Ashland Daily Tidings: Cell tower planned to help monitor volcanic activity at Crater Lake
CRATER LAKE — Oregon's only national park may soon have a wireless cell tower that will help keep tabs on the potentially active volcano.
The U.S. Geological Survey wants to build a 60-foot tall tower to allow the agency to transmit information from sensitive instruments watching over the sleeping geological giant that blew its top some 7,700 years ago.
The tower would not be visible from the rim of the caldera or the historic Crater Lake Lodge, according to Benjamin Pauk, spokesman for the USGS Cascades Volcano Observatory based in Vancouver, Wash. The facility studies volcanoes in the Cascade range from Lassen Peak in northern California to Canada.
The proposal calls for the new tower to be built about 50 feet west of the non-historic Xanterra employee bunkhouse on the south side of the lake, he said. The tower would be painted brown to blend in with surrounding trees.
In a draft environmental assessment of the proposal released Thursday, the agency noted the tower would support a 3-foot diameter enclosed fiberglass antenna that would transmit the monitoring data out of the park.
The current data communication infrastructure in the park can't support the transmission of the volcanic monitoring data to the observatory, Pauk said.
The new tower would enable the observatory's scientists to remotely monitor, analyze and interpret all seismic activity within the park on a 24-hour basis, he explained.
The public has until Aug. 28 to comment on the proposal.
The environmental assessment is available at www.nps.gov/crla/parkmgmt/planning.htm as well as at the Medford library. Comments can also be posted at the planning, environment and public comment web site at http://parkplanning.nps.gov.
In addition, written comments can be sent to Benjamin Pauk, U.S. Geological Survey, Cascades Volcano Observatory, 1300 SE Cardinal Court, Suite 100, Vancouver, WA 98683.
Friday, July 29, 2011
Wednesday, July 27, 2011
Quake-volcano links probed
From Daily Yomiuri Online: Quake-volcano links probed
It is not unusual for dormant volcanoes to erupt several months or years after a great earthquake. But is there a causal relationship between massive earthquakes and volcanic eruptions? Will the Great East Japan Earthquake affect volcanoes in this country? Researchers have been trying to answer these questions.
Two days after a magnitude-9.5 earthquake struck Chile in 1960, the Puyehue volcano in southern Chile erupted. The volcano erupted again in June this year, following a magnitude-8.8 temblor in February last year.
It is difficult to establish a statistical correlation between massive earthquakes and volcanic eruptions given the low frequency of such events. But research conducted by Masaaki Churei, a former chief of volcanology of the Meteorological Agency, shows a historical correlation between the two phenomena.
"Volcanic eruptions in the Tohoku region spiked before and after great earthquakes off the Sanriku coast in the region," Churei said.
According to a research paper by Churei published in 2002, 13 volcanic eruptions, including those of Mt. Chokai and Mt. Azuma, occurred in six prefectures of the Tohoku region over a period of 156 years from 1841 to 1996.
During that period, four magnitude-8-class earthquakes--including the Meiji Sanriku Earthquake of 1896 and the Ansei Hachinohe Earthquake of 1856--occurred in the Japan Trench.
Of the 13 eruptions, 12 occurred within eight years before or after the massive earthquakes, Churei's research found. It also showed that volcanoes became active three or four years after the major earthquakes.
Churei found similar phenomena in the Hyuganada sea off eastern Miyazaki Prefecture.
Toshitsugu Fujii, professor emeritus at the University of Tokyo and chairman of the Coordinating Committee for the Prediction of Volcanic Eruptions, said, "If accurate statistical data could be compiled based on exact eruption records, correlations between volcanic eruptions and earthquakes could be seen in various parts of the world."
A link between volcanoes and massive earthquakes can be found under the sea.
In the sea off the eastern coast of the Tohoku region, for example, the Pacific tectonic plate moves westward and subducts beneath the North American continental plate to create the Japan Trench, which extends from north to south. The westward-moving plate contains much moisture and transfers some of it to the continental plate during subduction.
In the presence of moisture, it is believed that rocks at a certain depth tend to turn into magma when subject to high temperature and high pressure. Indeed, just above where this magma is generated is a "volcanic front" along a north-south axis in the Tohoku region in parallel with the Japan Trench.
A major earthquake occurs when the edge of an oceanic plate suddenly slides under a continental plate. The positional and dynamic relations of the two plates change, possibly affecting magma formation. Thus, earthquakes and volcanoes essentially are closely linked.
But it is estimated to take from several thousand years to tens of thousands of years for magma created deep in a plate to rise to the Earth's surface. Therefore, a different mechanism seems to be at work when a massive earthquake affects volcanic activities shortly after its occurrence.
In the aftermath of the March 11 earthquake, underground volcanic activity spiked at 20 volcanoes throughout the country, including below Mt. Yakedake straddling Nagano and Gifu prefectures, Mt. Hakone on the border of Kanagawa and Shizuoka prefectures and Mt. Aso in Kumamoto Prefecture. Earthquakes that can be sensed by humans also occurred.
Commenting on the cause of this phenomenon, the Meteorological Agency said: "Magma chambers below the volcanoes were shaken by seismic waves, causing gases in magma to create magma bubbles. This resulted in earthquake swarms."
Many volcanologists are focusing on the hypothesis that crustal movements triggered by earthquakes squeeze out magma to cause volcanic eruptions. One such scientist is Eisuke Fujita, a senior researcher of the National Research Institute for Earth Science and Disaster Prevention. He has researched how the gravitational pressure from rocks around the magma chamber of Mt. Fuji changed in the aftermath of the March 11 earthquake compared with that before the disaster.
Mt. Fuji erupted 49 days after the Hoei Earthquake of 1707. A simulation conducted by Fujita showed that if a spherically shaped magma chamber with a radius of three kilometers existed 18 kilometers underground, movements in faults near the chamber would change its shape, squeezing out magma.
But Fujita assumes that the deformation would not be enough to create significant movement of magma.
He plans to conduct similar research of volcanoes in Tohoku, including Mt. Iwate in Iwate Prefecture.
