Eyjafjallajökull Update for 5/7/2010

I can no longer get the Mila cams , all i get is a 404 page not found boo hoo.

@Eric: There is a new analysis of the lava out. The composition changed to be more silicic (up to 61,5% now). You can find it here: http://www2.norvol.hi.is/page/IES-EY-CEMCOM

amazing that the colour of the plume even shows the change in composition so clearly .. not that I'd stick my finger into the fire, um, volcano, to test it.

The MÃla webcams are back up. They were normalising the URIs (about b4y time, too).

It seems the plume is reaching pretty high, according to USA Today!

"A Boeing 757 flying nearby observed a black plume at 421,000 feet up heading towards the southeast."

The plume seems to have reached well into space. And all visible from a 757. Impressive...

Big plume on this cam.
http://eldgos.mila.is/eyjafjallajokull-fra-hvolsvelli/

At one point it was to the top of the frame. Any guess on the hight??

@Zander - MÃla finally changed the page names to line up with the camera locations. You can get to them from this page: eldgos.mila.is

@Dasnowskier i'd say the plume is about 421,000 feet very soom it'll be in earth orbit and they will be collecting the dust in the ISS.

Reports are its at 31,500ft

hitting the top of the frame now

*grmbl* I'm as certain as the rest of ya that the new colour camera on Ãórólfsfell is a wide-screen cam being shoehorned into a 4:3 format. Effin Panavision compression!

@Kaboom: Do they also set up a no-fly zone for the ISS? :-)

Lets hope the wind blows away from Europe. With the markets and Greece, on top of this, that area of the world could use a rest.

As the Chinese proverb/curse goes.
May you live in interesting times.

These times are interesting.

I get the feeling that a certain blog host would find it more interesting to have his head banged aginst a side window of a jostling jeep than to sit in an office. Wonder why... <oh-so-innocent look>

Mila dropped and won't load or reload, jut as it looked as though the glacier was changing on the left - anyone??

No Mila here either.
The plume was growing when I was bumped.

@Reynir #10 Yup. The pic quality is s*t and the feed speed is worse. Don't they realize that we are interested in details and that we catch the interesting details much easier in a moving picture. We got that from our ancestors: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/8660940.stm

Left side something is up or rather down seeing large splashes in the lake bed

No birdseye the galcier wasn't changing it has the same black and white outfit on from yesterday.

Mila - if you're reading this - we love you, but please give us our old Thorolfsfell webcam back!

A shout out to Joe Liccardi, enjoy your adventure!
@3 Bruce, the color probably reflects the ash content in the plume rather than the compositions. Volcanic glass (which makes up the ash) tends to have similar black-gray colors no matter the silica content, particularly small particles. Iron content plays a stronger coloring role in glass. Obsidian, or rhyolitic glass, can appear very similar to basaltic glass.
Now the rocks (or crystallized lavas) are a different story. Low-silica magmas crystallize minerals with lower amounts of silica and higher amounts of iron and magnesium than intermediate and rhyolitic magmas. So as you you go from basalt to rhyolite you have increasing amounts of light colored minerals and decreasing amounts of dark mins. So the lavas become lighter in color.

this link is working for me:
http://eldgos.mila.is/english/eyjafjallajokull-fra-thorolfsfelli/

On the other hand, the new colour cam might look pretty damn good at full screen for those with a widescreen.

@19 Keep the thermal cam, though, please! Maybe the two cams have to be synched for refresh speed? Or maybe here are just too many of us, slowing the server??? Don't know enough to even guess. Had to go buy my first external drive this a.m. lol

Toggled to full screen the new Thoro feed is amazing. My vote is keep it. Slow but very detailed.

Whats wrong with the new Ãórólfsfell cam?

In case someone hasn't seen this: http://eldgos.mila.is/english/

#24 What's your picture ratio?

I was wondering if the strength and direction of the wind wouldn't play a trick on us concerning plume heights. If you look at the plume from Ãórólfsfell (from north) it looks very inclined towards left (east), but when you look from Hvolvöllur (from W) it points straight up, but deceivingly at a lower height. Does it make any sense?

Full-screen for me is bigger, just as blurry, and might as well be a still for all the action it shows.

OMG OMG i just got a screenshot from the Ãórólfsfelli webcam and you can clearly see magma.

http://www.xtupload.com/new/share-5E02_4BE42B44.html

#27 - widescreen laptop - 16:9

And the colour screen on Ãórólfsfell has been reset to a 16:9 view. Gotta pan a bit on a 1024x768.

Cross Hatch + mark/target on FLIR - is this a hottest spot marker??

http://eldgos.mila.is/english/eyjafjallajokull-fra-thorolfsfelli/

#30 bad joke ?

@ Kaboom Hehehehe

#31 24 " 1920*1980

clearly not high def

I just checked the Mila Thorolfsfell camera web page source code: size 711x400 - wide - and the Flash player hasn't an option that would leave top & bottom black and just adjust the width. OTOH: with that resolution, you cannot expect much of a picture...

Oh, the FLIR is 640x480.

Hate to be nitpicky but ...

"Tourism in Iceland has seen a boom since the eruption started - one of the economic plusses in a story that has emphasized the minuses."

This was true when the eruption was going on in Fimmvörðuháls but after the flight bans in Europe things took a turn for the worse. A lot of tourists fear they'll get stuck in Iceland for days. Also, many people appear to think that Iceland is a dangerous place to be, with thick ashfalls affecting the whole country etc. Hotel bookings are down 30-50% (compared to the same time period last year).

The government has injected some money into the tourist industry's PR campaigns. I guess if Eyja keeps up there's always volcano tourism: http://elviajero.elpais.com/articulo/viajero/Volcanes/pueden/visitar/el…

@ EKoh

Thanks!! Well, it LOOKED a lighter shade of grade to me. It's all relative. Maybe I am just a day older. ;-)
Wait, I AM a day older. Shucks.

@Anna: stuck for days? In Iceland? Really? Promise? :-)

@ Anna, I would LOVE to get stuck in Iceland.

Could it be that the camera vibrates sideways? Every once in a while - way too often, IMO - there's blurring in the picture that looks quite bit like motion blur. At that distance, about 5.3 km, you don't need much to make that happen.

#40,41: Will this affect your resolve further?

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Olvisholt-Brugghus/128572955257

Fireman, Bruce, clearly you're made of sterner stuff than the average tourist!

@Anna - Maybe the tourist bureau could arrange special everything-included rates which would make getting 'stuck' (I wish!) a good deal (since Iceland has the reputation of being very expensive) and would bring more people. 'Volcano rates.'

Here is a picture of the ash plume from space. It looks quite big on this picture.

http://www.livescience.com/environment/iceland-volcano-ash-image-100507…

@38 Anna As long as I can bring my own Jeep, I would get stuck in Iceland. Stay longer than last time that way. :)

This eruption has introduced me to Iceland. I now desperately want to go there for a holiday. My target will be to save up to visit next year. If our lady Eyjaf hadn't erupted, I wouldn't be planning a holiday to Iceland.

Anyone noticed the EQ-Swarm at Reykjanes with a 3.2 EQ around 15:00 local time??? Is there anything going on under water? http://en.vedur.is/earthquakes-and-volcanism/earthquakes/reykjanesridge/

Mhh is there a way that the bottom smoke is "lighter" then the top ash ?

on Vodafone cam it just seems so that the bottom ashe is staying under the main clouds.

@PeakVT thanks.

@Kaboom 30. Thanx for the first laugh of the morning:-D

Is there any possibility that the webcam operators could switch the Thorolfsfell cam back to 4:3 instead of widescreen?

Wow! Really close and intimate with the Lady (Thorolfsfell camera)

haha 54 soo true i was just starring at this picture like crazy.

Thanks for that zoom, dude.

I wish they would switch off autofocus on the new Ãórólfsfell camera, every tiny movement from a gust of wind sets the autofocus off and makes the image blurry for a split second.

What I find curious, is that there seems to be little in the way of liquid discharge (on Thoro cam).

Now, all that heat surely means there is a lot of melting going on, right? It can't all disappear into steam, can it?

So where is it?

@birdseye, good idea! Actually, after the bank collapse and economic crash in 2008 prices in Iceland have been very competitive, in fact lower than in most European countries. That's why tourism has been booming lately and 2010 was supposed to be a record year.

Yet another ash animation: http://brunnur.vedur.is/pub/hroi/aska_mai.gif

If you look closely, I think you can see the Lady: just to the left of the split stone, twice as tall as it, to a background of the white parts of the glacier. Her left arm is raised to almost level, her right arm is akimbo, her left leg is a bit to the front, and she's got white slippers. Veiled she is, and her dress is long.

Just wanted to say how much I've been enjoying this blog. I've been pretty much glued to it for the last few weeks and I figure it's time to come out of the lurker's closet. Plus, Joe Licciardi is a friend of mine from grad school too (OSU, Erik?). I had no idea he was in Iceland until just a few days ago - and now here are his photos on the blog I'm addicted to! Erik, I share your envy of Joe's situation right now - although I must say it is a beautiful day in Portland, nestled between two sleeping volcanoes (or three if you count Mt. Tabor!)

#57 @tj, I was wondering the same, then I thought, maybe the exit of further meltwater is prevented by rock, etc., and all meltwater now interacts with lava leading to the increasing plume.

Looking at the gathering cloud of ash over the Atlantic, I'd say there will be major disruption over Ireland and Europe next week when the winds resume a more normal southwesterly / westerly direction.

http://www.metoffice.gov.uk/aviation/vaac/data/VAG_1273232256.png

On another note, we had a (very rare) earth tremor in the West of Ireland yesterday:

http://www.met.ie/news/display.asp?ID=66

I heard someone say on the radio that this might be connected with the Icelandic situation. Is this possible? I thought Ireland was well away from fault lines.

#57 Indeed, very little discharge. The is no new lava coming in at the moment, that is why; the steaming is just water cooling down the lava that is already there. I think there is still melting going on upstream, but that hardly comes from contact with lava, just radiant heat. The water flows to the end of the lava flow, and as it cannot easily go any further, it does come into contact with the lava and happily boils away. Of course there is some overflow, but nothing like it has been in the previous days.

In my morning blog review, I came across this post from Classic Detritus about the "Bathymetric maps in the vicinity of Eyjafjallajokull volcano" It's fun to read, with wonderful maps (gives one a perspective on the depth of the volcanos). Sorry if it's a repost'-)

http://clasticdetritus.com/2010/04/18/sea-floor-sunday-63-bathymetric-m…

From the Norwegian broadcasting today

The volcano spews reach approximately 200 tons of material in seconds, yet it flows more from the depths of the earth.
The result is that the material is stored inside the volcano. The researchers see this directly by the ground around the volcano rises. This increased pressure can lead to the eruption is more powerful than what we see now, "said the leader of the Northern volcanic center in Reykjavik, Rikke Pedersen.The explosive activity we've seen over the past day, is a direct result of pressure increase, but it is not enough to lower the pressure again.A heavy ash cloud extending southward from Iceland. The column of ash that comes out of the volcano is now up to almost nine kilometers altitude. It runs almost directly south from Iceland and will not land until it reaches Portugal. Wind direction is very lucky for Norway and Northern Europe, "said state meteorologist HÃ¥kon Melhuus. No matter what height the ashes sent up in, it is ruled out in the Atlantic Ocean off the mainland. It is a high pressure west of Iceland and a low pressure over Norway that dominates the weather, and ash cloud being pulled southward between these two weather systems.
Wind conditions will remain so for many days to come,Air traffic to or from the United States is now being conducted south of the ash cloud. It causes delays.The outbreak is now different than it was in the middle of April. Then came the massive ash cloud from the contact between the floating stone and cold meltwater from the glacier. Now is not the lava in contact with water, and the explosive activity originating from the gas that comes with the stone from the deep.Two of our researchers was gas poisoning when they would take samples near the volcano, "says Rikke Pedersen. None of our will now be allowed to move near the volcano without gas masks.Most of the gas is CO2 and sulfur dioxide, but there are also other toxic gases that lie in the ground near the volcano.
The gases are also mixed into the melt water coming from the volcano, making it toxic.When the pressure becomes smaller as the lava moves up inside the volcano, the gas expands explosively. The lava coming out now, contains more gas than before, says Rikke Pedersen. - But we are not sure whether the lava is different, we have people looking to find out now.hat is clear is that the gas does not lead to such powerful explosions that led to the water. It leads to the ash particles are larger than before.The ash particles are larger, leading to the fall faster, and that cloud not reach so far, "said Pedersen. - And I guess the only good news we have today, "she said.

