Posted on 04/17/2010 6:08:49 AM PDT by blam
Volcano Spews More Ash, Spawns Wider Flight Chaos
Associated Press Writer Paisley Dodds
4-17-2010
LONDON A lingering volcanic ash plume forced extended no-fly restrictions over much of Europe on Saturday, as Icelandic scientists warned that volcanic activity had increased and showed no sign of abating a portent of more travel chaos to come.
Scientists say that because the volcano is situated below a glacial ice cap, the magma is being cooled quickly, causing explosions and plumes of grit that can be catastrophic to plane engines if prevailing winds are right.
"The activity has been quite vigorous overnight, causing the eruption column to grow," Icelandic geologist Magnus Tumi Gudmundsson told The Associated Press on Saturday. "It's the magma mixing with the water that creates the explosivity. Unfortunately, there doesn't seem to be an end in sight."
An expansive cloud of grit hovered over parts of western Europe on Saturday, triggering extended flight bans that stranded people around the globe. Continued volcanic activity could produce more plumes if the weather patterns stay the same.
The Icelandic Meteorological Office said the amount of ash in the plume grew Saturday and that the vast ash cloud is continuing to travel south and southeast. Scientists had planned to fly over the volcano to see how much ice has melted to determine how much longer the eruption could spew ash, but the Icelandic Coast Guard said Saturday's flight had been postponed.
[snip]
(Excerpt) Read more at news.yahoo.com ...
The face of the man-bear-pig!
"Let's first look at the onset of "the" Dark Ages in the sixth century AD. The Roman Empire was finished, nothing was happening in the sciences, and worse was happening in nature. The Italian historian Flavius Cassiodorus wrote about conditions that he experienced during the year AD 536 :"
"The Sun...seems to have lost its wonted light, and appears of a bluish colour. We marvel to see no shadows of our bodies at noon, to feel the mighty vigour of the Sun's heat wasted into feebleness, and the phenomena which accompany an eclipse prolonged through almost a whole year. We have had a summer without heat. The crops have been chilled by north winds, [and] the rain is denied." Other writers of the time described similar conditions : Procopius : "...during this year a most dread portent took place. For the Sun gave forth its light without brightness...and it seemed exceedingly like the Sun in eclipse, for the beams it shed were not clear." Lydus : "The Sun became dim...for nearly the whole year...so that the fruits were killed at an unseasonable time."
Michael the Syrian : "The Sun became dark and its darkness lasted for eighteen months. Each day it shone for about four hours, and still this light was only a feeble shadow...the fruits did not ripen and the wine tasted like sour grapes."
Song for Eyjafjallajokull volcano
Oh the weather outside is frightful,
But the fire is so delightful,
And since we've no place to go,
Let It Spew! Let It Spew! Let It Spew!
It doesn't show signs of stopping,
And I've bought some corn for popping,
The lights are turned way down low,
Let It Spew! Let It Spew! Let It Spew!
When we finally kiss goodnight,
How I'll hate going out in the storm!
But if you'll really hold me tight,
All the way home I'll be warm.
The fire is slowly dying,
And, my dear, we're still good-bying,
But as long as you love me so,
Let It Spew! Let It Spew! Let It Spew!
This natural phenomenon was what the ‘Dark Ages’ was all about.
There is also a chance that a horizontal sheet of magma under Eyjafjallajokull could shoot out and enter a magma chamber beneath Katla. Hitting the roots of its neighbor would almost certainly trigger an eruption.
The three eruptions of Eyjafjallajokull on record were each associated with a subsequent eruption of Katla. There are no signs of turbulence beneath Katla but, since it last erupted in 1918, a new blast is overdue. Katla tends to erupt every 40 to 80 years.
So far there have been no signs of the reawakening of the Katla volcano, but a lot of things can still happen, so we are monitoring it quite closely, said Pall Einarsson, a geophysicist at the University of Iceland.
Interesting.
Thx.
Looks like my kinda music.
Sobering.
Thx.
That's when Krakatoa blew up?
Reminds me of The Wilders which is from our neck of the woods. Also, my son plays often with Crooked Jades and Jonathan Edwards, both do some old timey stuff.
I’m an airline pilot (currently grounded in Europe) and if this continues for a couple of weeks I’m afraid we’ll be out of business.
Which airline?
No. Read the article in post #83. A celestial impact?
well, the world didn’t end in 1918 or earlier epochs of our recorded histroy, even though there were lots of disasters and suffering and life changing events.
Let’s hope despite the Mayan/Hopi and other calendars, this age isn’t coming to an end either.
Otherwise, dayum.
All those social security payments...wasted
I read elsewhere that the last time this volcano erupted it went on for a year, from late 1821-1823. Of course, no airplanes in those days!
Also, there is a much bigger volcano which could be triggered to erupt by this one and if that happens we’ll have some global cooling for sure.
What would happen if no planes could fly to Europe for a year?
Seems like I saw a show on TV recently where they were saying the ice core data shows the 535 AD Krakatoa event was WAY bigger than the 1883 eruption.
Interesting blog MM, good work.
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