A combination of a thermal and visible image of the Royal Gardens subdivision lava flow field, showing the active (bright) and inactive (dark) lava flows. You can also notice the prominent kipuku (forest surrounded by lava flows) on both sides of the active lava flow in the foreground. Image taken on May 31, 2012, courtesy of USGS/HVO.
There is a big anniversary this week (well, other than our first wedding anniversary) – but I’ll have more on that on Wednesday. Today, I thought I’d update a few bits of volcanic news from the past week or so. If you’re looking for even more details on the week’s volcanic events, check out the latest USGS/Smithsonian Global Volcanism Program Weekly Volcanic Activity Report (of which a few of the updates get linked to below).
Mexico
All eyes continue to be on Popocatépetl and the volcano clearly still deserves the attention. Over the weekend, Popo produced at least 91 explosions over a 24 hour period. However, none of the events were larger than what we’ve been seeing over the last week. In fact, UNAM scientist Giovanni Sosa Ceballos says that we shouldn’t be expecting a large Plinian eruption from Popo as its recent volcanic history doesn’t favor such behavior. This doesn’t mean that the volcano isn’t still dangerous and doesn’t entirely rule out a large event. However, looking at the past activity at a volcano is one of the best ways to know what to expect in the present. The Mexican government still has people and resources ready for evacuations if the activity gets worse.
Check out the webcams to watch Popocatépetl’s activity (conditions permitting).
Be sure to watch the Ruiz webcams to see any changes at the volcano.
Hawai’i
The lava flows (see above) and ups/downs of the Halema’uma’u Crater lava lake have continued into the early summer at Kilauea on the Big Island. The level of the summit lava lake has oscillated over the last week, changing as much as 60 meters (relative to the floor of the summit crater) and parts of the crater wall falling into the lava lake. You can also check out a brief piece of the earthquake and volcanic threat to another Hawaiian island, Maui.
The ash-rich plume from Nevado del Ruiz in Colombia, seen on May 29, 2012. Image courtesy of INGEOMINAS.
I might have guessed that just after reading an article about how USGS geologist left Colombia this week after helping set up monitoring for Nevado del Ruiz that the volcano do something. Sure enough, today the volcano experienced a series of explosions that produced ash that fell on the city of Manizales, ~30 km from the volcano. The volcano had recently been lowered from Orange to Yellow status by INGEOMINAS, however a new earthquake swarm that started at 3 A.M. on Tuesday (May 29)prompted the return to an Orange alert, meaning an eruption in days to weeks. These new explosions are spreading ash in the region near Ruiz, but I have yet to see any information about the nature of the ash – is it juvenile (new) magma or just pulverized rock fragments caused by increasingly intense steam explosions at the summit. If it is juvenile, then we might be seeing magma reaching the surface at Ruiz, with this morning’s earthquakes being the precursor signs of the magma on the move.
UPDATED MAY 30
MSNBC posted some video of the ash fall near Ruiz – looks to be a few millimeters to a centimeter in some parts of Manizales. The video also mentions that the plume reached ~1 km. The latest INGEOMINAS update mentions that the volcano is experiencing constant tremor, similar to what occurred during the 1985 and 1989 eruptive periods, however INGEOMINAS director Marta Calvache reported that ash emissions were down this morning. It seems that the webcams for Nevado del Ruiz are only intermittently working, but the webicorder shows just how much tremor the volcano is feeling right now. You can also seen how prominent the sulfur dioxide emissions from Ruiz were on Sunday (May 27), two days before these new explosions.
The explosions have put enough ash into the skies to prompt the closure of airports in Manizales, Armenia (~60 km) and Pereira (~40 km – and my mother’s home town). Government officials have also issued evacuation orders for 500 people living near the volcano as part of the first level of response to an eruption at Ruiz. Dust masks are also beginning to be distributed to local residents as well.
There are three INGEOMINAS webcams pointed at Nevado del Ruiz, so you can check them out when conditions are right to see what the volcano might be doing.
3D bathymetric view of Monowai caldera in the Kermadec Islands. The red cone in the foreground is Monowai cone. You can see the scars of collapses on its slopes along with new domes near the summit. Image courtesy of Oregon State University by Susan Merle.
I saw (and was sent) a lot of articles about the findings from Anthony Watts and others in Nature Geosciences on the submarine volcanism in the Kermadec Islands north of New Zealand. A group of geologists were lucky enough to stumble across an eruption of Monowai in 2011 and in doing so, they set off a series of discoveries that seem to indicate that Monowai is a very active submarine volcano. Monowai is a fairly complex caldera volcano that has seen quite a bit of activity that has been captured either through subsurface acoustics or by finding the telltale signs of an eruption beneath the sea – discolored, bubbling water, pumice rafts – stuff like what we saw during last year’s activity at El Hierro. Watts and his collaborators were able to carefully map the volcano to find what the changes at Monowai have been during these eruptive periods and it boils down to something we find familiar for terrestrial volcanoes: collapse and healing, sometimes quite rapidly.
