It was by now sure that leaving earlier from the volcano would have been something like suicide… With the little flashlight lamp we brought along the descent towards Skogar was impossible… Waited for the first light and left at ease for a trip downhill… We didn’t know the path and had no map… follow the jeep tracks, the helicopter pilot told us … 15 kilometers and 6 hours later we arrived at Skogar.

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Once it started to get dark an invasion of tourists and cars started gathering in front of the lava stream. Finished the lone hissing sound of earth throwing his inner magma and gases onto its own crust,  we are back in “civilization” with its cars, laughing people… by 3 AM most of the people left, a lonely police car watching the volcano from the upper rim. We are quite freezing but a trip to the lava flow should warm us up. But on arrival the heat has disappeared, the flow apparently stopped and is cooling down slowly. Cold is slowly gaining every cell of our bodies… we decide to start our return around 4.30 PM…

Eruption near Fimmvorduhàls from Olivier Vandeginste on Vimeo.

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Out of the helicopter were are pretty much alone and we can go wherever we want …

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After a late take off from Reykjavik, long sleep after some beers in a bar last night, we drive towards Skogar. The weather is beautiful although a few clouds are announced in the evening. Once arrived in Skogar we start gathering some info about how to get there. Walking is not an option anymore since it takes 6 hours for experienced hikers to get to the Fimvorduhauls pass… We decide to take a helicopter and walk back in the morning…

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Some interesting ash cloud lightning captured in HD in the evening of April 17th 2010 facing Eyjafjallajokull. Underneath an animated gif from the 11 frames that contained the strike in slow motion. A HD video can be watched here, the strike occurs around 23 seconds…

Volcanic ash consists of small tephra, which are bits of pulverized rock and glass created by volcanic eruptions, less than 2 millimetres (0.079 in) in diameter. There are three mechanisms of volcanic ash formation: gas release under decompression causing magmatic eruptions; thermal contraction from chilling on contact with water causing phreatomagmatic eruptions, and ejection of entrained particles during steam eruptions causing phreatic eruptions. The violent nature of volcanic eruptions involving steam results in the magma and solid rock surrounding the vent being torn into particles of clay to sand size. Volcanic ash can lead to breathing problems and malfunctions in machinery.

Volcanic lightning, while frequently observed, is not fully understood. It appears that volcanic lightning formation is somewhat analogous to thunderstorm lightning — produced by a separation of positive and negative charges from colliding materials. In thunderstorms, it is the collision of hail and rain, while in a volcano the collision of ash and solid debris particles causes the positive and negative charges to separate. The smaller and lighter negative charges tend to rise while gravity causes the heavier positive charges to fall. When the charge differential is great enough, a static electricity discharge produces the lightning.

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