2010 eruptions of Iceland:

Volcano plume on 17 April 2010. Composite map of the volcanic ash cloud spanning 1425 April 2010 The 2010 eruptions of Eyjafjallajkull are a sequence of volcanic events at Eyjafjll in Iceland which, although relatively small for volcanic eruptions, caused enormous disruption to air travel across western and northern Europe over an initial period of six days in April 2010. Additional localised disruption continued into May 2010. Seismic activity started at the end of 2009 and gradually increased in intensity until on 20 March 2010, a small eruption started that was rated as a 1 on the Volcanic Explosivity Index.[1] Beginning on 14 April 2010, the eruption entered a second phase and created an ash cloud that led to the closure of most of Europe's IFR airspace from 15 until 20 April 2010. Consequently, a very high proportion of flights within, to, and from Europe were cancelled, creating the highest level of air travel disruption since the Second World War. The second phase of the eruption started on 14 April 2010 and resulted in an estimated 250 million cubic metres (330,000,000 cu yd) of ejected tephra. The ash plume rose to a height of approximately 9 kilometres (30,000 ft), which rates the explosive power of the eruption as a 4 on the Volcanic Explosivity Index.[2] By 21 May 2010, the second eruption phase had subsided to the point that no further lava or ash was being produced. By the morning of 24 May 2010, the view from the web camera installed on rlfsfell showed only a plume of water vapour surrounded by a blueish haze caused by the

emission of sulphurous gases. Seismic data showed that there were still low intensity earth tremors happening, but scientists at the Icelandic Meteorological Office (IMO) and the Institute of Earth Sciences, University of Iceland (IES) concluded that the volcano had returned to a dormant state. Due to the large quantities of dry volcanic ash lying on the ground, surface winds frequently lifted up an "ash mist" that significantly reduced visibility and made web camera observation of the volcano impossible.[3]

Background
Main article: Eyjafjallajkull

Dust particles suspended in the atmosphere scatter light from the setting sun, generating 'volcanic lavenders' like this one over the flight path of Leeds-Bradford Airport in England during the aviation shutdown Eyjafjallajkull (pronounced [jafjatlajktl], listen (helpinfo)) is one of the Iceland's smaller ice caps located in the far south of the island. It is situated to the north of Skgar and to the west of the larger ice cap Mrdalsjkull. The ice cap covers the caldera of a volcano 1,666 metres (5,466 ft) in height that has erupted relatively frequently since the last ice age. The most recent major eruptions occurred in 920, 1612 (believed to have lasted only three days) and from 1821 to 1823 .[4] Previous eruptions of Eyjafjallajkull have been followed by eruptions at its larger neighbour, Katla;[5] on 20 April 2010 Icelandic President lafur Grmsson said that "the time for Katla to erupt is coming close ... we [Iceland] have prepared ... it is high time for European governments and airline authorities all over the world to start planning for the eventual Katla eruption".[6] The volcanic events starting in March 2010 are considered to be a single eruption divided into different phases. The first eruption phase ejected olivine basaltic andesite lava[7] several hundred metres into the air in what is known as an effusive eruption. Ash ejection from this phase of the eruption is small, rising to no more than 4 kilometres (2.5 mi) into the atmosphere.

On 14 April 2010 however, the eruption entered an explosive phase and ejected fine, glass-rich ash to over 8 kilometres (5.0 mi) into the atmosphere. The second phase is estimated to be a VEI 4 eruption, which is large, but not nearly the most powerful eruption possible by volcanic standards. By way of comparison, the Mount St. Helens eruption of 1980 was rated as 5 on the VEI, and the 1991 eruption of Mount Pinatubo was rated as a 6. What made this volcanic activity so disruptive to air travel was the combination of the following four factors: 1. The volcano's location is directly under the Jet Stream 2. The direction of the Jet Stream was unusually stable at the time of the eruption's second phase, maintaining a continuous south-easterly heading 3. The second eruptive phase took place under 200 m (660 ft) of glacial ice. The resulting meltwater flowed back into the erupting volcano which created two specific phenomena: 1. The rapidly vapourising water significantly increased the eruption's explosive power 2. The erupting lava cooled very rapidly which created a cloud of highly abrasive, glass-rich ash 4. The volcano's explosive power was sufficient to inject ash directly into the Jet Stream.

