Volcanoes
S


Bizarro Earth

Iceland's Katla Volcano Rattled by Double Swarm of Tremors

Image
Iceland's Katla volcano was hit by two swarms of tremors today. The strongest of the first cluster of small harmonic tremors which rattled the glacier was of a 2.9 magnitude.

A second, more intense swarm of tremors erupted shortly thereafter; including two 3.0 magnitude tremors - one inside the caldera of the volcano and one erupted on the parameter under the Mýrdalsjökull glacier.

Unrest at Katla has been intermittent but almost continuous since April. Geologists are monitoring activity at the volcano closely for any changes which could produce a hazardous flood-threat scenario for people living within the vicinity of the summit.

Bizarro Earth

Underwater Eruptions Could Create New Island in the Canaries

El Hierro erruption
© RapidEyeA satellite image taken on Oct. 23 shows a sea of underwater ash off the coast of El Hierro that is already bigger than the island itself.
What would the island be called? And who would own it? Spewing magma and growing in height, an underwater volcano off the Canary Island of El Hierro has captured the imagination of locals in recent weeks. It could eventually rise from the sea to create a new part of the archipelago.

It hasn't yet reached the surface, but residents of the Canary Islands have taken to the internet to suggest names for a potential new islet. There are already more than 500 suggestions. Favorites include "The Discovery," "Atlantis" and "The Best." Meanwhile Spanish newspapers are taking a different approach to the subject, debating who would take responsibility for the new territory.

Bizarro Earth

Chilean Volcano Awakens After 20 Years of Silence- Unleashes 1 km High Cloud of Smoke

Hudson volcano erupts in Chile
© n/aHudson volcano erupts in Chile
Chile - The National Service of Geology and Mining (SERNAGEOMIN) - Volcano Observatory of the Southern Andes (OVDAS), announced that from the early hours of last night there has been increased seismic activity related to the Hudson volcano. At 19:08 local time, an earthquake Volcano-tectonic (VT), magnitude (ML) equal to 4.6 located 7 km to the NW edge of the caldera, at a depth of 19 km, which was followed by the occurrence of a seismic swarm starting at 21:49 hrs, includes more than 100 seismic events recorded until the time of this report, whose depths range from 15 to 25 km.

It notes that 15 events recorded magnitudes (ML) greater than 3.0 and three (3) of these magnitudes (ML) greater than 4.0, all characterized by having more to do with broken rock (VT) at 00: local 20 hours today, Wednesday, October 26, an earthquake associated with fluid movement and characterized by very low frequency (long period - VLP), located in the same area at a depth of 15 km, with a magnitude (ML) equal to 4.3. The seismic swarm continues at the time of issuance of this report with less intensity. The preceding activity indicates that the volcanic system has experienced changes in their dynamics, possibly associated magmatic activity at depth, which in the future the system can lead to imbalance. (Source: Sernageomin -translated)

Bizarro Earth

Mount Etna has begun to erupt, sending flames into the sky over eastern Sicily

Mount Etna, Europe's tallest and most active volcano, has begun to erupt, sending flames into the sky over eastern Sicily


Phoenix

Experts warn a 'rumbling' Icelandic volcano could disrupt air travel, world economy - again

Image
© AP Photo/Paisley DoddsVik, a small Icelandic town of just 300 people, where residents still recall stories from their relatives of Katla volcano's last eruption in 1918, sits under a blanket of cloud in this Sept. 27, 2011 photo. If Iceland's air-traffic paralyzing volcanic eruption in 2011 seemed catastrophic, just wait for the sequel. That's what many experts are saying as they nervously watch rumblings beneath a much more powerful Icelandic volcano - Katla - which could spew an ash cloud dwarfing eruption that cost airlines $2 billion and drove home how vulnerable modern society is to the whims of nature.
Remember when Eyjafjallajökull, that Icelandic volcano with the impossible name, erupted in spring 2010, disrupting air traffic all over the world and costing airlines and the global economy billions?

Child's play, The Associated Press reported over the weekend, if seismic activity from another Icelandic volcano with a history of nasty tantrums leads to an eruption.

Seismologists in Iceland are wary of an increasing number of small, 3- to 4-magnitude earthquakes under the volcano Katla, whose last eruption in 1918 proved deadly.

