Earth Equity News

Melting Icelandic Ice Could Trigger More Eruptions. By Jack Grimston and Chris Haslam, London Times, April 18, 2010. "The clash between molten rock and ice on the surface of the Iceland volcano has produced ash so fine that radar and other aircraft instruments are unable to detect it. The near-invisibility of the ash swirling in vast clouds over Britain and Europe has magnified the confusion and trepidation brought about by the eruption of Eyjafjallajokull. Now the uncertainty is set to increase still further, with scientists warning that, based on the volcano's historic behavior, the eruption could be 'just the beginning'. The mountain may continue to blow out ash sporadically for a year or more. Even more worryingly, Katla, the neighboring volcano, is groaning from the eruption under pressure equivalent to 3,000 mini-earthquakes a day of up to 3.1 on the Richter scale. Katla is some five times bigger than Eyjafjallajokull and would erupt in a similar way -- but spewing out far bigger plumes of ash.

This does not mean British airspace will be closed for a year, but it could herald months of repeated bouts of disruption, depending largely on the weather... Guy Gratton, head of Cranfield University's facility for airborne atmospheric measurement, took a flight with fellow researchers to gather data. 'Speaking as an aeronautical engineer, I would not want to be putting an airliner up there at the moment,' said Gratton… Andrew Hooper, an expert on Iceland's volcanoes at Delft University in Holland, said: 'There is a very real possibility that the volcano will continue to erupt on and off for months. 'Eruptions of Eyjafjallajokull in 1821-3 and 1612 were followed in short shrift by eruptions of Katla, with a far greater potential for disrupting travel and the climate'… 'Since the 19th century the ice caps in Iceland have been shrinking yet further,' said Hooper. 'This will lead to additional magma generation, so we should expect more frequent voluminous eruptions in the future.'"