Iceland cuts aviation alert to orange, no ash from new eruption

[Buster's Uncle]

Iceland cuts aviation alert to orange, no ash from new eruption
Reuters
By Robert Robertsson and Simon Johnson  1 hour ago



Picture shows magma along a 1-km-long fissure in a lava field north of the Vatnajokull glacier, which covers part of Bardarbunga volcano system, August 29, 2014. The eruption is at the tip of a magma dyke around 40 km from the main Bardarbunga crater and activity subsided to relatively low levels after peaking between 0020 and 0200 GMT, Iceland Met Office seismologist Martin Hensch said. Iceland's Meteorological Office on Friday downgraded its volcano alert level to orange from red and said a small eruption that started during the night is not a threat to aviation. REUTERS/Marco Nescher



REYKJAVIK/STOCKHOLM (Reuters) - Iceland cut its ash warning level for aviation to orange from red on Sunday, saying a fresh fissure eruption in Iceland's Bardarbunga volcano system was not creating ash.

Iceland's largest volcanic system, which cuts a 190 km long and up to 25 km wide (118 miles by 15.5 miles) swathe across the North Atlantic island, has been hit by thousands of earthquakes over the last two weeks and scientists have been on high alert.

In 2010, an ash cloud from the Eyjafjallajokull volcano, in a different region of Iceland, closed much of Europe's air space for six days.

The eruption, which started early on Sunday morning, spewed lava more than 50 metres in the air and is close to an earlier eruption that continued for a few hours early on Friday.

The Met Office raised its ash alert level to red earlier on Sunday but cut it after monitoring the eruption during the day.



A small new fissure eruption at Iceland's Bardarbunga volcano system prompts the highest aviation warning - but no ash, only lava is coming out of the fissure


"No ash has been detected," the Icelandic Meteorological Office said in a statement. "The Aviation Colour Code for Bardarbunga has therefore been reset to orange."

Red is the highest level on a five-colour scale and it indicates that an eruption is imminent or under way, with a risk of spewing ash. Orange is the next highest level.

A three nautical mile restricted flight area around the volcanic activity set by the Icelandic Transport Authority has been cancelled.

No flight restrictions are in effect as a result of the volcanic eruption.

Icelandic authorities said the latest fissure eruption started in Holuhraun north of Dyngjujokull glacier at around 0400 GMT.



Steam and smoke rise over a 1-km-long fissure in a lava field north of the Vatnajokull glacier, which covers part of Bardarbunga volcano system, August 29, 2014. The eruption is at the tip of a magma dyke around 40 km from the main Bardarbunga crater and activity subsided to relatively low levels after peaking between 0020 and 0200 GMT, Iceland Met Office seismologist Martin Hensch said. Iceland's Meteorological Office on Friday downgraded its volcano alert level to orange from red and said a small eruption that started during the night is not a threat to aviation. REUTERS/Marco Nescher


Scientists estimate the fissure to be at least 1.5 kilometres long. The lava is estimated to be six to eight metres thick and flowing at a rate of about 1,000 cubic metres per second.

"The eruption is producing 50- to 60-metre high lava fountains," Armann Hoskuldsson, a geologist at the University of Iceland told Reuters.

Two days ago, a 600 metre-long fissure in a lava field north of the Vatnajokull glacier, which covers part of the Bardarbunga system, erupted.

That eruption only lasted for a few hours and was not in an area covered by ice and did not produce ash. The risk of an ash cloud is highest when there is a sub-glacial eruption as melt water and magma mix to produce ash particles.

The new eruption is very close to Friday's and is not under the glacier.

"It is almost in the same location. The crack has only extended a little bit further to the north," Magnusson at the National Crisis Coordination Centre said.

Last week, scientists estimated around 400 million cubic metres of lava had flowed out from under the volcano in a long dyke. The eruption on Friday was at its tip.

(Reporting by Robert Robertsson; Editing by Hugh Lawson and Stephen Powell)


http://news.yahoo.com/fissure-eruption-iceland-volcano-aviation-warning-raised-red-085257049.html

[Buster's Uncle]

Iceland Volcano Blasts Back to Life
LiveScience.com
By Becky Oskin, Senior Writer  38 minutes ago



Lava fountains during an Iceland eruption on Aug. 31.


A new volcanic eruption in southeast Iceland on Sunday (Aug. 31) fountained lava nearly 200 feet (60 meters) into the air.

Lava is spewing from the same crack as a small eruption that occurred Friday (Aug. 29). The fissure slices through the 200-year-old Holuhraun lava field, between Bardarbunga volcano and Askja volcano.

The "calm" eruption is 50 times more powerful than Friday's outburst, according to the Iceland Met Office. Lava was streaming from the fissure at 15.9 million gallons per minute (1,000 cubic meters per second) at 7 a.m. local time (3 a.m. ET) on Sunday, three hours after the flare-up began. The basalt flow was almost 0.6 miles wide by 1.9 miles long (1 kilometer by 3 kilometers) by mid-morning local time. The crack feeding the lava flow has also expanded to the north and south, and is now almost 1 mile (1.5 km) long

The eruption can be seen on live webcams here and here, though a storm severely lowered visibility Sunday.