If you’re a close watcher of volcanic activity, you know that if a volcano erupts andesite, dacite to rhyolite, you can produce sticky domes of lava that can oversteepen and collapse. That is what happens on a regular basis at places like Soufriere Hills on Montserrat and Shiveluch in Kamchatka (amongst many others). These domes or spins can become incredibly impressive – the spine that formed at Pelee in Martinique in 1902-1903 was almost 300 meters tall and it eventually collapsed in 1903. However, these examples are all from terrestrial volcanoes.
Figures 6a and 6b from Watts et al. (2012) showing the changes in the shape of Monowai in the Kermadec Islands over the last 8 years. You can see the growth and destruction of domes and spines on the volcano across the years.
This new study at Monowai may have captured a collapse like this, followed by new growth of a dome at a submarine volcano. Over the course of 14 days of mapping, the team found that the seafloor depth changed, first dropping almost 19 meters, then surging back almost 72 meters. That is quite a dramatic shift for only 2 weeks. This activity coincided with earthquake activity at Monowai was well, so even though the eruption was seen, the clues of changing seafloor depth – possibly a collapse followed by new lava – and seismicity all point to eruptive activity. If you look at their vertically-exaggerated views of the seamount (Figure 6a and b, above), it becomes quite clear that domes or spines of lava come and go from the summit area of Monowai, just like you might seen at its terrestrial brethren. Now, these cycles had been recognized at Monowai before, but this is the first time that the results of an eruption was caught in the act.
One of the implications that the authors push in the article is that these rates of activity are very rapid – and surely they are. The estimates of ~0.001-0.008 km3 of new material erupting within a few weeks – that works out to annual eruptive rates of ~0.11-0.63 km3*. I do worry a bit about their comparision of average growth rates at global volcanoes with these data, even looking at the last few years are Monowai. Volcanoes are notoriously inconsistent with their growth and have periods of heightened activity that punctuate long periods of low activity – they even point this out by comparing the average growth rate between 2007-2011 (0.08 km3) versus the rate they observed in the two weeks in 2011 (which would have produced, if constant over 4 years, ~2.8 km3). Whether or not “growth rates at Monowai are larger than all other oceanic volcanoes, including Montserrat, Azores, Hawaii, Iceland and the Canary Islands” is truly significant and not merely a product of small sample sizes we have for the volcanic history of many submarine volcanoes is unclear. However, it does show how dynamic some submarine arc volcanoes might be, which should come as little surprise considering the mischief their terrestrial counterparts can produce.
*Note: A few readers wondered why certain articles on this study insisted on reporting all volumes as “Olympic size swimming pools” of lava. Beats me, honestly. I know some writers love those comparators, but maybe we can give the reading audience some credit after you mention the comparison once.
The plume from Popocatépetl in Mexico seen on May 6, 2012. Webcam capture by Eruptions reader Kirby.
Quick updates on current activity at a number of volcanoes while I am mired in grading jail:
Popocatépetl: The Mexican volcano is still churning away (see above). Thus far, most of the activity has been subplinian plumes from the crater area as the new magma rises and fragments, but Mexican officials are not taking any chances. They will be distributing almost half a million dust masks to people living near the volcano if/when a larger explosive eruption occurs that could drop significant ash across much of the area. You can see what is going on at Popocatépetl on the CENAPRED webcams for the volcano.
Iliamna: We haven’t heard much from Iliamna in the past month or so after the volcano was downgraded to Yellow Alert status by AVO after a period of increased seismicity and degassing. The seismicity was reported to be back on the upswing at the end of last week according to the Alaska Dispatch (who looks to be getting into the game of webicorder watching). However, this blip (if real) didn’t cause AVO to change the status of Iliamna as the latest update just mentions seismicity at the volcano is “slightly above background”. Iliamna has a webcam as well as a webicorder so you can follow along at home.
Lokon-Empung: Another volcano that has been quite active is Lokon-Empung in Indonesia. Thevolcano had an explosive eruption earlier last week, producing a 2.5 km / 8,200 foot plume. Although evacuations have not been called yet, the National Disaster Mitigation Agency (BNPB) has begun to set up evacuation centers in case the activity increases. Seismicity has been increasing at Lokon-Empung since last week’s eruption, but the alert status (Level III) is unchanged.
