Bezymianny, Cleveland and Tungurahua updates for 6/1/2010

Great. Another Russian Volcano burps-and another late to no tomato summer in NE Oregon-just watch...
Haven't had much of a spring either...

Dr. Olga A. Girina makes her case eloquently for extended funding for KVERT. The period of 2007-2009 was quite active for ash and volcanic gas release in the Kamchatka/Kurile/Aleutian volcanic zones.

We're politely asking our friends to the North to put up Canookie-Bucks to help KVERT continue it's exceptionally important mission and reminding them that Canada tends to suffer the brunt of volcanic post-eruption detrimental environmental/weather and health effects.

We'll play nicey-nice if you do. We'll share some of our findings with you *quietly*, through appropriate channels in the months ahead, so that your agencies can take appropriate action when needed for risk reduction, with a little advanced warning and knowledge in hand.

ehh,. have anyone seen on Thorolfscam lately??

are there more lava coming down gigjøkull now?? it seems like there is something going on there, and quite a lot of steaming too,.

What I find ridiculous is the tunnel vision of USGS Volcano Dept. Not a single peep about the eruption across the straits from Alaska (http://volcanoes.usgs.gov/), while on the EQ side they announce and map every significant event on the globe (http://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/recenteqsww/). Still, the volcanoes might prove much more hazardous to U.S. citizens than EQs ever could.

Kultsi, I believe media report what they feel is the current public interest. Before 1980, it was earthquakes - people were "waiting for the big one" on the West Coast. Then it was volcanoes - as evidenced by those two mid-nineties movies "Volano" & "Dante's Peak", "coincidentally" both set in the Western States. After Christmas Day 2004, the good people on the West Coast's favourite fear is a giant tsunami that will wipe them out, generated by? Yes, earthquakes. So what does get funding, because if it doesn't some politicians look bad for "not listening to public concern". 55 million Californians...

AVO did carry a short report of the Kamchatka eruption via KVERT weblink
http://www.kscnet.ru/ivs/kvert/updates.shtml

The link can be found under the KVERT/recent activity section, right-side of the webpage.
http://www.avo.alaska.edu/activity/

AVO works in careful coordination with their Russian counterparts at KVERT/SVERT. AVO isn't ignoring what goes on in Kamchatka and the Kuriles - on the contrary, the Observatory staff* play an important but low key role in supporting Russian volcano observation and eruption/emissions reporting activities.

* I am commenting as an interested professional party and not in the capacity as spokesperson for USGS staff/UA faculty/research affiliates.

Erik, thanks for the Tung. eruption reference great photos and interesting 'in the moment ' commentary.

Hi Thor, maybe a little lava?,or just he usual hot spots, and there was a 2+ earthquake a while ago, only one, I think the rest is just clouds.

@Passerby #6: I know that AVO does a good job with their Russian counterparts, as well as within their sphere on responsibility, but USGS is the top organization, right? So, why don't they show the hazards on their map? (which ONLY shows the Pacific ring of fire)

Wouldn't it be easier to go to the purse-holders and say, "Look, we even showed this threat, but we don't really have the money to keep this up..."

thanks birdseyeUSA, then its not my eyes,..

it looks like its a little bit hotter on Eyjaflöll, tonight than it has been,. but it just might be those hotspots, but they seem a little bit hotter than before..

could lava just flow out silently without any eruption on the top? or does she just burp up some now and then.. cause the eruption doesnt quite seem like its totaly over..

Kultsi - the USGS page shows those volcanoes which lie in US political union areas. That's their responsibility; the Kamchatkan volcanoes are Russia's responsibility. AVO and KVERT have an operational agreement. Comparing earthquake monitoring to volcano monitoring and eruption response is apples and oranges, in terms of activities required, funding levels, and program scope. The US observatories could use funding, also - see http://www.hazardscaucus.org/briefings/volcano_briefing0410.html

Underwater volcano blows just north of Saipan.

http://www.pacificnewscenter.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=arti…

@#8: the website you cite is the USGS National Volcanic Hazard map. It covers *officially* covers US continental and extra-continental (Alaskan, Hawaiian, and US Possession /Territorial waters) volcanic hazards, per US Congressional order (P.L. 93-288) that the agency issue 'timely warnings of potential volcanic hazards to responsible emergency-management authorities and to the (US) populace affected'.

The USGS is networked through VAAC, including the Washington Office, to communicate risk observations of overseas volcanic hazards to interacting global community of volcanic monitoring entities.

The US and other national geological hazard programs interact within layers of direct and indirect legal, political and economic influence:

regional centers > national agencies > international centers > international authorities (brokered by special accords/agreements)

@9 Thor, the hot spots seem hotter or colder depending on how hot or cold everything around them is, as far as I understand FLIR, so one never quite knows ; ) I go by the plume if I can see it, because I know that is definitely somewhat warm - then I can compare.
Wonder if there will be FLIR on any other volcanoes??? Rocks and lava going up 1km (So. Am. ,) that's amazing.

@9 Thor, the hot spots seem hotter or colder depending on how hot or cold everything around them is, as far as I understand FLIR, so one never quite knows ; ) I go by the plume if I can see it, because I know that is definitely somewhat warm - then I can compare.
Wonder if there will be FLIR on any other volcanoes??? Rocks and lava going up 1km (So. Am. ,) that's amazing.