Monday, July 25, 2011
Signs Of Cleveland Volcano Eruption In Alaska
TRCB News: Signs Of Cleveland Volcano Eruption In Alaska
Through a satellite some images of the Cleveland volcano, which is situated in Alaska, have been captured. According to scientists, there are signs of the first big eruption of this volcano in ten years. After observing the signs of volcano eruption, an eruption advisory has been issued by the Alaska Volcano Observatory. The Cleveland Volcano has a height of nearly six thousand feet and it is located at a distance of nine hundred and forty miles from the south-west of Anchorage.
According to the observatory, the advisory has not just been issued on an assumption. It is based on the thermal anomalies which are detected by a satellite. The signs of volcano eruption include the measurements, known as thermal anomalies, which indicate that the Cleveland Volcano can erupt any time. As judged from the signs of the expected volcano eruption, the ash clouds will spew up to twenty thousand feet above the sea level.
These signs warned the international air travel because the Cleveland Volcano lies below the flight path of a commercial air line. According to a scientist-in-charge at Alaska Volcano Observatory, this flight path is in between Asia and North America.
The last major eruption of this volcano occurred in the year 2001 and at that time the ash blasted more than five miles in the sky. It spilled lava from summit crater. Since then the Cleveland Volcano has experienced many smaller eruptions. Now there are signs of another major eruption.
As shown by the satellite images, the signs for an eruption of the volcano are clear but the flight patterns of the airlines have not been changed yet. May be this is due to heat emissions of the Cleveland, as stated by Steve McNutt, who is a scientist at the observatory of University of Alaska Fairbanks.
Through a satellite some images of the Cleveland volcano, which is situated in Alaska, have been captured. According to scientists, there are signs of the first big eruption of this volcano in ten years. After observing the signs of volcano eruption, an eruption advisory has been issued by the Alaska Volcano Observatory. The Cleveland Volcano has a height of nearly six thousand feet and it is located at a distance of nine hundred and forty miles from the south-west of Anchorage.
According to the observatory, the advisory has not just been issued on an assumption. It is based on the thermal anomalies which are detected by a satellite. The signs of volcano eruption include the measurements, known as thermal anomalies, which indicate that the Cleveland Volcano can erupt any time. As judged from the signs of the expected volcano eruption, the ash clouds will spew up to twenty thousand feet above the sea level.
These signs warned the international air travel because the Cleveland Volcano lies below the flight path of a commercial air line. According to a scientist-in-charge at Alaska Volcano Observatory, this flight path is in between Asia and North America.
The last major eruption of this volcano occurred in the year 2001 and at that time the ash blasted more than five miles in the sky. It spilled lava from summit crater. Since then the Cleveland Volcano has experienced many smaller eruptions. Now there are signs of another major eruption.
As shown by the satellite images, the signs for an eruption of the volcano are clear but the flight patterns of the airlines have not been changed yet. May be this is due to heat emissions of the Cleveland, as stated by Steve McNutt, who is a scientist at the observatory of University of Alaska Fairbanks.
Tuesday, July 19, 2011
Hot and Cold: Long-Suspected Antarctic Undersea Volcanoes Discovered
Scientific American: Hot and Cold: Long-Suspected Antarctic Undersea Volcanoes Discovered
Iceland is known as the "land of ice and fire," but new findings suggest that the South Sandwich Islands in the southern Atlantic Ocean could easily take over that title. In addition to the seven volcanic islands that make up this Antarctic archipelago, the British Antarctic Survey (BAS) recently discovered that 12 volcanoes lurk below the water's surface.
Despite their icy environs, the South Sandwich Islands have fiery origins thanks to the volcanoes, some of which are still active. "Eruptions have been observed over the last century or so," says BAS scientist Philip Leat. In addition to a large eruption observed in 1956, a low-level eruption that started in 2002 lasted for six years.
Between these two visible surface volcanic reactions, an underwater volcano blew in 1962. Although nobody directly observed that activity, scientists discovered the eruption when large amounts of pumice, a volcanic rock so filled with gas bubbles that it floats on water, washed up on the shores of Antarctica, New Zealand and South America.
Because of the 1962 eruption, "we knew there were underwater volcanoes somewhere in the vicinity," Leat says. And when the BAS sent the RRS James Clark Ross on a seafloor survey around the South Sandwiches, using multi-beam sonar to map the area, the researchers found them. Sonar bounces sound waves off of objects and detects the echoes to determine the distance to those objects; using multiple sonar beams maps larger areas, so the James Clark Ross could cover a greater expanse of the ocean floor more quickly.
The research team announced at a July 13 poster session of the 11th International Symposium on Antarctic Earth Sciences that its survey discovered the presence of 12 active submarine volcanoes (some almost three kilometers high) and the remnants of more. The collapsed volcanoes had formed craters about five kilometers in width.
In addition to enhancing maps of the islands, the BAS survey may help scientists understand how undersea eruptions cause enormous reactions, such as tsunamis. The underwater volcanoes also create environments that are not only conducive to unique ecosystems, but also hold clues about an earlier era in Earth's history.
As a result of the volcanic activity around the South Sandwiches, molten rock lurks just under the seafloor. When ocean water leaks through cracks in the floor, it encounters that heat source, reacts, and spews back out as a mineral-rich, hot-water jet, creating a hydrothermal vent. Such vents, which are found in areas of the ocean where there is tectonic activity, create isolated hot-water ecosystems that are home to creatures very different from the more typical denizens of Antarctica's frigid waters.
"Above water it looks like a desert," says Andrew Clarke, a biologist formerly of BAS. "But below, it's far from it. There's a rich variety of life down there."
Although many of the species in Antarctic waters have adapted to live at near freezing temperatures, the denizens of hydrothermal vents have evolved to live comfortably in the heat. Water issues from a vent at temperatures that can exceed boiling. Moving away from a vent is a journey from one temperature extreme to the other, from boiling seas to ice water (think: a hot tub turned too high to a warm summer surf to just bearable New England waters in August to a winter swim at the same beach)—all within a range of several meters.
"Out of contact with light," Clarke says, "the whole system is driven by chemistry." The hot water emerging from the hydrothermal vents is rich in dissolved sulfur, which bacteria living around the vents oxidize to make energy, living off of chemical instead of solar energy. Meanwhile, larger predators such as crabs and shrimps feed off the bacteria.
"It's an ecosystem that builds up around the vents themselves," Leat says. The ecosystems of hydrothermal vents have been studied in oceans all over the world, from Samoa and Tonga to the Mid-Atlantic Ridge. Although there is a general set of organisms that tend to live around vents, each one supports a unique system. As Clarke says, "One of the interesting things is the animals growing around these things are quite different."
