Eruption Of Iceland's Bardarbunga Raises Travel Alert to Red

The eruption of the Bardarbunga volcano in central Iceland, which appeared a strong possibility after a series of earthquakes, is currently underway, beneath the ice of the Dyngjujokull glacier. The BBC reports that Iceland has raised its air travel alert to red, its higest level, but that for now all of Iceland's airports remain open. CNN notes that "the underground activity did not immediately result in changes to volcanic activity on the surface ... Because of a pressure from the glacier cap it is uncertain whether the eruption will stay sub-glacial or not, Iceland 2 TV said."

Comments

We're heading in the right direction

[ColdWetDog]

At least this time we can pronounce the damn thing.

Re:We're heading in the right direction

[qbast]

They really should not name things by letting a cat walk on a keyboard.

Re:We're heading in the right direction

[dackroyd]

"The eruption is closer to #Dyngjujokull than #Bardarbunga so we may need to retrain journalists in pronunciation"

Good luck with that.

https://twitter.com/gislio/sta...

Re:We're heading in the right direction

[ShanghaiBill]

They really should not name things by letting a cat walk on a keyboard.

"Bardabunga" sounds like it was named by Bart Simpson.

I once flew in a helicopter over Mauna Loa. It looked nothing like the Iceland volcanoes in the news. There was very little smoke, an no ash. Just red hot lava flowing down the mountain. So when I got back home I did some research. It turns out there are different types of volcanoes. Mauna Loa is a shield volcano, while Iceland has stratovolcanoes. Shield volcanoes erupt continuously over long periods, produce relatively little ash, and have heavy low viscosity lava that flows quickly and spreads out. Stratovolcanoes erupt in explosive bursts, producing lots of smoke and ash, and have lighter, high viscosity lava, containing high levels of silicates, which tends to ooze like honey rather than flowing like water.

Btw, the helicopter ride over Mauna Loa cost about $200/person and was definitely worth it. It was the high point of our vacation. If you are on the Big Island, you should go.

Re:We're heading in the right direction

[Anonymous Coward]

At least this time we can pronounce the damn thing.

Except that that "d" is supposed to be an eth ("ð").

Re:We're heading in the right direction

[riverat1]

True but at least Bardabunga is something that can be coherently rendered in English. You can sprain your tongue trying to pronounce Eyjafjallajökull.

Re: We're heading in the right direction

[Type44Q]

Or make some female very happy...

Re:We're heading in the right direction

[Anonymous Coward]

What you're seeing on the news is likely a previous eruption of another volcano, since the present events do not (yet) produce any striking images - it's all under the ice. What will happen with BÃrÃarbunga (if anything) is uncertain since it's a very large system with potential for eruptions both under the glacier and outside the glacier. Right now it looks like it will stay subglacial, which means much of the ash would be contained by the ice - so no shutdown of all flights in Europe in that case. The biggest effects will instead be more local, in the form of flooding due to melting of the glacier.

It can be noted that BÃrÃarbunga is the world record holder for the biggest lava field produced in a single eruption during the holocene (last 11700 years), and for one of the greatest instantaneous discharges of water known to man - a flow greater than the Amazon river and the Zanclean flood that filled the Mediterranean Sea, combined. However, to reach such a flow the eruption needs to happen deeper inside the edge of the glacier, creating a large amount of melt water which is then set free ketchup-style when it finally breaks through. There is no indication that the current activity is a beginning of the big one. It is too close to the edge of the glacier and any water will escape more gradually, with a much less dramatic peak flow. The current estimates are something like 20000 m^3/s max, which is comparable to e.g. the Potomac suddenly growing to the size of Saint Lawrence River. And even that is only if the eruption grows a lot bigger than what have been seen so far.

Re:We're heading in the right direction

[Rei]

You probably only think you're pronouncing "Bardarbunga" (you mean Bárðarbunga") right. It's "BOWR-thar-BOON-ka". The R is an alveolar tap (unless you say it slowly), the th is voiced and further foward on the teeth, the N is devoiced, and the "g" (which I rendered as "k") is unvoiced but also unaspirated.

Re:We're heading in the right direction

[Rei]

It means Bárður's Bulge“.

Eyjafjallajökull means "Glacier of the Mountains of the Islands" (Eyja = Of islands; fjalla = of mountains; jökull = glacier). ("The Islands" = Vestmannaeyjar, a small island chain close off Iceland's southern shore; Eyjafjall and his big sister Katla form a mountain range near Vestmannaeyjar.)

Re:We're heading in the right direction

[Rei]

You can't say with any confidence at all right now what kind of eruption it's going to be in the long term nor what its effects will be. It's pretty much standard for Icelandic volcanoes (excepting Hekla and a few others) to start off with small lava eruptions, and it's pretty much a requirement of a subglacial eruption to begin suchly. These are chains of interconnected volcanoes, to the point where it's even hard to define what's one volcano and what's the next (it's rifts of permanent weakness from the parting of the plates). They expand as they see fit. Eyjafjallajökull began with the Móði and Magni eruptions on Fimmvörðuháls, for example.