-

Erik & Boris 61.5% silica and lots of new mafic magma...."A posse ad esse" ;)

re image distortion right click and click on the stretching menu repeat until you get what you like

@fireman eastern ct close to rouges island

water flow appears to be mostly from the left side from the foot of the glacier and it looks like their is a river between tho moraine and the rock wall scroll vodafone top image full left and zoom

Dubliner, I am not sure about Ireland and the Iceland eruption causing a quake. One thing I do know is that given the right conditions, a large quake from quite a distance can trigger a fault that is likely ready to move anyway.

Last year when Northern Sumatra had a 7.6 (if I remember right) quake, within an hour there was a swarm of small quakes at Mammoth Mt. in CA. It could have been triggered by the Sumatran quake, but there was really no way of knowing.

So it can happen. In the case of Ireland, I would say it is just speculation on the part of who came up with that idea.

I hope this answeres your question. I know Erik or Boris would be able to have much better input on it. A seizmologist would probably have a better idea because that is their focus.

@AnnaReyk.58 Would love to get stuck in Siglufjörður for instance...have driven the old road.

nice story about a (non-scientific) visit to see Ejya in action
http://www.icelandreview.com/icelandreview/daily_life/?cat_id=16567&ew_…

@ Jon your tremmor plot looks as if it is infected with water hammer signals

@ Mike

You lucky thing being in Costa Rica - absolutely spoilt for choice on your volcano-watch! A friend of mine was there for
three months, and says not to miss out on the National Parks for their exceptionally diverse range of flora and fauna: margay/tapir/macaws/puma etc. So you've already seen Poas and Turrialba? The latter really is a "persistant and unpleasant degasser" and now has her own webcam:
http://www.ovsicori.una.ac.cr/vulcanologia/videoturri.html

You could check out Arenal's seismicity from the comfort of your laptop before climbing up:
http://www.ovsicori.una.ac.cr/sismologia/sismogramas_linea.htm
Be safe and let us see your photos,later, maybe.

@ Mike

You lucky thing being in Costa Rica - absolutely spoilt for choice on your volcano-watch! A friend of mine was there for
three months, and says not to miss out on the National Parks for their exceptionally diverse range of flora and fauna: margay/tapir/macaws/puma etc. So you've already seen Poas and Turrialba? The latter really is a "persistant and unpleasant degasser" and now has her own webcam:
http://www.ovsicori.una.ac.cr/vulcanologia/videoturri.html

You could check out Arenal's seismicity from the comfort of your laptop before climbing up:
http://www.ovsicori.una.ac.cr/sismologia/sismogramas_linea.htm
Be safe and let us see your photos,later, maybe.

@ Henrik, Anna # 59 Thanks Anna!

Henrik, this is what I was referring to about the ash cloud yesterday and it must have been going on when we were all getting so excited. I guess you missed the brief glimpse we got before the clouds closed in but what we saw was enough for most of us at the time to perk up. Sorry for any misunderstanding.

I've a question-- Is the thermal cam on the thorolfsfelli page not refreshing automatically? Or is it just my connection? Thnx :-)

17.25 GMT To judge by the steam clods visible at the foot of the eruption column, the lava flow is now going S-SSE instead.
(Hvolsvöllur camera)

It's cleared up a bit on the Hvolsvöllur cam and I see what appears to be a large amount of steam forming behind the ash column, at a somewhat lower level than the ash cloud. Is the steam from melting on the far side of the caldera, or is it coming out of the vent directly?

bruce stout wouldn't you say that this is a lot like what we were seeing yesterday morning?....I am afraid this is not going to have a happy ending.

@#75 The connection drops often. Many times the only remedy is to reconnect from the link, some times left-clicking the image and then clicking the play button in the middle may restart it.

Interesting plumbing system this volcano has; an apparently steady progress from basalt to andesite. Opposite of the usual sequence in subduction volcanos (silicic first then more mafic). Magma mixing? Most silicate melts are entirely miscible...under lab conditions. But field evidence suggests that separate batches of melt take a good while to mix completely, if they're erupted before the process is complete there will be a streaky, blebby texture of the two original melts imperfectly mixed. Wonder if any evidence of mixing has been seen in hand sample of the eruption products yet?

Second query: is there likely to be any health hazard from fluorine with this eruption? Hekla eruptions, and Laki 1783 have produced dangerous quantities of it, and they're not too far away.

BTW: Thanks to Bruce for answering my query on SO2 on another thread..by the time I returned to the site the discussions had moved on

Today's report from NORVOL http://www2.norvol.hi.is/page/ies_Eyjafjallajokull_eruption

Eruption in Eyjafjallajökull - Status Report: 16:00 GMT, 07 May 2010
Icelandic Meteorological Office and Institute of Earth Sciences, University of Iceland

Compiled by: Sigurlaug Hjaltadóttir, Rikke Pedersen, Björn Oddsson, Ãlafur Freyr GÃslason, Guðrún Larsen, Benedikt G. Ãfeigsson, Matthew J. Roberts, Bergthóra S. Thorbjarnardóttir.

Based on:
IMO seismic monitoring; IES-IMO GPS monitoring; IMO hydrological data; IMO weather radar measurements, MERIS satellite image; reports from sent through the IMO web site, information from commercial flights.

Eruption plume:
Height (a.s.l.): 7 km according to IMO weather radar measurements at 1155h. Commercial flight heading towards KeflavÃk at 15:18h: 20,000- 25,000ft (7-7.6 km).
Heading: Southeast
Colour: Colour: Dark at the bottom, otherwise light gray.
Tephra fallout: Considerable in VÃk ashfall began at 21h last night; ashfall reaches to ~55-60 km from eruption site, midway through Mýrdalssandur.
Lightning: No detections today over the eruption site.
Noises: No reports

Meltwater:
During the last 24 hours there have been no flash floods from GÃgjökull measured at Markarfljótsbrú. Electrical conductivity has been decreasing and daily fluctuations in discharge and water temperature have been observed. The electrical conductivity in Jökulsá á Sólheimasandi which has been traced to ash contamination from the glacier is still quite high. An increase in discharge has been observed in rivers in the area around Mýrdals- and Eyjafjallajökull due to higher ambient temperature.

Conditions at eruption site:
The ash plume is lower now than yesterday. The wind affects the plume and ashfall is less. The cinder cone continues to build up around the eruption vent in the ice cauldron. The lava flow to the north has been stagnant past two days.

Seismic tremor:
Tremor levels are low, comparable to yesterday and the period on 14 - 17 April.

Earthquakes:
Earthquakes are still being recorded at 5-13 km depth, but fewer than yesterday.

GPS deformation:
Measurements from around Eyjafjallajökull indicate no major net discplaceaments, suggesting a stabilization of the surface deformation since yesterday.

Other remarks:
Grainsize analysis of samples taken of ash that fell on May 3rd at 64 km distance from the eruption site shows that about 5 % of the ash is smaller than 10 micron (aerosols). This is a considerable decrease of fine particles compared to ash from April 15th (25% aerosols) sampled at a similar distance. The grain size analysis was carried out by Nýsköpunarmiðstöð Ãslands.

Overall assessment:
Explosive activity seems to have decreased since yesterday. The ash plume does not rise as high into the air and is lighter in colour. Steam rises from the lava tongue under GÃgjökull which is a sign that ice is melting in the tunnel, but to a much lesser degree than when the lava flow was at its peak. There are no signs that the eruption is ending.

@77,78 Was thinking I was just seeing things and didn't want to add another post -
also, if one scrolls through picasa, there are little water runs every so often both in river and from cleft.

Thorolfsfelli cam not refreshing for me either and I wish they would turn auto focus off I am starting to get sore eyes and a sore head.

@53, if you´re not happy with 4:3 format you can choose stretching by right-click choice. Right-Click one time och stretcing alternative and the picture will change, click one more time and you´ll be given another choice, there are at least 4 different views.

@ hi Randall,

hard to say, I actually think it was much quieter today but I'm flying by the seat of my pants on that one.

Subglacial volcanism! what a great subject, makes me want to go back to school.

Eric, maybe you can arrange a Q&A session for Dr. Licciadi on your blog, like you have done before. I would like to know if the "split boulder" at the foot of the EJ glacier is actually the toe of an earlier subglacial lava flow. I can visually imagine a lava flow carving a channel down through the glacier, but then piling up at the bottom of the steep slope as is contact-cooled with the overlaying ice sheet. This would form a lava dam that would continue to inflate as fresh material entered it from higher up the slope. Eventually, it would cool and crack, allowing water erosion and frost ablation to form the big split we can see on the cameras, that until last week was the primary exit point for the melt water.

birdseye do you have the picasa link for todays photos, my link is missing, I´m sitting at another computer, and that one I didn´t memorise.

Has the lava flow just restarted? There is more steam at the upper part of the trench and a new hot spot higher up, but not where I think the explosive plume should be.

Help an amateur. Norway media seems to suggest that the eruption could get worse. Iceland experts say that the explosive activity is less. Tremors are down and EQ too. Is this the calm before the storm or is the volcano settling down?

#snotravking87
link for picasa albums
http://picasaweb.google.com/102175391233488315229?utm_source=twitterfee…

Check out the heat cam, it showing more hot spots in Gigjökull, maybe it´s melted a new hole in the ice.

#89: "Smile. Things can always get worse." More seriously, no-one really knows. This eruption has driven Canon Cops to strong drink at least three times already -- and I've just opened a beer.

@snotraviking Looks about like it did early this am; line below plume is lava, I think, but it's been there right along - two small hotspots below, ditto (is the upper small spot also lava, anyone, or just a steam vent?)

Whoa! Are you guys seeing what I'm seeing on the Hvolsvelli cam? A new plume above the house on the left just opened up!

Ok, so I'm having fun watching the Thorolfsfell cam now!

You can see a wee bit of incandescence at the eruption site in the live pic, and on the FLIR cam, you can see it flaring out.

Now to resize my screen so I can see both at once :)

Evelyn Sweden I would say no it's not settling down anytime soon....if it did suddenly settle down right now....then I would get real worried.....but what do I know I'm just a caveman;)

@94 that's the thing I meant in 82- was watching it earlier on Mula cam. Lower level ash rolling left from plume? ? old steam getting more vigorous? more lava coming? dunno

beedragon Canada yeah looks like steam from the lava flow.

OT 1: Icelandic police have arrested one of the managers of Kaupthing Bank for some kind of shenagians -I assume no one would have noticed the crime unless the bank had collapsed and attracted the attention of the authorities.

OT 2: Swedish television tend to pronounce the name as Ey-a fjat-la jö-kull, the third syllable seems wrong since the word is derived from "fjall", mountain. Shall I go "angry geezer" on them and write a letter, or do they know something about Icelandic pronounciation that I don't know ?

Wow yeah, and another new little one is starting to the left of that.

#ninetyfour - looks like it - am trying to see if there is movement upward, but might be fooling myself..

94, 100, 101: If you mean those white puffs, they are the steam ascending from the front of the glacier. They could be seen also in Thoro.

they know something - ll comes out tl in Icelandic, (Icelanders out there - always?)

My fave volcano tune: holocaust.mod (AMIGA MODule file), 301,254 bytes, unknown author.

Our fiendish "E" volcano is showing off right now, along with 2 small steam plumes on the far left of the HVO web-cam, and a 30,000 foot plus main ash column, very beautiful.

Re. the small steam plume to the left (on the Hvolsvöllur cam).

I think scientists said yesterday or the day before that some of the meltwater has diverted and is flowing to the east.

aha - cheers one o two

Randall, perhaps these words will help?

For none but the brave, be he king or a slave
With a pounding heart in his chest
Will be worthy to rise and with the Valkyries fly
And ride to Valhalla of old

#103: Not always. Both 'll' and 'dl/tl' exist. A word can change meaning depending on which pronunciation.

Galli: (ga'dli) = fault. Galli (ga'lli) = overall, Gaul.

@Gina, It is a culture noise (by humans). Human made noise is different from earthquakes, and what I record also shows up on the IMO earthquake list in most cases.

The ash plume is now dark and appears to be growing.

It would be nice to have a cam on the other side of the mountain. There's a good quality cam on Vestmannaeyjar, but it only shows the town and harbor. It's at 82.148.72.2:60000

Hmm...when did the small McLaren Mercedes Formula 1 team ad appear at the bottom of Vodafone webcam page?

Thanks for supporting them from an eager volcano watcher! :)

Thanks all re: puffs on left side of Hvols. *cracks open a beer and pours whilst eyes remain fixed on computer screen*

@ Mike #80 re SO2 .. and I put you wrong I think!! lol

credit should go to Paul Mathiasen I believe.

