Characterization of Eyjafjallajökull volcanic ash particles and a protocol for rapid risk assessment

Abstract

On April 14, 2010, when meltwaters from the Eyjafjallajökull glacier mixed with hot magma, an explosive eruption sent unusually fine-grained ash into the jet stream. It quickly dispersed over Europe. Previous airplane encounters with ash resulted in sandblasted windows and particles melted inside jet engines, causing them to fail. Therefore, air traffic was grounded for several days. Concerns also arose about health risks from fallout, because ash can transport acids as well as toxic compounds, such as fluoride, aluminum, and arsenic. Studies on ash are usually made on material collected far from the source, where it could have mixed with other atmospheric particles, or after exposure to water as rain or fog, which would alter surface composition. For this study, a unique set of dry ash samples was collected immediately after the explosive event and compared with fresh ash from a later, more typical eruption. Using nanotechniques, custom-designed for studying natural materials, we explored the physical and chemical nature of the ash to determine if fears about health and safety were justified and we developed a protocol that will serve for assessing risks during a future event. On single particles, we identified the composition of nanometer scale salt coatings and measured the mass of adsorbed salts with picogram resolution. The particles of explosive ash that reached Europe in the jet stream were especially sharp and abrasive over their entire size range, from submillimeter to tens of nanometers. Edges remained sharp even after a couple of weeks of abrasion in stirred water suspensions.

Comparison between CARIBIC Aerosol Samples Analysed by Accelerator-Based Methods and Optical Particle Counter Measurements

“…Occasionally chemical elements connected with crustal matter and fires are observed (Papaspiropoulos et al, 2002), which on rare occasions can have a strong influence on aerosol particle concentration (Eguchi et al, 2009;Dirksen et al, 2009;Fromm et al, 2010). Particles from explosive volcanism have strong effects on the studied region at times, affecting the climate (Ammann et al, 2003;Solomon et al, 2011), stratospheric ozone (McCormick et al, 1995) and aviation (Gislason et al, 2011). The aerosol particles in volcanic clouds contain besides the ash component (Schumann et al, 2011;Andersson et al, 2013) large sulphurous and carbonaceous components (Martinsson et al, 2009;Schmale et al, 2010;Carn et al, 2011).…”

Insulation effects of Icelandic dust and volcanic ash on snow and ice

“…The ash from Eyjafjallajökull 2010 was of andesitic composition, slowly progressing from benmorite to thrachyte as the eruption proceeded with a silicic content ranging from ∼58-69 % SiO 2 . (Gislason et al 2011 andGudmundsson et al 2012a) Several dust storms occur in Iceland every year with deposition of dust or ash on the ice caps with varying amounts at different altitudes which influence their melting behaviour. These dust storms are as well volcanic in origin (Arnalds et al 2013) but redistributed and deposited in the glacier forefield where it is mixing with glacial till.…”

Anthropogenic radionuclides in atmospheric air over Switzerland during the last few decades

“…During the eruption of April 2010, thousands of tons of molten rock came into contact with ice creating a huge explosion throwing steam and particles high into the air. This explosive eruption introduced volcanic fine-grained ash and gases (for example, SO 2 ) up to the lowermost stratosphere 42,43 . In the atmosphere, sulphur-bearing gases such as SO 2 transformed into tiny sulphuric acid particles 2,44 .…”