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Associated Press Warns Of Katla Eruption Danger

Tyler Durden's picture




 

Recently we posted seismic readings of Iceland's Katla volcano, which indicated the tremors around the area have increased substantially in the last few days.

Today, the Associated Press covers just how much of an imminent threat an eruption at Eyjafjallajokull's cousin, Katla, is.

For all the worldwide chaos that Iceland's volcano has already created, it may just be the opening act.

Scientists fear tremors at the Eyjafjallajokull (ay-yah-FYAH-lah-yer-kuhl) volcano could trigger an even more dangerous eruption at the nearby Katla volcano -- creating a worst-case scenario for the airline industry and travelers around the globe.

A Katla eruption would be 10 times stronger and shoot higher and larger plumes of ash into the air than its smaller neighbor, which has already brought European air travel to a standstill for five days and promises severe travel delays for days more.

The two volcanos are side by side in southern Iceland, about 12 miles (20 kilometers) apart and thought to be connected by a network of magma channels.

Expecting the current volcanic activity to not activate Katla would be an outlier based on empirical data:

Pall Einarsson, professor of geophysics at the Institute of Earth Sciences at the University of Iceland, said one volcanic eruption sometimes causes a nearby volcano to explode, and Katla and Eyjafjallajokull have been active in tandem in the past.

In fact, the last three times that Eyjafjallajokull erupted, Katla did as well.

Katla also typically awakens every 80 years or so, and having last exploded in 1918 is now slightly overdue.

The unique topography of Katla would result in a much bigger ash cloud, and thus a greater impact on Europe and travel.

Katla, however, is buried under ice 550 yards (500 meters) thick -- the massive Myrdalsjokull glacier, one of Iceland's largest. That means it has more than twice the amount of ice that the current eruption has burned through -- threatening a new and possibly longer aviation standstill across Europe.

Katla's substantial ice cap is a major worry because it's that mixture of melting cold water and lava that causes explosions and for ash to shoot into high altitudes. Strong winds can then carry it on over Europe.

So far there have been minor tremors at Katla, which scientists believe to be movements in the glacier ice, but the activity from Eyjafjallajokull is making measurements more difficult to read and an eruption more tricky to predict.

''It is more difficult to see inside Katla,'' said Kristin Vogfjord, geologist at the Icelandic Met Office.

Nobody knows when Katla will erupt. One thing we know - once Goldman starts selling Collateralized Volcano Obligations in which assorted earth strata play the role of structural subordination, with hedge funds shorting the lithosphere and going long the upper mantle, and mutual funds lining to bid up guaranteed "pro forma" cash flow positive molten magma, we will not be taking any transatlantic flights for a long time.

h/t David

 

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Wed, 04/21/2010 - 16:17 | 311346 jedwards
jedwards's picture

I would sell volcano contracts if I could, I seriously doubt it will erupt.  Scientists have rarely been right when it comes to things that they study like this.

That being said, I would buy LHC calls, but the only problem is that if something did happened,  there wouldn't be an Earth for me to exercise the contracts on.

Wed, 04/21/2010 - 16:26 | 311361 dpbnyc
dpbnyc's picture

Hmmmm, I wonder what odds a bookie would assign to a Katla eruption? See excerpt from AP article below:

     "In fact, the last three times that Eyjafjallajokull erupted, Katla did as well.

Katla also typically awakens every 80 years or so, and having last exploded in 1918 is now slightly overdue."

Wed, 04/21/2010 - 16:27 | 311362 Ragnarok
Ragnarok's picture

Same playbook as global warming alarmist, create urgency and over estimate the consequences, then ask for more funding. 

 

"You mean I don't get paid unless my science agrees with your opinion?"  "I can't see anything wrong in that."

Wed, 04/21/2010 - 16:29 | 311367 Cognitive Dissonance
Cognitive Dissonance's picture

It's not so much a prediction based upon recent seismic activity as much as it's a long term correlation. Nearly every time the little guy next door pops his cork, the big guy goes ballistic. Based upon history, the strange thing would be if Katla didn't erupt.