#112: It's been there for quite a few days.

beedragon Canada it still looks like steam but you are right something strange is going on to the left.

Henrik, Swe Yeah I think those words helped but I really don't think the volcano liked the Icelandic Met assessment:).....Anyone out there know how to say..."one should never dis an angry volcano" in Icelandic?

You can definitely spot the evening sun warning the hillsides on the TI. *burp* <takes a sip from the bottle>

Re the small steam plume to the east on th Hvol cam, it is my understanding that the glacier down which the lava is flowing is in that direction..

"Enginn skyldi smána virkt (active) endfjall."

I know its hard to believe but I shifted a lot of work today, Now I'm going to join Reynir, put my feet up and watch the Holli cam as sunset approaches... can someone explain to me why I get this feeling of deep peace and satisfaction watching tons of rock get blasted 30,000 feet into the air? Is it because I realize how miniscule we humans are? Is it the wine? The haikus? Whatever, it's putting on a stunning show. I feel privileged to be able to watch.

OOOPSIE! Eldfjall, not endfjall. I gotta discipline mu fingers.

I think i've got the answer for the triangular purple area to the left of the tongue of the glacier- Thanks to everyone for thoughts and maps!!! (yeah, that's a shout-out)

On the fra-thorolfsfelli cam, to the left of giga appears to be a rocky spot, then another, smaller glacier tongue. it's wide and the top, and seems to fall into a narrow canyon (as predicted by Gordon) I also think that Reynir Heiðberg Stefánsson got it right on the river outflow location. What confused the issue is that the map show no glacier over the drip zone, but it's there (maybe packed up from the winter-- it is a shallow area on the topo). So the gentle coloring would be meltwater in a kind of wash.

Thanks guys, you helped me once again:-D

@reynir, beer is good, but more fitting would be the icelandic vodka "EldurÃs", (I´m thinking about the Eyja-company of course). Is it icelandic beer?

@120 Bruce: I get the same feeling. For me it's the wonder of earth being alive. Watching the enormous purge does make one feel very small and insignificant in the grand scheme of things.

Randall (#116), one should never call a lady a girl before the honorific is outrageously dated. Like you say, Iceland Met seems oblivious to this fact. ;)

#123: Yep. Jökull. It's brewed in Stykkishólmur, not far from the glacier Snæfellsjökull. I generally favour Kaldi from N-Iceland, though. Skjálfti (Quake) or Lava from S-Iceland might've been more apt, but the milk shop didn't have them.

FLIR cam looks like plume heat and lava heat merging????

I could really go for an Olvisholt Brugghus right about now ;)

http://www.brugghus.is/english/lava.php

sorry, cam stuck on one image when I went elsewhere

In Sweden I doubt we have any beers with volcanic names, but we do have Svea Viking Mjöd from Three Towns Independent Brewers. I wouldn´t say no to an "old Engine Oil" either,

"Old Engine Oil beer
Harviestoun Brewery, UK

A Scottish-style ale, Old Engine Oil has a dark color, almost like used engine oil and it is made by a former Ford worker, Ken Brooker.

While the ale may look like old used oil, it definitely does not have an oily taste. It is very silky, like stout, with a tart citrus flavor and a hint of dark unsweetened chocolate. This beer would be a very good winter warmer or after-dinner brew."

You guys just enjoy your frosty beers, I'm taking two different kinds of antibiotics - one of which would make me very, very sick if I had a drink.

Well, TGIF, enjoy!

As if it wasn't enough that one fifth of the inhabitants of the village VÃk are evacuating because of the ash fall, they seem to be getting more, if the Hvolsvöllur cam is to go by.

The sheep farmers daren't let out, with the lambing season getting into swing.

What a remarkable volcano she is! Tremor is low, as low as it has been since the main eruption started. According to Jón's helicorders, harmonic tremor too is low (unless he has changed their sensitivity). Other indicators - inflation, meltwater - do not point to any great activity. In spite of this, our Lady Eyja has put on one of her great displays and, as far as visible sustained activity at a high level is concerned, perhaps the most prominent.

@Reynir132 - and sheep don't like to be closed in tight, they get pneumonia easily if so, thus, a double problem. Maybe in Iceland it would be easier to move a flock from one place to another, but here,I think too much chance of spreading disease for one farmer to help another that way, even if clean pasture were available.Would be interested to know what efforts are being made to help heavily-ashed farmers with animals.

The Lake is back.

Best!,motsfo

@135 A trick of light again, I checked picasa - it's also the camera focus..been doing that to confuse us and keep us entertained while the Lady goes out for more cigarettes...

@motsfo #135 I'm not sure it is. The view from Ãórólfsfelli cam does look like the lake has reformed, but if you view the most recent Vodafone stills (or the cam if it works for you - doesn't work for me right now) you can see in the close up that it's not.

e.g.

http://picasaweb.google.com/102175391233488315229/EyjafjallajokullVolca…

I think this is another one of those numerous examples we've had of the camera telling little fibs.

I must say, the new cam at Ãórólfsfell does have better brightness than the Voda cam, and shows up the moraines and other details much better. It's much easier to get a sense of how that valley really looks.

I am, however, still a little confused by the left-hand steam plume on Hvolsvell cam, as it doesn't look like there's enough steam coming from the lava in Gigjökull to create a plume as high as the one on Hvolsvell... but again, the camera is probably fibbing again. ;)

They are getting help from rescue units. Some members are sheep farmers themselves, or at least from farming families.

@Suw, I think it is just the camera trying to trick you. lol take a look at the Mulacot, there is a low cloud hovering there..

http://www.mulakot.net/myndavelar.html

@HenrikSwe (old thread 189) Nice

Just getting my anniversary reminder in a few hours in advance: May 8, 1902 Montagne Pelee. Greatest death toll by direct volcanic activity in the historic record.

#137: The angle between camera and sun is very likely a factor, as the apron cam shows a lot of steam, too.

The view from the widescreen cam resembles a painting, it does.

I really hated to edit this but I was afraid it might be way too long to post the whole thing....it seemed to fit the situation. This is for all of you guys out there enjoying your volcano crack and contemplating the spiritual side of the volcano;)

Nature, a Fragment

Nature! We are surrounded and embraced by her -- powerless to leave
her and powerless to enter her more deeply. Unaksed and without
warning she sweeps us away in the round of her dance and dances on
until we fall exhausted from her arms.

She brings forth ever new forms: what is there, never was; what was,
never will return. All is new, and yet forever old.

We live within her, and are strangers to her. She speaks perpetually
with us, and does not betray her secret. We work on her constantly,
and yet have no power over her.

All her effort seems bent toward individuality, and she cares nothing
for individuals. She builds always, destroys always, and her workshop
is beyond our reach.

She lives in countless children, and the mother -- where is she?
She is the sole artist, creating extreme contrast out of the simplest
material, the greatest perfection seemingly without effort, the most
definite clarity always veiled with a touch of softness. Each of her
works has its own being, each of her phenomenon its separate idea,
and yet all create a single whole.

She plays out a drama: we know not whether she herself sees it,
and yet she plays it for us, we who stand in the corner....

Johann Wolfgang Von Goethe, Nature, a Fragment

@132: Maybe Eyjafjöll is not the main event but only acts as a "safety valve", letting pressure off when something else gets blocked? Most tremor graphs along the rifting zones (roughly Kistufell-Eyjafjöll-Reykjanes) show almost identical features.

@Randall 143: Thanks Randall..Brandy and Mother Nature..life is good.

Gordys glad you liked it:)

@144 I don't have old maps for comparison but that whole zone made a nice string of beads this a.m. on the Met Office All-Iceland EQ map. Expect it's usually so?

For those of you(such as myself), that are on the Gigjökull destruction watch, keep in mind, the viscosity of the lava that is now being erupted will not flow as well as did the lava erupted at the original eruption site at Fimmvörðuháls, or the first lava erupted at the present site. I am thinking that it will take much more volume of erupted material, and more time, before we see any lava at the bottom of the glacierâ¦IF the eruption maintains it's present state.
There are some good links on this site.
http://www.geology.sdsu.edu/how_volcanoes_work/Lavaflows.html

@147 Now it makes a nice string but it did not just some five-ten years ago. The middle of Iceland has sprung into life in the recent years. Check e.g. http://hraun.vedur.is/ja/viku/2003/vika_01/index.html and tweak the url to get different years and weeks. There is data since about 1995.

It looks like there is one main "fissure" along Eyjafjöll-Torfajökull-(Veidivötn)-Bardarbunga-Kistufell-Askja. They are almost exactly along a straight line. A parallel one is Katla-Grimsvötn-Kverkfjöll. Especially the Bardarbunga-Kistufell area is pertty active on the earthquake maps.

It is a tad discomforting to have Eyjafjöll erupting at the other end of the 'system'. These volcanoes have produced several large eruptions in just the recent centuries (e.g. Eldgja, Veidivötn, Lakagigar).

http://www.mulakot.net/myndavelar.html

Plume full view - width/height

did anyone see if the white car that just exited stage left had crossed the river (i.e. come from the main road)?

very nice action now @ http://eldgos.mila.is/eyjafjallajokull-fra-thorolfsfelli/ the IR cam is beautiful to watch.

@birdseyeUSA #134: I heard from friends, where the parents are sheep-farmers as well, that farmers actually don't like to move their herds, because there are some cases of scrapie reported. And the south is so far unaffected. Sounds like choosing between pest and cholera.

@kultsi#42: My guess would be 'yes'. It's easy to set up a web cam; it takes a lot more time and money to set up so that it's nice and stable. It may be wind gusts making the camera vibrate.

Wow!! How high do you recon the plume is right now?

@Shelly, 155, I don't think it's very high, the camera from here http://eldgos.mila.is/eyjafjallajokull-fra-hvolsvelli/ is pretty far away and the plume doesn't seem to be much higher than the mountain... My question now: is it just me, or is the ash coming down very fast after being expeled? Does this mean it's very dense/heavy?

@randall Thnx for the poem. I like dancing with nature. :-D

#156: I think that the particulate size has increased (between 5 and 10 microns), so therefore >density and quicker to fall to Earth given the current explosivity. This could change.

@Chris153 That's what I wondered about, i used to have a few sheep. The ash will do no good for any fleece sales, let alone anything else, but I wonder how many sheep are in he (present) ash district.

I am geting fantastic picture of plume from Mulakot cam just now, and pairing it with the heat image camera at Thorolfsfelli which gives a great idea of the activity at the base of the plume.

Can any anyone advise how to take screenshot from Mila cams, Adobe website says to right click, but that's not giving me the option.

Based on previous web cam views that were similar I would guess 25 to 30,000 feet. The mountain is about 5,500 feet for reference.

@161 - look at the 3td image from http://www.mulakot.net/myndavelar.html. It's clearly not that high (it should be out off the image for 25-30k)

@ Gordon - you can always type ALT+Prt_Scr and then crop the picture after pasting it into MSPaint. I use a program called MWSnap, which can focus on individual screen elements, which is handy.

My guess is the ash column is 12-14,000 feet right now.

OK! Who sneezed on the Ãórólfsfell cam? :)

Looks like a nice steady stream near 18-20,000 feet. Our "E" volcano is taking a brief break from her 35,000 feet plume explosions. With yesterday's deep quakes, I am sure she has PLENTY more ash/steam and magma to throw our way.

I think it was that guy that walked past about 30 minutes ago.;)

If anyone's on a Mac, Command Shift 4 gives you crosshairs to drag and will when released put a .png on your desktop which can be be printed directly or whatever.

@birdseyeUSA #159: There are quite a lot of sheep, since the south of Iceland has a lot of farms. Its reatively warm there, so the conditions for farming are good.

Lava can be seen from the crater now on Hvolvöllur!

Yay! Fireworks!

A recent image of Gigjokull, taken by a crazy friend of mine a couple of days ago:

http://files.posterous.com/gummiey/NN9e1btXZPZaYBfCHdoGefDuiCiQzuBJd5YE…

Thorolfsfelli heat cam has been showing a hot spot moving down Gigsjokull for about 5-10 minutes. Currently stationary about half way to break of slope and varying in intensity with possible plume coming off it. Visibility very poor on normal camera. Lava flow?

There now appears to be a second and less intense hot spot further down on same line.

@PeakVT... I too was wonderinghow to grab a screen shot.. Just downloaded a MWSnap programme and it works great.. Thanks!

Strombolian eruptions also on vodafone webcam.

Grrrr try again: http://post.ly/fBqd

Hope all the fog doesn't cover the Lady. Not now!

