Indonesia volcano eruption panics villagers

From Google News: Indonesia volcano eruption panics villagers
JAKARTA — One of Indonesia's most active volcanoes erupted Tuesday, spewing clouds of ash and panicking villagers but no evacuation has been ordered so far, a government vulcanologist said.

The first eruption at Mount Lokon was at 3:07 am (1907 GMT Monday), followed by two more bursts within minutes, Farid Bina told AFP from a monitoring post near the volcano on Sulawesi island.

"The eruption was heard as far as five kilometres (three miles) away, causing panic among villagers living close to the volcano," he said, adding that winds blew volcanic ash to villages up to five kilometres to the east and northeast.

"Two villages with about 10,000 people each have been affected by the ash, which stopped later in the morning," he added.

More than 5,200 people were evacuated to temporary shelters when the 1,580-metre volcano erupted in July, sending huge clouds of ash as high as 3,500 metres (11,500 feet) into the sky.

Lokon's last deadly eruption was in 1991, killing a Swiss tourist.

The Indonesian archipelago has dozens of active volcanoes and straddles major tectonic fault lines known as the "Ring of Fire" between the Pacific and Indian oceans.

The country's most active volcano, Mount Merapi in central Java, killed more than 350 people in a series of violent eruptions last year.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year

Regular blog postings begin on DECEMBER 26, Monday.

Volcanic eruption doesn't mean catastrophe: Icelandic expert

From EnglishNews.ccn: Volcanic eruption doesn't mean catastrophe: Icelandic expert
REYKJAVIK, Dec. 19 (Xinhua) -- The next eruption of the southern Icelandic volcano Katla is unlikely to be a century catastrophe, and scientists in Iceland are even not certain about whether it will erupt in the near future, said Icelandic volcanologist Pall Einarsson on Monday.

"It is very little probability that the next Katla eruption will be similar to the Laki eruption in 1783, which is the biggest catastrophe we have ever had in the history of Iceland, making half of the livestock and 20 percent of the population die and also causing global disaster," said Professor Einarsson of Icelandic Institute of Earth Science in an exclusive interview with Xinhua.

Although the last big eruption of Katla was in 1918, the size of the next eruption doesn't depend on the time when it stays dormant, explained Einarsson, who has been studying volcanoes for more than 40 years.

"In fact, we may have had a small eruption of Katla this summer, on July 9, but we are still debating on whether it was a eruption, because it was too small," he added.

Meanwhile, Einarsson confirmed that the Katla has recently been under a period of unrest, and the water melting from the Myrdal glacier, covering the Katla volcano, had caused flood in southeastern Iceland, lasting three to four hours on July 9 and ruined a bridge.

"It had been relatively quiet before July 9, but after that possible eruption, the earthquakes increased, so we have definitely an agitated state of the volcano, so this is the time we have to be extra cautious about Katla," said Einarsson.

According to him, the increasing melting water and earthquakes can be signs of the active state of the volcano, which means " something is cooking," but whether it is going to be a big eruption in the near future still remains uncertain.

"The last time this happened was in 1999, it also started with a small eruption, but following that, there were four or five years that the Katla volcano was agitated, and then it got quiet again without a big eruption," explained Einarsson, adding that similar situations also happened both in 1976 and 1967.

"We should try to stay away from the alarmist's view of the volcanoes, we have about 30 active volcanoes in Iceland and we have eruptions every two or three years, so when we say there is going to be a eruption, that does not mean there is going to be a catastrophe," stressed Einarsson.

"We have several volcanoes that are likely to erupt in the next few years, but that does not mean this is big news, it's just like saying that there is going to be an automobile accident tomorrow," he added.

As one of the most four active volcanoes in Iceland, the Katla volcano system is even larger than the Eyjafjalla glacier volcano, which erupted in April 2010, shooting smoke and ash thousands of meters into the air, crippling air travel across Europe and causing chaos all over the world.

But Einarsson claimed that "A lot of news reports misunderstand this. They think the Eyjafjalla eruption was a small eruption, which was very damaging, and Katla is much bigger, so it's a catastrophe. This is not true."

According to him, the impact of volcano eruption is not only based on the size of eruption, but also depends on many other factors like the weather during the eruption and the chemical composition of the product.

"The Grimsvotn volcano's eruption, which happened this spring, is ten times bigger than the Eyjafjalla glacier volcano's eruption last year, but it only had a small effect," said Einarsson.

He explained that the Grimsvotn's eruption only lasted a week, and the weather was favorable so it blew the ash away from Europe, and the chemical composition of the product is basaltic, which means the ash was not fine and fell down in a short time.

