CS1: EYJAFJALLAJÖKULL (E15), 2010
Facts:
- Phreatomagmatic eruption - water entered caldera - made it more explosive
- VEI of 4, April 2010
- Constructive/ divergent plate boundary - North American and Eurasian plates diverge at
approx 2.5cm per year - located along the Mid Atlantic Ridge
- Before March 2010 - seismographs were registering swarms if shallow earthquakes,
suggesting rising magma
- March 20th to April 13th - minor eruptions, then an effusive eruption, in places the rift
opened up
- April 14th- an eruption occurred 250m beneath the ice, melted ice created a jokulhlaup
(meltwater surge), phreatomagmatic eruptions, water entering the caldera and mixing with
the lava caused ash to be ejected - 9 km ash plume
● Reasons why people choose to live in tectonically active locations
- Emotional attachment, tourism and geothermal energy
- Locations offer people a place to live, have employment and bring up
families: we don't choose where we're born, emotional attachment
- Iceland = no agricultural benefits living close to volcanoes but it has
exploited its tectonically active location to attract tourists - tourism
accounted for 10% of GDP in 2016
- ‘Hot rocks’ near the surface = potential for developing geothermal energy
- Iceland = used geothermal energy to become 100% renewable
However, no agricultural benefits of living there
● The impacts people experience as a result of volcanic eruptions (SOCIAL)
Local:
- 800 people evacuated for safety and because of respiratory threats due to the ash
- No deaths
- Icelandic ash (58% silica) - scour windscreens and reduce visibility
Regional:
- Eruption was at the end of the Easter break, many people stuck abroad, 400,000
Britons stranded worldwide - teachers couldn’t teach
- Although… a reduction in aircraft noise around major airports, temporarily
improved quality of life
Global:
- 1000 flights cancelled a day at Heathrow airport
- Paralysed global air travel
Facts:
- Phreatomagmatic eruption - water entered caldera - made it more explosive
- VEI of 4, April 2010
- Constructive/ divergent plate boundary - North American and Eurasian plates diverge at
approx 2.5cm per year - located along the Mid Atlantic Ridge
- Before March 2010 - seismographs were registering swarms if shallow earthquakes,
suggesting rising magma
- March 20th to April 13th - minor eruptions, then an effusive eruption, in places the rift
opened up
- April 14th- an eruption occurred 250m beneath the ice, melted ice created a jokulhlaup
(meltwater surge), phreatomagmatic eruptions, water entering the caldera and mixing with
the lava caused ash to be ejected - 9 km ash plume
● Reasons why people choose to live in tectonically active locations
- Emotional attachment, tourism and geothermal energy
- Locations offer people a place to live, have employment and bring up
families: we don't choose where we're born, emotional attachment
- Iceland = no agricultural benefits living close to volcanoes but it has
exploited its tectonically active location to attract tourists - tourism
accounted for 10% of GDP in 2016
- ‘Hot rocks’ near the surface = potential for developing geothermal energy
- Iceland = used geothermal energy to become 100% renewable
However, no agricultural benefits of living there
● The impacts people experience as a result of volcanic eruptions (SOCIAL)
Local:
- 800 people evacuated for safety and because of respiratory threats due to the ash
- No deaths
- Icelandic ash (58% silica) - scour windscreens and reduce visibility
Regional:
- Eruption was at the end of the Easter break, many people stuck abroad, 400,000
Britons stranded worldwide - teachers couldn’t teach
- Although… a reduction in aircraft noise around major airports, temporarily
improved quality of life
Global:
- 1000 flights cancelled a day at Heathrow airport
- Paralysed global air travel
