Volcanic Ash Ahoy

[GrlumpTheElder]

It's the End of Scotland as we know it :smallbiggrin:

So aparantly there's this big cloud of Volcanic ash from the recently errupted Eyjafjallajoekull in Iceland making it's way across Scotland and Northern England, causing many flights to be cancelled.

Here's the BBC article:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/8621407.stm

[Thursday]

Maybe thats why I'm having an unusually quiet and pleasant morning then.
Though the problem here is the RAF joyriding at low level all day, maybe it'll shut them up too for a bit.

Still, Works for me.

[Fifty-Eyed Fred]

Eyjafjallajoekull

Is that... how do you even say that?

[Zeb The Troll]

Is that... how do you even say that?I believe it's pronounced Kreg'. :smallcool:

[Shikton]

This might mess up our company's award show on saturday. That would be catastrophical seeing as I'm nominated to win something! BAD VOLCANO! BAD! *beats it with a stick.

[Comet]

Scramble the fighter planes to fight off the volcaninc menace!

[AslanCross]

Is that... how do you even say that?

I think it's something like "Ey-yaf-yala-yehkul."

The eruption of Pinatubo in the early 90s here was awful. The volcano happened to erupt just as a massive typhoon hit the country. Volcanic ash + wind + torrential rain = apocalyptic darkness and mud falling from the sky, basically. Closer to the eruption zone it was blacker than night. At night at least you have ambient lighting. The ash knocked out power lines so the only light to speak of was from the mud-caked headlights of the cars of refugees and lightning flashes. Eerie stuff.

After the eruption, a sizable portion of the region (mostly agricultural plains) was turned into a gray wasteland. The pyroclastic flows incinerated forests. The ash crushed houses and filled up rivers. It took over a decade for the area to recover, and even now you can still see some rivers that are caked up with lahar.

[GrlumpTheElder]

So now all flights from the UK have been cancelled and by 6pm it is predicted that the cloud will have spread across the whole of England.

[Fifty-Eyed Fred]

Will it be enough to be visible in the sky? It's such lovely weather here, too... :smallfrown:

At least it is but an ash cloud. Imagine being near the eruption...

[SDF]

It is my belief that Iceland is test firing it's doomsday device. With no sun Birdman will be powerless to stop them.

[KuReshtin]

I'm on the west coast of Scotland, and I can't see no ash cloud. In fact, I can't see any clouds at all. We've got blue skies and sunshine.
*cue jokes about it always raining in Scotland*
Over hyped, is what I say.

[GrlumpTheElder]

Will it be enough to be visible in the sky? It's such lovely weather here, too... :smallfrown:

At least it is but an ash cloud. Imagine being near the eruption...

It may not be visible, but I've heard it said that it will cause the sunset to apear more red than normal.

The sunset today is just past 7pm, so keep an eye out.

[THAC0]

We had minor ashfall last year. The cloud was pretty neat, but as long as you weren't a moron trying to fly a plane it was absolutely uneventful. I even locked myself out of my house during it.

[Kobold-Bard]

I'm on the west coast of Scotland, and I can't see no ash cloud. In fact, I can't see any clouds at all. We've got blue skies and sunshine.
*cue jokes about it always raining in Scotland*
Over hyped, is what I say.

Blue skies...in Scotland...I feel we may be being lied to :smallamused:
Yes I saw the white text, but it was worth it :P
I see no ash cloud, but it's only quarter to six. Still got 15 minutes to hit apocalyptic darkness mode.

[Dread Cthulhu]

Iceland looks simultaneously terrifying and awesome right now. And for some reason, even though I have no plans to go away anytime soon, I feel kind of hemmed into the country now.

Plus the fact that today we were having building work done and were missing a window for a good deal of the day, it's kind of paranoia-inducing.

[GrlumpTheElder]

Blue skies...in Scotland...I feel we may be being lied to :smallamused:
Yes I saw the white text, but it was worth it :P
I see no ash cloud, but it's only quarter to six. Still got 15 minutes to hit apocalyptic darkness mode.

