Topic: Volcanic Ash

[landimad]

Has anyone had any thought on this cloud coming towards us? :o
I have been watching it and the Flight paths do not concern me, but will it drop the ash on this country! :-X
If it does what will it do for our plants and also what will the effects of temperatures, daytime and over night will have on our growing season.
We all have a worry or not about this and how it will impact on our daily lives.
Blocking out the sun will drop temperatures and clearing skies to follow over night will keep them close to freezing. Looks as though we are going to have to wait before we put the plants duvets away just yet.
Is this good for our plants? Keeping them under wraps and is it good for the soil?
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/8621407.stm
Above is a link to have a nose at and see what the course of the Ash cloud is taking. :o

[Bugloss2009]

All UK flights cancelled....

[saddad]

There was a big volcanic cloud at the end of the 1770's which caused massive damage to plants/harvests and contributed to the famines in France that helped spark the French Revolution....  :-X

[Bugloss2009]

maybe we'll have another Summer That Never Was  ??? 1816, or likt the one in Iceland where they all died of Fluorine poisoning

[manicscousers]

cheerful lot, I was quite enjoying the thought of a nice sunset  ;D

[Mortality]

Scary, they recon the other volcanoes in the area might also erupt. :-\

[Bugloss2009]

the bbc website has a page "eerie atmosphere in Aberdeen". so no change there then yet  ;D

[lillian]

 30,000 Britains were killed by lethal gas and fine  dust from Iceland's Laki Volcano which erupted in 1783 :o

[goodlife]

volcanic ash..FREE fertilizer!!! ;D ;D ;D

[:(]

I can smell it now.

[saddad]

Thankfully it hasn't settled here yet....

[Digeroo]

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/6276291.stm

[lavenderlux]

'The Summer that Never Was - 1816' was due to a volcano in Indonesia!

[Robert_Brenchley]

It'll be settling, but don't worry, there won't be enough for anyone to notice. It takes a truly massive eruption to put enough dust into the stratosphere to affect the climate. This one isn't on that scale, and it's the wrong type of volcano to do it. It's a basalt eruption, with very liquid lava, so it'll bubble away fairly quietly as the gas comes off, and be spectacular rather than dangerous. It's not on the scale of Laki in 1783, so it's not producing anywhere near the volume of gas needed to poison cattle this far away. That one was truly exceptional.

The sort of eruption which affects the climate is like Mount St. Helens in 1980. It's a combination of very sticky lava that won't flow easily and enormous quantities of gas. The gases come out of solution as the lava rises to the surface and the pressure comes off. They can't bubble away quietly, so they blow the lava to shreds in an explosive eruption - Mount St Helens was triggered by an earthquake which cause the whole side of the peak to slide away, revealing the magma chamber. The force of it blows dust to such an altitude that it can circulate for several years, but again, it's very exceptional.

The only real danger with the current eruption, as long as aircraft keep out of the cloud, is if Katla, which is on the same fault, blows in sympathy. It's right under a small ice cap, and melts half the ice. For a while, it's dammed by the remaining ice, and forms a large lake. Eventually, it gets deep enough to float the remaining ice, unleashing a flood which makes the Amazon look like a trickle. It's purely a local problem though, so no need for anyone to start building an ark.

[Jeannine]

When St Helens blew , we got some ash.. not heavy but it was very fine grey dust, the closer you lived towards the mountain the heavier the ash was.I remember gathering a canning jar full and mixing it with glaze which I used on a pot and fired it, it left a fine gritty texture in the fired glaze, it surprised me as it was fine  dust but as  it flowed in the glaze it changed, clumped together and gave the texture.

I  remember  areas which we saw on the TV where the dust was ankle deep.

It was quite the event, we were all glued to the TV waiting for it to blow.

Fortunately we were far enough away to only get a very fine dusting.

XX Jeannine

[djbrenton]

Bro-in law NOT flying to Australia today. Work colleague NOT setting off to Maritius today. My heart bleeds  ;D

[saddad]

 

unleashing a flood which makes the Amazon look like a trickle. It's purely a local problem though, so no need for anyone to start building an ark.

Unless they live in that corner of Iceland of course...  :-X

[Robert_Brenchley]

I doubt whether anyone does, since it's an event that repeats periodically. It'll blow out the coast road so badly it'll take ages to repair, but it's already been cut by a small flood from the current eruption.

[Digeroo]

There is a layer of fine dust all over my car just washed it off.

I feel sorry for all the people who are stuck somewhere trying to get home.

[antipodes]

My brother is meant to be flying to see us from London tomorrow morning! He is in a right state. But maybe the flights will be back on tomorrow...