Advertisement

Belfast researchers prove ash clouds can cross Atlantic Ocean

Scientists in Belfast have proved that volcanic ash clouds can cross the Atlantic Ocean. Research...
Newstalk
Newstalk

09.59 20 Nov 2014


Share this article


Belfast researchers prove ash...

Belfast researchers prove ash clouds can cross Atlantic Ocean

Newstalk
Newstalk

09.59 20 Nov 2014


Share this article


Scientists in Belfast have proved that volcanic ash clouds can cross the Atlantic Ocean.

Researchers at Queen's University tracked an ash cloud from Alaska to Northern Ireland and beyond.

They say it overturns previously held assumptions on how far ash deposits can drift, with major implications for the airline industry.

Advertisement

The discovery, which was made in partnership with an international team of academics, has been published in the journal Geology.

This particular ash, found in sites across Europe, including Sluggan Bog near Randalstown, Co Antrim, has been traced to an eruption from Mount Bona-Churchill in Alaska, around AD 847.

Queen's University says the discovery has significant implications for the aviation industry as well as environmental science.

The plumes spewed out by the volcano Eyjafjallajokull, in Iceland in 2010, caused major disruption and grounded over 100,000 international flights, costing airlines more than €2.5bn.

The study says that with volcanoes like Mount Bona-Churchill - much more volatile than Eyjafjallajokull - due to erupt on average every 100 years, another ash-cloud incident could be imminent, this time with consequences for trans-Atlantic as well as European travel.

Lead researcher Dr Britta Jensen from the school of geography at Queen's University, said: "The ash, or tephra, is from Mount Bona-Churchill where it is called the White River Ash and occurs as a thick white layer spreading eastwards into Canada."

"Using chemical 'fingerprinting', the team has matched it to a tephra layer which occurs in Ireland, Norway, Germany and Greenland, where it is called the AD860B."

"For the past 20 years or so, European researchers assumed that AD860B came from a relatively nearby volcano in Iceland, which is the source of most ash in Europe, including that from Eyjafjallajokull in 2010. However, the AD860B never quite fitted with what researchers knew of volcanoes in Iceland," she added.

Co-researcher Dr Sean Pyne-O'Donnell said the discovery was also advanced knowledge across other areas.


Share this article


Read more about

News

Most Popular