The size of the eruption doesn't necessarily correlate with the magnitude of the jökulhlaup. They're glacial outburst floods, they occur when the water - however much is there - finds a way out of the glacier. A fast melt certainly increases the odds of a strong outburst, but it's not a requirement.

At this point we don't even know for sure that the lava has even met the ice, some of the scientists here are disputing the met office's claim.

Pimply

[mdsolar]

skateboard slang....

How is it

[Mister Liberty]

Why is it that when a thing like this happens (supposedly), we're directed to the misguided BBC, and to cowardous CNN?
Doesn't Iceland have some kind of geologic society or meteorlogic society that issues reports based on adequate, current, hot-off-the-volcano scientific data?

Re:How is it

[theVarangian]

Why is it that when a thing like this happens (supposedly), we're directed to the misguided BBC, and to cowardous CNN? Doesn't Iceland have some kind of geologic society or meteorlogic society that issues reports based on adequate, current, hot-off-the-volcano scientific data?

The icelandic met office has a site that tracks seismic activity (read: earthquakes), they have an english website: http://en.vedur.is/#tab=skjalf...

The University of Iceland's institute of earth sciences has a news page in english: http://earthice.hi.is/bardarbu...

They have also set up a number of webcams:
http://www.livefromiceland.is/... (Vaðalda, north of Vatnajökull, towards Bárðabunga)
http://vedur2.mogt.is/grimsfja... (Grímsfjall)
http://vedur2.mogt.is/kverkfjo... (Kverkfjöll)

Not very spectacular sites but the content is a bit better than most of the bullshit you are likely to get from the corporate media.

Metalocalypse

[PopeRatzo]

I don't know if any of you are fans of the magnificent cartoon "Metalocalypse", but if you are, it occurs to me that an active volcano named, "Bardarbunga" on the Dyngjujokull glacier in Iceland is exactly the kind of place Dethklok would hold one of their massive concerts where everything goes wrong and there's a total catastrophe with thousands of casualities.

Seriously, the first thing I thought of when I read the summary was Dethklock being lowered onto the stage by four armor-laden quadracopters being flown by their henchment and one of William Murderface's bass notes triggering the volcano, causing lava to burst forth over the audience. That show is friggin' hilarious.

http://youtu.be/y9KsdNtj_58

Re:Metalocalypse

[Rei]

You know, that really is the sort of thing people would do here ;) When Dethklok - sorry, Skálmöld ;) - took the stage at Menningarnótt this evening (with about a quarter of the country in attendance - who doesn't like metal? there's even been multiple Skálmöld Day“s at elementary schools where little kids come in their best metal gear and listen/ sing along to their music, and no, I'm not kidding ;) )... anyway, when they took the stage, the concert started off with a news update about the volcano. ;)

There is one music fest that I'm aware of that's held next to a volcano ("Extreme Chill - Undir Jökli), but that volcano is extinct (Snæfell).

Bárðarbunga is unfortunately rather remote. Oh, and there's the fact that the 10% of Iceland around it is now a prohibited zone...

Re:Metalocalypse

[PopeRatzo]

Skálmöld

Thank you for turning me on to my new favorite band in all the world.

I don't usually listen to metal, but I do when I'm playing video games. But then, it's essential. How can you go wrong with a band that refers to itself as "Viking Folk-Metal"?

but that volcano is extinct

Sure, that's what they all say. Like a guy telling a girl he's met, "I've had a vasectomy".

Tomorrow, on the Sci-Fi Channel...

[Daniel Klugh]

Once again Iceland precipitates a Sci-Fi Channel Disaster Event!

Re:Tomorrow, on the Sci-Fi Channel...

[ColdWetDog]

A kaboom! An earth shattering kaboom!

YouTube

[theVarangian]

Why is it that when a thing like this happens (supposedly), we're directed to the misguided BBC, and to cowardous CNN? Doesn't Iceland have some kind of geologic society or meteorlogic society that issues reports based on adequate, current, hot-off-the-volcano scientific data?

The icelandic met office has a site that tracks seismic activity (read: earthquakes), they have an english website: http://en.vedur.is/#tab=skjalf... The University of Iceland's institute of earth sciences has a news page in english: http://earthice.hi.is/bardarbu... They have also set up a number of webcams: http://www.livefromiceland.is/... (Vaðalda, north of Vatnajökull, towards Bárðabunga) http://vedur2.mogt.is/grimsfja... (Grímsfjall) http://vedur2.mogt.is/kverkfjo... (Kverkfjöll) Not very spectacular sites but the content is a bit better than most of the bullshit you are likely to get from the corporate media.

There is now also a YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/watch?...

How is it

[Anonymous Coward]

...and this: http://grapevine.is/news/2014/08/23/scientists-disagree-with-met-office-say-no-eruption/

(local English newspaper)

Re:Well, I am not concerned.

[LennyDotCom]

I guess you don't remember the the italian scientists that didn't predict the volcano.

Re:Well, I am not concerned.

[LennyDotCom]

oops earthquake:-)

Steam can produce lots of pressure...

[Anonymous Coward]

If this is melting and heating the glacier, there is a great chance of a huge explosion once the steam pressure hits critical mass. Expect an explosion of Mount St. Helen's magnitude.