Volcanoes
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Bizarro Earth

Mount Etna has begun to erupt, sending flames into the sky over eastern Sicily

Mount Etna, Europe's tallest and most active volcano, has begun to erupt, sending flames into the sky over eastern Sicily


Phoenix

Experts warn a 'rumbling' Icelandic volcano could disrupt air travel, world economy - again

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© AP Photo/Paisley DoddsVik, a small Icelandic town of just 300 people, where residents still recall stories from their relatives of Katla volcano's last eruption in 1918, sits under a blanket of cloud in this Sept. 27, 2011 photo. If Iceland's air-traffic paralyzing volcanic eruption in 2011 seemed catastrophic, just wait for the sequel. That's what many experts are saying as they nervously watch rumblings beneath a much more powerful Icelandic volcano - Katla - which could spew an ash cloud dwarfing eruption that cost airlines $2 billion and drove home how vulnerable modern society is to the whims of nature.
Remember when Eyjafjallajökull, that Icelandic volcano with the impossible name, erupted in spring 2010, disrupting air traffic all over the world and costing airlines and the global economy billions?

Child's play, The Associated Press reported over the weekend, if seismic activity from another Icelandic volcano with a history of nasty tantrums leads to an eruption.

Seismologists in Iceland are wary of an increasing number of small, 3- to 4-magnitude earthquakes under the volcano Katla, whose last eruption in 1918 proved deadly.

That eruption produced a noxious cloud that literally blacked out the sun, killing off crops and livestock, the AP reported.

Bizarro Earth

On the brink: Tremors increase at Anak Krakatau to 5,000 a day

Several earthquakes have struck near south Sumatra of the 5.0 and 5.1 magnitude range today- making a tense situation on the volcanically-dotted archipelago potentially even more volatile. The Anak Krakatau volcano is showing signs of increased seismic activity. Authorities fear the volcano is building towards an eruption that could dwarf the one which occurred in 2007.

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© Unknown
Indonesia's Volcanology and Geological Disasters Mitigation Center reported the numbers of seismic tremors now registering from the volcano have exceeded 5,000 a day. There are also reports of a gaseous mist which has seeped from the volcano and have enshrouded it in a yellowish haze- something that has never been observed at the volcano before. Anak Krakatau was placed on orange (level 3) status alert on September 30, 2011.

Bizarro Earth

Deepest and Most Explosive Underwater Eruption Ever Seen Happening Near Samoa Hotspot

Double magma bubble
© Joseph ResingDouble magma bubble forms at Hades Vent at West Mata submarine volcano.
An underwater volcano bursting with glowing lava bubbles - the deepest active submarine eruption seen to date - is shedding light on how volcanism can impact deep-sea life and reshape the face of the planet.

Submarine eruptions account for about three-quarters of all of Earth's volcanism, but the overlying ocean and the sheer vastness of the seafloor makes detecting and observing them difficult. The only active submarine eruptions that scientists had seen and analyzed until now were at the volcano NW Rota-1, near the island of Guam in the western Pacific.

Now researchers have witnessed the deepest active submarine eruption yet. The volcano in question, West Mata, lies near the islands of Fiji in the southwestern Pacific in the Lau Basin. Here, the rate of subduction - the process in which one massive tectonic plate dives under another, typically forming chains of volcanoes - is the highest on Earth, and the region hosts ample signs of recent submarine volcanism.

Bizarro Earth

Underwater Volcanic Eruption

Whitecaps churn in the Atlantic off West Africa as an underwater volcano erupts off Spain's Canary Islands on Monday.

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© Desiree Martin, AFP/Getty ImagesWhitecaps churn in the Atlantic off West Africa as an underwater volcano erupts off Spain's Canary Islands on Monday.
Since last week, the volcano has been spewing gas and fragments of smoking lava, staining the ocean surface green and brown, as seen above.

Spanish authorities have closed a port on Hierro island (map), ordered ships away from the island's village of La Restinga, and banned aircraft from flying over the island's southern tip, according to the AFP news service.

Six hundred residents living at the port were evacuated Tuesday.