EYJAFJALLAJÃKULL report
Status Report: 15:00 GMT, 1 June 2010
Icelandic Meteorological Office and Institute of Earth Sciences, University
of Iceland
Compiled by: Gunnar B. Guðmundsson, Helga Ãvarsdóttir, Sibylle von Löwis and Sigrún
Hreinsdóttir
Based on: IMO seismic monitoring; IES-IMO GPS monitoring; IMO hydrological data;
web cameras, ATDnet â UK Met. Offices lightning detection system, web-
based ash reports from the public and scientists that went to the volcano.
Eruption plume:
Height (a.s.l.): Clouds and mist have covered the summit of the volcano both
yesterday and today. At 08:00 GMT today a white cloud was seen at 2
km a.s.l. on web-cameras. Winds of up to 10 m/s are blowing from the
east.
Heading: N/A
Colour: N/A
Tephra fallout: Widespread drifting of existing ash in southwest Iceland, both
yesterday and today. High concentration of airborne dust in ReykjavÃk
yesterday at noon and again at midnight.
Lightning: No lightning strikes have been detected.
Noises: No reports.
Meltwater: Low discharge from GÃgjökull.
Conditions at eruption site: N/A
Seismic tremor: Volcanic tremor is still more than before the eruption and has been
rather steady since 22nd May, but small pulses, mostly on the lowest
frequency are being detected on the seismic stations around the
volcano.

Earthquakes: Daily, there are several small and shallow earthquakes under the
volcano.
GPS deformation: No significant deformation at sites around Eyjafjallajökull.
Overall assessment: There is still a considerable amount of steam coming from the
crater. The tremor is still higher than before the onset of the eruption,
and small tremor pulses have been detected on the lowest frequency.
We continue to monitor the volcano closely.

thanks again birdseyeUSA,..

I just read the update, and saw the earthquake.. then looked on the cam, and it seems like something is going on,. but really hard to tell,.

the flir cam shows that there is somewhat more glow on the plume than yesterday,and daybefore.
and she has her dayly burps of ash and smaller gravel.. but since there are more quakes and movements under there there still are an eruption, yet without the big booms and ash,.

In the previous thread, Daniel (swe) asked about the recent eq swarm at Reykjanes peninsula. I've been curious about that area, too. I've read about the lava tubes (and about the 2001 draining of Lake Kleifarvatn further to the west) but don't know much more. Can anyone shed light about the seismic and volcanic characteristics of this area?

@ thor #15 & @birdseyeUSA #14

What ever it is, there is a remarkably strong steam plume visible in the Hvolsvöllur webcam. I guess it's still worthwhile to keep an eye on Eyjafjallajökull, even though the 'competition' from around the world has been very busy as of late....

Not bad for an operation that almost lost all of its funding and only operates 8:30 AM until 6:00 PM.

If you want some money then it's easy. The opportunity is there for the exploiting. Go set up a pork barreling NGO under the auspices of the UN.

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_Nations_System

HVO plot had a small spike around 2-3 hours ago. (HVO is the one just east of Katla, away from Eyjafjallajokull). Also, keep an eye on the Kistufell-Bardarbunga area (Vatnajokull). There have been a few earthquake swarms there, most recently at Kistufell.

That's a pretty impressive steam plume on the Hvollsvelli cam....I guess she got a little jealous over all the attention the other volcanoes were getting;)

@ Randall Nix #20 - And getting better by the minute as the morning sun illuminates the steam plume

I wonder what can be making such a large white plume. It's only been a month, but I cannot remember what the early eruption of the last two vents looked like-- was it steam? heh. Gettin old and tired and in the way--- I think it was steam first.

@Randall #20 & @Kathryn #21

Impressive steam plume indeed, but the FLIR camera still shows the moon to be hotter than the steam plume (see: Eyjafjallajökull seen from Ãórólfsfell)...

I guess it's still only the remaining heat from the earlier eruption and no new lava (yet?).

Kathryn, Australia it's just steam but it still makes a nice picture;)

Holger, N California Give it time;)

Only one post for me, been sick. But wanted to let you know don't get hooked on the Ãórólfsfelli cam or you're going to miss the nice view on Hvolsvelli. :)

@Dan #25 - Got both open!:-)Then I won't miss anything.... hope you're better soon.......

There appears to be some short of tremor pulse going on SIL station hvo (Lágu Hvolar). I am not sure why this is happening. This might just be a simple glacier water flood or something from Katla internal systems changing and creating this pulse on the sensor.

http://data.emsd.iks.ru/videokzy/videokzy.htm

Nice eruption underway of some order at Bezymianny again...

@MRK 28 Thanks for the heads-up. Busy admiring eyjaf and kiluea.

Hahaha - a volcano in Cleveland - I'm sure that would come as surprise to everyone in the flat flat midwest plains. Presumably whoever wrote the story had never been to Ohio much less Cleveland?

That's an awesome photo of Tungurahua; I wish I had a giant sized poster for my wall.

The Wikipedia entry on Cleveland (the volcano) is not bad; it even has a map of the Aleutian chain (of which several of the volcanoes are pretty active). Cleveland is one of the more inaccessible and difficult to monitor volcanoes on the planet and it's caused trouble before. If I'm not too senile some remote monitoring equipment was put up on Cleveland a few years ago. One of the great challenges for unattended instrumentation there is the extremes of temperature through the year - well, more so the extreme cold.

Have you ever noticed that a watched webcam never refreshes?

A look at the plume from Hekla.
We needed this beautiful weather while the big activity was going. But it's not as it go for volcanoes, it was said...

#32 The link is:
http://www.simnet.is/jonfr500/earthquake/vefmyndeyjafjalen.html

Nyharongo? Nope. Kilauea!
http://volcanoes.usgs.gov/hvo/cams/POcam/

Can anyone explain the strange activity at HVO station?

