Eruptions of Eyjafjallajökull

Date: March 20, 2010 • Location: Mýrdalshreppur, Iceland

Eyjafjallajökull (pictured) in Iceland began a series of volcanic events, later disrupting air travel across Europe.

Eyjafjallajökull, sometimes referred to by the numeronym E15, is one of the smaller ice caps of Iceland, north of Skógar and west of Mýrdalsjökull. The ice cap covers the caldera of a volcano with a summit elevation of 1,651 metres (5,417 ft). The volcano has erupted relatively frequently since the Last Glacial Period, most recently in 2010, when, although relatively small for a volcanic eruption, it caused enormous disruption to air travel across northern and western Europe for a week.