Although the map of the area has been released, BAS biologists are still studying the organisms living in the hydrothermal vents and will publish their results separately.
In addition to sulfur, the hot water also carries other minerals, such as the metals copper, lead, zinc and gold. When they drift to cooler water, they solidify and form deposits. Historically, many metal-bearing ores on land originated in a very similar environment to that of these hydrothermal vents. "Going back though history, there were huge numbers of these kinds of volcanoes," Leat says. Studying them can help us understand the process through which metals now inland gradually moved from the ocean to continental interiors.
Iceland is known as the "land of ice and fire," but new findings suggest that the South Sandwich Islands in the southern Atlantic Ocean could easily take over that title. In addition to the seven volcanic islands that make up this Antarctic archipelago, the British Antarctic Survey (BAS) recently discovered that 12 volcanoes lurk below the water's surface.
Despite their icy environs, the South Sandwich Islands have fiery origins thanks to the volcanoes, some of which are still active. "Eruptions have been observed over the last century or so," says BAS scientist Philip Leat. In addition to a large eruption observed in 1956, a low-level eruption that started in 2002 lasted for six years.
Between these two visible surface volcanic reactions, an underwater volcano blew in 1962. Although nobody directly observed that activity, scientists discovered the eruption when large amounts of pumice, a volcanic rock so filled with gas bubbles that it floats on water, washed up on the shores of Antarctica, New Zealand and South America.
Because of the 1962 eruption, "we knew there were underwater volcanoes somewhere in the vicinity," Leat says. And when the BAS sent the RRS James Clark Ross on a seafloor survey around the South Sandwiches, using multi-beam sonar to map the area, the researchers found them. Sonar bounces sound waves off of objects and detects the echoes to determine the distance to those objects; using multiple sonar beams maps larger areas, so the James Clark Ross could cover a greater expanse of the ocean floor more quickly.
The research team announced at a July 13 poster session of the 11th International Symposium on Antarctic Earth Sciences that its survey discovered the presence of 12 active submarine volcanoes (some almost three kilometers high) and the remnants of more. The collapsed volcanoes had formed craters about five kilometers in width.
In addition to enhancing maps of the islands, the BAS survey may help scientists understand how undersea eruptions cause enormous reactions, such as tsunamis. The underwater volcanoes also create environments that are not only conducive to unique ecosystems, but also hold clues about an earlier era in Earth's history.
As a result of the volcanic activity around the South Sandwiches, molten rock lurks just under the seafloor. When ocean water leaks through cracks in the floor, it encounters that heat source, reacts, and spews back out as a mineral-rich, hot-water jet, creating a hydrothermal vent. Such vents, which are found in areas of the ocean where there is tectonic activity, create isolated hot-water ecosystems that are home to creatures very different from the more typical denizens of Antarctica's frigid waters.
"Above water it looks like a desert," says Andrew Clarke, a biologist formerly of BAS. "But below, it's far from it. There's a rich variety of life down there."
Although many of the species in Antarctic waters have adapted to live at near freezing temperatures, the denizens of hydrothermal vents have evolved to live comfortably in the heat. Water issues from a vent at temperatures that can exceed boiling. Moving away from a vent is a journey from one temperature extreme to the other, from boiling seas to ice water (think: a hot tub turned too high to a warm summer surf to just bearable New England waters in August to a winter swim at the same beach)—all within a range of several meters.
"Out of contact with light," Clarke says, "the whole system is driven by chemistry." The hot water emerging from the hydrothermal vents is rich in dissolved sulfur, which bacteria living around the vents oxidize to make energy, living off of chemical instead of solar energy. Meanwhile, larger predators such as crabs and shrimps feed off the bacteria.
"It's an ecosystem that builds up around the vents themselves," Leat says. The ecosystems of hydrothermal vents have been studied in oceans all over the world, from Samoa and Tonga to the Mid-Atlantic Ridge. Although there is a general set of organisms that tend to live around vents, each one supports a unique system. As Clarke says, "One of the interesting things is the animals growing around these things are quite different."
Although the map of the area has been released, BAS biologists are still studying the organisms living in the hydrothermal vents and will publish their results separately.
In addition to sulfur, the hot water also carries other minerals, such as the metals copper, lead, zinc and gold. When they drift to cooler water, they solidify and form deposits. Historically, many metal-bearing ores on land originated in a very similar environment to that of these hydrothermal vents. "Going back though history, there were huge numbers of these kinds of volcanoes," Leat says. Studying them can help us understand the process through which metals now inland gradually moved from the ocean to continental interiors.
Monday, July 18, 2011
Double eruption at Indonesia volcano: vulcanologist
Google News: Double eruption at Indonesia volcano: vulcanologist
JAKARTA — An Indonesian volcano erupted twice on Monday following its biggest eruption in weeks over the weekend, a government vulcanologist said, forcing people to remain in safety shelters.
"The two eruptions happened within ten minutes which sent a column of ash and smoke up to 600 metres (1,968 feet) into the air," government vulcanologist Freddy Korompis told AFP from a monitoring post.
The 1,580-metre Mount Lokon experienced its biggest eruption on Sunday with huge clouds of ash propelled 3,500 metres (11,500 feet) into the sky.
More than 5,200 people have been evacuated to temporary shelters since the volcano erupted on Thursday and its alert status was placed on the highest level.
It last erupted 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.
Thursday, July 14, 2011
Wednesday, July 13, 2011
Science: Simple and complex volcanoes
Some volcanoes have a very simple cone shape. They are built up by just one eruption, or by very few subsequent eruptions. These cones, or domes, are built up over a few weeks or months.
Examples
--Sunset Crater in Arizona
--the small volcanoes of Craters of the Moon National Monument in Idaho
--Chaine des Puys volanic province in central France
At the other extreme, are "complicated" volcanoes - built up by multiple eruptions over long periods of time (thousands or even hundreds of thousands of years.) Phases of lava and pyroclastic accumulation are interspersed with phases of destruction caused by explosive activity, the collapse of a volcano's flanks, or subsidence of basement rock. During these eruptions, and during the intervals between, erosion due to runoff shapes these volcanoes.