Looks like a similar pattern as EF had during the eruption just on a smaller scale.

@Renato I Silveira, Hekla is plume free. Eyjafjallajökull however isn't. There is a good steam coming from him at the moment.

I hadn't time to check up on Kilauea recently. Took a quick look the other day (Saturday), nothing seemed changed much from end of April 2010.

Tonight, I was startled to see the Halema'uma'u webcam showing a very large incandescence signal.

Normal image is a plume in the distance, sometimes with numerous midfield geothermal field emissions, taken from the webcam located at the volcano observatory visitor center.

I have been watching the HVO webcams for quite some time (couple years) and don't recall seeing this night-time glow on the KIcam.

@ Renato, #33: That camera is in Múlakot, which sits about halfway between Hvolsvöllur and Thorolfsfell, on the north side of Markarfljót, about 30 km SSE from Hekla.

Which cam are you watching? The two Halema'uma'u cams have shown activity. The view from the observatory has had a fine red glow for months (weather permitting)

Tonight is the first time I've seen Pu'u 'O'o glow red in the night. For the last couple of years, it's been too gassy to see anything. I think I read that the old camera at this site fell into the magma when a cliff gave way. Perhaps this is the new camera. I like it. Also, during the day, the TEB wide-image camera now has a wonderful panorama of the outbreak.

Cam page: http://volcanoes.usgs.gov/hvo/cams/

Ooops! SSW of Hekla, of course. My bad.

EYJ
http://eldgos.mila.is/english/eyjafjallajokull-fra-thorolfsfelli/

Clear view - all the black ash covers the glacier with a background of blue sky and small white steam. Quiet a different look!

EYJ
http://eldgos.mila.is/eyjafjallajokull-fra-valahnjuk/

This camera view was shut down when they couldn't access the unit to re-charge batteries due to safety issues of its location. Do you think now they will be able to get this camera view back in operation during the current lull?

I forget where I read that 7 week eruption at EYJ was to be expected and that is what we got.

@28 MRK It appears that the Bezymianny cam has died. Do you supposed that the eruption may have affected it?

#36 #38 I meant Eyjaf view from Hekla, from where you can clearly see a neat plume. :)

@Passerby [37]

I've been meaning to do a historical quake plot along "The Great Crack" but have never gotten around to it. Over the last two days I've been digging over benzene toxicity and saturations levels in seawater coupled with the USGS flow data... it ain't pretty.

My main interest is the Hilina scarp. In '75 the lower part of it suddenly dropped by about 11 feet. This was concurrent with a Mag 7.2 quake.

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hilina_Slump

The concept takes on a rather ominous tone when you consider the Tuscaloosa seamount... a 25km x 12km x 2km chunk that was formerly part of Oahu. (Nuuanu slide, â2.1 mybp) No, I don't think Hilina is close to failing, but is is something I want to look at.

nthmp-history.pmel.noaa.gov/its2001/Separate_Papers/6-04_Satake.pdf

To the left of the main lava flow in Gigjökull there's another small plume of steam to the left of the little ice capped summit. I just can't understand how a flow can originate from a site higher then the main crater. I've noticed that some days ago, but all the area was so covered that I couldn't tell for sure. Now it seems pretty clear. Any comments on this?

#46 Those are clouds forming out of thin air - happens all the time in mountains; saturated air needs just a tiny nudge to start condensation. On the lee side of a ridge the pressure is lower and often that is enough to start the process.

Hi everyone,
@Boris Behncke:
I just wanted to tell you, I saw you on TV last night! There was a volcano special (3 related documentaries) on German TV. I didn't get to see all of it (due to other things) and I'm hoping for a repeat, but anyway, you were there, climbing the flanks of your beloved Etna - I was amazed at the massive lava flow approaching that village. Scary stuff, lave that flows in tunnels for long distances before it cools down. The documentary to look out for was called "Vulkane - Die Uhr tickt", Germany, 2006. Given the amount of repeats on various TV stations, I'm sure there will be a rerun some day soon.

Parclair @39, I've been watching Pu'u 'O'o for several years now and this is the first time I've seen a glow like that, in fact I've tabbed back and there appears to be lava/spattering above the pit.

It's also nice to see blue skies over Iceland. It's the first time I've seen the steam plume as clearly as that for ages.

Just to cap it all, I'm looking out over my garden to a beautiful June morning in Aberdeen (Scotland). Summer must be a comin'!

For those not around to see the pretty view from Hvolsvellur early this morning, Iceland time, I've put some screenshots up....
http://picasaweb.google.com/114420151580577086982

#49 I have now worked what I was looking at at Pu'u 'O'o. Later viewing gave more info and the activity is lava pooling on the crater floor,with occasional flaring from gas vents - confirmed by status update page.

http://volcanoes.usgs.gov/hvo/activity/kilaueastatus.php

#50: Thank you, Kathryn, for the screenshots!

@Anita in Austria #48, thanks for notifying me - it looks like there is a lot of video with me in circulation, and I don't recall this one specifically!

Guatemala has had a tough time with the volcanic eruption
and now storm Agatha which caused major flooding and this rather terrifying natural occurence http://www.mixxbuzzers.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/06/guatemala-sinkhol…

Same as above with better photographs and news.
http://www.channel4.com/news/articles/science_technology/huge+guatemala…

The sinkhole in Guatemala City is not a "natural" occurrence since it's (almost certainly) due to a leaky sewer. In any case, though it looks dramatic, it's not nearly as much of a disaster for Guatemala as the mudslides, flooding, volcanic ash, and crop failures elsewhere.

