Katla

Observations of Deformation

Volcano number:372030
Region:
Country:Iceland
Geodetic measurements?Yes
Deformation observation?Yes
Measurement method(s):InSAR, GPS - continuous, GPS - campaign, Tiltmeter
Duration of observation:Continuous
Inferred cause(s) of deformation:Magmatic
Characteristics of deformation:

Sturkell et al. (2008) present GPS measurements on nunataks exposed on Katla’s caldera edge between 1999 to 2004 and show  steady inflation of the volcano. The “measurements show uplift and horizontal displacement of the nuntatak benchmarks at a rate of up to 2 cm a1 , together with horizontal displacement of far-field stations (>11 km) at about 0.5 cm a1 away from the caldera centre. Using a point-source model, these data place the center of the magma chamber at 4.9 km depth beneath the northern part of the caldera. However […] the depth may be only 2–3 km. About 0.01 km3 of magma has accumulated between 1999 and 2004”.
Parks et al. (2014) present “long-term deformation time-series spanning > 20 years for Hekla, Katla, Eyjafjallajökull and Askja volcanoes, based on a variety of geodetic techniques including InSAR, GPS and tilt measurements”. 
The authors state that “InSAR and GPS observations at Katla volcano (between 2001 and 2009) suggest no indication of magma induced deformation outside the ice-cap, it is possible that a small flood at Mýrdalsjökull in July 2011, followed by an increase in micro-seismic earthquakes, was related to magmatic activity”.

Reference(s):Sturkell, E., Einarsson, P., Roberts, M. J., Geirsson, H., Gudmundsson, M. T., Sigmundsson, F., ... & Stefansson, R. (2008). Seismic and geodetic insights into magma accumulation at Katla subglacial volcano, Iceland: 1999 to 2005. Journal of Geophysical Research: Solid Earth (1978–2012), 113(B3).
Parks, M., Dumont, S., Drouin, V., Sigmundsson, F., Hreinsdottir, S., Michalczewska, K., ... & Heimisson, E. R. (2014, December). Long-Term Geodetic Measurements at the Most Active Volcanoes in Iceland: Role of Interferometric Synthetic Aperture Radar and GPS in Hazard Monitoring at Hekla, Katla, Eyjafjallajökull and Askja Volcanoes. In AGU Fall Meeting Abstracts (Vol. 1, p. 4801).
Location:63.63, -19.05
REST API endpoint (JSON):https://comet.nerc.ac.uk/wp-json/volcanodb/v1/volcano/3023

Latest Sentinel-1 Data

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