Rumblings from another Icelandic volcano

[GloriaSmud]

and it's a big 'un!
This time at Bárðarbunga, with over 200 earthquakes recorded so far and last night, the Icelandic Met Office raised the aviation colour code to yellow to reflect the unrest that's going on.

The latest entry on volcanocafe.

Interesting blog. I'm not sure you can simplify it to a series of interconnecting slabs like he has done so, but the idea of a flank collapse is an interesting one.

Looks like the IMO think that there has been some glacier melt from the Bárðarbunga volcano but it isn't causing problems with the rivers at the moment. Report from Icelandreview here.

Interesting article in Nature magazine about all the gas being produced from the eruption.

I think the Aurora might be in full swing on the Thingvellir milacam right now, if anyone's around: www.livefromiceland.is/webcams/thingvellir/

(relurks)

It is a bit blurry, mind. You can tell the difference because it is usually pitch black except for the floodlit building in the foreground. I got a really good screen shot with the curtain-pattern lights earlier in the autumn. I sometimes have a look after I've checked the Bardabunga cameras & this is the second time I've got lucky.

Just read the Nature article . I'm surprised that they are surprised - given that its very similar to Krafla. It sounds like a deeply unpleasant experience for those over there.

Wish I'd spotted the Aurora but I'll try and look tonight DustBunny :)

Things may be changing at the volcano - Jon Friman has said he feels the possibility of a large eruption within the caldera and more fissure eruptions is now more likely ....though of course nothing is certain.

The caldera drop must be getting close to the figure (think it was 45 metres or so?) where JonFr thought something would happen. I think the site here has been mentioned before but is updated with lots of facts/figures/webcams regularly.

Looks like the northern lights are busy again tonight. The Hekla camera is usually pitch black at night - sky is greenish/red tonight just now & shifting (though not clearly enough to make out the patterns): www.livefromiceland.is/webcams/hekla/

Thingvellir Milacam is similar though less bright.

D'oh I keep missing them!
Looks like there's a possibility of the US and Canada having some lovely Aurora over the next few nights. Perhaps they'll be seen in Iceland as well.

I missed that too. It looks like there is a snowstorm at the moment.

I keep missing them too!

This as one of the comments in JonFrs blog by Irpsit:
"Holuhraun. Must be a hellish place this night:

This is like living 200km downwind of a place that emits more SO2 than the totally of Europe combined together. And it is just a small hole. I can’t imagine how badly it is to be over there:
– totally poisonous atmosphere. Will kill you quickly, if you dont have a gas mask.
– hurricane winds as of tonight, and freezing cold
– pouring 1200ºC hot magma for many dozens of square kms
– earthquakes M5 every few hours

Seems like the craziest spot to be on the planet."

Jon Fr's blog last Wednesday mentions what happened to two policemen (and it says they were using gas masks )

"It continues to be extremely dangerous going to the eruption site as two police men found out yesterday. They hit a pocket of dangerous gases that had removed most of the oxygen in the area where they had located them self, at the edge of the lava field and where some two to three kilometres away from main erupting crater. They almost passed out due to lack of oxygen and they where using gas masks according to the news on Rúv about this insistent."

For Aurora webcam watchers, I've just found an Aurora forecast on the IMO's website

Wow, Gloria - that is such a useful forecast page. Tomorrow night looks promising. I've been checking in periodically for a while and the Thingvellir camera tends to be the best one for seeing the lights. If you look this evening, you'll see it is pretty much pitch black except for the floodlit house in the foreground. When the sky is lit up with the aurora, you can see the line of the mountains and there's a good amount of sky in shot too. I did actually see the curtain lights for spell the other night, but for most of the time it was blurry fluctuating pixellated reddish-green.

If there are northern lights, you can make out the contrast between the icebergs and water at Jokulsarlon but not much else and at Hekla I could make out the line of the volcano/horizon.

Dust Bunny ~ I was so pleased to find it and tomorrow night, well fingers crossed for clear skies!
I'm now glued to the Thingvellir webcam. I thought just now there were some new car park lights or something in the foreground that they'd installed, then realised that it was a coach load of passengers getting off! Looks like the moon has just risen on the Hekla webcam.

Aurora active again tonight. Honestly, I should really start my own thread.

I think an 'Aurora thread' would be an excellent idea.
Not sure whether I saw something last night ~ I did look at the webcams regularly and thought I saw a greenish tint to the sky between 8.45-10ish but not sure. There are some lovely colours going on at the moment as the sun rises.

You did see it by the sound of things. The resolution of the cameras is tantalisingly poor - possibly deliberately to keep their tourist trade brisk. You have to familiarise yourself with the usual pitch black to compare & contrast. I'll see if I can post some pics for comparison when I get home.

www.hotelranga.is/northern-lights/northern-light-webcam/ Aurora cam

Thanks for the link, Silent ~ another one to add to the list!
There's some activity at the moment on the Thingvellir webcam and the green was really bright a few minutes ago. I got quite excited at the beauty of it!

Has this video already been posted? vimeo.com/111344670

It's huge now, that lava is impressive and it keeps coming out.