The article Changes in groundwater chemistry before two consecutive earthquakes in Iceland was published in Nature Geoscience on September 21, 2014. I am so lucky to be one of its coauthors.
The article describes the changes seen in the water chemistry in a low-temperature geothermal borehole before two earthquakes. The borehole is located in the north east part of Iceland near the Tjörnes Fracture Zone (TFZ). The borehole is a flowing artesian well, 100 m deep and the water temperature is 76°C. Samples have been collected on a weekly basis since 2008 so an extensive data collection does exist. Changes were seen in the water chemistry four to six months before the two earthquakes.
The Nature Geoscience Issue also featured a special „News and views“ section were two top scientist, Michael Manga and Steven Ingebritsen wrote about the article.
The article received a lot of discussion in the press. Here are links to some of it:
- The Gardian: Signs in groundwater may help predict earthquakes six months in advance
- NewScientist: Looming quakes may be betrayed by groundwater changes
- Yahoo News: Well Water May Contain Earthquake Warning Signs
- Phys.org: Geologists find well water chemicals changed prior to two different earthquakes
- World news – wn.com: Changes in groundwater chemistry before earthquakes in Iceland
- USAnews: Well Water May Contain Earthquake Warning Signs
- Scientific American: Crustal Chemistry May Aid in Earthquake Prediction
- Sciense: Geochemical signals foretell Icelandic earthquakes
News about the article reached the front page of Reddit which I think is amazing.
The Icelandic press also featured stories about the articles and one of Iceland’s biggest newspaper called me up to get my comments.
My masters project is a part of this big international project. In my thesis I am designing a network of observatories to monitor changes in groundwater in real-time around the TFZ. We will use available low-temperature geothermal boreholes and monitor water-level, temperature and conductivity to begin with.