Fears that smoke and ash could stop many flights!
REYKJAVIK, Iceland, August 19, 2014 Scientists have issued warnings to people that smoke and ash from a volcano eruption could cause serious trouble for aeroplanes flying through that area. A volcano eruption has taken place at Bardarbunga mountainous area volcano in Iceland. This volcano is under Iceland's largest glacier, the Vatnajokull. People in the nearby areas are being asked to move out of their houses to safer places. Apart from the smoke and ash, scientists also fear floods from melting ice could cause serious damage! Since the volcano is under a glacier, when it erupts, the hot lava and hot temperature can melt huge amounts of ice - that can flow in the rivers causing floods.If you are more interested in the geography of a volcano, here's a diagram showing how underwater volcanoes can throw up water vapour, smoke up in the air. Many times, they even form small islands due to lava that cools off! Something like this happened in Japan recently. READ ABOUT THAT STORY HERE.
A diagram of how an underwater volcano is formed and erupts.Image by cccnewstoday.com/Google Images/Creative Commons
Bardarbunga is Iceland's second-highest peak, which rises to more than 2,000 metres (6,500 feet)- and it also has many volcanoes.Iceland has seen this before! In 2010, the Eyjafjoell volcano under the Eyjafjallajokull glacier, erupted and shot up smoke and ash high in the sky. They were blown upto nine kilometres (six miles) into the sky, blowing ash across to many countries in Europe. The ash cloud caused the planet's biggest airspace shutdown since World War II, with fears it could damage aircraft engines. The eruption caused chaos for travellers across the world. If your family or friends are visiting Iceland or any country in Europe, you might want to keep watching this story! Additional stories on volcanoes: Monster underwater volcano discovered! Quiz: How much do you know about Volcanoes?