Public observations
People observing the first fissure at Fimmvruhls

Fissure

Second fissure, viewed from the north, on 2 April 2010 The first phase of the 2010 eruption began in late evening of 20 March at the Eyjafjallajkull volcanic system (known locally as Eyjafjll). This eruption has been assigned volcano number 1702-02 by the Global Volcanism Program.

The initial visual report of the eruption was at 23:52 GMT, when a red cloud was observed at the northern slopes of Fimmvruhls mountain pass,[25][26] lighting up the sky above the eruptive site. The eruption was preceded with intense seismicity and high rates of deformation in the weeks before the eruption, in association with magma recharging of the volcano. Immediately prior to the eruption the depth of seismicity had become shallow, but was not significantly enhanced from what it had been in the previous weeks. Deformation was occurring at rates of up to a centimetre a day since 4 March at various GPS sites installed within 12 kilometres (7.5 mi) from the eruptive site. A fissure opened up about 150 metres (490 ft) in length running in a north-east to southwest direction, with 10 to 12 erupting lava craters ejecting lava at a temperature of about 1,000 C (1,800 F) up to 150 metres (490 ft) into the air. The lava is alkali olivine basalt [27] and is relatively viscous causing the motion of the lava stream to the west and east of the fissure to be slow. The molten lava has flowed more than 4,000 metres (2.5 mi) to the north-east of the fissure and into Hrunagil canyon, forming a lava fall more than 200 metres (660 ft) long and is slowly approaching rsmrk, but has not yet reached the flood plains of Kross.[28][29][30] On 25 March 2010, while studying the eruption, scientists witnessed, for the first time in history, the formation of a pseudocrater during a steam explosion.[31] Crustal expansion continued at orvaldseyri for two days after the eruption began, but has been slowly decreasing whilst the volcanic activity increased. This indicates that the rate at which magma is flowing into the magma chamber roughly equals the rate at which it is being lost due to the eruption, giving evidence that this phase of volcanic activity has reached equilibrium.[32] A new fissure opened on 31 March, around 200 metres (660 ft) north-west of the original fissure.[33] Many witnesses were present while the new fissure opened. It is a bit smaller, around 300 metres (980 ft) long according to witnesses, and lava coming from it has now started to flow into Hvannrgil canyon. These two erupting fissures share the same magma chamber according to geophysicists. No unusual seismic activity was detected at the time the new fissure appeared, nor any crustal expansion according to many seismometers and GPS recorders situated in nearby areas.[34][35]

Phase 2: Explosive eruption

Photograph from satellite Aqua showing the ash plume over North Atlantic at 13:30 GMT on 15 April The estimated ash cloud at 18:00 GMT on 15 April. Date Status April 2010

Images

14 April

15 April

Eyjafjallajkull resumed erupting after a brief pause. This marks the start of the explosive phase of the Depiction of the estimated ash cloud eruption as the main eruption site is at 18:00 UTC on 14 April 2010. now under the centre of the glacier. The sudden release of meltwater caused flooding in nearby rivers as it travelled in two flows down either side of the volcano, forcing the evacuation of around 800 people. A second jkulhlaup/lahar traveled down the Markarfljot valley that evening.[44] The road along the Markarfljt river had been washed away in several places.[45] Explosive eruption continues. Due to the unusually stable jet stream present at the time, the ash cloud reaches mainland Europe, forcing the closure of airspace over a large part of the UK, Scandinavia and Northern Europe. Eruption tremors continue at a similar level to those observed immediately before the start of the second eruption phase.

MODIS image of the ash cloud at 11:39 GMT on 15 April 2010.

Volcano
For mountain formation in general, see Mountain formation. For other uses, see Volcano (disambiguation).

