1. MEDC Volcanic Eruption Case Study: Eyjafjallajökull, Iceland - 2010

2. Background
Eyjafjallajökull is the name of a glacier whose icecap covers the caldera of an active volcano in the south of Iceland.
The mountain is a stratovolcano standing 1651m tall and is fed by a magma chamber caused by the divergence of the Mid Atlantic Ridge.
It is one of many volcanoes on the island, the closest being Katla, a much more active and powerful volcano.

3. Eruptions
Eyjafjallajökull erupted a number of times in 2010, having previously not erupted since 1823.
Seismic activity started towards the end of 2009 building up to the first eruption on 20th March The eruption was characterised by the opening of a fissure and basaltic lava flows from numerous vents.
A second, explosive eruption occurred on 14th April, and the volcano continued to erupt for around a month. The eruption threw volcanic ash several kilometres high, which was carried across to Europe by the Gulf Stream. The eruption occurred beneath the glacier causing large amounts of meltwater, this increased the explosive power, and cooled the lava very quickly creating abrasive, glass rich ash. In total, around 100 million cubic metres of airborne tephra was ejected.

4. Impacts
The main impact of the eruptions was felt across most of Europe – despite the eruption not being particularly large (VEI 4), the ash cloud led to the cancellation of a very high proportion of flights across Europe as volcanic ash is very hazardous to aircraft engines. The flight ban lasted 6 days and cancelled over 95,000 flights. It is estimated to have cost the airports £80 million, as well as severely disrupting roughly five million people.

6. Impacts
The first eruption led to the evacuation of around 500 people living nearby due to fears of lava flows and flooding.
The eruption affected farmers in the nearby area – ash fall made it very difficult to farm, and contaminated water supplies putting the health of farm animals at risk.

7. Management and Response
The close scientific observations in the area before the eruption made it possible to predict that an eruption would occur, and necessary precautions were made, such as warning people living nearby.
The location of the volcano – directly below the Gulf Stream made it impossible to prevent travel disruptions, however cancelling flights may have prevented many deaths from aircraft failure.
Volcanologists are carefully monitoring the nearby volcano Katla – each recorded eruption of Eyjafjallajökull has preceded an eruption of Katla, the Icelandic people and airports across Europe have been told to prepare.