It's 6:33 now, and it's clearer than it has been all day...

[Mauther]

It is my belief that Iceland is test firing it's doomsday device. With no sun Birdman will be powerless to stop them.

here here. Now will the politicians finally standup to that notorious terror of the Atlantic called Iceland? Or will it be another half century of living in fear of their volcanos and longships? Everyone was in Washington DC this week talking about nuclear weapons, but Iceland manged to keep the discussions away from the issue of volcanic proliferation. We had better see a stern response from the security council, perhaps a strongly worded resolution or joint declaration. Remember, this was just ONE volcano and Iceland has over a HUNDRED stockpiled.

Iceland = Norway's Australia.

[Fifty-Eyed Fred]

So that's what they've done with all of the money they owe us... :P

[Lycan 01]

Looks pretty scary, from the picks I've seen... :smalleek:

Also, isn't it a bit ironic that such a massive volcano erupted undernearth a huge glacier? :smallconfused:

[randman22222]

I want to be in Iceland or affected UK right now, with the apocalypse hanging above my head.


It sounds pretty. :smallsmile:

[Kobold-Bard]

I kind of want to be in Iceland or affected UK right now, with the apocalypse hanging above my head.


It sounds pretty. :smallsmile:

Apparently you can't see it, but it makes nice sunsets according to the news. I saw nothing myself (though sod's law says I'll wake up tomorrow and you'll be able to write on the ash filled sky with your finger).

[randman22222]

Apparently you can't see it, but it makes nice sunsets according to the news. I saw nothing myself (though sod's law says I'll wake up tomorrow and you'll be able to write on the ash filled sky with your finger).

Oh.

Darn.

But I googled myself some pictures. You can see it in Iceland. So I wish I was there.

[GrlumpTheElder]

Apparently you can't see it, but it makes nice sunsets according to the news. I saw nothing myself (though sod's law says I'll wake up tomorrow and you'll be able to write on the ash filled sky with your finger).

No, sunset was normal for me down here in the south...

But prepare to wake up to Volcanic Ash covering the land like Snow!
Ok, that's not gonna happen...

[KuReshtin]

I didn't see any change to the sunset last night. That might have been because my curtains were closed so I could play Modern Warfare, though.

[Castaras]

And game developers are already taking advantage of this...:smalltongue: (http://www.incgamers.com/News/22005/funcom-behind-volcanic-eruption)

I'm sticking with my belief that dread lord Cthulhu is rising up in time for the general elections.

[Athaniar]

http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2010/04/16/article-1266300-09283406000005DC-709_634x484.jpg

Yep, we're doomed.

[GrlumpTheElder]

I'm sticking with my belief that dread lord Cthulhu is rising up in time for the general elections.

Well, he's got my vote :smallbiggrin:

Now all flights have been grounded until saturday. We're battling asn enemy we can't even see!

[Dallas-Dakota]

Yep, made for some nice sunsets.

Good timing too, ash clouds arrived on the same day my new camera did.

And this is coming from the Netherlands. I imagine that it floated over to Germany too.

[Yora]

Also, isn't it a bit ironic that such a massive volcano erupted undernearth a huge glacier? :smallconfused:
It's Iceland! The entire country is volcanos covered by glaciers. :smallbiggrin:
And I think they have minor erruptions every year. It's like Japan, only much more active.

[Thursday]

Well sunset here was awesome.. but I don't know if that would have happened anyway..

Still loving the quiet though.

Oh, and..
Have been to Iceland and wandered round glacier covered volcanos, (while in less errupting condition) GO! its fantastic.. and the woman in the tourist information Drove me 25miles in her lunchbreak because It was a bit of a wait to the next bus.. That sort of service (and the total lack of health and safety interference at Geysers, volcanos etc) puts a place in my heart forever..
I forgive all the alleged financial sins!
Seriously, its an awe inspiring place (except the midges).