Anyone who still has sneeze-view on the Thorolfsfell cam, just reload your page... good stuff to look at right now!

Lava on Ãórólfsföllur cam!

@PeakVT I just used Alt-Prt Scn to Paint.Does the job just fine. Thanks a lot.

Heavy heavy ash fall on the Hvolsvollur cam now.

Yep.. pretty extreme case of strombolian activity....

Is it even possible for such a silicic lava (61,5% SiO2, that's quite something!) to form a lava flow, or are we witnessing the start of a dome-growth episode?

On Hvol's webcam, the plume is very high, guesstimate >8km high...(top of the frame)

WOW, the Evo cam is covered in dense ash, "E" has snapped a twig, I pray and hope the folks around her are going to be safe, absolutely amazing.

Judging by the height of the mountain, I guesstimate lava fountaining/splattering to go more than 1km up in the air, that's very intense..
I had no idea such a silicic lava could erupt in that way....

Ordinary dacitic lava erupts at about 850-900°C, and is extremely viscous. Is a much hotter, but still dacitic magma in a range of viscosity comparable to low-Si basaltic andesite, something, that would be capable of erupting in a Strombolian way?

The EVO cam cleared slightly, for a few frames, that ash cloud, though fairly visible was at the top of the screen, close to 20,000+ feet for the moment. Of course, EVO is shrouded once again.

Is there an exact name for the type of volcano Ej is? Iceland is part of the mid Atlantic ridge. It seems to me that this is only the beginning of further spreading of the plates. The only question is how long before it really goes.

I think the exact name tonight might be "mac daddy Volcano master"

I've never seen something like that... huge spattering, clots of lava probably dozens of metres wide based on eruptive vents size... that's really impressive...

I've come upon something that frightened me a bit... Last eruption was in fact quite similar, albeit on a much smaller scale.....

http://www.volcano.si.edu/world/volcano.cfm?vnum=1702-02=

Last eruption produced intermediate to silicic tephra for 2 years long... then as the eruption stopped, Katla went off big time.

My guess (very unscientific) is that nothing will happen at Katla as soon as Eyjaf is still erupting. Then, as Eyjaf will start deflating when the magma chamber will be exhausted, the resulting seismic activity could well stir up Katla's innards just enough to make it go.

Think of Eyjaf as "Katla's Indicator"....

How big is this eruption on the VEI scale now, a 3?

Based on what it did at the beginning of the eruption, it's already way past VEI 3, and heading its way into VEI 4....

At least 0.14 km3 of material has been erupted in the first days only... not counting what's belching out now. That's pretty repectable.

Ok, thanks for that Volcanophile

@189 Volc.
What is your reference for the scale of this eruption?

"At least 0.14 km3 of material has been erupted".

I just want to read it. I am a big fan of the VEI

Wikipedia already classifies this eruption as a 4 and Wikipedia is TRUTH :)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Volcanic_Explosivity_Index

More tricks of light or else something very odd on left side of Hvol cam just now - must be cars in the fog.cloud - seem to all be behind the hill

I don't think that's ash falling at Hvolsvöllur. (Is that what y'all mean by EVO?) The plume was heading southish, last I saw. Probably just fog.

Oh, and Doc, the plates are always in motion and the MAR always spreading. Europe and the U.S. get approx an inch further apart every year. And there are several types of volcanoes in Iceland.

@193 It's cars. The road starts from the left, goes right towards the house then turns back left.

I can see glimmer on the thorolfsfelli cam. I don't think it's going to be dark at night any more. pretty soon there will be no 'twilight' fireworks ;(

Currently the ash cloud only comes from one vent it seems. But I fear that a new vent might open up any time if the magma gets powerful enough inside the volcano. With new influx of magma that might well happen soon.

When that happens, we are going to see a monster of a ash cloud. At least that is what I fear is going to happen.

Quiet word to the IES folks: would be a good idea to fly recon to estimate ash-induced change in Mýrdalsjökull and Vatnajokull icecap surface albedo, to be matched against rise in meltwater Q data.

Would also be nice to know how much the local water table is rising in response to Eyjaf meltwater infiltration (wrt pore pressure, particularly on the N-S axis running through Fimm).

Shocking visual change in Gigjokull outlet glacier since I last looked in here a week ago.

>But I fear that a new vent might open up any time if the magma gets powerful enough inside the volcano. With new influx of magma that might well happen soon.

No. Seismic activity is back to baseline.

@Passerby,
1 3.0 quake starting a well placed swarm and what Jon fears is a reality in only a few hours.
This is a vigorous eruption with complicated yet not well documented plumbing.

handing over to the night watch - hope you are all wrong - may you and Iceland have a quiet night, hopefully not in comparison to what might yet be.

No, this is a deep push of magma, not surficial magma flow seeking a new path to surface.

IES knows the clues/pattern by now.

@Passerby, That does not matter. A new swarm can start without warning. There also might not be a earthquake swarm in the case of a new vent opening up. But that is a wait and see type of thing. It cannot be predicted in any way.

The current vent is getting smaller due to build-up of material around it. That can be noted by the drop in tremor plots I think, due to less flow to the current vent. Currently the GPS data show that there is little to none deflation going on in Eyjafjallajökull. Some inflation has happened, and with the deep earthquakes (~30km). This is a bad mixture for a erupting volcano in my opinion.

While darkness and fog stopped our "gazing at fireworks activity", I went through the first posts on Eyjaföll (March,4). It's funny to see how unpredictable those wonders of nature may be:
(...)"This would also suggest that magma might be entering the upper echelons of Eyjafjallajökull's magmatic system. UPDATE: It appears that the Icelandic Met Office doesn't think this is leading to an eruption (Thanks to Orri with help on the translation)."

@birdseye #201

Night watch here from the left coast. But not much to see on the various web cams tonight. I guess it's a foggy one again...

Blech... fog. But it is supposed to become sunny, so I guess we just have to be patient and give it a chance to blow away or burn off.

Night watch here, too, from the southern hemisphere. However, I get a server error when I try to watch the Mila cams and Voda not loading so I'm not much use right now!!

Helen, try again, starting from http://eldgos.mila.is and selecting the cam you want; they've rearranged the URLs and the old ones don't work!

Mike

Thanks to everyone who kindly corrected this old lady
when she thought she saw "the lake" back.
Didn't have time to comment earlier.
This is a wonderful board full of wonderful people;
And those of You who are not wonderful, i know Your mom.

Best!motsfo

Hi motsfo #209,

I looked at the webcam when you posted that comment and it looked like it had returned.

It sure is a great show, when there is no fog (like now). Definitely better than what's on TV tonight... ;-)

@ Mike - huge thanks :) cams back online!

Coupla earthquakes in the SW during the past hour:

http://en.vedur.is/earthquakes-and-volcanism/earthquakes/

Eyjafjallajökull volcano eruption 7 May 2010 Time lapse webcam film from yesterday evening:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cSuzjFJJy-Y

d9tRotterdam that was cool...thanks for posting the video!

parclair NoCal USA glad you liked the Goethe poem!

another time-lapse from yesterday: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BCPbx0psMiI

Thanks d9tRotterdam, for that video.

I had to go to bet in time, so I missed the fireworks...

It's back! eldgos.mila.is/eyjafjallajokull-fra-hvolsvelli/

Doesn't seem to have let up much since last visable. I noticed that the ash advisories had been extended...wonder how much further they will be extended....

Saw the top of the ash plume on the Vodafone cam. Height and volume still look impressive.

Let's play "spot the arch"...

They've fixed the Thorolfsfell camera's auto focus problem. Looks good now.

Naah, I was too hasty. When the fog cleared more, the problem was back.

The Vodafone camera is better, good and clear view.
I have the Flir and the vodafone beside each other and get so e good impression of the eruption.

The Vodafone wide view is quite dark and the close-up would be better if it showed a larger area. I do agree that the picture quality is excellent and the resolution is better.

>The Vodafone wide view is quite dark and the close-up would be better if it showed a larger area. <

you're right about that. But the ideal is probably difficult to get and I'm happy we can see as much as we can at the moment.

They have just announced on the BBC website that 15 airports in Northern Spain are closing due to the ash cloud.

Umm, there are signs that tell me we should start to familiarise ourselves with the "Ten Web-cams of Etna". ;)

www.vulcanoetna.com/en_etna_cam.php

www.guide-etna.com/webcam/

@227 oj, what signs? Do u have some links or tell me ;)
tacksamt...

Henrik - what signs?!

Interesting risk assessment that seems to emphasize what is known and disregard the less obvious.

Willis List of Europe's 10 Most Dangerous volcanoes

www.marketwatch.com/story/mount-vesuvius-eruption-could-cause-21000-cas…

or a volcano could erupt in Greece and improve Europes economy by 24 bilion Euros....

Hi, been lurking and learning for some time now. I would like to say how much I am enjoying this blog; loads of information.

Has anyone else spotted that small stream of steam just above the rock fissure in the Vodacam view? I first saw it about ten minutes ago.

#231 lol.. cheeky but i like the way you think.

2 little earthquakes this morning - first in over 18 hours (3.9 and 9.7 km depth)

@231...

In fact, there is one... Santorini ;)

If it too started to erupt in a gentle, Strombolian fashion (as it did a lot of times in the beginning of 20th century), it could attract even more tourists into this already touristic island....... and given the panorama you have from Thera island, tthe view would be awesome...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Santorini

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:010607-0930-17_-_Nea_Kameni_-_Krater…

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Thira_Santorini.jpg
(the active volcano is on the middle right, the flat shield in the middle of the caldera, Nea Kameni..
Yeah.. tourists... good for the economy!

Ah.. that's not what you meant? ;)

#AndrewWH #232 Welcome to the conversation!

Yes, there has been steam rising from that spot for a while now. There's a lava flow from the crater down towards Gigjökull and hot meltwater too, both of which are producing steam. It's much more easily seen on the timelapse videos, e.g. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BCPbx0psMiI

I have noticed three things in the last hour or so:

- Some earthquakes occurred
- From the FLIR camera the ash plume appears to have a higher temperature than usual (since the camera was installed).
- Tremor activity is getting more "jumpy"

Could these things be all connected? Likely yes in my opinion.

@ Suw 235 Thanks for the welcome.

Having checked the timelapse I can see it was then producing a much more vigorous plume. The steam seems to have died off somewhat since yesterday, though, and with the subtle changes in topography it made it look further down the slope than before.

A clear view in every camera! Even the Ruv.is cameras have a good image. The ash from Eyjafjöll has turned the Mýrdalsjökull almost black.

I've just done something I've been wanting to do since they set the FLIR camera up, which is to take screenshots of both cams and then superimpose the FLIR image, properly scaled, on the normal image to get a better idea of where the lava is.

The result is here:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/suw/4588384291/

*grmbl* Massive blackout up here last night. Took out W-, N and E-Iceland. Good thing it took only about two hours to fully restart the grid.

Good day everyone I missed the fireworks last night so glad for the timelapse video, there seems to be alot more meltwater today compared to yesterday.

Welcome Andrew.

Suw that was a great idea of yours. :D

#241 Ruby, a sunny day in summer, glaciers weep.

Many thanks for the YouTube timelapse--stunning. Also huge hx to the many on this board who share your knowledge & experience. Watching this eruption and learning from you is enormously enriching: illustrated real-time course in volcanology.

Reynir how are things now in your area? We pray for you all.

Suw thanks for that it had crossed my mind that if we could compare them this way it would be fantastic but alas I am hopeless with anything like that it is well done to you

You can spot the occasional bit of falling ash on the Katla cam. Mýrdalur, which is nearby, is hard hit by ash fall. The village VÃk saw 300 micrograms per cubic metre this morning. The danger limit is currently set a 50 µg/cm³.

@Holger(The Dane?) 205 tak for det.
Had to miss the fireworks last night, so, many thanks for the time lapse, ditto the FLIR superimposition. Reynir and all in your area, we're with you.

Huge spike in harmonics in the last few minutes.

#247 Reynir, this does not compute, not in my head at least.

If the ash fall was 300 µg/m³, that's next to nothing; if it was µg/cm³, then wow! 300 grams of the stuff in every cubic metre of air.

@suw: 239 - great! THank you for the work you put into that picture.

I have the inpression that a lot of ash is falling - I hope that the inhabitants of Vik are safe...

Hear just now that in Spain and south of France airports are closed because of the ash.

Odd as it may sound, these were the numbers in the RUV news bulletin. Civil Defence quoted yesterday's 24-hour average at 418 µg/m³.

Any case, it's a sunny day here, so I've tossed my pillow and comforter out on the lawn. :-D

Another mobile phone addict waving at cam

According to the FLIR picture, that dude waving in front of the Thoro cameras is on fire!

