Volcanic ash cloud cripples Britain, apparently...

[Tyjos Azari]

I don't know if the house I'm in is earthquake proof and I live a few miles south of Memphis....and I Do feel a tremor sometimes.....I just don't want to end up dealing with an earthquake....

Still this is the first time in I guess recent history this has happens...I never heard of any other volcano doing this [not sure if Mt.Saint Helens did anything]

 

[TheGodBen]

They even have a NAVY...

Who knew?

Well, their navy started out as a land-based organisation, as this documentary from the 1970s shows.

[yt]v=3DlN4Sh06po[/yt]

I believe they built their first ships in 1982 when they had to make their way to the Falklands and realised that the M5 would only get them to Devon.

 

[iguana_tonante]

Sorry to hear that, iguana.

It's not a big deal, luckily we'll get a full refund so it's only a matter of rescheduling the stag party as soon as possible. But thank you, CZ.

 

[Captain Shaw]

What do the air traffic controllers do when their air space is shut?

 

[trekkiedane]

What do the air traffic controllers do when their air space is shut?

Same as airport people do when there is no air traffic: light cleaning, a bit of maintenance, play cards, take a holiday-at-home...

 

[Zulu Romeo]

One of the more curious stories from the Ash Cloud incident, typically reported as only the BBC could:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/8627831.stm

Presenter Gary Lineker made the Match of the Day line-up on Saturday night - but only after enduring a near 24-hour journey from Tenerife to London.

Lineker, who was on holiday with his family when the Icelandic volcanic ash closed closed UK airspace, arrived back with only about two hours to spare.

He had flown to Madrid, driven to Paris and caught a Eurostar train to London.

Opening the BBC One highlights show, the ex-footballer said some fixtures were worth going the "extra mile" for.

He said: "Every now and then Match of the Day throws up a bunch of fixtures so enticing that you would go the extra mile to ensure you didn't miss it, and trust me that is certainly the case this week."

 

[PlixTixiplik]

You know I'm starting to think The Earth and Mother Nature are just pissed off at everything going on...

First Earth had to Stamp it's feet [the earthquakes] now Mother Nature pissed off and blowing off steam and ash.

The recient spate of powerful earthquakes around the globe we have been having are of course directly related to the movement of plate tectonics. The trigger for volcanic eruptions are also very often caused directly by the movement of plate tectonics which can induce lava to start flowing into the dome and building up pressure until it pops.

If ever we had a massive tectonic shift that triggered 9.5+ earthquakes all around the globe in a short period of time you would see volcanoes going off like crazy all over the place even ones we thought were dead.

I am willing to bet good money such massive shifts have happened in the past 500 million years.

It's amazing you can sound so certain about this even though nearly everything you have said is completely wrong. Earthquakes are indeed related to plate tectonics, but then it goes off the rails from there. However, volcanic eruptions are not triggered by earthquakes and, with the exception of Iceland and other rift-related volcanism, volcanoes aren't even associated with plate margins or large-scale faulting. For example, the Cascade volcanoes actually occur several hundred kilometers inboard of the plate margin, because of their association with partial melting above the subducting ocean plate. There's no physical relationship between stress and the behavior of magma, so even a nearby earthquake wouldn't have an effect on volcanoes. It's not like the magma chamber beneath every volcano is a champagne bottle waiting for the cork to pop off!

And I'm not sure what you're referring to by a "massive tectonic shift" causing earthquakes globally. There's no geological phenomenon remotely like that.

 

[Lindley]

What do the air traffic controllers do when their air space is shut?

As has been pointed out, there would probably still be some light traffic at low altitudes. However, it would be an easy day for the controllers.....

 

[Training]

You know what. I live right next to Heathrow. While I like the airport and want to see it thrive. I can't say I want the ash to be gone. It's so quite here. I hope we get an extra week of this.

 

[Dorian Thompson]

Still, Rekjavik is ash free. The ash is all blowing towards Europe.

 

[Deckerd]

The Ash Backlash has begun.

The airlines have done test flights, landed safely and have proved it's safe.

 

[cultcross]

The Ash Backlash has begun.

The airlines have done test flights, landed safely and have proved it's safe.

Not the best definition ever of 'proved', really. I can stick a knife in my toaster to unclog it and not get shocked, so that must be safe as well.

OK, it's a bit heavy handed grounding all flights, but if the airlines are thinking they're losing business now, imagine the response if they ignored safety warnings, flew anyway, and crashed.

 

[Deckerd]

I was doing some tongueincheekery. I think it's an interesting social experiment seeing what happens to the UK without air transportation.

 

[EyalM]

The Ash Backlash has begun.

The airlines have done test flights, landed safely and have proved it's safe.

Well it does look silly that wherever the ash goes, air traffic is grounded automatically. Shouldn't the the ash's density factor in, for example?

 

[John Picard]

You know I'm starting to think The Earth and Mother Nature are just pissed off at everything going on...

