2010 eruptions of Eyjafjallajökull

When was its last eruption?

• Between March and June 2010 a series of volcanic events at Eyjafjallajökull in Iceland caused enormous disruption to air travel across
Western Europe.
• The disruptions started over an initial period of six days in April 2010. Additional localised disruption continued into May 2010, and
eruptive activity persisted until June 2010. The eruption was declared officially over in October 2010, after 3 months of inactivity,
when snow on the glacier did not melt. From 14 to 20 April, ash from the volcanic eruption covered large areas of Northern Europe.
About 20 countries closed their airspace to commercial jet traffic and it affected approximately 10 million travellers.[2]
• Seismic activity started at the end of 2009 and gradually increased in intensity until on 20 March 2010, a small eruption began, rated
as a 1 on the Volcanic Explosivity Index.[3]
• Beginning on 14 April 2010, the eruption entered a second phase and created an ash cloud that led to the closure of most of the
European IFR airspace from 15 until 20 April 2010. Consequently, a very high proportion of flights within, to, and from Europe were
cancelled, creating the highest level of air travel disruption since the Second World War. The second phase resulted in an estimated
250 million cubic metres (330,000,000 cu yd) of ejected tephra and an ash plume that rose to a height of around 9 km (30,000 ft),
which rates the explosive power of the eruption as a 4 on the Volcanic Explosivity Index.[4] By 21 May 2010, the second eruption
phase had subsided to the point that no further lava or ash was being produced.
• By the evening of 6 June 2010, a small, new crater had opened up on the west side of the main crater. Explosive activity from this new
crater was observed with emission of small quantities of ash.[5] Seismic data showed that the frequency and intensity of earth tremors
still exceeded the levels observed before the eruption, therefore scientists at the Icelandic Meteorological Office[6] (IMO) and the
Institute of Earth Sciences, University of Iceland[7] (IES) continued to monitor the volcano.
• In October 2010, Ármann Höskuldsson, a scientist at the University of Iceland Institute of Earth Sciences, stated that the eruption was
officially over, although the area was still geothermally active and might erupt again.[
 What impact have its eruption had on the surrounding environment and people

• 308
1 Introduction
The effects of an eruption can depend more on the vulnerability of the man-made
infrastructures and systems affected than on its geophysical size.
Iceland is a volcanic island in the North Atlantic Ocean, located on the ridge between the Eurasian and American
tectonic plates. The area contains more than 30 active volcanic systems that generate relatively frequent
eruptions. Many volcanoes are located under ice caps and can produce highly explosive eruptions when water
interacts with magma, with plumes exceeding 12 km in height and fine-grained ash that can traverse great
distances in the atmosphere. Eruptions have occurred in Iceland on average once every 3–5 years over the last
four centuries (Thordarson and Larsen, 2007). These eruptions are usually moderate in size (VEI 1–3) (1) and
have generally not caused significant harm beyond the island’s borders. The most notable exception was the Laki
eruption in 1783, which emitted vast amounts of SO2, which caused a drop in mean temperatures north of the
equator, and besides its devastating effects in Iceland is believed to have markedly increased mortality in the
United Kingdom and on the European continent (Grattan et al., 2003)
 What type of volcano is it??
• strato volcano
• Eyjafjallajokull is a strato volcano, the most common tupe. It is a conical volcano
built by many layers of hardened lava, tephra, pumice and volcanic ash. Because of
the glacier on top, Eyjafjallajokull's eruptions are explosive and contain much ash.
A large magma chamber under the mountain feeds Eyjafjallajokull.
 Where is it located??
• Eyjafjalla Glacier volcano, subglacial volcano, southern Iceland, lying within the
country’s East Volcanic Zone. Its name is derived from an Icelandic phrase
meaning “the island’s mountain glacier,” and the volcano itself lies beneath
Eyjafjallajökull (Eyjafjalla Glacier). Its highest point rises to 5,466 feet (1,666
metres) above sea level.
• Records kept since Iceland was settled show that Eyjafjallajökull volcano erupted
in 920, 1612 or 1613, and 1821–23. The latter eruption continued intermittently for
nearly 14 months. In these three cases the eruption of Eyjafjallajökull volcano
occurred simultaneously with or was shortly followed by the eruption of Katla, a
volcano located some 15.5 miles (25 km) to the east.
• A catastrophic explosive eruption began when the magma had melted its way
through the overlying ice cap. The
VEI 3 eruption emitted a 5–10 km-high eruption plume of unusually fine-grained
ash. The amount of erupted
material has been estimated as the equivalent of 0.18 ± 0.05 km3 of dense rock
Intense ash fallout occurred in inhabited areas in south Iceland, leading to total
darkness during the periods
of most intense tephra fall. Westerly and northerly winds prevailed during most of
the eruption, carrying ash
towards mainland Europe.
• The Eyjafjallajökull eruption sequence of 2010, which lasted from January until
May of that year, began with the onset of clusters of small earthquakes, and by
early March the earthquake activity had increased in intensity and frequency. On
March 21, fountains of lava began exiting through a 0.3-mile- (500-metre-) long
vent in the ice-free Fimmvörduháls Pass, which separates the Eyjafjallajökull
glacier from the larger glacier Mýrdalsjökull to the east. On April 14, lava from
new fissures surfaced beneath the crater of the glacier-covered summit.
• The heat from the lava quickly melted and vaporized the glacier ice above. Mud,
ice, and meltwater running off the volcano swelled local rivers and streams,
especially the Markarfljót glacial river west of the volcano, which flooded
farmland and damaged roads. Expanding gases from the rapid vaporization of ice
started a series of moderate phreatomagmatic explosions (which result from the
contact of water and magma) that sent a plume of steam and ash almost 7 miles (11
km) into the atmosphere. The plume was driven southeast, across the North
Atlantic Ocean to northern Europe, by the prevailing winds. Fearing the damage to
commercial aircraft and potential loss of life that could result from flying through
the ash cloud, many European countries closed their national airspace and
grounded flights for several days.