Second phase of Eyjafjallajökull Eruption

After a brief hiatus during which the first two fissuers at Fimmvörðuháls closed, the main caldera at Eyjafjallajökull let rip early in the morning of April 14th.



ash plume through the clouds - from visir.is - click to embiggen

There was a jökulhlaup - wish I could have been there with Vatnamælingar on my old route... - actually there were 2 of them, so far. Only about 1/4-1/3 of the ice cap has melted, it is about 1/4 km thick and several km across.
There are, apparently, 5 active vents inside a 1-2 km caldera, with ash rising to 5-10 km.
Heavy ashfall reported across the east, with ash reaching north-west Norway so far.

I had read that the Icelandic Aviation Authority had contingency plans to divert and close air traffic lanes across the North Atlantic, revised on an hourly basis - they have 300 flight on average in the zone at any given time.
The contingency plans are now active, with some lanes closed and flights diverted around.

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EUMETSAT Ashfall images
looks like Aberdeen will get some soon...

Fortunately, some lone geologist on nightwatch made the call, and evacuations were made, including those of intrepid reporters heading in and wondering tourists not answering their cell phones.

Eruption is now not so much a tourist eruption, but on the small size of medium, so far.

It may not be done yet.

Scibling Eruptions is on it, as before

Lots of cool photos coming out, and webcams are running, though the weather was poor yesterday.

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"Ladies and Gentlemen, this is your Captain speaking. We have a small problem. All four engines have stopped. We are doing our damnedest to get them under control. I trust you are not in too much distress." -- Captain of BA Flight 9.

It didn't take long for UK airspace to close.

Nice work, all of my students are sending messages saying they are stuck abroad and can't fly home in time for Monday morning. How they can afford foreign holidays is another matter...