Updated on 29 August, at 17:00 

Hydrological measurements in Skaftá at Sveinstindur show that the increase in discharge has slowed down.The discharge is estimated 620 m³/s at 15:00 compared to 600 m³/s at 9:00 this morning.

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The field trip conducted by a team from IMO last week has been completed succesfully.

Preliminary results indicate no changes in the gases or waters compared to previous years while further sample and data analyses are ongoing. Visual inspections and temperature and pH measurements do not point to any clear changes in geothermal activity around Askja including in Víti. The observation on 12 August at the edge of Bátnshraun which was reported as a possible steam plume is now recognized as dust caused by a minor rock fall on a steep slope of the caldera wall.

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The latest deformation data indicates that the inflation continues at Askja with the position and depth of the inferred magma source unchanged since September 2021. The magma is accumulating at a depth of about 3 km, and there are currently no indications from geodetic observations that the magma has shallowed further. Ten days have passed since last activity was seen in the crater close to Litli-Hrútur and since volcanic tremor reached its background level. No deformation is detected in the area and the seismic activity has decreased significantly.

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Updated 10 August 2023

The Icelandic Met Office has updated the hazard map for the eruption site. The vicinity of the eruption area is still dangerous. High temperatures characterize the lava field. The solidified crust can be very thin in places with very hot and molten lava underneath. The edges of the new lava field are unstable and large chunks of lava can fall sudden. As a result of past activity there are fractures in the area that pose danger. The new lava continues degassing and hazardous gases can collect in depressions

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There has been increased earthquake activity around Katla the past few days. An earthquake sequence started shortly after midnight 30. June. By 6:30 in the morning, 95 earthquakes had been detected, 8 over M3 and the largest was M4.4. The earthquake activity in Mýrdalsjökull the past weeks has been the most that has been measured there since fall 2016. Unusually high electrical conductivity for this time of year has been measured in Múlakvísl. Gases associated with geothermal waters have been measured at Láguhvolar. The measurements suggest elevated geothermal activity as the cause of the observed changes but it is not possible to exclude the possibility of magma movements. 

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The annual Icelandic Glaciological Society (Jörfí) spring trip which is a major maintenance and measurement trip for IMO and the University of Iceland (HÍ) was completed in the first week of June. 

Since the beginning of the year around 10 to 30 earthquakes (> M1.0) have been detected each month in Grímsvötn. The end of April – the beginning of May were the most active periods with the largest earthquake of this year so far was a M3.3 on the 23. April. Since the middle of May the seismic activity has decreased. 

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Deformation measurements (GPS and InSAR analysis) indicate that inflation at Askja is continuing at a constant rate since the end of September 2021. Total vertical displacements at GPS station OLAC (on the western edge of Öskjuvatn) have now reached 60 cm since the start of unrest (August 2021). Read more

Seismic activity around Askja increased in August 2021 as uplift, most likely caused by a magmatic intrusion, began. The seismic activity was more elevated in November and December 2021 and has since the start of 2022 remained steady. At the same time, the uplift has continued at a very stable rate since the beginning of the unrest.

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The weather in 2022 was variable, but the annual mean of temperature, wind and pressure were mostly around average. In the country as a whole the temperature was equal to the 1991 to 2020 mean, but 0.3°C below the mean of the last ten years. It was relatively warmest around the South coast. The total annual precipitation was slightly above or slightly below average at most stations. But it was unusually wet in Reykjavík and at some locations in the Northeast. Average pressure and wind speed were around the long-term mean. Read more

Recent satellite images show that the ice covering Askja lake has been retreating significantly in the past week. Thisis quite unusual so early in the year, normally it occurs in the summer time between June and July. A similar event was recorded in 2012 when the ice in Askja lake started to melt in March. The reason why the ice covering the Askja lake has retreated so much in the past days is still uncertain and no direct measurements are currently available to fully understand the causes. However,  few causes have been considered.

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Retreating ice caps have a large influence on the crust of the Earth and cause ground uplift – a rebound effect resulting from unloading of the glaciers due to ice loss. Dr. Michelle Maree Parks, a specialist in volcano deformation studies at the Icelandic Meteorological Office, together with Freysteinn Sigmundsson, a geophysicist at the Nordic Volcanological Center at the Institute of Earth Sciences, University of Iceland, lead a project that received a grant-of-excellent from the Icelandic Research Fund that addresses these questions. They will together form a large international team of scientists to carry out research on glacial isostatic adjustment due to present day glacier change and its effect on the Earth‘s crust, in particular at four volcanic systems and two seismic zones in Iceland.

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