[Geology2] Eyjafjallajokull volcano ash cloud impedes air traffic

Eyjafjallajokull volcano ash cloud impedes air traffic

05:47 PM

Passenger Shannon Shaw, from Oklahoma, waits to fly back home from the El Prat de Llobregat Airport in Barcelona, Spain, on Saturday, May 8, 2010. Hundreds of flights between Europe and North America were either delayed or canceled on Saturday due to the spreading cloud of volcanic ash stretching across much of the northern Atlantic, the European flight control agency said. The plume of ash also forced the closure of 15 airports in northern Spain on Saturday and is expected to expand into southern France during the day, carried along by Atlantic winds. Spain's Madrid airport was expected to remain open, but its other main international airport in Barcelona was closed. (AP Photo/Emilio Morenatti) ORG XMIT: JEM102

CAPTION

By Emilio Morenatti, ASSOCIATED PRESS

The ash cloud from the Eyjafjallajökull volcano snarled air traffic between Europe and North America Saturday but on the ground in Iceland the eruption was little different to the past several days, observers from the Icelandic Meteorological Office and Institute of Earth Sciences at the University of Iceland reported Saturday at 2 p.m. Iceland time .

Flights had to be diverted as the ash drifted eastward, stretching from Iceland to northern Spain. It seemed likely that the cloud will linger into Sunday, further disrupting flights. Air traffic had to be rerouted north over Greenland or south around Spain to avoid the ash.

Commercial flights reported that the eruption plume of Eyjafjallajökull reached 18,000 to 20,000 feet at 8 a.m. Iceland time Saturday morning. Scientists flying over the site at 1 p.m. measured it at between 15.000 to 17,000 feet, according to the Saturday report.

In Iceland there was some tephra (ash and volcanic stones) reported in the town of Vík and nearest vicinity.

In the town of Hvolsvöllur at 6 Saturday morning a "very small amount of fine, dark ash [was] detected on a white plate."

The scientists posted that the eruption is still in an explosive phase. The tephra and spatter cone continues to build up and have are reaching near the rim of the ice edge around the crater. There is little lava flow down the Gígjökull glacier. The lava front has not changed for the last couple of days.

Seismic activity is low and similar to Friday. There were four earthquakes at the site of the volcano reported Saturday.

By Elizabeth Weise

Contributing: Associated Press. The Iceland Institute of Earth Sciences report was compiled by Sigurlaug Hjaltadóttir,Björn Oddsson and Sigrún Hreinsdóttir.

Source

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