Iceland volcano Bardarbunga poised for eruption

THE world holds its breath as another ice-covered volcano blast is threatening to disrupt the skies much like the eruption of Iceland’s volcano four years ago.

IT’S four years since the eruption of Iceland volcano Eyjafjallajokull caused worldwide flight chaos. Now another ice-covered volcano blast is threatening to disrupt the skies again.

The volcano is called Bardarbunga and because of increased seismic activity surrounding it, Iceland’s Meteorological Office has warned the aviation industry it could cause trouble.

Here’s everything you need to know.

WHAT IS BARDARBUNGA

Apart from being a slightly easier-to-pronounce version of Eyjafjallajokull — the ice-capped volcano that caused an ash cloud that blanketed Europe’s airspace for six days in 2010 — Bardarbunga is Iceland’s second-highest mountain.

It’s also Iceland’s largest volcanic system.

Rising more than 2000m above sea level, the volcano is covered by a huge ice cap, with a glacier hiding its crater.

The frozen mountain hardly looks like an active volcano — the volcano is actually 700m below ice — and although it hasn’t seen a full on eruption in more than a hundred years, sustained seismic activity has allowed the Bardarbunga to retain its active status.

Over the past week, the Icelandic Meteorological Office has recorded intense seismic activity at Bardarbunga.

Thousands of earthquakes have taken place in the vicinity of the volcano, which geologists have classified as a subglacial stratovolcano.

Although it’s not showing signs of eruption just yet, authorities have put airlines on alert, raising the risk level of flying over the region to a code orange — the second highest on a five-level scale.

HOW BAD COULD IT BE?

Because it is covered in ice, Bardarbunga’s activity is tricky to monitor, but experts know it’s about to do something.

An area close to the volcano has already been evacuated in fear it could erupt soon.

Writing on The Conversation, volcanologist Dave McGarvie said recent activity indicates the magma is moving towards Bardarbunga’s surface.

“If it gets there, it will erupt,” he said.

“But whether this will be a gentle or a violent eruption is uncertain at the time of writing.”

“There is no way to predict when the eruption may happen, but we should get a few hours notice. The good news for air travel is that both clusters are away from the heart of the main volcano which makes it less likely that an eruption will produce the final ash that causes disruption.”

If magma rises to the surface, it could vaporise the ice cap covering the volcano’s crater, which would result in a rapid build up of steam and pressure causing the mountain to blow open and send water vapour, ash and rock particles.

As in 2010, these particles could stay in an ash cloud for days, and that’s what’s got the aviation industry nervous.

WHAT HAPPENED LAST TIME

The ash cloud that formed when Eyjafjallajokull erupted ended up affecting 10 million people.

It clouded much of Europe’s airspace for six days and saw international flights delayed and cancelled all over the world.

Like Bardarbunga, this volcano was also hidden under a glacier.

More than 100,000 flights over Europe were cancelled because volcanic ash floating in the atmosphere, which can cause catastrophic damage when it comes into contact with a jet engine.

SHOULD WE BE WORRIED?

As we said before, there is no indication when or even if the volcano will erupt any time soon, but the situation is being closely monitored.

If there is another explosion, Mr McGarvie assures that thanks to the chaos faced in 2010, experts have a dramatically improved understanding of the impact of an ash cloud on aircraft, and rules put into place following Eyjafjallajokull, an explosion of the same size would have significantly less impact.

As this is occurring at the peak of Europe’s tourism season, however, the industry is biting its collective fingernails.

Originally published as Iceland volcano Bardarbunga poised for eruption