Cleveland Volcano in the Aleutian Islands of Alaska photographed from the International Space Station, May 2006

Cross-section through a stratovolcano (vertical scale is exaggerated): 1. Large magma chamber 9. Layers of lava emitted by the volcano 2. Bedrock 10. Throat 3. Conduit (pipe) 11. Parasitic cone 4. Base 12. Lava flow 5. Sill 13. Vent 6. Dike 14. Crater 7. Layers of ash emitted by the volcano 15. Ash cloud 8. Flank

Pinatubo ash plume reaching a height of 19 km, 3 days before the climactic eruption of 15 June 1991 A volcano is an opening, or rupture, in a planet's surface or crust, which allows hot magma, ash and gases to escape from below the surface. The word volcano is derived

from the name of Vulcano island off Sicily which in turn, was named after Vulcan, the Roman god of fire.[1] Volcanoes are generally found where tectonic plates are diverging or converging. A midoceanic ridge, for example the Mid-Atlantic Ridge, has examples of volcanoes caused by divergent tectonic plates pulling apart; the Pacific Ring of Fire has examples of volcanoes caused by convergent tectonic plates coming together. By contrast, volcanoes are usually not created where two tectonic plates slide past one another. Volcanoes can also form where there is stretching and thinning of the Earth's crust (called "non-hotspot intraplate volcanism"), such as in the African Rift Valley, the Wells Gray-Clearwater volcanic field and the Rio Grande Rift in North America and the European Rhine Graben with its Eifel volcanoes. Volcanoes can be caused by mantle plumes. These so-called hotspots, for example at Hawaii, can occur far from plate boundaries. Hotspot volcanoes are also found elsewhere in the solar system, especially on rocky planets and moons.

Plate tectonics and hotspots

Map showing the divergent plate boundaries (OSR Oceanic Spreading Ridges) and recent sub aerial volcanoes.

Mount Rinjani outbreak in 1994, in Lombok, Indonesia

Convergent plate boundaries

Main article: Convergent boundary Subduction zones are places where two plates, usually an oceanic plate and a continental plate, collide. In this case, the oceanic plate subducts, or submerges under the continental plate forming a deep ocean trench just offshore. Water released from the subducting plate lowers the melting temperature of the overlying mantle wedge, creating magma. This

magma tends to be very viscous due to its high silica content, so often does not reach the surface and cools at depth. When it does reach the surface, a volcano is formed. Typical examples for this kind of volcano are Mount Etna and the volcanoes in the Pacific Ring of Fire.

Lava enters the Pacific at the Big Island of Hawaii .

Volcanic features

Conical Mount Fuji in Japan, at sunrise from Lake Kawaguchi (2005) The most common perception of a volcano is of a conical mountain, spewing lava and poisonous gases from a crater at its summit. This describes just one of many types of volcano, and the features of volcanoes are much more complicated. The structure and behavior of volcanoes depends on a number of factors. Some volcanoes have rugged peaks formed by lava domes rather than a summit crater, whereas others present landscape features such as massive plateaus. Vents that issue volcanic material (lava, which is what magma is called once it has escaped to the surface, and ash) and gases (mainly steam and magmatic gases) can be located anywhere on the landform. Many of these vents give rise to smaller cones such as Puu on a flank of Hawaii's Klauea.

Lakagigar fissure vent in Iceland, source of the major world climate alteration of 1783-84. Volcanic eruptions are experienced somewhere in Iceland on an average of once every five years.[2]

Skjaldbreiur, a shield volcano whose name means "broad shield"

January 2009 image of the rhyolitic lava dome of Chaitn Volcano, southern Chile during its 2008-2009 eruption

Holocene cinder cone volcano on State Highway 18 near Veyo, Utah

Mayon, near-perfect stratovolcano in the Philippines

The Lake Toba volcano created a caldera 100 km long.

Pillow lava (NOAA)

Herubrei, one of the tuyas in Iceland

Mud volcano on Taman Peninsula, Russia

Fissure vents
Main article: Fissure vent Volcanic fissure vents are flat, linear cracks through which lava emerges.

