LadyPakal

Did you miss the 'both human & livestock' part of my original post? Maybe I misread the human part but livestock certainly died. Anyway, in a place with a relatively small population, 'a lot' may not be considered 'large' outside of it. Aberdeen is open still. Nothing seems to shut it these days and I was so looking forward to a peaceful weekend. *sigh* On twitter: Confirmation from NATS that Aberdeen will remain open until at least midnight (Sun). For specific flight info go to www.aberdeenairport.com

Nope: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eyjafjallaj%C3%B6kull 'Some damage was caused by a minor eruption in 1821.[10] Notably, the ash released from the eruption contained a large fraction of fluoride, which in high doses may harm the bone structure of cattle, horses, sheep and humans. The eruption also caused some small and medium glacier runs and flooding in nearby rivers Markarfljót and Holtsá. The eruptive phase started on 19 and 20 December 1821 by a series of explosive eruptions and continued over the next several days. The sources describe heavy ash fall in the area around the volcano, especially to the south and west. After that event the sequence of eruptions continued on a more subdued level until June 1822. From the end of June until the beginning of August 1822, another sequence of explosive eruptions followed. The eruption columns were shot to considerable heights, with ashfall in both the far north of the country, in Eyjafjörðyour, and in the southwest, on the peninsula of Seltjarnarnes near Reykjavík. The period from August to December 1822 seemed quieter, but farmers attributed the death of cattle and sheep in the Eyjafjörðyour area to poisoning from this eruption, which modern analysis identifies as fluoride poisoning. Some small glacier runs occurred in the river Holtsá. A bigger one flooded the plains near the river Markarfljót. The sources don’t indicate the exact date. In 1823, some men went hiking up on Eyjafjallajökull to inspect the craters. They discovered a fissure vent near the summit caldera a bit to the west of Guðnasteinn. In early 1823, the nearby volcano Katla under the Mýrdalsjökull ice cap erupted and at the same time steam columns were seen on the summit of Eyjafjallajökull.' I think all of these airline bosses should have to send one member of their family out every day on one of their scheduled flights - preferrably their children. Let's see how 'unnecessary' the bans are then.

The last eruption went on for around 2 years I believe (including a lot of deaths - both human & livestock - due to fluoride poisoning), so anything up to that long would not be unexpected. 20 years.... well, he may have meant a chain of volcanoes lasting that long, not any one individual.

Wikipedia has an entry on volcanic ash (including some hastily added stuff about the 2010 closure of Europe etc...): http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Volcanic_ash From this: ' Volcanic ash particles have a maximum residence time in the troposphere of a few weeks. The finest tephra particles remain in the stratosphere for only a few months, they have only minor climatic effects, and they can be spread around the world by high-altitude winds. This suspended material contributes to spectacular sunsets. The major climate influence from volcanic eruptions is caused by gaseous sulfur compounds, chiefly sulfur dioxide, which reacts with OH and water in the stratosphere to create sulfate aerosols with an residence time of about 2–3 years.'

It all eventually drops to earth - most of it in the oceans I suspect.

Every so often a dust devil whirls across in front of the Hvol cam.

Something keeps falling down, every so often, in front of that split rock - hot water maybe. The whole runoff fan looks quite warm today and steam is rising from it in places, off and on. Could be dust being blown about I suppose...?

It is wind - there is a link at the bottom of the helicorder page that show the wind speed in the area of the recorder & the guy who set it up has said it is wind noise.

Aberdeen airport lastest update: 'All of BAA's airports are open. The volcanic ash cloud coming from Iceland continues to cause occasional problems and passengers are therefore advised to check their airline website for the latest travel information.'

This is all Aberdeen airport has to say about it: 'The volcanic ash cloud coming from Iceland continues to cause occasional disruption to air traffic around Europe. All of BAA's airports are open, and normal schedules are in place. However, there may be delays to transatlantic services, and some airlines have cancelled flights. Please contact your airline, or check its website for updates. We thank you for your patience. For breaking news, you can follow us on Twitter www.twitter.com/ABZ_Airport.'

Have they upped the 'safe' ash concentrations again? Soon it will be considered safe to fly through a full plume!

http://www.metoffice.gov.uk/aviation/vaac/data/VAG_1273838235.png Why are there no grounded planes?

Nice piccies..& some video clips. http://www.mrietze.com/iceland10-2.htm

Dunno - but you can see the cars they came in just down slope on the right. Bottom image: http://www.vodafone.is/eldgos/en - snow, rain or ash?

There are people in this photo of the eruption. http://omarragnarsson.blog.is/users/3b/omarragnarsson/img/p1011626.jpg

Dunno if it is the light, but it looks like a more ashy type of smoke or steam is coming out of that hole in the glacier, part way down the slope.

Hehe.... Here's another one. Norwegian this time. http://www.yr.no/verkart/1.7103434

Look here: http://transport.nilu.no/browser/fpv?fpp=conccol_VO_1_ This is a neat animation of expected ash cloud movement for the next few days.

It's reached the time when it never gets properly dark now (sun barely dips below the horizon). As the days go on the night-time will get progressively lighter.

That plume is way off the top of the Hvol & Mukalot cams. http://eldgos.mila.is/eyjafjallajokull-fra-hvolsvelli/ http://www.simnet.is/jonfr500/earthquake/vefmyndeyjafjalmulaen.html Current height according to radar is 8.2km.

Ijit on the Thoro cams - nose pretty much on the webcam lens while talking on the phone. Not a pretty sight & his big heid is completely blocking the view!

For those arguing about the projected GFS overnight temperatures: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/8677263.stm

Probably, considering they keep adjusting the 'safe to fly' rules.

Nice - http://transport.nilu.no/browser/fpv?fpp=conccol_VO_1_ Ash trajectories & columnar concentrations.

RUV video of the vent area. http://http.ruv.straumar.is/static.ruv.is/vefur/11052010_eldgos.wmv