Good morning all - well, sorry, no question of the day from me -this is my first volcano, and I just don't know enough to think of a passable question - to which I have answer! I'm on information overload, no synthesis yet.

@Kathryn 50, thanks for the screenshots. As I get up, so does the wind, and all goes to dust, so it's really nice to see clear air photos. RE: Valahnjuk cam, wasn't that in the heavily ashed area? And on top of snow at the time - so, probably too dangerous up there even w/o an active eruption? I'd be surprised to see it back any time soon.

So many webcams, so little time.....

RE: Guatemala, how does one live day to day knowing that the ground may swallow you at any moment? There used to be little occasional sinkholes in farm fields near where I Iived in Iowa, but not like this!

#56 - There must be an underlying waterway/cave system to carry away the massive amount of sand, it does not just disappear, and the cavity forming must start from the bottom to appear as a huge surprise. A leaky rainwater sewage system is a good candidate for providing the primary erosion.

This is about an unrelated volcano but I figured people here might be interested. The Pu'u O'o crater on Kilauea is filling with lava right now, I think: webcam http://volcanoes.usgs.gov/hvo/cams/POcam/

Wow!

Guatemala Sinkhole. I'm pretty sure what we're seeing is the first step in the formation of a cenote. I'll leave it to wikipedia to describe them and their formation (I'm not good enough). Cenotes are a common feature in that area-- really wonderful nature, not so good when in an urban setting.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cenote

From today's Iceland Review...

02/06/2010 | 09:30
Volcanic Eruption in Iceland Still Not Formally Over
Geophysicist Magnús Tumi Gudmundsson said it is not yet possible to declare that the volcano in Eyjafjallajökull glacier has officially stopped erupting. There are still tremors and seismic activity down below.

Sveinn Runólfsson, director of the Soil Conservation Service of Iceland, told Morgunbladid that soil reclamation in a 4,000-hectare area is necessary.

âIt is clear that the area that was subject to extensive ash fall is very large. It is estimated to be at least 3,500 square kilometers,â he said. That is approximately 3.4 percent of Icelandâs overall area.

The Soil Conservation Service has worked on a plan since the eruption in Eyjafjallajökull began on strengthening vegetation in the area by sowing and spreading fertilizers, to bind the ash where there is risk of it being carried away with the wind.

It is most important to take such measures in settled areas. Otherwise, ash drift could continue for months or even years.

However, the project costs up to ISK 100 million (USD 781,000, EUR 637,000) and funding hasnât been secured. The matter has yet to be discussed with Environment Minister SvandÃs Svavarsdóttir.

Runólfsson said the idea is to employ people in the area with spreading fertilizers and seed using their tractors and spreaders.

The wind has been blowing in from the southeast in the past days, carrying ash from the eruption site to the capital region. Car owners have noticed how dirty their cars have become.

Not exactly volcanology but cenotes really interest me, especially the underwater linkages eventually leading to the sea in Mexico.
The link below details relationship between cenotes and Chicxlub crater formed from meteorite impact
http://miac.uqac.ca/MIAC/chicxulub.htm

Hi Gordon nice post, great graphics - but you know that Chix wasn't the crater that really laid down the K/Tboundary, no? : ) Here's the other approach...

http://geoweb.princeton.edu/people/keller/chicxulub.html

Hi - just checking to see the activity of LadyE and noticed that there is a lot of seismicity around Hengill - Is this normal for this area?

twin plumes on the Ãórólfsfelli visible light cam one at the long standing place, and one far to the right out of the flir view

just wait the clouds clear and give a good view

(next VEI ⥠3) Paddypower predicts:

Katla 7/4 ... up from 9/4 on May 27th
Eyjafjallajokull 10/1
Etna 28/1

Meanwhile Nature suggests the likelihood of a magnitude 8 or greater earthquake in the Pacific Northwest in the next 50 years at 37% and up from the previous estimate of a 10-15% risk.

The latest news on Tungurahua, from within the last hour

http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/326917,hundreds-flee-volcanic-e…

"Quito - Hundreds of people sought to escape the eruption of the Tungurahua volcano Wednesday in Ecuador, days after the evacuation of around 2,500 locals.

Volcanic activity in the Tungurahua, 5,010 metres high and located around 130 kilometres away from Quito, intensified Wednesday, with explosions and other sounds that scared locals.

Residents further sought to move some 420 head of cattle away from the volcano, because pastures have become covered with ash."

Taking a 'cooling off' break from mowing - it's about 30º out there...but rain coming, and rain last night so, no choice...

Just looked at the link Erik posted for Tunguraua video/shock waves,it's up now and pretty impressive ...
http://bigbenber.over-blog.com/

a $250,000 grant from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act will put two solar-powered digital seismometers on Anatahan and Sarigan, two active volcanoes in the island chain near Guam. The systems should be fully operational by November, ... To date, there is no money for maintaining the systems.

Stars and Stripes (May 14, 2010)

#68 birdseyeUSA and Erik, good link, good shockwave. Delay in sound puts camera about 6 miles from the crater.

BirdseyeUSA @63 - Just when I thought I knew something... at least the Deccan Traps are still implicated in the KT extinction. Question is, where's the crater that did cause the KT boundary? The thot plickens.

#68 birdseyeUSA and Erik, good link, good shockwave. Delay in sound puts camera about 6 miles from the crater.