3 - 2 - 1 - pop goes the weasel.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sfYoNPJcN30

Wed, 04/21/2010 - 18:03 | 311493 Marvin_M
Marvin_M's picture

what the hell???

Wed, 04/21/2010 - 16:18 | 311349 Comrade de Chaos
Comrade de Chaos's picture

GS fight back:

 

http://www.zerohedge.net/

 

I mean WTF, when market is down with a near 1 correlation, how else would one call it but de-risking?

Wed, 04/21/2010 - 16:44 | 311388 Hansel
Hansel's picture

Haha, that site is funny. Someone had too much time on their hands.

Wed, 04/21/2010 - 17:03 | 311421 girl money
girl money's picture

careful trying to link, it has been changed to .nnet, and redirects from there

Wed, 04/21/2010 - 17:21 | 311444 hedgeless_horseman
hedgeless_horseman's picture

Funny, yes.  Like it is funny when someone really wants to believe Duloc is a perfect place, and gets angry at others who suggest it is not.

Welcome to duloc
such a perfect town
Here we have some rules let us lay them down
Don't make waves
Stay in line
and we'll get on just fine
Duloc is a perfect place
Please keep off of the grass
shine your shoes
wipe your...face
Duloc is
Duloc is
Duloc is a perfect place

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rasphuetyuw

 

Wed, 04/21/2010 - 18:26 | 311511 JohnG
JohnG's picture

All together now:

1) Open command window

2) ping -t (or -f on some systems) www.zerohedge.net

3) Leave system on

4) Ignore timeouts -- it's working, that's the point.

Viola!  A simple DDOS attack!

(some dumbshit forgot to refuse pings....hehehe)

 

Wed, 04/21/2010 - 16:24 | 311357 Alienated Serf
Alienated Serf's picture

this reminds me of the time peter griffin bought volcano insurance.

http://www.hulu.com/watch/67934/family-guy-volcano-insurance

Wed, 04/21/2010 - 16:26 | 311360 Gloomy
Gloomy's picture

You gotta do better! This article is 1 day old. Here is how it ends:

There are no clear answers, however, and even fewer predictions about what the future may hold. Volcano eruptions, like earthquakes, are difficult to predict.

"Katla can start tomorrow or in 100 years, you don't know," said Palsson. "All we can do is be ready."

Wed, 04/21/2010 - 16:28 | 311365 dpbnyc
dpbnyc's picture

Goldman can set up new world HQ at the base of Katla and purchase fire insurance on the building and life insurance contracts on its employees...

Wed, 04/21/2010 - 17:35 | 311459 faustian bargain
faustian bargain's picture

I think the point is, nobody is ready. In fact everyone is in bad shape, which would amplify the consequences of a devastating eruption.

Wed, 04/21/2010 - 16:30 | 311369 john_connor
john_connor's picture

I can see a depiction of Ben and his printing press falling into Katla as it explodes.

Wed, 04/21/2010 - 16:43 | 311386 SgtShaftoe
SgtShaftoe's picture

my preciousss!!!??...

Wed, 04/21/2010 - 17:22 | 311448 Mr Lennon Hendrix
Mr Lennon Hendrix's picture

Yes!

Wed, 04/21/2010 - 16:35 | 311375 Mad Max
Mad Max's picture

I'll take pyroclastic flow derivatives for $300, Alex.

Wed, 04/21/2010 - 16:57 | 311376 hedgeless_horseman
hedgeless_horseman's picture

Ever since the Giant Squid foreclosed on Romulus, and got their hands on that planet-drill technology, global risk has gone way up. 

Haiti, Chile, Mexico, China, Iceland, the list goes on.

Coincidence?  I think not.  In fact, here is a wikileaks photo of Lloyd having a "discussion" with Fabrice Tourre (take that Associated Press!).  I'm no rocket scientist, but that looks a helluva lot like Iceland in the background.  Who wants to bet the squid weren't short BA, LVMH, and Lufthansa?

http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_p7U5NgJBxA8/SSHZUUMVUhI/AAAAAAAAAPY/vNwdLe16EQM/s1600-h/Picture-12.jpg

Wed, 04/21/2010 - 16:39 | 311380 buzzsaw99
buzzsaw99's picture

Basically they don't know jack shit. I'll take the 6-5 morning line on the katla no-show.