First Earth had to Stamp it's feet [the earthquakes] now Mother Nature pissed off and blowing off steam and ash.

The recient spate of powerful earthquakes around the globe we have been having are of course directly related to the movement of plate tectonics. The trigger for volcanic eruptions are also very often caused directly by the movement of plate tectonics which can induce lava to start flowing into the dome and building up pressure until it pops.

If ever we had a massive tectonic shift that triggered 9.5+ earthquakes all around the globe in a short period of time you would see volcanoes going off like crazy all over the place even ones we thought were dead.

I am willing to bet good money such massive shifts have happened in the past 500 million years.

It's amazing you can sound so certain about this even though nearly everything you have said is completely wrong. Earthquakes are indeed related to plate tectonics, but then it goes off the rails from there. However, volcanic eruptions are not triggered by earthquakes and, with the exception of Iceland and other rift-related volcanism, volcanoes aren't even associated with plate margins or large-scale faulting. For example, the Cascade volcanoes actually occur several hundred kilometers inboard of the plate margin, because of their association with partial melting above the subducting ocean plate. There's no physical relationship between stress and the behavior of magma, so even a nearby earthquake wouldn't have an effect on volcanoes. It's not like the magma chamber beneath every volcano is a champagne bottle waiting for the cork to pop off!

And I'm not sure what you're referring to by a "massive tectonic shift" causing earthquakes globally. There's no geological phenomenon remotely like that.

I am waiting for jmc247 to claim that the Mole People are responsible for all of this.

The Ash Backlash has begun.

The airlines have done test flights, landed safely and have proved it's safe.

Not the best definition ever of 'proved', really. I can stick a knife in my toaster to unclog it and not get shocked, so that must be safe as well.

OK, it's a bit heavy handed grounding all flights, but if the airlines are thinking they're losing business now, imagine the response if they ignored safety warnings, flew anyway, and crashed.

And this will further show the stupidity of the human race, in general. Air travelers are furious and frustrated at not being able to travel, and the governments are exercising caution. The airlines are losing money and want to prove the planes can fly without experiencing any kind of damage.

It's a Catch-22: 1) Let the planes fly, and if one crashes *WHAM* people will scream, holler, and yell that the government should have held its ground, or 2) Keep the planes grounded until the ash has cleared while people are furious that flights aren't allowed and the airlines continue to lose money.

 

[trekkiedane]

In case you're interested here you'll find three links to webcams pointing towards Eyjafjallajökull.

 

[Deckerd]

In case you're interested here you'll find three links to webcams pointing towards Eyjafjallajökull.

It's like reading a Norse saga.

There were a couple of businessmen interviewed at Calais this morning, about to get on a ferry. They looked tired and unshaven but competent and, dare I say it, a teensy bit pleased with themselves. "Where have you come from?" asks the reporter "Moscow," they replied "we flew to Istanbul, then to Bilbao then drove overland through France."

It'll be the making of us, I tells ya.

 

[trekkiedane]

In case you're interested here you'll find three links to webcams pointing towards Eyjafjallajökull.

It's like reading a Norse saga.

indeed

But the three links do stand out by being only three and in the usual link-colour (plus they all begin with the word "Eyjafjallajökull")

There were a couple of businessmen interviewed at Calais this morning, about to get on a ferry. They looked tired and unshaven but competent and, dare I say it, a teensy bit pleased with themselves. "Where have you come from?" asks the reporter "Moscow," they replied "we flew to Istanbul, then to Bilbao then drove overland through France."

Looking at the flight radar map It would seem they could have stayed in their hotels and gotten on a (more-or-less) direct flight now...

 

[Crusher Disciple]

I was doing some tongueincheekery. I think it's an interesting social experiment seeing what happens to the UK without air transportation.

Simple: everyone will have to sit at home and watch tv together. Or read a book.



(hurry up, guys- they're ripe for invasion!)

 

[Hermiod]

One of the more curious stories from the Ash Cloud incident, typically reported as only the BBC could:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/8627831.stm

Presenter Gary Lineker made the Match of the Day line-up on Saturday night - but only after enduring a near 24-hour journey from Tenerife to London.

Lineker, who was on holiday with his family when the Icelandic volcanic ash closed closed UK airspace, arrived back with only about two hours to spare.

He had flown to Madrid, driven to Paris and caught a Eurostar train to London.

Opening the BBC One highlights show, the ex-footballer said some fixtures were worth going the "extra mile" for.

He said: "Every now and then Match of the Day throws up a bunch of fixtures so enticing that you would go the extra mile to ensure you didn't miss it, and trust me that is certainly the case this week."

Similarly, WWE's Raw roster was on tour in Europe last week and is now stuck in Northern Ireland, despite the fact that they're supposed to be on live television in New Jersey tonight.

The Smackdown half of the roster made it back after cancelling shows in Austria and Turkey and then enduring a 36 hour journey from Austria to Madrid and then on to New York.

My employers are setting up two coach trips in either direction between London and Helsinki to get people stuck home - both will take approximately 48 hours.