Eritrea's Nabro Caldera Plate Boundary Eruption

A cluster of Earthquakes hit Southern Eritrea followed by an explosive eruption of the dormant Nabro volcano, forming a large ash cloud with salt and lava flows. See the excellent Earthquake Report on the Nabro eruption.

The eruption took place at the northernmost point of the 'Ethiopian Dome' at the meeting of plate boundaries and developing plate boundaries. There are two extensive dome boundaries on this area of the Nubian Plate. The Ethiopian Dome bordering on the Gulf of Aden; South of which lies the Kenya Dome with a developing plate boundary.

At the Southernmost edge of the Kenya Dome on the Tanzanian border is the dormant Mount Kilimanjaro. The June 12, 2011 Nabro Caldera eruption on the Eritrea/Ethiopia border sent a thick cloud across Northern Ethiopia that is drifting towards Saudi Arabia and possibly Egypt. The cluster of quakes preceding the Nabro eruption were sudden and intense, with the volcano releasing a 13km high explosive cloud of ash with very little warning.

Further to the South on the lower part of the Kenya Dome lies Mount Kilimanjaro, a giant stratovolcano composed of three distinct volcanic cones. Apparently two of the cones are extinct while the highest volcano cone is considered to be dormant.

Over the last few years the ice cap on the peaks of Kilimanjaro have been slowly melting, the glacier has been crumbling and many of the rivers are drying up.

I am not an 'expert', all I have is observation and imagination. Could the melting snow on the summit of kilimanjaro and the drying rivers be partly due to the extinct/dormant volcano 'heating up'.

I don't think one can underestimate the gradual surface effects from deeper pressure of lava inside of volcanoes. The heat transfer would probably (at first) be subtle. It may happen over extended periods - bit by bit - hardly noticed by us surface dwellers. I am guessing that the glacier at the top of Mount Kilimanjaro established itself at a time when the volcano was much cooler and much more dormant.

Mount Kilimanjaro, one of the largest volcanoes in the world, is what I would call a longer cycle volcano - together with Mount Vesuvius and the volcanic caldera of Santorini. It is possible that such long cycle tectonic upheaval shook ancient Egypt apart, sending some of its cities and architecture crashing into the Nile Delta where they are being found today.

In 2003 scientists concluded that there is molten magma just 400 meters below the summit crater of Mount Kilimanjaro. There have recently been concerns that the summit may collapse, causing a major eruption similar to Mount St. Helens.

Ash From Puyehue Volcano Could Benefit Australia

Forming my own theories about life-giving-volcanoes and their function in altering the Earth's climate, it seems to me that the ash and particle generating Puyehue Volcano in Chile may be regenerating the climate in the same way as Iceland's Grimsvötn and Eyjafjallajökul have done.

From on-the-ground observations, the only thing I can say is that we have real clouds again, pleasant cooler temperatures and no longer the 30°C+ burning deadly Sun radiation and extended lack of rain since the May, 2011 Grimsvötn eruption in Iceland.

I can't explain it - but there is 'something' up there in the atmosphere making real dark grey fluffy clouds, increasing vital cloud cover and it looks alive up there .. the atmosphere has come to life .. there is moisture retention and a durable cloud presence.

I see from reports that the recent Puyehue volcanic eruption in Chile has not only affected Argentina; but significant ash has spread across the Pacific affecting Australia and New Zealand. I wonder if atmospheric enlivening ash, magnetic particles and unknown elements affect the cloud forming ions/chemistry while changing the long term drought that had been affecting Australia over the last ten years.

From my perspective, one-by-one volcanic eruptions around the world could be in a phase of re-seeding or re-activating the Earth's atmosphere and the Earth's climate in ways we do not yet understand. My theory is that each major eruption-location affects the climate, alters the atmospheric chemistry, adds as yet unknown living elements into the atmosphere and potentially creates/generates cloud and rain.

I see that one-by-one the volcanoes erupt in their own time, activating each quadrant of what could be called, an hexagonal Earth-grid. Each volcanic eruption has its own dynamics, particles, chemistry and density - but all eruptions over time will interact and nourish the atmosphere over hundreds (if not thousands) of years.

If I am correct the severe droughts spreading across North America, South America, Australia, Africa, Asia and more recently across Russia and Europe could be the last edge of a long period of reduced volcanic activity. If the volcanoes breathe life into the atmosphere .. essential for long term cloud creation and rainfall .. then long periods of reduced volcanic activity worldwide would potentially leave the planet in a particle exhausted state.

Simply, pay attention and watch. Major eruptions in Indonesia .. with flooding in Pakistan that gave a rich grain harvest the following year [2011] .. eruptions in Iceland, Japan, Chile and now in Africa .. Yes! Volcanic eruptions in Africa! Why? Because the Earth's volcanoes are re-seeding the atmosphere with rich minerals, ions, bacteria, ash, magnetism and life giving elements.

Earthquake Report have an extensive article on the Nabra volcano eruption in Eritrea following the earthquake swarm on June 12, 2011. This is a stratovolcano located in the Northern Red Sea Region of Eritrea and is essentially 'dormant' - so to speak. I mean this is not a Mount Etna regularly spewing ash - the volcano is not a Grimsvötn.

If I am correct the eruption of this volcano could spell a seeding of cloud and rains across Africa. Could Africa become water rich over the next 1,000 years? It is certainly possible given essential changes in the atmospheric nutrients around the African continent.

All this could potentially change the European and North American predictions of extreme water shortages and continuing drought in Africa and the Middle East. Those predictions were made on the continuing worsening of atmospheric conditions based on projecting what we see happening to the climate over the last 50 years. Can volcanoes change that projection? I think so...

Nature's joker card - nature's winning hand - would be to play cards we humans don't even know exist. I think mother Earth is about to teach us all a thing or two about weather, climate, the atmosphere, volcanoes, relationship with the Sun and in general about the world we live in.

Observing these changes I think it is possible the Middle East and Africa could receive renewed (sustained) water-from-the-heavens over a long period - potentially replenishing the great rivers, the underground wells and filling up the water table, even returning rain to parched areas.

Putting the Mayan Calendar (which is not a 'Calendar') in perspective .. will this cycle of renewal return the waters-of-life to the old world? I think that is possible. What is more valuable than material wealth, oil, physical resources? Water! Surely! Water is health - water is wealth...

Iclandic Ash Brings Rain Cycle

After the beautiful blue skies on May 24 the fine particles of volcanic ash seemed to cool everything down. As blue as the skies appeared there was a noted lessening of heat radiation reaching us ground dwellers.

By May 25, the first heavy cloud formed (maybe with a little help from weather engineering) and there was significant rainfall. By May 27 the high strata clouds are dense enough and volcanic grey enough to block the sunlight and cool temperatures to 13°C from 24°C .. although I am sure a subtle change of weather patterns are taking place.

I imagine that a horizontal wave eruption as well as the vertical column of gas and fine ash trigger changes in climate. Powerful wind streams push around the Planet; but in reality the winds are being sucked almost like a vortex. Volcanic magnetic particles play their part in regulating these air currents.

The drop in temperature goes all the way from Norway to Spain, with temperatures ranging from 11°C to 13°C and coastal areas 10°C, while not affecting Southern Spain, Italy and Greece. Even on a cloudless May 24, the intense radiation from the Sun was reduced by the ash. With temperatures of 24°C the Sun's effect became pleasant rather than burning/exhausting.

