Eyjafjallajokull Flashcards
What is the tectonic setting of Eyjafjallajokull?
Lies on a divergent plate boundary of the North American Oceanic plate and the Eurasian oceanic plate.
Magma plume
When did Eyjafjallajokull erupt?
April/May 2010
Why was it explosive?
The volcano was covered by an ice cap
What impact did the icecap have on the eruption?
Heat from the magma melted the ice blanket, making water flow into the crater, increasing its explosivity.
When the ice melted it cooled the ejected material forming a glassy ash.
Floods
How did the ash cloud form?
As the ice cap melted it cooled the ejected material forming a glassy ash with 58% silica
Name 3 impacts the ash cloud had locally (Iceland)?
- livestock were taken inside to escape the ash
- respiratory threats to people - evacuation
- smothered and choked crops
State 3 environmental impacts the eruption had on the local area
- Flouride was deposited from the volcano on grazing land - this could cause internal haemorrhaging in cattle and sheep
- Flooding as glacier melts
- Major local industry of fresh fish exports badly affected
- Crops covered in ash
State 4 negative impacts that the eruption and ash cloud had on a regional scale? (Europe)
- within four days all airports in Europe were closed
- fine ash not easily seen and glassy so causes engine failure - airlines lost millions of pounds a day
- holiday makers stranded
- Europe lost $2.6billion of GDP
- 11.7% drop in air passenger numbers
- shares in travel businesses and airline companies fell
What possible positive impacts did the eruption and ash cloud have on a regional scale? (Europe) (2 ideas?)
- channel tunnel and ferries did a lot of extra business
- reduction in aircraft noise - improved quality of life
What were the impacts on a global scale?
- 2.8 million tonnes less of CO2 was emitted during the period
Why did the eruption of Eyjafjallajokull have an impact on a regional and global scale as well as a local scale?
The ash cloud rose 5 miles into the air and was carried by the jetstream south East at 27,000 ft, with this height and its high silica content it was a threat to air travel.
Were there any positive impacts of the eruption to the local area?
- fertile soils in
What date did the ash cloud occur?
14th April 2010
What impacts did the floods have in the short term? (days/weeks)
- destroyed hot water supplies and lost electricity source
- roads blocked by water
- disrupted transport network
What impacts did the floods have in the long term? (months/years)
- crops and land effected
- environmental changes - widening of gulley (river swelled 100x normal size) river rising
