FMF - Friends of Minerals Forum, discussion and message board

[Rei]

Since people here have interest in geology, I figure it might be worth mentioning that a giant, globally-super-dangerous volcano may be about to erupt in my backyard ;)

https://www.dailykos.com/story/2014/08/17/1322378/-just-to-let-you-all-know
(link normalized by FMF)

The Met Office now considers it more likely than not that Bárðarbunga is going to go off. Bárðarbunga is Iceland's largest active volcano, and is the "big sister" of Laki, the deadliest volcano on Earth in recorded history.

[Vinoterapia]

Very interesting and worrying events, let us know of some further developments.

Thank you for sharing.

José.

[Pierre Joubert]

[Peter Megaw]

Two hours ago...

Iceland’s Civil Protection Agency has registered hundreds of earthquakes since midnight yesterday at the site of one of its biggest volcanoes as the island braces itself for a possible eruption.

“There is a very strong indication of magma movement east of Bardarbunga caldera,” the Reykjavik-based agency said in a statement late yesterday. Around 800 earthquakes have been observed in the area since midnight Aug. 18, with the strongest one measuring 4.5 on the Richter scale, the agency said.

[chris]

Hello Rei,

I heard about your volcano on Euronews this morning. They were saying the Iceland weather office had released a statement about an unusual seismic activity around the volcano. They showed of photo of the glacier above one part of the volcano similar to the view provided by the webcam address you gave in your article.

Let's hope the eruption, if any, won't start a huge ice melt with flooding as a result.

Chris

[Rei]

I wrote an update here today:

https://www.dailykos.com/story/2014/08/19/1322994/-B-r-arbunga-rumble-rumble-rumble-volcano-watch
(link normalized by FMF)

There's lots of great visualizations of the magma movement in there that people have done. Everyone seems to be operating on the principle that she is going to go off.

Hmm, if she does launch that predicted 100-200k m/s flood down the Jökulsá á Fjöllum river (200k = average flow rate of the Amazon river, racing down from the highlands to the ocean!), perhaps I should schedule a trip out there after the risk goes down to see if there's any new interesting mineral veins dug up by the torrent? ;)

[Rei]

Hey... so I've been following intently what's been going on, and I ran into this image from an analysis of the lava, with no explanation of its significance included with it:

https://www.mbl.is/frimg/7/62/762224.jpg
(link normalized by FMF)

Does anyone know what sort of significance this would have? They took the time to label it and everything, it's obviously some sort of relevant finding.

[Pete Modreski]

Dear Rei,
Studies of droplets of liquids trapped within crystals can be used to learn about the temperature and other properties of those liquids when they were trapped. Most commonly, researchers study aqueous fluids (water droplets, sometimes with gas bubbles included) trapped within minerals, to learn about the temperature and composition of the water from which the mineral crystallized. In this case, it is droplets of the liquid magma--also with gas bubbles within them--that were preserved within the growing plagioclase feldspar crystals. Since these crystals ('phenocrysts") are fairly large, they record the crystallization of this feldspar at some depth within the magma-filled fissure or chamber, before it was forced to the surface. These melt droplets have now been quenched to droplets of glass--still preserving the gas bubbles (the bubbles may also have formed as the trapped droplets and their host crystals were cooling). Study of the composition of the trapped glass and the gas bubbles, and comparison with the basaltic glass surrounding the crystals, can provide insight into the pre-eruption temperature and cooling history of the magma. All the details of how to analyze these droplets and interpret the history of the magma--can become quite complex! But much can potentially be learned about "where the magma came from", and how it got to the surface.

[Rei]