Larger Iceland Volcano, Katla, Shows Signs of Potential Eruption

Volcanic activity at Katla, the big sister of Eyjafjallajokull which has historically erupted in sequence with the smaller volcano, has increased 200% in recent days, and experts are concerned it may soon blow:

 "A report from the University College London (UCL) institute for risk and disaster reduction has outlined that "An eruption in the short term is a strong possibility'. In its initial research paper it said: 'Analysis of the seismic energy released around Katla over the last decade or so is interpreted as providing evidence of a rising ... intrusive magma body on the western flank of the volcano.' Seismic readings of the volcano indicate the tremors around the area have increased substantially. Four earthquakes were detected near Katla during a 12-hour period on May 21st, more than at any other time since the Eyjafjallajokull volcanic eruptions first occurred in March. Three earthquakes at the Katla Volcano were reported by the Disaster and Emergency website Hisz.rsoe.hu on Sunday evening. The tremors may have been due to ice movements within Mýrdalsjökull glacier or magma movement under the volcano. The last earthquake to take place at the volcano was recorded yesterday morning."

Warning signs have been posted near the base of the glacier which caps the Katla volcano (top) Inset (above), the last major Katla eruption, in 1918.

In related news, NASA has observed massive phytoplankton blooms in the north Atlantic which it believes are directly related to Eyjafjallajokull's ash cloud (sorry, I misspoke about this - scientists don't believe they're related, at least not this season).

Here's their photo (see green and blue swirls in top half of image):

Photos, Video: Mount St. Helens Blew its Top 30 Years Ago Today

Mount St. Helens in Washington state blew its top 30 years ago today, at 8:32 am. The Big Picture has an amazing set of photographs shot during and after the eruption.

Watch Dan Rather's CBS News report from May 21, 1980, AFTER THE JUMP...

 

Volcanic Ash Cloud Turns Day into Night in Iceland

Above, a car on a rural road in Iceland in the middle of the day: 

"Huge plumes of ash from the continuing volcanic eruption at Eyjafjallajokull glacier have all-but blotted out the sun in the region. Anything that stands still for more than five minutes begins to disappear under a choking layer of ash, and everyday objects take on an eerie 'dead' look in the dark, monochromatic environment. The thick column of smoke, steam and ash belching from the volcano shows no signs of abating, and scientists offer little comfort."

Ash shut down Iceland's main airport today.

In related news, photographer Sean Stiegemeier has produced a stunning time-lapse film of the volcano.

He writes: 

"So I saw all of these mediocre pictures of that volcano in Iceland nobody can pronounce the name of, so I figured I should go and do better. But the flights to get over took forever as expected (somewhat). 4 days after leaving I finally made it, but the weather was terrible for another 4. Just before leaving it got pretty good for about a day and a half and this is what I managed to get."

Watch the stunning time-lapse video, AFTER THE JUMP...

 

Photo: The Iceland Volcano Meets the Northern Lights

Two of nature's masterpieces, hard at work. Two more shots, AFTER THE JUMP...

Reports of Second Iceland Volcanic Eruption False

Uh oh. Hekla is the volcano indicated by the purple pin. Eyjafjallajökull is the red pin. Katla, the really scary one, is the big white splotch just to the east of the red pin.

UPDATE: It's apparently a false alarm. An Icelandic Broadcasting Service camera was pointed at Eyjafjallajökull but it was labeled Hekla. MSNBC picked up the breaking news item.

'Nightmarish Face' of Volcano Scowls, Spits at Europe

 

Here's an intense shot of lightning inside the Eyjafjallajökull ash plume. The one below was shot by Italian scientist Marco Fulle.

 Vulcanologists are waiting for the other shoe to drop:

"...previous Eyjafjallajökull eruptions have triggered eruptions of neighbouring Katla, one of the largest volcanoes in Iceland. Katla erupted every 40 to 80 years in the thousand years before the last eruption in 1918...The larger volcano, beneath the larger Mýrdalsjökull glacier, has a reputation for triggering huge jökulhlaup – the Icelandic term for the sudden release of meltwater from glaciers and ice sheets. Its last eruption generated a peak discharge of 1.6 million cubic metres per second within 4 to 5 hours and moved so much debris that Iceland's coastline was extended by 4 kilometres. A new Katla eruption would be unlikely to kill anyone, because the area is sparsely populated and eruptions are usually preceded by earthquakes that would give plenty of time to evacuate. It would cut the main road link in the south of the island, however...The three eruptions of Eyjafjallajökull in the last 1100 years – in 920, 1612 and 1821 – have all triggered larger Katla eruptions."

Air traffic authorities are debating reopening regions of airspace as the crisis continues.

Some see a nightmarish face face in the radar image of the three craters that form Eyjafjallajökull. No doubt Rush Limbaugh sees the face of Nancy Pelosi.

 

Finnish fighter jets which flew through the ash cloud were said to have sustained damage:

"Images taken inside one Hornet engine with a fibroscope camera indicated that the heat of the engine — around 1,000 degrees Celcius — had melted the ash inside the engine, blocking ventilation channels. 'Blockages of ventilation channels caused by melting ash lead engine components to overheat and material to weaken,' it said, adding this could fracture rotating engine parts. In the worst case, the weakening of component materials could cause 'parts to detach and the engine to be destroyed,' it said."

Here's a flickr page with some recent shots.