Seismic tremor on 12 April reached a minimum. Eruption from the summit caldera. The second, more explosive eruptive phase, began on 14 April at the subglacial, central summit caldera.
This phase was preceded by an earthquake swarm from around on 13 April to on 14 April. Meltwater started to emanate from the icecap around on 14 April and an eruption plume was observed later that morning.
The exact conditions at the summit were unknown due to cloud cover obscuring the volcano, but on 15 April an overflight imaged the erupting caldera using radar figure The 15 April radar image helped depict a series of vents along a 2-km-long, N-oriented fissure.
Both on top of and from below, meltwater flowed down the N and S slopes. Jokulhlaups floods of meltwater also carrying considerable debris reached the lowlands around the volcano with peak flow around noon on 14 April, causing destruction of roads, infrastructure, and farmlands.
Residents had earlier been evacuated from hazardous areas. Tephra fall began in SE Iceland. That evening, a second jokulhlaup emanated from the icecap down the Markarfljot valley, which trends E-W along the N margin of the volcano and contains extensive outwash from surrounding glaciers. On 15 April the ash plume reached a maximum altitude of over 8 km. E-blown ash began to arrive over mainland Europe closing airspace over the British Isles and large parts of Northern Europe. Ash generation continued at a similar level.
Meltwater emerged from the glacier in pulses. Debris-charged jokulhlaups were seen in the evening. Burton, M. Sigmarsson, O. Wall, R. Further References. Dahm, T. Hjaltadottir, S. Vogfjord and R. Hooper, A. Larsen, G. Pedersen, R. Sturkell, E. Vogfjord , Sigurlaug Hjaltadottir , Gunnar B. Gudmundsson , Matthew J. Large explosions from the summit crater; ash plumes close airspace in Europe. After a short hiatus in eruptive activity, an explosive eruptive phase began on 14 April under the ice-covered central summit caldera.
The resulting plume caused an unprecedented disruption of air traffic and closure of airspace over northern and central Europe. In the early morning of 14 April, the ash-loaded eruption plume rose to more than 8 km altitude and blew E. The eruption plume reached mainland Europe on 15 April, triggering the closure of airspace over large areas.
On 16 April some variability occurred in seismic tremor and tephra generation, but overall the eruptive pace remained stable and large closures of airspace continued. The IES estimated the amount of erupted material during the first 72 hours of the eruption at the summit caldera April Erupted products consisted of fragmental material, the majority being fine-grained airborne tephra.
On 17 April the ash plume rose to over 8 km altitude, blowing first to the E, and then, after about that day, blowing to the S. Ash fell around the volcano and there were at least lightning strikes in vicinity of the eruption. When ash emissions on 17 April figure 12 blew S they created an optically thicker band of ash that appeared to be surrounded by a much wider, less optically dense plume figure NASA analysts determined that the ash plumes were at two different altitudes, the narrow, more concentrated plume was above the more diffuse cloud, casting a shadow on the ash below.
They said that according to the Icelandic Met Office, the upper parts of 17 April ash puffs reached 4. The 17 April example illustrates the difficulty of estimating the critical 'source terms' boundary conditions for modeling ash plume dispersal. Such models, which are regularly run by groups such as VAACs, volcano observatories, and their associated agencies, help assess where plumes might go in conditions such as darkness and overcast weather.
After about on 18 April, tremor intensified beyond levels maintained since 16 April. Daily solutions from continuous, second GPS stations operated by IMO and IES, revealed centimeter-scale horizontal movements toward the center of the volcano, with some stations also registering centimeter-scale vertical elevation decreases.
Tremor with a dominant frequency of 0. Following an initial period of glacial flooding on April, relatively little water drained from the ice cap's N flank. On 19 April the plume rose only m above the volcano's 1.
Later in the afternoon reports indicated maximum plume height around 4. Samples collected 19 April show the same composition as early in the explosive phase, but the fluorine content was higher. Tephra deposited next to the craters was m thick. Analogous conditions continued to exist for the following week. Although there had been magma spatter at the vent area by 20 April, no significant lava flow had yet been detected.
Heavy sound blasts were heard nearby, especially S and E of the mountain. Radar images acquired that day by the Icelandic Coast Guard showed no changes in the size of the cauldron since 19 April. Latest results from GPS stations showed deflation. On 21 April, the eruption continued with less explosive activity. The northernmost one of two main craters in the summit caldera was active, and phreatomagmatic explosions occurred with some lava spatter at craters. Lava flows towards the N were thought to have begun around noon on 21 April.
