Volcanic Eruption in Iceland

Morgunblaðið ^ | 21.03.2010 | Leifur

[Leifur]

Breaking News: A volcano just erupted in southern part of Iceland, under the glacier Eyjafjallajökull. They are starting to clear farms in the lowlands below the glacier, and ash has started to fall in the area. There has not been though much earth tremors following this.

Farmers in the area are seeing fire in the glacier and the stench is reportedly very strong. These are the most affected areas, the red is in most danger of beeing flooded with toxic water at high speed:

http://mbl.is/frimg/5/25/525555.jpg

The greatest danger following this is that the volcanic eruption will melt the glacier and a huge amount of melted glacier water will flood down the floodplaines, and the grown lands in the Southern flat lands of the country below the clacier. Some farmers have just under an hour to abandon their farms and get to safety.

Most farms are though on small hilltops, so depending on how great the eruption is, and where the meltwater will mostly flow, the devastation can be all from mostly grown land and roads to severe economic damage at a hight of an extended financial crisis extended by a impotent government and blackmailing from the EU nations especially the UK and the Netherlands.

Information from the wikipedia site:

"Eyjafjallajökull [glacier] is one of the smaller glaciers of Iceland. It is situated to the north of Skógar and to the west of the larger glacier Mýrdalsjökull.

The last eruption was from 1821 to 1823, causing a fatal glacier run. The crater of the volcano has a diameter of 3–4 km and the glacier covers an area of about 100 km². The south end of the mountain was once part of the Atlantic coastline. As the sea has since retreated some 5 km, the former coastline has left behind sheer cliffs with a multitude of beautiful waterfalls, the best known of them being Skógafoss.

In strong winds, the water of the smaller falls can even be blown up the mountain. Between 3rd and 5th of March 2010 there were measured close to 3000 earthquakes at the epicenter of the volcano. Most were very small but some could be detected in the nearby towns.[1]

These tremors were thought to be maybe a precurser of an eruption, that now is coming to fruition.

[Leifur]

Our luck seems to have run out.

-First the US military leaves, and subsequently the US government looses all interests in us, making it handy for Europe to rein in their "breakaway province".

-Then Yoko Ono comes to the country and raises a "Imagine Peace" tower of light at taxpayers expense.

Then the international financial crisis hurts us very hard, both because of our overinvestment, and because of the actions of the UK government that by closing Icelandic bussinesses with terrorist laws, pushed even the most solvent of our banks into bankruptcy with the others worse run ones, so we lost all our banks in one week.

-Then because of political instability as the result of this, and undesicive leaders an impotent government, the most left-wing in our history, is voted into power.

-They kiss the wand of our blackmailers by both applying for admission into the EU and agreeing on paying the British and the Netherlands for those countries political decision of reimbursing money lost because of one of those crappier banks operations in the respected countries. A dilemma called the Icesave dilemma, that threatens to nearly double our foreign depts.

-And then when we are finally fighting back, by the people who gave their own government a falling grade by rejecting the blackmail in a national referendum, a long dreaded eruption happens in one of our most threatening volcanoes.

But we will not loose our independence, and we will not bow, we will rather become a chinese protectorade than a EU province. Best wishes, from Iceland, that still loves the US, even though they don´t notice our plight.

Leifur

[driftdiver]

Best wishes and stay safe.

Oh and its only the lefties here causing the problem. Once we clean those basta$#ds out we’ll be back.

[cripplecreek]

Iceland is one of the few places outside the states that I waould actually like to see someday.

Stay safe.

[FlingWingFlyer]

More global warming! Is the glacier okay?

[Palladin]

Good luck to you and your countrymen (and women.)

At least with a volcano, there’s plenty of warning. I hope all the people near the volcano move out quickly and do not resist, as some in the US did when Mt. St. Helen erupted.

[Palladin]

BTW, the 30th anniversary of the eruption of Mt. St. Helens is coming up soon.

http://spatialnews.geocomm.com/dailynews/2010/mar/19/news3.html

[depressed in 06]

...will melt the glacier...

Must be global warming.

[Pamlico]

Wish you well during a difficult period.

[Quix]

PING.

WIN, as you predicted . . . thar she blows!

CONGRATS.

Thx.

