Bárðarbunga – three weeks of tweets

It’s been over 3 weeks since unrest began at Bárðarbunga, and nearly a fortnight since the fissure eruption began at the Holuhraun.  It’s come at a busy time, so I haven’t managed to blog as much as I would have liked to.  I have been trying to provide context and interesting information via the @volcan01010 Twitter account instead.  This post is a compilation of tweets from the past few weeks.

I’m leaving for Iceland this afternoon to join the team of geologists from the Institute of Earth Sciences at the University of Iceland who are monitoring the lava flow.  I’ll be away for a week and hope to keep you updated from the field.

Enjoy.

Sources of good information

See Icelandic Met Office (http://t.co/xVz3Q0IsYM) + @uni_iceland #Bardarbunga pages (http://t.co/qzQjc2LDy2) for definitive #Holuhraun info.

— John A Stevenson (@volcan01010) September 11, 2014

Follow Icelandic Civil Protection (@almannavarnir) for official updates on #Bárðarbunga. Translated website: http://t.co/YnqqtaYcUw #ff

— John A Stevenson (@volcan01010) August 18, 2014

Detailed info on #Barðarbunga published by IMO- sneak preview of Catalogue of Icelandic Volcanoes led by @Eilyinskaya http://t.co/SjKjxKgwjB

— BGS Volcanology (@BGSvolcanology) August 27, 2014

Mbl.is (@mblfrettir) have great English #Bardarbunga news, too. http://t.co/3BysHKF6c8 Both sites in daily contact with local scientists.

— John A Stevenson (@volcan01010) September 4, 2014

Icelandic media are great for #Bárðarbunga because they (1) speak to local scientists every day and (2) don't sensationalise. #bardarbunga

— John A Stevenson (@volcan01010) August 24, 2014

The #Bardarbunga Twitter list that @gislio made compiles tweets from 30 useful sources. https://t.co/Ndn5n5GLgp #Holuhraun

— John A Stevenson (@volcan01010) September 11, 2014

New fissure eruption at #Bardarbunga. No volcanic ash advisory in place so far. Flights OK. Updates at Met Office http://t.co/7a6CgM70iI

— John A Stevenson (@volcan01010) August 31, 2014

Explore volcanoes of Iceland, & the world, with the @BGSvolcanology @smithsonian myVolcano app http://t.co/u985Milsga pic.twitter.com/QdATekyEwR

— British Geological Survey (@BritGeoSurvey) August 22, 2014

@NatureNews article by @alexwitze on #Bardarbunga eruption&glacier melting w comments from Agust Gudmundsson & myself http://t.co/0Qdl7ams48

— Hugh Tuffen (@HTuffen) August 29, 2014

https://twitter.com/lithospheric/status/507832883545776129

A nice, geophysics-rich overview of #Bárðarbunga by @mikamckinnon: http://t.co/oes2YBh5Ha #volcano

— Alexandra Witze (@alexwitze) August 20, 2014

Bárdarbunga monitoring and context

Some sound disappointed that #Bardarbunga isn't erupting yet. But it's doing incredible things already, stuff we've never observed before!

— Dr. Evgenia Ilyinskaya (@EIlyinskaya) August 28, 2014

Also best case eruption scenario for floods (no melting of ice), and for NE Iceland tourist industry (far from Golden circle). #Bardarbunga

— John A Stevenson (@volcan01010) August 29, 2014

3 weeks of GPS. http://t.co/E1v0N5bsBS DYNC, GSIG show dyke opening. HAFS, GFUM, VONC show #Bardarbunga subsidence. pic.twitter.com/46xvWjrhYu

— John A Stevenson (@volcan01010) September 8, 2014

Same as yesterday means: Lava STILL gushing out >100 m3/s-1, STILL spraying 100 m high, STILL burying 100s m2 of Iceland 5 m deep each hour!

