El Hierro Seismicity Picks Up

Could the Canary Islands volcano El Hierro be gearing up for round two of its renewed activity? Recent reports from Earthquake-report.com are indicating that magma injection is occurring again at the island. Over the last couple of days over 58 earthquakes concentrated near the site of the offshore eruption have occurred, and uplift of nearly 2cm was detected. This indicates magma is travelling to a shallower level, and could be a precursor to eruption. This however IS speculation, as many magma injections do not lead to an immediate eruption (see Mt Fuji!).

El Hierro volcano was up until recently, a fairly quiet volcanic island, and had not had any eruptions since the late 1700's, but this all changed in 2011 when the island spawned a new submarine cone off its SE coast near the town of La Restinga. Indeed, it was this volcanic eruption that was my initial inspiration for creating this blog, as I was reading tons of information in very bad English. At the time it was my hope to be live-blogging the eruption with footage of a Surtseyan eruption (an eruption that begins as submarine, but ends up creating a new island above water). Alas, we were gifted with a prime example of a Serretyan eruption.

The small eruption of the submarine cone however does not appear to have been the last we will hear from this island in the near future. As new magma enters the system and inflates the island, it is likely that at least at some point a fracture or conduit will form that allows the magma to escape to the surface. Obviously it is everyone's hope that when or if this does occur, people will have all the warning they need to get out of mother nature's way.

The previous eruption lasted for several months, nearly a year, with on and off activity, and waves of speculation as to how the volcano might continue its eruption. In some cases it was theorized that several submarine eruptions had occurred, however this was never conclusively proved.

This is one of my personal favorites in terms of volcanoes, not just because it's partly responsible for this blog int he first place, but because of the fact it was one of the first volcanoes to be observed before, during, and after the eruption from nearly every media angle possible. Seismographs, tilt meters, webcams, bathymetric scans, ROV footage of the plume from underwater, the first live observation of a Serretyan eruption and associated 'lava balloons'... it was really something cool to see for us volcano nerds out there. 

Maybe 2014 will give this blogger another present! Stay tuned!

*****UPDATE*****

More recent news is available, please go to http://volcanoscience.blogspot.com/2013/12/el-hierro-volcano-alert-raised-to-yellow.html

Comment Policy Changed

While I'd like a lively discussion on the topic of volcanoes, I have been receiving a higher than normal amount of 'anonymous' comments that are either offensive, or spam. So anonymous comments are no longer enabled, you will need to have a Google+, or OpenID account to comment. While I am all for people expressing their opinions, I think its important to own what you say, and to keep it civil (and non-commercial). Thanks for understanding.

New 'Supervolcano' Discovered in Utah

The North American continent is home to several so-called 'supervolcanoes' (a term that is lamented by many geologists and volcanologists) such as Wyoming's Yellowstone Caldera, California's Long Valley Caldera, and New Mexico's Valles Caldera. Now, Utah joins the list of states that are host to some of the biggest eruptions in Earth's history.

After 30 years of intense research, collecting rock samples, creating gravimetric maps, and studying ash layers, geologists have zeroed in on the epicenter of what is thought to be one of the largest eruptions of all time in the US, bigger than even the largest eruptions of Yellowstone. But don't worry, scientists say that it is unlikely to ever erupt again, unlike Yellowstone, or Long Valley (the Valles Caldera also has the potential to reactivate, but is generally the quieter of the three). The magmatic system that produced these eruptions has long since become extinct.

The eruption was so large, that ash layers can be recorded as far away as Nebraska! Wildlife and plants from over 30 million years ago were preserved in these layers.

The epicenter is in an area known as Wah-wah Springs, in Western Utah, and extends to Eastern Nevada. This would make it one of the largest supervolcanoes on the planet (discovered so far at least), and one of the largest in North America.

Screenshot of Utah/Nevada Supervolcano eruption area and associated caldera from KSL.com web report.

Many mountain ranges and volcanic rocks in the area were associated with the White Rock Caldera, and it remains to be seen whether or not this volcano is related to it. Utah and Nevada lay on top of the Rio Grande Rift, an area of the United States that is spreading apart, rather than plates slamming together and subducting like the Pacific Plate and its associated Pacific Ring of Fire. Volcanoes along this rift do not erupt as often as their pacific neighbors, but when they do, the eruptions are typically larger and more devastating, and obviously foster the creation of some mantle plumes (although in the arena of science, this would need to be more thoroughly researched, as mantle plumes are still somewhat controversial, despite a lot of evidence).

This recent discovery adds to ever increasing data about the eruptive history of our planet, and will undoubtedly fill in some gaps and resolve some mysteries that have puzzled geologists for some time. Discoveries such as these are always some of the coolest geological news in my opinion!

Etna Steals The Show, Japan Gets New Island

There is not a lot of 'new' eruptive activity going on lately, however Sicily's Mt Etna continues to put on some breathtaking displays of lava fountain activity lately. While this is not unusual for Etna, being one of the most active volcanoes on Earth, the shows are quite spectacular.

                                     

And while Etna steals the show, Japan's volcano, Nishino-shima has had a surprise eruption off its coast that started as a submarine eruption, but birthed a new island into existence (much like we were HOPING would occur live on webcam at El Hierro! But alas...).

Other than these occurrences, it is a slow month/week/year for volcanoes. The currently erupting volcanoes are sadly, the usual suspects!

Philippine Islands Struck By Massive Cyclone, Help

Not my typical post, but I have some extended family on my fiance's side in the Philippines and the island nation needs everyone's help. Mere weeks after a devastating 7.0 earthquake, and many aftershocks, the Philippines were hit by a MASSIVE cyclone, perhaps one of the biggest storms in historical times, and this has basically leveled the buildings, destroyed thousands of families, and created a living hell for these people.

It is imperative that the global community get moving by donating goods, and money to charities to help the stricken archipelago, and its people. Already the death toll is at approximately 1,500 and rising. This is the worst natural disaster since the Japanese 9.0 earthquake and subsequent tsunami, and this will get worse for the next month or so.

These are some of the dangers likely to be faced after this disaster. All help, and donations are needed.

- Exposure to the elements; It is clear from photographs and eyewitness accounts that the devastation is total. In the path of the storm, no structures were able to survive intact. People will be outside at all times...
-Infection, disease; standing water, no dry land, and other complications will make things like diarrhea, fevers, mosquitoes, infections, etc very problematic. Antibiotics and fresh water will be scarce.
-Injuries; many thousands of people have been injured. Doctors and facilities will be needed.


Please find a charity and donate to it. My recommendation is to donate to more local charities rather than places like the Red Cross who use a great amount of your donation for overhead. Smaller charities have less overhead, but do be careful that they are not run as a scam... this is an unfortunate reality of the Internet. Thank you to everyone who can help.