Shield volcanoes
Main article: Shield volcano Shield volcanoes, so named for their broad, shield-like profiles, are formed by the eruption of low-viscosity lava that can flow a great distance from a vent, but not generally explode catastrophically. Since low-viscosity magma is typically low in silica, shield volcanoes are more common in oceanic than continental settings. The Hawaiian volcanic chain is a series of shield cones, and they are common in Iceland, as well.

Lava domes
Main article: Lava dome Lava domes are built by slow eruptions of highly viscous lavas. They are sometimes formed within the crater of a previous volcanic eruption (as in Mount Saint Helens), but can also form independently, as in the case of Lassen Peak. Like stratovolcanoes, they can produce violent, explosive eruptions, but their lavas generally do not flow far from the originating vent.

Cryptodomes
Cryptodomes are formed when viscous lava forces its way up and causes a bulge. The 1980 eruption of Mount St. Helens was an example. Lava was under great pressure and forced a bulge in the mountain, which was unstable and slid down the north side.

Volcanic cones (cinder cones)

Main articles: volcanic cone and Cinder cone Volcanic cones or cinder cones are the result from eruptions that erupt mostly small pieces of scoria and pyroclastics (both resemble cinders, hence the name of this volcano type) that build up around the vent. These can be relatively short-lived eruptions that produce a cone-shaped hill perhaps 30 to 400 meters high. Most cinder cones erupt only once. Cinder cones may form as flank vents on larger volcanoes, or occur on their own. Parcutin in Mexico and Sunset Crater in Arizona are examples of cinder cones. In New Mexico, Caja del Rio is a volcanic field of over 60 cinder cones.

Supervolcanoes
Main article: Supervolcano A supervolcano is a large volcano that usually has a large caldera and can potentially produce devastation on an enormous, sometimes continental, scale. Such eruptions would be able to cause severe cooling of global temperatures for many years afterwards because of the huge volumes of sulfur and ash erupted. They are the most dangerous type of volcano. Examples include Yellowstone Caldera in Yellowstone National Park and Valles Caldera in New Mexico (both western United States), Lake Taupo in New Zealand, Lake Toba in Sumatra, Indonesia and Ngorogoro Crater in Tanzania. Supervolcanoes are hard to identify centuries later, given the enormous areas they cover. Large igneous provinces are also considered supervolcanoes because of the vast amount of basalt lava erupted, but are non-explosive.

Submarine volcanoes

Disadvantages of Volcano
Best Answer - Chosen by Asker
Disadvantages: Sea - during a volcanic eruption earthquakes happen, and tsunamis may be created. Also, if it is a volcanic island, the island may be destroyed, and there is no escape. Lava flow - these are very slow moving, but destructive as they cannot be stopped and they set fire to everything in their path. Pyroclastic flow - these are impossible to outrun, travelling at about 300 km/h, and are extremely destructive Mudflow/lahar - these are mud rivers that have the consistency of cement, and destroy everything in their path, including buildings

2010 eruptions of Iceland

Volcano plume on 17 April 2010. Composite map of the volcanic ash cloud spanning 1425 April 2010 The 2010 eruptions of Eyjafjallajkull are a sequence of volcanic events at Eyjafjll in Iceland which, although relatively small for volcanic eruptions, caused enormous disruption to air travel across western and northern Europe over an initial period of six days in April 2010. Additional localised disruption continued into May 2010. Seismic activity started at the end of 2009 and gradually increased in intensity until on 20 March 2010, a small eruption started that was rated as a 1 on the Volcanic Explosivity Index.[1] Beginning on 14 April 2010, the eruption entered a second phase and created an ash cloud that led to the closure of most of Europe's IFR airspace from 15 until 20 April 2010. Consequently, a very high proportion of flights within, to, and from Europe were cancelled, creating the highest level of air travel disruption since the Second World War. The second phase of the eruption started on 14 April 2010 and resulted in an estimated 250 million cubic metres (330,000,000 cu yd) of ejected tephra. The ash plume rose to a height of approximately 9 kilometres (30,000 ft), which rates the explosive power of the eruption as a 4 on the Volcanic Explosivity Index.[2] By 21 May 2010, the second eruption phase had subsided to the point that no further lava or ash was being produced. By the morning of 24 May 2010, the view from the web camera installed on rlfsfell showed only a plume of water vapour surrounded by a blueish haze caused by the emission of sulphurous gases. Seismic data showed that there were still low intensity earth tremors happening, but scientists at the Icelandic Meteorological Office (IMO) and