Examples
the volcanoes of the San Francisco Peaks
near Flagstaff, Arizona
the volcanoes of the Cascades in the Pacific Northwest
Cantral Volcano in northern France
_________________
Bibliography
Living Mountains, How and Why They Erupt, by Jacques Kornprobst and Christine Laverne
Examples
--Sunset Crater in Arizona
--the small volcanoes of Craters of the Moon National Monument in Idaho
--Chaine des Puys volanic province in central France
At the other extreme, are "complicated" volcanoes - built up by multiple eruptions over long periods of time (thousands or even hundreds of thousands of years.) Phases of lava and pyroclastic accumulation are interspersed with phases of destruction caused by explosive activity, the collapse of a volcano's flanks, or subsidence of basement rock. During these eruptions, and during the intervals between, erosion due to runoff shapes these volcanoes.
Examples
the volcanoes of the San Francisco Peaks
near Flagstaff, Arizona
the volcanoes of the Cascades in the Pacific Northwest
Cantral Volcano in northern France
_________________
Bibliography
Living Mountains, How and Why They Erupt, by Jacques Kornprobst and Christine Laverne
Tuesday, July 12, 2011
Scientists discover underwater volcanoes in the Southern Ocean
WireUpdate: Scientists discover underwater volcanoes in the Southern Ocean
LONDON (BNO NEWS) -- A group of scientists from the British Antarctic Survey (BAS) has discovered a dozen underwater volcanoes in the ocean waters around the remote South Sandwich Islands, which is a British overseas territory.
The scientists made the discovery using ship-borne sea-floor mapping technology during two research cruises in 2007 and 2010 on the British Antarctic Survey ship RRS James Clark Ross. Their discovery in the Southern Ocean was not announced until Monday.
The scientists found a total of twelve volcanoes beneath the sea surface - some up to 3 kilometers (1.8 miles) high. They found five kilometers (3.1 miles) diameter craters left by collapsing volcanoes and seven active volcanoes visible above the sea as a chain of islands.
"There is so much that we don't understand about volcanic activity beneath the sea - it's likely that volcanoes are erupting or collapsing all the time," said Dr. Phil Leat of BAS at the International Symposium on Antarctic Earth Sciences. The discovery could lead to a better understanding about why volcanoes erupt or collapse underwater and what their potential is for creating hazards such as tsunamis.
"The technologies that scientists can now use from ships not only give us an opportunity to piece together the story of the evolution of our Earth, but they also help shed new light on the development of natural events that pose hazards for people living in more populated regions on the planet," Leat added.
Not a lot is known about underwater volcanoes, and it is unclear how many exist. The Kolumbo submarine volcano in the Aegean Sea erupted in 1650, sending pyroclastic flows across the sea surface to the shores and slopes of Santorini, a nearby Greek island. It left some 70 people killed and also triggered a tsunami that damaged islands in the region.
LONDON (BNO NEWS) -- A group of scientists from the British Antarctic Survey (BAS) has discovered a dozen underwater volcanoes in the ocean waters around the remote South Sandwich Islands, which is a British overseas territory.
The scientists made the discovery using ship-borne sea-floor mapping technology during two research cruises in 2007 and 2010 on the British Antarctic Survey ship RRS James Clark Ross. Their discovery in the Southern Ocean was not announced until Monday.
The scientists found a total of twelve volcanoes beneath the sea surface - some up to 3 kilometers (1.8 miles) high. They found five kilometers (3.1 miles) diameter craters left by collapsing volcanoes and seven active volcanoes visible above the sea as a chain of islands.
"There is so much that we don't understand about volcanic activity beneath the sea - it's likely that volcanoes are erupting or collapsing all the time," said Dr. Phil Leat of BAS at the International Symposium on Antarctic Earth Sciences. The discovery could lead to a better understanding about why volcanoes erupt or collapse underwater and what their potential is for creating hazards such as tsunamis.
"The technologies that scientists can now use from ships not only give us an opportunity to piece together the story of the evolution of our Earth, but they also help shed new light on the development of natural events that pose hazards for people living in more populated regions on the planet," Leat added.
Not a lot is known about underwater volcanoes, and it is unclear how many exist. The Kolumbo submarine volcano in the Aegean Sea erupted in 1650, sending pyroclastic flows across the sea surface to the shores and slopes of Santorini, a nearby Greek island. It left some 70 people killed and also triggered a tsunami that damaged islands in the region.
Monday, July 11, 2011
Volcanoes' impact on climate underestimated?
MSNBC.com: Volcanoes' impact on climate underestimated?
Volcanic eruptions might affect Earth's climate more than thought by releasing far more weather-altering particles than scientists' suspected, new research finds.
To help tease out the influence of volcanoes on global climate, researchers investigated the huge eruption of the Eyjafjallajokull volcano in Iceland on March 20, 2010. They monitored the volcano's enormous plume, which spread all over Europe, from a research station in France.
The eruption rapidly ejected large ash particles into the atmosphere. The researchers then analyzed how many secondary particles this ash generated upon reacting chemically with other components of the atmosphere. The particles created from the eruptions were mostly composed of sulfuric acid and grew over time.
If sulfuric acid particles become large enough, they can behave as seeds for cloud formation. Clouds, in turn, can alter the amount and type of precipitation an area receives.
More science news from MSNBC Tech & Science
Terrafugia Flying car cleared for the road
Cosmic Log: A flying car is being exempted from regulatory hurdles, meaning future owners of the vehicle will be able to drive it on public streets, the company behind it recently announced.
In Israel, diggers unearth the Bible's bad guys No bones about it, this mastodon dig was big A bomb proof bag for safer skies The atmospheric data the researchers collected during the Eyjafjallajokull eruption suggest that volcanic eruptions can release up to 100 million times more ash particles than thought. In addition, seeding particles can form at lower altitudes and farther distances from volcanoes than past studies had suggested.
"Most previous studies did not properly account for low-altitude impacts of volcanoes," researcher Julien Boulon, a physicist at the Laboratory of Meteorology Physics of the French National Center for Scientific Research and Blaise Pascal University in Aubiere, France, told OurAmazingPlanet.
The findings, detailed online Monday in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, point to the potentially broader climate influence that volcanoes could have.
Volcanic eruptions might affect Earth's climate more than thought by releasing far more weather-altering particles than scientists' suspected, new research finds.