[AslanCross]

Also, isn't it a bit ironic that such a massive volcano erupted undernearth a huge glacier? :smallconfused:

I believe that happens rather often in Iceland (or more accurately, ONLY happens in Iceland).

They even have a word for floods caused by the sudden release of subglacial water (sometimes caused by subglacial volcanism). (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jokulhaups)

This was even made into a [misspelled] Magic card. (http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?multiverseid=159235)



http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2010/04/16/article-1266300-09283406000005DC-709_634x484.jpg

Yep, we're doomed.

...the alternative explanation as to why volcanoes erupt underneath glaciers is that they've got an Elder Evil sleeping under the glacier. :P

[Ranna]

it was a lovely day here (liverpool) yesterday but today it is pretty naf, however the ash didnt stop our local RAF donkeying around in the sky but I don't mind the planes I quite like them.

Gutted for the holidaymakers though :( I really feel for you, I'd be Sooooo pissed!

[KuReshtin]

i've got three colleagues who are currently stuck in Finland on their way back from a three week trip to Japan.
Apparently, the next available flight isn't until Monday.
They are not pleased.

[Manga Shoggoth]

And game developers are already taking advantage of this...:smalltongue: (http://www.incgamers.com/News/22005/funcom-behind-volcanic-eruption)

I'm sticking with my belief that dread lord Cthulhu is rising up in time for the general elections.


Vote Cthulhu: Why settle for the lesser Evil

[randman22222]

i've got three colleagues who are currently stuck in Finland on their way back from a three week trip to Japan.
Apparently, the next available flight isn't until Monday.
They are not pleased.

If I were them, I'd be pleased.

Plans and travel don't mix well for me.

Plus, I'd be siiiiiiiinnngggiinnnggg in the ash! :smallbiggrin:

[Eldan]

Well, it's supposed to reach switzerland tonight. And half my research group wanted to fly to Israel on Mondeay.

[Kobold-Bard]

I reckon it's a hoax. This is possibly the sunniest day all year, I literally didn't see a single normal cloud, let alone an apocalyptic black one made of ash.
Disclaimer: This is a joke, I don't actually think it's a hoax. Just in case people get annoyed.
Though a guy I work with is stuck in Spain, meaning he didn't give in his availability in on time, and as such has no shifts next week.

[CurlyKitGirl]

Y'know, I didn't know about this until around lunchtime when I went to the shop and saw the tabloids doing the usual doom and gloom mongering.

Why haven''t I noticed?
Despite being in Britland which is 'choking and suffocating' under this DoomCloud of Cthulu-ness it's been clear, bright and sunny for the past two days!
And I was out in the morning, lunctime, afternoon and evening (around sunet) yesterday and today; there is nothing wrong here.
Nothing.
The sunset was bog-normal, a little chilly because it was windy, but that's all. Everyone's lying.
Nothing happened.
Nothing at all.
I refuse to believe this happened at all, either that or Dread Cthulu's Doom Cloud of Doom isn't actually affecting Britland because . . . oh I don't know, our Dread Overlord is coming here next and he knows that every Britlander is so pessimistic and a natural doom-mongerer that we'll all naturally fall in line under its dread rule.

[TheThan]

It gets better, a flight from Paris France to Dallas Texas got diverted Wednesday to Iceland due to mechanical problems. Those poor folks are stuck right in the middle of it due to the French screwing something up.

[Maxymiuk]

Welp, there go my plans to be back home for vacation. Even airports as far away as Warsaw and Prague are completely closed.

Though I've heard that propeller planes would be able to fly just fine. Wish I was rich enough to charter one. :smallfrown:

[Mauther]

It gets better, a flight from Paris France to Dallas Texas got diverted Wednesday to Iceland due to mechanical problems. Those poor folks are stuck right in the middle of it due to the French screwing something up.

Yeah, ironically, one of the airports not effected is Reykjavik-Keflavik Airport. So you can fly in and out of Iceland, but your not going any farther east.

