On Iceland, you know why they are having that little issue?

[nadinbrzezinski]

Well that is the place where the Atlantic plate is ahem separating.

So for those who believe that the world does not change... well it is doing that right now. The plate is releasing some pressure, and it is widening the Atlantic by a little smidgen.

Ain't geology cool?

[defendandprotect]

1. Anything melting by any chance?

[csziggy]

7. I think I heard part of a glacier on the volcano melted. n/t

"In this case, the eruption turned violent when the red-hot magma underground changed course and started coming up directly below a glacier. The mix of magma and ice is explosive, and how long that could last is anyone's guess. "
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=126029452

[Canuckistanian]

12. Red-hot MAGMA

[nadinbrzezinski]

9. part of the glacier, to quote Rachel Maddow

it popped like a champagne cork

[Bluebear]

2. Not knowing how these things work...

will the nation of Iceland be three islands?

[hobbit709]

4. Nope, just one bigger one, the mid-Atlantic ridge is adding land

[Bluebear]

5. Well! There's one way to gain some new real estate!

[csziggy]

14. Iceland has gained new real estate from eruptions before

Surtsey was one of the most significant since the formation of a new island was observed almost from the beginning:
http://www.vulkaner.no/v/volcan/surtsey_e.html



Since it began to form in November 1963, geologists and biologists have been watching the island grow and develop, including the arrival of life on the new, barren land. The link above gives a nice concise timeline of formation and arrival of plants and animals.

[nadinbrzezinski]

8. Not in your lifetime or mine

Like the Big Island in Hawai'i this is adding land mass to Iceland... a little land mass mind you.

But in geologic time it will split in two or more. That is a few million years down the road.

[backscatter712]

3. BREAKING NEWS... Iceland is volcanically active!!! n/t

[nadinbrzezinski]

10. To more than a few people, it is breaking news

the History Channel has a program called, how the Earth's is made. They had a fascinating program on... well Iceland.

[Canuckistanian]

6. As it has for hundreds of thousands of years

We Johnny-come-latelys, Homo Sapiens are only the LATEST species to witness the effects of this shifting.

[nadinbrzezinski]

11. How about 4.5 BILLION years.

Trylobites were the first to see this... I am not sure they registered more than ... it is getting hot 'round these parts... that would be 3.5 billion years ago, if my memory still works.

[Canuckistanian]

25. I defer to your superior memory

3.5 billion it is.

[nadinbrzezinski]

26. I get into these arguments with fundies locally

my fav...

Humans lived with Dinosaurs, I mean like they shared the planet and things. So says the Creation Museum.

I usually look them in the eye and nod... usually shocks them. I mean I believe this apostate Darwin was like right, and I think I secretly pray to him too.

You agree?

Yep. I got a couple of them running around at home. My two parrots EVOLVED from Dinos... and every time I and the birds share some chicken, we are sharing some T-Rex genes.

Usually sends them into ballistic territory.

By the way the two dinosaurs are right about now sleeping quietly in their cages. SQUAK!

[Canuckistanian]

27. Perfect!

Not to mention turtles, sharks and insects. All of them relics from even BEFORE the dinos.

[nadinbrzezinski]

28. Yep... and you got to wonder

how the hell did T-Rex ended up as a chicken!

Oh and having faced an angry rooster or two... can you say mini velociraptor? Yes, they CAN be that mean.

[Dappleganger]

13. Why DU'ers would unrec this is beyond me.

Is science that scary for ya'll?

[MajorChode]

16. I cancelled one of them out

[nadinbrzezinski]

19. I got fans

:-)

And yes, science is that scary for some people.

[Dappleganger]

21. Oh, lucky you!

[nadinbrzezinski]

22. Having a sense of humor helps

But some folks will do that no matter what I post. For that matter I at times think we have a few folks that will unrec anything posted at DU as a matter of principle.

Now I could NOT prove it... but call it a sneaky.

[Dappleganger]

23. Well, at least they're consistent.

And hopefully my vote will help cancel them out. ;)

[nadinbrzezinski]

24. Thanks...

these days I laugh...

:hi:

[MajorChode]

15. It's cool, up until the point...

your plane flies through the ash cloud and the big roundy-round things out on the wings stop spinning.

[backscatter712]

18. Yeah, that's why most of Europe has their planes grounded.

Ash in the engines is a Bad Thing.

[nadinbrzezinski]

20. As somebody alrady told you

Europe's Air Space is mostly closed for commercial flights. The only idiots (and brave people) even getting close are the scientific teams trying to assess how things are going.

[MajorChode]

29. Usually on events like these there's still some planes that manage to get caught

Flights are only going to be rerouted around areas of known ash activity. Although tracking is generally good, unpredictable winds can very easily put them a hundred miles or more away from where they are expected. You can't track the ash clouds by radar. You can see it on satellite and visually, but occassionally an ash cloud is mistaken for cumulus clouds. Even though a few manage to fly through ash clouds, it's a pretty rare event for it to cause a compressor stall. It wouldn't surprise me if one or more commercial jets manage to pass through in this particular event.

It's pretty interesting to hear the radio traffic when ash clouds are about. As soon as the aircrews can see them, they are passing pilot reports back to air traffic control on the position and altitude.

[AnnieBW]

17. I thought it was because they were going to allow gay marriage

and that their head of state was a lesbian. Pat Robertson told me so. :evilgrin: