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Research output: Contribution to conference - Without ISBN/ISSN › Poster
Research output: Contribution to conference - Without ISBN/ISSN › Poster
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TY - CONF
T1 - Why it is important to improve our understanding of Katla
AU - Owen, Jacqueline
AU - Tuffen, Hugh
PY - 2014/1/8
Y1 - 2014/1/8
N2 - When Eyjafjallajökull erupted in 2010 it caused widescaletravel chaos as most European air space was closed forseveral weeks due to ash dispersal. Following this there isnow worry that Katla will erupt, as throughout historicalrecords each eruption at Eyjafjallajökull has been followedby an eruption at Katla within a few years. Katla eruptionstend to be at least 10 times more powerful than theEyjafjallajökull 2010 eruption. Katla usually erupts twice percentury but has not erupted since 1918, further fuelling fearthat Katla will erupt soon.However, little is known about what influenced thebehaviour of the 1918 Katla eruption. It produced a 14 kmhigh plume which blanketed half of Iceland in ash. What wascontrolling the ash production; volatiles or magma-waterinteraction? Where was the magma stored prior to eruption?How quickly did it rise to the surface? The eruption alsoproduced a massive flood. The peak discharge rate, at300,000 m3 s-1, was greater than that of the Amazon, and wasreached within just a few hours. How did the eruptionmanage to generate so much meltwater, so quickly?These are some of the questions, we hope to answer. Tohelp us, we will use, amongst other resources, the lessonslearnt from my PhD. This investigated the role of volatiles indetermining the explosivity of subglacial rhyolitic volcanismat Torfajökull.By answering these questions, we can potentially shedlight on how the next (imminent?) eruption of Katla willbehave, how much warning we will have and when the mosthazardous periods will be.
AB - When Eyjafjallajökull erupted in 2010 it caused widescaletravel chaos as most European air space was closed forseveral weeks due to ash dispersal. Following this there isnow worry that Katla will erupt, as throughout historicalrecords each eruption at Eyjafjallajökull has been followedby an eruption at Katla within a few years. Katla eruptionstend to be at least 10 times more powerful than theEyjafjallajökull 2010 eruption. Katla usually erupts twice percentury but has not erupted since 1918, further fuelling fearthat Katla will erupt soon.However, little is known about what influenced thebehaviour of the 1918 Katla eruption. It produced a 14 kmhigh plume which blanketed half of Iceland in ash. What wascontrolling the ash production; volatiles or magma-waterinteraction? Where was the magma stored prior to eruption?How quickly did it rise to the surface? The eruption alsoproduced a massive flood. The peak discharge rate, at300,000 m3 s-1, was greater than that of the Amazon, and wasreached within just a few hours. How did the eruptionmanage to generate so much meltwater, so quickly?These are some of the questions, we hope to answer. Tohelp us, we will use, amongst other resources, the lessonslearnt from my PhD. This investigated the role of volatiles indetermining the explosivity of subglacial rhyolitic volcanismat Torfajökull.By answering these questions, we can potentially shedlight on how the next (imminent?) eruption of Katla willbehave, how much warning we will have and when the mosthazardous periods will be.
M3 - Poster
T2 - Volcanic and Magmatic Studies Group - Edinburgh 2014
Y2 - 5 November 2013 through 8 November 2013
ER -