[THAC0]

So, who can help me out and explain to me how to pronounce that volcano's crazy Icelandic name? :smallamused:

[Kobold-Bard]

So, who can help me out and explain to me how to pronounce that volcano's crazy Icelandic name? :smallamused:

Who ya gonna call?

WIKIPEDIA!! (http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/10/Eyjafjallaj%C3%B6kull.ogg)

[Miklus]

The Copenhagen airport is closed too. Passengers are crying like sprinklers.

You can see here what happens if a plane flies into ash:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QxhiJnhI-p4

[THAC0]

Who ya gonna call?

WIKIPEDIA!! (http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/10/Eyjafjallaj%C3%B6kull.ogg)

That... is a whole lot of letters to make a not so very long sound! :smalleek:

[PersonMan]

Huh.
Here in Indianapolis Neil Gaiman's flight to England(I think) has been rescheduled because of this. My mom mentioned it, and I find it funny how I find a thread on it within hours of her mentioning it.

[Yora]

Despite being in Britland which is 'choking and suffocating' under this DoomCloud of Cthulu-ness it's been clear, bright and sunny for the past two days!
It's actually not dangerous at all and floats where high in the atmosphere. But it has a nasty dendency to clog up and shut down airplane engines. So air travel is about the only thing affected in any way.

[Kobold-Bard]

It's actually not dangerous at all and floats where high in the atmosphere. But it has a nasty dendency to clog up and shut down airplane engines. So air travel is about the only thing affected in any way.

Aaahhh, that makes sense. Someone (may have been the news) told me it was because it sandblasted the windscreens of planes and blinded pilots. This may be true, but it sounds silly.

[Thursday]

Aaahhh, that makes sense. Someone (may have been the news) told me it was because it sandblasted the windscreens of planes and blinded pilots. This may be true, but it sounds silly.

It can do that, apparently, but yeah its mostly that it gets into engines and melts in the combustion chamber. Down here, Devon and Cornwall regional news are all about the (propeller driven) plane that went up from Plymouth and collected a load of the stuff. it does seem to be up there.

I do feel for those travelling, especially those trying to fly into europe whose visas for where they are are expiring.. but its gorgeous here today, no clouds, no contrails and no noise!

[Yarram]

I'd like to take the opportunity to scite about living in Australia, where we neither get deadly earthquakes or volcanoes... Or any tsunamis for that matter.

...

:smallbiggrin:

[Kobold-Bard]

I'd like to take the opportunity to scite about living in Australia, where we neither get deadly earthquakes or volcanoes... Or any tsunamis for that matter.

...

:smallbiggrin:

This is true, however you do have the dubious honour of every non-domesticated living creature in the country wanting all human life dead.

Snakes, spider, koalas, assorted bush-monsters. Each one as deadly as the last and just waiting for you to slip up :smallbiggrin:

[Platinum_Mongoose]

The volcano's name sounds like a dragon Drizzt would fight. Just sayin'.

[AslanCross]

The volcano's name sounds like a dragon Drizzt would fight. Just sayin'.

I dunno, didn't the dragons he fought actually have names in Common? I only remember Icingdeath and Shimmergloom.

[DraPrime]

Hmmm, the last time this volcano erupted, it went on for 2 years. I hope that is not the case this time, as 2 years of intermittent grounded flights will play hell with the European economy.

Also, as someone who is seriously into airplanes, allow me to get into depth about what sort of damage ash can do to a plane, as people do not seem to be entirely clear on that here.

Ok, lets start with jet engines. Obviously, they are the big cylindrical thingies on the underside of the wings on most big planes. Air is rammed through these engines, compressed, mixed with fuel, and then ignited. It goes through a lot of spinning and whirring parts. Shoving ash through this is very bad. It messes with a lot of moving parts, and it also alters the fuel-to-air ration, which is important (more on that later).