According to some tech brochures I grabbed from FLIR's website, 30°C close by can look hotter than 1000°C far off.

Go AWAY, Alpha Hotel! At least his presence confirmed that the problem with the camera is, indeed, auto focus.

I've 13 pictures of these doods dancing in front of the cameras; can you think of a very public forum where to publish them? A Facebook group dedicated for the purpose?

Old saying: "That cirrus hues me not."

wonder if he little plane on the Mula cam is going up to take pictures? gives a nice scale...

Talking of Múlakot... The ash plume is pushed straight away from the airstrip, and there seems to be a steam plume to the right. Looks like it isn't idle guesswork that lava might be running south.

Anyone else feeling rather jealous of the guy sitting watching? How I wish it was me!

yes...your arse does look big in those shorts....

I probably missed it somewhere earlier, but is there a way to locate the current eruption site on that good map from yesterday? I imagine it as being just behind the ridge we see from the cameras, but where is it really?

Ya noted the horizontal blue veil that appears about the same height as the base of the plume? It's more visible on the Vodafone cam than on MÃla's cam

@Reynir I think it's too dark to be steam, probably the ash tail turning more to the south, say, after crossing Myrdalsjökull?

#264 I too have noticed that,, falling ash??

Not ash. Too blue. Thin blue veil above GÃgjökull to the peak east of the tongue.

RE: 260 So where do the new cameras have to go if that is the case ?? ; )

*grmbl* Looks like it's gone now.

>Massive blackout up here last night.

Reynir, was the cause of the massive power outage last night determined?

The Mila visual cam feed runs about eight minutes behind the real time...

And the AH is going nowhere, looks like he's going to camp there... Ah, now he left - after more than an hour on all cameras. He went downhill, so he may try drowning next.

Sure wish I had a good radar map of the glacier. Any case, I'd guess that Steinafjall and Raufarfell were worth looking at as observation posts.

#270: ATM they think it was a cascade beginning at a switching station at Brennimelur in Hvalfjörður that got hit by a surge due to an electrical fault at a smeltery in the area.

SE-, S- and SW-Iceland (from Hornafjörður in the east to ReykjavÃk) were scant or not affected.

Heh. At least three small planes visiting Múlakot.

Not exactly a swarm, but 2 more earthquakes - that's 4 this morning so far.

http://en.vedur.is/earthquakes-and-volcanism/earthquakes/myrdalsjokull/

Uha-da! Steam ahoy! near the tip of GÃgjökull.

#276 I wonder if those last two quakes released a stream of magma? Well soon know for sure..

#277: Possible. Looks like on the flir that the eyes in the glacier are warming up.

especcially the top one looks very hot...

Reynir, It looks like your 'blue veil' is back.. Gas, fumes??

Could we get an update from the professionals as to the status of the eruption? Maybe a new thread? It seems like MET is awfully quiet this time. No wonder with the beating they took over their last ash warnings. I personally believe they were right in issuing what they did. I back them up completely and I think everybody here should as well. They need a giant pat on the back for having the balls to say what they feel is correct. I just hope they don't stop now. From this, it looks like the ash is headed towards North America.

http://www.yr.no/satellitt/europa_animasjon.html

It also seems to me that this is getting much worse than when it first started (the 2nd time) Does anybody else see it this way?

Does anyone know where I can get a pre-eruption image of the volcano from about the same location as the Ãórólfsfell webcam?

I teach a High school Earth Science class and I want to show my students the change in the glacier.

Thanks

#280: My guess, too. If you backtrack the Vodafone cam to 13:56, it should be very visible.

OT: I spotted a pair of jets flying in parallel at altitide. Wonder if the A380 is out playing.

@281Doc that is a great animation, thanks!

#282: I think that the IceMetOffice may have one. I'm quite certain I saw one of their pages sport such an image.

@282

On the vodafone webcam page, you can back up the image to the date and time of your choice. They also have their images archived in picasa.

vodafone.is/eldgos/en

picasaweb.google.com/102175391233488315229?utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter

@ mlewchuk - I have a VERY high resolution image of the glacier here:

www.corestore.org/gigjokull.jpg

Will take a few mins to download. Was taken whilst the Fimmvorduhals eruption was in progress, but before the summit eruption started.

Here is another good one which, I believe, clearly shows that the situation is getting worse, not better, or even the same.

http://oiswww.eumetsat.org/IPPS/html/MSG/RGB/ASH/ICELAND/

Could someone please post a link to the subharmonic tremors related to Ej?

After nightfall, or in low visibility, it seems the only way to monitor activity is through satellite imagery or through seismographs, especially so with the sub harmonics.

@282 Here are a few links I kept:

http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=31002053&id=1528659644&l=1ee32e63…

//static.panoramio.com/photos/original/5531670.jpg

://www.360cities.net/image/gigjokull#-456.80,0.51,70.0

/www.flickr.com/photos/arnitr/127648089/

I'm pretty sure Fireman had a really good shot of the Gigjokull in spring with a lovely lake, unfortunately, I didn't bookmark.

looks like vodacam is exhausted here - so I'll be seeing anything interesting after you all do, on picasa or with Thorocam's delay...rrrrr....

@282 There will be a post by me with links that I kept. It got hung up in moderation. I mention Fireman-- I see he already posted his picture, which I will add to my links.

At the bottom of this page,

http://www.vedur.is/skjalftar-og-eldgos/frodleikur/greinar/nr/1863

there are two images of GÃgjökull. The lower was shot on September 11th, 1992; the upper on March 30th, 2010.

#288: @Doc, the TI on Ãórólfsfell is another way of watching the volcano during low night.

I have seen this question asked here several times but do not recall an answer. Does anybody have access to the latest analysis of the toxic gases being released from this eruption? I am particularly interested in the amount of fluorine. If it doesn't seem important then look at this.

http://www.fluoridealert.org/fluorosis-india.htm

Large parts of India suffer from this, as do other parts of the world. I believe their drinking water is being contaminated from living on top of the Deccan Traps and getting their drinking water from there. Anybody know more about this? There are other traps as well and I'm almost sure they have this problem as well.

#292: The Earth Sciences Institute does handle ash analyses, but I do not know if they do air analyses.

http://www.earthice.hi.is/page/IES-EY-CEMCOM

#293 - Thanks for the link. From what I see in this the ash and the meltwater are both toxic. I thought so but I guess this isn't unusual for this type of eruption. The article also states that the finer the ash and the further away from the eruption site, the more concentrated it will be. Not good news at all as any concentration > 2 ppm is considered bad. How come all of the silence on this?

Results
Soluble fluoride on ash surface: mg F pr. kg ash (ppm).
1. (pH 6.45) Fluoride 92 ppm (Leached in the laboratory. Fluoride and pH of leachate measured in the laboratory).
2. (pH 5.66) Fluoride 112 ppm (Fluoride and pH measured in meltwaer).
3. (pH 5.55) Fluoride 112 ppm (Fluoride and pH measured in meltwaer).

@Doc AFAIK, the Icelandic people are well aware of the danger - they've lost enough people & livestock to fluoride poisoning before.

Doc-So far there have only been analysis of the water/soils and that goes all the way back to April 2 so its out of date. There are high levels of chromium, flourides, obviously acids.

There are also indications of Cesium in the samplings.

Problem with air samplings is that this isnt rocket science, but you might need one to get a sample or two. Sounding rockets were used in the past to get the real information because its mostly evolving as it comes out of the hole. Compounds of this and that, lots of oxides, pure minerals and metals. Primordial base type of concepts. I have always found it interesting that around volcanoes that so many new species develop. But for now the EU says the air is safe... Like there was something that could be done about it.

http://www.euro.who.int/air/NewsEvents/20100416_1

Here is a link with papers....

http://www.ivhhn.org/resources/library.html

#294: One of those Everybody Knows things, I guess. Plenty of evidence in Iceland's past, so little need to talk.

Can anyone remember the link to where you could see EQs in 3D (location plot with depths)?

#295 - I'm sure that they are aware of the danger, but this is not just an Icelandic problem anymore. Just like The problem in Greece is no longer just there, or the mile deep oil spill in the gulf. These are much larger than just local problems.

@MagnusD #298 Did you mean this one:

http://en.vedur.is/media/jar/myndsafn/large/T3-2010-1-5may-100505.png

@Suw #300 yep, that's the one. Thx!

#299 Doc

Yeah, but you can't blame humanity for fluoride poisoning caused by volcanoes and you can blame humanity for eradicating smallpox.

@SUW #239 thank you for putting the two pics together. That really shows where things are and what is going on.

Well it is almost 10:00am here in CA and I am enjoying the view! We can actually see something!

Randall, I liked the poem, too.

I will have to keep catching up with everything. Sometimes I find there will be over 100 new posts overnight! LOL I enjoy it, though. Ithink I will get back to reading again.

Well, I'm off to Ãórólfsfell - if everything goes as planned I'll be making a fool of myself in front of the camera in three hours or so. Please keep the clouds away in the meantime ....

#299 It is not a global problem, from this eruption, not even a problem to any countries in which the air traffic was affected by the eruption. The ash is much too dispersed elsewhere to cause fluoride problems.

FYI, Smallpox has not been eradicated. I can blame humanity for not being better prepared to deal with disasters. When we spend all of our money on wars and other useless bullshit, I can point a finger. We all should. There may be nothing that can be done about this but there is room for improvement. Look at the way MET was treated for trying to save lives. I guess people care more about convenience than safety. For the most part, humanity seems like it is not much better off than in the stone age.

Don't forget your Hi sign Leifur. :) Will watch out for you..

@304 Leifur I am sooo jealous I shall be waving at you I know you won't see me but it is the though that counts. I hope you have you cardboard with you to hold up saying Hello to all science bloggers written on it :)

@Leifur Count me among the jealous ones! Have fun and get some great pics. Fingers crossed that the clouds stay away.

@Leifur. Me three. You now officially have a fan club around the world. Leifur the Lucky.

My only question about the flouride, assuming it becomes a large enough problem...what exactly should be done? It would be in the water, food everywhere. Wearing a mask would make no real difference. On a local scale there are solutions. On a Europe or larger scale...400 million or so people cannot move away, stop eating, drinking. Although I suppose stop breathing is the ultimate option.

I think humans have forgotten just how intertwined we are with nature. At least in western/developed countries. To dredge up some vague medieval latin memory from the plague times.

Memento Morte

Remember Death. Which I guess really means, that some things there is nothing you can do about...Gather ye rosebuds while ye may...

#306 ... I think you are right Doc ... we as a species seem to think we are invincible and that the quirks of nature are just a minor nuisance, not realizing that in the long term we are heading the way of the dinosaurs ... c'est la vie :)

Technological giants, moral pygmies... Wasn't it Gen. Omar Bradley?

from Gislio on Twitter - ashfall in town of Vik
http://bit.ly/cBZscW

@Birdseye #248

Not Danish, the background is German - but they've permanently admitted me to the US now.

Glad to see the fog is gone - for now that is. Finally, we're getting our fix of volcano footage again. I'm keeping the webcams running while attend a few meetings today....

@313 Birdseye I feel for the people living there imagine the clean up involved make me tired just thinking about it

Reynir, you must be referring to Gen. Short who didn't see it coming. Not up to Iceland's tall standard I expect.

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Walter_Short

The lavaflow is cleary visible in this pic from NASA:

http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/jpegMod/PIA13098_modest.jpg

#316: I'm quite certain I saw this statement ("We are Technological giants and moral pygmies") first attributed to Gen. Bradley.

Volcanoman thanks for that good pictures

@#287 Fireman, thx for the link! An excellent picture - which shows there is a giant lying in the glacier: his face is showing at the top right...

@317 volcanoman -great pic! helps show the real extent.

@Henrik, Bruce. I wonder if they recorded EQ rate oscillations?: http://www.seismo.unr.edu/webdata/smith_etal_science_aug_2004.pdf

@Reynir: The quote and close variations of it are variously attributed to Martin Luther King, Jr., Albert Einstein and Omar Bradley. I wouldn't be surprised if none of them actually said it.

#323: I saw it attributed to Einstein later than to Bradley. First mention I've seen of King, though.

I wonder if there is an easily accessible Autofocus-Off switch on the back of the Ãórólfsfell Mila cam that Leifur can throw? That camera has genuinely given me a headache.

Radio report: Plume up to 5km alt. Crater building up. Little or no lava flow. Still high levels of fine ash in VÃk (well above health safety limits.

My laws of physics awareness is really not what it ought to be.

