Thorbjörg Ágústsdóttir

Strike‐slip faulting during the 2014 Bárðarbunga‐Holuhraun dike intrusion, central Iceland

Over a 13?day period magma propagated laterally from the subglacial Barðarbunga volcano in the northern rift zone, Iceland. It created >?30,000 earthquakes at 5–7?km depth along a 48?km path before erupting on 29 August 2014. The seismicity, which tracked the dike propagation, advanced in short bursts at 0.3–4.7?km/h separated by pauses of up to 81?h. During each surge forward, seismicity behind the dike tip dropped. Moment tensor solutions from the leading edge show exclusively left-lateral strike-slip faulting subparallel to the advancing dike tip, releasing accumulated strain deficit in the brittle layer of the rift zone. Behind the leading edge, both left- and right-lateral strike-slip earthquakes are observed. The lack of non-double-couple earthquakes implies that the dike opening was aseismic.

Deep crustal melt plumbing of Bárðarbunga volcano, Iceland

Understanding magmatic plumbing within the Earths crust is important for understanding volcanic systems and improving eruption forecasting. We discuss magma plumbing under Barðarbunga volcano, Iceland, over a 4 year period encompassing the largest Icelandic eruption in 230 years. Microseismicity extends through the usually ductile region of the Earths crust, from 7 to 22 km depth in a subvertical column. Moment tensor solutions for an example earthquake exhibits opening tensile crack behavior. This is consistent with the deep (>7 km) seismicity being caused by the movement of melt in the normally aseismic crust. The seismically inferred melt path from the mantle source is offset laterally from the center of the Barðarbunga caldera by ~12 km, rather than lying directly beneath it. It is likely that an aseismic melt feed also exists directly beneath the caldera and is aseismic due to elevated temperatures and pervasive partial melt under the caldera.