Now with propeller powered planes, the issue is similar, especially in planes with a carburetor. Ash will mix into the fuel-air mixture, and clog up the pistons. All sorts of bad crap happens because of this. Also, the propeller probably does not take too kindly to ash, depending on how dense it is. And the moving parts of that spin the propeller can get ash all over them. And if I correctly remember the way a wet-sump system works, ash could get all over the oil that lubricates the engine, making it into thick muck.

Also, the windows on a plane can get extremely scratched and damaged by ash, as can pretty much the rest of the surface, although the windows are what the pilots see through, so they are slightly more important. Now, airplanes often move at very high speeds. Being rammed against this many small particles at high speeds tends to cause a hell of a lot of scratching. I recall once reading about a case where an airplane started to go down due to ash in the engines. The pilots fell out of the ash cloud, and were able to restart 3 of the 4 engines, but had to land purely by instruments because of how scratched their windows are.

Ash can also play some havoc with the instruments. You will be unable to tell your airspeed, because the pitot tube will be clogged, thus it will not be able to read ram air pressure. And if the static port is plugged (unlikely, but theoretically possible), then say goodbye to altitude readings. These are fairly useful bits of information.

And finally, it messes with the fuel/air ratio. This is a fairly important thing in flight, due to the fact that the air pressure changes as you fly. Simply, as the air thins out with altitude, less of it will be going into the cylinders of your engine. So, the pilot adjusts the mixture, and leans out the amount of fuel going into the engine. Ash will mess with this. Several things can happen with the mixture is not good.

Detonation
This is when an uncontrolled explosive ignition of the mixture happens in the chamber. It causes things like engine overheating, roughness, loss of power, or complete failure of the engine.

Incomplete Combustion
This is when not all the fuel in the ignition chamber burns. This leads to the engine not giving complete rotations, buildup of waste, and possible engine failure.

Premature Ignition
This happens when the mixture burns before it is supposed to. This can be caused by a hot spot in the combustion chamber, a crack, or various other things. Ash could very well create enough roughness on the inside of a cylinder wall for the moving parts to rub against each other, creating sparks, and premature ignition. This even also can happen simultaneously with detonation, so many problems can be had.

So, ash is extremely bad for planes. Especially if it is a thick cloud. There are too many things dependent on air that is not clogged with particulate filth. I hope this had been educational.

[Platinum_Mongoose]

I dunno, didn't the dragons he fought actually have names in Common? I only remember Icingdeath and Shimmergloom.

That's about 5% of the joke I was making.

[hamishspence]

I dunno, didn't the dragons he fought actually have names in Common? I only remember Icingdeath and Shimmergloom.

Ingeloakastimizilian "Icingdeath" is named by its true name in The Crystal Shard as well as its nickname.

Haerinvureem "Shimmergloom" however, isn't named in Streams Of Silver- I got the true name from the splatblook Dragons of Faerun.

Also, in the Dark Elf Trilogy (prequels) Drizzt masquerades as Mergandevinasander (which, unusually, has purple eyes) claiming he's the dragon, polymorphed.

The dragon he was trying to convince (Velcuthimmorhar "Hephaestus") is again, not given a true name in the novel, but in the splatbook.

[Aotrs Commander]

Also, as someone who is seriously into airplanes, allow me to get into depth about what sort of damage ash can do to a plane, as people do not seem to be entirely clear on that here.

*snip*



My Dad works at Rolls-Royce on fire prevention in aeroengines. He's sufficently high up that they keep flying out to America. Thankfully, he wasn't out there at the time (but not by much). Unthankfully (yes, it's a word, I just made it up!) my brother-in-law (who also works for Rolls) is out stuck in the US at the moment.

Anyway, to add to what Dragonprime said, my Dad told me that the biggest problem with jet engines and the ash clouds is that it clogs the rear turbine's cooling systems. The rear compression turbines have air going through them at a sufficent temperature that, without the cooling system, it is way outside the melting temperature of the turbine fins. So, in addition to all the previously mentioned problems, your turbine actually MELTS.

