| 1. |
- Hooper, Andrew, et al.
(författare)
-
Increased capture of magma in the crust promoted by ice cap retreat in Iceland
- 2011
-
Ingår i: Nature Geoscience. - 1752-0894 .- 1752-0908. ; 4:11, s. 783-786
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Climate warming at the end of the last glaciation caused ice caps on Icelandic volcanoes to retreat. Removal of surface ice load is thought to have decreased pressures in the underlying mantle, triggering decompression melting, enhanced magma generation and increased volcanic activity(1-3). Present-day climate change could have the same effect, although there may be a time lag of hundreds of years between magma generation and eruption(4,5). However, in addition to increased magma generation, pressure changes associated with ice retreat should also alter the capacity for storing magma within the crust. Here we use a numerical model to evaluate the effect of the current decrease in ice load on magma storage in the crust at the Kverkfjoll volcanic system, located partially beneath Iceland's largest ice cap. We compare the model results with radar and global positioning system measurements of surface displacement and changes in crustal stress between 2007 and 2008, during the intrusion of a deep dyke at Upptyppingar. We find that although the main component of stress recorded during dyke intrusion relates to plate extension, another component of stress is consistent with the stress field caused by the retreating ice cap. We conclude that the retreating ice cap led to enhanced capture of magma within the crust. We suggest that ice-cap retreat can promote magma storage, rather than eruption, at least in the short term.
|
|
| 2. |
- Hreinsdottir, S., et al.
(författare)
-
Volcanic plume height correlated with magma-pressure change at Grimsvotn Volcano, Iceland
- 2014
-
Ingår i: Nature Geoscience. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 1752-0894 .- 1752-0908. ; 7:3, s. 214-218
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Magma flow during volcanic eruptions causes surface deformation that can be used to constrain the location, geometry and internal pressure evolution of the underlying magmatic source(1). The height of the volcanic plumes during explosive eruptions also varies with magma flow rate, in a nonlinear way(2,3). In May 2011, an explosive eruption at Grimsvotn Volcano, Iceland, erupted about 0.27 km(3) dense-rock equivalent of basaltic magma in an eruption plume that was about 20 km high. Here we use Global Positioning System (GPS) and tilt data, measured before and during the eruption at Grimsvotn Volcano, to show that the rate of pressure change in an underlying magma chamber correlates with the height of the volcanic plume over the course of the eruption. We interpret ground deformation of the volcano, measured by geodesy, to result from a pressure drop within a magma chamber at about 1.7 km depth. We estimate the rate of magma discharge and the associated evolution of the plume height by differentiating the co-eruptive pressure drop with time. The time from the initiation of the pressure drop to the onset of the eruption was about 60 min, with about 25% of the total pressure change preceding the eruption. Near-real-time geodetic observations can thus be useful for both timely eruption warnings and for constraining the evolution of volcanic plumes.
|
|
| 3. |
- Skelton, A., et al.
(författare)
-
Changes in groundwater chemistry before two consecutive earthquakes in Iceland
- 2014
-
Ingår i: Nature Geoscience. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 1752-0894 .- 1752-0908. ; 7:10, s. 752-756
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Groundwater chemistry has been observed to change before earthquakes and is proposed as a precursor signal. Such changes include variations in radon count rates(1,2), concentrations of dissolved elements(3-5) and stable isotope ratios(4,5). Changes in seismicwave velocities(6), water levels in boreholes(7), micro-seismicity(8) and shear wave splitting(9) are also thought to precede earthquakes. Precursor activity has been attributed to expansion of rock volume(7,10,11). However, most studies of precursory phenomena lack sufficient data to rule out other explanations unrelated to earthquakes(12). For example, reproducibility of a precursor signal has seldom been shown and few precursors have been evaluated statistically. Here we analyse the stable isotope ratios and dissolved element concentrations of groundwater taken from a borehole in northern Iceland between 2008 and 2013. We find that the chemistry of the groundwater changed four to six months before two greater than magnitude 5 earthquakes that occurred in October 2012 and April 2013. Statistical analyses indicate that the changes in groundwater chemistry were associated with the earthquakes. We suggest that the changes were caused by crustal dilation associated with stress build-up before each earthquake, which caused different groundwater components to mix. Although the changes we detect are specific for the site in Iceland, we infer that similar processes may be active elsewhere, and that groundwater chemistry is a promising target for future studies on the predictability of earthquakes.
|
|
| 4. |
- Skelton, Alasdair, et al.
(författare)
-
Changes in groundwater chemistry before two consecutive earthquakes in Iceland
- 2014
-
Ingår i: Nature Geoscience. - 1752-0894 .- 1752-0908. ; 7:10, s. 752-756
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Groundwater chemistry has been observed to change before earthquakes and is proposed as a precursor signal. Such changes include variations in radon count rates(1,2), concentrations of dissolved elements(3-5) and stable isotope ratios(4,5). Changes in seismicwave velocities(6), water levels in boreholes(7), micro-seismicity(8) and shear wave splitting(9) are also thought to precede earthquakes. Precursor activity has been attributed to expansion of rock volume(7,10,11). However, most studies of precursory phenomena lack sufficient data to rule out other explanations unrelated to earthquakes(12). For example, reproducibility of a precursor signal has seldom been shown and few precursors have been evaluated statistically. Here we analyse the stable isotope ratios and dissolved element concentrations of groundwater taken from a borehole in northern Iceland between 2008 and 2013. We find that the chemistry of the groundwater changed four to six months before two greater than magnitude 5 earthquakes that occurred in October 2012 and April 2013. Statistical analyses indicate that the changes in groundwater chemistry were associated with the earthquakes. We suggest that the changes were caused by crustal dilation associated with stress build-up before each earthquake, which caused different groundwater components to mix. Although the changes we detect are specific for the site in Iceland, we infer that similar processes may be active elsewhere, and that groundwater chemistry is a promising target for future studies on the predictability of earthquakes.
|
|
