See: Iceland on alert for volcano threat
"Iceland volcano begins erupting; Area evacuated as seismologists look for ash emissions" by Jenna Gottlieb | Associated Press August 24, 2014
REYKJAVIK, Iceland — Iceland’s Bardarbunga volcano began erupting Saturday under the country’s largest glacier after a week of seismic activity rattled the area with thousands of earthquakes, the country’s Meteorological Office said.
The eruption prompted Iceland to raise its aviation alert level to red — the highest level on a five-point scale — indicating the threat of ‘‘significant emission of ash into the atmosphere.’’
Seismic data indicate that magma from the volcano is melting ice beneath the Dyngjujokull icecap on the Vatnajokull glacier, Met Office vulcanologist Melissa Pfeffer said.
The remote area, 200 miles east of the capital of Reykjavik, is uninhabited.
She said it was not clear when, or if, the eruption would melt through the ice — which is between 330 and 1,300 feet thick — and send steam and ash into the air. She said it could take up to a day for the ice to melt, or the eruption might remain contained beneath Europe’s largest glacier.
Icelandic authorities Saturday declared a no-fly zone of 100 nautical miles by 140 nautical miles around the eruption but did not shut the country’s airspace.
‘‘All airports are open and flights are on schedule,’’ Olof Baldursdottir of Iceland’s Civil Protection Department said.
Pfeffer said scientists were flying over the glacier Saturday to look for changes on its surface. Scientists were also monitoring a hydrological station downstream from the volcano for flooding — a common result of volcanic eruptions in Iceland.
Like it would melt a glacier, huh? Global warming made it disappear.
She said the amount of ash produced by the new eruption would depend on the thickness of the ice.
‘‘The thicker the ice, the more water there is, the more explosive it will be, and the more ash-rich the eruption will be,’’ she said.
Iceland sits on a volcanic hot spot in the Atlantic’s mid-oceanic ridge and eruptions occur frequently, triggered when the Earth’s plates move and when magma from deep underground pushes its way to the surface.
Well-practiced emergency procedures mean eruptions in Iceland usually do not cause deaths. Authorities evacuated several hundred people, mostly hikers, earlier this week from the highlands north of the Vatnajokull glacier as a precaution.
But the effects of the tiny island’s volcanoes have been felt around the world.
A 2010 eruption of Iceland’s Eyjafjallajokul volcano produced an ash cloud that caused a week of international aviation chaos with more than 100,000 flights canceled.
Millions of people were stranded when aviation officials closed Europe’s air space for five days out of fear that ash from Eyjafjallajokul could harm jet engines.
A 2011 eruption of Iceland’s Grimsvotn volcano was more powerful than Eyjafjallajokul but caused less disruption.
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Related:
European Vacation: Iceland Blows Its Top
Iceland's Last Exhale
Iceland Volcano Erupts
Also see:
Iceland's Future is AmeriKa's
AmeriKa's Icelandic Reflection
When Was the Last Time You Heard About.... Iceland?
Icelanders Voice Their Vote on Bank
Iceland's Example
The Difference Between Iceland and Ireland
Freezing Out Iceland
Iceland Gives China the Cold Shoulder
Globe Iced Iceland
Globe Not Nice to Iceland
Globe Nice to Iceland
Globe Grab Bag: Iceland Floes Right
I'm sure there is a le$$on in there somewhere.