Bizarro Earth

Rapidly Inflating Volcano Creates Growing Mystery

Uturuncu
© Noah FinneganHow long has this been going on? Uturuncu, a Bolivian volcano that is inflating at an incredible rate.
Should anyone ever decide to make a show called "CSI: Geology," a group of scientists studying a mysterious and rapidly inflating South American volcano have got the perfect storyline.

Researchers from several universities are essentially working as geological detectives, using a suite of tools to piece together the restive peak's past in order to understand what it is doing now, and better diagnose what may lie ahead.

It's a mystery they've yet to solve.

Uturuncu is a nearly 20,000-foot-high (6,000 meters) volcano in southwest Bolivia. Scientists recently discovered the volcano is inflating with astonishing speed.

"I call this 'volcano forensics,' because we're using so many different techniques to understand this phenomenon," said Oregon State University professor Shan de Silva, a volcanologist on the research team.

Bizarro Earth

Chilean volcano's ashes ground flights

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© APPuyehue-Cordon Caulle volcano
Airline officials say an ash cloud from a recently reawakened volcano in southern Chile has once again forced the cancellation of scores of flights in Argentina, Brazil, Chile and Uruguay.

In statements released Monday, Brazilian airlines Gol and Tam say the cloud from the Puyehue-Cordon Caulle volcano appeared Sunday. The volcano has been sporadically active since June.

The statements indicated that the problem is affecting airports in Rio de Janeiro, Sao Paulo, Buenos Aires, Argentina and Montevideo, Uruguay, and involves both domestic and international flights.

Bizarro Earth

10-Km-High Ash Column Rises From Russia's Shiveluch Volcano

An explosive eruption is taking place at Russia's Shiveluch volcano (sometimes called Sheveluch or Sopka Shiveluch), located in the far eastern Kamchatka Peninsula, prompting no fly zones to be imposed in the region.

Ash plumes have risen to 34,500 ft (10.5 km) while seismic activity is ongoing. The official Itar-Tass news agency reported on Monday that the highest-level warning has been issued for aviation.

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© NASA/Google/IWORussia’s Shiveluch volcano.
The Volcanic Ash Advisory Center (VAAC) in Anchorage, Alaska, reported that ash falls are possible at Klyuchi (50 km to the south-west from the volcano); Ust'-Kamchatsk (90 km to the east-southeast from the volcano); and Ust'-Khairyuzovo (280 km to the west-northwest from the volcano).

The NOAA-operated VAAC added: "Moderate potential hazards are caused by ash plumes, ash falls, pyroclastic flows, hot avalanches and lahars. The volcano constitutes a potential hazard to international and local airlines at Kamchatka because its eruptive clouds can rise to a height of 3-20 km ASL and extend for hundreds of kilometers from the volcano."

Bizarro Earth

Spewing volcano forces Spain to close island port

Madrid -- Spanish authorities say activity by an underwater volcano has led them to close access to a port on El Hierro island.

Ships have been ordered away from waters around La Restinga and aircraft have been banned from flying over the island's southern tip.

The port's 600 residents were evacuated Tuesday after volcanic activity began.

The regional government of the Canary Islands says scientists have detected airborne volcanic fragments called pyroclasts rising from the sea off La Restinga.

The government said it awaited scientific reports on the danger posed by pyroclasts, but a research vessel that was collecting samples there has been ordered to desist.

TV channel La Sexta reported Saturday that journalists also have been told to clear the area.

Igloo

Iceland: Katla Rumbling Fuels Fears of a Volcanic Eruption that 'would be worse' than Last Year's Eyjafjallajokul

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Fearsome: Lightning streaks across the sky as lava flows from Eyjafjallajokul last year. The eruption wrought havoc on international travel
An Icelandic volcano that could have a more devastating impact than the one that paralysed air traffic last year may erupt at any moment, experts have warned.

Seismologists are nervously watching rumblings beneath Katla, a volcano on the southern edge of the north Atlantic island nation, which could mean an eruption is imminent.

Katla is a much bigger volcano than nearby Eyjafjallajokul, the 2010 eruption of which cost airlines £1.27billion after ash grounded flights across Europe.