Intense seismicity during the 2014–15 Bárðarbunga-Holuhraun rifting event, Iceland, reveals the nature of dike-induced earthquakes and caldera collapse mechanisms

Over two weeks in August 2014 magma propagated 48km laterally from Bárðarbunga volcano before erupting at Holuhraun for 6 months, accompanied by collapse of the caldera. A dense seismic network recorded over 47,000 earthquakes before, during and after the rifting event. More than 30,000 earthquakes delineate the segmented dike intrusion. Earthquake source mechanisms show exclusively strike-slip faulting, occurring near the base of the dike along pre-existing weaknesses aligned with the rift fabric, while the dike widened largely aseismically. The slip-sense of faulting is controlled by the orientation of the dike relative to the local rift fabric, demonstrated by an abrupt change from right- to left-lateral faulting as the dike turns to propagate from an easterly to a northerly direction. Approximately 4,000 earthquakes associated with the caldera collapse delineate an inner caldera fault zone, with good correlation to geodetic observations. Caldera subsidence was largely aseismic, with seismicity accounting for 10% or less of the geodetic moment. Approximately 90% of the seismic moment release occurred on the northern rim, suggesting an asymmetric collapse. Well-constrained focal mechanisms reveal sub-vertical arrays of normal faults, with fault planes dipping inward at 60 9 , along both the north and south caldera margins. These steep normal faults strike sub-parallel to the caldera rims, with slip vectors pointing towards the center of subsidence. The maximum depth of seismicity defines the base of the seismogenic crust under Bárðarbunga as 6km b.s.l., in broad agreement with constraints from geodesy and geobarometry for the minimum depth to the melt storage region

A half-century of geologic and geothermic investigations in Iceland: The legacy of Kristjn Smundsson

One of the World's premier field geologists, Kristján Sæmundsson led immense geological mapping programs and authored or co-authored nearly all geological maps of Iceland during the past half century, including the first modern bedrock and tectonic maps of the whole country. These monumental achievements collectively yield the most inclusive view of an extensional plate boundary anywhere on Earth. When Kristján began his work in 1961, the relation of Iceland to sea-floor spreading was not clear, and plate tectonics had not yet been invented. Kristján resolved key obstacles by demonstrating that the active rifting zones in Iceland had shifted over time and were linked by complex transforms to the mid-ocean spreading ridge, thus making the concept of sea-floor spreading in Iceland acceptable to those previously skeptical. Further, his insights and vast geological and tectonic knowledge on both high- and low-temperature geothermal areas in Iceland yielded a major increase in knowledge of geothermal systems, and probably no one has contributed more than he to Icelandic energy development. Kristján's legacy is comprised by his numerous superb maps on a variety of scales, the high quality papers he produced, the impactful ideas generated that were internationally diffused, and the generations of colleagues and younger people he inspired, mentored, or otherwise positively influenced with his knowledge and generous attitud

Seismological evidence for Lateral magma intrusion during the July 1978 deflation of the Krafla volcano in NE-Iceland

The July 1978 deflation of the Krafla volcano in the volcanic rift zone of NE-Iceland was in most respects typical of the many deflation events that have occurred at Krafla since December 1975. Separated by periods of slow inflation, the deflation events are characterized by rapid subsidence in the caldera region, volcanic tremor and extensive rifting in the fault swarm that transects the volcano. Earthquakes increase in the caldera region shortly after deflation starts and propagate along the fault swarm away from the central part of the volcano, sometimes as far as 65 km. The deflation events are interpreted as the result of subsurface magmatic movements, when magma from the Krafla reservoir is injected laterally into the fault swarm to form a dyke. In the July 1978 event magma was injected a total distance of 30 km into the northern fault swarm. The dyke tip propagated with the velocity of 0.4-0.5 m/sec during the first 9 hours, but the velocity decreased as the length of the dyke increased. Combined with surface deformation data, these data can be used to estimate the cross sectional area of the dyke and the driving pressure of the magma. The cross sectional area is variable along the dyke and is largest in the regions of maximum earthquake activity. The average value is about 1200 m{sup 2}. The pressure difference between the magma reservoir and the dyke tip was of the order of 10-40 bars and did not change much during the injection

Seismic activity associated with the September 1977 deflation of the Krafla central volcano in NE-Iceland