#68 Something's wrong with the video "Explosions et ondes de choc au Tungurahua" at that link - all I get is some sound - no picture. The other video "Explosion strombolienne du volcan Tungurahua" on the page works fine.

Hvolsvelli cam makes Lady E look as though she's sending steam signals or having a good huff.

I spotted a car registration plate today that read EYA 20F. Would be nice if the owner was a follower of "Eruptions"

#68 re mowing, do what I do and cut paths to where you want to go. Let the rest grow up. Makes the garden look bigger and helps biodiversity. You can always weed any real nasties that arrive.

Re #68/72 never mind - after 3 or 4 tries with no video, it worked fine on a later attempt to view it. I don't know what changed.....

71: The crater is Chicxulub, in the ocean next to the Yucatan Peninsula.
Despite the work of Alverez Snr and Jnr to identify it, it is not now thought to be the main cause of the KT extinction.
The cause of (KT extinction) is a contentious subject but the crater is real.

New Earthquake...
Magnitude 5.6
Date-Time Wednesday, June 02, 2010 at 18:51:08 UTC
Thursday, June 03, 2010 at 05:51:08 AM at epicenter
Location 13.682°S, 166.422°E
Depth 35 km (21.7 miles) set by location program
Region VANUATU

http://www.geohazards.gov.vu/index.php?option=com_content&view=frontpag…

No question that Chicx. is real, lots of work done on it, as Gordon's #62 post showed. (Amazing that we can do that sort of thing when you come to think of it. )
@73 ( OT ) Good exercise. Keeps the bugs down and the deer nervous. The rest of the land is rougher, they're welcome to it.

@Gordon [73]

"...cut paths to where you want to go. Let the rest grow up. Makes the garden look bigger and helps biodiversity..."

Around here if I tried that I would get water moccasins. The mowed grass tends to keep them away since the hawks can see them if they come out. I'm not particularly fond of moccasins.

@Raving #69: Thanks. Sounds like business as usual then - never any money to monitor the volcanoes in the CNMI. I wonder what telemetry equipment they'll use, or if the system is meant to be visited every month or so. I think Saipan (the closest island with anything resembling modern technology) is about 80NM from Anatahan (too lazy to check a map and get a definite figure).

@Dan Florida, - hear that the oil is approaching Pensacola, we're thinking of you.

@80 birdseye. It sucks. Going to head out there tomorrow evening.

Created a page that has links to web cams in the area (well, after the sun comes back up). :)
http://www.wunderground.com/blog/dashboardcowman/show.html

Yeah I live in Pensacola too:( I did get one more good sail in last week....We rafted up several sailboats off Fort McRee, everyone ate fresh shrimp, drank, listened to Buffett and talked about how much we all loved the area. I went for a long swim. While floating on my back in the warm pristine water I looked over at the booms and wondered just what the area would look like in a few weeks? Now it looks like I am about to find out:( I am going to the beach tomorrow and try to enjoy the water just one more time....and say one more goodbye to an old friend.

More news about Chaitén [spanish]: (last line has a word mistake)

http://www.diariollanquihue.cl/prontus4_nots/site/artic/20100602/pags/2…

M 5.4 2010/06/03 04:32:44 70.777 -14.535 10.9 JAN MAYEN ISLAND REGION

#83 Hola Guillermo! They downgraded alert level, but it still looks angry, doesn't it?

Evacuations ordered from growing activity on Tungurahua:
According to the Instituto Geofisico, the type of activity is characterized by the generation of explosions that ejected blocks about a thousand meters below the crater and columns of steam with low to medium content of ash usually not surpassing 3 km high.
"There was also an explosion at 03:00, which led to the descent of a small pyroclastic flow down to 1.5 km"
www.lahora.com.ec

Sakurajima just cleared her throat quite loudly in the last half an hour. Ash up to 11,000 15nm south of Kagoshima airport reported. Check out this webcam image taken about 30 mins ago:

http://tweetphoto.com/25313747

@randall nix[82]

Fear for the Rainbow Trout and related saltwater residents. Based on the average concentration (all I could find was data for North Sea and Bay of Campeche) the concentration of benzene in raw crude runs about 0.1 to 1.2% by mass. Max solubility in water is 0.8 g/L, or 800 mg/L.

The LC50 (median lethal dose) for Rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss) is 5.3 mg/L or 5.2 ppm. IDLH (Immediately Dangerous to Life and Health) for people is 500 ppm. At max concentration it sits at about 779.6 ppm. That's likely why you hear stories of the spill workers getting sick. And that's just the benzene.

Okay, enough rant about the Gulf of Mexico Oil Volcano...

Sorry for the OT.

Lurking thanks for the info....I fear for all the little critters. My girlfriend has really bad asthma so I also worry about her breathing this stuff:(

Goooooood Mooooorning Japan!

Anybody out there who has a link to a Sakurajima web-cam?
Just found the research center, but that was not up to Icelandic standards... (pouting) I guess I have been spoiled by the coverage of E.

Here's links to Saku research center and DPRI.

http://www.dpri.kyoto-u.ac.jp/~kazan/research_e.html

http://www.dpri.kyoto-u.ac.jp/web_e/index_topics.html

Here's the link for the Sakurajima cam:

http://kagoshima-live.com/sakurajima.html

I should have said ash reported to 11,000ft south of Kagoshima airport in my earlier post.

Just a quick question to the more knowledgeable - is it normal that we have so many volcanoes around the world active?

