Eyjafjallajokull Eruption Flashcards
(8 cards)
What caused the eruption at Eyjafjallojokull?
-Iceland lies on the mid Atlantic ridge where the North American plate and the Eurasian plate are separating.
-as the plates move apart, magma rises and fills the magma chamber below Eyjafjallajokull.
What type of volcano is Eyjafajallajokull?
It is a shield volcano
What were impacts of the Eyjafjallajokull eruption?
-Airlines lost money: British airways lost $30 million in one day
-at it highest the plume reached 8 km in height
-reported serious injuries or deaths
-tourists numbers increased significantly following the eruption
-crops were destroyed by ash
-Kenyan farmers were losing $2 million a day as they couldn’t transport their flowers to Europe,5000 workers were affected
-as a result of the eruption, day turned to night with the ash blocking the sun in Iceland
-the ash had high fluoride content, this polluted streams and water
-The volcano emitted 150x106 kg of CO2 per day
-Winds blowing towards Europe carried fine ash over nearly all of the continent, grounding air traffic costing billions Europe’s in delays
-Loss of tourist income as flights were suspended
-loss of income for surrounding farmers ash contaminated crops and water
-the price of shares in major airlines dropped 2.5 and 3.3% during the eruption
-melting of the glacier caused flooding in nearby rivers and one road was washed away
-people couldn’t return home from holidays resulting in teachers missing lessons and students missing school
-the grounding of European flights prevented some 2.8 million tonnes of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere
-lava shot up to 200 meters high
What were some local impacts?
-livestock taken inside to escape ash and fluoride deposited from the volcano in grazing land caused internal haemorrhaging in cattle and sheep
-the local population was evacuated for safety and because of threat of respiratory problems
-local flooding as glacier melted a main road rout was breached to let surplus water flow to save the important bridge
-fresh fish exports were badly effected with loss of income
What happened throughout the European Union as a result ?
-all flights cancelled- one day at Heathrow alone 1000 flights were cancelled
-fine has couldn’t be seen where planes fly as it’s glassy and contains 58% silica which if in engines causes shutdown and scours windscreens
-shares in airline companies fell
-Europe loses $2.6 billion of GDP due to the eruption and also suffers an 11.7% drop in air passenger numbers
-400,000 British stranded worldwide
-end of Easter break so many teachers and students count not be back to school and also government members
-organs could not be delivered for transplants and and it was difficult to deliver aid
What are some of the positive impacts of Eyjafjallajokull?
-the channel and tunnel and cross channel ferries did a lot of extra business whilst the ash eruption lasted
-National Trust gave free entry to any visitor who provided an airline ticket and their passport
-reduction in aircraft noise and improved quality of life
What were further afield impacts?
-Barack Obama could not get to Poland for the funeral of polish president
What was the time scale of Eyjafjallajokull?
December 2009- increases seismic activity- magma rises
-February 2010- ground deformation was first detected , seismic activity increased
-20th march 2010- first eruption magma emitted out of various vents
-14th April, second eruption under ice cap do more explosive power and more ash 9km into the atmosphere as a plume of ejected material
