Lightning and fire: Japan on alert after volcano's biggest eruption in 50 years

Daily Mail Reporter ^ | 3:59 PM on 27th January 2011

[Charles Martel]

Where’s ALGORE? They better fine that volcano quick!

If Al *really* cared about the environment, he'd volunteer to be the "cork".

[artichokegrower]

I am willing to sell Japan $1 billion of my carbon credits to offset this ecological calamity.

[Redcitizen]

Yeah, images of volcanoes in the Japanese islands always seem to call for a kaiju or two. Nice pic by the way. Thanks for responding.

[Godzilla]

Yeah, images of volcanoes in the Japanese islands always seem to call for a kaiju or two. Nice pic by the way. Thanks for responding.

LOL, its nice to be wanted :)

[Jack Hydrazine]

Related:
http://www.spiegel.de/international/world/0,1518,740641,00.html

Violent Tectonic Activity Tearing Africa in Two
Geologic transformation has “accelerated dramatically”

“In the last five years, the geologic transformation of northeastern Africa has “accelerated dramatically,” says Tim Wright, a fellow at the University of Leeds’ School of Earth and Environment. Indeed, the process is going much faster than many had anticipated. In recent years, geologists had measured just a few millimeters of movement each year. “But now the earth is opening up by the meter,” says Loraine Field, a scholar at the University of Bristol.

“In recent months, researchers have also recorded an up-tick in volcanic activity. Indeed, geologists have discovered volcanic eruptions near the earth’s surface at 22 places in the Afar Triangle in northeastern Africa. Magma has caused fissures up to eight meters (26 feet) wide to open up in the ground, reports Derek Keir from the University of Leeds.”

Interestingly, the kind of magma bubbling up in the region is the type otherwise only seen spewing forth from mid-ocean ridges, containing “the same chemical composition as the kind that emerges from deep-sea volcanoes.”

“The entire region increasingly resembles an ocean floor — one without water.”

“The new burst in activity began in 2005, when a 60-kilometer-long fissure suddenly formed in the Afar Depression. Since then, roughly 3.5 cubic kilometers (about 8/10 cubic miles) of magma have gushed forth, according to Tim Wright — enough to cover the entire area of London to an average person’s height.”

“From a geological perspective, the speed with which the magma is pushing forth is astonishing. It has been channeling its way through the rock below the earth’s surface at speeds of up to 30 meters per minute, reports Eric Jacques from the Institute of Earth Physics of Paris.

“Oxford University’s David Ferguson predicts a considerable increase in volcanic eruptions and earthquakes in the region over the next decade. They will, he says, “become of increasingly large magnitude.”

http://news.xinhuanet.com/english2010/world/2011-01/27/c_13710036.htm
Indonesia’s Mount Bromo Splashes Lava Of 200 Meters

http://poleshift.ning.com/profiles/blogs/27-january-2011-columbia
Columbia: Galeras Volcano eruption expected

[Myrddin]

Interesting speculation on an 87 day "magnetic winding cycle" observed in solar behavior regarding volcanoes.

[gleeaikin]

Kirishima has frequent volcanic activity at the moderate level of Volcanic Explosivity Index 3. There has been only one VEI 4, in 788. By comparison, Mt. St. Helens was VEI 5.
This recent activity in the Afar Depression is quite something. When I read this I said to myself, and the magnetic pole is moving really fast. Then I saw you have a link about the pole. It is disconcerting to speculate what a pole reversal will do to the world.

[steelyourfaith]

Froim William Gairdner:

"...global warming may only be part of a huge natural cycle (trees once grew near both north and south poles); that we have just finished a mini ice age; that a melting north polar ice-cap won't flood anything because when ice floating in water melts, the water does not rise - Archimedes Law - (and even a global rise of 10 degrees will only raise polar averages to -40C). That when Mount Pinatubo blew up, it spewed more greenhouse gas into the atmosphere than all human activity since the industrial revolution. And anyway, natural fluctuations of carbon dioxide absorption in the oceans and biomass dwarf anything humans produce. Of high interest, too, is that "global cooling" theory predicting a new ice age may be on the comeback because warming (if true) could create more snow and ice at the poles, locking up more of the earth's moisture, and...lowering the oceans."

Thanx Ernest_at_the_Beach !

 

Beam me to Planet Gore !

[TheOldLady]

CO2 going into the atmosphere....

Oh good! We could use a little gorebal warming around here.

[Ernest_at_the_Beach]

There must be a clock somewhere...??

[Marine_Uncle]

And pretty impressive display from any p0int of view. Time for Gore to step in and offer to stuff his behind in the crater hole to save these good folks.

[Myrddin]

I'm a firm believer in the concept that the orbital mechanics of moving planets/galaxies have a complex set of periodic interactions. We have the capability to detect the periodic elements and build a model of their interactions. We can't do anything about what is happening, but we can anticipate problems and prepare for them...instead of being victims of events that could have been anticipated. Situational awareness. Being prepared. Make life happen instead of letting life happen.

[GATOR NAVY]

Interesting. If you told a Kyushu volcano was erupting my first guess would have been Sakurajima or Aso. We stayed at an onsen in the Kirishima area in the late ‘90s. Beautiful scenery.

[Jack Hydrazine]

The magnetic isn’t only moving but the strength of the Earth’s magnetic field has been decreasing for quite a while now. It’s currently predicted to bottom out in strength by 2015. What will happen when it bottoms out I don know.