April 15, 2010

Eyjafjallajokull heats up again

The volcano under the Eyjafjallajokull glacier started erupting again about a month ago. It died back, people went on with their lives and then, two days ago, blammo! From Yahoo News/Reuters:
Icelandic volcano eruption intensifies
A volcanic eruption in Iceland, which has thrown up a 6-km (3.7 mile) high plume of ash and disrupted air traffic across northern Europe, has grown more intense, an expert said on Thursday.

The eruption under the Eyjafjallajokull glacier continued to spew large amounts of ash and smoke into the air and showed no signs of abating after 40 hours of activity, said Pall Einarsson, a geophysicist at the University of Iceland.

"The seismographs are showing that since this morning the intensity of the eruption seems to be growing," he said.

Hot fumes had melted up to a third of the glacial ice covering the crater, causing a nearby river to burst its banks, and frequent explosions on the floor of the crater sounded like bombs going off, he said.

The floods were abating, however, and some of those living in the sparsely populated area near the volcano had returned to their homes.

Another scientist said the eruption was 10 times more powerful than one which occurred last month on the flank of the volcano, though the two were part of the same event.
Enough ash is being kicked up to cause airplanes to be re-routed. Should be some gorgeous sunsets in Europe for the next week or so. Still no word as to whether the geologically-linked Mt Katla is showing any signs of activity. That would be a major event. Posted by DaveH at April 15, 2010 1:55 PM