That eruption produced a noxious cloud that literally blacked out the sun, killing off crops and livestock, the AP reported.

Bizarro Earth

On the brink: Tremors increase at Anak Krakatau to 5,000 a day

Several earthquakes have struck near south Sumatra of the 5.0 and 5.1 magnitude range today- making a tense situation on the volcanically-dotted archipelago potentially even more volatile. The Anak Krakatau volcano is showing signs of increased seismic activity. Authorities fear the volcano is building towards an eruption that could dwarf the one which occurred in 2007.

Image
© Unknown
Indonesia's Volcanology and Geological Disasters Mitigation Center reported the numbers of seismic tremors now registering from the volcano have exceeded 5,000 a day. There are also reports of a gaseous mist which has seeped from the volcano and have enshrouded it in a yellowish haze- something that has never been observed at the volcano before. Anak Krakatau was placed on orange (level 3) status alert on September 30, 2011.

Bizarro Earth

Deepest and Most Explosive Underwater Eruption Ever Seen Happening Near Samoa Hotspot

Double magma bubble
© Joseph ResingDouble magma bubble forms at Hades Vent at West Mata submarine volcano.
An underwater volcano bursting with glowing lava bubbles - the deepest active submarine eruption seen to date - is shedding light on how volcanism can impact deep-sea life and reshape the face of the planet.

Submarine eruptions account for about three-quarters of all of Earth's volcanism, but the overlying ocean and the sheer vastness of the seafloor makes detecting and observing them difficult. The only active submarine eruptions that scientists had seen and analyzed until now were at the volcano NW Rota-1, near the island of Guam in the western Pacific.

Now researchers have witnessed the deepest active submarine eruption yet. The volcano in question, West Mata, lies near the islands of Fiji in the southwestern Pacific in the Lau Basin. Here, the rate of subduction - the process in which one massive tectonic plate dives under another, typically forming chains of volcanoes - is the highest on Earth, and the region hosts ample signs of recent submarine volcanism.

Bizarro Earth

Underwater Volcanic Eruption

Whitecaps churn in the Atlantic off West Africa as an underwater volcano erupts off Spain's Canary Islands on Monday.

Image
© Desiree Martin, AFP/Getty ImagesWhitecaps churn in the Atlantic off West Africa as an underwater volcano erupts off Spain's Canary Islands on Monday.
Since last week, the volcano has been spewing gas and fragments of smoking lava, staining the ocean surface green and brown, as seen above.

Spanish authorities have closed a port on Hierro island (map), ordered ships away from the island's village of La Restinga, and banned aircraft from flying over the island's southern tip, according to the AFP news service.

Six hundred residents living at the port were evacuated Tuesday.

Bizarro Earth

Rapidly Inflating Volcano Creates Growing Mystery

Uturuncu
© Noah FinneganHow long has this been going on? Uturuncu, a Bolivian volcano that is inflating at an incredible rate.
Should anyone ever decide to make a show called "CSI: Geology," a group of scientists studying a mysterious and rapidly inflating South American volcano have got the perfect storyline.

Researchers from several universities are essentially working as geological detectives, using a suite of tools to piece together the restive peak's past in order to understand what it is doing now, and better diagnose what may lie ahead.

It's a mystery they've yet to solve.

Uturuncu is a nearly 20,000-foot-high (6,000 meters) volcano in southwest Bolivia. Scientists recently discovered the volcano is inflating with astonishing speed.

"I call this 'volcano forensics,' because we're using so many different techniques to understand this phenomenon," said Oregon State University professor Shan de Silva, a volcanologist on the research team.

Bizarro Earth

Chilean volcano's ashes ground flights

Image
© APPuyehue-Cordon Caulle volcano
Airline officials say an ash cloud from a recently reawakened volcano in southern Chile has once again forced the cancellation of scores of flights in Argentina, Brazil, Chile and Uruguay.

In statements released Monday, Brazilian airlines Gol and Tam say the cloud from the Puyehue-Cordon Caulle volcano appeared Sunday. The volcano has been sporadically active since June.

The statements indicated that the problem is affecting airports in Rio de Janeiro, Sao Paulo, Buenos Aires, Argentina and Montevideo, Uruguay, and involves both domestic and international flights.