Somehow I'd imagined that the lava would eventually emerge from under GÃgjökull. But somebody pointed out to me that there's no way lava will flow in an ice tunnel. The melting point is really high (of course) and it doesn't actually take much water or ice to halt or slow down the progress of a lava flow.

For the lava to get to Markarfljót it will have to cut a wide canal all the way. It's extremely unlikely that will happen, seems to me.

PS Apparently lava sometimes flows OVER glacial ice (happens very rarely though). In those instances there's a thick insulating tephra layer underneath.

@Reynir: After some digging, the reason the quotation is so conflicted as to source is because it is a mis-quote.This is the original as near as I can tell:

"The world has achieved brilliance without wisdom, power without conscience. Ours is a world of nuclear giants and ethical infants."
Omar Bradley in a speech on Nov. 11 1948.

@Reynir Lol. Seems that Bradley said as much by similar words many times over. tinyurl.com/7wuk3k

#328: Ah. Not the first time such happens. Won't be the last time, either.

And then there is all the cross-fertilisation: "... {nuclear,technological,scientific} giants {and,but} {moral,ethical} {infants,pygmies}".

If I have seen further, it is because I am standing on the shoulders of (somewhat repetitive) giants.

It is only me who experience that the image constant freezes on Ãórólfsfelli after they install this new camera?
I have to reload, but after a short while, the picture freeze a again.

Also, one Duncan Williams claims to have used my first phrasing in a book named "Trousered Apes". Quite possible that one was an Einstein original. Haven't read much by him.

MÃla really needs to turn off the autofocus. Not only is it annoying to us, each reset causes a burst of extra traffic on MÃla's network.

But I still appreciate that they made the cameras available. Thanks!

@kere #333

Yes, it happens to me as well. But a few weeks the webcams were offline for people outside of Iceland completely, therefore I'm not complaining about this little inconvenience. I'm just happy to get my fix of live volcano pictures....

Kere no not only you, I am constantly having to reload page it is so frustrating and I also agree with AndrewWH I get headaches and sore eyes as I have mentioned in a previous post

5.0 in So-cal near the 7.2 in Mex a few weeks back.

I should have mentioned that I am also really grateful to Mila without whom I would not be able to watch this wonderful Volcano, it has been a real experience for me, this is the first time I have been able to keep a daily watch on a volcano, and of course vodafone cams also

I don't mean to seem negative or anything but things are the way they are and as a parent I have to see the world for what it is. I find it very difficult to explain this to my kids. Not Ej or anything like that, my 7 yo thinks this is the coolest thing that has ever happened. The problem I have is that there are good people out there that truly care about humanity and have the best of intentions. They are suppressed everywhere I look, or are killed if they can't be silenced.

We as a people are in for a lot of trouble. It can be seen everywhere. Anyone with eyes, ears, and a mind can figure it out for themselves. We waste so much money and care so little for each other that a massive earth changing event may be the best way out of it. It's really sad to think that way. Bring it on baby!

It's sickening to see science manipulated for the sake of saving a few dollars.

Whatever, I'm going to stoke up the grill and hoist a few beers, and keep an eye on the webcams. At least if I die from Ej I will know the truth.

Boy Doc that seems a bit heavy

Not sure if it's just the sun or if the plume is genuinely lightening in colour.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yx1bgLH0bJ8

Bad visibility and lots of flickering on the Katla cam. Ash fall, almost certainly.

Reynir I think also it is getting lighter look at the Hvolsvelli cam

Am very grateful that I have the opportunity to see live pictures from Eyjafjallajökull.
I was unsure if there was something wrong with my connection. That why I asked if there was someone else who had the same problem that I experience.

Doc,
Let me know when things were better?

See the IR and Visual cameras side by side

http://www.flir.com/thermography/eurasia/se/data/?id=30533

Cheers Tintin!

@351 tintin, thanks for the link! Great!

Thanks for that Tintin

No Problem guys... HAppy watching it's hard to step away from the screen..

"The problem I have is that there are good people out there that truly care about humanity and have the best of intentions. They are suppressed everywhere I look, or are killed if they can't be silenced. "

I just sent $200 this morning to a Haitian boy to send him to high school for a year and I'm still here :) Mentor the young and know that your little raindrop of goodwill is a part of the flood of change for the better. :)

You´re right Tintin, it´s hard to step away from the screen and I estimate that it´s at least a few hours til the show start. To bad for me Iceland is behind Sweden in time, so at midnight it´s 2 o'clock here at my desk! Probably asleep by then. On the other hand I get some nice morning pictures sometimes, when the fog don´t hide the Eyja. Happy watching everybody, looks promising today/night.

@343: One needs a reality filter to sort the wheat (positive qualities of people from local to global scale) from the negativity chaf that is constantly peddled as 'news'.

Sure, money is wasted on war and ineffectual fight against poverty and disease (where corruption takes advantage of liberal kindness of others), but with the exception of bungled financial mismanagement debacle (credit and derivatives markets) from which we are presently emerging, our world is in not nearly as bad a shape as some would have you believe.

Do not put your hopes for magical cures in catastrophic events to change the ways of Man, for the disruption natural disasters cause is likely to have a damaging domino-effect due to global interconnectivity that is novel to this time. Instead, I advise seeing the enormous problem-solving capacity that this interconnectivity brings with it as a dividend.

Eyjaf is neither a climate nor human health changing eruption type. That requires a much larger, stratospheric (giant plinian) eruption. Even Katla is unlikely to produce such an event.

Change is coming, but it will not be catalyzed by natural disaster, but rather from dwindling and scarce natural resources and population pressure. It will challenge us to reinvent manufacturing, will change our thinking of consumptive lifestyle and force consideration of human disruption of natural biogeochemical cycles of carbon, nitrogen, sulfur, iron and other minerals that has dominated the planetary ecosystem for several billion years.

When one door closes, another will always open - if we recognize that opportunity naturally arises from adversity and need.

Very strange atmospherics above Eyjafjallajökull visible on the Hvolsvöllur camera (19.40GMT). Three distinct strata visible, the bottom one undulating at ~1,800-2,000m, the other a mor straight line at the top left rising from ~4,000m at left edge to ~4,800m top edge just right of center. The latter delineated by a bright, thin, white streak of cloud. All three strata with distinctly differing visibilities. Any meteorologist online who can explain this?

This may be of interest... my crazy friend Gummi has been to the crater:

http://gummiey.posterous.com/eyjafjallajokull-112

Mike

Suw (#240), very illuminative. Thank you!

Lena (#228), Helen Leggatt (#229) - Boris (Dr Boris Behncke of the INGV Etna Observatory, Catania) told us several weeks ago that there were signs that Etna was waking up and that a new eruption cycle MIGHT commence on a timescale of weeks to six months. While Dr Behncke's word is good enough for me, I think a better sign is that for the past week or so he, unfortunately for us, has had little time to post here and explains it with "work". Of course there may be nothing in it, but as he asked us "webcamoholics" what we were going to do as Etna had ten webcams trained on her, I think it's an excellent idea to acquaint ourselves with Etna before she erupts.

Plume looks big again today. Anyone have summary of todays activity?

@359 The clouds are more clearly visible on Múlakot cam, I think.
http://www.simnet.is/jonfr500/earthquake/vefmyndeyjafjalmulaen.html

Yes it is heavy but the logical conclusion seems to lead to the suggestion that our civil society as well as the concept of civilization itself is failing, will always fail, and is not worth the effort. As with freedom, discovery grows best when it comes from within. Understanding what is wrong with our respective unions should be asked by each of us. The answers should be made available not suppressed. Free thought should be as inalienable as free speech. See that happening anymore?

The bullshit has been here for a long time but not forever. In the old world there were kingdoms and guess who had all the land and money. Same shit today, we just call them centralized banks. My problem started before I was born with the FRA.

These eruptions didn't even wake certain people up. They send some lackey up on a few test flights and declare it safe to fly knowing there is no way to tell until you fly straight into the shit. For money. Sure being delayed in Europe is an inconvenience but so is the bottom of the Atlantic. MET most likely saved lives when it acted accordingly to the situation.

Quick and dirty:

Articles < Seismicity < Icelandic Meteorological office

Go to site map.

"Update on activity
Eruption in Eyjafjallajökull, Iceland
Assessment - 08 May 2010 18:30

The eruption is still in an explosive phase. The tephra- and splatter cone continues to build up and is now reaching the rim of the ice edge around the crater. The plume doesn't rise vertically from the crater, but bends SE-wards due to wind; measured at around 5 km hight this morning. For latest information, see the status report issued collectively by the Icelandic Meteorological Office and the Institute of Earth Sciences at 14:00 today."

Crazy or brave, I don´t know, nice to see a pic from the ground. It gives you a whole other impression of the eruption, than from "safe distance" with webcams.

@Mike 360 Yes I saw him on the web cam today I embarassed now to say I called him a mobile phone addict as he was constantyl on the mobile but good to get a first hand account of someone who was there and I loved the picture with the large plume and what looked like a tiny jeep in comparsion

Like I said, quick, and very dirty copy paste. Here's the link to the status report: http://en.vedur.is/media/jar/Eyjafjallajokull_status_2010-05-08_IES_IMO…

Looks like the Vodafone cams crashed or otherwise stopped sending at 20:08 UT.

Leifer the Lucky should be appearing at the thorolfsfelli cam any time now. :)

Reynir, just refresh. It's an ongoing problem.

Dude's on the thermal cam!! Whoo hoo! Hiya Leifer!!

Well someone is waving on Ãórólfsfelli!

Ooooh I think I just seen Luifer

If that helps you getting a image timestamped later than 20:06:32, let me know. It doesn't work for me.

Nice posing on camera, Leifur!

Leifur ?
http://i1004.photobucket.com/albums/af165/cekicar/Phone_caller.jpg

4 dudes in the thermal. Each taking turns on the normal cam.

*Waves at Luifer**

Wow! That nice smiling lady almost fell over! lol

Is it just me...or does everyone go see a volcano, turn their back to it and make a call?

Are they calling for a taxi or something?

Watching the antics on the Ãórólfsfelli cam, I noticed (and grabbed shots of) some interesting activity in the background. Do we know for sure how many vents are supposed to be active here?

There's one obvious vent with continuous more or less vigorous activity, but I noticed a brief dark plume from what was clearly a second vent, with clear sky between it and the main plume. See: http://www.corestore.org/2vents.jpg

New vent? Old vent reactivated?

Is anyone plan to produce or already have 24hr timelapse video from thermal camera? Thanks!

Well, there they were, and one of them was Leifur - and the Vodafone cam was down. OTOH, Mila's camera worked well enough.

I did learn something: Vodafone faithfully archives the current.jpg, regardless of what's on it; right now it's the 20:06:32 image. So, Leifur did not succeed in getting on Vodafone's pics & the daily video...

I have also been transfixed by the cams and your comments, why is this particular volcano so terrifying and fascinating!
It seems that here in north west england that we keep getting light ash in the air, several people have mentioned that when they go out the air smells dry and makes ur throat dry, and my 3 dogs end up sneezing after sniffing about in the fields.
Oh and whoever was wondering about the blue light apparantly its gas being given off by the magma.
Has anyone heard anything about the two scientists who were overcome by fumes trying to collect samples?
I've had a strange feeling of forboding for months now, like theres a storm coming....or maybe humanity is going to get a large object lesson soon. I wonder if EJ is the start of that lesson.
Oh and has anyone noticed how flipping cold it is this year, the wind outside feels like march not may, I wonder if the fine ash circulating the northern hemisphere is blocking out some sunlight.

It has become apparent that meltwater/lahar from the eruption has declined over the last few days, and at the same time lava flow and output slowed considerably since the eruption reverted from basaltic to andesitic magma and entered its second explosive stage. I though it worth posting a link to the original lahar at the beginning of the first explosive phase of eruption for people to be able to compare and contrast to... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9sryalI57oo

My uncle and his wive where on the MÃla cam earlier, along with her son. I don't know the fourth person. At one point, they where all three standing and waving to the camera.

Currently there is only one vent open, it seems. But that might change without any warning now.

#382: Clueless to f??k.

#385: They made it to higher ground under own power and recovered very quickly.

Faded jeans. Excellent mountainwear. Not.

#364 Doc the old serfdom has been replaced by debt slavery. Probably not the place to discuss our predicament globally. For one of the best financial blogs go to http://theautomaticearth.blogspot.com/ and for energy and resource depletion http://www.theoildrum.com
The Eyjafjallajökull eruption and the interuption to 'normal' day to day business just emphasises humanities limits and our ultimate subserviance to the natural world. Money is not wealth and all real wealth is limited to natural resource.