As can be imagined, this is kinda catastrophic. He told me that when it's happened a few times in the past, the aircraft have managed to limp to the ground, but the engines are then a write-off. Basically all you can do if you hit soemthing like that is throttle right back (to try and lower the temperature), reduce height and/or turn the engines off. And then HOPE you can re-ignite them before you run out of air. And most airliners do not have particularly great glide characteristics at the best of times...

Trouble is, because this is a fairly infrequent occurance, nobody has spent the £100 billion pounds or so to do the study of exactly how much ash it takes to cause the critical failure(s). Because to do so, you'd have to build - and then scrap - 10-20 engines to find out. Per failure method. Per engine design. Therefore, with this sort of failure being so generally lethal, everyone is erring on the side of caution.

Anyway, the bottom line is that the airport closures probably aren't an over-reaction. I, for one, would my brother-in-law be stuck in the US for a couple of weeks than be a splattered chunk somewhere in the pacific when his plane's engines melt...!

[Eldan]

Actually, I read today in the paper that a military jet, which was up there for some reason or another, actually came down with glass forming in the turbines. Apparently, the ash melts and then forms glass, which then hardens and... bad things happen.

[Mauther]

Anyway, the bottom line is that the airport closures probably aren't an over-reaction. I, for one, would my brother-in-law be stuck in the US for a couple of weeks than be a splattered chunk somewhere in the pacific when his plane's engines melt...!

The claim that the airport closings are an over reaction is largely about the extent of the closings. There are several major locations that argueably could be safe, either by modifying flight plans, lowering flight corridors, or shaving some of the generous safety margin. I'm not an aviation engineer so I can't really say and like you I'd probably come down on the side of caution. But at the same time you have to remember this is turning into a financial crisis both for the airlines industry (which runs on a fine margin) and for stranded travelers (paying for unbudgeted hotels and missing work).

[KuReshtin]

There was a National Geographics documentary about the effects of flying through an ash cloud. It's uploaded as a three-part series on Youtube.

Part 1 (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QxhiJnhI-p4)
Part 2 (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tID1GXF3Nwg)
Part 3 (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ISFWIgoqSF8)


Basically, the ash is fine sand particles, which not only melts into glass when it gets into the engines, but also sand-blasts most of the leading edges of the plane, including the windshield of the cockpit.

[Teddy]

The volcano's name sounds like a dragon Drizzt would fight. Just sayin'.

Well, it sure sounds like a dragon's name, but then we've already got the dragon "Katla" in one of Astrid Lindgren's books (The Brothers Lionheart) here in Sweden.

[Eldan]

Breaking news!

The volcano was caused by aliens who want to end the world by 2012. Ufos were seen flying through the eruption.


Yes, our newspaper has a "crazy news" section.

[GrlumpTheElder]

I'm still annoyed at all this. I have a friend in Germany who goes to my school and now because of this she can't get back to England for a long time. Same with friends in Hong Kong.

Oh well, less distractions from my exams :smallbiggrin:

[Teddy]

I'm still annoyed at all this. I have a friend in Germany who goes to my school and now because of this she can't get back to England for a long time. Same with friends in Hong Kong.

Oh well, less distractions from my exams :smallbiggrin:

I guess the Channel Tunnel trains are pretty stocked up with British tourists going back to England, but have she considered this rout?

[Kobold-Bard]

I guess the Channel Tunnel trains are pretty stocked up with British tourists going back to England, but have she considered this rout?

They've also hiked up their prices I believe.

[GrlumpTheElder]

I guess the Channel Tunnel trains are pretty stocked up with British tourists going back to England, but have she considered this rout?

Yeah, and it's very expensive... (about £300 for a one way trip).

[Teddy]

Yeah, and it's very expensive... (about £300 for a one way trip).

...

And I thought that flying was expensive. :smalleek:

Most Swedish tourists are lucky though, almost all of our airports are running (even though they are opened and closed all the time), thanks to the area of low preassure and generally dull weather circulating above our heads keeping the ash cloud away.