Volcano and earthquake activity in Iceland
While everything is quiet. It is worth noticing that Icelandic Met Office has updated it’s tremor web page with the new SIL stations around Mýrdalsjökull / Katla volcano and Eyjafjallajökull volcano.
The Icelandic Met Office tremor page can be viewed here.
Too say big thank you too all the people how have donated money too me in my money problems while trying to live in Denmark. I have dedicated to write a ebook about Eyjafjallajökull volcano eruption in the year 2010. It is not going to be a scientific book. But rather a book on how I did view the eruption, along with some scientific data if I can get them into the book. Among other stuff about Eyjafjallajökull volcano.
This is going to be a ebook. But I am also going to check and see if I can get a print edition for those how want that rather then a ebook. But sadly, the print edition would cost extra. For the people how have donated to me in my money problems, the ebook is going to be free of charge. For everyone else it is going to be cheap. What price is going to be, I am not sure yet at this moment.
I have all the emails from the people how have donated to me. So if you want the ebook when the time come. All that has too be done is to drop me a email too get the ebook.
I am not sure when the ebook comes out. As it takes a bit of a time for me to write it. But I am going to announce it when the ebook is ready and published. I plan to start writing it when I have finished writing a sci-fi ebook that I have already started on.
In the evening news in Rúv they tell about research (based on models) that suggest that it is going to be less chance of large airspace disruption like took place in Eyjafjallajökull volcano eruption in the year 2010. Reason for that is the fact that volcano ash from Katla volcano is normally not as small (less then 1 micron in size) as the volcano ash from Eyjafjallajökull volcano. But this small size of the early ash cloud allowed it too travel longer and hang up longer in the air then from more common ash clouds.
The reason for this is because of the fact that lava from Katla volcano are mostly basaltic and would create Hawaiian eruption if no glacier was on top of Katla volcano. Ash cloud from Surtseyan eruption is more heavy, as the volcano ash particles are larger and more heavy.
This might be a good news for the air travel industry in Europe when Katla volcano starts erupting. But this might create issues for the area closest to Iceland anyway. Depending on wind direction.
The Rúv news about this. Use Google translate at own risk.
Kötlugos hefði ekki sömu áhrif (Rúv.is)
According to news on Rúv. The British government is starting a major research into the ash cloud from Eyjafjallajökull volcano. The size of this research is big and the cost is around 3 million pound. The aim of this research is into how ash cloud behaves, how it spreads and to compare models to reality. This research might also aim to improve satellite detection of ash clouds. But it proved to be not quite reliable in the Eyjafjallajökull volcano eruption that took place in the year 2010.
Icelandic news about this. I have not found any english news about this yet. Use Google translate like when you play the lottery. Hope for the best.
Viðamikil gosrannsókn (Rúv, Icelandic)
News in english about this. Thanks to Erik Klemetti how did point this out.
£530,000 to study Icelandic volcano (Press Release)
New Class of Ceramic Coatings Could Protect Jet Engines from Volcano Ash (Related press relase)
Post updated at 19:49 UTC on 22 April 2011.
Almannavarnir in Iceland did send out this warning earlier tonight. There is a heavy rain going over south of Iceland. This means that there is a risk of ash floods from south side of Eyjafjallajökull volcano. As that area is still covered in heavy ash after the last year eruption. People traveling in this area is advised to monitor the news or the website vegagerdin.is and vedur.is for more information. The area in the most risk of flooding is Þórsmörk and other rivers that come from Eyjafjallajökull volcano. The most heavy rain is forecast to start from 22:00 UTC and last until 12:00 UTC on 22 April 2011. But this forecast can change without any warning at all. So it is important to monitor the weather forecast for changes.
News about this in Icelandic. Use Google translate if you want to solve a puzzle.
Varað við vatnavöxtum undir Eyjafjallajökli (Icelandic, sunnlenska.is)
Varað við vatnavöxtum á Suðurlandi (Icelandic, Rúv)
Vara við úrkomu og vatnavöxtum (Icelandic, mbl.is)
When the Hawaiian phase of the eruption in Eyjafjallajökull volcano finished many people did believe and think that the eruption in Eyjafjallajökull volcano was over for a long time. But they where to proven wrong about 23:30 UTC on the 13. April 2010 when a new phase started in the Eyjafjallajökull volcano eruption. For the first few hours of the eruption nothing did happen on the surface. As the eruption had to melt the glacier that was on top of it. That did finish around 06:00 UTC on the morning of 14. April 2010 and the eruption broke up to the surface around that time.
The eruption up to this day had just been Hawaiian type eruption with slow moving lavas and with little to no volcano ash at all. The second phase of the eruption in Eyjafjallajökull volcano was mostly of Strombolian type of eruption. With little to heavy ash fall. But in the early start of the eruption and specially when a water got into the crater the ash fall was heavy. The volcano ash cloud did at it’s highest peak go up to 10 km high.