@ Jon Frimann, Hi why do you think that another vent may appear ? Is there some kind of pressure build ?

Jón - would this be your crew?

http://www.corestore.org/jonscrew.jpg

As for vents, how do you explain the image I posted earlier? One crater maybe, but more than one active vent in it? You can clearly see the shadow of the plume from the second vent on the main plume.

Here is the Timelapse movie from the FLIR Thermal Camera

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yx1bgLH0bJ8

Taken 2010-05-07

If that other person on the web cams is Leifur he is taking photo's.. Can't wait to see them. lol

@Fireman392 at http://en.vedur.is/earthquakes-and-volcanism/articles/nr/1884 you can get an aerial view from today at the crater..looks as though some of the other stuff we're seeing might be just from cone buildup nearing top of glacier?

What is erupting? I can't help but ask the question as the maths simply doesn't add up for me. The eruption started on April 15th, so this is the 24th day. The eruption rate, tephra and lava flow, was 300 m3 s-1 during the first 72 hours and has not been reported to be below 20 m3 s-1. With an official figure of 140 million m3 of tephra for the first 72 hours (=70-80 million m3 compacted magma), the total must now stand in excess of 200 million m3 of magma.

If we assume that the primitive magma erupted at Fimvörduhals came more or less directly from the mantle and that there was a reservoir of rhyolitic magma below Eyjafjöll, the chemical composition hints that at best, the mix is 2 parts new + 1 part old magma. This would require a magma reservoir of at least 70 million m3 of very rhyolitic magma just to explain the eruption to date.

Now, the inflation was reported as being 6 cm over an area of, very generous estimate, ~500 square kilometers (more likely 250-300). This gives a total of ~30 million cubic meters. It's not enough by at least a factor of 2½ times.

As far as I understand it, either Eyjafjöll volcano must be credited with a much larger magma chamber or the magma thought to come from the mantle must be of a very different composition from the magma that erupted first at Fimvörduhals.

Could someone with a far better understanding of it please explain - what exactly is it that accounts for the observed composition and amounts?

@fireman I wonder if your photo has captured a short pause in the plume. She was quite bursty a while ago, looking rather like an outsized steam engine that was huffing and puffing. If she briefly 'held her breath', then the resumed plume would look to be separate from the main plume, just as your photo shows.

Or there may be another explanation. ;)

@Fireman, Yes. That are them! :) I do not know at the moment if there has been a new vent. But it might already have happened. It has done so once before already.

The reason for new vent to open up is the fact the current one is getting clogged up with material from the eruption.

I've uploaded a set of time lapse videos for May 2nd, 4th, and 7th for the Múlakot cam. The one for the 7th is at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qfSBEwmbWUg - the others can be found on my page there.

#397: A sideways blast 'below the horizon' might cover it, too.

Bev Wallace @385 We've had problems here in the south & east of the UK too. Dry throats and croaky voices. Nothing about it on the news though.

@Shelly, Ruby, Lavendel, Diane, Henrik: glad you found the image helpful! If it looks like the IR is showing anything new, I'll do it again, as it's quite easy if you have the right software.

I added notes to the image to try and show people new to the eruption what is going on, and if anyone has any corrections, please do let me know.

For those of you who haven't seen it, it's the FLIR thermal image superimposed on the normal camera image:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/suw/4588384291/

I've been talking to my husband tonight about some of the data that the IMO is producing, which I think we could probably do more with if given the time. Does anyone have links to recent historic EQ data, for example? I.e. not just the last 48 hours? I've had a look on the IMO site and it's not obvious if they have an archive of the data publicly available.

I've been wanting to learn about data visualisation and such things for ages now, and this is a grand opportunity to do something that might even turn out to be interesting!

It's a pity the webcams don't have sound i'd love to hear the eruption. I've read that the eruption could be heard 200 km away at times.

@402 Suw I like what you did with that superimposed pictures, but even better, the comment boxes.

It really looks great on the FLIR Camera..

@dan Flickrs good like that. I find it really useful sometimes to annotate pictures, and this is a case in point.

'

That's the apostrophe missing from my previous comment. *hangs head in shame*

@Suw I use Flickr all the time. Will have to learn that trick.

take a lookat Voda picasa #117 http://picasaweb.google.com/102175391233488315229/EyjafjallajokullVolca…
The Valkyrie rides (but she's got her hair in a bun)

@Dan #408 It's the "add note" button, top left of your photos. :D

You may wish to consider adding ab archive page to the Eyjaf Wiki for time-lapse movies of the eruption (webcam and FLIR). That would be quite helpful for anyone wishing to view and compare activity periods.

Similar archiv of EUMENSAT satellite plume models would also be helpful.

@409 Also she appears to have a mustache!

Hello @ all.
came on just now and the vodafon-webcam isn't working anymore?
This afternoon everything was in working order...
And the Thorolfsfelli cam (visible) is loading and loading and loading...
I'm addicted, I confess - but I want to see Eya befor I go to bet!

@ Suw 397: this was definitely a second and distinct plume; I watched it form as I grabbed the shot. The main plume was going steadily and non-stop from the same place it has been for weeks. The new plume had clear sky between it and the main plume, appeared very much darker - almost solid black - and appeared from a quite different place - at a guess at least 300m away. The photo shows the relationship quite well.

@412 Genghis Khan? How'd he get here?

Okay, the Thorolfsfelli has loaded. But the vodafon isn't working for me :-(

@401 No croaky voices here on Skye. Actually it's been quite disappointing that there do not seem to have been any decently coloured sunsets here since the eruption started.
I was rather looking forward to highly coloured sunsets from the ash.
Also we have had great weather the last couple of days, quite warm and blazing sunshine, quite contrary to Bev's experience.

Hi, again thanks for all the great posts again. Is the tremor going up again?

http://hraun.vedur.is/ja/Katla2009/stodvaplott.html

The posting of a Goethe poem the other day got me thinking about other OTT descriptions and sent me up to my loft. William McGonagall in the 19thc was perhaps Scotland's best "bad" poet ever.This is an excerpt from "Greenland's Icy Mountains" which feels rather appropriate...

Greenland's icy mountains are fascinating and grand,
And wondrously created by the Almighty's command;
And the works of the Almighty there's few can understand;
Who knows butit might be part of fairyland.

Because there are churches of ice, and houses glittering like glass,
And for scenic grandeur there's nothing it can surpass,
Besides there's monuments and spires, also ruins,
Which serve for a safe retreat from the wild bruins.

And there's icy crags and precipices, also beautiful waterfalls,
And as the stranger gazes thereon, his heart it appals
With a mixture of wonder, fear and delight,
Till at last he exclaims, Oh! what a wonderful sight!

The icy mountains they're higher than a brig's topmast,
And the stranger in amazement stands aghast
As he beholds the water flowing off the melted ice
Adown the mountain sides, that he cries out, Oh! how nice!

Such sights are those truly magnificent to be seen,
Only that the mountain tops are white instead of green,
And rents andcaverns in them, the same as on a rugged mountain side,
And suitable placesw, in my opinion, for mermaids to reside.

Sometimes these icy mountains suddenly topple o'er
With a wild and rumbling hollow-startling roar;
And new peaks and cliffsrise up out of the sea,
While great cataracts of uplifted brine pour down furiously.

And those that witness such an awful sight
Can gaze thereonin solems silence and delight,
And the most Godfearless man that hath this region trod
Would be forced to recognize the power and majesty of God.
------
It continues on for another nine verses which I won't inflict on you. For those of you that can take more cracked scansion and dodgy rhymes, try the link below
http://www.mcgonagall-online.org.uk/poems/

The delay on the Axis cam is pretty bad, but the FLIR cam seemed to show the plume get much hotter for a few minutes at around 22:10. Still waiting for the other camera to catch up and show what that looks like.

@Fireman #414 Interesting. Which cam was that on? Hopefully one of the timelapses will pick it up. Did you manage to gut a larger screenshot than the one you posted?

@Passerby #411 It's a good idea to have a time-lapse archive. I'll see what I can do about gathering all that together when I have a moment. If you (or anyone else) would like to help our by gathering links, that'd be fab. The wiki is editable by anyone who wants to make an account, although so far the only 'help' I've had has been from spammers!

@418: Use this vertical tremor station plot page instead.

http://hraun.vedur.is/ja/Katla2009/gosplott.html

*snicker* The disclaimer banner at the top is telling - IES must have gotten tired of panicked public calls.

@Suw 421: it was on the Ãórólfsfelli cam; my screen cap shows it well, with the 'normal' plume side by side for comparison:

http://www.corestore.org/2vents.jpg

That black plume is nowhere near the origin of the main plume! You can clearly see the shadow it casts, and when it emerged (but before I was able to grab the screen cap) there was even more clear blue sky between it and the main plume.

I've looked at the vodaphone cam and not seen it captured there. It seems to have been a one-off at this stage, but I'd still like to know where it came from!

Thanks for the William McGonagall poem Gordon. I like it, it's spirited and imaginative.

And now I know where this spoonerism comes from, "Iceland's greasy mountains".

James has a new article up on the Grapevine. Go James go.

http://www.grapevine.is/Home/ReadArticle/Eruption-report-13-It-Stirs

@422 Thanks! But I wanted to know if this was a trend.

@Suw 402. re archived EQ data.
Socuel has archived validated EQ data back several months; contact him here:
http://islande2010.mbnet.fr/2010/03/eyjafjallajokull-levolution-des-der…

Korf's 3D map for two days' activity, corresponding to two large oscillations in EQ rate is here:
http://666kb.com/i/bhjjgvgx4bayjzvvo.gif

What would be ideal is a 3D display like Korf's but with EQs colour coded for magnitude and interactive in so far as user can select period of EQs displayed.

Do hope Henrik, Bruce, Passerby, MichaelC-b will add their ideas and support.

There were unusual, possible unique, oscillations in EQ rate during the first 3 weeks of March (and maybe earlier). There could be real science to come out of that data!!

I have to agree with other posters here that the constant delays and stoppages on the Ãórólfsfell really bite. They may as well just do screen captures like Vodaphone does.

FLIR IR CAMERA and AXIS Camera Side by Side
http://www.flir.com/thermography/eurasia/se/data/?id=30533

FLIR Thermal Camera 24 Hour TimeLapse (2010-05-07)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yx1bgLH0bJ8

Seems like it will be a long night with alot of action.

FLIR IR CAMERA and AXIS Camera Side by Side
http://www.flir.com/thermography/eurasia/se/data/?id=30533

@426: Trend is return to baseline conditions preceding Apr 17 eruption.

Concur with Fireman on the episodic smaller plume seen rising from the second vent (per his image frame grabs).

@422 Ah thank you! Could this be silence before the storm?

Web Cams have been twined up on floodwarn.co.uk
One page has the Ãórólfsfelli infrared thermal alongside the visible cam
The other has the cams from Hvolsvelli and Valahnúk.
I hope this aids and enhances the view for you all.

@429: Thank you for that link!

Going straight up now. http://hraun.vedur.is/ja/Katla2009/stodvaplott.html

@Henrik 396. This paper describes similarities with Eyjaf in EQ swarm,coicident GPS inflation,compact in 3D. But no magma chamber (planar intrusion) no eruption:
http://www.seismo.unr.edu/webdata/smith_etal_science_aug_2004.pdf

If Eyjaf now has 20km deep 10m diameter conduit that has a volume of 200,000 cubic metres, so deep material only just reaching surface??

@Fireman #423 I wonder if Mila are archiving the stream anywhere, or if it's just evaporating into the ether. It would be interesting to be able to replay that section of video to see if there's any more detail can be gleaned.

If there's no camera-telling-fibs trickery going on (god knows i've been fooled!) then it can only be a new vent clearing its throat. I went through the Voda stills, but didn't find it either.

This actually raises the question that has been nagging at me for weeks, pretty much since this began, and that's whether the streams are being archived anywhere. (I know Voda is archiving stills to Picassa, but it still misses a lot out.) It might seem really excessive, but it's only after an event like this where more clarity is needed that one realises the value of archives.

@Peter #427 Thanks, I'll go and have a look, and see what I can find. :D I'm not sure I can manage actual science, but I'll certainly have a go at something that pretends to be interesting. ;) Well, I'll have a go once I've hit the Deadline From Hell, that is.

@Tintin #429: Thank you very much for the link. Dual 16:9 monitors set to span, zoom the page...this is awesome. This page is streaming much better also. I know where I am eating supper tonight.

@434 Ahhg! brain fade, 10m2 area not diameter.

@Gordys #436: You will not be alone :) .....