Months before the Grimsvötn [May, 2011] eruption clouds did not form and if they formed the rising Sun would quickly evaporate them, resulting in long periods without rain (over many months). For the first time the rising Sun does not evaporate the cloud cover. Temperatures remain cooler and the clouds hold their own.

I feel that volcanoes regulate the climate in powerful ways over extended periods, in the sense that their effects can last years - perhaps centuries. In this petroleum age people put petrol in a car, use it up and go get more petrol. But, imagine a system where the energy unit lasts 100 years without a refill. That is the volcano effect.

Volcanoes alter the climate and bring essential elements into the atmosphere that charge up the Earth for extended periods until new eruptions are needed and a recharging of the atmosphere takes place.

June 1 2011
There was one grueling cloudless day with 30°C - which signals a very real danger to precipitation and atmospheric water levels. I was not sure that Iceland's Grimsvötn was the key to cooling Europe's weather (as things stand) .. but so far so good!

The intense drought seems to have been broken. For the first time in many months cloud cover established itself as the rain continued to fall throughout the night. I realised that 'night-rain' is an essential and vital part of atmospheric/earth precipitation.

I imagine night rain [let's call it Moon rain] has a totally different harmonic vibration and is a vital part of plant growth and soil sustainability. If I was a Universal Gardener I would want a good portion of my rainfall to be night rain...

I cannot ignore the June 1st Northern Europe partial Eclipse of the sun .. as I recall the 1999 Full Eclipse across Europe brought with it a heavy grey mass of cloud in which observers did not really see the actual Eclipse .. well this buildup to the June 2011 partial Eclipse is similar.

I find this extremely interesting .. we have the 2011 'Grimsvötn eruption' and the timing of the Eclipse. I do not think anything in nature happens by accident. The only missing piece of the puzzle is the inner understanding of the 'human soul' .. if only you could understand events from your soul!

The rainfall has certainly increased - as well as the cloud cover - and I think in the future human beings have to learn to work with nature and learn from nature. There is a right way and a wrong way to do things. There is a right way and a wrong way to affect the weather [if you know what I mean]...

Temperatures in mainland Europe have dropped from 30°C to 11/14°C .. and considering the extreme heat and the extreme dryness - I feel that Iceland's Grimsvötn saved us from a deadly and prolonged drought .. but the details of that I will leave for a future post ...

Thank you Grimsvötn .. our hearts beat together as one!

Unknown Particles Precede Grimsvötn Ash Clouds

I knew that the Grimsvötn eruption had sent out a blast of particle force, probably magnetic in nature, ahead of the 17 kilometer towering ash cloud. We do not yet appreciate the invisible side of nature I call the 'background field'.

That is how I know that an as yet unknown 'particle force field' was ejected in the blast, and because these particles are much lighter they travel faster. So, imagine you look at the sky and there are two reality fields superimposed on each other like two interconnected and interrelated layers.

The more dense layer is the physical world you see in terms of the sky, clouds, colour, light, volcanic dust, a haze = 3D reality. The other layer is perfectly set into the 3D layer we all recognise as Nature. The other layer is colourless, invisible, subtle and undetected by 3D measuring instruments [there you have the detection problem].

Only the human brain/mind is capable of perceiving and detecting the other layer.

The clue to this lies in observing the field, what could be called the Unified Field. Although it is invisible to the human eye, the field can be observed by the mind. Something in the older part of the brain - maybe the Third-Eye - is tuned to perceiving the field.

The 3D world only exists because of the Unified Field .. The invisible holds together and maintains the visible. I saw the faster particles released from the Grimsvötn eruption; because I saw the wave reflected in the field.

I thought to myself, let me watch and see if I can see this reflect in the weather, in the atmosphere - which also means colour, texture, light. By the evening of May 23 I felt that the first edge of these particles from the Grimsvötn eruption were reflecting in 3D reality. I don't think they travel at the speed of light; but more likely they travel around the speed of sound.

Those particles were filling the air by mid morning of May 24, 2011 - and their effect was showing in the clouds, change of colour intensity and changes in light intensity. In our present state, we may not be able to observe those particles directly; but we can observe their presence through their effects on what we can see = NATURE.

These unknown particles intensify in the atmosphere and seem to merge, as the following fine layer of volcanic ash arrives (undetected) and interacts with the first wave of this unknown force. I could see the ultra fine aerosol particles forming in the clouds.

The heavier dense ash cloud spreading across the Atlantic from Grimsvötn is still 12 hours away. Yet, I could see a fine grey ash in the cloud formations similar to the colour and density changes caused by the April, 2010 Eyjafjallajökull eruption. It is unmistakable, the light, the sky and the clouds reflect this.

Looking with the eyes of an Artist, you look at depth of colour, intensity of colour, intensity of light and intensity of shadow. The artist notices shade and depth of field and also notice the quality of colour and the quality of light.

By May 24, 2011 with the more dense ash cloud 12 hours away the sunset set alight the fiery deep red reflected on clouds after volcanic eruptions.

May 25 2011
Not only have the ash particles arrived; but the effect is identical to the Eyjafjallajökull eruption of April, 2010. Beautiful blue skies, not a cloud in the sky, clean intense colour, a clean intense light. Do volcanic eruptions clean the atmosphere?

On the far horizon a slight brownish haze can be seen; but the skies overhead are the cleanest shades of blue. I suspect the sunlight is interacting with these particles in a different way. It is a kind of living alchemy. I imagine there must be chemical reactions taking place up there that are a part of maintaining life on this planet.

The sunlight is so intense that it is bringing out the depth of colour in the leaves of the trees. Even more interesting is that whatever is released from the volcano is being breathed by us surface dwellers. We are breathing volcanoes!

Just as happened a few days after the Eyjafjallajökull eruption, breathing the air outside for an hour or longer causes a slight dryness and irritation in the throat and a dryness in the nose (if you breathe through the nose).

I know for a fact that whatever came out of that volcano does not stay way up there in the upper atmosphere; but that the particles, chemicals and fine dust also cruise at ground level. In fact, maybe the lower strata eruption never was way up there in the atmosphere! Maybe the effect travelled all the way from Iceland at ground level and above .. Viking protons ..

Grimsvötn spewed more ash and rock in the first 24 hours than the Eyjafjallajökull 2010 eruption emitted over 40 days. Grimsvötn was a much bigger eruption in a much shorter time.

Grimsvötn is a civilisation changing volcano. It has cataclysmic potential. But, Like Eyjafjallajökull the volcano also has the potential to create beautiful skies.

Grimsvötn

Grimsvötn, situated in central Iceland at the Vatnajokull ice cap, is one of Iceland's most active volcanoes. I think we seriously do not understand eruptive cycles - but one day we will! These eruptive cycles have patterns. Long count patterns in which the volcanic activity is ongoing.

It is stupid to think that the explosive eruption (the release of magma, ash and plumes of steam) are single events. The activity is part of an ongoing cycle we do not see most of the time as it happens deep under the earth's crust. The visible eruptions are the above-the-surface phase of deep patterns of volcanic activity.

The danger with Grimsvötn is that one pattern of activity shows as an extended eruption of magma and ash over longer periods before the volcanic activity subsides back below the crust.

November 4/5, 1684 - January 1685: Subgalacial eruption, explosive eruption, fatalities, damage to land/property.
May (?) 1783 - May 26 1783: Regional fissure eruption, Sub-glacial eruption, explosive eruption, lava flows, fatalities, damage to land/property, evacuations.