the Institute of Earth Sciences, University of Iceland (IES) concluded that the volcano had returned to a dormant state. Due to the large quantities of dry volcanic ash lying on the ground, surface winds frequently lifted up an "ash mist" that significantly reduced visibility and made web camera observation of the volcano impossible.[3]

Background
Main article: Eyjafjallajkull

Dust particles suspended in the atmosphere scatter light from the setting sun, generating 'volcanic lavenders' like this one over the flight path of Leeds-Bradford Airport in England during the aviation shutdown Eyjafjallajkull (pronounced [jafjatlajktl], listen (helpinfo)) is one of the Iceland's smaller ice caps located in the far south of the island. It is situated to the north of Skgar and to the west of the larger ice cap Mrdalsjkull. The ice cap covers the caldera of a volcano 1,666 metres (5,466 ft) in height that has erupted relatively frequently since the last ice age. The most recent major eruptions occurred in 920, 1612 (believed to have lasted only three days) and from 1821 to 1823 .[4] Previous eruptions of Eyjafjallajkull have been followed by eruptions at its larger neighbour, Katla;[5] on 20 April 2010 Icelandic President lafur Grmsson said that "the time for Katla to erupt is coming close ... we [Iceland] have prepared ... it is high time for European governments and airline authorities all over the world to start planning for the eventual Katla eruption".[6] The volcanic events starting in March 2010 are considered to be a single eruption divided into different phases. The first eruption phase ejected olivine basaltic andesite lava[7] several hundred metres into the air in what is known as an effusive eruption. Ash ejection from this phase of the eruption is small, rising to no more than 4 kilometres (2.5 mi) into the atmosphere. On 14 April 2010 however, the eruption entered an explosive phase and ejected fine, glass-rich ash to over 8 kilometres (5.0 mi) into the atmosphere. The second phase is

estimated to be a VEI 4 eruption, which is large, but not nearly the most powerful eruption possible by volcanic standards. By way of comparison, the Mount St. Helens eruption of 1980 was rated as 5 on the VEI, and the 1991 eruption of Mount Pinatubo was rated as a 6. What made this volcanic activity so disruptive to air travel was the combination of the following four factors: 5. The volcano's location is directly under the Jet Stream 6. The direction of the Jet Stream was unusually stable at the time of the eruption's second phase, maintaining a continuous south-easterly heading 7. The second eruptive phase took place under 200 m (660 ft) of glacial ice. The resulting meltwater flowed back into the erupting volcano which created two specific phenomena: 1. The rapidly vapourising water significantly increased the eruption's explosive power 2. The erupting lava cooled very rapidly which created a cloud of highly abrasive, glass-rich ash 8. The volcano's explosive power was sufficient to inject ash directly into the Jet Stream. Without the specific combination of the above factors, the eruption of Eyjafjallajkull would have been a medium sized, somewhat non-descript eruption that would have been of little interest to those outside the scientific community or those living in the immediate vicinity. However, the above factors were precisely those required for the Jet Stream to carry the ash directly over Northern Europe into some of the busiest airspace in the world.