Slight discoloration of the sea at Fukutoku-Okanoba (bottom right) may suggest eruptive activity. Image taken April 19, 2012 by the Japanese Coast Guard.
The Moon: Really, it is your friend. Image courtesy of NASA.
{This article was originally posted on March 11, 2011. I’ve reposted it today because of another so-called “Supermoon” on May 6, 2012}
I’ve had a number of questions lately about a couple of events coming up this month astronomically and how they might effect geologic events – namely earthquakes and volcanoes – on Earth. I can tell you right now, without much doubt, that the answer, even before I tell you the question, is very, very little.
Now, the questions: (1) How will the close passage of Comet Elenin and Earth cause geologic catastrophes on March 15 and (2) How will the so-called “Supermoon“, a full moon when the moon is closest to Earth in its orbit, cause geologic catastrophes?
I know there has long been a desire to show about the gravitational resonance of planets/comets/asteroids/the sun might play a role in Earth’s geologic activity – and with some logic. We see the interaction of the Earth’s surface with the Moon’s gravity (and to some extent the Sun’s) with the tides in the oceans. Water has low viscosity so the tidal tugging of the moon as it rotates around the Earth sloshes the oceans back and forth to create our tides. One could imagine that the Earth’s crust/mantle/core might feel some of that gravitational interaction as well – and they do. John Vidale, a seismologist at the University of Washington, mentions that during full and new moons – when the moon is oriented between or opposite the Earth and the sun – there is potentially as much as a 1% increase in earthquake activity worldwide (and a slightly higher effect on volcanic activity). Let me repeat that: 1%. In any natural, geologic process that is mostly distributed randomly through time like earthquakes, 1% or there about is well within the “noise” of processes, so would these alignments produce much of a discernable increase? Probably not and this is with the two bodies that play the largest role in tidal forcing on Earth. There are other studies that suggest that this tidal tugging and pulling can cause small shifts in fault systems like the San Andreas, but one might argue that the moon is, in fact, “passively” releasing seismic energy on the fault, thus preventing or delaying large earthquakes! Trying to say that any other astronomical body might, even in some specific alignment, might cause more than a 1% increase in the chance of activity is remote at best.
Some of the so-called evidence for this moon-earthquake relationship is specious at best. From aNational Geographic article on the “lunar connection” back in 2005: “At least two major quakes may support [James A.] Berkland’s theory. The December 26, 2004, magnitude 9.1 in Sumatra, Indonesia, occurred on the day of a full moon. Likewise, the March 27, 1964, magnitude 9.2 earthquake in Alaska occurred on the day of maximum high tide. According to Berkland, such correlations are more than coincidences. They demonstrate a true connection between the moon and earthquake activity.” First off, two earthquakes coinciding with full moons is hardly scientific, statistically-sound evidence. How many “large” earthquakes (and who defines that anyway?) occur when it isn’t a full moon? And how many full moons have we had when there wasn’t a “large” earthquake? I’ve said this before, but it is an easy trap – correlation does not mean causation. Full moons happen 12 (maybe 13) times a year, so if you randomly sprinkle earthquakes through time, many large ones are bound to coincide with the full moon. USGS seismologist Dr. John Bellini followed up on Berkland’s theories: “Bellini questioned the scientific validity of Berkland’s predictions. He said they appear to be “self-selected statistical analysis of historical seismicity rates and are so vague in time and location that they are certain to be correct.”
Now, as for the Moon’s relative position to Earth and its effect, the Moon when it is at least closest is 356,401 km from the Earth’s surface and at its furthest, it is 406,700 km (with an average distance of 384,401 km. That is a difference of ~50,300 km ~ in other words, when the Moon is closest to Earth, it is ~12% closer than it is at its furthest. Newtonian physics tells us that the attraction between the Earth and the Moon is dictated by F = GM1M2/R2, where M1 and M2 are the masses of the Earth and Moon, G is the gravitational constant and R is the distance between the two bodies. Even a ~12% change in that value means that the force of gravity, in Newtons, only changes by ~30% at maximum (and only ~11% difference from average), a change that happens gradually as the Moon moves around its orbit. We see this fairly small change with different sized tides, but even those changes are not “disastrous”. When you consider the energy needed to move tectonic plates (or even the oceans), this change in gravitational energy from the Earth-Moon system is small. Remember, that the Moon is at its closest once a month, so just because it happens during a full moon doesn’t mean that the gravitational pull from the Moon is any stronger than it would be at any other perigee. Remember, the Moon reaches perigee every month and you don’t see massive earthquakes and eruptions every time this happens.
