El Hierro volcano (Canary Islands, Spain): increased area of upwelling muddy water and discoloration of sea water, but eruption not likely to form an island

El Hierro volcano (Canary Islands, Spain): increased area of upwelling muddy water and discoloration of sea water, but eruption not likely to form an island

The above link is packed full of excellent information about active volcanos, including the continued eruption off the coast of one of the Canary Islands. I highly recommend this site, as it explains the dynamics of various eruptions throughout the world.

Indeed the volcano off the Canary Islands is still in eruption phase, and upwelling material and gases from under the Atlantic Ocean. It has not formed and island, for it requires more lava flows and a widening of the base of the volcanic cone to do that. There are still harmonic tremors in the area, as well as a GPS measured area of rising ground, and another of sinking ground. A nearby harbor has also been closed.

Over in my neck of the woods, in the Southern California desert, Salton Buttes volcano has had several micro-quakes, and Covington Flat volcano has had a couple. To the south of Salton Buttes, in Imperial County, near the town of Imperial, here has been a good many more localized micro-quakes this week. All these micro-quakes form roughly a line from Imperial up to Covington Flat, But I don't put any importance on that.

My documentary on the East California Rifting Zone is still making progress, although a bit slow as my schedule shifts, and as I take on a few other projects. I am getting some great interviews of people living around the volcanos and earthquake prone areas. Presently, I am shooting a documentary on a horse rescue operation in Landers, right next to the north side of Pipes Canyon volcano. According to local rumor, there had been a magma surface flow in that area on Dixie Mine Road right after the 7.4 Landers earthquake nearly 20 years ago. I'll ride out there and check the area out for signs of a flow!

Canary Island Volcanic Eruption, and UAV Helps Predict Eruptions

Over the past week, and even a big more, there has been an erupting underwater volcano. This is taking place at the Canary Islands, in the Atlantic Ocean, just off of Africa. The Canary Islands belong to Spain, and are a favorite vacation spot for Europeans.

Some believe that this eruption may will cause for a new Island to be born. In other words, there is a lot of lava flowing from the eruption, thus building the mountain high from the sea floor enough to be near the surface.

Here is a link to articles on the eruption:

http://earthquake-report.com/2011/09/25/el-hierro-canary-islands-spain-volcanic-risk-alert-increased-to-yellow/

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/11/13/underwater-volcano-el-hierro-canary-islands_n_1091252.html

Also, there are researchers that are making headway predicting volcanic eruptions. Here's a link to a news report that points out a tiny unmanned helicopter that is helping researchers to gather data. It is used to fly over volcanos, and to make measurements of gases and also to take pictures while over the crater of the volcano. Check this cool tool out.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/11/13/underwater-volcano-el-hierro-canary-islands_n_1091252.html

Live Volcano Cam from Canary Islands - Probable New Island's Birth

Click the link below to witness live an undersea volcano erupting just off shore from a small harbor on the Canary Islands. The volcano is only 70 meters below the sea's surface, and lava flows are to prolific, the mountain is growing at the pace that it just may reach the surface - and become the worlds newest island! Watch this live stream and see possible history in the making, and new land being built out of basalt and silica lavas.

http://www.ilovesantacruz.es/newweb/camara-web-situada-en-la-restinga/2011/11/

Today: Strongest Earthquake Recorded in Oklahoma History

A little over two hours ago from this time, which for my time zone is 11:39 PST, Oklahoma experienced the strongest earthquake ever recorded in that state. It was a 5.6 magnitude earthquake and fairly shallow. It was preceded with a series of fore-quakes, including a 4.7 mag event - as you can see here in this list of earthquakes for the area. This is extremely unusual, even though Oklahoma does indeed have small earthquakes that can be felt.

There are some far out but compelling conspiracy theories that some of these moderate to fairly strong earthquakes at magnitudes in the the fives, those in unusual locations. Some say that these are attributed to underground nuclear blasts.

