Case Study: Iceland

Researching Glaciers, I found so many case studies that I could have focused on for an in-depth study. Each one having unique features that were fascinating. The reason I choose this one is because its a recent event that has happened and the children may have even been affected by it. I also think that its an excellent example of how Human and Physical merge together and affect each other.

Eyjafjallajoekull,Iceland

14th of April 2010



Location map

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/8624748.stm


On the 14th of April 2010, a massive Glacier flood hit Southern Iceland. The Eyjafallajoekull Glacier is situated 75 miles away from Reykjavik, the capital city which is shown on the map.

This Glacier flood was caused by the Eyjafjallajoekull Volcano erupting underneath a 650 foot thick block of Glacier ice on top of the vent. This caused the ice to melt and quickly become a fast flowing river of water. The Volcano is quite steep, so the floodwater came down powerfully and in a very short amount of time.

This was not the first eruption from the Eyjafallajoekull Volcano in the area recently. On the 20th of March 2010 the first eruption happened, this was the first eruption in 200 years for the Eyjafjallajoekull Volcano. There was some follow up eruptions however many thought that the Volcano had quieten down. These presumptions were proved wrong when on the 14th of April there was an emergency night time evacuation of around 800 people in the flood zone area, which was a small town called Hvolsvollur and rural homes that surrounded the Glacier. The previous eruptions did not cause flooding as the active vents were in a mostly Glacier free areas of the landscape.



http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/8624748.stm



The vast amount of water caused local rivers to rise as much as 10 feet, which caused massive floods and the water continues to gush into the ocean. Huge amounts of infrastructure has been weakened or destroyed by this floodwater, such as bridges being damaged and coastal roads that lead to Reykjavik being washed away. There was also a lot of flooding in farm areas leaving them isolated, which is threatening many livelihoods.

One main consequence that caused major distress to Iceland and many other areas of Europe, which was the main reason I choose to do this case study, was the huge plumes of ash that the Volcano caused. The Volcano shot smoke and stream hundreds of metres in the air, which blew across a lot of Europe.

This caused major problems in Iceland as locals were told to wear masks when the ash falls, as its so thick and can cause many respiratory conditions. On the BBC news website, there was an interview conducted with one of the locals for their report, her name was Hannah Andrews.She told BBC that the government of Iceland have recommend that she would be wise to keep her cows and life stock indoors, as the smoke and ash could be lethal if her life stock breathed it in (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/8624748.stm).

This could be devastating for farms as they are not only having to relocate life stock but as previously mentioned they are already struggling with being isolated by the flood.

It also caused massive problems for aviation. The smoke and ash forced many cancellations of flights across Iceland, UK and northern Europe and disrupted all air traffic.

The was some 'positives' (and I say that in a loose term) to the Glacier Floods, as of yet there was no cases of any causalities. The preparation  of the emergency services and the observation teams that monitor the Glacier was first class. They managed to evacuate a huge area without incident.

The biggest positive from this event is the increase of Tourism to the area, which if reports are to be believed on the economic status of Iceland, it is a much needed boost to the economy. Since the first eruption of Eyjafallajokull Volcano,there has been swarms of tourists eager to visit the island that is appropriately named the 'Land of Fire and Ice'. The number is around 25,000 extra people visiting Iceland, wanting to see the dramatic landscapes and the huge gushes of water that was caused by the Glacier flood.

I can not seem to copy and paste the actually videos from You Tube but I have attached the links below. I think these video's can actually show Students the affect of Glacier Floods.

This first link is a BBC report about the Glacier

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=L7NamDwfXvk

This second link is to a report about the Air traffic disruption across Europe.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hkdDRM_kTcY&feature=player_detailpage


In the future there are fears that there may be more eruptions from the Eyjafallajokull Volcano or these could agitate a neighbouring Volcano.

I think this is a great case study, as it merges both Physical and Human Aspects together. You could take any aspects of this case study and look at aspects in more detail from Iceland's Economy to people's health.

Resources
 www.bbc.co.uk/news
www.nationalgeographic.com
www.youtube.com


Tasks for students

I purposely did not set this report out in my 5W's which I raved about at the start of my blog. I thought it would be a good way for the students to learn if they received a report like the one I've written and using other resources on the Internet to answer the 5W's themselves. Also for them to think of primary and secondary affects of the Glacier Floods.