Icelandic Volcano Ash Disrupts Air Travel

The eruption of a volcano in Iceland has created a vast atmospheric ash cloud that has caused European air travel chaos and may have the potential to cause localised ecosystemic damage, too.

The eruption occurred on 14 April and was the second of its kind to have taken place in recent days. It happened at Iceland’s Eyjafjallajökull glacier – the icecap of which sits on top of a 1,666 metre-high volcano that has only erupted sporadically over the past few centuries: the last such incident prior to this year was in the early 19th century.

At the very end of 2009, Eyjafjallajökull volcano was the site of thousands of mini-earthquakes some kilometres below the surface. Increased seismic activity preceded the volcano’s first eruption, which is thought to have got underway in the closing hours of March 20th 2010.

The new eruption launched a flurry of ash up to 11 kilometres skywards, and the cloud that formed out of this has since been moving south east.

Volcanic Ash Cloud

As these words were being typed, the ash cloud had led to a ban on all flights within UK airspace, bar emergency rescue missions. This measure began at 12.00pm on 15 April and was set to last for six hours at minimum.

Volcanic ash is comprised of rock fragments and small pieces of glass. In the air, this ash can cause damage to aircraft engines and it was this behaviour that led to the British National Air Traffic Service issuing the following statement. “Volcanic ash represents a significant safety threat to aircraft”, it said. “We continue to monitor the situation with the Met Office and work closely with airline customers and adjoining countries.”

Volcanic Ash: Environmental Damage

Volcanic ash that gathers at ground level can cause environmental damage if there’s enough of it, especially to local ecosystems. It can also cause structural damage – roof collapses, for example.

Speaking to the BBC, a UK scientist detailed the current situation further. “Eruptions which are charged with gas start to froth and expand as they reach the surface”, Durham University’s Doctor Dougal Jerram said. “This results in explosive eruptions and this fine ash being sent up into the atmosphere.

“If it is ejected high enough, the ash can reach the high winds and be dispersed around the globe, for example, from Iceland to Europe. These high winds are exactly where the aeroplanes cruise.”