Wed, 04/21/2010 - 16:43 | 311384 girl money
girl money's picture

So, these tremors are nearing the top of the charts... does anyone know if the charts will redraw their scale as we go higher, or is there no reason, because the top of the chart means the top's gonna blow?

http://hraun.vedur.is/ja/Katla2009/stodvaplott.html

Also, have heard that Eyjafjallajokull and Katla erupt in pairs, and have the last three times on record... have been looking for the average spacing between eruptions, anyone have a link?

 

 

Wed, 04/21/2010 - 18:19 | 311499 ZerOhead
ZerOhead's picture

Attention RobotTrader... we've got some charts for you to read...

(Average spacing between eruptions is 30 km! :)

 

Wed, 04/21/2010 - 19:03 | 311564 The Rock
The Rock's picture

I read a comment somewhere on a blog that Katla has historically erupted within one year of Eyjafjallajokull finishing.

On a side but related note, here is an interesting article...

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/apr/21/iceland-volcano-ash-extinction-human-race

On the widely used volcanic explosivity index (VEI), Toba is thought to have been an eight – meaning that in the unusually flamboyant official language of vulcanology it was a super-plinian type eruption with mega-colossal characteristics (Eyjafjallajökull is by contrast listed as a strombolian type, with its characteristic regarded as merely gentle, and having a probable VEI rating of just two).

Wed, 04/21/2010 - 16:43 | 311387 sangell
sangell's picture

Go long Luftschiffbau Zeppelin, Cunard

Wed, 04/21/2010 - 17:00 | 311416 Ned Zeppelin
Ned Zeppelin's picture

Did someone mention my uncle Luftie?

Wed, 04/21/2010 - 16:44 | 311389 Fritz
Fritz's picture

Long magma futures.

Wed, 04/21/2010 - 17:22 | 311450 Assetman
Assetman's picture

And freakin' sharks with freakin' lasers on their freakin' heads.

Wed, 04/21/2010 - 16:46 | 311397 yipcarl
yipcarl's picture

Sure they don't know SHI$.  It's all a guess but the world will definately end on Dec 21st, 2012.

 

LOLOLOLOL.

 

Wed, 04/21/2010 - 16:55 | 311407 UGrev
UGrev's picture

By the time anyone figures out how to pronounce that without sounding like the swedish chef, we'll all be foobed. 

Wed, 04/21/2010 - 16:56 | 311410 FranSix
FranSix's picture

If only Brigitta Jonsdottir would come on YouTube and pronounce volcano names over and over again.

Wed, 04/21/2010 - 16:57 | 311412 Caviar Emptor
Caviar Emptor's picture

Oblivious humanoids ignore the warnings from the volcano god. There indeed have been fundamental changes that underlie the quakes. Stay tuned.

Wed, 04/21/2010 - 17:22 | 311449 DoChenRollingBearing
DoChenRollingBearing's picture

Oh dear.  My wife and I are within sight of Vesuvius (qui in Italia!).  We (maybe) leave Milan on Apr 30 to come back to America to buy gold & ammo.

All the interesting sh!t always seems to happen when we are in  Italy!

Wed, 04/21/2010 - 17:35 | 311460 MsCreant
MsCreant's picture

Hope you have other transport besides flight...

Wed, 04/21/2010 - 17:10 | 311430 buzzsaw99
buzzsaw99's picture

I vote we take no chances and throw lord blankcheck into eyja immediately to appease the gods.

Wed, 04/21/2010 - 18:28 | 311525 ZerOhead
ZerOhead's picture

I don't know buzzy...  he might give the volcano gas...

