Icelandic volcano erupts, disrupts students abroad
The volcanic ash grounded flights internationally.
Published April 27, 2010
Students studying abroad have felt the stress of travel after the eruption of Eyjafjallajokull, a glacier-covered volcano in Iceland, which grounded thousands of flights across Europe.
MU spokesman Christian Basi said two MU students studying in the United Kingdom had travel plans impacted by the eruption.
"Both students are fine, and we have helped them to notify their universities abroad about travel delays," Basi said. "We are helping them with travel arrangements."
The study abroad office has been in contact with students abroad in order to maintain a solid grasp on any and all travel concerns as a result of the volcanic eruption, Basi said.
"We typically are watching travel advisories and are constantly communicating with students, depending on the situation," Basi said.
Although MU students could not be reached for comment on their travel experiences, Etty Ashall of the University of Edinburgh was on vacation in Croatia when the eruption occurred.
"My friend and I were on holiday in Dubrovnik, Croatia," Ashall said in an e-mail. "We were supposed to come back last Thursday, but that's the day planes stopped going into the UK. The airline pushed the flight back to Saturday, then Monday, then the next Sunday, so we made our own way back by train, bus, etc."
Ashall said though her experience was very inconveniencing, she met other travelers along the way whose journeys were far more stressful.
Geological sciences professor Peter Nabelek said the volcanic ash emitted by the volcano is unlike the ash you would encounter if you were simply burning wood.
"Volcanic ash is actually frozen, pulverized lava, which is effectively glass." Nabelek said in an e-mail. "It has the same properties as pulverized window glass. This glass can obviously ruin jet engines because it is abrasive and because when heated it sticks to tubes inside the jet engine."
Nabelek said volcanoes in Iceland typically don't produce volcanic ash, but because Eyjafjallajokull was underneath a glacier, the melting water caused steam pressure, which in turn resulted in the creation of volcanic ash.
"Water from the glacier gets in the volcano's conduits, which then turns to steam, which in turn pressurizes the system causing pulverization of lava in the volcano conduits," Nabelek said.
Nabelek said he was in the vicinity of Mount St. Helens when it erupted in Washington in 1980.
"The ash from that eruption destroyed the engine in my car," he said.
Although travel is returning to its normal state, European Union transport commissioner Siim Kallas said in a news release there would be an extraordinary transport council May 4 to resolve any standing issues.
"The worst of the crisis seems to be over," Kallas said. "But there is a huge amount of work to be done in the short, medium and long term to deal with the impact of this crisis, as well as to look ahead to future crisis management."