According to an new study into the Eyjafjallajökull volcano ash cloud. It appears that more volcano ash was up in the air then originally estimated. The estimation now is that the amount of volcano ash was around 100 times more then expected during the eruption. This has serious implications to air travel in the future if there is a repeat of the Eyjafjallajökull volcano eruption scenario. But most of Eyjafjallajökull volcano ash was small and fine volcano ash that did stay long time up in the air.
This is the conclusion in a study that was made by Mark Woodhouse (and more people) and is published in Journal of Geophysical Research. Sadly I do not have access to this study (I am too poor to do so). So I an only repeat what the Rúv News is saying about this study.
News and links
Öskufallið var meira en við héldum (Rúv.is, Icelandic)
Journal of Geophysical Research
Reminds me of this video:
http://gizmodo.com/5538937/a-haunting-time+lapse-video-of-eyjafjallajokull
here it can clearly be seen how the plume is kept down by the wind. It is quite obvious that estimations of mass flux based on plume heigth alone will lead to underestimations. But it is nice someone has calculated it.
Btw: the authors usually are willing to share a copy if you email them directly.
The activity around Askja and North Vatnajökull does not look normal to me. It may be time to keep a close eye on Askja!
It has so far not passed what I consider out of the ordinary for this area. But Askja volcano is worth monitoring.
Jon, I e-mailed you the Woodhouse article to the e-mail account you list under ‘Contact’. Let me know, if you haven’t received it yet.
I did get it. I have answered your email now.
Pretty decent (tectonic?) swarm near Grimsey.