Emergency officials briefly raised the aviation alert warning to red, but no commercial flights have been affected. 

The volcanic activity kicked off Aug. 16, when thousands of small earthquakes underneath the Bardarbunga volcano signaled fresh magma (molten rock) was burrowing underground. After a few days, the tremors showed the magma push off toward the northeast, forming a long channel called a dike. This narrow magma intrusion is now more than 28 miles (45 km) long.

On Aug. 29, the dike punched through to the surface in the Holuhraun lava field, an older lava flow that erupted in 1797. Lava briefly erupted just after midnight local time (8 p.m. ET) for three to four hours. A small amount of molten rock streamed from an old fissure some 2,000 feet (600 m) long, jetting clouds of steam. The Holuhraun lava field sits at the toe of Dyngjujokull glacier, between Bardarbunga volcano and Askja volcano. Askja volcano is located 30 miles (50 km) northeast of Bardarbunga. Fissures from earlier eruptions fractured the remote and rugged terrain. As the dike tunneled underground and neared the surface there, it shifted the ground, opening new cracks and widening older fractures, scientists with the University of Iceland reported.

New cracks in the glacier covering Bardarbunga volcano also hint at unrest beneath the ice.

Bardarbunga volcano is buried under an ice cap 1,310 to 1,970 feet (400 to 600 m) thick. Three circular crevasses, described as ice cauldrons, were discovered in the ice cap during a reconnaissance flight Aug. 27, the Met Office said. Each pit is about 32 to 50 feet (10 to 15 m) deep. The pits indicate either an eruption or geothermal heating that is melting ice deep below the glacier's surface, according to the Met Office.

Scientists can only detect a subglacial eruption at Bardarbunga by watching for melting and "listening" for the seismic signals of lava melting ice.


http://news.yahoo.com/iceland-volcano-blasts-back-life-183555466.html

[Buster's Uncle]

Iceland lowers aviation alert on volcano
AFP
1 hour ago



Lava flows from cracks in the ground after the Bardabunga volcano erupted again in the early hours on August 31, 2014 (AFP Photo/Armann Hoskuldsson )



Reykjavik (AFP) - Iceland on Sunday lowered its aviation alert on its largest volcano after a fresh eruption on a nearby lava field prompted authorities to enforce a flight ban for several hours.

The Bardarbunga volcano system, in the southeast of the country, has been rocked by hundreds of tremors daily since mid-August, prompting fears the volcano could explode.

The decision to lower the alert level to orange, from red, and lift the air traffic ban around the peak was taken after it appeared the most recent eruption had not led to a major release of ash into the atmosphere.

"Visibility (at) the eruption site is now good. No ash has been detected," said the Icelandic Meteorological Office, which is in charge of monitoring volcanic activity.

The restrictions imposed earlier in the day had not resulted in the closure of any airports, the Civil Protection Office said previously in a statement.

Sunday was the third time in a week that Iceland issued a red alert for aviation due to seismic activity at the peak, prompting fears of global flight chaos like that caused by another Icelandic volcano four years earlier.



Picture taken on May 21, 2011 shows a cloud of smoke and ash over the Grimsvoetn volcano on Iceland (AFP Photo/Sigurlaug Linnet)


In April 2010 Eyjafjoell, a smaller volcano, spewed a massive ash cloud into the atmosphere, triggering the closure of airspace for days and stranding more than eight million travellers.

Bardarbunga, at 2,000 metres (6,500 feetis Iceland's second-highest peak and is located under Europe's largest glacier, Vatnajoekull.

It also sits in one of the most active seismic areas on the planet.Sunday's eruption took place shortly before 0600 GMT in roughly the same area in Holuhraun lava field where another and smaller eruption took place Friday, according to the Civil Protection Office.

And it took place along a longer fissure than Friday's eruption -- 1.5-kilometre (0.9-mile) compared with one-kilometre (0.6-mile).

The lava flow amounted to 1,000 cubic metres (35,000 cubic feet) per second, and a total of 500 small earthquakes were detected, according to the Meteorological Office.

The Vatnajoekull glacier which covers the volcano is largely uninhabited but popular with tourists and hunters, who stay at trekking cabins and campsites in the summer months. The area was evacuated within days of Bardarbunga kicking into action.


http://news.yahoo.com/iceland-issues-red-alert-eruption-near-volcano-095649457.html

[Buster's Uncle]

Lava eruption prompts Iceland aviation alert
Associated Press
BY JENNA GOTTLIEB and SYLVIA HUI  2 hours ago



Icelandic authorities briefly raised the aviation warning code to red on Friday during a small eruption at the Holuhraun lava field in the Bardabunga volcano system. (Aug. 29)



REYKJAVIK, Iceland (AP) — Lava fountains danced along a lengthy volcanic fissure near Iceland's subglacial Bardarbunga volcano Sunday, prompting authorities to raise the aviation warning code to the highest level and close the surrounding airspace.