Historically, eruptions from Grimsvötn can be of longer duration and they can be a lot stronger and much more devastating than observed in our current time. We are sitting here in ignorance and we do not really know the long cycle. However, what we do know is that this eruption is more powerful and is sending out very thick ash clouds, causing havoc in Iceland.

When Eyjafjallajökull erupted in April 2010 the ash clouds were carried away from Iceland because of the wind directions at the time. In May, 2011 the ash is being blown over the Island rather than out to sea. Grimsvötn volcano is close to the center of Iceland while Eyjafjallajökull lies with Katla on the South coast.

In the 1600s eruptions from Grimsvötn were extremely destructive and are known to have continued over months. This is a very dangerous volcano, due to its central inland location and its size. It seems to vent off for short periods over hundreds of years and yet within those cycles the volcano does produce dangerous eruptions.

I could be wrong? But I wonder if the extreme eruption cycles correspond to the weather or climate cycles? In other words, the Earth's temperatures rise and fall over thousands of years. We humans are vaguely aware of the shorter hundred year(s) temperature curve change. Scientists can see geologically that the Earth's temperature varies over hundreds and over tens of thousands of years.

I imagine the Earth weather is steered by magnetic and electromagnetic fields; but so are the volcanoes and perhaps also the Ocean temperatures. It would make sense to have the whole natural system on one circuit. That would probably tie in with the Sun. Taking this further the whole system ties in to the center of the Galaxy and so 'electromagnetic fields' is a primitive understanding of this vast system.

If I am correct, then this is coming from the center of the Galaxy, it affects the Suns and transfers through to the Planets throughout the whole Galaxy. Changes in (ion) frequency do not only trigger Earthquakes and volcanic eruptions; but these invisible rays (or fields) change the particle composition of the magma in ways we cannot yet detect.

The ash clouds are dispersed carrying the new field into the atmosphere in the form of aerosols and atomic particles. Our system is not a static set foundation with set codes that cannot be changed. Our system is open and set for change, with the command control coming from the center of the Galaxy.

The base 3D structure is open for change.

Unseen and undetected particles so fine we do not know they exist spew out of Grimsvötn and cover a much wider field than the more dense ash clouds and spreading fine particle volcanic dust. I will only know when I see changes in the sky if they travel so fast that they travel days ahead of the ash cloud.

If this Planetary upgrade is as big as I think it is then formerly extinct volcanoes will become active. Extinct volcanoes are a key element that the Earth does not need too often; but I am sure there are civilizations in the past who experienced what we are experiencing now, when suddenly a volcano comes to life.

I think those are exceptional times; but also that we are living in exceptional times. If that happens those volcanoes will be command control of an exceptional change and transformation on the Earth. The next hundred years will see very interesting times...

Will Grimsvötn Bring Rain To Europe?

In the future people will not be studying 'theological textbooks'; but people will be observing and studying nature in all its forms and will share their understanding of the world we live on. Discovering the cycles, understanding the cycles and respecting the cycles.

As Europe suffers a very serious four month 2011 Spring drought, where the rains simply did not fall and the cooler Spring months were more like a hot Summer, now Iceland's Grimsvötn erupts!

Being 'volcanically illiterate' I do not know what this eruption will bring; but I am interested to find out and so I will observe and learn. Part of learning is imagination. You can observe something and try to figure things out for yourself using your imagination.

People's first reaction has been Grimsvötn = think Eyjafjallajökull / Airports .. however, I studied the images and I thought 'rain'. I know that it could go the other way and have the effect of drying out the atmosphere and worsening the drought. If the eruption is big enough then it could potentially change the climate and bring rain.

I wonder if volcanic activity is also the Earth's way of regulating the climate in times of extreme heat across various natural climate cycles where temperature changes are more extreme.

This is quite exciting, because if the eruption is large enough and it does cool the atmosphere/climate, then it may create perfect conditions for rain and that would show (or prove) that the planet's intelligence is a dynamic living system tuned to a very fine frequency.

Of course, the Earth is providing all the conditions for life, otherwise we would not exist. I am thinking that the volcanic ash and cloud (electrical charge) can alter the cycle of dry weather that has remained in place for many months. I will only understand completely what I am seeing by January/February 2012.

Reports are suggesting the May 21, 2011 Grimsvötn eruption is the largest for this volcano in the last 100 years. The magma flow and clouds of ash are currently greater than those witnessed at Eyjafjallajökull in 2010.

I did a bit of research and discovered evidence that increased volcanic activity does regulate the weather and initiate climatic change:

Volcanic Eruption Increases Rainfall in Southeast Asia
Scientists studying tree rings over the past to demonstrate that the majority of volcanic eruptions can increase the rainfall in Southeast Asia thus challenging the common perception that the volcano as a catastrophic destruction.

Scientists studying tree rings over the past to demonstrate that the majority of volcanic eruptions can increase the rainfall in Southeast Asia thus challenging the common perception that the volcano as a catastrophic destruction.

Japan's Shinmoedake Volcano Explosive Eruptions

Mount Shinmoedake is one dangerous volcano. A massive explosion from the crater today, February 1st - shattered windows up to 8 kilometers away, felling trees with the shock of the blast. Over a thousand local people have been advised to evacuate as the danger of landslides and lava flow have increased.

This eruption is beginning to look like a very dangerous eruption. What I find again strange is that the last really violent eruption from this volcano took place in February, 1717 with level 3 eruptions from the crater.

Eruptions from Southern japan's Shinmoedake peak are similar to eruptions that took place in 1716 - 300 years ago... See the historical report @ Daily Yomiyuri, Volcanic experts have sounded an ominous warning about the recent eruptions on Shinmoedake peak, saying they closely resemble highly destructive blasts that occurred there nearly 300 years ago.

Japan's 1716 series of violent eruptions from Shinmoedake volcano at Kirishima mountain range, began on March 11, with Central vent eruption, Crater lake eruption, Explosive eruption, Phreatic explosion(s), Mudflow(s), (lahars).

Eruptive Characteristics of Shinmoedake's November 9, 1716 eruptions to February 13, 1717 were: Central vent eruption, Explosive eruption, Pyroclastic flow(s), Fatalities Damage (land, property, etc.), Mudflow(s,) (lahars) - as listed at Volcano.si.edu

On 28 January, 2011 volcanic experts in Japan had observed a lava dome of 50 meters in diameter as the volcano reaches the lava eruption stage. However, the experts say that the 'Edo Period' eruptions were 10 times bigger than the current eruptions. The 1717 eruptions are classed as a VEI 3 (severe), classification Vulcanian/Peléan, ejecta volume 10,000,000 m³, 3-15 km plume.

Residents in South Japan are evacuating the area as the eruptions become more violent. Ash from the eruption has reached over 17 cities in the surrounding area. On January 31 the volcano showed signs of being close to molten lava flows as the lava dome increased from 10 meters in diameter to 500 meters in diameter.

Not Yellowstone! Anak Krakatau Explodes!

While the cerebral web indulges in media games of an imminent eruption of a super volcano at Yellowstone, Anak Krakatau in Indonesia erupts explosively sending impressive ash clouds high into the skies. While in Japan (not yellowstone) one of Mount Kirishima's many calderas erupted prompting 2 kilometer evacuations of the area around the volcano.

