feed. Non of my links work. I wonder if the fact that husband is watching films off his memory stick on our new smart TV would affect my ability to see live feeds off the web. 😦
They all work in the middle of the night 😦
Diana, why not conduct a scientific experiment – pull the TV plug and see what happens 🙂 .
It should at least get a reaction from Diana’s hubby, though possibly not the eruption Diana would prefer! 😀
Guy is rehosting his screen capture on youtube for us
Thank you Guy 🙂 That looks like dust. it’s thin and brown & It doesn’t have the white billowing steamy look that the other rifting has.
I meant to say “A Guy” his handle is Burre01 – somewhere back on last page comment was added, I take no credit, just got in a reply because you have said before you can see nothing often.
Damn dust, the amount that it kicked up I knew the fissure was somewhere near there and with runoff, we had been seeing the dust over on left of panning for a while and this kicked up in great volume from the middle there differently to what dust was being picked up and driven by the wind over near Askja way.
It’s now (theoretically) a cooling fissure anyway, so it was only ever going to be steam, not likely to be triggering an event.
Well I am grateful to any links 🙂 I hear husband in the kitchen. Film on TV finished. I Suddenly get a picture 😀 >>>>>>>>tiptoes down and unplugs TV 😀 😀
😀 😀 😀
Thank you Loco
Dust dust and more dust
Its been raining all night…. and soon as the sun comes out you can see the mixture of vapour / old ash and dust rising in the form of steam… if it wasnt pissed wet through down there maybe, but its soaked
Exactly. It’s both. And watching earlier, there were tiny “billows” of steam at the bases of some of these otherwise “dust” devils/plumes/storms/whatevers.
Ashes, no ashes — dust is dust.
Amen…….and if you look to the far right on the cam picture you can see the rays of light coming down from heaven as the Gods are speaking 😀 :D.
As a child I had a picture Bible and whenever God spoke to anyone he always seemed to communicate with light rays through cumulus clouds 😀 😀
well, whenever God speaks to me i see The Light! Best!motsfo
Ah the dust discussion again, I commented during the intial fissure eruption that it appeared in the exact same location (of three predominant) as the source of the dust cloud on the right of the mila screen, no-one replied at that point. This latest screen that is happening now is another of the same of three intial “dust” locations.
I know someone is going to say dried up river beds, but the later close ups of the fissure eruption was not a dried up river bed.
I am recording webcaptures of these dust events and we’ll see what transpires. As for now I’ll sit here and take the flak now…..
🙂 Not flak. I am referring to the “whatever it is” coming up the ridge nearest to the camera. I think that’s dust, It is dissipating quickly and is brownish, and if it was something hotter then the cam is in serious danger of melting. Further away beyond the river and to the right , I do see billows at the point of the fissure. That does look more like emissions.
This is where I am interested.
I see that too, also when the Bard 2 cam swings round it looks like that fissure is starting again.
Wait for it…… its dust
😀 Yuck!
Click to access Olafur%20Arnalds%202010%20IAS.pdf
You see Diana I told you it was dust. Have you noticed the river is getting wider….:)
In regards of the ongoing discussion…
Yeah! I love this one…….
Oh yes, me too!
[░]> and beers to everyone since it’s saturday evening 😀
Indeed 🙂 I think I’ll sit and chat to messrs Whyte and Mackay over in the corner too …
Cheers! Here is my current friend!
Young’s, a fine choice indeed, they produce some rather schplendid bitter too 😀
I know, I miss the splendid English bitters…
Hard to get here, they where easier to find in northern Sweden.
Chocolate stout !?!
-Even in my wildest dreams I did not imagine this could exist!
-Enjoy 🙂
It has just a hint of chocolate in it… really nice beer if it is rainy outside…
the local micro brewery do a chocolate dunkles weisbeer – very nice too 🙂
That’s coffee, Andre – here’s the beer: [░] 😀
straight-up glass: |░|
fancy glass: {░}
tankard: (░)>
😀 😀 😀
Anyone notice, the big quakes today didn’t have the usual spikes on the tremor plots, it’s stayed more or less steady instead. Why would that be oh great ones of knowledge?
…puts on extra strong glasses (normally kept in the kitchen for reading tiny print instructions)…. on closer inspection, I think there are spikes, Loco, but they are ‘thinner’ and somewhat swamped by green and blue.
And a brand new explanatory post by Henrik!
https://volcanocafe.wordpress.com/2014/08/30/a-look-at-the-overall-picture/
Oh that’d be right – just when I think I’m catching up, there’s another thousand comments on a new post! 😀
Innlent | mbl | 30.8.2014 | 16:42
“Fresh ice cracks in Bárðarbunga?
Veteran reporter Ómar Ragnarsson believes Bárðarbunga is showing signs of fresh cracks in the ice. Ómar flew over the are around yesterday noon. Other cracks in the ice are also growing in size, according to Ómar. …”
http://www.mbl.is/frettir/innlent/2014/08/30/fresh_ice_cracks_in_bardarbunga/
Hi Barbara, copy pasted this into the new thread, interesting; if only it had been a veteran volcanologist saying this…
Source in a response so it wont be eaten.
Click to access Olafur%20Arnalds%202010%20IAS.pdf
Very helpful. Thank you.
Thank you sCyborg. I decided not to rise to the ‘not dusters’ this time 🙂
currently not picking sides as i cant see the webcams just putting the info out there and less full blown pdf wise xD.
But people just a observation… when the fissure was erupting there was a clear white steamy smoke comming of.
most volcanic eruption tend to go white / black / grey. these dust storms look rather brownish.
New post is up!
https://volcanocafe.wordpress.com/2014/08/30/a-look-at-the-overall-picture/
OK! This especially for Carl, Lurking, Geoloco, Scotsfjohns and any other scientific gentlemen interested in Fun with a feather duster. 🙂 Here it is!
Iceland’s answer to all that dust we are seeing.
Not only that but in Iceland you can pouffe up your duster over a nice steamy, rifting vent .
Oh My! Aren’t we ladies lucky to be able to have so much fun?
Lol, thanks. I could use this one.
😆
I just imagined this woman with her duster going around the craters of Holuhraun and take all the dust of them an make them all shiny again ….
Oh my… Poofing it!
From my last weekends journey to Veiðivötn (Erupted in 1480)
Photo (image from video) taken in one of the many lakes of Veiðivötn
– behind furthest on right is Vatnaöldur (erupted in 870)
Both eruptions courtesy of Bárðarbunga.
Just a little relief from all the dust 😉
What a lovely picture. Tanks for sharing.
Thank you Diana!
Ooooh! Very pretty! 😀
its interesting times indeed. The “dust-part” of me wants to see a giga-eruption, the “normal” part of me wants to see something spectacular, but still ” easy handleable” for Icelanders, and the old and “empatic” part of me hopes for “just a little more action”. I have followed this blog since it was starting up, and followed Jon’s blog before that.
When I say “dust-part of me” in the first sentence its refering to DUST in Norwegian ( =very stupid person).
Problem: With all these big quakes; how will the future be like when we get back to “normal”?
Back to normal you say….
Bárðarbunga itself erupted multiple times in the years 1702-1740 and last eruption was in 1780
Somethings tells me we are in for some exciting adventures in this field in the years to come 😉
Check this, progression of the dike and GPS displacements plotted on the same map:
Ups, wrong post… will recomment in the new one…
Everyone, move from here to the new post please. 🙂
Not sure what this is…
Sissel, move to the newer post please, many people saw that and are discussing it, 🙂
Thanks!