— John A Stevenson (@volcan01010) September 10, 2014

#Bárðarbunga eqs so far: http://t.co/xT2thaYokJ Once you see Mickey Mouse in Grímsvötn caldera, it's hard to unsee. pic.twitter.com/WDIqM5i6wS

— John A Stevenson (@volcan01010) August 22, 2014

Meanwhile, Norwegians were reporting "hveralykt" – the smell of geysers. http://t.co/FtOJw2V3Ve @simoncarn #holuhraun

— John A Stevenson (@volcan01010) September 10, 2014

Basalt lava flows take days to solidify. Crust grows with square root of time. Red hot means T > 600°C @uni_iceland pic.twitter.com/SFdWLvQIzK

— John A Stevenson (@volcan01010) September 8, 2014

.@lava_ice @LMU_Volc @uni_iceland Heat conducts through crust; crust thickens reducing thermal gradient; heat loss + crust growth slow.

— John A Stevenson (@volcan01010) September 9, 2014

MT @geomorganjones: Volatiles released under glaciers often dissolve in water. Significant degassing rapidly changes water composition 2/2

— John A Stevenson (@volcan01010) September 5, 2014

Winds have shifted and SO2 plume from #Holuhraun eruption is now just NW of the UK/Ireland. Still no ash detected. pic.twitter.com/XpoCuoPNyM

— Prof. Simon Carn (@simoncarn) September 5, 2014

#Holuhraun: 16-25 million m3 in 2 days. Fimmvorduhals: 20 million m3 in 23 days, Laki: 14,000 million m3 in 244 days. @eruptionsblog @gisio

— John A Stevenson (@volcan01010) September 1, 2014

Twitter tip: Writing 1 million uses as many characters as writing 1,000,000 and 2 more than the less-readable 1000000. Maybe 1M is best.

— John A Stevenson (@volcan01010) September 1, 2014

Modelled extent of Grímsvötn 2004 cloud over Scandinavian airspace. Source: http://t.co/3hpW8o6cFT #bárðarbunga pic.twitter.com/M8wrWv40vZ

— John A Stevenson (@volcan01010) August 21, 2014

Bardarbunga visualisation to rock your world – http://t.co/Z0ftQDna5i #Iceland #viz #volcano #GIS pic.twitter.com/AMMjgQBcQr

— Addy Pope (@Addy_Pope) September 1, 2014

Scientists from @uni_iceland just released the chemical composition report for #Holuhraun – http://t.co/sFCcQjogHm – #Bardarbunga

— Gisli Olafsson (@gislio) August 30, 2014

Comparison with #Bárðarbunga: 2005 rifting in Afar (NE Africa) produced a 65km dyke. Some dykes grew at 0.5-3km/h. ht @pabloj_gonzalez

— John A Stevenson (@volcan01010) August 25, 2014

#Bardarbunga comparison: Askja 1875 rifting. Close dykes fed by chamber, distant from deep. http://t.co/UBPxSxS0SB pic.twitter.com/GHCO7Y4TZI

— John A Stevenson (@volcan01010) August 30, 2014

https://twitter.com/marco_bagnardi/status/505479368077230080

Less than 24 hours ago, this was hot liquid kilometres underground! MT @fencingtobba: Samples collected! pic.twitter.com/w35wioGBOv #bardarbunga

— John A Stevenson (@volcan01010) August 29, 2014

The question is: where was it 2 weeks ago? In #Bardarbunga's magma chamber, or the mantle beneath the eruption site. Analysis should tell.