Some planetary bodies do see a profound effect of tidal forces. The moons of Jupiter areconstantly being tugged by the high gravity of Jupiter as the whiz around the gas giant. You can see that constant, frictional energy being imparted on the rocks of the moons in the relative geologic activity on the Galilean satellites – closest to Jupiter lies Io (at ~420,000 km), the most volcanically active body in the solar system. It gets tugged by a force 300% more than the Moon pulls on Earth. Next comes Europa (at ~664,000 km), where there are suggestions that liquid or slushy subsurface water exists due to tidal heating. Ganymede and Callisto, even further from Jupiter, show much fewer signs of liquid water or extensive tidal heating. The gravity of Jupiter is the direct cause for the geologic activity on these small planetary bodies.
The lava flow from the Kamoamoa Fissure snaking around an old crater on Kilauea, as seen on March 10, 2011. This eruption did not start during a full/new moon. Image courtesy of HVO/USGS.
As I mentioned before, this sort of “correlation” of astronomical alignments and geologic disasters have been predicted before – with results that were coincidental at best. Back in 2006, there was rampant speculation about how a full moon was going to trigger an eruption of Mayon in the Philippines … and it didn’t. In a USGS article about volcanoes and the moon, they make the point that it does appear that activity at some volcanoes, like Kilauea, are effected by lunar cycles – however, this does not mean that an eruption at any specific volcano worldwide can be predicted using lunar cycles. There are just too many other variables, so unless the volcano is already erupting, such as Kilauea (see above from an eruption that didn’t start on a new/full moon), don’t expect the Moon to bring volcanoes to life. Even if the volcano is predisposed to be close to eruption (and even defining that is difficult), there is no data to support this (to borrow a quote from a paper that Chris Rowan’s uses in a post on the subject): “We found no conclusive evidence for a general correlation between volcanic activity and lunar tidal phase. This result is consistent with recent work which indicates that diurnal and fortnightly tidal stresses may be too short-lived and strain rates too high to effect a significant viscous response in partially molten regions of the Earth’s subsurface.” (Mason et al., 2004). During this Mayon hype in 2006, Phil Plait also took on these predictions and points out the biggest flaw with many of these “correlations”: “It’s small number statistics, like flipping a coin three times and having it come up heads each time. It’s rare, but it does happen on average one out of every eight times. You need bigger samples to get good statistics.”Science requires data that can show a valid correlation, not picking what fits best to your ideas. UPDATE: Phil takes on the “Supermoon” as well.
If anything, we should be concentrating on terrestrial forcing for “predicting” earthquakes. It could be that changes in the strength of the Earth’s magnetic field, due to the thickness and composition of the Earth, but might help find earthquake-prone locations. A study in Science by Song and Simons from 2003examined the gravity anomaly (how much the gravitational field from the Earth varies from the norm) along a subduction and then compared it to a long historical record of seismicity. It found that “within a given subduction zone, areas with negative gravity anomalies correlated with increased large earthquake activity. Areas with relatively high gravity anomalies experienced fewer large earthquakes.” However, how we can use the changes in gravity anomaly to predict earthquakes is still very unclear.
So, what can we take away from all this?
The Moon plays a very small role in increasing seismicity and volcanic activity on Earth – potentially increasing activity ~1% during full/new moons.
The change in the gravitational pull from the Moon during apogee and perigee is small.
Beyond this, there is no statistically-sound evidence that geologic disasters can be predicted based on lunar alignments or distance (or any other astronomical phenomena).
The keys to understanding how to predict earthquakes or eruptions (if at all possible) lie within the Earth, not deep in space.
From Chris Rowan: “The moon does not magically load up plate boundary faults or fill magma chambers … The most the moon can do is slightly alter the timing of an earthquake or eruption that was on the verge of happening anyway.”
El Hierro Volcano : Green and Yellow alert – eruption continuing + still dead fish above the main vent area
Last update: April 29, 2012 at 11:18 am by By Armand Vervaeck
Update 29/04 – 10:25 UTC – A stain is present in Las Calmas sea this morning. No jacuzzi has been observed. This stain could be the remains of yesterday’s activity. Joke images will be online later today.
Update 29/04 – 10:20 UTC – An amazing picture of the waters of the vent area which was photographed yesterday by Julio del Castillo Vivero. Colored waters with a lot of seagulls having lunch with dead fish
Update 28/04 – 23:48 UTC As written earlier, Julio del Castillo Vivero was invited by the crew of the Atlantic Explorer to sail with them to the vent area. He wrote the following : Hello, very good day with the Atlantic Explorer, the crew of Qstar and the scientists of ULPGC. I was above the volcano! A very special moment for me after many months following the eruption. I saw lots of seagulls above the main vent, eating dead fish, around the size of 10cm that was emerging to the surface. The stain was very clearly visible today from the boat, with a green color, not super strong concentrated as used to, but quite clear.
