Thursday Throwdown: Eyjafjallajökull update, VPOW and the weekly SI/USGS Report

Grading grading grading!

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nA webcam capture of the eruptive plume from Eyjafjallajökull on the morning of May 6, 2010.

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• A quick update on the Eyjafjallajökull eruption: The volcano has been producing an impressive ash plume over the last day (see image above). The current ash plume is reaching 5.8-6 km height (19-20,000 ft) – and causing some trouble over Ireland and Scotland. However, much of airspace closed yesterday has reopened (for now). You can see two new images of the ash plume over at the NASA Earth Observatory. As for the continued fallout from the ash plume from April, British Airways says it cost the airline ~22% of its normal passenger load. The Icelandic Met Office has an interesting piece up on the depth that the magma is rising for the current eruption – and it looks like it is coming from >20 km. And if you’re one of the many webcam watchers, the Þórólfsfelli webcam has added an additional thermal viewer (FLIR), so you can even watch the volcano through the Iceland fog(apparently FLIR can’t see through fog, sorry!). You can also check out some of the sulfur dioxide output from the volcano, measured by satellite.n
• Do you stare at your IAVCEI volcano calendar longingly, which each month revealing another stunning volcano photo? Well, now you can get a new stunning volcano image over at Volcano Picture of the Week (VPOW). There are a great number of volcano photographers – amateur and professional – that have capture amazing images of the planet’s volcanism and now you have a chance to show off. Richard Roscoe of Photovolcanica has set up VPOW to be a volcano-version of the Astronomy Picture of the Day (and maybe someday it can become VPOD).

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• We have the latest USGS/Smithsonian GVP Weekly Volcano Activity Report. It includes information on the most recent activity at Villarrica in Chile, Rinjani in Indonesia and Kliuchevskoi in Russia (and that other volcano, you know, the one in Iceland).

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• Finally, lava flows from Kilauea have been causing some problems, closing a popular viewing site. A home in Kalapana might be in the path of the lava flow as well. You can see a great picture of the lava flow overtaking a Highway 130.