The explosive eruption of volcanic gas from Anak Krakatau (near Jakarta) were joined by explosions at Mount Bromo, Indonesia (South of Jakarta) - to be joined by powerful eruptions at Mount Kirishima, Japan.
[BigThink on the Yellowstone Travesty]

Inflations of the ground above the caldera at Yellowstone do not signal that a so-called "super eruption" is imminent, nor that an eruption at Yellowstone will destroy the United States. It is almost like these people have a 'death wish'.

In real time, on the other side of the world, three volcanoes are erupting along the Pacific Ring of Fire. A chorus of volcanic eruptions inside the Ring of Fire would be more dangerous than an eruption at Yellowstone.

In the last few days two serious volcanoes have exploded inside the Java Trench and one serious volcano has exploded on the Ryukyu Trench. These ongoing ash explosions together with other volcanic activity this year will effect the world's weather for years to come.

It may be that much needed rain will fall in areas that have been suffering from years of drought. It may be that too much rain will fall creating more devastating floods. These eruptions are not a short attention span event and lets get on with our lives. These eruptions are geo-landscaping the planet we live on.

I don't think any of this will be an overnight change. This volcanic geo-engineering is going to last the next 100 years as 'extinct' volcanoes come back to life... But that is what they are there for. Extinct volcanoes become active over life spans we cannot imagine. We are living on a planet that undergoes significant change over long era cycles.

The challenge to us humans is to become aware of those cycles and adapt. Over the next two hundred years humans are going to see incredible changes on this planet. Those coming changes are not 'bad', they simply are what they are - and we are going to have to change our lifestyles accordingly.

It is not usual for people today to see large increases in long term powerful volcanic eruptions. So, people are reacting to these changes with the mind of the past. The good thing is that serious study of 'Volcanology' will now increase exponentially as their skills will be called on as part of a larger cultural adaptation.

Be happy that Yellowstone has not erupted and hope it stays that way. Until now the stress factor is not on the Yellowstone Caldera; but is on the Pacific Ring of Fire. Do your own research and find out what is really happening to the planet you live on.

Mount Kirishima generally produces level 2 explosions [Volcanic Explosivity Index (VEI)], the last level 2 activity was February 13, 1959 with significant activity. However, in 1716 and again in 1717 the volcano produced Level 3 activity - and in 788 AD the volcano produced level 4 activity. volcano.si.edu

The most interesting challenge facing society now is the disruption to air traffic. Most headlines around level 1 or level 2 ash explosions are concerned with flight cancellations. In the 1950's there was not the high level of air traffic that we have today. Both Japan's Kirishima eruption and Indonesia's Bromo ash explosions have caused extensive flight disruption and flight cancellations, creating no-fly zones while shutting down airports.

Do you want to see what a level 8 Super Volcanic Explosivity Index looks like? It's called: Glencoe, Scotland .. hahahahaha .. I don't think we will be seeing one of those for a while!

Earth's Magnetic Field: Etna Erupts Queensland Floods

On Wednesday 12 January, 2011 Mount Etna in Sicily erupted with its first lava flow, turning the night sky a spectacular red. On the other side of the world in Queensland, Australia flooding spread into Brisbane after completely submerging the town of Toowoomba. Experts say that the La Nina effect is the cause of Australia's severe flooding. Changes in La Nina also affects California, Brazil, Philippines and Sri Lanka.

The headlines are: Queensland flooding linked to La Nina phenomenon. I read statements such as, the current La Nina weather phenomenon is the strongest in the world to date .. duh! How can that be when historically Queensland has experienced higher levels of flooding than the current levels.

People did not always have cameras and people could not always fly over and look down from the air. In 1606 a Dutch Captain first met with Indigenous inhabitants of Australia and Merchant ships were sailing there until 1770. By 1791, on behalf of the King of England, colonization began to push beyond the trading agreements the visiting ships had with the local Indigenous People. Only recently, over the last few years, have we begun to observe weather events from Satellites and using Remote Sensing Technologies. We don't really know the long term cycle of flooding patterns - not only in Australia but across the planet.

The only feature that has changed dramatically is the rapidly growing urbanization of those areas. It could be that the flooded areas have a long term pattern of severe flooding as part of the Earth's natural life giving bio-cycle. Perhaps we have to recognize when we are sitting on the 'hot spots'.

The Earth provides water and everything associated with life. The Earth provided you (the observer) with a body that you can use to explore life on this planet. If you stop to think about it you are made from the Earth - she gave you (clothed you) in a body, your own little biosphere. The Earth gives you stone and wood to build your shelters and our plant and animal brothers and sisters provide clothing and protection for our feet.

Unfortunately, we have become a very myopic society. Not only short sighted in terms of vision, but extremely short sighted in our thinking. How can La Nina alone cause everything we are seeing? Humans have such a disjointed way of looking at the world. The only missing link that the Earth did not provide is intelligence. It seems we have to bring that with us or create our own wealth of intelligence through interactions with the Earth.

Earth's Magnetic Field
We have the ability to view the whole activity of Planet Earth and the Sun from satellites orbiting high in the Earth's atmosphere. But human intelligence, when it is functioning, is connected to the Earth, the oceans, the atmosphere and the magnetic field.

Water responds to a magnetic field and so does magma. La Nina is probably a larger visible response to the Earth's magnetism. So, my Unified Field Theory is that everything we are seeing on the Earth is a unified response to a Unified Field. Magma and water are magnetic - they both respond to magnetic fluctuations.

I think there are layers of magnetic field density that define the different functions of the Earth's atmosphere from ground level and below ground level, to the point where our atmosphere touches space. In my mind fluctuations in the magnetic field would control the water levels and the magma levels.

I have been studying this for months, observing many pieces of the puzzle to see what happens. Let's say since the Eyjafjallajokull eruptions on Iceland in April 2010 the magma levels and the water levels have been rising all over the Earth.

I think these floods and the magma activation are following the flow of energy along the invisible dragon lines, the magnetic arteries of the Earth. I feel that there is an unseen levitation factor to the water (level) being lifted and sustained as part of feeding the flooded areas.

If I am correct and the dragon lines change, it will alter the ecology of many areas around the planet. Dry areas may see long term flooding or rain will come to arid areas not used to such large amounts of water. The dragon energy lines do not have to change direction, they can also change in intensity. A low field can become highly charged and a high field can drop to a low charge. That alone will alter the local climate.

In my Unified Field Theory La Nina is not the cause; but is a visible aspect of the background force simultaneously moving all weather behaviour throughout the planet. La Nina may be the 'hearts pump' - but what is pumping the heart? Magnetism!

If you lookout over the ocean or a large lake you can feel the intensity of the magnetic field from that body of water. In that respect I wonder is the shock wave of a Tsunami a powerful release of magnetic force as the water rides on the rolling magnetism?

If you look at the powerful swirling movements of fast flowing water it seems like the physical embodiment of magnetic current. So, there is magnetism and it's physical embodiment (water), and together they give birth to and maintain life.

Even in a desert, nothing survives without water.

Current theories of volcanism explain that magma pushes up and drives out of the Earth with explosive force (pressure). The key word is 'push'. I don't think so. If you watch carefully the ash seems to be sucked out as though it is effortlessly dancing up to meet another force. The hot fiery magma flow splutters and dances as though responding to a lighter than air unseen force. The magnetic vortex above the volcano pulls the magma up. It's a magnetic key.