I didn’t get seasick at all, it was very good. Sea was calm in the morning and then also sunny from midday.
Great day! Great people! Great images!
(ER : strange that there are still dead fish above the main vent – we also noticed on Jokes pictures in the middle of the week that a lot of seagulls were flying above the vent area.
The news coming in from the Atlantic Explorer is even more important as Joke has not seen any action in the sea today, which means that the volcano can erupt without a clear visual sign on the outside. Good to know is that seagulls on the vent area are indicating dead fish and thus erupting material and that a stain clearly indicates action which is more than degassing)
Update 28/04 – 22:55 UTC – 1 additional earthquake today and if not revised , extremely shallow at 1 km. Magnitude 1.0. Time 21:32.Epicenter in El Golfo
Update 28/04 – 13:17 UTC – 1 earthquake since midnight. A M1.4 magnitude quake at a depth of 15 km on this location
– Julio del Castillo Vivero is on board of the Atlantic Explorer. Luckily for him the sea is calm reports Joke (an Ocean swell is even with calm weather often enough to get seasick!). Let’s hope that Julio will have some nice pictures later today. The ROV will not be used today as the people on board of the ship have a bunch of other tasks. Julio has send the image below from the ship a little earlier. It shows the volcano cone at his present depth. We will have to wait until tonight to find out what the colors really mean.
I a direct message to us, Julio writes : ERUPTION STILL ONGOING
Image made by Julio del Castillo Vivero on board of the Qstar Atlantic Explorer today
Side by side views of Popocatépetl during the night and day on April 20, 2012. The left side shows the incandescent blocks being thrown from the summit while while the right shows the ash plume associated with this activity. Webcam captures courtesy of Eruptions reader Kirby.
Brief note about events in Mexico:
It appears that the activity at Popocatépetl has picked up, with more ash emissions and even (unconfirmed) reports of new lava at the summit. This would all suggest that the potential for a significant eruption is high. A report from the BBC says that volcanic bombs are being thrown over a kilometer from the vent and “60 opening” have appeared on the volcano. I actually have no idea what that means – are there cracks at the summit or just lots of fumarolic activity near the summit crater? The explosions from the volcano have been large enough to rattle windows in communities surrounding the volcano. CENAPRED reported over 12 explosions in two hours starting at ~5 AM on Friday (April 20). The steam-and-ash plume from Popocatépetl topped out at ~3 km / 10,000 feet while seismicity remains at elevated levels. CENAPRED currently has the warning level at Yellow Level II with a 12-km exclusion zone around the volcano – in that same report, CENAPRED geologist Roberto Quaas suggests that they are concerned about a potential cycle of dome growth and collapse at Popo, heightening the threat of pyroclastic flows. However, exactly when or if a large eruption might happen cannot be predicted.
It appears that there are some issues about people taking this activity at Popo seriously, though. In an article from USA Today, a local resident is quoted as saying “Right now we’re not scared. When it’s scary is at night, when it’s putting out lava.” (see above) Well, the lava is there when its not night, so the threat is persistent, day or night. Officially, evacuations have not been called. However, government officials are telling people to be ready to evacuate and to watch the volcano for signs of increasing activity. All this news about the reaction of people living near the volcano makes me nervous, especially when I read about people near the volcano choosing not to leave when the threat is present. Mexican president Felipe Calderon called on the populace to be prepared as well.
The plume from Popocatépetl seen on the morning of April 20. Webcam capture courtesy of CENAPRED.
NASA posted a short movie of the ash from Popocatépetl seen on April 18, 2012 – the puff from the volcano is clearly seen spreading across central Mexico.
All in all, it looks like we’re entering a period where everyone, especially those living near Popocatépetl, need to watch the volcano very closely.
The 2010 eruption of Eyjafjallajökull seen on May 8 of that year. Since then, the news media wants us to live in fear of the next Iceland eruption. Image: NASA.
As we approach the second anniversary of the Eyjafjallajökull eruption that created air travel havoc across Europe, I suppose it comes as no surprise that the news media has decided to mark the anniversary with fear. I’ve seen a flurry of articles come out over the past few days all pushing the idea that a new eruption in Iceland, bigger and badder that Eyjafjallajökull, is around the corner, waiting to mug you and steal your wallet.
Let’s take a quick tour of some of the headlines, shall we?
Really pitching the soft sell, aren’t they? And guess what? Almost every one of these articles focuses on the Big Bad Wolf of Iceland, Katla. Sure, other volcanoes also show signs of activity (see Askja or even2011 eruption of Grimsvötn), but Katla is the media darling. Katla has definitely had large eruptions in the past, but it isn’t even the standard for large eruptions in Iceland (I think the Laki eruption might have something to say about that). However, Katla is (a) near Eyjafjallajökull; (b) hasn’t erupted in a long time; and (c) easier to pronounce.