Beginning about 24 April the IES website contained detailed daily status reports of the eruption. Over the next few days there was little change, with the N crater remaining active, generating mild explosive activity and spatter. Steam plumes were rising where the N-flowing lava met ice. The eruption site was seen clearly during an overflight on 27 April. The eruptive activity in the N ice cauldron was seen to be similar to conditions during the preceding four days, but a new crater had formed in the cauldron's SW corner.
Erupted material continued to accumulate on the flanks of the crater. Spatter escaped the vent, reaching heights of m. Unstable plumes of ash rose regularly from the vent. After an slight decrease in explosive activity early in May, activity then increased somewhat. The eruption was mixed, with the lava-producing phase being larger than the explosive phase. During this time, the plume was darker and wider than in the preceding week.
Near-source tephra fall-out increased. On 4 May a flight by the Icelandic Coast Guard showed that the crater continued buildup in the northern-most ice cauldron. Lava flowed N and spread at an elevation of m. Increased seismicity up to 13 May suggested that new material was intruding from depth, and GPS observations indicated inflation.
Little change in activity was observed during May. Tephra fallout was detected mainly to the NE, with some reaching the coast. Some tephra dispersed towards the W in the afternoon. By May only a weak plume rose from the W part of the crater; both explosions and lava flows from the crater were absent.
During May there was no apparent eruptive activity, though there was still a considerable amount of steam coming from the crater. Aerial observers on 25 May figure 14 saw blue smog sulfuric gases and smelled sulfur. Scientists who went to the crater on 25 May saw a small blast of ash, but mostly steam. Intense steam rose from the craters, with occasional small ashy explosions. Noise of intense boiling and or degassing came from the craters.
Visibility to the bottom was limited due to steam. A strong smell of sulfur came from around the craters. Volcanic tremor was still higher than before the eruption, being rather steady since 22 May, but small pulses, mostly on the lowest frequency, were detected. Several small and shallow earthquakes under the volcano occurred on a daily basis. No significant GPS deformation was measured. There was still a considerable amount of steam coming from the crater. Recent precursory intrusions.
According to Sturkell and others , "In , and again in , magma intrusion was detected under the southern slopes of Eyjafjallajokull. These intrusions had their center of uplift approximately 4 km southeast of the summit crater of the volcano and were associated with considerable seismic activity. After the intrusion event in , crustal deformation and earthquake activity at Eyjafjallajokull have remained low.
Aviation impacts. According to Wall and Flottau , more than , flights were canceled after the ash plume caused aviation authorities in many parts of Europe to close their airspace for several days.
Wall, Flottau, and Mecham noted the difficulty if assessing the risk of flying through volcanic ash plumes which can have varying particulate concenrations and compositions. Routes of several FAF aircraft figure 15 suggest that the flight distances were on the order of a few hundred kilometers.
The Flightglobal website reported the FAF released images showing the effects of volcanic dust ingestion from inside the engines of a jet fighter that flew through the ash cloud on the morning of 15 April.
One aircraft engine showed melted ash clearly visible on an interior surface. Another jet trainer flew through the plume carrying an air sampling pod to collect dust from the atmosphere at various altitudes, however the measurements have yet to be reported. Einarsson, P. This compilation of synonyms and subsidiary features may not be comprehensive. Synonyms of features appear indented below the primary name.
In some cases additional feature type, elevation, or location details are provided. It consists of an elongated ice-covered stratovolcano with a 2. Fissure-fed lava flows occur on both the E and W flanks, but are more prominent on the western side.
Although the volcano has erupted during historical time, it has been less active than other volcanoes of Iceland's eastern volcanic zone, and relatively few Holocene lava flows are known. An intrusion beneath the S flank from July-December was accompanied by increased seismic activity. The last historical activity prior to an eruption in produced intermediate-to-silicic tephra from the central caldera during December to January The following references have all been used during the compilation of data for this volcano, it is not a comprehensive bibliography.
Volcanic hazards in Iceland. Jokull , Post-Miocene Volcanoes of the World. Jakobsson S P, Petrology of recent basalts of the eastern volcanic zone, Iceland. Acta Nat Islandica , Johannesson H, The endless lavas at the foot of Eyjafjoll and glaciers of the last glaciation. Jokull , in Icelandic with English summary. Geological map of Iceland, sheet 6, south Iceland. Oskarsson B V, Unpublished Master's thesis , Univ Iceland, p.
Pedersen R, Sigmundsson F, Temporal development of the intrusive episode in the Eyjafjallajokull volcano, Iceland, derived from InSAR images. Bull Volcanol , Steinthorsson S, et al.
Catalog of Active Volcanoes of the World - Iceland. Unpublished manuscript. May summit eruption, indicating gradual deflation of a source distinct from the pre-eruptive inflation source. Black orthogonal arrows show the satellite flight path and look direction. One colour fringe corresponds to line-of-sight LOS change of Black dots show earthquake epicentres for the corresponding period. Background is shaded topography. Thick lines below indicate the time span of the interferograms.
