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.

I can't quite see. Is it glacier directly under the cloud?

Dd who is a fan of the Icleandic language (don't ask!) has told me that Grimsbunga means Grimur's prominence'. Perhaps quite apt.

volcano cafe has a new blog for today confirming the start of the eruption :)

I don't think it is glacier there ~ I think that's in the distance. From what I remember when it's been clearer, this is a valley with some rivers and folk on volcano cafe say it's all a bit desolate, with a lot of dust/old ash from previous eruptions.

OYBBK.... well thats a lovely cheery blog

The magmatic intrusion that left Bárdarbunga central volcano and meandered off to due east of Kistufell has now rapidly in an hour formed a fissure extending from 20km depth all the way up to 2.5km from the surface. This means that if an eruption starts the eruption could draw more material directly from the mantle as decompression melt sets in. This would follow the formula from the Lakí eruption pretty well.

*shivers at the prospect of a repeat of Laki.

I know RTB. I usually start talking about low probability etc etc at this point and it is, but volcano cafe are normally a very measured bunch and I was rather startled to see that thrown in so casually. We really really need to hope it was just their imagination running away because that would be catastrophic. I suspect it is a very low probability though and if the Iceland met office suspected it they would be on full scale evacuations and whatnot.

Hmm, indeed. Not wanting to think of another Laki type eruption. There's an interesting article about it here

It really is thrown in casually as if Laki wasn't a big deal! You saying they are normally a measured bunch doesn't reassure me much either, as I was prepared to label them as scaremongering crackpots!

I suppose it would solve the issue of global warming...

Maybe they have interns in over the summer holidays!

It is interesting and let's hope it remains a discussion about a historical event....

Maybe Glace, I expect that's it, an intern who read about it on wiki.

If its a Laki type eruption, I think worrying about how it will effect air travel is liable to be one of our smaller concerns.

No shit Sherlock :)

Yeah, but thats the thing most people are worried about when the hear the words 'icelandic volcano' though. On the whole there is a real innocence about how devastating one could be.

it's a dust storm not the eruption showing on that webcam. Which makes sense as the eruption is currently sub glacial and that is not a glacier.

Yes, it makes sense that it's a dust storm. I've driven through an Icelandic dust storm and they are really quite incredible.

Yes Red, people think of a few days with the flights disrupted and not much else. It'll be the same when/if Yellowstone decides to go for it.

Snap Glace. It was only a small one but it was pretty scary and we were rather worried for our hire car!

It was a strange day, it was clear for miles (in the middle of winter) and then within the space of 20 minutes we drove through a snow storm and then a dust storm.

Iceland is altogether a very strange place we had a big storm and so we decided the sensible thing would be to head north to the coast to meet it in its full fury

You would never have got me going north like that to meet a storm. We went south

Being dense here.

what is a Laki eruption?

There have been 2 biggish EQs in the last hour ~ 4 and 4.2 and at a fairly shallow depth. The IMO think that we might get an eruption above the ice overnight/into tomorrow. I don't think this is over yet.

Jersey ~ Laki eruption

Gloria are you in Iceland?

Glace ~ No, I'm in a not-so-earthquake prone and volcanically active place (Leicester!) but have an interest in all things Icelandic and would love to visit one day!