La Nina is not a cause, it is an indicator. La Nina is like a ships navigation compass. It reveals changes in magnetic flux. By the time the volcanoes erupt or the rivers flood, we don't see it coming because we are not understanding the local magnetic artery. The ley lines and dragon lines were known to our ancestors, some mapped out on the surface of the Earth and others under the sea. They could map the current flow (energy) inside the crust of the Earth. Depending on how the current changes, water could return to the driest places on Earth.

Mt Etna Awakens With Strombian Explosions

It was an educated guess when I wrote in December:
Mount Etna is overdue for an eruption if the earlier pattern of Vulcanology is anything to go by. Preceding patterns of Etna's eruptions listed on the USGS 'Global Volcanism Program' site, reveals the last activity was in May 2008: "6-km-long lava flow; ash emissions; 13 May 2008 opening of a new eruptive fissure". The last 2 year no-activity phase was 1972-1973, after which Etna began a lengthy but gentle series of activity until May 2008:
12/1971 (CSLP 33-71)
Periodic explosions from La Voragine crater
02/1974 (CSLP 20-74)
W-flank eruption rapidly builds cone; explosions and lava flows

Erik Klemetti @ BigThink.com reported that .. Etna has also greeted the new year with some new strombolian explosions and impressive fountaining early Monday morning (1/3).

If I were a Vulcan(spock)ologist that would fascinate me... I mean, how is it that volcanoes have patterns of behaviour? What is behind this? Where do volcanoes get their timing from? What does this tell us about the Earth we live on?

The Italian National Institute of Geophysics and Volcanology reported Monday that Mount Etna has once again become active - erupting large amounts of ash and rocks. The eruption at Mount Etna is accompanied by the ejection of volcanic ‘bombs’ (large stones) with large amounts of ash in the area southeast of the crater on Monday night.

Mount Etna is Europe’s highest and most active volcano. Etna’s most powerful recorded eruption was in 1669, when explosions destroyed part of the summit and lava flows from a fissure on the volcano’s flank reached the sea and the town of Catania, more than ten miles away.

An interesting fact: In 122 BC, when an explosive eruption rained so much ash and lapilli onto the town of Catania that many of its buildings were destroyed by roof collapses, the town’s inhabitants were exempted from paying taxes to Rome for ten years. Geology.com

Is Etna long overdue for a big one?

Are the big volcanoes on Earth the prime tension joints whose activity is designed to take the stress and release it, because they are big enough and strong enough to do the job? Recently (and not unrelated), a giant solar explosion spread across an entire hemisphere of the sun's surface caused NASA to reconsider the sun's activity.

NASA Science News released: Global Eruption Rocks the Sun.
Dec. 13, 2010: On August 1, 2010, an entire hemisphere of the sun erupted. Filaments of magnetism snapped and exploded, shock waves raced across the stellar surface, billion-ton clouds of hot gas billowed into space. Astronomers knew they had witnessed something big.
It was so big, it may have shattered old ideas about solar activity.

It would have to be the same for the Earth .. I mean that the whole planet is affected by large movements in the planet's core magnetism that all at once alter the continental plates, weather streams, magma, volcanic activity (or create a decrease in activity).

We could probably better understand this observing how the outer planets of our Solar System react. Perhaps they are mirrors, to help us better understand our own world. I find it hard to understand why scientists divide local tectonic and volcanism into tiny areas unrelated to the whole and imagine that activity in one area is not related to activity elsewhere on the Earth.

I don't know why; but I have this feeling that the Earth's volcanoes have an important role to play in the restructuring of the planet and restructuring the future. Volcanoes play a much bigger long term role in altering societies than we realise. Not only on the surface of the planet (above sea level), as I am sure underwater volcanoes are just as relevant.

Lava flows from a volcano can be catastrophic for the people and the land around the base of the volcano; but as years pass and the lava cools that land becomes highly fertile. The cooling volcanic soil is rich in nutrients and is of high value to farming communities. In those first moments a volcano can destroy lives, livestock, farmland and homes - but later the process of that eruption create life and is a source of wealth for people in the future.

Volcanoes are almost Zen like, with the breath of death and life contained in one event.

Volcanic Jet Stream Weather Dragon(s)

If I were living in Tolkien's Middle-Earth I would probably say: The Icelandic Dragon Eyjafjallajokull issued from the top of the mountain, whose roar and breath of fire and smoke was so loud that he awoke the great slumbering Indonesian Dragon the people call Merapa. Rising high on the air currents above their mountain abodes, the two dragons took form within the great winds of the Earth. Their serpent like bodies coiled around the planet. In their rage they soared inside the great mother winds of the Earth, changing the great lands before them...

In Lord of The Rings, Tolkien wrote: "It does not do to leave a live dragon out of your calculations, if you live near him"

Unfortunately, this has to be translated back into the analytic language of the current world mind-set, in terms of 'volcanoes', 'volcanic activity', eruptions and how certain key and well positioned volcanoes send their ash clouds directly into the 'Jet Stream', altering weather cycles and climate.

The Jet Stream is said to steer Atlantic low pressure systems. In reality this is a highly complex multi-layered barely understood living dynamic system that cannot be divided into individual parts. The mechanical parts list sun activity, ocean temperatures, La Nina, the Great Ocean Conveyor and volcanic activity (or not).

In April 2010 the ash and particles from the eruption of Eyjafjallajokull, in Iceland, were circulated around the globe via the North Atlantic Jet Stream. These climate changing charged particles were rapidly carried in a stream across Europe and into the Middle East. The December 2010 path of cold weather and increased precipitation is similarly following the volcanic ash cloud/particles released in April. I would call this the Dragon's tail.

Severe weather, flooding and unusual snowfall have reached beyond Turkey into drought stricken countries in the Middle East. Lebanon, Egypt and Greece have been pounded by high winds, snow, hail and heavy rain. Isn't that whole area where Eyjafjallajokull's volcanic particles breathed currents of life (charged particles) into the high flowing Jet Stream?

In November, 2010 Mount Merapi in Indonesia began to seriously erupt and those magnetic particles were also carried high into the planet's atmospheric arteries. Iceland's Eyjafjallajokull and Indonesia's Merapi volcanoes are connected to the path of the: Ocean's Thermohaline Conveyor System, resonsible for transporting warm salty waters into the North Atlantic.

Gulf Stream slows 30% in last 50 years

I feel that current volcanic activity around the planet is altering the Earth's weather thermostat in ways we do not yet understand. The biggest part of a volcanic eruption, the Dragon's breath, travels unseen and undetected -- unless there are spectacular sunsets for the eye to see.

The Jet Stream determined the position and direction of the volcanic ash cloud over Europe during the April 2010 eruption. Earth scientists describe the Jet Stream as a concentrated narrow stream of 'strong winds' - but this stream surely has to be a charged magnetic current of the Earth.

Wind (verb), O.E windan - to turn, twist [vortex]; where the wind (noun) means a current of air. Well, what else has a current? Electricity? Magnetism? Electro-magnetic current? Lava-flow? Lightning in volcanic ash plumes?

In the early 90's volcanologists claimed that the Jet Stream stops volcanic ash plumes from rising higher into the atmosphere, they cap the rise of the ash plume and I would say, the Jet Stream transports the ash around the planet (diluting it). In my mind the two forces - Jet stream current and the ash plume current - have to be similar [attract each other].

