Eruption of Eyjafjallajökull Volcano, Iceland

Eruption of Eyjafjallajökull Volcano, Iceland

Eyjafjallajökull Volcano has quieted considerably over the past few days, with ash emissions continuing but only rising to a height of 20,000 feet (6,100 meters), according to the Joint Air Force & Army Weather Information Network.

A thin ash plume extends southwards from Eyjafajallajökull in this natural-color satellite image acquired at 12:35 p.m. on April 21, 2010. The image was collected by the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) aboard NASA’s Terra spacecraft. White snow and ice still cover much of the volcano, while the low-lying land to the west, south, and east is snow free. A red box at the eruption site signifies that MODIS detected significant heat, possibly from the lava in the volcano’s caldera. Sediment from the Markarfljót River, swollen from runoff from the melting ice atop Eyjafjallajökull, hugs the Icelandic shoreline.

NASA image by Jeff Schmaltz, MODIS Rapid Response Team. Caption by Robert Simmon.

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