Normal? whats Normal the planet does what it has done for million of years,the volcanic activity on the planet has been far more active than it is today. So I guess this is "normal"
but yeah there is many volcanoes active now, and I guess more volcanoes will shake and stirr in the future.
We are living on a living planet,we must not forget that,and the landmasses around us, has not just come here by it self ..

Good morning all -
@94, I like your last sentence in particular, Thor.

#77,78 I think I would cut all my grass too if there was a likelihood of poisonous snakes in suburban Scotland. Deer can be a problem here, but not in my garden to date...

Just stumbled on this...our Icelandic friends are looking for visitors.No, world, Iceland is not entirely covered in ash....
http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=128503987169140&ref=mf

ummm- maybe I should have previewed the video first....

Caught some bug this week and haven't been up to looking at that inspiredbyiceland thing yet meself. Typical tourist bait, right?

Yet another Sakura-jima camera link: http://373news.com/_sakucap/index.php

Fixed angle and view, lots of pretty blinkenlichter on the frame, no auto-refresh.

Short article in New Scientist today:
The volcanic ash cloud that had a positive electrical charge.

On 19th April, Giles Harrison at University of Reading and colleagues used detectors aboard a weather balloon to measure the charge in the ash cloud over Scotland.
It reached 0.5 picocoulombs per m3 where there were 50 particles of ash per cm3 of air. (Environmental Research Letter, DOI:10.1088/1748-9326/5/2/024004)

That's around 1/20th of the danger level set by te UK CAA.
A similar detector on aircraft could alert pilots to dangerous ash levels, Harrison says.
http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn18966-icelandic-volcanos-ash-blan…

@Reynir: You are not dancing through the country and taking nude baths in natural hot pots? Then you are not an Icelander :-))
The video is funny, but its a commercial.

@97 Birdseye-- NOW I've got an earworm that won't stop=="I'm dancing thru the jungle, yeah" Yikes. ;-)

Hah-- The hole in Guatemala City isn't a cenote, it's a Piping Structure. It's because of the volcanic tuff under the city and bad engineering--

http://geotripper.blogspot.com/2010/06/piping-structure-at-guatemala-ci…

geology.about.com/b/2010/06/03/the-hole-in-guatemala.htm

NS also has fabulous article on Deccan Traps too.
http://www.newscientist.com/article/mg20627631.300-deeper-impact-did-me…
I love half term - catch up on reading.

@104 parclair - sorry about the earworm. ; ) Learn something new every day, I didn't know about 'piping structures' at all....good find!

Hmmm...
03-JUN-2010 07:43:42 13.58 -44.84 Mag 5.0 10.0 km NORTHERN MID-ATLANTIC RIDGE

#107 arggh I meant to post the two just north of Iceland
03-JUN-2010 10:16:15 70.75 -14.43 4.8 10.0 JAN MAYEN ISLAND REGION
03-JUN-2010 04:32:43 70.78 -14.53 5.4 10.9 JAN MAYEN ISLAND REGION

Turrialba is looking puffy today:

http://www.ovsicori.una.ac.cr/videoturri.html

#109 @parclair I've been keeping a close look on Turrialba. Today it's all BW with the exception of the steam plume at the base. What is it - lava reflected?

Re: Jan Mayen
http://eng.efnahagsraduneyti.is/media/Acrobat/Geology.pdf

Also this, which might be the earthquake related bit - Beerenberg Volcano..

sorry, forgot the link - site is run on Jan Mayen. http://www.jan-mayen.no/geology.htm

That's Beerenberg on Jan Mayen Island?
http://geo.hmg.inpg.fr/caplain/janmayen/
photo 7 wander how deep that man sized hole is?

Postings have been great today, piping structures, Deccan Traps, impact craters and K/T origin (or not); keep them coming.

#111 #112 #113 Yes, keep them coming, but I'll have to store them, because I'm still trying to cope with the old crust formation underneath Iceland (posted last week). After going through all this I'll claim a degree in Geology... :)
Thank you guys!

@111 and 113 Thanks birdseyeUSA and Gordon. Interesting stuff!

I meant to add a link before - looks like it hasn't been updated,but shows a '70's eruption at Beerenberg. A link to a Norwegian seismic center showed several big earthquakes not at Beerenberg but near a smaller island, this May.
http://www.jan-mayen.no/geology.htm and http://jordskjelv.no/

@ 105 Stigger - finally had a moment to look at that, thanks.

I'm still trying to read a paper from a couple of weeks ago-- I must have 50 bookmarks in my "to read" folder. Yikes! But, keep them coming.

Um, re Turiallba, I see a pinkish tinge too (or did until the clouds rolled in). I'm not sure what it is, the rocks appear reddish on my monitor, so it could be a reflection of them, or an optical illusion. *sideways question mark*

#102 @Chris: I barely feel up to digesting supper while sitting in front of the monitor.

Aside: Got shouted off the loo to watch fresh pictures from Lady E. on Kastljós ("Highlight") on the telly. It was gummiey and a team from RUV-TV. If those that cancelled their hols up here were to see the footage, there'd be such wailing and gnashing of teeth that it'd make Rama look sunny and quiet.

@birdeyeUSA 116 thanks again for the extra links. Now I can diligently watch the seismos at JMIC :)

Iceland Met N-Atlantic tab shows 6 quakes today from 2.7 up to 4.0. All around 300km NE of Kolbeiney. Kolbeiney 100km north of Iceland. Are these the same events as the 4.8 and 5.0 at Jan Mayen? Seem about 200km too far south, but only guessing really.

