Eyjafjallajokull, Iceland’s jaw-breakingly named volcano of the moment, is keeping its hold on the news. Just as the paralysis caused throughout Europe’s airline industry has eased, the wind changes and Eyjafjallajokull is back in the headlines again. On 23 April 2010 Iceland’s airspace (which largely escaped the initial chaos) was closed and atmospheric dust spread southwards again to affect the airports of northern Scotland. So what’s the fuss about?
Iceland: Land of Volcanoes
Iceland is one of the most active areas of volcanism in the world, being the result of a concurrency of the two geological situations in which volcanoes are formed (a rift in the Earth’s crust and an area of rising molten rock rising up through that crust). The Volcanodiscovery website (Volcanodiscovery.com accessed 23 April 2010) lists 31 active volcanoes on the land itself; there are other vents erupting under the sea. On land, there is notable geothermal activity in the form of geysers and hot springs.
The volcanoes are the building blocks of Iceland, constantly adding to its landmass in eruptions from the gentle to the catastrophic (the Laki fissure eruption of 1783 is one of the most significant eruptions of the modern era and affected climate across the northern hemisphere). On their website (Icelandtouristboard.com accessed 23 April 2010) under the heading 'Volcanoes', the Iceland Tourist Board notes that the country experiences a major volcanic event every five years. It’s only the impact of the current eruption on the rest of the world which has drawn so much attention to it.
Eyjafjallajokull: Some Facts About the Volcano
Eyjafjallajokull, a gently sloping cone-shaped volcano with a summit height of 1,666 metres (data from the Global Volcanism Programme website, volcano.si.edu accessed 23 April 2010) , lies under an ice cap in the south of Iceland. Although normally it would erupt relatively gently, the subglacial location is important: melting of glacial ice and its contact with lava increases the explosive nature of the eruption and contributes to the presence of volcanic glass in the clouds of ejected material.
Prior to the current eruption, Eyjafjallajokull has been relatively quiet compared to many other of Iceland’s volcanoes. Its last eruption took place over a period of 14 months, from December 1821 to January 1823. The current eruption began at the end of March; latest updates supplied on the Volcanodiscovery website and dated April 21st 2010 (accessed 23 April 2010) indicate that the strength of the eruption is declining, although activity may later increase.
Grave concerns have been raised by the spectre of the eruption, partly because of its association with the more active Katla volcano, which lies under the ice cap immediately to the east. Though slightly lower than Eyjafjallajokull at 1,512 metres, Katla is notorious for its violent and relatively regular explosions: it is thought to have erupted on 24 separate occasions since 920 AD (Global Volcanism Programme).
An eruption of Katla might conceivably cause more problems than have yet been experienced. As well as having a reputation for causing damaging floods, or jökulhlaups, it is by nature more explosive than Eyjafjallajokull (Global Volcanism Programme) and thus has a greater capability for ejecting significant quantities of volcanic ash, dust and glass – precisely the kind of emissions which have caused the recent and continuing issues with European transport systems.
At present, it is being widely reported in the media that an eruption of Katla is to be expected on the basis that eruptions of Eyjafjallajokull, in 1612 and 1821-3 have been accompanied by those of its fiercer neighbour. In fact, as reported by Hannah Devlin in The Times Online on 16 April 2010 ("Volcanologists anxiously watching Eyjafjallajokull's big sister' accessed 23 April), the two volcanic systems, though close, are not connected, although changes in pressure in one may have an impact on the other.
In fact, most of the speculation regarding activity on Katla appears in blogs and in the media; there has as yet been no official suggestion from volcanologists that an eruption is imminent. Volcanic eruptions are, however, notoriously difficult to predict and at present there are no official data available to suggest that the media speculation has any substance.
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