We all show our appreciation in different ways.
I don't think I ever mentioned the meaning of the name of my blog, Eldfjallavakt. It basically means "(A) Volcano Shift" - in that I'd come home from my regular work shift, then work a shift reading and writing about Bárðarbunga and her naughty children. But there is also the eruption shift - "Gosvaktin". In the police station in the picturesque town of Húsavík (2300 people) in the far north. There, people work at all hours monitoring the situation - something that residents are unsurprisingly thankful for. And to show their thanks?
Cutlets.
A local group called the "Icelandic Cutlet Association", whose Facebook profile picture is of two sheep mating, showed up unexpectedly at the police station bearing a chef-made dinner of breaded cutlets, potatoes, green beans, red cabbage and jelly. Of course, they're just the latest in a line of local visitors bring them food.
But let's take this back full circle: for people aren't the only ones who cook; so does blazing-hot lava.
Join us tonight for a little Eldfjallavakt
So we hear today that the lava flows in Holuhraun are branching out to the southeast and northeast. It's one thing to read that, but it's hard to picture that without having something like an infrared picture to show it.
Wait, I do have an infrared picture to show it! ;)
About 300 cubic meters of second of lava splitting into two rivers. That could cook a lot of cutlets! Of course, the researchers have different plans for it:
As much as I want to believe that they were making the fastest pot of blóðberg tea on the planet, this was just a regular sample taking to see how the composition of the lava has been evolving with time. Hopefully we'll get some new results before too long.
The gas emissions continue from the craters, to the point that the researchers keep finding dead birds. But I guess that's sadly to be expected. Germany joins the list of nations complaining about the gas, but really, Ukraine got it a lot worse than them:
Those poor polar bears and little random fishing villages on the east coast of Greenland. Interestingly enough, the lesser pollution that's now on the western side of Greenland? I've been watching it, it's actually circled the arctic.
That said, the levels outside of Iceland shouldn't be reaching "breathing exhaust" scales, only "statistically changing the mortality levels" in most cases, and in bad cases negative effects to pollution-sensitive individuals. At least as things currently stand. The most serious gas threats, unsurprisingly, remain within Iceland.
In terms of quakes... they continue, shock of all shocks (pardon the pun), unabated. The subsidence has now reached the point that a 0,6 cubic kilometer ice cauldron has formed on the surface of the glacier. That's pretty darn big, but it's just a small symptom of the greater movement going on underneath.
Want to see custom quake maps with an easy web interface? Add Skjálftavefsjá to your toolbox:
Picture time:
(Credit: Egill Aðalsteinsson)
(Credit: Egill Aðalsteinsson)
(Credit: Lára Ómarsdóttir)
(Credit: Lára Ómarsdóttir)
(Credit: Gisli Einarsson)
(Credit: AP)
(Credit: AP)
(Credit: Magnús Tumi Guðmundsson)
(Credit: Stéphane Vetter)
Helicopter video courtesy of Volcanoheli.is:
Lastly...
(Yep, they volunteer overseas after disasters, too. 30 members of ICESAR were the first international team (outside of Haiti and the Dominican Republic) to arrive after the 2010 Haiti Earthquake. Due to budget constraints, they had to leave behind $80k worth of equipment when the mission ended.)
We're down to just one more night for the Daily Kos Styrktarátak Slysavarnarfélagsins Landsbjargar, our drive to raise money for ICESAR (Icelandic Search and Rescue). At 12PM Icelandic time tomorrow evening, we'll close out and as soon as I get a final tally I'll post it. We'll also be announcing our Icelandic care package winners, both for the largest individual donor (currently standing at $300) and for the raffle-drawn prize.
If you haven't yet had a chance to donate, drop on in, and if you could, drop me a line either in the comments, a private message, or at meme05@eaku.net so I can register the donation. :) Also, as per tradition, adding $0.01 at the end of the donation helps earmark it as part of this fundraising drive.
Our running total is currently up to $7059. What's our final tally going to be? :)
Update, 17:15: I know I haven't been covering all of the different SO2 pollution spikes, but since the Mývatn area is one of my favorite places to visit, I just thought I'd mention that the meter at the elementary school in ironically-named Reykjahlíð (Smoke Hillside) neared 1600 this afternoon :Þ