Category: eruption

According to news reports the ash cloud from Eyjafjallajökull has reached the altitude of 31.000 feet, or just about 9.5 km above ground. I currently don’t know where the cloud is drifting. But I think it is drifting to Europe.

At current time it seems like that the eruption in Eyjafjallajökull continues to gain strength because of a new inflow of magma from deep within the Earth. The deepest earthquake so far recorded was at 29.6 km depth. But that is a great depth for a earthquake in Iceland to happen at. No signs of the eruption coming to a end.

Miðað við það sem sést á vefmyndavélum, þá virðist sem að eldgosavirkni sé að aukast núna í Eyjafjallajökli. Enda hefur öskuskýið farið stöðugt vaxandi síðustu klukkutímana og það er ekki ávísun á neitt gott.

Gosóróinn á mælum Veðurstofunar er svipaður, en virðist vera vaxandi ef eitthvað er. Það þarf þó nokkra klukktíma áður en það kemur í ljós hvort að sá vöxtur í óróa heldur sér eða ekki.

According to web cameras that point to Eyjafjallajökull volcano. There is a decent sized ash cloud that is currently coming from it. It is quite hard to say how big the ash cloud is due to cloud cover in the area. But compared to yesterday and the days before that the current ash cloud is a lot bigger then before. There are indicators of that it is growing to the size of the original ash cloud seen on the first days (17th April 2010 as an example) of the eruption in Eyjafjallajökull. But that is just a speculation on my part and has not been confirmed by authorities. But this is worth it to watch the current development in Eyjafjallajökull, as it appears to be changeing from what it was few days ago.

The eruption continues in Eyjafjallajökull at current time, with no end in sight. However the eruption now is a lot more peaceful then in the first four days of the eruption. There is still some ash coming from the volcano, but at a lot lower levels then before. Lava flow has also been detected in the top crater of the Eyjafjallajökull volcano, but currently it is just melting the glacier and creating greater stream from Gígjujökull then normally is.

Among the biggest changes in this area following this eruption is that the lake that was in front of Gígjujökull is now gone, the flood in the start of the eruption completely removed it. Most likely for a long time to come, but it might be recreated in the future if the glacier starts to grow again at any time in the future.

Currently the ash only creates problems for air traffic in Iceland, both for domestic flights and flights to other countries from Iceland and to Iceland. There has also been great amount of volcano ash mist over part of Iceland today, and maybe tomorrow if the weather stays calm like it does today.

Today (21st April 2010) there has been little change in the eruption of Eyjafjallajökull. Currently it continues at slow pace and shows no signs of stopping. At the moment there is little to no ash coming from the volcano. But instead there is more steam coming up from the renaming active craters that are currently erupting in Eyjafjallajökull. If that and when it might change is unknown at this stage. But over the past month that Eyjafjallajökull has been erupting (Fimmvörðuháls is part of Eyjafjallajökull volcano) it has been shown that the volcano is able to come with surprises that nobody expected. I don’t expect that to change in the nearby future. Currently the main ash cloud event is over, but it remains unknown if that is to repeat it self in the future.

Scientists now estimate that the eruption currently is about four time larger then last eruption in Grímsfjalli that happened in the year 2004. But that eruption was VEI=3 in size. On Wikipedia the size is currently estimated at VEI=4 from Eyjafjallajökull, people should however take that number with some doubt, as the final numbers are not ready yet, but the eruption is currently not over.

The eruption today in Eyjafjallajökull has been relativity quiet today. There has not been a lot ash cloud like that was few days ago. Instead there has mostly been cloud of steam and small amount of ash. It has been really small, not enough to create problems for farmers today close the to volcano. But large enough to stop all air flight. But the wind has been on the air plain side today and has not pushed the ash far from the volcano in the low altitude. But the little amount that did get to the high altitude is going to Europe like before (3 to 6 km). But it remains to be seen if that is going to create any problems or not.

While the eruption is quite today it might change without warning and start to put out a lot of ash. But if and when that might happen is unpredictable, so all that can be done is to wait and see. Harmonic tremors continue to increase in Eyjafjallajökull. Nobody appears to be sure why that is, given the quiet nature of the eruption at the moment.

The eruption in Eyjafjallajökull continues to produce ash, even after nearly a week of a eruption in it’s top crater. This eruption is most likely a explosive eruption, so water might be needed to make ash. But the water does not help when it comes out the amount of ash that comes from Eyjafjallajökull. There are no signs of the eruption in Eyjafjallajökull stopping, there are also indicators on tremor plots from IMO that the eruption is actually gaining strength and it has been doing that for the last 48 hours or so. There is currently no signs of this eruption ending any time soon.

Due to a strong wind from the north the ash cloud is currently not reaching high altitude. But that is going to change as the wind is going to slow down today, and tomorrow there is going to be a slow wind. But that means the ash plume is going to gain some altitude tomorrow or soon as the wind slows down. The ash drift from Eyjafjallajökull is now south of Iceland, but that means the main ash cloud goes to ocean. But farmers nearby are getting covered in ash cloud at the moment and have been for last few days. With little breaks when the wind shifts a little.

According to news reports the ash cloud is due to reach east coast of Canada and U.S in the next few hours. But that is going to effect the air travel in that region, as it has done in Europe for last few days.

Here is a short update on the eruption in Eyjafjallajökull at 11:57 UTC.

Currently it looks like that the eruption is gaining strength, based on the data from tremor plots from Icelandic Met Office. The ash plume has been stable, but on occasions it has dropped down to nothing. But that almost never lasts more the few minutes or less before a new ash plume raises fast up from Eyjafjallajökull.

Currently there is a lot of ash coming from the volcano, it is reaching 5 to 10 km high up to the atmosphere in my opinion. Due to wind, the ash cloud is mostly drifting to south. But high altitude wind might carry it to Europe and prevent any air travel in Europe for coming days, or weeks.

Here are some information on the eruption in Eyjafjallajökull. The eruption continues on what appears to be more strength over the last few hours. That is what was seen before darkness happened and what tremor data from Icelandic Met Office is showing at the moment. Current GPS data show a large deflation of the volcano, but that does not mean that the eruption is going to stop soon. At current time there is no indication that the eruption is going to stop any time soon. When that happens is a great unknown at the moment.

The ash cloud is now expected to go south of Iceland. But that might not change a lot for air flight in Europe, as the ash cloud is reaching at least 5 km altitude, but it has reached as high 11 km. But if the eruption is getting stronger that might change with a short to no warning at all.

This eruption is andesite in nature according to a chemical analyse of the ash that has fallen. But that means it is explosive, even with out water entering the mixture.

Text updated at 09:53 17th April 2010.