Ian
priscilla 1Iceland's Volcanic Eruptions of 2010
May 14th 2010 03:46
Planes sit on the tarmac at Gatwick airport on April 15, 2010 in London, England.
The second 2010 eruption of Eyjafjallajökull volcano in Iceland on 14 April 2010 caused extensive air travel disruption. In response to fears that ash ejected by the volcano would damage aircraft engines, the controlled airspace of many countries was closed to instrument flight rules (IFR, flying on instruments only) traffic in what became the largest air traffic shut-down since World War II. This action caused millions of passengers to be stranded not only in Europe, but across the world.
The eruption occurred beneath glacial ice. The cold water from the melting ice chilled the lava quickly, causing it to fragment into very small particles of glass (silica) and ash, which were carried into the eruption plume. Due to the extremely fine nature of the ash particles and the large volume of steam produced from the glacial meltwater, an ash plume that is hazardous to aircraft was rapidly sent high into the upper atmosphere. The presence and location of the plume depended upon the state of the eruption and the winds. Due to the way air masses function, and because of the large volume of steam produced by this eruption, the plume was injected into the jet stream.
The info-graphic below sourced from LiveScience explains the science behind the ash cloud.
Click to enlarge in a new window
The ash cloud created phenomenal lightning displays, coloured sunsets red across much of Europe, and forced flight cancellations for several days leaving five million travellers stranded around the world. Below are some amazing pictures of the eruption and its effects.
*Image source 1.
**Image source 2.
***This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia page for Air travel disruption after the 2010 Eyjafjallajökull eruption.
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