Wed, 04/21/2010 - 17:11 | 311431 George Washington
George Washington's picture

I wrote up "the big picture" yesterday:

Iceland Volcano: The Big Picture

 

Wed, 04/21/2010 - 17:20 | 311446 Mr Lennon Hendrix
Mr Lennon Hendrix's picture

I had been wondering about the synchronicity of the sister mountains of Iceland.

Wed, 04/21/2010 - 17:13 | 311433 Mr Lennon Hendrix
Mr Lennon Hendrix's picture

The French revolution was started in earnist due to an Icelandic volcano spewing ash over the crops, detroying them.  This is a serious issue, make no mistake of that.

Wed, 04/21/2010 - 19:57 | 311667 SgtShaftoe
SgtShaftoe's picture

I knew it was due to poor crop season, but really from Iceland?!?!  HA!!  The irony is amazing... almost hillarious, except for the fact we're going to experience it ourselves.   

Wed, 04/21/2010 - 17:17 | 311442 sushi
sushi's picture

This is what happens in a world running short of virgins.

I have to admit I bear as much of the blame as anyone else.

Wed, 04/21/2010 - 17:44 | 311468 Ragnarok
Ragnarok's picture

LOL

Wed, 04/21/2010 - 17:27 | 311451 stockfish
stockfish's picture

Ay-yah-fyah-lah-yer-kuhl≈fha-mhous-lha-sth-whoh-rd

Wed, 04/21/2010 - 17:32 | 311453 cougar_w
cougar_w's picture

And since a lot of the metal in surface deposits are associated with magmatic flows and hyper-pressure thermal seeps that leach weakly dissolving metallic ions to the surface where they can create rich veins in cracks and fissures ...

GOLD BITCHES!1!

Wed, 04/21/2010 - 17:38 | 311463 MsCreant
MsCreant's picture

DRILLLL BABY DRILLL!

THARS GOLD IN THEM THAR VOLCANOES.

Wed, 04/21/2010 - 17:43 | 311467 Mr Lennon Hendrix
Mr Lennon Hendrix's picture

Iceland rewarded for showing true grit in the face of the banksters.  By Thor's hammer!

Wed, 04/21/2010 - 18:01 | 311488 cossack55
cossack55's picture

You may also remember that when James Mason and Pat Boone began their journey to the center of the earth in an Icelandic volcano and found all that Atlantis gold.  Though Pat Boone in Lederhosen is a very frightening scene.

Wed, 04/21/2010 - 17:36 | 311462 anynonmous
anynonmous's picture

further reading:

http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn18690-iceland-waits-for-volcanic-s...

"The eruption is long overdue at Katla and there is quite a bit of anxiety in Iceland about the potential size of eruption," says Dave McGarvie of the Open University in Milton Keynes, UK.

http://www.icelandreview.com/icelandreview/search/news/Default.asp?ew_0_...

 

Geophysicist Páll Einarsson said all known eruptions in Eyjafjallajökull have been in connection with eruptions in the neighboring volcano Katla underneath the Mýrdalsjökull icecap. Now that Eyjafjallajökull has started to erupt, Katla might follow.

The ZH of Volcano blogs

 

http://volcanism.wordpress.com/

Wed, 04/21/2010 - 17:39 | 311465 QEsucks
QEsucks's picture

 FWIW, Eyjafjallajokull has erupted 3 times in the last 1000 yrs. 920. 1612. and 1821-1823. Katla erupts roughly every 80 years, last being 1812. Katla's overdue with increased seismic activity since 2000. Rhymes with something else... can't put my finger on it.

 The interesting thing though is everytime Eyj(I think someone here called it Bob) blows, Katla goes too. 920-920 VEI 4. 1612- 1612 October 12 VEI 4.

1821-1823- June 26,1823 VEI 3. VEI 4 is "cataclysmic". Yellowstone Caldera 600,000 years ago is characterized as a 7.

Goldman will definitely deploy this as a diversion.

Wed, 04/21/2010 - 21:56 | 311476 wgpitts
wgpitts's picture

Wish Bush were still El Presidente, he would know how to handle this...as I fade into a dream.....

It's time to deal with these volcanic regimes.....

