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Eyjafjallajökull, a volcano on the Eastern Volcanic Zone in southern Iceland, began to erupt on 14 April 2010.

A plume of volcanic ash was at times ejected several kilometres into the atmosphere by this eruption, potentially causing a hazard for aeroplanes. UK airspace was closed from 15-20 April, causing significant disruption, and was reopened following new guidelines about ash densities that could be tolerated by aircraft.

Occasional disruption continued when increased explosive activity at the volcano coincided with northerly to north-westerly winds that brought the ash towards Europe.

The Eyjafjallajökull 2010 eruption

The first eruption, on 20 March 2010, came from an ice-free area on the north-east side of the volcano, which is 1660 m high (5300 feet), with an ice cap on the upper slopes. This first phase of eruption produced lava, with little explosive activity. A subsequent phase of eruption then began in a 2.5 km-wide caldera beneath the ice cap near the summit of the volcano on 14 April. This eruption caused melting of large amounts of ice, leading to flooding in southern Iceland. Researchers at the University of Iceland estimated that there was around 1 km ³ of ice in the summit crater and that about 25 per cent of this was melted in the first two days of the eruption. The interaction of magma with water created a plume of volcanic ash and gas over 10 km (33 000 feet) high, which spread out and was carried by winds south-eastwards towards the Faroe Islands, Norway, and northern Scotland.

On Sunday 18 April researchers from the University of Iceland estimated that about 750 tonnes of magma were ejected from the volcano every second. By 20 April, most of the ice in the crater appeared to have melted, the plume was only reaching heights of up to 4 km (13 100 feet), and the amount of material being ejected into the plume had increased significantly. As the amount of ice available to interact with the magma decreased, the volcano changed from producing ash to mainly producing fire fountains. By the end of April explosive activity had virtually ended, with a weak plume largely made up of steam, but flowing lava had advanced a few kilometres northwards from the crater.

In early May, explosive activity began to increase again, with more ash being ejected into the plume. Plume height was generally around 4-6 km, but reaching at times up to 8-9 km. During the first two weeks of May, the activity became cyclical, and earthquake activity recorded the rise of magma and gas from depth beneath the volcano. The explosive activity was now driven by gas dissolved in the rising magma, rather than by the interaction of magma and water. Explosive activity gradually decreased and by 23 May little or no ash was being ejected from the volcano.

Satellite images

For the latest images from NASA see NASA Observes Ash Plume of Icelandic Volcano

So why is the ash a problem for aircraft?

The ash plume contains large amounts of microscopic particles of volcanic rock, which can clog up aeroplane engines, as described in Geoscientist Online and USGS volcanic ash: effects and mitigation strategies.

'Volcanic ash clouds are made up of small abrasive particles that can clog up jet engines and stop them working. Planes are either re-routed or grounded when there's a danger of flying into ash clouds to ensure the safety of passengers and avoid very costly damage.'

Analysis of collected dust particles

Dust particles believed to be volcanic ash were collected by a BGS scientist, from a previously-clean car windscreen, in Loughborough on 20 April 2010.

Research aircraft successfully obtains data from volcanic plume

Friday 16 April - A Natural Environment Research Council research team using its highly-equipped Dornier 228 aircraft flew over the north-east of London where it located and tracked the edge of the plume over East Anglia and the North Sea, and towards the Dutch coastline.

Flying at just below 10 000 feet (3 km), the research instruments identified three distinct layers of volcanic residue. Heavy, gritty particles were sitting at around 8000 feet (2.4 km), whilst lower down in the atmosphere there were sulphurous chemicals and finer dust particles. For further information see the NERC press release 13 May and check for updates on the NERC website.

Dr Sue Loughlin, is part of a NERC scientific delegation travelling to Iceland in mid-May to discuss collaborative work on the impacts of the volcanic eruption.

History of eruptions and current monitoring

Eyjafjallajökull last erupted in 1821, and the eruption continued intermittently for around two years. A major eruption then began at a nearby volcano, Katla, in 1823. Although it is possible that the new eruption of Eyjafjallajökull could be followed by an eruption at Katla, the linkages between the two volcanoes are not well understood. Monitoring of Katla is being carried out by authorities in Iceland.

Previous known eruptions at Eyjafjallajökull occurred in the 17th and 10th centuries AD, and the volcano has been periodically active for the last 800,000 years. Previous eruptive cycles at Eyjafjallajökull have begun with basaltic eruptions on the flanks of the volcano, followed by the eruption of more silica-rich magmas from the volcano's summit. Preliminary ash analyses suggest that this pattern is being followed in the 2010 eruption.

