Posted on 04/15/2010 2:00:58 PM PDT by NormsRevenge
REYKJAVIK (Reuters) – A volcanic eruption in Iceland, which has thrown up a 6-km (3.7 mile) high plume of ash and disrupted air traffic across northern Europe, has grown more intense, an expert said on Thursday.
The eruption under the Eyjafjallajokull glacier continued to spew large amounts of ash and smoke into the air and showed no signs of abating after 40 hours of activity, said Pall Einarsson, a geophysicist at the University of Iceland.
"The seismographs are showing that since this morning the intensity of the eruption seems to be growing," he said.
Hot fumes had melted up to a third of the glacial ice covering the crater, causing a nearby river to burst its banks, and frequent explosions on the floor of the crater sounded like bombs going off, he said.
The floods were abating, however, and some of those living in the sparsely populated area near the volcano had returned to their homes.
Another scientist said the eruption was 10 times more powerful than one which occurred last month on the flank of the volcano, though the two were part of the same event.
To the east of the volcano, thousands of hectares of land are covered by a thick layer of ash while a cloud blotted out the sun in some areas along the southern coast of Iceland, local media reported.
The cloud of ash from the eruption has hit air travel all over northern Europe, with flights grounded or diverted due to the risk of engine damage from sucking in particles of ash from the volcanic cloud.
(Excerpt) Read more at news.yahoo.com ...
I cannot pronounce the name of that glacier for the life of me. This is interesting. I think an Alaskan volcano became active about 1-2 weeks ago also.
Obviously, the key question here is - how on EARTH does one pronounce “Eyjafjallajokull”?Anyone?
Obviously, one doesn't.
Perhaps by eating a bhut jolokia first....
This planet has experienced much, much greater upheavals than what happened in Iceland today. It will continue to experience them and because we are much more populated, the ramifications will be much greater.
Rhu-Rho!
Probably not readung Kristinn Lavransdottir anymore either.
Where are you? It is lovely down south now. We have been having a couple of weeks of 70s weather but soon the heat and humidity will pour in and I will long for December.
Thank you!
New York was beautiful yesterday. Today ..not so much.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.