Case Study: Volcano - Eyjafjallajӧkull

• Local flooding as the glacier melted


  A main road had to be breached to allow the water to flow into the sea
• Fresh fish exports, a major local industry

  Was badly affected with loss of income
• A layer of ash was deposited


  1. Ash layer was often as thin as 3mm

  2. Ash became wet and compact

  3. Smothered the crops
• Livestock


  Had to be kept indoors for long periods of time
• Ash contained fluoride


  Contaminated the water supply and can be dangerous to animals
• Eruption


  Boosted the tourism industry in Iceland
• Farming was disrupted due to the ash fall


  1. Families mitigated this impact through selling the ash to tourists

  2. Making a home video about the eruption to sell
• Flights were cancelled


  1000 flights were cancelled in Heathrow alone in one day
• Fine ash


  • Could not easily be seen at high altitudes
  • Icelandic ash is glassy and contains 58% silica
  • Can scour windscreens and reduce visibility
  • Main problem is when it gets into jet engines, melts and causes them to shut down
  • Can block the air intake which causes the engines to fail
• Major airlines


  Were estimated to be losing £130 million a day
• Association of European Airlines estimated its members had lost a total of £709 million
• Globally airlines lost £1.05 million
• Around 400,000 Britain's were stranded worldwide
• Eurostar


  Carried up to an additional 50,000 passengers per day
• Channel ferries and car rental companies

  Also did extra business
• Europe lost $2.6bn GDP because of the eruption
• Reduced air traffic

  2.8 million tonnes less CO2 was emitted in this period
• Cut flower industry


  Was badly affected by the eruption due to its highly perishable nature
• Up to 8 million flowers ended up dumped in the corners of fields to become compost
• The industry was estimated to be losing up to $3 million a day
• Kenya and Thailand were the most affected as they are the two main producers of cut flowers
• The rising magma melted the overlying ice cap

  Water flowed into the crater adding to its explosivity
• Much of the ash emitted was very fine so the percentage of ash being transmitted over long distances was very high
• Iceland is located beneath the fast flowing polar jet stream
• The polar jet stream was in a holding pattern blowing NW to SE driving the ash over Europe
• At its peak the eruption was a VEI 4 which provided enough power to punch ash up high into the jet stream
• Modern travel includes large numbers of high flying jets, so we are more vulnerable to this hazard type