The September 1977 deflation event in the Krafla caldera was one of a series of such events that has been in progress since December 1975. The operation of portable seismographs in the active region and favorable location of the main seismic activity with respect to the permanent seismograph network in NE-Iceland allow a more detailed study of this deflation event than most of the other events. Continuous volcanic tremor appeared on the local seismographs shortly before 16 h on September 8, 1977. Deflation of the volcano began at the same time. A small basaltic eruption broke out on a 0.9 km long fissure near the northern rim of the caldera at about 18 h. Earthquake activity increased soon after the beginning of the tremor and the first earthquakes were located in the caldera region. The earthquake activity then migrated southwards along the Krafla fault swarm with a speed of about 0.5 m sec{sup -1}, and culminated shortly before midnight with 8 earthquakes larger than magnitude 3 that were located near the Namafjall geothermal area 8 km south of the center of the caldera. Shortly after the earthquake activity migrated into the Namafjall area small amounts of basaltic pumice were erupted through a 1138 m deep drill hole there. Depths of earthquakes were 0-6 km in the northern part of the hypocentral zone and 0-4 in the southern part. The first motion pattern of P-waves suggests dip-slip faulting on steeply dipping fault planes consistent with the extensive normal faulting observed on the surface throughout the epicentral zone. The magnitude-frequency relationship was nonlinear and changed during the earthquake sequence. The seismological data strongly support the interpretation that deflation of the Krafla volcano is associated with horizontal migration of magma from the caldera region and formation of dykes in the Krafla fault swarm

Temporal stress changes associated with the 2008 May 29 Mw 6 earthquake doublet in the western South Iceland Seismic Zone

On 2008 May 29, two magnitude Mw ~ 6 earthquakes occurred on two adjacent N-S faults in the western South Iceland Seismic Zone. The first main shock was followed approximately 3 s later by the rupture on a parallel fault, about 5 km to the west. An intense aftershock sequence was mostly confined to the western fault and an E-W aligned zone, extending west of the main shock region into the Reykjanes oblique rift. In this study, a total of 325 well-constrained focal mechanisms were obtained using data from the permanent Icelandic SIL seismic network and a temporary network promptly installed in the source region following the main shocks, which allowed a high-resolution stress inversion in short time intervals during the aftershock period. More than 800 additional focal mechanisms for the time period 2001-2009, obtained from the permanent SIL network, were analysed to study stress changes associated with the main shocks. Results reveal a coseismic counter-clockwise rotation of the maximum horizontal stress of 11 +/- 10 degrees ( 95 per cent confidence level) in the main rupture region. From previous fault models obtained by inversion of geodetic data, we estimate a stress drop of about half of the background shear stress on the western fault. With a stress drop of 8-10 MPa, the pre-event shear stress is estimated to 16-20 MPa. The apparent weakness of the western fault may be caused by fault properties, pore fluid pressure and the vicinity of the fault to the western rift zone, but may also be due to the dynamic stress increase on the western fault by the rupture on the eastern fault. Further, a coseismic change of the stress regime-from normal faulting to strike-slip faulting-was observed at the northern end of the western fault. This change could be caused by stress heterogeneities, but may also be due to a southward shift in the location of the aftershocks as compared to prior events

A half-century of geologic and geothermic investigations in Iceland: The legacy of Kristjan Saemundsson

One of the World's premier field geologists, Kristjan Saemundsson led immense geological mapping programs and authored or co-authored nearly all geological maps of Iceland during the past half century, including the first modern bedrock and tectonic maps of the whole country. These monumental achievements collectively yield the most inclusive view of an extensional plate boundary anywhere on Earth. When Kristjan began his work in 1961, the relation of Iceland to sea-floor spreading was not clear, and plate tectonics had not yet been invented. Kristjan resolved key obstacles by demonstrating that the active rifting zones in Iceland had shifted over time and were linked by complex transforms to the mid-ocean spreading ridge, thus making the concept of sea-floor spreading in Iceland acceptable to those previously skeptical. Further, his insights and vast geological and tectonic knowledge on both high- and low-temperature geothermal areas in Iceland yielded a major increase in knowledge of geothermal systems, and probably no one has contributed more than he to Icelandic energy development. Kristjan's legacy is comprised by his numerous superb maps on a variety of scales, the high quality papers he produced, the impactful ideas generated that were internationally diffused, and the generations of colleagues and younger people he inspired, mentored, or otherwise positively influenced with his knowledge and generous attitude. (C) 2018 Published by Elsevier B.V