Iceland Volcano

Question 1

Where is the volcano located?

Answer 1

On the Mid Atlantic Ridge, on tectonic plates

Question 2

What type of plate is the volcano located on? How are they moving?

Answer 2

Constructive plate, moving apart

Question 3

What happens as the plates move apart?

Answer 3

Magma can rise to the surface and form volcanoes and hot spots

Question 4

What is formed when magma rises to the surface?

Answer 4

Volcanoes and hot spots

Question 5

What did the latest eruption occur under? What did this cause?

Answer 5

The latest eruption occurred under a glacier, so the pyroclastic flow melted it and caused flash flooding

Question 6

How fast did the lava cool and why? What did this lead to?

Answer 6

The lava cooled quickly due to the melted glacier cooling it down, this lead to massive gas, steam and glass particle clouds rising very high

Question 7

How high did the gas, steam and glass particle cloud rise to?

Answer 7

30,000ft

Question 8

What way is the North American plate moving?

Answer 8

West

Question 9

What way is the Eurasian plate moving?

Answer 9

East

Question 10

What 2 plates make up the mid Atlantic ridge? At what type of plate boundary?

Answer 10

The North American and the Eurasian plates at a constructive plate boundary

Question 11

What process is driving the North American and Eurasian plates apart?

Answer 11

Convection currents

Question 12

What is the rate that the North American and Eurasian plates are moving apart?

Answer 12

About 2.5cm per year

Question 13

Why were a chain of volcanoes formed along the rift zone of Iceland?

Answer 13

Because that is where the constructive plates are moving apart

Question 14

Which direction does the chain of volcanoes along the rift zone run?

Answer 14

From NE to SW

Question 15

Spell the name of the volcano in Iceland

Answer 15

Eyjafjallajokull

Ey jaf jalla jokull

Question 16

What has the process of the North American and Eurasian plates moving apart caused?

Answer 16

A chain of volcanoes along the rift zone of Iceland

Question 17

Which volcano is the most southerly of Iceland’s main volcanoes?

Answer 17

Eyjafjallajokull

Question 18

Where is eyjafjallajokull located in comparison to Katla?

Answer 18

To the west of Katla

Question 19

Which volcano is Iceland’s main volcano?

Answer 19

Katla

Question 20

How tall is eyjafjallajokull?

Answer 20

1666 metres tall

Question 21

Name 2 features that make up the eyjafjallajokull volcano

Answer 21

• an ice covered stratovolcano

* caldera

Question 22

What is a stratovolcano?

Answer 22

A volcano built up of alternate layers of ash and lava

Question 23

How wide is eyjafjallajokull’s caldera?

Answer 23

2.5km wide

Question 24

What is a caldera?

Answer 24

A large volcanic crater, especially one formed by a major eruption leading to the collapse of the mouth of the volcano.

Question 25

Describe how frequently eyjafjallajokull erupts

Answer 25

Very infrequently

Question 26

Before the 2010 eruption, when was the last time eyjafjallajokull erupted?

Answer 26

1822

Question 27

What date did the volcano erupt?

Answer 27

20th March 2010

Question 28

What was the ash plume made up of?

Answer 28

* dissolved gases from the molten rocks | * steam from the melted glacier

Question 29

How high did the ash plume reach in the air?

Answer 29

11,000m in the air

Question 30

Why did the ash plume pose such a threat to airplanes?

Answer 30

When heated by the engine heat, it can be turned into a hard glass and lock up the engine

Question 31

Why did the ash cloud linger for longer than expected?

Answer 31

The weather across North west Europe at the time was very settled, so there were no winds to disperse the ash cloud

Question 32

What happened on April 14th 2010?

Answer 32

The eruption melted the eyjafjallajokull glacier and set off a major flood

Question 33

How many people had to evacuate from the major flood?

Answer 33

700

Question 34

As well as the main cone, where else was lava emitted from?

Answer 34

A 500m long fissure

Question 35

How hot was the lava emitted from the fissure?

Answer 35

1000*C

Question 36

How far did the fissure emit lava into the air?

Answer 36

150m into the air

Question 37

What was the eruption of the fissure categorised as?

Answer 37

A fissure and an explosive eruption

Question 38

When were there plenty of warning signs of an eruption?

Answer 38

3-5th of March 2010

Question 39

Name one of the warning signs of the eruption

Answer 39

•there were 3000 recorded earthquakes

Question 40

How wide is the vent for the volcano?

Answer 40

2.5 km

Question 41

Why were scientists very concerned at the time of the eruption?

Answer 41

They thought it could be a warning sign of a much larger eruption of the historically more active and dangerous volcano, Katla, located right next to eyjafjallajokull

Question 42

Why did the ash cloud have a worse impact than an eruption from Katla?

Answer 42

The only areas ever impacted from Katla are the surrounding areas in Iceland. Therefore, the ash cloud that affected many international countries had a larger impact

Question 43

What does IMO stand for?

Answer 43

Icelandic Meteorological Office

Question 44

What does the IMO do?