To help tease out the influence of volcanoes on global climate, researchers investigated the huge eruption of the Eyjafjallajokull volcano in Iceland on March 20, 2010. They monitored the volcano's enormous plume, which spread all over Europe, from a research station in France.
The eruption rapidly ejected large ash particles into the atmosphere. The researchers then analyzed how many secondary particles this ash generated upon reacting chemically with other components of the atmosphere. The particles created from the eruptions were mostly composed of sulfuric acid and grew over time.
If sulfuric acid particles become large enough, they can behave as seeds for cloud formation. Clouds, in turn, can alter the amount and type of precipitation an area receives.
More science news from MSNBC Tech & Science
Terrafugia Flying car cleared for the road
Cosmic Log: A flying car is being exempted from regulatory hurdles, meaning future owners of the vehicle will be able to drive it on public streets, the company behind it recently announced.
In Israel, diggers unearth the Bible's bad guys No bones about it, this mastodon dig was big A bomb proof bag for safer skies The atmospheric data the researchers collected during the Eyjafjallajokull eruption suggest that volcanic eruptions can release up to 100 million times more ash particles than thought. In addition, seeding particles can form at lower altitudes and farther distances from volcanoes than past studies had suggested.
"Most previous studies did not properly account for low-altitude impacts of volcanoes," researcher Julien Boulon, a physicist at the Laboratory of Meteorology Physics of the French National Center for Scientific Research and Blaise Pascal University in Aubiere, France, told OurAmazingPlanet.
The findings, detailed online Monday in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, point to the potentially broader climate influence that volcanoes could have.
Ridley Scott's Prometheus Filming In Iceland On An Active Volcano
Not really anything to do with volcanology, but just thought it sounded interesting.
CinemaBlend.com: Ridley Scott's Prometheus Filming In Iceland On An Active Volcano
CinemaBlend.com: Ridley Scott's Prometheus Filming In Iceland On An Active Volcano
The road for Ridley Scott’s Prometheus has been a twisty one. First it was an Alien prequel, then Lost mastermind Damon Lindelof got a hold of it and turned it into something just different enough for everyone on board to agree to drop the Alien attachment and just pretend it’s an entirely new property. Now they’re back to it being a prequel, but no one can seem to nail down exactly what the damn movie will be about, other than that we’ll likely learn about the much publicized race of Space Jockeys.
Well, the people of Iceland may find out some more details before the rest of us do, as Prometheus has now started filming in Hekla at the base of a volcano. You read that right, Ridley Scott has lifted a hefty middle finger to mother nature and said:
If one is afraid of nature in this profession then it would be best to find a different job. If Ridley Scott’s badassery was ever in question, maybe around the time he did A Good Year, it sure as hell isn’t now. The particular volcano was recently publicized as being deadly active and ready to blow. Bad. Ass.
Secrecy aside, we know a few things now that production has moved and gotten started in Iceland. According to Icenews, Scott will be filming in Iceland for two weeks for what he says will be a 15 minute sequence where, “We are shooting the beginning of time.”...which could really mean anything, because I’m certain that Charlize Theron and Michael Fassbender weren’t around at the beginning of time.
We’ve seen a photograph from the set, but beyond that there isn’t much to go on, and Ridley is just fine with that.
There is a lot of innovative and new stuff in the film and it would be a shame to ruin that [surprise] with leaks. More on Prometheus when production picks up steam.
Science: Simple and Complex Volcanoes
A volcano is the point at which molten rock, which comes from deep within the earth, reaches the earth's surface. In some cases, volcanoes can simply be holes in the ground (vents), but generally they form conical mounds - built up progressively on a basement of pre-existing rock, and is composed of an accumulation of lavas and volcanic ejecta.
Molten rock reaches the surface by a central pipe, and by dikes, that bring this magma to the surface from a magma chamber situated anywhere from 1,000 feet to 2 miles beneath the vent.
The magma chamber for a particular volcano is generally very complex in shape, and is itself fed by magma from a deeper source, up to even 200 miles below the earth's surface.
The shape of the volcano above groundvaries depending on the chemical composition of the magma in question, as well as its temperature, as well as the amount of dissolved gas within it. All these factors combine to determine the frequency and violence of the eruptions, and thus what kind of cone, if any, is created.
_________________
Bibliography
Living Mountains, How and Why They Erupt, by Jacques Kornprobst and Christine Laverne
Molten rock reaches the surface by a central pipe, and by dikes, that bring this magma to the surface from a magma chamber situated anywhere from 1,000 feet to 2 miles beneath the vent.
The magma chamber for a particular volcano is generally very complex in shape, and is itself fed by magma from a deeper source, up to even 200 miles below the earth's surface.
The shape of the volcano above groundvaries depending on the chemical composition of the magma in question, as well as its temperature, as well as the amount of dissolved gas within it. All these factors combine to determine the frequency and violence of the eruptions, and thus what kind of cone, if any, is created.
_________________
Bibliography
Living Mountains, How and Why They Erupt, by Jacques Kornprobst and Christine Laverne
Saturday, July 9, 2011
Three Active Volcanoes Spotted on Satellite Imagery from NASA
NASA: Three Active Volcanoes Spotted on Satellite Imagery from NASA
From space, NASA keeps a watchful eye on volcanic activity around the world with many satellites. NASA has just released satellite images showing activity this week from volcanoes in the countries of Eritrea, Chile and Indonesia.
NASA's Terra satellite and the GOES-11 satellite captured ash plumes or heat coming from the Nabro volcano, the Puyehue-Cordón volcano, and the Soputan volcano, respectively, over the past week. There are a number of other volcanoes showing activity around the world, but thanks to good visibility these three volcanoes were more easily seen from space this week.
NASA’s Terra satellite flew over the Nabro volcano in Eritrea on July 6 at 07:50 UTC (3:50 a.m. EDT) and the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) instrument captured "heat signatures" or hot areas in the volcano. The MODIS images are created by the MODIS Rapid Response Team at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md. The team provides images from the MODIS instrument (that flies on both the Terra and Aqua satellite) every day.
Nabro is located in the State of Eritrea, a country in the Horn of Africa. Eritrea's neighboring countries include Ethiopia to the south, Djibouti to the southeast and Sudan to the west. An ash plume was difficult to pinpoint on the imagery because of dust blowing in the direction of the volcano and over the Gulf of Aden from nearby Somalia.