Why doesn't volcanic ash plume just spread out in a dense cloud and drift around at ground level? Because their current is designed to interact through magnetic attraction to the current in the atmosphere. There is this dynamic electrical highly charged attraction between volcano [Earth] and atmosphere [sky]. It's all magnetism...

Is the recent volcanic venting experienced throughout 2010 a catalyst for the deep winter weather we are seeing?

In my mind the Gulf Stream Current, the Jet Stream and the Great Ocean Conveyor Current have to interact (act together). Obviously they are not unrelated to each other. Therefore, what part does vulcanism play in fine-tuning these regulators of the Earth's climate?

That also means periods of relative inactivity as well as periods of increased volcanic activity, or what could lie ahead: a multi-venting of the planet's volcanoes within shared-venting time periods.

Over the last thousand to two thousand years continents on Earth have experienced low levels of volcanic venting. By that I mean a volcano here, a volcano there with long periods of quiet. We have forgotten as a planetary species what it means to experience: "Lots of them and all at once." As Bilbo Baggins might say.

Mystifying and dangerous, volcanoes also breathe life into the atmosphere. We see them and we hear them; but we barely understand their behaviour and their effects on the world's climate.

New Moon Volcanic Eruption Ecuador

Ecuador's Tungurahua volcano erupted Saturday, December 4 2010, sending ash and lava a mile into the sky. This volcano in Central Ecuador began to show increasing activity on November 22, ejecting volcanic blocks (rock fragments) from the summit. As reported on USGS Weekly: Satellite imagery on 29 November showed an increase in sulfur dioxide concentrations around the volcano.

In Quechua, the Native South American language, Tungurahua means 'throat of fire'. This stratovolcano - over 16,000 feet high - began its approximately 100 year eruption cycle in 1999, melting the small mountaintop glacier. The volcano has been active with ongoing periodic eruptions since then.

Timing (time of year/seasons) and circumstance play a part in volcanic upheavals and the effects they will have on weather patterns. This current zone of activity, happening in the winter months of the Earth's orbit, is the 'danger zone'. The planet may be facing a prolonged series of extended volcanic activity in the years ahead before any of this quietens down again.

The most recent series of eruptions in volcanic active regions of the world have been in less densely populated mountainous areas than, say Italy. From observing the increase and timing of quite violent eruptions, I would surmise that Etna or Vesuvius could potentially become just as spectacular as Mount Merapi in Indonesia. Even more so with Mount Fuji in Japan. Similarly, Iceland's Eyjafjallajökul or Katla eruptions could have an equally spectacular affect because the ash drifts across much of continental Europe.

Mount Etna is overdue for an eruption if the earlier pattern of Vulcanology is anything to go by. Preceding patterns of Etna's eruptions listed on the USGS 'Global Volcanism Program' site, reveals the last activity was in May 2008: "6-km-long lava flow; ash emissions; 13 May 2008 opening of a new eruptive fissure". The last 2 year no-activity phase was 1972-1973, after which Etna began a lengthy but gentle series of activity until May 2008:

12/1971 (CSLP 33-71)
Periodic explosions from La Voragine crater
02/1974 (CSLP 20-74)
W-flank eruption rapidly builds cone; explosions and lava flows

Many of the volcanoes erupting now, between November/October 2010 and February/March 2011, are known as 'active volcanoes'.. and my theory is that when you put these active volcanoes together with seasonal timing of the eruptions you have the potential for catastrophic devastation depending on the position of the Earth's orbit when the volcanoes erupt.

Apart from letting off steam and releasing pressure from deeper activity around the Earth's layered fault lines - volcanoes stimulate the forces of life on Earth. They are 'bringers of death' and they are also the 'givers of life'. They breathe life into the atmosphere, they fertilize the soil and sometimes they even create Islands in the sea.

The new cycle of erupting volcanoes are relieving pressure and stress from within the Earth, as we are definitely entering a new zone of the planet's volcanic activity. It has been relatively quiet down here on this planet in terms of volcanic devastation over the last 200 years or so.. but things are heating up again (as is part of the natural cycle). Apart from the danger and destruction, it is fascinating how life is sustained under pressure by these fiery giants.

Volcano Whisperer(s)

Indonesia's appointed 'Mystical Keeper of The Volcano', Mbah Maridjan, had defied government orders to evacuate his home as Mount Merapi burst to life. Keeper Maridjan’s charred body was later found in the ruins of his home, prostrated, forehead to the floor, in a position of prayer. People with him also died as they tried to convince him to leave...

Published in the New York Times, an article about Mbah Maridjan - Volcano Keeper Becomes a Lightning Rod in Indonesia .. attempted to deal with issues people all over the world are wondering about. Issues of the unknown and the human beings relationship with the unknown.

Having observed the chatter and discussions about the Volcano Keeper's death, it occurred to me that there is an aspect to this story that materialists cannot understand .. and 'death' is a real problem for the material mind.

An earthquake can tear apart a village and it can also tear apart a city. A volcano eruption can cover a town or village in lava or ash and it can also cover a city in ash and totally disrupt the lives of all communities downwind of the ash clouds.

Let us wander on another trail far off the beaten track to observe the landscape beyond science and beyond logic, because science and logic do not have all the answers .. '.)

No one talks about (or understands) the people's love for the volcano .. those who are afraid of physical death live in perpetual fear .. and that covers the 'majority' of people on Earth today. We who enter physical existence are born to die and yet we fear death!

Perhaps Indonesia's Volcano Whisperer did not fear death .. and even worse than that .. perhaps he loved the volcano more than he loved life.

Hundred's of ordinary Indonesian farmers died since Merapi's eruptions began, because they returned to feed their cattle .. they also died returning to the place they loved. From a Celtic perspective their MINDS as well as their hearts were part of the land and part of the volcano.

Science will never be able to analyse, categorize nor explain 'love'. Only love can understand love... only truth can understand truth... these are simple concepts as old as mankind. The people who died returning to their land were genetically part of the volcano, their physical bodies were (over generations) affected by the volcano .. these people are a part of the volcano. Perhaps most important of all is that those who returned were not AFRAID of the volcano .. even when it was erupting.

To a human planetary species in 2010, who live to consume the planet at all costs and who see the Earth's resources as a commodity .. to buy and sell .. the people who breathe the essence of the land they live in and who love the Earth as their own children... Those people are seen as something to be moved out of the way.

What is a 'city' but an artificial environment? How many people die each day of 'city life'? How many die of air pollution in cities or from water pollution and from the cars and the hectic way of life? How many more people die each day killed by the city or town they live in? Which is more dangerous, a volcano or a city? Personally, I consider cities and city life more dangerous than a volcano, because a human being can die a natural death or a human being can die before they are dead. Which would you prefer?

No one can comment on or even pretend to judge the so-called stupid people who died in Indonesia because they did not listen to warnings to stay away from the evacuation areas .. because unless you have walked in their shoes .. you don't know what you are talking about.

Volcanoes are strange creatures .. they dramatically breathe both life and death into the Earth.

Volcanoes send essential nutrients, minerals, particles and electro-magnetic ions into the atmosphere of our world .. particles essential to life. They breathe life around the planet as they destroy life closest to them. They feed and enrich the soil. The lava and ash first destroy and then breed new life into the land.

The most difficult to understand for the material mind is the 'initiation' of the spirit that is beyond physical 3D reality. The strange and unseen world where the physical, charred body of Indonesia's Volcano Whisperer is left bowed to the ground as though in prayer, while his spirit becomes part of the spirit of the volcano.