Answer 44

* monitors earth movement | * issued warnings for potential eruptions and floods

Question 45

What showed the height of the ash plume? Why was this important?

Answer 45

The IMO's weather radar on the southwest tip of the country showed the height of the ash plume, which was important for calculating the distribution of the ash

Question 46

How was the ash cloud tracked and prepared for?

Answer 46

It was tracked by satellite by many countries so they knew what was coming

Question 47

Name 3 ways the EU was prepared for the eruption

Answer 47

* other transport mechanisms, ex. train, channel tunnel etc * largely self sufficient in foo production, cope without imports couldn't arrive * well prepared in legal and insurance terms

Question 48

Name 2 things that airlines were legally responsible for after the eruption

Answer 48

* legal compensation for their passengers | * the well being of their travellers

Question 49

What did many companies have so they could cope better in an emergency?

Answer 49

Contingency plans

Question 50

Give an example of a contingency plan set up for an emergency that was used after the eruption

Answer 50

Tesco circumvented the ash cloud by flying Kenyan produce into Spain and then using road haulage

Question 51

Which coast is the volcano on?

Answer 51

The south coast

Question 52

Which direction did the wind blow the ash? Why was this good?

Answer 52

SE towards Europe It was away from the most inhabited areas of Iceland

Question 53

What did people in the rural areas down wind of the volcano have to do? Why?

Answer 53

They had to wear goggles and gas masks because the ash was so thick

Question 54

Name 2 insignificant impacts of the volcanic eruption on the local people

Answer 54

* had to wear goggles and face masks | * visibility was down to a few metres

Question 55

How many people had to be evacuated from the area around the volcano?

Answer 55

500

Question 56

What happened to the roads surrounding the volcano?

Answer 56

They were closed

Question 57

What happened to the local water supply?

Answer 57

It was contaminated with ash

Question 58

Why were farmers near the volcano warned not to let their livestock drink from contaminated water supplies?

Answer 58

High concentrations of fluoride from the ash mixed with water can have deadly effects, particularly in sheep

Question 59

What was the major impact of the eruption?

Answer 59

Flights were cancelled internationally between 14th-21st April 2010

Question 60

Name 6 impacts of the eruption on the locals

Answer 60

* wear goggles and face masks * visibility down to a few metres * 500people evacuated * roads shut down * contaminated water supply * don't let livestock drink from water supply

Question 61

Why were airplanes grounded due to the eruption?

Answer 61

The particles in the the ash cloud were thought to clog up airplane engines

Question 62

What was the global knock on effect of international flights being cancelled?

Answer 62

No planes could fly in or out of Europe

Question 63

How many flights were cancelled per day?

Answer 63

17,000

Question 64

How much was it thought that airlines were cost per day in cancelled flights?

Answer 64

£130 million a day

Question 65

How many people were stranded in other countries?

Answer 65

100,000's

Question 66

What did hire car companies do after the flights were cancelled? Why?

Answer 66

Dramatically increase their prices because people sought other ways to get home

Question 67

Who else impacted from people being stranded in other countries?

Answer 67

Businesses and schools etc who needed their workers

Question 68

How many flights were cancelled in total?

Answer 68

107,000

Question 69

What % of air travel was cancelled because of the ash cloud?

Answer 69

48%

Question 70

Name an example of an ledc who were also badly affected by the eruption

Answer 70

Kenya

Question 71

How much of Kenya's economy relies on the export of green vegetables to Europe?

Answer 71

20%

Question 72

Why were Kenya so badly affected by the ash cloud?

Answer 72

They couldn't transport their produce of green vegetables, which are perishable, meaning they went to waste

Question 73

How many farmers were temporarily unemployed in Kenya due to the flight ban?

Answer 73

50,000

Question 74

What did scientists fear would be a consequence of the ash cloud interfering with the atmosphere?

Answer 74

A climatic hazard

Question 75

How many tons of carbon dioxide were pumped into the atmosphere per day from the eruption? What did scientists think of this?

Answer 75

30,000 tons of CO2 Scientists thought this wouldn't make a substantial difference

Question 76

What were the main environmental impacts of the eruption?

Answer 76

* risks to soil and water courses | * risks to livestock through ingestion of fluoride in contaminated water supply and volcanic ash on pasture

Question 77

What are run in Iceland in advance of eruptions?

Answer 77

Effective monitoring programmes

Question 78

Name 3 things used to detect ground vibrations

Answer 78

* seismographs * GPS instruments * advanced computer modelling

Question 79

Name 3 other techniques used to predict for an eruption (excluding detecting ground vibrations)

Answer 79

* check composition of gases escaping from the ground * volume of water in lakes and rivers * temperature of lakes and rivers

Question 80

How are people in Iceland prepared for when an eruption does occur?

Answer 80

•infrastructure can cope

Question 81

How is impact reduced to the local people when an eruption is about to happen?

Answer 81

Automated text message sent out warning people within a 30 mile radius

Question 82

What has happened in an attempt to reduce the economic impact of future eruptions?

Answer 82

Tess to see if planes can indeed fly in ash clouds or not