I will make a new TimeLapse movie tomorrow of the FLIR IR Camera :

2010-05-08 00:00 - 2010-05-09 12.00

@Fireman #423 It certainly looks like two separate vents to me. It wouldn't surprise me because our Lady began with two active vents. What would it take for the one that simmered down to become more active again? It reminds me of Jon Frimann's prediction of late. And from what I've seen in the past month, he hasn't been wrong yet. ;)

I wish they would put a second site up and split the IR AND VISIBLE LIGHT CAMS!!!!!!
that might cure the annoying slow visable light cam

At this moment we can see fire/ lava on http://eldgos.mila.is/eyjafjallajokull-fra-thorolfsfelli/

Whoa! *chomps on popcorn with eyes fixed on throlfsfelli cam*

Nice fireworks going on..

Big (BIG!) lava burst at 23:13 on the Ãórólfsfell cam! Spectacular!

Memo to Axis Communications:

Please move your logo to the far right.

Thanks in advance. :)

Memo to Fog ... get the hell out of the way :)

Memo to self... Get to bed it's 1 am already......

The image at http://nightstalk3r.ath.cx/volcano/cams/%C3%9E%C3%B3r%C3%B3lfsfell.html is a bit delayed, but you don't have the Axis logo problem (it has the same dimension but on a biger image). The delay is similar on the FLIR site http://www.flir.com/thermography/eurasia/se/data/?id=30533. Thing is: there is a LOT of steam coming in the last half our or so, and I think this is what blocks the image. Otherwise, looking on Mila site you could think the eruption stoped, but it is actually at its peak for today at least. Or I may be wrong... :)

what is happening up there?? It suddenly went silent, has it stopped? I cant see any heat signs from the crater it self,.

Ha, strike that... Funny thing I figured out only now: the delay was only on what my computer showed, it progresively lagged behind and only after I refreshed the tab it got back on track. Good for me, I wouldn't have seen the heavy blasting had it been properly sinchronized :)

@449,

Looks like a cloud has obscured the heat signal.

@448 If you have a look carefully at the Hvolsvelli cam you can see the huge eruption plume is still there high above the cloud.

@449 I was worried I was talking only to myself, thanks thor :) To answer, I think the fog (or cooled steam?) is dense and cold enough to block infrared readings, that's all. She spewing her lava out, don't worry ;)

Memo to Cloud please moveeeeee. so we can see...

The present lack of image data is why I am *very* thankful that we have generous support from tech-savvy Eruptions blog fans who daily supply links to time-lapsed movies.

Lava glows on the thor cam. Sweeeet.

Ok,I can see on Hvolsvetli cam shes still blowing,. but what would happen If she suddenly just went silent??
Had we then had a real reason to be worried??

FLIR Thermal Camera Timelapse 2010-05-08 24 hours.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QplwJ6eBUQY

@457 Thor??? Is our favourite cam talking to us now?

Grrr...go out for a nice Sat. nite dinner, miss all the action again...

Memo to Mother Nature; The next time you have an eruption with lots of web cams on it, please put it in a location that has clear weather most of the time. Hmmm, I wonder what Italy is like this time of year?

Hi Frito

@461 Grodys: check out the Timelapse movie I made in 5fps @458

quite intresting to see the FLIR IR Camera this way.

Hi Gordys. I wept for a smooth Thoro cam feed until I realized it was better than leaving this place and spending $16 (plus gas) to be in a theater with someone kicking the back of my chair. :) Pass the brandy snifter.

P.S. Italy is sooo overrated ;)

@Tintin: Yeah I just did. That is great. What software are you using to do that?

>Had we then had a real reason to be worried??

Depends on how long and if we had other (seismic/tremor and GPS-inflation) indicators of deeper magma movement.

Hopefully, IES is thinking collaborative thoughts with US and European geology counterparts for funding help, with an eye to updating pre-eruption estimates of glacier mass balance for Eyjaf. We also need to estimate Eyjaf's ash deposit induced albedo (solar insolation reflection) change is affecting Katla's icecap.

Understanding temporal connection between Katla and Eyjaf coupled eruptions may rest on estimating the rate of meltwater percolation into the HIGHLY POROUS flood plains to the north and west, consequent temporal pore pressure flux, and it's action in 3-D on stress-strain accumulation in the delicate, force-constrained ridge between these two volcanoes during historic maritime warm climate periods.

Watch for increased hydrothermal activity north and south on this vector.

@Gordys: There is many different open sorce softwares that can be used I used for this one " MakeAVI-0.11 "

it can be downloaded from http://makeavi.sourceforge.net/

very easy to use.

I will get some sleep now so I can be ringside when the view clears up :)

have a nice evening.

I saw an earlier reference to Vodacam being down â any followup? Nothing on Picasa after what looks like late afternoon-early twilight. Last pic is #131. It wasn't working here most of the day, so don't know when it quit. Hope it's up again tomorrow....

@Passerby #465 para: say whaaat?

@Frito, well to everyone actually: Tintin posted this link earlier and it has been stable(actually great) for me, even with my slow DSL http://www.flir.com/thermography/eurasia/se/data/?id=30533

Thank you FLIR.com and thank you Tintin. If you have dual screens, set them to span. You can then zoom on the page by holding the "ctrl" key down and then press the "+" key or scroll with the wheel on your mouse, you can have both of the camera views on your monitors.

Frito, I have recliner that fits about a person and a half, a warm fuzzy blanket and a snifter of brandy that I am working on....dual screens, a good sound system and some DVDs.... ;)

@Gordys #469 Thanks for Tintin's link (and thank you Tintin!) I had been watching it until I had to reboot. Now...nada - just a blank Flir screen.

Oh and Gordys..I'll be right over ;)

@Frito: Cool, I'll be watching for you. It sounds like you are having computer problems..it is still streaming fine for me.

@Gordys @Frito : Thanks guys... We should also give alot of credit to the guys at "mila" for putting up the cameras.

The VideoServer restarted in Iceland but all streams should be back to normal now.

Now I really have to go to bed.... So hard to pull myself away from the cams.... have a nice day and catch you all tomorrow.

@Gordys #471 Of course you'd say that ;)

I'm getting no joy from either:
http://eldgos.mila.is/english/eyjafjallajokull-fra-hvolsvelli/
or"
http://www.flir.com/thermography/eurasia/se/data/?id=30533
now.
I think you and Tintin are in cahoots ;)

Gonna try fully rebooting to see if that helps.

It's about 1:45AM Iceland time now. Dawn starts at 3:11AM Iceland time. Poor Europe is getting hit with more Icelandic ash from "E". Hopefully skies will be clear again today :o). Rather impressive ash plume was visible till almost 11:00PM Iceland time.

@Frito: I am sorry for the stupid response. What operating system is running your computer? What are you using as a web browser? How old is your computer? Do you know how much hard drive space you have? How are you connected to the Internet(what is your ISP(Internet Service Provider)? Does your ISP have limitations on your data usage? I can help..that is my day job.

So - I'm back from my expedition to Ãórólfsfell. As oberved by someone here, the Vodafone camera was down so I shan't be able to admire myself - but then I wasn't primarily for that purpose anyway! I hope I didn't get in the way of any scientific observations by you good people.

I was the one sans hair by the way :-)

Regrettably the volcano wasn't very active - or perhaps we just didn't wait until it was properly dark. At any rate I don't think I got any good shots of the eruption - but I did catch a couple of that pickup crossing the "Jökulfall" (the outflow from GÃgjökull).

Vodafone cam is back up and running, but it's dark :(

Mila cams are down - perhaps the took them off line to teach us a lesson about dissing their autofocus!

Fingers crossed that morning will bring us something to look at. I'm stuck in the house for a while because my daughter has chicken pox.

Looks like the cameras are down for me also...just as well, I have a sink full of morel mushrooms to take care of.

Leifur, I think I got several screen shots of you (were you wearing a blue/dark grey outfit and later donned a blue/grey anorak?

@Gordys not a stupid response at all. I'm grateful for the help and glad it's not just me. :) Forget the 'shrooms and grab that fuzzy blanket!

@Frito Lay

Yes, that sounds about right. It was a bit windy up there so we had to add layers (the pair referred to as "Jon's crew" above were travelling with me).

My posing was primarily for the benefit of my 5-year old grandson - by coincidence he had been on the TV news (they had been doing some filming at his kindergarten I think) so I had to try to match that - he was watching his grandpa on his father's computer.

If it's not too much trouble, drop me a line at leifurh@hotmail.com and attach a picture.

Leifer I've sent you an email with a pic. Let me know via return email if it's you.

Cheers.

Ok. What has happened to the cams? I went to the site I put in my favorites and all I get is a map of were the cam is. Can someone post the correct address for me?

Thanks.

As you can tell, I have been away for several hours.

@Diane #483 The cams have been down for about an hour. Reynir? said there was a massive power outtage in N, E and W Iceland last night. I hope the same thing hasn't happened again tonight. (-:

Outstanding paper worth slogging through as a learning tool with great cartoon graphics, as it describes the mechanics behind the 1998 Gjálp and 2004 Grimsvotn eruptions.

It explains the effusive eruptive (Fimm) and explosivity phases (crater) we are presently observing at Eyjaf.

Subglacial and intraglacial volcanic formations in Iceland (2006).
www.raunvis.hi.is/~mtg/pdf/Jokull58_SPJ-MTG_subglac.pdf

Thanks Frito Lay. I was wondering! It sounds like I missed a bit this afternoon my time, which is night in Iceland. I hope they can get the cams back up before daylight and that we will be able to see what is going on.

Just to illustrate how enormous an effect the eruption is having on aviation - since last night the bulk of trans-Atlantic flights are passing north of Iceland - there's an impenetrable ash barrier extending south towards Spain.

At work yesterday I saw a flight plan from Dublin to Chicago - northeast to hit the Arctic Circle just west of Norway, then west until well past the ash cloud (and Iceland) before turning southwest towards Chicago.

I think they said on the news that they expect Reykjavik Centre to handle 600 trans-Atlantic flights this Sunday. I miss shift work :-(

Quick, someone make an offering to the huldufólk, FSM, IPU or something. The cams! We must have the cams! I'm sorry I complained about the autofocus and the lockups! :p

Next person hiking up to the cams needs to put Erik's URL on a sign. Give our humble host and his Scienceblogs overlords some extra traffic. Oh, and if you're a Pharynguloid, WTF, bring a squid too.

I've just heard on the TV that flights from South America to Portugal, Spain, Italy and France would be cancelled. (I'm from Rio de Janeiro) I had no travel plans for now, but they say it may take some more time before closures will stop.
By the way, have you heard of earthquakes NE of Tambora, Indonesia? It's stays on John Seach's page, who happens to be in Iceland and has an Youtube link of his Eyjaf's adventure.
http://www.volcanolive.com/news.html
Should we expect any activity on the Indonesian volcano?

As a matter of fact, the South Pacific-Timor Sea area is looking pretty busy, tectonically speaking.

http://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/recenteqsww/Maps/region/Australi…

Diane et al,

Sumbuddy's working on the FLIR cams. Fingers and toes crossed :)

http://www.flir.com/thermography/eurasia/se/data/?id=30533

Thank you for the link Passerby, I will give that a through read in the morning. The cams are down, the shrooms are taken care of, it is time for bed....and Frito got lost on the way over(heavy sigh). Good night.

It appears that part of the Vodafone network did go offline tonight. I do not know why. But that made my Hekla sensor to go "offline" from my client end at home. It has just started again now.

It also might explain why some cameras have been offline part of the night.

@361/Henrik - thanks for the explanation. I read Boris' Etna page from time to time - but shall make it more regular and get in to the history of the Italian lady (the volcano - not Boris!).

I've seen Stromboli erupt a few times on trips to Italy, and Pompeii is one of my favorite places in the world...

Air ash concentration chart including buffer from FL000 to FL200
Valid at 0000UTC 09/05/2010

https://www.cfmu.eurocontrol.int/PUBPORTAL/gateway/spec/PORTAL.14.0.0.P…

VOLCANIC ASH - UPDATE 09-0230z
https://www.cfmu.eurocontrol.int/PUBPORTAL/gateway/spec/index.html

Daylight on Múlakot cam and Mila's seem to be awekaning.
Clouds covering our lady.

Ash plume is not visible over the clouds. As Leifur stated: "Regrettably the volcano wasn't very active - or perhaps we just didn't wait until it was properly dark."

Here's a good satellite image from 10/5/7 showing the ashfall on Eyjafjallajökull and Mýrdalsjökull:
www3.hi.is/~ij/aska/meris080520101242.png