"I guess the eruption of Eyjafjalla glacier volcano opened people's eyes that this can have a global effect on everybody's daily life. I think that is the first time that this was demonstrated, but that doesn't mean every eruption has that effect, " said Einarsson.

Braving Etna with the airborne volcano ash trackers

From NewScientist: Tech: Braving Etna with the airborne volcano ash trackers
If you're going to fly around volcanic ash, first you have to see it up ahead. New Scientist flies shotgun on Sicilian field trials of a new sensor system

I'M IN a helicopter, flying low over the verdant foothills of mount Etna in Sicily. To my left, a tiny light aircraft is approaching the immense volcano's sweeping flanks as an ash plume rises from it. The diminutive plane looks like a bug buzzing a tetchy grizzly but its size belies the major impact it could have: it is carrying a raft of experimental instruments that could reduce the mayhem that restless volcanoes cause to aviation.

Aircraft engines must be protected from silicate-based volcanic ash particles. That's because they melt at engine-operating temperatures, coating turbine blades with thick, glassy gunk that blocks airflow, hindering fuel combustion and causing engines to cut out. Currently, the International Civil Aviation Organisation tells pilots to avoid flying in ash if its concentration is above just 4 milligrams of ash per cubic metre. That's why in the spring of 2010, when ash began spewing from the Icelandic volcano Eyjafjallajökull, aviation in Europe was grounded for extended periods between 15 April and 17 May. It cost the aviation industry billions of dollars.

Sensors attached to planes are needed to let pilots detect ash clouds up ahead so they can still fly but just navigate around them - much like weather radar warns them of storms. But the geochemistry of volcanoes varies widely and no one knows which are the best particles and gases to detect in-flight to help guide aircraft around ash clouds.

So the scientists I'm observing at the landing strip at Calatabiano, Sicily, are using a light aircraft to do two things. First, they are performing initial low-altitude, low-speed tests on an ash sensor developed at the Norwegian Institute for Air Research (NILU) in Kjeller, funded by the UK airline Easyjet. Second, Konradin Weber at Dusseldorf University of Applied Sciences in Germany is training four different sensors on Etna's ash-and-gas plume, and exploring what other chemical markers might help predict trouble for pilots.

NILU's Fred Prata says his sensor comprises a pair of fast-sampling infrared cameras - one seeking telltale IR absorption at a wavelength of 10 micrometres and the other at 12 micrometres. Software combines these to detect silicate-containing ash particles of 2 to 40 micrometres in diameter, the size that wrecks engines. This, Prata tells me in the airstrip's tin hangar, measures the ash "dose" ahead of the plane, how far away it is and its altitude. Combining this with lower-resolution satellite data allows the crew to work out an alternate course. His tests last week were encouraging, with a very low false-positive rate, but needs testing at airliner speeds and altitudes.

Out by the runway, Weber says other volcanic emissions could provide important information too. His equipment includes a counter for micrometre-scale particles, a nanoparticle counter, an ultraviolet detector for measuring sulphur dioxide concentration - which can indicate heightened volcanic activity - plus a hydrogen sulphide/carbon dioxide meter. The sulphur dioxide sensor gave Icelandic airport authorities the confidence to reopen airports after the Grímsvötn volcano erupted in May, for example.

Konradin hopes that nanoparticles on the breeze might also give early warning of ash ahead. "It's a new approach," he says. "Nanoparticles might give us an indication of volcanic ash plumes, and may be a way to tell you the age of the plume and how it is developing."

For airlines like Easyjet, which lost £55 million in the 2010 groundings, sensors to help keep planes flying cannot come soon enough.

She's gonna blow
The imminent threat of eruption by the enormous ice-covered Icelandic volcano Katla has helped focus the minds of the airline industry - because it could pump 10 times more ash into Europe's skies than Eyjafjallajökull did in spring 2010.

Throughout history Katla has erupted every 40 to 80 years - but it has not done so since 1918 - making it 14 years overdue. And recent seismic rumblings suggest magma may once again be stirring up beneath Katla.

Ian Davies, engineering chief at UK-based airline Easyjet, says it is vital that technology be in place to keep planes airborne. "This large scale grounding of flights should not happen again," he says

Seismologists set off dynamite to probe volcano

From the Japan Times: Seismologists set off dynamite to probe volcano
KAGOSHIMA — Seismologists set off a large amount of explosives early Thursday to create "artificial earthquakes" as part of their investigations into the strata under the Sakurajima volcano in Kagoshima Prefecture.

Analyzing the reflections of man-made seismic waves is an effective way to grasp the situation, the seismologists said.

