European airspace reopens, Eyjafjallajokull volcano continues to erupt
It was anticipated that only portions of Northern Ireland and Scotland would still be affected Tuesday. However, delays could continue because of congestion.
The volcano's eruption plume reached heights of between 19,000 and 20,000 feet, with occasional pulses up to 27,000 feet, the daily report from the Icelandic Meteorological Office and the Institute of Earth Sciences and the University of Iceland said.
The report, issued at 5 p.m. Monday night, Iceland time, said the plume was drifting eastward and was dark-grey in color. The eruption site itself was not visible because of clouds and ash,
Locally in Iceland, ash fell in the Gnúpverjahreppur area, on the road to Stultartangi Power Station and in the Biskupstungur area, where it was in very fine particles. There was almost constant lightning at the volcano's center, up to 10 flashes per hour, which is common in this type of eruption. Noises from the volcano were heard in Hafnarfjörður.
The volcanic tremor was similar to what it has been in recent days. There were six micro-earthquakes recorded at the volcano from midnight Monday on, most at depths of more than six miles.
The volcano still continues in an explosive phase, but there are indications that it has lessened somewhat since the maximum activity recorded on May 13. Considerable ashfall in nearby villages is expected to continue and overall fluctuations in the strength of the eruption are also expected.
By Elizabeth Weise
SourceHow Powerful is the Eruption in Eyjafjallajokull Volcano?
It's hard to realize how powerful the eruption in Eyjafjallajokull is, without seeing it with your own eyes. So I've picked out a few videos and statistics to try to explain the true size of this natural phenomenon.
I haven't been up close myself, but a friend mine who was flying there described as ... indescribable. The hight of the plume reached 10.000 meters or 33.000 feet. That is a wall of burning black smoke that is about 30 times the height of the Empire State Building. Glowing lava rocks at the size of a house are being thrown hundreds of meters up to the air. It doesn't look this big on pictures and video and the reason is simple. When you're up close, you're still a few kilometers away. This is the best video I've found shot from the glacier itself. I don't know who shot it, as this looks like its shot within the banned area, but the footage is amazing.
Omar Ragnarsson, one of the most experienced volcano reporters in Iceland, covering 22 eruptions since 1963, flew himself to the eruption site and managed to get some amazing footage of the shock waves coming from deep down the crater. This was in the early days of the eruption which has now been going on for more than 30 days and at the time the crater was about 200 meters below the snow banks we can see.
Keep in mind that the hole we are seeing here, the crater, is actually 3-4 km wide or big enough to fit a whole international airport in it. So it's a pretty big hole.
We've all learned to know how big the ash cloud can get, covering most of Europe in the first week of the eruption. The ash is not as fine now, having larger particles, so the cloud doesn't go as far but is still causing problems in the UK, Ireland and Spain. Amazingly, the first sign of the eruption that I see here at home, about 120 km west of the volcano, was last Saturday when I could see the smoke rising up to 9 km (6 miles) into the air.
The Eyjafjallajokull Eruption in numbers:
The plumes height: up to 10 km or equivalent to 30 Empire State buildings
Magnitude of ash and lava: 250 million m3, making it the biggest eruption since Katla erupted in 1918, spewing out 700 million m3. (ruv.is, May 16th)
Lightnings: thousands of lightnings have been recorded in the plume. You can read more about volcanic lightnings here.
Distance from Reykjavik: 120 km
Area covered with ash: only few kilometers south of the volcano, as it has mostly gone the shortest way to sea
Villages hit by black rain: Vik and Hvolsvollur
Sound: the drones from the volcano have been reported in most of the country, from up to 200 km away. Depends a lot on the weather.
Visual: the plume can be seen from all south Iceland, including Reykjavik, on a good day. Then again, you can stand beside the volcano and see nothing and hear nothing, depending on weather conditions.
Duration: Started April 14th and shows no indication of stopping. According to seismology (earthquakes), there's still more magma coming to the magma chamber. Looking at earthquake patterns, some have even been predicting that a big crack might open up to the north-east of the crater stretching a few kilometers (see map below). This is considered very unlikely though.
The Eyjafjallajokull eruption is a good reminder of the tremendous forces of nature at play. Still, this is far from the biggest eruptions.
Eyjafjallajokull is a stratovolcano and it's eruptions are explosive. Exactly 30 years ago today, another such volcano exploded, Mount St. Helens in Washington. Explosions of that magnitude are not possible in Eyjafjallajokull, as it is a smaller volcano. Here's a video of the amazing explosion in St. Helen:
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(Gars O'Higgins Station penguins)
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(Twilight Saga commentary)
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(Coming soon---Volcano Watch!)
One does not discover new lands without consenting to lose sight of the shore for a very long time.
-- Andre Gide
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