To understand this one would have to have the eyes of spirit open and be aware of death while alive or understand my Celtic Saying: "Never criticize the death of another until you have died yourself."

Keywords: Socrates - The Cave dwellers

Volcanic Eruption Benue State Nigeria

Official Volcanic activity reporting sites and world media ignore the volcanic eruptions at Abelakpam Mountain in Mkomon District of Kwande, Nigeria.

The Nigerian Government are ignoring the eruption that took place around November 4 in Benue State .. official global volcanism programs are not reporting the recent seismic and volcanic activity in the region of the Biu Volcano, Nigeria. I find this hard to believe .. because, if a volcano erupted on Mars it would be headline news around the world .. Newsweek, Discovery TV, National Geographic, CNN ..

In the rush to ignore this event everyone is missing the most significant fact, and that is the TIMING of the eruption in the middle of nowhere, in the mountains of Nigeria. This eruption happened at a time when Indonesia was exploding, Iceland was rumbling as Grimsvötn began melting tons of ice after the Mentawai tsunami and as Mt. Bulusan in the Philippines began to spew steam and ash. Therefore, it is tectonically relevant that tremors and an eruption also followed in Benue State.

Makurdi — The Conference of Nigeria Political Parties (CNPP), Benue State chapter, has condemned the lukewarm attitude of the Benue State government to the volcanic eruptions at Abelakpam Mountain in Mkomon District of Kwande Local Government Area, saying it shows lack of value for human lives. AllAfrica.com

Last week's volcanic eruption in the Mkomoh District of Kwande Local Government Area of Benue State, which claimed one life, has, indeed, sent warning signs to the government and people of the state, as there are still areas in the state prone to future volcanic disturbances.

Kwande Volcanic Eruption: 11 November, 2010 - Residents of Makurdi are now living in fear following reports of uncommon happenings at the mountainous Mkomon community in Kwande Local Government Area of Benue State where a volcanic eruption claimed two lives while property worth millions of Naira have also been destroyed.

The latest incident in Mkomon is the fourth in the series of eruptions in the rather forgotten community some six hours drive from Makurdi most of which is done by motorcycle popularly known as Okada. The first eruption in the community occurred as far back as 26 years ago in 1984 followed by others in 2005 and 2009.

Unfortunately nothing was done by way of an indepth study to pre-empt further occurrence until the latest incident. But unlike the case a few days ago, the earlier eruptions recorded in the mountainous community did little or no damage at all to inhabitants of the area that also borders Cameroun Republic.

The community of predominantly farmers consisting of Ityuluv-Niev, Injor Niev-ya and Iwa Niev-ya natives has been devastated and cut off from the rest of the world, no thanks to a volcanic eruption that was preceded by heavy tremor that saw rocks crashing down from the hill and destroying farmlands and houses in its wake.

Narrating their ordeal to newsmen who thronged the community to see things for themselves, the kindred head of Mkomon, Chief Gabriel Aja, explained that on November 4, 2010, the entire district was terrified by a heavy vibration never experienced before.

Chief Aja who conducted journalists many kilometres around the disaster sites also grieved over the loss of his 30-year-old nephew, Mr. Shaaka Aja, who died in the incident alongside a teenager. He said: "We could do nothing but just leave our fate to God", adding that the magma emitted from the eruption has not only polluted their only source of potable water, the KIPAM Stream, but that crops and houses worth several millions of Naira have also been destroyed.

Chief Aja's tale was also corroborated by a former chairman of Kwande local government, Akombo Ande Akombo, who lamented the neglect of the people by the State government in spite of repeated eruptions in the community.

Meanwhile, a geologist with the University of Agriculture, Mr. Abagyegh Ingyorokogh, has described the emissions at Abelakpa Mountain as a "function of geological forces" within the earth crust where magma substances boil, thereby forcing the earth to crack.

Mr. Ingyorokogh further said the magma could travel a long distance and cause great havoc depending on the space of the crack on the mountain which is occasioned by tensional forces under the earth.

The geologist who suggested that an indepth scientific research be carried out around the mountain to determine the level of volcanic threat to the lives of the people, called on the Federal Government to construct protective demarcation lines around the mountain and also evacuate the people from any looming future occurrence.

Also commenting on the incident, an environmentalist, Mr. Hyacinth Vaatyough, with Environmental Space Agency, Abuja said it was a volcanic slide, warning the people against drinking water, including rain water, likely to have been contaminated by the magma.

Meanwhile, as the community continue to live in fear of the unknown they have also made a passionate appeal to the state and federal governments to come to their rescue since the only available bridge in the community had been cut into pieces and water gushing from the eruption sight has also flooded parts of the community.

Volcanoes Can Take One by Surprise

Eyjafjallajokull
(almost the) 2010 Place of the Year

By Jan Zalasiewicz

Volcanoes can take one by surprise. That was the case with Mount St. Helens, that famously erupted sideways rather than upwards, and it was certainly so, two millennia back, when sleeping Vesuvius awoke to bury Pompeii and many of its citizens. Eyjafjallajokull may not have been quite so dramatic, but its effects, in tearing a large hole in our complex and delicate network of global airline communication, certainly rippled around the world.

To a geologist, the presence of a volcano on Iceland isn’t at all surprising. After all, Iceland is literally, and continuously, splitting apart, as this island sits exactly on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge. That mighty planet-sized fracture is continuously oozing magma, as the Americas pull ever farther apart – by a couple of centimeters a year, maintained for over a hundred million years – from Africa and Europe.

What raised a few eyebrows, though (mine, for sure) was the sheer filthiness of the eruption, and the amount of ash that it hurled high into the atmosphere, to the alarm of airline companies just about everywhere. For volcanoes that sit astride mid-ocean ridges are by nature generally placid by nature. For sure, they produce what seem like spectacular firework displays for the TV cameras, and flowing lava can, here and there, play merry hell with real estate values.

This is nothing, though, compared to the paroxysmal eruptions – Krakatoa, Pinatubo and the like – that occur in those parts of the world where tectonic plates are colliding. The violence of such cataclysms can destroy a whole country (and even Krakatoa was small compared to the great eruptions of the deep geological past). So why was Eyjafjallajokull trying to behave like one of the bad boys?

One answer is ice. Lying far north, Iceland is a land not just of volcanoes but of glaciers too – one of which lies on top of Eyjafjallajokull. As the uprushing magma came into contact with this, the ice flashed into steam, the expansion of which added quite a bit of oomph to the eruption. The lava, in turn, rapidly chilled by the ice, solidified quickly as it emerged, the thermal stresses shattering it into countless tiny fragments. This produced lots of ash, to be carried high into the atmosphere in the steam-driven (turbo-charged, if you like) eruption plume. It’s a bit (only a bit, mind) like putting a lot of wet wood and leaves on to a bonfire. This was one smoky volcano, and it seriously annoyed the neighbours.

Volcanic ash, of course, is feared by airline pilots, and justifiably so. One of the scariest experiences in all of flight history took place in 1982 when a British Airways Boeing 747, carrying 263 people, flew into an ash cloud from an erupting Indonesian volcano, Mount Galunggung. Ash particles entered the jet engines, melted against the hot metal, and, in effect, clogged them with reconstituted magma. All four engines failed, and the airplane, now completely without power, began to plunge towards the Indian Ocean.