During the two-hour experiment that started shortly past midnight, experts from nine universities as well as the Meteorological Agency set off numerous sticks of dynamite at 14 locations in succession. Tremors caused by the explosions were measured by 250 seismometers.

Scientists: Hawaii's Kilauea Volcano has an explosive future

From the Weather Space: Scientists: Hawaii's Kilauea Volcano has an explosive future
(TheWeatherSpace.com) - Many believe the Hawaiian volcano of Kilauea is a silent volcano, but scientists predict an explosive future coming up.

Located on the Big Island if Hawaii, Kilauea is awesome view to behold. The lava fountains, the fiery glow at night, and the unique weather patterns bring tourists to the area on a daily basis. But is there a darker side to it?

Kilauea is also known in history to produce violent eruptions, a surge of moving hot gas and ash down the sides of the mountains at hurricane velocity. You cannot escape that if it happens.

The violent eruption study has been done by the University of Hawaii. Geology professor Michael Garcia studied samples of the volcano and has viewed the past eruption phases over the last 2,500 years. About 60% of the eruptions during that time were violent.

Kilauea does have the eruptive power to dwarf Mt. St. Helens back in 1980, which killed 57 people and destroyed 150 square miles of forest.

TheWeatherSpace.com Senior Meteorologist Kevin Martin states that these phases could alter the climate across the low latitudes.

"Volcanoes tend to have an affect on the winters preceding their major eruptions and if this one goes off like advertised, it will make the weather patterns go whacky for a few winters following such an eruption," said Martin.

Scientists do not know when Kilauea will erupt violent again, but do say it should not steer people away from the beautiful place.

Hawaii Volcanoes National Park offering hikers access to lava flow’s ocean entry

From Hawaii Magazine: Hawaii Volcanoes National Park offering hikers access to lava flow’s ocean entry

Hawaii_Big Island_volcanoes_lava_ocean-entryHawaii Volcanoes National Park is providing hiking access to a sea cliff area at its eastern border where lava from Kilauea volcano’s remote Puu Oo vent is pouring into the ocean.

The lava reached the ocean-entry site, dubbed by scientists as “West Kaili ili,” late last week, marking the first time since 2007 that lava has entered the ocean within park boundaries. Other recent ocean-entries have occurred by way of private land and within County of Hawaii jurisdiction.

Currently, several streams of lava are pouring into the ocean, providing dramatic views (pictured, right and below). Visitors who stay after dark can also see channels of lava flowing down the pali (slope) and across the flow field, but conditions can change at any time.

Want to catch a glimpse of the dazzling spectacle of molten lava slipping into steaming ocean waters?

Hawai‘i Volcanoes National Park Superintendent Cindy Orlando is pleased to extend the opportunity. But before dashing out to the Big Island site, better double-check whether you’re ready for the 4-mile hike to the West Kaili ili entry, which starts at the bottom of Chain of Craters Road.Hawaii_Big Island_volcanoes_lava_ocean-entry

“Hikers must be adequately prepared with plenty of drinking water, dressed for rain or sunshine, wear sturdy, closed-toe shoes, carry a flashlight and spare batteries, and be in good physical shape for this hike,” across and uneven flow field, Orlando said in a news release issued yesterday by the national park.

In addition, hikers must heed all warning signs and ranger advisories, and be aware of earth cracks and crevices, sharp terrain and rain-slick pahoehoe (smooth) lava and other hazards. Further, steam plumes produced by lava entering the sea contain fine lava fragments and acid droplets that can be harmful. Also, scientists have confirmed that a lava delta is being formed at the base of a sea cliff at West Kaili ili. Lava deltas can collapse with little warning, produce hot rock falls inland, and generate large local waves.

Visitors who are not up for the hike can observe the ocean-entry plume from the end of Chain of Craters Road, near the ranger station. After sunset, flowing lava from Puu Oo has been visible from the turnout on the hairpin curve on Chain of Craters Road, weather permitting.

Puu Oo, a cinder cone Kilauea volcano’s eastern flanks, began erupting in January 1983. The ongoing 29-year Puu Oo eruption, among the longest-lasting Hawaiian eruptions in recorded history. The first written accounts of eruptions in Hawaii date back to the 1820s, when American missionaries arrived on the Big Island.

Daily updates on Kilauea volcano activity are available at the Hawaiian Volcano Observatory website.

Colombia raises alert on possible Galeras volcano eruption

From English News.cn: Colombia raises alert on possible Galeras volcano eruption

BOGOTA, Nov. 25 (Xinhua) -- Colombia's National Geological System (SGN) on Friday raised the alert level for the Galeras volcano located in the southern province of Narino after several quakes.

The SGN also ordered the evacuation of residents living in the vicinity of the slopes of the 4,276-meter high volcano, which sits close to the Colombian border with Ecuador, saying the series of quakes reported during the last 24 hours could be an indicator of an eruption.

Due to the increased activity of the volcano, which last erupted in August 2010 when it spewed gases, ashes and rocks through a series of explosions, SGN Director Martha Calvache said the SGN had raised the alert to level 2, which means that an eruption could happen in the next 48 hours.

The Galeras, which is just 9 km from Pasto, the provincial capital of Narino, has been active for years. It turned deadly in January 1993 when a group of geologists who were inspecting one of the craters were all killed by a sudden eruption.

Volcano continues to spew ash in Indonesia

From English News.ca: Volcano continues to spew ash in Indonesia
BEIJING, Dec. 12 (Xinhuanet) -- Mount Gamalama, on the eastern Indonesian island of Ternate, continues to spew ash. It has forced more than 1,200 nearby residents out of their homes.

A large ash cloud covered the peak, and ash continues to shoot out near the crater. Scientists are constantly monitoring the nearly two thousand metre-high volcano.

Villagers living on the mountain’s slopes are staying in five different shelters, and are not equipped with enough supplies.

The area has been blanketed by smoke since last Monday, but there have been no casualties since the first eruption on December 4.

Time Keeps On Slipping Into the Future

Sorry for the dearth of posts recently...I've been working on a project, wanted to devote all my time to it, and kept telling myself...it'll be done today so I can get back to blogging here tomorrow.

The next day it was... okay, it's definitely going to get done today....

Well, today it is done... so back to posting here on a daily basis tomorrow. (With the first post appearing tomorrow afternoon while I'm watching football!)

Thanks for your patience.

Lava fingerprinting reveals differences between Hawaii's twin volcanoes

From Hawaii Reporter: Lava fingerprinting reveals differences between Hawaii's twin volcanoes

Hawaiʻi's main volcano chains – the Loa and Kea trends – have distinct sources of magma and unique plumbing systems connecting them to the Earth’s deep mantle, according to research published this week in Nature Geoscience by scientists at the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa, University of British Columbia (UBC), and the University of Massachusetts, Amherst.

Lava field on Hawaii Island in November 2011 - Photo by Chuck Denny

This study is the first to conclusively relate geochemical differences in surface lava rocks from both chains to differences in their deep mantle sources, over 1,700 miles below the Earth’s surface, at the core-mantle boundary.

“We now know that by studying oceanic island lavas we can approach the composition of the Earth's mantle, which represents 80 percent of the Earth's volume and is obviously not directly accessible,” said Dominique Weis, Canada Research Chair in the Geochemistry of the Earth’s Mantle and Director of UBC’s Pacific Centre for Isotopic and Geochemical Research. “It also implies that mantle plumes indeed bring material from the deep mantle to the surface and are a crucial means of heat and material transport to the surface.”

The results of this study also suggest that a recent dramatic increase in Hawaiian volcanism, as expressed by the existence of the Hawaiian islands and the giant Mauna Loa and Mauna Kea volcanoes (which are higher than Mount Everest when measured from their underwater base), is related to a shift in the composition and structure of the source region of the Hawaiian mantle plume. Thus, this work shows, for the first time, that the chemistry of hotspot lavas is a novel and elegant probe of deep earth evolution.

Weis and UBC colleagues Mark Jellinek and James Scoates made the connection by careful fingerprinting of samples of Hawaiian island lavas – generated over the course of five million years – by isotopic analyses. Co-author and University of Massachusetts professor J. Michael Rhodes emphasized that the research included collecting 120 new samples from Mauna Loa, "the largest volcano on Earth,"

”Hawaiian volcanoes are the best studied in the world and yet we are continuing to make fundamental discoveries about how they work,” said co-author and UH Mānoa School of Ocean and Earth Science and Technology (SOEST) volcanologist Michael Garcia.

The next steps for the researchers will be to study the entire length of the Hawaiian chain (which provides lava samples ranging in age from five to 42 million years old) as well as other key oceanic islands to assess if the two trends can be traced further back in time and to strengthen the relationship between lavas and the composition of the deep mantle.

Research support provided by the Belgian Fonds National de la Recherche Scientifique (FNRS), NSERC Discovery Grants, and U.S. National Science Foundation, and the Canadian Institute for Advanced Research.

