Iceland Rumbling
Posted by JAC on 7/22/2011, 9:03 am
UNUSUAL SEISMICITY HITS VOLCANIC ANTIPODES

EARTHQUAKE SUMMARY FOR JULY 21, 2011

A series of moderate to strong earthquakes hit today at epicenters which were the antipodes of active volcanism. The strongest of these was an M 5.6-6.0 in the Balleny Islands south of New Zealand. This is exactly opposite on the earth to Iceland where volcanism has been active over the past several weeks and months.






June 21, 2011 - ICELAND

The tremors today have extended the entire length of the Mid-Atlantic Ridge rift that is running through Iceland. Seismic activity under the glaciers, which cover 11% of the land mass of Iceland. have been steady and consecutive for the last two weeks. On this map, we see new activity under Torfajökull (Icelandic for "Torfi's glacier") which is a rhyolitic stratovolcano and complex of subglacial volcanoes, located north of Mrdalsjökull and south of órisvatn Lake, Iceland. Torfajökull last erupted in 1477 and consists of the largest area of silicic extrusive rocks in Iceland. More importantly, we see continuous seismic activity under Mrdalsjökull, under which sits Katla, the volcano called the witch. The caldera of the volcano has a diameter of 10 km (6.2 mi) and the volcano erupts usually every 40-80 years. As the last eruption took place in 1918, scientists are monitoring the volcano very carefully as they believe an eruption of Katla is on the cards, particularly after the eruption of Eyjafjallajökull began in April 2010. Since 930, 16 eruptions have been documented. We may be on the verge of seeing more volcanic activity very soon in Iceland.  


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Iceland Rumbling - JAC, 7/22/2011, 9:03 am
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