Now listen, Iceland is a very geologically active place. It sits on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge, were new oceanic crust is born, pushing North America and Europe further apart. It also sits on top of a mantle plume, where hot, buoyant mantle material rises and melts as a decompresses. Both of these factors mean that Iceland has a lot of volcanic activity. It also means many of the volcanoes will appear “restless” as magma moves in conduits under the volcano, sometimes at depths of 30 or more kilometers below the surface – and although magma is moving, it doesn’t mean an eruption is going to happen next week. Volcanoes are dynamic features that are always responding to new intrusions of magma, but remember this key fact: volcanoes spend much more time not erupting than erupting.
This key idea is what makes volcano monitoring such a challenge – we can see the signs of activity, like earthquakes, degassing, warming of the Earth’s surface, steam explosions, deformation, but deciding that volcano X will erupt on a specific date far in the future is just not possible. Sure, we can say the probability is higher that a volcano will erupt if it shows some of these signs, but really, for any active volcano, for each day that passes, we are closer to its next eruption (whenever that might be). Katla will erupt again, but do we need to rehash the fear of total Airtravelopocalypse each time it hiccups? I sure hope not.
The two things we really don’t know about the next eruption of Katla: (1) when it is going to happen and (2) how big will it be. Without this knowledge, all this wailing and gnashing of teeth is for one reason only – to get people to read your article. There is no scientific basis for you to be any more afraid of Katla now than at any time – and even if the signs of activity increase, the fear shouldn’t come with it. As an example, the 2011 eruption of Grimsvötn was, in many times, larger than the Eyjafjallajökull eruption – taller plume, higher rate of eruption (initially) – but it did not cause anywhere close to the chaos that Eyjafjallajökull caused in European/North American air traffic.
What I’m trying to get across is this: Every eruption in Iceland is not doom. Every rumble of a volcano is not a sign of a “huge new eruption”. We live on a geologically active planet and significant geologic events are going to happen (just look at the earthquakes in Indonesia and Mexico yesterday). However, living in fear of that big eruption or that big earthquake isn’t going to help us be prepared for the next one.
El Hierro Volcano : Yellow alert – Salvamar Adhara spends a couple of hours above the vent “filming”
Last update: March 30, 2012 at 4:19 pm by By Armand Vervaeck
Camera used by SCIC for underwater filming
Update 30/03 – 15:42 UTC – Joke was (of course) in the port at the return of the Salvamar Adhara who spend a couple of hours above the vent. Based on what we have seen in the past weeks and months, we know that if the Salvamar Adhara remains a while on the sea, it is not for water sampling only (takes very short time). Bathymetry was done yesterday by the BIO Hesperides, so bathymetry should be excluded too. So Joke asked Maria José Jurado, the CSIC representative on board, if she had worked with the floating video camera (it is a camera on a rope pulled by the Salvamar Adhara, not a ROV). She said yes, we did.
Joke continued asking Maria José about what she has seen on the camera. She said that she had some interesting material, but she had to analyze it further on. She also said, that when the quality would be good enough, CSIC will send it to the Gobierno de Canarias to publish the video.
Joke also asked : was there still some activity ? She said : Yes, we still see some gases coming out of the vent. Joke continued asking : also gases at the surface ? She said : NO.
We will publish Joke’s images from the boat, spectators, camera on board, a few jelly fish in a while. ER comment : nothing new here of course, at least nothing which surprises us. The jacuzzis we have seen for many days in a row are absolute signs of further degassing. The main question remains, is there still lava coming out of the vent. The last time we know for sure that that was the case was on March 14 when the ULPGC ROV made a video recording of it. The latest bathymetry data from CSIC did tell us that the cone was at 88 meter. But this depth was measured at the end of February ! All frequent El Hierro eruption followers have 1 major question. How deep is the crater rim at this moment ? Is it a coincidence that the Salvamar Adhara starts filming again 1 day after that the BIO Hesperides measured the depth of the Las Calmas sea floor or cone ? Probably yes or probably not. At least we know that fresh erupted lava was seen by the ULPGC ROV on March 14, and there are NO indications that this pattern has changed since then. Does this mean that the depth will be less ? Not necessarily. Let us all hope that the results will be published soon in the website of the Gobierno de Canarias.
Update 30/03 – 09:59 UTC – Joke told us that the Salvamar Adhara has just been spotted at the main vent, probably taking water samples
– On Jokes images (click on the thumbnails below), the main vent can well be seen as well as a far bigger colored area. There is doubt whether this is current coloring or a stain. We go for the stain.
