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
1. Arrive at the airport ridiculously late and then insist on jumping every queue because your plane is about to leave. Even better, get a luggage trolley and use it as a battering ram.
2. Wait until you get to the very front of the queue at the check-in desk and then suddenly remember half a dozen banned items in your carry-on luggage. Open all your cases and begin re-packing procedures, making sure to spill most of your belongings all over the floor.
3. Get one of those carry on cases with an extra long extendable handle and be sure to hold it behind you at arm’s length where you can be certain of tripping up the most people. This is especially effective in the shopping area.
4. Fill your arms with as many miscellaneous items as you can carry at the duty free shop. When you get to the cash register spend ages fiddling in your purse/wallet until a major queue has built up and then ask if you can pay in a really obscure currency. When you receive a negative answer from the cashier, simply say, “Oh, never mind then,” leave all the items on the counter and walk away dragging your over-sized carry-on bag precariously on its 8 foot handle.
5. On the way to security, stop at Starbucks and order a bucket of whatever coffee suits your fancy. Then try to take it through security. When you are refused entry, insist on standing there holding up the queue until you have drunk the entire thing. After all, you paid for it!
6. Alternatively, stuff your carry-on bag with as many jumbo-sized bottles of shower gel and shampoo as you can carry. When security stop you and refuse to let the items on the plane, offer to go to the bathroom and empty some from each bottle down the toilet until they all only have 100ml. This should get everyone laughing along!
7. Bring along a mobile phone, ipod with leaky earbuds, hand-held games console and any other potentially noisy electrical gadget you can find in your house. Then go to the part of the airport where all the frazzled long-haul transfer passengers are trying to get a couple of hours sleep and turn them all on. If you can listen to a humourous audio book on your headphones and occasionally laugh out loud, not only will it annoy people, it will also make them a little afraid of you, thus ensuring you those coveted empty seats to put all your bags on.
8. Head purposefully towards every travelator and walk onto them with speed. Then immediately stand stock still and put your bags down so that nobody can get past you. At the end of the travelator it is imperative to dither while stepping off the walkway and then immediately stop to extend the handle on your bag, causing a pile up of disgruntled travellers behind you. Then walk off, oblivious to the carnage.
9. About ten minutes before your plane is due to board, randomly stand somewhere close to the embarkation point. This will cause other nervous and sheep-like passengers to stand behind you forming a pointless queue when in reality they could all have stayed in their seats until the flight was actually called.
10. When boarding the aircraft, make sure to take your time putting things in the overhead lockers while everybody else waits behind you in the tiny aisle. If possible, change seats at least twice, moving all your belongings each time, and be sure to smash your enormous hard-edged carry-on case into somebody’s laptop bag in order to make it fit into the compartment, thus damaging their screen. They won’t realise what’s happened until they get to their destination and by that time you’ll be long gone.
The sad thing is that most of these suggestions are drawn from things I’ve really seen at various airports around the world! Feel free to add your own suggestions in the comments below.
Or for some more gentle humour, try these articles by the same author:
Fans Who Love Their Team Too Much
Famous for all the Wrong Reasons
This is what I had: New shoes and a turquoise dress. My head filled with the fine craftsmanship of my fellow would-be ALAN panelists. My camera, for I've always wanted to see San Antonio. Two books for the plane. A bag of M&Ms.
This is what happened: The computers aren't working well at the A 12 terminal of the Philadelphia airport—Boston flight posted on the San Antonio screen, those in charge scratching their heads and asking each other the sort of questions we passengers had hoped to ask them. An inconvenience, only.
Up next, though, the plane I am to take is three-quarters boarded when somebody mentions a Whoops. Whoops as in, Um. We're sorry. This plane isn't actually headed southwest. It's headed for New York.
(The woman in charge running across the tarmac, gathering the passengers who must now gather their bags, saying, I'm sorry. We got that wrong.)