Red stars and triangles same as in Fig. Hooper, T. Pedersen, M. Roberts, N. Oskarsson, A. Auriac, J. Decriem, P. Einarsson, H. Geirsson, M. Hensch, B. Ofeigsson, E. Sturkell, H. Feigl, Nature , , Remarks: GPS and InSAR data reveal a pre-eruptive stage of inflation due to a complicated time-evolving magma intrusion that produced variable and high rates of deformation, in particular after 4 March.
One of the nine interferograms selected for modeling the intrusive episode. Incoherent areas are masked. Amplitude image in background. The area corresponds to Fig. The time span insets show the relation to the period s of elevated seismic activity Dark gray main seismic period; Light gray secondary seismic period. For details on dates please refer to Table 2. One full color cycle corresponds to a change in range of 2. Einarsson, F. Sigmundsson, S. Hreinsdottir, and H.
Geophysical Research Letters , 30, Remarks: Deformation at Eyjafjallajokull is accompanied by an earthquake swarm in June and can be modeled with a horizontal sill intrusion.
All images cover the area shown in Figure 1B. Glacier outlined in black. Details on image-pairs in Table 1; f Fringe pattern predicted by variable opening sill model. Dashed line shows outline of uniform sill plane.
Green star: optimal Mogi source. Grey circles: best micro-earthquake locations from the swarm; g Variable sill opening. The three minor areas of opening disconnected from the main sill are artifacts due to atmospheric noise in the data. Sigmundsson,, Geophysical Research Letters , 31, L The maps shown below have been scanned from the GVP map archives and include the volcano on this page.
Clicking on the small images will load the full dpi map. Very small-scale maps such as world maps are not included. The maps database originated over 30 years ago, but was only recently updated and connected to our main database. We welcome users to tell us if they see incorrect information or other problems with the maps; please use the Contact GVP link at the bottom of the page to send us email.
In the summer the waterfall can be a bit crowded, just as Skogarfoss waterfall, since both are popular tourist attractions. It is more than worth it, since the small valley is beautiful, serene and peaceful. If you do stop there, make the hike to the top of Valahnukur, which is about 1. The hike offers a superb and panoramic view of the surrounding mountains and Thorsmork Valley.
There are many words in Icelandic that sound strange and alien to native English speakers. The word is a compound of three different words. Just a quick tip, perhaps you should try this first alone, for even seasoned news reporters seemed to struggle with it.
Driving along the South Shore brings you close to the volcano. The Mountain Range is visible as soon as you drive east following road 1 from Reykjavik and you pass Hellisheidi heath. There you can find Hellisheidi Geothermal Plant , which is visible from the road. You will see many volcanoes tower over the southern part of Iceland , among them mt. Hekla and mt. Katla , which are both active and powerful volcanoes. Eyjafjallajokull is between the two, standing high not far from the village Hvolsvollur, where you can visit the beautiful Saga center.
If you follow Road 1 eastwards along the South Shore you will eventually pass a great exhibition, where you can learn a great deal about the eruption. Explore the South Shore in a Super-jeep and get closer to the area of the magnificent Eyjafjallajokull eruption. Continue towards the glaciers Eyjafjallajokull admiring the surrounding panorama. Check out our complete guide to the South Coast. This site uses cookies. By continuing to browse the site you are agreeing to our use of cookies.
Find out more here. Skip to main content. The most famous and active volcano in Iceland is mount Hekla, which has erupted 18 times since , the last time in Eyjafjallajokull Formation Eyjafjallajokull was formed in two ways: by the divergent plate boundary intersecting Iceland and a hotspot that scientists believe resides under the boundary.
Therefore, its height is due to the bubbling up magma from the boundary and its explosiveness is due to the hotspot. Its origin is thought to lie deep in the mantle, perhaps at the boundary between the core and the mantle at approximately 2, km depth.
As the plates moved apart, excessive eruptions of lava constructed volcanoes and filled rift valleys. Iceland is a place of surreal beauty. The incredible landscape of the island is staggering. Most of the country is an uninhabited moonscape of craters, bright green moss, towering glaciers, volcanoes, hot springs, and fields of lava rock.
It is so other-worldly that it is often the backdrop in sci-fi films. Iceland is located on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge, which makes it one of the most tectonically active places in the world.
There are over volcanoes located in Iceland and over hot springs. Begin typing your search term above and press enter to search. Press ESC to cancel. Skip to content Home Assignment What type of plate boundary is eyjafjallajokull on? Ben Davis February 2,
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