Movement on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge

Iceland lies on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge, the boundary between the Eurasian and North American tectonic plates. As these two plates move apart, magma continually wells up along the ridge, creating new sea floor.

In Iceland, this ongoing ridge volcanism interacts with a mantle plume, which brings magma to the surface from deep within the Earth. This interaction of two different types of volcanism has created the island of Iceland, which is made up of many active volcanoes.

Contact

Contact Dr Sue Loughlin for further information.

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British Geological Survey 1998 - 2017 (c)NERC mailto:www-bgs@bgs.ac.uk

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Eyjafjallajökull eruption, Iceland | April/May 2010

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Eyjafjallajökull, a volcano on the Eastern Volcanic Zone in southern Iceland, began to erupt on 14 April 2010. A plume of volcanic ash was at times ejected several kilometres into the atmosphere by this eruption, potentially causing a hazard for aeroplanes.

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Positive impacts of the volcano

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The 2010 Icelandic volcanic eruption, which disrupted European flights, also had a "significant but short-lived" impact on ocean life, a study shows.

Ash from the Eyjafjallajokull volcano deposited dissolved iron into the North Atlantic, triggering a plankton bloom.

The authors said it was good fortune they were at sea at the time as it provided a unique opportunity to sample the ocean during a volcanic eruption.

The findings appear in the Geophysical Research Letters journal.

In April 2010, the eruption sent an ash plume several kilometres into the atmosphere, causing ash to deposited across up to 570,000 sq km of the North Atlantic Ocean.

The five-week volcanic activity was still ongoing when a team of researchers arrived in the Iceland Basin region aboard a research vessel.

"Our study was unique in the sense that we were the first to undertake sampling at sea of volcanic ash deposition and the chemical and biological effects in the surface ocean," explained lead author Eric Achterberg from the National Oceanography Centre Southampton, UK.

"In addition, we were able to sample the ocean region again a few months after the eruption and observe the changes since the eruption.

"The opportunity to sample during the eruption and also a couple of months after the event allowed us to obtain a unique insight into the effects of the ash deposition on the biology and chemistry of the Iceland Basin."
Iron deficiency
Three years earlier, the team had shown that the production of phytoplankton - microscopic plants that form a key component of marine food chains - was limited by the availability of dissolved iron, which was essential for the tiny plants' growth.

Prof Achterberg told BBC News what the in-situ team was able to record: "Biological experiments showed that the volcanic ash released the iron that stimulated phytoplankton growth.

"The effect of the volcanic ash inputs were nevertheless short-lived as the extra iron supplied by the volcano resulted in rapid biological nitrate removal, thereby causing nitrogen limitation of the phytoplankton population."

So while the additional dissolved iron triggered an earlier-than-usual phytoplankton bloom, as the metal triggered growth in a greater number of phytoplankton cells, the bloom was only 15-20% larger than normal because the growth was limited by the amount of available nitrogen, another vital ingredient required for the organisms to develop.

As well as playing an important role in food chains, phytoplankton also absorb carbon dioxide from the atmosphere.

Oceans are considered to be one of the planet major players in the global carbon cycle, but the carbon uptake in the region where the eruption occurred has limited capacity.

"The high latitude North Atlantic Ocean is a globally important ocean region, as it is a sink for atmospheric carbon dioxide and an area where deep water formation takes place," Prof Achterberg observed.

"A limit to the availability of iron in this region means that the ocean is less efficient in its uptake of atmospheric carbon dioxide."

However during the bloom triggered by the ash deposits from the eruption, the team recorded that it was a shortage of nitrogen that limited the size of the phytoplankton bloom and - as a result - the volume of carbon dioxide uptake.

Prof Achterberg concluded: "The 2010 Eyjafjallajokull eruption therefore resulted in a significant but short lived perturbation to the biogeochemistry of the Iceland Basin."

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The 2010 Icelandic volcanic eruption, which disrupted European flights, also had a "significant but short-lived" impact on ocean life, a study shows. Ash from the Eyjafjallajokull volcano deposited dissolved iron into the North Atlantic, triggering a plankton bloom.

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A case study on the Eyjafjallajökull Icelandic Eruption of 2010. Suitable for GCSE, AS Level, A Level Geography and beyond. Complete with stunning images.