Iceland should get some UN Sanctions for violation of the carbon tax treaty and if they don’t shut down their volcanic program this should be declared an act of terrorism....additionally Carpet-bombing is considered but I don't think we should take nukes off the table....these volcanoes are posing a threat to all of humanity. They are another Hitler - you can't negotiate with these things.....

 And the humanity of it all...the poor people of Iceland are suffering from the volcano... the volcano must stop within 48 hours…....."we must liberate the people of Iceland by any means necessary... we are not dealing with a peaceful volcano"

 – it has already shown its reckless aggression and will explode a weapon of mass destruction at anytime – releasing miasma – the people of Iceland and the world did nothing to deserve this threat - all Icelanders must reject to volcanoes activities and as we invade they must not resist - a few hundred thousand or so dead - but they will be thankful - they will be liberated...then we can help them rebuild....

You are either for us or you are with the volcanoes. You are not Patriotic if you are not joining our coalition in the War on Volcanoes... These volcanoes don't erupt because they are volcanoes - they erupt because they despise everything we stand for - our coolness, our mobility - our very freedom

The Volcano Ultimatum by the President

“A broad coalition is now gathering to enforce the just demands of the world. The United Nations Security Council has not lived up to its responsibilities so we will rise to ours. In recent days some governments in Europe have been doing their part giving public and private messages urging the volcano to leave Iceland, so that disarmament can proceed peacefully. The Volcano has thus far refused. All the centuries of deceit and cruelty have now reached an end. The big volcano and the little volcanoes must leave Iceland within 48 hours and their refusal to do so will result in military conflict commenced at our time of choosing….Many Icelanders can hear me tonight in a translated radio broadcast and I have a message for them: if we must begin a military campaign it will be directed against the lawless volcanoes who rule your country and not against you – as our coalition takes away their power we will deliver the food and medicine you need and will flatten the volcano and in a free Iceland their will be no more eruptions…the volcano will soon be gone….it is too late for the volcano to remain in power....”

See it the Ultimatum See here at 5:20

 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nxdKlIZVDTQ&feature=related

Wed, 04/21/2010 - 23:55 | 312059 Moneygrove
Moneygrove's picture

+ 1,000

Wed, 04/21/2010 - 17:59 | 311478 plocequ1
plocequ1's picture

Gee, I hope the volcanic ash doesn't make it's way into my Samsung 52". How the fuck am I going to watch American Idol and my Johnny Wadd Holmes 14" DvD collection?

Wed, 04/21/2010 - 17:55 | 311480 QEsucks
QEsucks's picture

 But it won't be as big as Laki 1783-1784. VEI 6. That was thought to be a contributing factor to the French Revolution.Pissed off, starving peasants. That's too big.

Wed, 04/21/2010 - 18:18 | 311509 dot_bust
dot_bust's picture

Eyjafjallajokull (ay-FUK-ya-flight-up).

Wed, 04/21/2010 - 21:01 | 311777 cougar_w
cougar_w's picture

that's gold right there

Wed, 04/21/2010 - 18:25 | 311520 Buck Johnson
Buck Johnson's picture

Looking at the graph, it shows an ever increasing frequency of tremors.  This usually says that magma is coming up to the surface.

Wed, 04/21/2010 - 20:57 | 311769 ShankyS
ShankyS's picture

FYI - for those interested the History Channel ran a show How The Earth Was Made tonight and it was all about Iceland and their volcanoes. Good stuff. It re airs at midnight EST.

Wed, 04/21/2010 - 22:36 | 311928 Dolar in a vortex
Dolar in a vortex's picture

Thanks!

Wed, 04/21/2010 - 21:11 | 311789 Baring
Baring's picture

Carbon trading, anyone?

 

Global Warming Behind Increase in Earthquakes & Volcanic Eruptions

 

Experts Predict Catastrophic "Domino Effect" Worldwide

 

Los Angeles, April 15

 

The Earth's atmosphere is heating up rapidly, and that excess energy is being absorbed by the tectonic plates which lie under the Earth's surface, causing the already naturally-unstable plates to expand and increasing the likelihood of a world-wide chain of catastrophic quakes and volcanic eruptions, scientists at the Los Angeles Center for Climate Monitoring have asserted.

