Volcanic Dust

[Lesley Cox]

Thanks everyone. I knew of obsidian (there's a Heuchera, after all ) but I didn't realize it was volcanic in origin. Now I think about, the two little tortoises I have, may be of obsidian, or perhaps just basalt. They don't have the golden glow of Anthony's. Very nice.

[David Lyttle]

Volcanic ash (tephra) is defined as particles less than two millimetres in size ejected from a volcano. Generally volcanic ash is a mixture of pumice, rock fragments, mineral grains and tiny shards of volcanic glass. In a volcanic eruption huge amounts of gas are released ie carbon dioxide so any lessening of CO₂ emissions from planes being grounded will more than offset by what the volcano produces.

Volcanic ash can travel long distances; the larger the eruption the further the ash travels ( also influenced by the prevailing wind)

Here is a picture of ash layers in the peat deposits on the Chatham Islands east of New Zealand. They originated from successive volcanic eruption of the Taupo volcano in the central North Island. In AD 233 Taupo produced 30 cubic kilometres of ash and overwhelmed 20,000 square kilometres of land. 26,500 yrs ago the same volcano erupted and produced 530 cu metres of magma. With so much material being ejected the caldera collapsed in on itself leaving a big hole in the ground which filled up with water and now is a lake, Lake Taupo. So the present eruption in Iceland is no great deal in the scheme of things

[TC]

On a purely selfish note, the sky above me is free of vapour trails and is wall to wall blue.  This is an unusual occurrence as we have over 100 flights at high altitude daily over our town.
On a clear day, the vapour trails disperse slowly and merge with each other making a thin veil of cloud which cuts down the sunlight.
On the negative side, my daughter and her family are having a holiday in Egypt, on the Red Sea coast.  They were due back in the UK on Thursday morning just as the ban on flights came into force. Looking at the news there is no indication of when they will get back.
Locally, Glasgow and Prestwick are cleared for flights westbound as at 7pm  .Passing Prestwick airport an hour ago, there was not one aircraft in the terminal area.

[indigo]

I too am delighted to have peace, quiet, blue skies and NO chemtrails - bliss!

Anthony, I like your Chac Mool, a big peice of Obsidisan!  I have 2 small tumbles, that's quite enough for me, they live in the porch.

[Anthony Darby]

Because Chac baby was destined for a friend, we bought a beautiful obsidian turtle as insurance.

[Anthony Darby]

Friends of mine were due to fly back from a week's holiday in Portugal today. They can't, so their holiday insurance has paid for an extension to their holiday. Good job they are both retired. They will now fly back next Saturday! Some extension! Lucy's violin teacher is stuck in Georgia (USA)! I wonder how many of my colleagues won't make it back to school on Monday? Two of my wife's colleagues are stuck in China, and at least four others are abroad somewhere!

[Kristl Walek]

this is a series of photographs well worth looking at   


http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/36553710

[Anthony Darby]

Those are amazing Kristl. Flights in and out of Scotland's airports were supposed to resume today, but I think the majority have been cancelled again due to increased activity in the volcano today. One of my colleagues was told that the next flight home from Mexico is 7th May! I think she is travelling a different route, via New York to get back sooner.

[David Shaw]

Super pictures, Kristal, thanks for the link.
I am finding the daily reports from SEPA on their analysis of the environmental impact of the dust cloud on Scotland to be interesting.
http://www.sepa.org.uk/
See 'Latest News releases' in the right hand column.

[Mick McLoughlin]

removed

[alpines]

Not stuck....just can't get out of the USA. Sherba was due to fly to France today with her Mother but that has had to be postponed. Luckily, the airline has waived any rebooking fees.

[Casalima]

I'm due to fly to Paris for the weekend - but I'm seriously thinking of pulling out, even if the flight is eventually not cancelled. The alternative entertainment for the weekend is a plant fair ...

[Maggi Young]

I think it is better not to mention names of Forumists stranded abroad .... I've been contacted and asked not to do so in case of opportunist  thefts.

[Anthony Darby]

I have heard that one unfortunate person had the contents of their garage stolen because their garage door had been up when the Google Earth Street View pics were taken!

[alpines]

Nothing worse than getting home from vacation and finding that somebody stole all the weeds out of one's lawn. 
But that IS  a very good point Maggi. Well done for pointing it out.