#118 @Parclair: Turrialba is putting nice daily shows. Still think it could be glowing lava reflected... not sure... can't see "red rocks" - everything around looks black and white, but for the orange-brownish tint on the plume.
#105 @Stigger: Interesting impact theory on Deccan traps. What if Yucatan's meteor split in two? No matching samples of Iridium in both locations?
Anyway, quite plausible deduction, seems to my amateur approach - impacts causing mantle to destabilize and thus generating hotspots elsewhere (which could also explain Siberian traps, 250 mil. y ago).
As for the non-avian dinosaur extinction, I saw on TV a paleontologist claiming there was no fossil evidence to it: no big amounts of dinosaur bones being found at a same layer corresponding to the extinction period. Where did they go? (Big question mark)

#121 @Mike: According to what I read, if I quite understood from earlier links posted, yes, there's a correlation between Jan Mayen and Kolbeiny. There's old crust material from Jan Mayen under Iceland. But maybe I'm wrong...
If you allow me, @birdseye:
http://www.dur.ac.uk/g.r.foulger/Offprints/OlderCrust.pdf
I wonder if there's any relation to the Greenland's sea EQs on early May too, further NE.

#122 @ Renato, either giant object which had split in two and hit separately (improbable but not impossible)

or (leaning towards)it hit at Chicxulub and the force (pressure waves) resonated through the Earth causing massive internal damage (like a bullet) and basalt eruption at exit point. Given the different layout of the continents then, Shiva could have been located over a hot spot then enabling basalt lava flow for many thousands of years.

Fragments with similar composition (possibly meteorite) have been found in Antarctica and in Siberian lava dated to 250 Mya.

It is a puzzle as below Shiva, 7km down the neat layers stop. There is a layer of shattered rock, then 1km of solidified volcanic lava, interrupted by intermediate layers of sedimentary rocks, but rooted in the lava are 12km high, 25km across spires of lava that are highly alkaline and rich in iridium. I need to find out if the iridium is chemically similar in Chix and Shiva. That amount of iridium is rare on Earth, apart from impact craters.

As for the non-avian dinosaur extiction, I believe it was very slow,(on a life span scale - rapidly geologically) hence the claim that there is a lack of fossil evidence. Impact, dust, climate change would bring about a slow death; grass and plants for the herbivores and herbivores being food for carnivores. Isn't that why big, fierce creatures find it so hard to survive? My query on his point is that absence of proof is not the same as proof of absence; many, many species have evolved and vanished with little or no fossil evidence. We surmise their existence though gaps in evolutionary structure.

Seems plausible to me too; any experts wish to comment?

@Mike 121 You're correct. They're not the same earthquakes. The ones I posted are farther north and of greater magnitude.

http://www.norsardata.no/NDC/bulletins/gbf/lastweek.jpg

Renato: Crater glow at Turrialba MAY result from high temperature fumaroles, heating rock around the vent red-hot; glow is often reported at Momotombo (Nicaragua) for example even though Momotombo hasn't actually erupted since 1905

@Reynir, glad you're on the mend - hang in there.
@Renato 123 - thanks for your additional info from the earlier post, which I missed - I'm not familiar with any of this, just taking it all in and trying to find useful links (and make sense of it all!- my 'vacation reading' is going to be lots of white paper stapled together, printouts. My pile just from Eyja is huge.) My brain is stuffed, but only with fragments of information... ;)) Now to try to put the pieces together while still keeping up with all of you!! Love it.

@Mike 121 Here's a pretty map showing the relationship between Kolbeinsey Ridge and Jan Mayen

http://www.mantleplumes.org/images3/JanMayenFig1_1000.jpg

Back to Eyja, some farmers are starting a first mowing hoping that the second crop will be OK - but concerned about fluorine content. http://mbl.is/mm/frettir/innlent/2010/06/03/fyrsti_slattur_i_oskufjuki/

#122 http://starmon.com/KT_craters.html and http://www.newgeology.us/Shiva.pdf very interesting stuff.

I seem to have hit a bit of a "hot spot" with Chicxulub, I hadn't come across Shiva before and the links provided are great, seems to me that most researchers are agreed that something hit the Earth very hard ~65 ma, but not where or whether single or multiple hits.
I had come across Silverpits off English coast before before, but at that time it was being put over as salt dome rather than impact crater.
Link below gives a summary of simulation model for initial impact energy propagating through the mantle and popping up antipodally off Australia. Would be nice to see an animation of that?
http://www.newgeology.us/presentation35.html

I started this post about an hour ago, but cat sat on key board and wiped out progress then my better half completed the process.

@ stigger, Gordon check google for 'creationism.'

Do with this as you please, folks:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/blog/2010/jun/03/wanted-best-science-…

#133, BirdseyeUSA, oops you beat me to it. I've just been reading the rest of the site, with increasingly raised eyebrows, (Hawaii not a plume site?). Got to the end and realised I'd hit a dose of Creationism. Sorry.

#132 Gordon: so ... we have a new name for a volcano then?

@134 go 'Miss Frito' : ) ( P.S. see below...)

ref. various 'new geology' source posts, I wondered, and then looked for the home page. A visit to www.newgeology.us will also list several other links to be aware of including mantleplumes.org.

@Erik Klemetti (#134) Lol Huh?

The charm of this place is in the way that it gently diffuses controversy. Maybe that quality of calming down and dealing with the inevitable is normal for Volcanology.

