A jokulhlaup is a sudden release of water from beneath a glacier. One of the key triggers for Jokulhlaup is the eruption of a volcanic beneath an icecap. It shouldn't be a surprise to hear that jokulhlaups have been triggered by the Eyjafjallajokull eruption that is causing such chaos across Europe (guess who was supposed to go to Hong Kong on Thursday...), and increasingly beyond.
Now, a jokulhlaup is not technically a landslide, but as these flood carry vast amounts of debris they are at the hyper-concentrated flow / debris flow end of the flood spectrum. On that basis I thought it reasonable to show this fantastic video of a jokulhlaup cascading off the margins of the Eyjafjallajokull volcano on 14th April 2010:
Incredible!
6 comments:
That's absolutely amazing, Dave. Thanks for posting this.
My mentor has been doing research at Bering Glacier in Alaska for close to 30 years, and was actually fortunate enough to catch a jokhulhaup in action. However, it was do to super-pressurized, subglacial conduit flow that just burst out. I know there is a video of it somewhere..
Also, nice new layout of the blog!
Hey Dave,
Awesome footage!
It is hard to imagine the jokulhlaup from the failure of the glacial ice dam that impounded Pleistocene Lake Missoula. Hundreds of cubic kilometers of water released in just a couple of days. The flood scoured Eastern Washington to the bedrock.
Enjoy!
Cray
Hey Dave,
Awesome footage!
It is hard to imagine the jokulhlaup from the failure of the glacial ice dam that impounded Pleistocene Lake Missoula. Hundreds of cubic kilometers of water released in just a couple of days. The flood scoured Eastern Washington to the bedrock.
Enjoy!
Cray
That's incredible... I wish the YouTube quality was better, but still!
Amazing - thanks for sharing that! It must have been incredible to see live!
As you say, the flow seems right up there on the hyper side close to derious debris flows.
Regards
The standing wave was really neat too.
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