[Danae]

As another poster said, we will root out all the leftists who are so bold to pronounce how ungenerous conservatives are, yet the world can count on America’s help when the nation is run by Conservatives. When liberals are, not so much. They are too busy enriching themselves to really give a hoot about any other nation’s plight.

Hypocrites.

[AIM-54]

Hang in the Leifur,

Not everyone has forgotten Iceland.

[Quix]

Have always had a fondness in my heart for your land.

LOL . . . Chinese protectorate might just be safer than in the EU alright!

The EU has to be several layers of evil worse.

[IrishCatholic]

A bit off topic.

If you spelled “Eyjafjallajökull” wrong, would anyone notice?

[EBH]

Eyjafjallajökull is a small glacier just west of the medium sized Mýrdallsjökull which hosts the better known volcano Katla.

Eyjafjallajökull has its own, smaller, caldera which last erupted almost 200 years ago, and seems to have erupted every couple of hundred years ago in the last millennia.
The magma system is part of the fissure running from Heimaey up to Katla and on north, and is very active.
Since the volcano is sub-glacial, any significant eruption will be accompanied by flash melting and shattering of the ice cap, and associated jökulhlaup - the wall of water coming down as the eruption starts, which can be tens of meters high and scour a strip many kilometers wide, with peak flow levels larger than the Mississippi in full flood.

To make things more exciting, the magma system may be tightly enough coupled to Katla, that eruptions pair - Katla is bigger and meaner, and historically erupts a couple of times per century. It last erupted 92 years ago.

A couple of time per 100,000 years Eyjafjallajökull seems to undergo major explosive eruptions.

http://scienceblogs.com/catdynamics/2010/03/eyjafjallajkull.php

[edpc]

With words like Eyjafjallajökull and Mýrdallsjökull, it seems like everyone would be dead before you could shout an Icelandic warning.

[Steve Van Doorn]

The only picture I can find so far:
http://mbl.is/mm/frettir/innlent/2010/03/21/eldurinn_sest_ur_fljotshlid/

[Fester Chugabrew]

LOL!

[Leifur]

Thank you all that have posted kind words to me and my country.

And I hope you are right driftdiver, even though the Bush administration did not help us either, not even giving us access to currency swap lines they established with the other Nordic countries (with whom we nearly always cooperate in such matters, but have mostly left us this time, because the EU is running their matters more and more, so old alliances are forgotten).

Here is some information from Wikipedia about the famous (and thus economically important as a tourist attraction) waterfall Skógarfoss that could be endangered, amongst so many other thing by this:

"The waterfall Skógafoss (pronounced [ˈskou.aˌfos]) is situated in the south of Iceland at the cliffs of the former coastline. After the coastline had receded seaward (it is now at a distance of about 5 km from Skógar), the former sea cliffs remained, parallel to the coast over hundreds of kilometers, creating together with some mountains a clear border between the coastal lowlands and the Highlands of Iceland.

The Skógafoss is one of the biggest and most beautiful waterfalls of the country with a width of 25 meters and a drop of 60 meters. Due to the amount of spray the waterfall consistently produces, a single or double rainbow is normally visible on sunny days. According to legend, the first Viking settler in the area, Þrasi Þórólfsson, buried a treasure in a cave behind the waterfall. A local boy found the chest years later, but was only able to grasp the ring on the side of the chest before it disappeared again. At the eastern side of the waterfall, a hiking and trekking trail leads up to the pass Fimmvörðuháls between the glaciers Eyjafjallajökull and Mýrdalsjökull. It goes down to Þórsmörk on the other side and continues as the famous Laugavegur to Landmannalaugar."

The eruption seems to be very close, or even in the famous walk route over Fimmvörðuháls, which so many tourist flock to every summer to hike over. Also the LOTR´s Elrond like island of growth where an ancient forest has survived between the glaciers, called Þórsmörk could also be endangered by this. It is a favorite destination of tourists and Icelanders alike during the summer months where we flock many weekends over impassable clacial waters to camp out, sing by the fireside and strenghten our bonds to the land of our forefathers.



Ps. PING to some that I have been in contact with.

[Bean Counter]

Best of luck my friend, and you will be in our prayers.

I will point out that this situation is why we have a Second Amendment to our Constitution, and I recommend the same for Iceland...

[Quix]

INTERESTING.

THX.

USGS must have something on it.

Don’t know about Google earth.