A couple of months or more back, there was a rare series of earthquakes near Denver, followed shortly by a rare strong earthquake in Virginia. Some people reported hearing a series of booms around the time of the Denver earthquake. You can find video of these booms on You Tube. The conspiracy theory states that the Denver and the Virginia quake were actually nuclear blasts, and these blasts had blown up vast underground bunkers and headquarters of the Global Elite leadership, perhaps killing thousands. The theory also states that this is the start of a revolution from within against a New World Order.

For me personally, I don't believe it's true nor do I believe it's false. It's just a theory I bumped into. I'm sharing it here only because I find it very interesting. It does parallel all the global protests and anti-banking sentiment happening today.

With this far out theory in mind, watch closely for any more moderate to fairly strong earthquakes, especially those in unusual places within the continental US. If this Oklahoma event parallels the Denver-Virginia events, and is followed by other unusually placed quakes, then there is need for further exploration of the nature of these strange earthquakes.

My thinking is a bit more standard, as for right now. I tend to support the possibility that these quakes are associated with the heating up of the mantel under the heavy continental body of rock we're on. The North American plate is huge and heavy, and eventually, large continental plates have to split up and start a rifting zone in the middle. Sometimes these rifts fail, and sometimes they manifest themselves into a new ocean.

There are two notable rifting zones on the North American continent. There is the Eastern California Rifting Zone that I mention often in this blog, and there is the New Madrid rifting zone in the Midwest.

Of course, Denver, Virginia and Oklahoma are far from either rifting zone, but could indicate the warming of the mantel, or the build up of some kind of strain - perhaps associated with future rifting and splitting of the continent.

Keep in mind that everything I blog here today is pure theory and not based on tested fact. I'm sharing both reasonable and wild theory, so that you are aware of what some people, including myself are thinking on.

One thing is for sure, we are in some unusual geologic times. I say that a lot.

Check out today's Oklahoma earthquake list, and the fore-quakes. I suggest monitoring the ionosphere over the next few days, and sun activity too, for peaks of activity. Make your own notes on what you observe, and share them here in the comments if you wish. That would be interesting, indeed.

MAG	UTC DATE-TIME y/m/d h:m:s	LAT deg	LON deg	DEPTH km	LOCATION
MAP	5.6	2011/11/06 03:53:10	35.599	-96.752	5.0	6 km ( 4 mi) E of Sparks, OK
MAP	3.6	2011/11/05 14:36:30	35.584	-96.789	4.9	4 km ( 2 mi) SE of Sparks, OK
MAP	3.4	2011/11/05 13:42:26	35.530	-96.766	5.0	9 km ( 5 mi) NW of Prague, OK
MAP	3.3	2011/11/05 11:24:15	35.521	-96.778	5.0	9 km ( 6 mi) WNW of Prague, OK
MAP	3.3	2011/11/05 09:12:11	35.591	-96.788	4.9	4 km ( 2 mi) SE of Sparks, OK
MAP	2.7	2011/11/05 07:50:42	35.559	-96.762	4.8	8 km ( 5 mi) SE of Sparks, OK
MAP	2.7	2011/11/05 07:44:34	35.488	-96.755	5.0	6 km ( 4 mi) W of Prague, OK
MAP	3.4	2011/11/05 07:27:20	35.566	-96.698	5.0	9 km ( 6 mi) N of Prague, OK
MAP	4.7	2011/11/05 07:12:45	35.553	-96.748	4.0	9 km ( 6 mi) SE of Sparks, OK

Possible Plumes Near New Madrid Fault System?

It is accepted that the New Madrid fault and it's famed early 1800's mega-quakes are associated with an old rifting zone. Dutchsinse is a well known blogger that theorizes on earth movements. He's not a geologist, but very often hits on something worth paying attention to and observing. Apparently there are a good many harmonic tremors recorded on some seismometers in the area, and in this blog I'm linking, you can see these recorded tremors. Some of the tremors look like they are man made, but some do appear to be possible near surface volcanic micro-quakes, and some seem harmonic.

This is the grey area of speculation, and a call for further observation.

Here's the blog entry on possible plumes in the New Madrid area.

http://sincedutch.wordpress.com/2011/11/02/1112011-plume-event-in-missouri-and-arkansas-along-new-madrid-seismic-zone-nmsz/#comment-389