— John A Stevenson (@volcan01010) August 29, 2014

Holuhraun / Bárðarbunga videos and pictures

Holuhraun compilation, I should probably try and add a selection of stills some time #bardarbunga http://t.co/C5z7DsVQKB via @YouTube

— Simon Redfern (@Sim0nRedfern) September 10, 2014

The #Holuhraun lava flow, seen FROM SPACE by Landsat 8. http://t.co/9LQ9i3Djoq from @NASA_EO #Iceland #Bardarbunga

— Alexandra Witze (@alexwitze) September 9, 2014

Amazing thing is even black areas are molten red inside. MT @uni_iceland #Holuhraun this morning. Credit: J. Schmith pic.twitter.com/HH5G0jhNMK

— John A Stevenson (@volcan01010) September 8, 2014

Mesmerizing video of the #Holuhraun eruption, taken Tuesday night. http://t.co/9YrgbEpyk6 (pix Valdimar Leifsson) pic.twitter.com/mlOce6PWdO

— Fréttastofa RÚV (@RUVfrettir) September 4, 2014

60 meter high picturesque lava fountains to be seen http://t.co/45BYkiCVkE #Bardarbunga #volcano @BBCWorld

— Fréttastofa RÚV (@RUVfrettir) August 31, 2014

Pahoehoe lava flow this morning, or what we call "helluhraun". Pic by Ármann Höskuldsson #Bardarbunga #Holuhraun pic.twitter.com/I77O0GfRbK

— University of Iceland (@uni_iceland) August 31, 2014

Iceland geology

Rootless cones in Thjorsardalur formed when lava flowed over wet ground. Will #Holuhraun make some if reaches river? pic.twitter.com/61QmD2qElQ

— John A Stevenson (@volcan01010) September 5, 2014

Paper reconstructing dyke eruption under thin ice @ Krafla, Iceland, but rhyolite, v different from basalt #Holuhraun http://t.co/NWuOyYJtUt

— Hugh Tuffen (@HTuffen) September 5, 2014

Young volcanologists! Here' Elska's illustrated journal of events at the rumbling #Bardarbunga volcano in #Iceland! pic.twitter.com/V3nBccsQuf

— Elska (@islandofelska) August 28, 2014

#Bardarbunga preview in Iceland Volcano Catalogue has map of Veidivotn 870AD eruption. http://t.co/RI1CTLF7rK (1/2) pic.twitter.com/Fq7Embdttp

— John A Stevenson (@volcan01010) August 28, 2014

Veidivotn 870AD deposits in soil, 110 km to NW. Green=basalt, white=silicic, black=Katla tephra #Bardarbunga pic.twitter.com/oUfD3Oafhh

— John A Stevenson (@volcan01010) August 28, 2014

Icelandic rhyolite lava weathers to golden brown and breaks along flow bands into thin sheets. Like toast. Yum! pic.twitter.com/34UcI8maSw

— John A Stevenson (@volcan01010) August 26, 2014

Our commute last week during fieldwork at Öræfajökull, #Iceland. Arrows show camp. #volcanomonday pic.twitter.com/4F97rpzoQs

— John A Stevenson (@volcan01010) August 18, 2014

Links to my blog posts

New post: Learn about subglacial eruptions, ash clouds, and citizen science while waiting for #Bárðarbunga. http://t.co/qfxSa3QC21

— John A Stevenson (@volcan01010) August 20, 2014

Every Icelandic eruption since 2000 has affected aviation, but not all cause serious problems. http://t.co/SRqh5XCRC5 #Bárðarbunga @gislio

— John A Stevenson (@volcan01010) August 18, 2014

#Bardarbunga is small fissure eruption. Past large ones have had serious consequences, but don't trust all you read. http://t.co/dvCTt8FkoR

— John A Stevenson (@volcan01010) August 31, 2014

Subglacial eruption at #Bárðarbunga could turn Dettifoss into Niagara. @EdwinBaynes guest post http://t.co/1xfRCmaWtJ pic.twitter.com/odlOu10Gfg

— John A Stevenson (@volcan01010) August 26, 2014

New post: (Almost) 3D view of Háifoss, Iceland. http://t.co/DmSHXj9vO4 pic.twitter.com/7uTX1X6q40

— John A Stevenson (@volcan01010) August 14, 2014