Iceland Volcano

The volcano, about 75 miles east of Reykjavik, erupted on March 20 after almost 200 years of silence. This is the second eruption within the last month, the first eruption struck near the glacier in an area that has no ice. The new eruption appears to be about five or six miles west of the original fissure. Iceland sits on a large volcanic hot spot in the Atlantic's mid-oceanic ridge. Eruptions are triggered by seismic activity when the Earth's plates move and when magma from deep underground pushes its way to the surface. This eruption caused many flights to be cancelled and delayed. One of the flights that was delayed was carrying the United States Marines which my good friend Dan is apart of. We were waiting for his arrival back from an eight month tour. His mother flew to his base in California in hopes of seeing her son. When the volcano erupted things changed. Cindy, Dan's mother, was at the base for over a week waiting for them to arrive. She eventually had to come back to Oklahoma without her son. He arrived at the Tulsa International Airport the next week. Dan is not the only one that the volcano eruption affected, many were stranded in foreign countries trying to get home but had no luck. The ash pushed south forcing a small airport in the Moroccan town of Tan-Tan to close and Europe was forced to a five day suspension of air traffic.