The pilots kept their nerve, and prepared to ditch into the sea, while at the same time trying to restart the engines. The attempts failed until, when just a few thousand meters above the sea, the engines – amazingly – coughed back into life. They were able to fly to Jakarta, and landed safely (though not without difficulty, as the windscreen was almost opaque through being sandblasted by the sharp ash particles).

They had been saved by the same phenomenon that made Eyjafjallajokull such a disruptive volcano: thermal shock. As the stricken airplane descended, the cold air rushing through the lifeless engines chilled the molten ash, freezing it into solid volcanic glass. The chilling was fast enough for thermal stresses to shatter this glass, causing enough of it to break off to allow the engines to re-start. It was a lucky squeak.

That was learning through experience, and it is not the kind of experience that anyone would like to repeat. Hence the caution over Eyjafjallajokull, and the determination to learn from the less dangerous form of experience that can be achieved by good, thoughtful science. Thus, can one specify just what levels of ash in the sky are dangerous? For that, of course, one needs to know as much as possible about the complex paths the ash particles take through the atmosphere, and how they are affected by the forces – turbulence, gravity, electrostatic effects – that act upon them.

One needs to understand the volcanoes better, too. Sitting next to Eyjafjallajokull is Katla. This is a bigger and potentially more threatening volcano that has, in the past, tended to erupt not long after its small and unpronounceable cousin. Will it do so again?

It’s a never-ending story, trying to understand this Earth of ours better, so that we can live more securely and happily upon it. What is certain, though, is that the surprises won’t stop. We’d better get used to that.

Philippine Indonesian Nigerian Volcanoes Get Active

In the Philippenes Sorsogon's Mt Bulusan spewed ash and steam. The ash ejection was observed at 8:11 am on Saturday, with ash clouds drifting over four towns. Although there are no signs of an imminent eruption the volcano continues to vent off steam and ash. Scientists say the hydrothermal disturbance is not expected to result in an eruption.

Eruptions from Indonesia's Mount Merapi are becoming more violent, as scientists warn of a potential mega explosion to come. Geophysicists have become aware of a huge magma resevoir - and are now warning of Merapi's coming mega eruption.

The latest eruption was the biggest so far in the series of ongoing activity, as a new lava dome formed experts are puzzled by the increasing violence of the eruptions. The eruptions Saturday morning (November 6, 2010) was the biggest so far - in over a century - with ash reaching 120 kilometers high.

Mount Merapi Building Up To Another Krakatoa?
A week of ongoing explosive eruptions has "baffled" experts monitoring Merapi because earlier they had predicted that the eruptions following the initial blast last week would ease pressure building up behind a magma dome. Instead the eruptions have intensified. An estimated 50 million cubic meters of volcanic material had been released by 5th of November 2010. NewsTime

On November 3, 2010 Mt Anak Krakatau [Child of Krakatoa] began releasing toxic gases, but an eruption of the volcano is said to be unlikely.

Biu Volcano, Nigeria - Unconfirmed reports from Nigeria were describing the sudden eruption of their only volcano, on November 5, 2010. Nigeria's volcano is located on the Cameroon line in Northeast Nigeria, on a tectonic fault stretching all the way to Sao Tome and Principe, off the West coast of Africa.

Media sources reported tremors shaking the areas were followed by an eruption. The Nigerian media are reporting that the people fleeing the area are cut off after tremors and shaking destroyed roads and bridges. Magma from the eruption has covered the only source of fresh water polluting streams and hand dug wells.

From Volcan-actif "Une éruption serait survenue hier dans la région de Benue, près de la frontière avec le Cameroun. Cette nouvelle est relayée aujourd'hui par plusieurs sites mais le conditionnel est (plus que jamais) de rigueur. J'attend confirmation avant de donner de plus amples précisions... "

An eruption would have occurred yesterday in the Benue region, near the border with Cameroon. This news was relayed today by several sites, but the conditional is (more than ever) practiced. I'm waiting for confirmation before giving more details ...

Nigeria
Biu Volcano - John Seach
10.75 N, 12.00 E
summit elevation 910 m
Volcanic field

Biu Volcano is located in NE Nigeria. The volcanic field sits at the NE end of the Benue trough. The trough is related to the
separation of Africa from South America.

The trough runs from the Niger delta to the Chad basin, and is filled with folded Cretaceous sediments and scarce volcanic rocks with a maximum total thickness of 5500 m. The Benue trough runs parallel to the Cameroon line, which is a tectonic fault stretching from Sao Tome and Principe to Nigeria. Cinder cones and lava flows are located on the Biu Plateau. Eruptions have been dated at 840,000 years ago.

Earthquakes Tsunami Indonesia Erupts

Hundreds of people are missing after a 7.7 earthquake hit off the coast of Sumatra, the same undersea fault that ruptured in 2004 creating a devastating tsunami that spread across the Indian Ocean killing hundreds of thousands of people living on the coast.

Mondays 7.7 quake leveled homes generating a tsunami and killing 154 people, with hundreds more people missing. The ten foot high tsunami has increased the devastation for the people living on these islands. Villages are so remote that rescuers are having trouble reaching the area through continuing rough seas. Officials say ten villages were swept away in the tsunami which spread 600 meters inland, some say that thousands are missing.

Mount Merapi volcano, on the Island of Java also erupted after a series of underground quakes alerted authorities to begin evacuations of the area. Thousands of people living around the volcano fled as the eruptions sent clouds of ash falling onto the land below the volcano. Reports say that a few people were killed by a series of three eruptions.

Why the region is so violent: Like Alaska's volcano-dotted Aleutian Islands, Indonesia's islands lie along a deep-sea trench -- an undersea boundary between two enormous plates in Earth's crust.

In Indonesia's case, the denser crust of the Australian plate is diving beneath the more buoyant crust of the Eurasian plate, forming the Sunda Trench. Friction between the plates heats rock to the melting point, supplying the magma that wells up to form the volcanoes that dot the islands – and triggering the earthquakes.

Similar subduction zones encircle the Pacific, earning the chains of volcanoes that stretch from the Andes to the western Pacific the collective moniker Ring of Fire.

Monday's quake generated a 10-foot tsunami that struck the Mentawai islands, just off the Sumatran coast. The general region has been keeping some seismologists awake at night because it also contains a section of the subduction zone that has been building strain for more than 200 years. If that strain was to be released in one event, the quake would top magnitude 8.5, a so-called great earthquake.

On April 7, 2010 a 7.8 earthquake hit the same region without setting off a tsunami. Indonesia is the fourth most populated nation in the world with 237,556,300 people densely packed on an archipelago and many islands.

Update October 28 - Disaster supplies are still not reaching the quake tsunami zone where clean water, food, blankets, clothing, medical attention, emergency shelter and hygiene kits are urgently needed.

House of Representatives Speaker Marzuki Alie says there is no need for legislators currently on foreign trips to return to Indonesia because of the Mentawai tsunami. Marzuki added that foreign trips were an important part of legislative duties. "The Mentawai people are already taken care of. We must not let the Mentawai tsunami stop us from doing our jobs," Marzuki told reporters in Jakarta on Thursday.

The Indonesian Government, struggling to get emergency supplies to those affected by the latest earthquake announced earlier this month plans to spend 100 Trillion Rp to upgrade their military. The defense minister said that 16.8 billion Rp would be needed for military upgrade over the next five years.