Icelandic eruption and the weather

[OhYouBadBadKitten]

Thought it might be interesting to start a thread on this.
eruption in iceland

It seems to be a fissure eruption and after some reading this afternoon I think it is unlikely at the moment to be putting up large quantities of ash into the atmosphere, this sort of eruption does not seem to be the explosive sort. If it starts to, then we could see some particularly spectacular sunsets.

Worries are though that it might trigger Katla volcano which could be potentially pretty devestating, not only to Iceland but also could affect weather on a global scale. Large eruptions have historically caused global cooling and influenced weather patterns.

hopefully fears end up being unfounded

might get the DSs to make an Ash Detection System too OYBBK - sounds like fun!

I took a pH reading of the rain and it comes in around 6. Slightly acid.

What is it normally Gentle Otter?

rainwater is usually neutral info here and I am mortified as I read the result upside down.
The pH of the rain here is 9 and alkali.

will it cause you a problem?

Iceland Univivesity's Institute of Earth Sciences' analysis is "Chemical analyses of ash samples reveal fluorine rich intermediate eruptive products with silica content of 58%, more evolved than in the initial lava producing phase of the eruptive activity. The magma composition may reflect evolution from alkali-olivine basalt by crystal
fractionation as erupted in the initial phase."

So I think that also confirms that it should be alkali.

I don't think it will be a problem and dh is terribly cheerful as our fields were acidic but have had a good shower of alkali rain. It may mean that we use less lime for our crop plus it will have lots of trace minerals.

I have just spent a painful lunchtime trying to explain the volcano to 3.5yo ds as his auntie + cousins are stuck in the USA. I think he's got the idea now .

No ash on my ash detection system this morning either.

I was living in Iceland at the time of the Vestmannaeyjar volcanic eruption. I dimly remember flying near it with my parents and others in a small plane. I do remember being terrified!

thats cool GO!

latest ashcast til 6am

wonder if anything will be decided at the Eurocontrol meeting tomorrow on the basis of results from the test flights that have been taking place.

not surprised you were terrified as a child doing that cariboo

Not directly weather related but this pilots forum has some interesting comments (apologies for repeat, also posted on other "ash" thread).

thank you orienteer. uglymugly has also steered us to that forum and it is really interesting to read perspectives from pilots.

Katla is looking unhappy
look at the large increase in harmonic tremors - which indicate magma movement. I don't think this is a good thing.

So Am I going to Menorca on 1st May?

Angry - I don't know.
WW

test flights - not convinced looking at the photos of the f18 engines. I guess they need to look at options....

I've been a bit disappointed by the talk on pprune today. There seem to be some people posting who either haven't read through the (admittedly long) thread and so are just repeating stuff that other people have already posted - sometimes incorrect stuff; or they're people with little or no posting history coming on and just having a moan. I notice that the mods have been busy deleting posts (deleted posts don't show there as they do here, but there have been some I wanted to see the responses to only to find that they've disappeared).

I think I've got more info from uk.sci.weather, because although only a few posters there have aviation knowledge, they do know a lot about the weather and it is the weather systems, particularly the jet stream, that's having the widespread impact on jet flights.

Kitten - the activity at Katla looks rather worrying.

cariboo - I'm not surprised you remember being terrified. I can remember being anxious just watching TV footage of aircraft sent up to monitor the Mount St Helens eruptions.

ashcast

What does FL followed by a number mean?

FL - flight level.

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flight_level

FL320 = 32,000 feet. You have to add on two zeros to get the altitude.

I've just realised what the sort of burn-y smell was yesterday... Duh!

There's another topic started by someone who's a bit anxious about the current situation. I've posted what I hope is a reassuring response, but just as I was doing that a light aircraft flew overhead. It was obvious that it was a light aircraft because of the engine sound, and there have been plenty of those flights going on since CAS (controlled air space) has been closed to jet aircraft. It did get me a bit worried that if too much pressure is applied to get UK airspace opened too soon there could be an increased risk of aircraft in difficulty.

I didn't post that on that other thread, because now I've managed to scare myself. It's been interesting in the past to see aircraft descending into the landing pattern for Southampton airport, but I think it'll be a while before I can again view them as merely "interesting".