 

"Unless we reduce our use of fossil fuels, we risk a world-wide catastrophe of unimaginable proportions," said Dr. Leonard Van Makk, director of the Center. "I don't think the Earth will literally come apart, but it will certainly look and feel that way," he added.

 

Climate researchers have long feared that, in addition to causing disasters on the Earth's surface, the rise in the temperature of the earth's atmosphere could eventually affect the Earth's crust.

 

"Our worst fears are being realized," said Dr. Claude Oon, founder and director of the Independent Climate Verification Foundation, located in San Francisco. "The recent earthquakes in Haiti and Chile, together with the volcanic eruptions in Iceland, indicate that the lithosphere is heating up rapidly. The Earth's tectonic plates, which are inherently unstable and press against each other in places known as fault zones, are absorbing the heat from the atmosphere caused by global warming. As the plates absorb the heat, they expand, just as any other substance does. The expansion leads to greater pressure as the plates push against each other. When the pressure becomes unsustainable, there is a sudden, massive 'jerk,' which results either in an earthquake, or in the creation of new, lava-spouting fissures parallel to previously-existing volcanic vents."

 

But that's only the beginning, Dr. Oon warns.

 

"An earthquake here, a volcanic eruption there, is always disastrous, of course," he says. "But the bigger problem, literally the earth-shaking problem, is that of concatenation—of a sort of chain reaction or domino effect, if you will. An earthquake or eruption in one fault zone can put pressure on adjoining fault zones, which are already more unstable than normal due to global warming. So one earthquake or eruption, even a relatively small one—think of the Butterfly Effect—could lead to a bigger incident, which leads to a still bigger incident. And before you know it, you have a series of increasingly devastating quakes and eruptions circling the globe. It won't be a pretty picture."

 

"People joke about the San Andreas Fault and California falling into the ocean," Dr. van Makk commented. "But it's not a laughing matter. And it's not just California. From Tokyo to Tierra del Fuego, the entire planet is at risk."

 

But isn't all this a bit far-fetched?

 

Dr. Oon thinks otherwise.

 

"Some people will deny it's happening, just like some people deny global warming itself. But denial, no matter how vehement, doesn't change the science. And the consensus is growing among scientists that the lithosphere is heating up due to global warming," Dr. Oon pointed out.

 

Drs. Van Makk and Oon both urged that the Kyoto accords be implemented immediately by every nation in order to return both the earth's atmosphere and the lithosphere to their normal temperatures.

 

"And if an emissions or carbon credit market is needed to prevent this catastrophe, so be it," Dr. Van Makk added. "An increased cost in the energy we use is a small price to pay for the survival of the planet and life as we know it," he concluded.

 

Thu, 04/22/2010 - 02:45 | 312178 UnBearorBull
UnBearorBull's picture

Too funny. Give me money or the planet will die. Its an offer you can't refuse.

Wed, 04/21/2010 - 22:29 | 311911 Kina
Kina's picture

Am looking at some Australian agriculture stocks, just in case. What do they grow in central and western europe? Dairy, beef?, grain.

If the second volcano does go up in a big way then I will be into some of those stocks instantly. Just in case.

Wed, 04/21/2010 - 22:30 | 311914 non-anon
non-anon's picture

At least I can pronounce the deadlier volcanoes name.

Wed, 04/21/2010 - 23:02 | 311973 Psquared
Psquared's picture

I found an article on Katla and Hekla (aka, "Gateway to Hell") which said that when the latter blew in the mid 1700s it so changed the climate that the following winter the Mississippi River froze solid south of Memphis.

That would bust our chops all the way back to the Stone Age. Would Wall Street even be able to open if it were below zero in New York for 2 months?

Thu, 04/22/2010 - 01:23 | 312137 faustian bargain
faustian bargain's picture

I think that's when the robots will finally sieze the opportunity to take over completely.

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