Tuesday, September 6, 2011

Activity picks up in the Katla calderas

We spent the last four days traveling back home and then taking a day in bringing the place back into respectability after our several-month absence.

Thus I haven't been able to respond very much to outside events, nor to make many comments or updates showing the evolving quake pattern at Katla, but the increasing activity centered around the calderas, is unusual, with the increased density being such that they could shatter the cap overlying any magma intrusion. I have been incautiously concerned about an imminent eruption in the past, but this suggests I was just getting a little ahead of the actual events. The frequency of quakes has also been increasing in the last few days, and I will revisit that earlier post to update those figures as soon as I have a little time.

Earthquakes around Katla in the last 24-hours (Iceland Met Office.

Jón Frímann has noted that there is some sign of glacier melting, suggesting that something hot is approaching the bottom of the glacier, and he has also suggested that there may be some harmonic evidence for magma movement.

UPDATE: Jon has also just posted a video that summarizes the situation very well.

No comments:

Post a Comment