An image from the Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite called GOES-11 (a satellite managed by NOAA) showed a light brown ash plume from the Puyehue-Cordón volcano at 14:45 UTC (10:45 a.m. EDT) n July 3, 2011. The image was created by the NASA/NOAA GOES Project at NASA Goddard, and clearly shows an ash plume blowing into the eastern Pacific Ocean. On Thursday, July 7, ash continued streaming from the volcano and grounding flights in South America.
The Puyehue-Cordón Caulle Volcano is located in the Andes Mountains of central Chile, near the Argentina border. According to Volcanolive.com, it consists of Puyehue volcano and Cordón Caulle fissure complex.
The MODIS instrument on NASA's Terra satellite captured an image of an ash plume from the eruption of the Soputan volcano, Sulawesi Island, Indonesia on July 3, 2011 at 02:25 UTC (July 2, 10:25 p.m. EDT).
Mount Soputan is located in the North Sulawesi province. It erupted on July 3 and sent ash and smoke more than three miles (five kilometers) high, according to news.au.com. On July 3, sixteen flights from Manado International Airport were canceled or postponed, according to earthquake-report.com.
From space, NASA keeps a watchful eye on volcanic activity around the world with many satellites. NASA has just released satellite images showing activity this week from volcanoes in the countries of Eritrea, Chile and Indonesia.
NASA's Terra satellite and the GOES-11 satellite captured ash plumes or heat coming from the Nabro volcano, the Puyehue-Cordón volcano, and the Soputan volcano, respectively, over the past week. There are a number of other volcanoes showing activity around the world, but thanks to good visibility these three volcanoes were more easily seen from space this week.
NASA’s Terra satellite flew over the Nabro volcano in Eritrea on July 6 at 07:50 UTC (3:50 a.m. EDT) and the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) instrument captured "heat signatures" or hot areas in the volcano. The MODIS images are created by the MODIS Rapid Response Team at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md. The team provides images from the MODIS instrument (that flies on both the Terra and Aqua satellite) every day.
Nabro is located in the State of Eritrea, a country in the Horn of Africa. Eritrea's neighboring countries include Ethiopia to the south, Djibouti to the southeast and Sudan to the west. An ash plume was difficult to pinpoint on the imagery because of dust blowing in the direction of the volcano and over the Gulf of Aden from nearby Somalia.
An image from the Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite called GOES-11 (a satellite managed by NOAA) showed a light brown ash plume from the Puyehue-Cordón volcano at 14:45 UTC (10:45 a.m. EDT) n July 3, 2011. The image was created by the NASA/NOAA GOES Project at NASA Goddard, and clearly shows an ash plume blowing into the eastern Pacific Ocean. On Thursday, July 7, ash continued streaming from the volcano and grounding flights in South America.
The Puyehue-Cordón Caulle Volcano is located in the Andes Mountains of central Chile, near the Argentina border. According to Volcanolive.com, it consists of Puyehue volcano and Cordón Caulle fissure complex.
The MODIS instrument on NASA's Terra satellite captured an image of an ash plume from the eruption of the Soputan volcano, Sulawesi Island, Indonesia on July 3, 2011 at 02:25 UTC (July 2, 10:25 p.m. EDT).
Mount Soputan is located in the North Sulawesi province. It erupted on July 3 and sent ash and smoke more than three miles (five kilometers) high, according to news.au.com. On July 3, sixteen flights from Manado International Airport were canceled or postponed, according to earthquake-report.com.
Icelandic Authorities Monitor Katla Volcano
IrishWeather: Icelandic Authorities Monitor Katla Volcano
glacial flood or jokulhlaup in southern Iceland, most likely from the Katla volcano, badly damaged a bridge leading to the closure of a busy road on Saturday.
Iceland’s Civil Protection Agency (CPA) says flooding is taking place near the volcano, most likely caused by the melting of its ice cap. However, the CPA stated that it could not rule out high geothermal heat as the cause.
RUV – The Icelandic National Broadcasting Service – reported that the flood is thought be the result of a small eruption underneath the icecap of Mýrdalsjökull, probably in the Katla crater.
An aerial observation of the Mýrdalsjökull reported cracks in two calderas in the southernmost part of the glacier. Geophysicists have reported, however, there were no indications that a volcanic eruption was occuring beneath the glacier.
Freysteinn Sigmundsson, a vulcanologist at the University of Iceland said: “At least this is not a large eruption, the Katla eruption people have been waiting for. If it is a volcanic eruption, it is a small event and possibly only geothermal water.”
Katla is located close to Eyjafjallajökull, which erupted in 2010 causing significant disruption to aviation across Europe. It also situated near Hekla.
The unusual activity picked up by sensors around Hekla during last weekend and over the early days of this week has now mostly subsided. However, geophysicists from the Icelandic Meteorological Office (IMO) say that the volcano, one of the country’s most active, is ready to erupt.
The IMO confirmed to Icelandic newspaper Fréttabladid, that the movements registered were between ten and 20 millimetres, which is not considered to be of any significance. However, tourists have been warned against hiking at the popular visitor attraction.
Tuesday, July 5, 2011
Study: Australian volcanoes 'overdue'
UPI.com: Study: Australian volcanoes 'overdue'
MELBOURNE, July 5 (UPI) -- Australian researchers studying the age of volcanoes in Western Victoria and South Australia say the regions are overdue for an eruption.
Scientists from the University of Melbourne's School of Earth Sciences and the Melbourne School of Engineering have calculated the ages of the regions' small volcanoes and established the recurrence rate for eruptions at 2,000 years.
With the last volcano eruption happening more than 5,000 years ago, scientists say the areas are overdue, a university release said Tuesday.
"Although the volcanoes in the region don't erupt on a regular sequence, the likelihood of an eruption is high given the average gap in the past has been 2,000 years," Bernie Joyce of the School of Earth Sciences said.
"These are small eruptions and very localized but depending on the type of eruption, they could cause devastation to thousands of people," he said.
The regions studied demonstrate a history of activity by young monogenetic or single short-lived activity volcanoes, the researchers said.
"Among the hazards which may need to be prepared for in this closely-settled region are the localized effects of cone building leading to lava flows which run downhill towards the coast," Joyce said.