Nature Geoscience: Spatial and temporal variability in Hawaiian hotspot volcanism induced by small-scale convection, DOI: 10.1038/NGEO1328

Content of this press release was co-written with UBC.

Forget Ziplining; Costa Rica is All About Canyoneering Next to a Volcano

From Jaunted: Forget Ziplining; Costa Rica is All About Canyoneering Next to a Volcano
Canopying goes hand-in-hand with Costa Rica. Maybe it's the allure of the seven volcanoes and the lush flora and fauna they support or the desire to get down and dirty, but visitors to the country often have communing with nature on their minds and we're no different.

Instead of ziplining through the trees and crossing swing bridges on the Caribbean/rainforesty side of the country, however, we were able to go whole hog on the Pacific/dry forest side in the Rincón de la Vieja Volcano National Park of the Guanacaste region, where canopying combines with ziplining, rappeling, rock climbing, canyoneering and—yes, swing bridges—to make an experience simultaneously exhilarating and exhausting. There's no one word to describe it, but for now "adventure" will just have to do.

It begins easily enough. The lower half of your body is jimmied into harnesses and a helmet buckled onto your head, where nervous sweat is already starting to bead. From base at the Hacienda Guachipelin's Adventure Tours HQ, it's only a 2-minute walk to the first platform, from which you will take the plunge to zoom the longest of 12 ziplines.

All in all, there's those 12 ziplines, 24 platforms, 2 climbing walls, a stop to rappel (upside-down or rightside-up) above the rushing river, Tarzan moments, a swing bridge and some light hiking. It feels awesome while you're getting the grit under your nails and some air time, but bring Icy Hot for the next day, trust us.

Pricing for the Hacienda Guachipelin Adventure tour is $50 per adult/$40 per student/$30 per child, and your hotel can typically arrange the transfers and tours. You don't need to be in American Gladiator shape to go for it, by the way. Every platform has one or two guides to hook you up, answers questions, help out or just calm you down before doing that spider rappel only feet from Class IV rapids.

Pro-tip: While strapping your camera around you works on most parts of the course, don't try to keep your iPhone in your pocket or even bring a bag. Minimal or nothing is the rule here, which is why we don't have any videos of the action. Come prepared with more than a wriststrap, and a plastic baggie in case of rain would be advisable.

Disaster Tourism Update: Chernobyl Shuts Down, Congo Volcano Draws Crowds

From Forbes.com: Disaster Tourism Update: Chernobyl Shuts Down, Congo Volcano Draws Crowds
Less than a year after the Ukrainian government invited visitors to tour the site of the 1986 Chernobyl nuclear plant meltdown, a Kiev court has officially ended the practice, according to a brief report by the Voice of Russia. And why would anyone want to tour the site of the worst nuclear disaster in history anyway? It seems disaster tourism—an industry in which a perverse curiosity draws travelers to creepy, scary or depressing disaster sites over beaches, museums or ski slopes—is alive and well. Other popular spots on disaster tourism hit lists:

1. Democratic Republic of Congo: Intrepid explorers are flocking to a corner of this war-ravaged country, where rebel groups still terrorize much of the population. The spectacle tourists have come to witness, though, is a natural one: that of Mount Nyamulagira, in Virunga National Park, which has been erupting since early November. The park is offering tours and overnight tent stays, and now presents the Mikeno Lodge, with 12 thatched-roof bungalows going for $200 to $450 a night.

2. Christchurch, New Zealand: Since it was rocked by a 6.3-magnitude earthquake and endless aftershocks this year, Christchurch has seen its share of visitors who want to view the destruction—via bus, walking or Segway tours around the perimeter of affected areas, notes a report in the New Zealand Herald. In addition, helicopter and small-plane tours are allowing a bird’s-eye view of the damage.

3. New Orleans, LA: “Katrina tours” of areas including the Lower Ninth Ward have become a popular industry since the 2005 hurricane and flooding, and various versions are still on offer, including the Post Katrina Tour via van, Gray Line Hurricane Katrina bus tour and Ninth Ward Rebirth Bike Tours.

4. Japan’s Tohoku region: Since the devastating Tohoku Earthquake, tsunami and subsequent level-7 meltdown at the Fukushima Daiishi nuclear power plant in March, Japanese tourists have been making cross-country treks to the region to snap photos of the mass destruction, with a favorite stop including a lone 200-year-old pine tree in what used to be a forest in Rikezentakata, according to a report in the Telegraph.

5. Ground Zero: It’s been over a decade since the attacks of 9/11, but tourists still flock to Lower Manhattan to stare at the construction zone where it all happened. Guided tours of the area, plus the Tribute WTC Visitor Center, provide focus.