Update 30/03 – 09:59 UTC – Joke just send us a morning report. When walking down the lave fields to La Restinga, she stumbled in a AA lava field (thick sharp lava flowing out of a crater at a slow speed) but fell luckily in a lapilli field (small volcanic stones falling out of the sky during an eruption – more or less like thick ash). It is a little painful but everything is still functioning (including her cameras)
– While driving down with the bus this morning, Joke saw a jacuzzi, but in the meantime he disappeared again
– Joke told us that she saw technicians at the webcam mast ! Let’s hope that they will leave the webcams untouched as we will never see them again in time if necessary ! As politics are against any further “bad news”, we have no hope at all that they will reactivate the webcam.
– 1 earthquake since midnight.
– continuing microseismicity
– NO change in horizontal GPS deformation
Update 29/03 – 22:20 UTC Julio del Castillo Vivero has created a fantastic high resolution panoramic image with 60 images from Joke Volta ! (they regularly share their work). The result El Hierro as a color palette
Picture info : 180 meters above sea level – Taken today (29th March) – Mountain Dácila – Finca José Pérez, locals call it Montaña La Restinga
Click on the image to see this great picture in Full Size.
Update 29/03 – 21:20 UTC – The BIO (Buque de Investigación Oceanográfica) has made a short bathymetry mission stop at El Hierro today during his return trip from Antarctica. Spain has an Antarctica base and during the months November to February, the Antarctic peninsula is merely ice free.
– And to make the day complete, here are the beautiful evening images of Joke Volta
Update 29/03 – 21:04 UTC – The Spanish Army is really good in public relations. IGN needs to take an example on them. In a press report on the Armada Española website this evening, the bathymetry mission was highlighted.
“El buque ha realizado varias líneas de prospección en una cuadrícula de trabajo situada en las coordenadas: 27º 40´N // 27º 30´N de latitud y 18º 05´W // 17º 55´W de longitud, para determinar el punto de mayor altura del edificio volcánico y comprobar posibles variaciones desde el último levantamiento batimétrico.” Human translation : The vessel has done several rectangle routes under the coordinates : 27º 40´N // 27º 30´N de latitude y 18º 05´W // 17º 55´W longitude to determine the highest point of the volcano and check any possible changes since last bathymetry.
– Afternoon images Joke Volta (beautiful colors !)
for more information, and updates, go to:
Camera used by SCIC for underwater filming
Update 30/03 – 15:42 UTC – Joke was (of course) in the port at the return of the Salvamar Adhara who spend a couple of hours above the vent. Based on what we have seen in the past weeks and months, we know that if the Salvamar Adhara remains a while on the sea, it is not for water sampling only (takes very short time). Bathymetry was done yesterday by the BIO Hesperides, so bathymetry should be excluded too. So Joke asked Maria José Jurado, the CSIC representative on board, if she had worked with the floating video camera (it is a camera on a rope pulled by the Salvamar Adhara, not a ROV). She said yes, we did.
Joke continued asking Maria José about what she has seen on the camera. She said that she had some interesting material, but she had to analyze it further on. She also said, that when the quality would be good enough, CSIC will send it to the Gobierno de Canarias to publish the video.
Joke also asked : was there still some activity ? She said : Yes, we still see some gases coming out of the vent. Joke continued asking : also gases at the surface ? She said : NO.
We will publish Joke’s images from the boat, spectators, camera on board, a few jelly fish in a while. ER comment : nothing new here of course, at least nothing which surprises us. The jacuzzis we have seen for many days in a row are absolute signs of further degassing. The main question remains, is there still lava coming out of the vent. The last time we know for sure that that was the case was on March 14 when the ULPGC ROV made a video recording of it. The latest bathymetry data from CSIC did tell us that the cone was at 88 meter. But this depth was measured at the end of February ! All frequent El Hierro eruption followers have 1 major question. How deep is the crater rim at this moment ? Is it a coincidence that the Salvamar Adhara starts filming again 1 day after that the BIO Hesperides measured the depth of the Las Calmas sea floor or cone ? Probably yes or probably not. At least we know that fresh erupted lava was seen by the ULPGC ROV on March 14, and there are NO indications that this pattern has changed since then. Does this mean that the depth will be less ? Not necessarily. Let us all hope that the results will be published soon in the website of the Gobierno de Canarias.
Update 30/03 – 09:59 UTC – Joke told us that the Salvamar Adhara has just been spotted at the main vent, probably taking water samples
– On Jokes images (click on the thumbnails below), the main vent can well be seen as well as a far bigger colored area. There is doubt whether this is current coloring or a stain. We go for the stain.