Public observations

People observing the first fissure at Fimmvruhls "Volcano tourism" quickly sprang up in the wake of the eruption, with local tour companies offering day trips to see the volcano.[8]

However tourists should note that the Civil Protection Department of the Icelandic Police produce regular reports about access to the area, including an updated map of the Restricted Area around Eyjafjallajokull, from which the public is excluded. Vodaphone and the Icelandic telecommunications company Mla installed webcams giving views of the eruption from Valahnkur, Hvolsvllur and rlfsfell. The view of the eruption from rlfsfell also includes a thermal imaging camera. Iceland (Icelandic: sland) is an island country in the North Atlantic, between Greenland and Norway, formerly a possession of Denmark. It is in Europe. Iceland is 300 kilometres east of Greenland and 1000 kilometres west of Norway. There are about 320,000 people who live in Iceland in an area of 103,000 km.

[change] History
The first people who lived on Iceland were Irish monks. They came to Iceland around the year 800. In the 9th century, Norsemen went to live in Iceland. The first Norseman who lived in Iceland was Flki Vilgerarson. He was also the one who gave Iceland its name. Inglfur Arnarson, a chieftain from Norway went to live in South West Iceland. He founded the city of Reykjavk. In 930, the Icelandic rulers wrote a constitution. They created the Althing, a kind of parliament in a place called ingvellir. Therefore, Iceland is the oldest existing republic. In 985, Erik the Red was sent away from the island because he had killed someone. He sailed to the west and discovered Greenland. Eric's son Leif Ericson discovered America in the year 1000. He called it Vinland. The voyages of Eric, Leif and others were written down in the sagas (long stories). In 1262, Iceland became part of Norway. In 1662 it became part of Denmark. In the 19th century, many Icelanders wanted to be independent from Denmark. In 1918, Iceland got many powers of its own, but the king of Denmark was still king of Iceland. When Germany took over Denmark on April 9 1940, the Althing decided that Icelanders should rule the country themselves, but they didn't declare independence yet. British and later American soldiers occupied Iceland to prevent it from being attacked by the Germans. In 1944 Iceland finally became fully independent. After World War II, Iceland became a member of the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO), but not of the European Union. Between 1958 and 1976 there were three debates between Iceland and the United Kingdom about the rights to catch codfish. They were called the Cod Wars.

In 1980, Vigds Finnbogadttir was elected president of Iceland. She was the first woman ever to be elected president of a country.

[change] People
The people in Iceland are mostly of Scandinavian origin. The language they speak is Icelandic. The language has not changed much in 1,000 years, so Icelanders are still able to read the sagas about the Vikings without many problems. Most people in Iceland are Christian. Most of them are Lutheran.

[change] Names
There are no real surnames on Iceland. Children get the first name of their father (sometimes mother) with -s+son if it's a boy, and -s+dttir if it's a girl. For example, a man named Jn Stefnsson has a son named Fjalar. Fjalar's last name will not be Stefnsson like his father's, it will become Fjalar Jnsson. The same goes for women. Jn Stefnsson's daughter Kata would not have the last name Stefnsson, she would have the name Jnsdttir. In most countries people use to call other people by their surname, but in Iceland people call other people by their first name. So when people talk about Halldr sgrmsson they do not call him sgrmsson, but Halldr.

[change] Towns and cities

Reykjavk is the capital city of Iceland. Reykjavk is also the most important port in Iceland. Other important towns in Iceland are Akureyri, Kpavogur, Hafnarfjrur, Keflavk, and Vestmannaeyjar.

[change] Geography
Iceland is very geologically active and combined with large amounts of rain and snow caused by the warm waters of the gulf stream current which flow toward it, many interesting and unusual geographic features have developed which make it different from any other island so close to the Arctic Circle. Some of these features are Iceland's numerous mountains, volcanoes, hot springs, rivers, small lakes, waterfalls, glaciers, and geysers. The word geyser is, in fact, derived from Geysir, the name of a particularly famous geyser on the southern side of the island. Glaciers cover approximately 11% of the island and the largest, Vatnajkull, is up to 1 km thick and, by far, the largest glacier in Europe. Iceland, though considered to be a European country, sits partly in North America since it straddles the Mid-Atlantic Ridge which marks the boundary between the Eurasian and North American tectonic plates. The ridge runs directly through the populated Reykjavik

and Thingvellir historic areas, and the tectonic activity of these plates separating is the source of the abundant geothermal energy in the region.