Icelandic Studies

FutureVolc conducted late January a simulation exercise of an eruption at Katla.

Students of  Iceland University  have developed new samplers of ash; Procedures for sending supervisory teams in the field and the implementation of these new facilities have been successfully tested.

FuturVolc partners have been able to evaluate in real-time the monitoring data of seismometers, GPS and radar stations, the acquisition of satellite data and execution models to determine various information in a clear framework and under control of a scientific council.
The preset scenario was a small glacial flood and steam explosion on Day 1, with an increase of seismicity in the afternoon. The 2nd day, the activity was supposed to culminate in an explosive eruption of VEI 4, generating a plume amount to 10,000 meters, away towards the NE downwind. The 3rd day, the intensity was decreasing in the morning.

Katla lies under the ice cap of Myrdalsjökull, in places under 700 meters of ice. It last eruption date from 1918, and was accompanied by huge glacial lake outburst (jökulhlaup)... and its activity is a multifactorial threat to the population, local and visitors increasing.

Sources :

- FUTUREVOLC conducts exercise for an eruption of Katla volcano - link

- Global Volcanism Program - Katla

Importance of diffuse emissions of geothermal gases:

A scientific study, conducted in collaboration between ISOR / Iceland Geosurvey, INVOLCAN / Volcanological Institute of the Canaries and the ITER / Instituto Tecnológico y de Energías Renovables, on the Reykjanes geothermal field in Iceland has been published in the journal Renewable Energy.
One of the conclusions of this study shows that the analysis and evaluation of the spatial distribution of gas concentrations in the atmosphere of the earth as helium (He) and carbon dioxide (CO₂), the carbon dioxide diffusion flux and soil temperatures recorded in the surficial environment of geothermal systems can provide very important information for project developers for the development of geothermal energy in the definition of the most boring places appropriate for the operation.

Another aspect of this research may be useful for monitoring of geothermal systems, by providing a quantitative assessment of the extent of the changes of the degassing process of volcano-geothermal systems in surface environment, as a consequence of variations in the production of this geothermal field or a natural activity related to volcanic activity.

It was found that the surface activity of the geothermal field of Rekjanes has increased significantly since the commissioning of the 100 MWe geothermal power plant in 2006 ... in total, the increase in surface activity between 2004 and 2007 is of the order of 50%.

The study also investigate the potential use of CO₂ / He ratio in soil gas for sequestration of CO₂ in the calcite of the bedrock.

Sources :

- ITER – Cientificos del ITER, INVOLCAN e ISOR revelan la importancia de las emanaciones difusas de gases para la geotermia - link

- Science Direct - Application of diffuse gas flux measurements and soil gas analysis to geothermal exploration and environmental monitoring : example from the Reykjanes geothermal field - T.Fridriksson & al.2016 / in Renewable Energy - link