The red warning code — the highest in the country's alert system — was raised early Sunday after the eruption in the Holuhraun lava field, about five kilometers (three miles) north of the Dyngjujoekull glacier. The warning was lowered 12 hours later as visibility improved and it was clear that no volcanic ash was detected.

The country's meteorological agency said scientists were monitoring the ongoing eruption.

"Visual observation confirms it is calm, but continuous," the weather agency said on its website.

Sunday morning's eruption at about 0500 GMT (1 a.m. EDT) followed a smaller one in the same site on Friday that also prompted authorities to briefly raise the aviation warning code to restrict flights in the area. Thousands of small earthquakes have rocked the region in recent days, leading to concerns that the main volcano may erupt.

The aviation warning meant that no flights were allowed in the airspace north of the fissure eruption area, up to 6,000 feet (1.1 miles) from the ground. Aviation officials said the restrictions do not affect commercial flights, which fly much higher than that.



Map locates Iceland eruption.; 2c x 4 inches; 96.3 mm x 101 mm;


Authorities said lava fountains of about 50 meters (165 feet) high erupted Sunday from the fissure, estimated to be almost a mile (1.6 kms) long.

The fissure eruption appeared about 40 kilometers (28 miles) from the main Bardarbunga volcano, which lies under the vast Vatnajokull glacier that dominates the eastern corner of Iceland.

Though remote and sparsely populated, the area is popular with hikers in the summer. Officials earlier evacuated all tourists in the region after intense seismic activity there.

Although Sunday's fissure eruption was more powerful than the one on Friday, experts say the situation is contained and is unlikely to result in the same level of aviation chaos as 2010. In April that year, an eruption at the Eyjafjallajokull volcano wreaked havoc on millions of travelers. More than 100,000 flights were canceled after officials closed Europe's air space for five days out of fear that volcanic ash could damage jet engines.

Dave McGarvie, a volcanologist at Britain's Open University, said the fissure eruptions produce only very small amounts of ash — they produce mostly lava — and are highly unlikely to cause any aviation disruption.

"It's good news in the sense that it appears to be very small, very contained. It's not spreading under the glacier — if it did you'll get a lot of flooding," he said.

He said Icelandic authorities are mostly concerned that the main volcano under the ice cap will erupt, but there are no signs so far that this is imminent.

___

Sylvia Hui contributed to this report from London.


http://news.yahoo.com/iceland-raises-volcano-aviation-alert-again-095727681.html

[Buster's Uncle]

Iceland raises volcano aviation alert briefly
Associated Press
By JENNA GOTTLIEB  August 29, 2014 11:00 PM



Icelandic authorities briefly raised the aviation warning code to red on Friday during a small eruption at the Holuhraun lava field in the Bardabunga volcano system. (Aug. 29)



REYKJAVIK, Iceland (AP) — Icelandic authorities briefly raised the aviation warning code to red Friday after a small fissure eruption near Bardarbunga volcano, but no volcanic ash was detected by the radar system.

The eruption took place the Holuhraun lava field, five kilometers (three miles) north of Dyngjujoekull glacier, Iceland's Meteorological Office said. The event was described as being not highly explosive — and thus not producing much of the fine ash that can affect aircraft engines.

The eruption began just after midnight local time (0000 GMT Friday; 2000 EDT Thursday) and ended at 0400 GMT Friday (midnight EDT Thursday).



This is a Aug. 19, 2014 file image taken from video of a sign is posted on the road next to Bardarbunga, a subglacial stratovolcano located under Iceland's largest glacier. Earthquakes are rocking Iceland's Bardarbunga volcano, adding to concerns that magma movements may trigger an eruption that could hinder air traffic. Iceland's Met Office says two earthquakes measuring over magnitude 5 shook the volcano under the vast Vatnajokull glacier on Wednesday Aug. 27 2014. Some 500 quakes have hit the area since midnight. (AP Photo/Courtesy Channel 2 Iceland, File)


The airspace was closed three nautical miles around the eruption area up to 5,000 feet (1,524 meters) — meaning it did not affect commercial flights flying over Iceland. The aviation code for Bardarbunga was originally raised to red — meaning that an eruption was underway — but was lowered to the lesser orange level as there was no significant ash production, the Civil Protection Department said.

The so-called fissure eruption was a crack that opened up above a magma intrusion. It didn't produce any significant ash.

The eruption raised concerns because of one in 2010, when Iceland's Eyjafjallajoekull volcano erupted and sparked a week of international aviation chaos. Thousands of flights were canceled when aviation officials closed Europe's air space for five days, fearing that volcanic ash could harm jet engines.