This eruption in Eyjafjallajökull volcano is not among the Iceland biggest or the longest one. But during the six weeks of eruption it did manage to shut down Europe air-space down to Spain creating a billion euro worth of pure loss to the economic in Europe. But the ash fall did not just create problems in Europe. In Iceland farmers living close to the Eyjafjallajökull volcano got there own share of problems. Most of the problems where due to the ash fall (A video player that can play wmv file required) and the flooding that took place around Eyjafjallajökull volcano that took place because of the melting glacier on top of Eyjafjallajökull volcano.
Other things that where seen in this eruption in Eyjafjallajökull volcano was a smoke ring, something really rare and most often found in Etna volcano in Italy. But shock waves where also seen and heard across Iceland during this eruption. But it was also recorded when the eruption was throwing up large rocks from the main crater. Some people also made really cool videos of the eruption. Here is one of it.
Among the many things that did happen was the fact that a lava did flow into the glacier and destroy the glacier in the process. This happening in a eruption in Iceland had not been recorded or observed until the eruption in Eyjafjallajökull volcano in the year 2010.
Picture of the Eyjafjallajökull volcano smoke ring. Picture captured from Vodafone IS web cam that was observing the eruption. Copyright of this picture belongs to Vodafone IS. Click on this picture for a full size.
Update: A meeting at University of Iceland tomorrow since it has been one year since the eruption in Eyjafjallajökull volcano.
Tomorrow from 17:00 to 19:00 UTC at Askja, room 132 and central space. Please see the pdf file for more information about this even. I was asked by a geologist working at University in Iceland to publish this here for anyone how is interested in going to this event.
Eyjafjallajökull one year on at University of Iceland
Click to read this pdf file.
This day exactly one year ago a eruption started in Eyjafjallajökull volcano in Iceland. The first phase of the eruption was a Hawaiian type eruption that took place in Fimmvörðuháls. But that area is glacier free and is part of Eyjafjallajökull volcano system. On 31.03.2010 a second fissure did open close the first one that had been erupting for about two weeks by then.
The explosive phase of the eruption in Eyjafjallajökull volcano started on April 13th 2010. But I am going to write more about that when the day comes (I hope). That eruption did not end until late May and since then Eyjafjallajökull volcano has resumed it’s dormant status. For now anyway.
Here are videos of the Fimmvörðuháls eruption in Eyjafjallajökull volcano that took place in 2010.
According to a news article in The Independent today. It appears that UK government was unprepared for a volcano eruption in Iceland that could send ash cloud in the direction of UK. Like that did happen in Eyjafjallajökull volcano eruption in the year 2010. But according to the same news the UK government dedicated to drop such plans from there risk assessments and planning in the year 2009. A whole year before the eruption in Eyjafjallajökull volcano took place.
This was most likely also the case in other countries in Europe where the ash cloud did come as a surprise to governments across Europe and they did appear to be unprepared for it when it halted all flights in Europe for almost a week.
News about this.
Government failed to act on volcanic ash threat, say MPs (The Independent)
Emergency plans ‘need scientists’ (BBC News)
The Icelandic news respective. Use Google Translate and expect world of mystery to happen.
Voru óviðbúin íslensku eldgosi (mbl.is)
Eyjafjallajökull: Bretar brugðust (Rúv.is)
As it is quiet time in Iceland and I currently don’t have a lot to write about volcano activity and earthquake wise. So while that is I am going to put up two pictures that I got of the Eyjafjallajökull volcano ash from last years eruption.
Eyjafjallajökull volcano ash. I release this picture under Creative Commons Licence (see page for more details).
Eyjafjallajökull volcano ash. I release this picture under Creative Commons Licence (see page for more details).
To get full size, click on the picture.
The pictures where taken by Birgit in Austria. With many thanks to here for this great pictures of the volcano ash from Eyjafjallajökull.
Over the last few hours it has been getting cold. The frost has been getting down to -10C and even colder in the higher areas. This has started a interesting events that takes place in Iceland (this might happen elsewhere too). But the events that take place here are frost earthquakes. This are not real earthquakes, but a event that the frost creates and are in fact false earthquakes. Most of them are too small and too poor in terms of quality to be located by the SIL network that Icelandic Met Office has. But when there is a sudden drop in temperature the frost earthquakes can appear on the SIL network, but with a extremely low quality. The driving force behind this earthquakes is water that is freezing in the ground and in rocks (cracks).
During the next 24 hours or so there is going to be a cold snap in Iceland with temperature going down to -20C in some areas, and even lower at glacier and higher areas. So we can expect a lot of frost earthquakes (false earthquakes) in that time. So the Icelandic Met Office maps might start to look interesting and with a lot of earthquakes in the next 24 hours.
Picture: Icelandic Met Office Picture saved: 6th January 2011 at 20:39 UTC.
Frost earthquakes on Fagurholsmyri SIL station close to Öræfajökull volcano and Esjufjöll volcano. This frost earthquakes are not located by the automatic SIL system.
The weather forecast in Iceland: Temperature
Iceland news about this. Use Google translate at own risk.
Frostbrestir í Eyjafjallajökli (Vísir.is)
Text is updated at 22:46 UTC on 6th of January 2011. News link is added.