EGU21-5089, updated on 04 Mar 2021
https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu21-5089
EGU General Assembly 2021
© Author(s) 2021. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.

Mapping the Bubble Trap Feeding Eruptions of Strokkur Geyser, Iceland

Eva P. S. Eibl1, Daniel Müller2, Thomas R. Walter2, Masoud Allahbakhshi2, Philippe Jousset2, Gylfi P. Hersir3, and Torsten Dahm2
Eva P. S. Eibl et al.
  • 1Institute of Geosciences, University of Potsdam, Karl-Liebknecht Str. 24-25, 14476 Potsdam, Germany (eva.eibl@uni-potsdam.de)
  • 2GFZ German Research Centre for Geosciences, Telegrafenberg, 14473 Potsdam, German
  • 3ISOR, Reykjavik, Iceland

Geysers are characterized by regular eruptions of hot water fountains. Their internal system consists of a heat source at depth, an often complex crack system and a conduit linking it to the surface. The conduit and crack system is filled with water, steam and gases similar to a volcano. Bubble traps are sometimes and rarely mapped and alternative heat-driven models for geyser eruptions exist.

Using a multidisciplinary, dense and close network of video cameras, seismometers, water pressure sensors and a tiltmeter we studied pool geyser Strokkur in June 2018. These multidisciplinary observations and particle-motion based tremor locations enabled us to derive a schematic cross section describing the driving mechanisms and the fluid dynamic processes within the bubble trap, crack system and conduit. We imaged a bubble trap at 23.7+-4.4 m depth, 13 to 23 m west of the conduit. We divide the eruptive cycle into eruption, refilling of the conduit, gas accumulation in the bubble trap and a trail of bubbles from the bubble trap into the conduit where they collapse at depth and have gained novel insights in understanding the gas accumulation, migration and collapse in such hot geyser systems in different phases of the eruptive cycle.

The dataset of this experiment can be accessed here:

- Eibl, E. P. S., Müller, D., Allahbakhshi, M., Walter, T. R., Jousset, P., Hersir, G. P., Dahm, T., (2020) ' Multidisciplinary dataset at the Strokkur Geyser, Iceland, allows to study internal processes and to image a bubble trap.' GFZ Data Services. DOI: 10.5880/GFZ.2.1.2020.007

- Eibl, E. P. S.; Walter, T.; Jousset, P.; Dahm, T.; Allahbakhshi, M.; Müller, D.; Hersir, G.P. (2020): 1 year seismological experiment at Strokkur in 2017/18. GFZ Data Services. Other/Seismic Network. DOI:10.14470/2Y7562610816

How to cite: Eibl, E. P. S., Müller, D., Walter, T. R., Allahbakhshi, M., Jousset, P., Hersir, G. P., and Dahm, T.: Mapping the Bubble Trap Feeding Eruptions of Strokkur Geyser, Iceland, EGU General Assembly 2021, online, 19–30 Apr 2021, EGU21-5089, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu21-5089, 2021.

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