"The long lasting and often extensive lava flows can travel for tens of kilometers, and so would be hazardous to modern infrastructure such as bridges, roads and railways, power lines and pipelines, as well as being a major fire hazard on the dry grassland plains of summer in Western Victoria."
MELBOURNE, July 5 (UPI) -- Australian researchers studying the age of volcanoes in Western Victoria and South Australia say the regions are overdue for an eruption.
Scientists from the University of Melbourne's School of Earth Sciences and the Melbourne School of Engineering have calculated the ages of the regions' small volcanoes and established the recurrence rate for eruptions at 2,000 years.
With the last volcano eruption happening more than 5,000 years ago, scientists say the areas are overdue, a university release said Tuesday.
"Although the volcanoes in the region don't erupt on a regular sequence, the likelihood of an eruption is high given the average gap in the past has been 2,000 years," Bernie Joyce of the School of Earth Sciences said.
"These are small eruptions and very localized but depending on the type of eruption, they could cause devastation to thousands of people," he said.
The regions studied demonstrate a history of activity by young monogenetic or single short-lived activity volcanoes, the researchers said.
"Among the hazards which may need to be prepared for in this closely-settled region are the localized effects of cone building leading to lava flows which run downhill towards the coast," Joyce said.
"The long lasting and often extensive lava flows can travel for tens of kilometers, and so would be hazardous to modern infrastructure such as bridges, roads and railways, power lines and pipelines, as well as being a major fire hazard on the dry grassland plains of summer in Western Victoria."
Argentina unveils economic help for volcano-hit region
BBC News: Argentina unveils economic help for volcano-hit region
Argentine President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner has unveiled a range of measures to help people hit by last month's volcanic eruption in Chile.
Social benefits are to be doubled and tax payments deferred for two months in the hardest-hit areas of the country.
The Puyehue volcano, near the border with Argentina, spewed ash across a wide area, affecting tourism, air travel and agriculture.
Volcanic activity has now decreased, although some disruption continues.
The Puyehue-Cordon Caulle range erupted last month for the first time in decades.
Winds sent ash across South America, and as far afield as Australia and New Zealand, causing intermittent disruption to air travel.
One of the worst affected areas is the ski resort of Bariloche in southern Argentina, where grey ash fell on the slopes.
The volcano had been quiet for many years before June's eruption The timing of the eruption could not have been worse for the local economy, coming at the start of the ski season.
The National Institute for Agricultural Technology (INTA) has calculated that losses suffered by farmers in the southern province of Rio Negro totalled some 100 Argentine pesos ($24.3m, £15m).
Speaking on Monday, President Fernandez said that the region had suffered a "real tragedy".
She announced that a range of social benefits would would be doubled for 60 days.
People would also have longer to pay due taxes, she said.
Among other measures, there will also be help worth 10m pesos for 1,400 farmers.
The government is to continue to create jobs in the region to help with the clean-up
Argentine President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner has unveiled a range of measures to help people hit by last month's volcanic eruption in Chile.
Social benefits are to be doubled and tax payments deferred for two months in the hardest-hit areas of the country.
The Puyehue volcano, near the border with Argentina, spewed ash across a wide area, affecting tourism, air travel and agriculture.
Volcanic activity has now decreased, although some disruption continues.
The Puyehue-Cordon Caulle range erupted last month for the first time in decades.
Winds sent ash across South America, and as far afield as Australia and New Zealand, causing intermittent disruption to air travel.
One of the worst affected areas is the ski resort of Bariloche in southern Argentina, where grey ash fell on the slopes.
The volcano had been quiet for many years before June's eruption The timing of the eruption could not have been worse for the local economy, coming at the start of the ski season.
The National Institute for Agricultural Technology (INTA) has calculated that losses suffered by farmers in the southern province of Rio Negro totalled some 100 Argentine pesos ($24.3m, £15m).
Speaking on Monday, President Fernandez said that the region had suffered a "real tragedy".
She announced that a range of social benefits would would be doubled for 60 days.
People would also have longer to pay due taxes, she said.
Among other measures, there will also be help worth 10m pesos for 1,400 farmers.
The government is to continue to create jobs in the region to help with the clean-up
Monday, July 4, 2011
Hawaii Volcanoes National Park still needs concessionaire
Pacific Business News: Hawaii Volcanoes National Park still needs concessionaire
The Volcano House at Hawaii Volcanoes National Park, which has hosted the likes of Mark Twain and Queen Liliuokalani, is having a hard time finding a new operator.
The historic inn has been closed since Jan. 1, 2010.
The National Park Service National Park Service
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Follow this company says it’s going to put the concession to operate the 32-room hotel back out to bid later this month because it hasn’t received any qualified proposals to run the hotel.
A statement from Superintendent Cindy Orlando said that the park service director must “by law, reject proposals where the concessionaire is not qualified or the proposal is nonresponsive to the requirements of the Volcano House Prospectus.”
The park service first put out the call for the Volcano House back in December 2009, just before the contract with Hilo businessman Ken Fujiyama’s Ken Direction Corp. expired after 20 years. Fujiyama also operates the Naniloa Volcanoes Resort Naniloa Volcanoes Resort
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The park put out a request for proposals, but noted that the new operator would have to invest nearly $5 million into refurbishing the aging property.
The prospectus included accommodations at the hotel and campground, food and beverage and retail. It initially said the new concessionaire would have to pay a franchise fee of 12.5 percent of gross receipts, but was later amended the prospectus to lower that figure to 9 percent.
The new prospectus will be posted this month on the federal government’s business opportunities site, and also on its commercial services site for the park service.
The current Volcano House, which is literally perched on the rim of the Kilauea Volcano caldera, was built 70 years ago after the main building burned down in a fire caused by an oil burner.
The first Volcano House was actually a grass hut built in 1846 by Benjamin Pittman Sr., according to the Volcano House website. It was rebuilt with grass and ohia poles in 1866, the same year that author Twain stayed there, writing, “the surprise of finding a good hotel at such as outlandish spot startled me, considerably more than the volcano did.”
The first wooden structure was built in 1877, and then in 1895 the hotel was acquired by George Lycurgus, who ran it for the next 65 years.
So the opportunity is there for someone to operate a little piece of Hawaii history.
No word, however, on whether the fire in the hotel lobby fireplace — which has been burning continuously for more than 125 years — is still burning.