Afterward, another whoops. Whoops as in, Your plane—the one that is actually headed southwest—is in maintenance. We don't know what's wrong. We don't know when it will be fixed. Give us an hour. Whoops as in another hour goes by, and now the terminal printers don't work and the sign still reads: Boston 9:50, even though by now it's 11 o'clock and all we want to do is head southwest. And now the word goes out that Maintenance is still having trouble with the would-be (ersatz?) plane and they don't know when they'll get it fixed.
There were five us headed for San Antonio. One by one we began to peel off. Too much of this didn't feel right for any of it to be right. That was the decision we singularly made.
This is how it went. This is why I am home and not in San Antonio, at the ALAN conference, where I had looked so forward to being.
This is what I thought as I drove home from the airport, where I'd spent the past five hours: I love my husband. I love my son. I love my father and family. I love my tiny house. I love my friends and the books on my shelf.
I love this life.
I'm very disappointed that I'm not in San Antonio. But I'm still here, alive to the cold brisk air. With a pair of new shoes I may someday have a place to wear.
I'm really sorry that you couldn't be there this year. What a disappointing and frustrating airport experience!
I remember the energy of the NCTE and NWP conferences--*sigh* I wish I were there, too.
What a disappointment, Beth. But, I believe we are always where we should be, even if we're not sure where we're at (or wish we were elsewhere).
Gotta love the Philly Airport, though. :(
Wear these. Soon. Let them dance you into another tale!
Oh, my friends, thank you. But, like BBM says, and I firmly agree, we are where we are meant to be. That means that my husband and I took my father out to dinner this evening. And that I spent an entire afternoon reading the New York Times.
I can't remember ever spending an entire afternoon reading The New York Times. I did. I have a lot I want to blog about. Have you heard, for example, this term "slow blogging?" An entire story on it today.
Beth, it's amazing how the world inside the airport can present so many obstacles that keep us from getting to our destination, or present so many obstacles that delay our arrival and when we finally arrive, we're utterly exhausted and wonder why we came!! Once outside the world that held us captive for a short while and go home....well, goodness and love prevail along with an unplanned dinner with your father and husband and the luxury of absorbing, for an afternoon, the NY Times.
Take care
I'm sad you didn't make it down to San Antonio! The weather was lovely this weekend.
That's really too bad. I've had some of those frustrating airport experiences, but I never had the guts to call everything off. Here's hoping your shoes will make their debut soon (and I too always bring m&m's on the plane - peanut or almond).
Liviana—I was thinking of you, actually, while I waited in 21 degree Philly for a plane to your neck of the woods.
Lenore—I have never walked away from anything either. It just was entirely unnerving. Everything was being done wrong, everything was going wrong, and no one could say if the plane would ever be repaired that day. I was in constant touch with HarperTeen, and at one point it became clear to us both that all signs were pointing to Not This Time at ALAN for Beth. I was going to be there for less than 24 hours to begin with, and those hours were quickly ticking away.
Sigh.
That is completely understandable. Hopefully there will be a next time :)
Oh and btw, my dad said your books arrived *squeal* thanks again! I can't wait to dig into them over the christmas holidays!!
Lib,
You are so right. And also, I was aware of goodness while waiting at that airport. There was a college student that I came to know and like quite a bit. Another woman with whom I spoke about books. No matter where you are, under what circumstances, decency has its own allure.
I'm so pleased to have found your blog through you finding mine, Beth. Those shoes, those shoes! And a trip denied. I always see those as the interesting moments, when strangers do bond, when returning home brings sweet reminders of what's important.
I look forward to following you and to finding your books, too!
Here's to slow blogging!
~Barbara
What a heartbreak, Beth! I'm so sorry NCTE missed YOU.
Three whoopses and you're out, right!
But the shoes are darling and you will find somewhere to wear them!
Oh, I hope you get to wear those new shoes soon! Boo to airports for making you miss your talk!