E15 case study

    Cards (11)

    • Type of lava
      • Low viscosity
      • Flows quickly down slope
      • As it cools and gets thicker, it builds up on lower slopes creating steeper slope
    • Iceland is very tectonically active as it sits on a constructive plate boundary and on a hotspot
    • Predicting volcanic eruptions
      1. Monitoring area
      2. Warning people about volcano eruption
    • Iceland has over 30 volcanoes of many different types and sits on 2 tectonic plates
    • Eyjafjallajökull 2010 eruption
      • Evacuated area but had little effect as not needed
      • Became tourist attraction as not explosive after 3 weeks
    • Heimaey 1973 eruption
      • 500,000 evacuated, lots chose not to return
      • Destroyed over 100 houses
      • Almost made uninhabitable
    • Rescue and evacuation
      1. Rehearsed evacuation plans
      2. Well trained teams, good equipment and planning led to quick evacuation
    • Monitoring and forecasting
      1. Radar and forecasting
      2. Work out where ash is going
      3. Helps decide where to evacuate
    • Glacial outwash
      • Channels melt water more efficiently by making deeper channels where it floods more
    • Benefits of volcanic activity
      • Tourism creates jobs
      • Fertile ash improves crop yields
    • Impacts outside of Iceland: ash cloud affects flights, years after ash still blows against things act like sandpaper
    See similar decks