Mysterious Quake Circle on Katla
January 12, 2011, Submitted by: Ken TweetWatching the animated graphic of earthquake activity on the Katla volcano in Iceland, a strange quake circle has developed over the past 7 days.
A ring of earthquakes located far over on the western rim of the Myrdalsjokull glacier (Katla volcano rumbles underneath), is a curious site for sure.
Zooming in on the region using Google Earth, the quakes apparently ring around what appears to be a horseshoe shaped steep ledge, which may indicate that the quakes have been induced by shifting ice.
Or, maybe it’s an anomaly of the new British funded seismometers that have been recently added around the region (are they worried?).
But then again… who’s to say…
Does anyone over there see any rising steam??
“Or, maybe it’s an anomaly of the new British funded seismometers that have been recently added around the region (are they worried?).”
Hmmm, our economy is in meltdown and we can afford to buy a whole new lot of seismometers…
I’m curious: A massive amount of new activity at Katla isn’t significant, a sudden and total lack of activity at Katla isn’t significant. (or so we are told). New seismometers are put in and the increase in activity that they co-incide with isn’t significant (does that mean we were missing it all along – and it’s been a lot worse than it looks?), but we’re also told that the earthquake activity is ‘seasonal’… Yep, it’s earthquake season folks – it’s like monsoon season, but not.
Now admittedly, I know buggerall about these things, BUT using the old maxim ‘There’s no smoke without fire’, I’d be interested to know at what point does activity at a site such as Katla become significant? Unusual? Without histoical precedent?
The explanations that activity at Katla isn’t significant are starting to sound like the idea that 5000 birds of a single species would suddenly drop dead from…. Fireworks!
Another ‘for example’: Those new seismometers have gone live in the middle of the worst winter ‘for 1000 years’, yet Eyjafjallajokull started making noises in April. What was the trigger? When was the decision made that the activity at Katla was sufficiently significant that it warranted another array of seismometers? Assuming there wasn’t a surplus of these devices hanging around in a warehouse in Britain, can we assume they were bought and deployed for a reason? Would it be reasonable to assume the activity they have detected is, in some way, significant and that they were deployed to monitor this activity for a reason?
Perhaps the seismometers were deployed ‘just because’ – just one of those things – coincidence theory…
(…paid for by a country that has a massive deficit, massive and rising unemployment, no industry or infrastructure, failing public services, a country that still hasn’t repaired LAST winters frost damage to it’s own ‘A’ roads…)
No, there is no steaming and no further activity at Katla. This volcano will erupt for sure at some point in the future, but it actually seems that this point is not now. This earthquakes simply happen by chance – so its odd to make some connection between them. Most of them were also in pretty shallow depth, so they are most likely related to movements in the ice.
Actually the “earthquake season” at Katla Volcano ends at the end of November.
Any activity at Katla is interesting, and thank you for keeping us informed on the blog!
@David: The normal ice quake season. But since we had great frost here in Iceland (at least -20°C on the glaciers) and then warm weather again, there is still movement in the ice shield.
Just to pay a little homage to our friends sitting on a rock in the Northern Atlantic wondering if the island will play havoc at Katla, or finally just split in half. But we have an 80,000 year overdue firecracker in Wyoming at Yellstone NP that will cover half the USA, and probably cause two non-summer, summers.
@Rick Edward’s son, You are exactly correct. I plan to put together a comprehensive post in the future about this ticking time bomb. In the meantime, here is a quick post link regarding Super Volcanoes.
Ice-Quakes are indicative of significant heating under the glacial formation. Heat from deeper volcanic formations radiates up through the strata, heats up various areas under the glacier, which can cause quakes. The Slope of the Glacial Shield; deflation, Inflation, bulges, ETC … and; the Frequency, Time, and Strength of these Ice-Quakes must be considered and Ratioed into a factor of probability for increased Volcanic Activity.
Lots of Quakes … They all have Meaning.