The Volcano House at Hawaii Volcanoes National Park, which has hosted the likes of Mark Twain and Queen Liliuokalani, is having a hard time finding a new operator.
The historic inn has been closed since Jan. 1, 2010.
The National Park Service National Park Service
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Georgia cash poor for Civil War marketing
Arch visitors trapped when tram stalls
Newsmaker | Bill Ziebron
Follow this company says it’s going to put the concession to operate the 32-room hotel back out to bid later this month because it hasn’t received any qualified proposals to run the hotel.
A statement from Superintendent Cindy Orlando said that the park service director must “by law, reject proposals where the concessionaire is not qualified or the proposal is nonresponsive to the requirements of the Volcano House Prospectus.”
The park service first put out the call for the Volcano House back in December 2009, just before the contract with Hilo businessman Ken Fujiyama’s Ken Direction Corp. expired after 20 years. Fujiyama also operates the Naniloa Volcanoes Resort Naniloa Volcanoes Resort
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Scoops: Who’s moving, buying, opening, changing, winning
Hilo resort begins renovations, Fred Honda leaves as top exec
BIVB plans Lei Day fete in Oakland
Follow this company in Hilo.
The park put out a request for proposals, but noted that the new operator would have to invest nearly $5 million into refurbishing the aging property.
The prospectus included accommodations at the hotel and campground, food and beverage and retail. It initially said the new concessionaire would have to pay a franchise fee of 12.5 percent of gross receipts, but was later amended the prospectus to lower that figure to 9 percent.
The new prospectus will be posted this month on the federal government’s business opportunities site, and also on its commercial services site for the park service.
The current Volcano House, which is literally perched on the rim of the Kilauea Volcano caldera, was built 70 years ago after the main building burned down in a fire caused by an oil burner.
The first Volcano House was actually a grass hut built in 1846 by Benjamin Pittman Sr., according to the Volcano House website. It was rebuilt with grass and ohia poles in 1866, the same year that author Twain stayed there, writing, “the surprise of finding a good hotel at such as outlandish spot startled me, considerably more than the volcano did.”
The first wooden structure was built in 1877, and then in 1895 the hotel was acquired by George Lycurgus, who ran it for the next 65 years.
So the opportunity is there for someone to operate a little piece of Hawaii history.
No word, however, on whether the fire in the hotel lobby fireplace — which has been burning continuously for more than 125 years — is still burning.
Raking over the ashes
Sydney Morning Herald: Raking over the ashes
Volcanic plumes have been a danger to air traffic for decades. It's just taken us a while to catch on.
WHEN flights along the eastern and south-eastern seaboard were cancelled yet again on June21, social commentator and Fairfax columnist Mia Freedman took to Twitter with thoughts that reflected the views of many.
"I don’t remember volcanic ash clouds from when I was a kid. Are they, like, a new thing?’’ she wrote.
A professor of geology at the Australian National University, Richard Arculus, says no. He says that in the past century, there have been at least 10incidents when vast plumes of volcanic ash traversed the globe. It’s just that airlines have become responsive to them, which is why we now know when they hit.
Advertisement: Story continues below Arculus puts that down to an incident in 1982 when a British Airways 747 almost crashed due to volcanic ash from Mount Galunggung, south-east of Jakarta.
A 1989 engine failure (that’s all four engines) on a KLM flight, which was landing in Anchorage, Alaska, after flying through ash, sealed the deal for airline sensitivity to such events.
Not only did the 1982 incident cause near-death for hundreds of people; in the 1989 case the ash, which is essentially tiny particles of glass, caused tens of millions of dollars worth of damage to the six-month old KLM aircraft, sandblasting windshields, seizing engine components and creating one hell of a vacuum job later.
‘‘Airlines started to realise just how dangerous these incidents were for aircraft,’’ Arculus says.
He also adds this discomforting fact: it’s not just Puyehue-Cordon Caulle lurking as a possible cause of disruption to Australian aviation; plenty of other volcanoes at our latitude are active.
‘‘Rest assured, the volcano in Chile has erupted many times before. There have been huge eruptions,’’ says Arculus, who visited the Puyehue-Cordon Caulle volcano in 2007.
‘‘But no one took any notice of it. Basically, this volcano is 40 degrees south. There are 30 to 40 in Chile atour latitude and three or four in New Zealand. Of course there is alsoa stack to the north of us whichcould threaten airspace at higher latitude.’’
Volcanic plumes have been a danger to air traffic for decades. It's just taken us a while to catch on.
WHEN flights along the eastern and south-eastern seaboard were cancelled yet again on June21, social commentator and Fairfax columnist Mia Freedman took to Twitter with thoughts that reflected the views of many.
"I don’t remember volcanic ash clouds from when I was a kid. Are they, like, a new thing?’’ she wrote.
A professor of geology at the Australian National University, Richard Arculus, says no. He says that in the past century, there have been at least 10incidents when vast plumes of volcanic ash traversed the globe. It’s just that airlines have become responsive to them, which is why we now know when they hit.
Advertisement: Story continues below Arculus puts that down to an incident in 1982 when a British Airways 747 almost crashed due to volcanic ash from Mount Galunggung, south-east of Jakarta.
A 1989 engine failure (that’s all four engines) on a KLM flight, which was landing in Anchorage, Alaska, after flying through ash, sealed the deal for airline sensitivity to such events.
Not only did the 1982 incident cause near-death for hundreds of people; in the 1989 case the ash, which is essentially tiny particles of glass, caused tens of millions of dollars worth of damage to the six-month old KLM aircraft, sandblasting windshields, seizing engine components and creating one hell of a vacuum job later.
‘‘Airlines started to realise just how dangerous these incidents were for aircraft,’’ Arculus says.
He also adds this discomforting fact: it’s not just Puyehue-Cordon Caulle lurking as a possible cause of disruption to Australian aviation; plenty of other volcanoes at our latitude are active.
‘‘Rest assured, the volcano in Chile has erupted many times before. There have been huge eruptions,’’ says Arculus, who visited the Puyehue-Cordon Caulle volcano in 2007.
‘‘But no one took any notice of it. Basically, this volcano is 40 degrees south. There are 30 to 40 in Chile atour latitude and three or four in New Zealand. Of course there is alsoa stack to the north of us whichcould threaten airspace at higher latitude.’’
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