Update 30/03 – 09:59 UTC – Joke just send us a morning report. When walking down the lave fields to La Restinga, she stumbled in a AA lava field (thick sharp lava flowing out of a crater at a slow speed) but fell luckily in a lapilli field (small volcanic stones falling out of the sky during an eruption – more or less like thick ash). It is a little painful but everything is still functioning (including her cameras)
– While driving down with the bus this morning, Joke saw a jacuzzi, but in the meantime he disappeared again
– Joke told us that she saw technicians at the webcam mast ! Let’s hope that they will leave the webcams untouched as we will never see them again in time if necessary ! As politics are against any further “bad news”, we have no hope at all that they will reactivate the webcam.
– 1 earthquake since midnight.
– continuing microseismicity
– NO change in horizontal GPS deformation
Update 29/03 – 22:20 UTC Julio del Castillo Vivero has created a fantastic high resolution panoramic image with 60 images from Joke Volta ! (they regularly share their work). The result El Hierro as a color palette
Picture info : 180 meters above sea level – Taken today (29th March) – Mountain Dácila – Finca José Pérez, locals call it Montaña La Restinga
Click on the image to see this great picture in Full Size.
Update 29/03 – 21:20 UTC – The BIO (Buque de Investigación Oceanográfica) has made a short bathymetry mission stop at El Hierro today during his return trip from Antarctica. Spain has an Antarctica base and during the months November to February, the Antarctic peninsula is merely ice free.
– And to make the day complete, here are the beautiful evening images of Joke Volta
Update 29/03 – 21:04 UTC – The Spanish Army is really good in public relations. IGN needs to take an example on them. In a press report on the Armada Española website this evening, the bathymetry mission was highlighted.
“El buque ha realizado varias líneas de prospección en una cuadrícula de trabajo situada en las coordenadas: 27º 40´N // 27º 30´N de latitud y 18º 05´W // 17º 55´W de longitud, para determinar el punto de mayor altura del edificio volcánico y comprobar posibles variaciones desde el último levantamiento batimétrico.” Human translation : The vessel has done several rectangle routes under the coordinates : 27º 40´N // 27º 30´N de latitude y 18º 05´W // 17º 55´W longitude to determine the highest point of the volcano and check any possible changes since last bathymetry.
– Afternoon images Joke Volta (beautiful colors !)
Starting yesterday afternoon (3/23/2012) going into sunset … a plume of some sort erupted from VERY close (13 miles) to the Carrizozo Lavic/Volcanic fields. Coordinates of the plume epicenter/origin point… 33°48’50.13″N , 106° 4’55.15″W
For sure it is NOT a fire (pictures show DIRT and DESERT).. NOT a dust devil (too big and stay stationary at origin point) .. NOT a thunderstorm (clear day / plume comes from ground source) .. NOT military target practice (public area).
screenshots from College of Dupage Weather Center :http://weather.cod.edu/satrad/index.php view the 1km VISIBLE Satellite view (3/23/2012 going into sunset).
If its not a fire, dust devil, military test, or weather… then…. What does that leave us?
Well..
1. It erupts very close to a dormant volcano
2. There are no forests to burn and pictures actually show straight DIRT and DESERT
3. Clear day, no storms or even cloud cover
4. Point of origin from single point on the ground
5. Not military testing (public area)
6. Erupts in the afternoon into sunset like ALL THE OTHERS
Im not going to give a long drawn out explanation.. at this point.. people should know by now where I stand on this whole matter.
Simply put, we are witnessing a venting of some sort coming from a dormant volcano —- this is due to the EXTREME pressure on the north American Craton (laurentia) . We are seeing activity across the board.. strange rumbles in the middle of the craton (wisconsin).. and steam venting at OTHER dormant volcanic spots along the edge of the plate (link to videos covering previous plume events is below).
I say across the board literally.. from the west coast to the east coast.. earthquakes at dormant volcanoes, reports of rumbles and strange odors from near dormant volcanoes/deep earth fracking sites.
It should be obvious by now. The north american plate is in a REAL state of unrest — we are seeing the signs of heavy movement… for instance.. see the my video below about yellowstone having some very strange signatures.. and also I speak about the Wisconsin rumbles..
A combination of a thermal and visible image of the Royal Gardens subdivision lava flow field, showing the active (bright) and inactive (dark) lava flows. You can also notice the prominent kipuku (forest surrounded by lava flows) on both sides of the active lava flow in the foreground. Image taken on May 31, 2012, courtesy of USGS/HVO.
Image made by Julio del Castillo Vivero on board of the Qstar Atlantic Explorer today