Hello all. Haven't disappeared, just glued to the attempt to stop the oil leak. Which leads to a question that someone here may have an answer to. With so much oil coming out of the ground, there must be a void, or at least a lack of pressure, from the source. Could this possibly result in in an earthquake, or in the very least, a collapse of the sea floor above the oil deposit. FYI, earthquakes have happened in the Gulf of Mexico before.
(my name now directs you to where I have posted links to cams along the coast here, during daylight hours of course)

Good question, Dan - hope you get some answers.
Lady E is bidding good morning/evening with a small plume and a pretty pink & blue sky on Thoro cam. so, g'nite/morning...

#134 Erik: You don't have to be a geologist for this: if you dig through layers of daily threads in this blog you won't find a single day where there isn't at least one post with compliments to its contents and (#138) charm.
#137 Just passing by to say good night and didn't quite understand: so, these are links not to be trusted? Please, keep us informed whenever this happens!
Thanks a lot.

@Dan: we're all hoping for answers. Fare thee well, my friend!

@birdseyeUSA [137]

Be careful at mantleplumes.org, it's very easy to lose track of time while reading.

@Dan, Florida [139]

Yah.. I've been glued to the Oil-Cam-Bots too.

The last time I ran the numbers on flow estimates done by the USGS, it was day 35. At that time, the potential void was 4.6 million cubic feet. (using the 1 million gallon a day estimate) That's actually sort of small... only 0.000032 cubic miles. ( 0.00013 cubic km )

124 miles southwest of there, a Mag 5.3 occurred on the continental shelf. I can't remember the year but it was also the same year that a Mag 6.0 (later downgraded to a 5.9) occurred out in the middle of nowhere 200 miles south by southeast in the abyssal plain.

So, in a nutshell, I haven't got a clue... but it seems a bit early to expect related seismic events. I did spend the better part of an evening this week desperately searching for a live helicorder site just to see if there was some sort of harmonic like tremor that could be seen from it.

I've also managed to get a of concern while looking for data on fluid hammers. With a combination of drilling mud, crude oil and water to lift over a distance of 23000+ feet (5000 feet of water, 18,000 feet of well) you need somewhere between 7500 to 11,000 psi. As reported from a ship that cast off from the rig, they reported seeing the mud/crude/water shoot up like a volcano prior to the explosion and fire. This sort of means that it had quite a bit of momentum behind it. When the rig sank, it bent the riser and probably generated a sizable fluid hammer... which is a dynamic overpressure that is dependent on the flow rate and specific gravity. I'm not very good at fluid dynamics, but from what I have pieced together, the dynamic overpressure could have been as high as 600 to 1000 psi.

And this is where I grow concerned...

At the time of the incident, they were working on pouring the casing for the well (cement). In other words it probably had yet to set or achieve full strength, and along comes this blow-out with whatever radical pressure shift occurred... so, what are the chances that the casing was ruptured somewhere near the surface and is flowing into the shallow strata or will soon be flowing once they get a cap on this thing?

D*** what I wouldn't give for good helicorder link...

Short but coherent report on Tungurahua eruption

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/earth/earthvideo/7802711/Ecuador-volcano-eru…

for a fabulous exhibit of Eyja eruption(s) photos, see http://myndlist.is/index.php?option=com_wrapper&Itemid=119

#132, 133, 135 and Birdseye. Apologies, I was following the piece from New Scientist and didn't realise it had been published on a creationist site as well. I had never seen NewGeology before and never deliberately dip my toe into creationism.

Where things on the web are published is often beyond the control of the author; NewGeology may not be a reputable source of scientific data but should we condemn the article wholesale because it is also posted there?

New Scientist judged it to be of sufficient merit to publish and I would agree, 'The significance of the contemporaneous Shiva Impact Structure and Deccan Volcanism at the KT boundary CHATTERJEE, Sankar, Geosciences, Texas Tech Univ, MS Box 41053, Lubbock TX 79409-3191,etc' still stands alone as interesting (to me as a confirmed non-creationist).

@stigger147 New Scientist, wiki's comment - so, as with everything else, taken in consideration...
"As well as covering current events and news from the scientific community, the magazine often features speculative articles, ranging from the technical to the philosophical.
It is not a peer-reviewed scientific journal,[2]"

I should explain that I have come from a professional field which teaches that every belief is valuable to the person who believes it, but I also had a father who was world-known in his scientific field and scrupulous about stating anything as fact that he could not prove himself or be satisfied that others had proved. The joke was that the most you could expect from him was 'a definite maybe.' And that is how I tend to look at things also.

http://newsfeed.time.com/2010/06/04/easyjet-unveils-ash-detection-syste…

this may be of interest! let's hope it works.

@144 Lurking Thanks for that.

Reports of oil on our beaches so I'm headed out there.

beach cams - http://www.wunderground.com/blog/dashboardcowman/show.html another of my blog names :)

see newest thread for latest on Eyja activity...maybe something coming???

Im just interest in the facts of the bigger picture. Has the sun of our solar system really flipped its polarity in our solar system?, and if so, how does this event, affect whats going on here on earth. Is our sun emitting a higher ammount of nutrinos that could affect weather conditions and cause events such as earthquakes, and sunamies, and increased hurricane actvities. (superstorms). What's the cause? and can it be remedied? and if not, can the people of this planet be better prepared for such evets. ONE THING IS FOR SURE, what ever is going on, THESE EVENTS ARE GLOBAL, and they are increasing. I'd rather be better prepared than caught with my undies around my ankles. The scientific community owes this to the human populis. If these increasing events are random then just say so, DONT just let the average person assume so (THATS DANGEROUS). And if they they are not random then you guies aught to be advising and notifying everyone.

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