In volcanic and hydrothermal geosystems, monitoring of mass and stress changes provide information for both volcanic hazardassessment and estimation of geothermal resources. The combined continuous recording of the gravity field and ground motionwith sufficient accuracy in an active volcano-tectonic setting allows a better understanding of the mass and stress transfermechanisms that produce short term gravity changes and local seismic activity. The aim is to gain a better understanding ofgeothermal system processes by addressing short-term mass changes within geothermal reservoirs in relation to external influencessuch as anthropogenic (reservoir exploitation) and natural forcing (local and regional earthquake activity and earth tides). Thiscontributes to knowing the reservoir properties, structure and long-term behaviour.Þheistareykir (Northeast Iceland), where the geothermal power production started in autumn 2017 (2x45 MWe) is the site chosenfor this unique experiment. The overall goal of the project is to use a network of continuously measuring gravity meters to detectsmall variations in gravity associated with managing a geothermal field (injection and extraction). The gravity changes are expectedto be small: ~5 µgal/6 months (1 µgal=10-8 ms-2). Therefore, high performance and up-to-date instrumentation such assuperconducting gravity meters (SG), spring gravity meters and broadband seismometers are used. To achieve these goals, inautumn 2017 a network of 5 relative gravity meters (3 iGravs and 2 gPhones) and 14 seismic stations were deployed. Three gravitymonitoring sites are in close vicinity to the production and injection area, and one iGrav is set up outside the geothermal field forreference. Presented in this report are the details of the infrastructure and instruments deployed and the first results of more than 18months of continuous gravity and seismicity monitoring.@en

The Krafla volcanic system has geothermal areas within the Krafla caldera and at Bjarnarflag in the Krafla fissure swarm, 9-km south of the Krafla caldera. Arrays of boreholes extract geothermal fluids for power plants in both areas. We collected and analyzed InSAR, GPS, and leveling data spanning 1993-2015 in order to investigate crustal deformation in these areas. The volcanic zone hosting the geothermal areas is also subject to large scale regional deformation processes, including plate spreading and deflation of the Krafla volcanic system. These deformation processes have to be taken into account in order to isolate the geothermal deformation signal. Plate spreading produces the largest horizontal displacements, but the regional deformation pattern also suggests readjustment of the Krafla system at depth after the 1975-1984 Krafla rifting episode. Observed deformation can be fit by an inflation source at about 20km depth north of Krafla and a deflation source at similar depth directly below the Krafla caldera. Deflation signal along the fissure swarm can be reproduced by a 1-km wide sill at 4km depth closing by 2-4cm per year. These sources are considered to approximate the combined effects of vertical deformation associated with plate spreading and post-rifting response. Local deformation at the geothermal areas is well resolved in addition to these signals. InSAR shows that deformation at Bjarnarflag is elongated along the direction of the Krafla fissure swarm (∼ 4km by ∼ 2km) while it is circular at Krafla (∼ 5km diameter). Rates of deflation at Krafla and Bjarnarflag geothermal areas have been relatively steady. Average volume decrease of about 6.6×10⁵ m³/yr for Krafla and 3.9×10⁵ m³/yr for Bjanarflag are found at sources located at ∼ 1.5km depth, when interpreted by a spherical point source of pressure. This volume change represents about 8×10 ^-3 m³/ton of the mass of geothermal fluid extracted per year, indicating important renewal of the geothermal reservoir by water flow.

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