Iceland's volcanic eruption

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REYKJAVIK (AFP) - A subglacial volcanic eruption in Iceland's Grimsvotn Lake under Europe's largest glacier appears to be winding down as no volcanic activity was detected overnight.

"By all accounts the eruption is almost over," glaciologist Matthew Roberts of the Icelandic Meteorological Institue said Friday.

The eruption, the 13th in the area since 1902, broke out at 9:50 pm (2150 GMT) on Monday. A 13-kilometer high ash plume soon rose above the Vatnajokull glacier and could be seen from a distance of more than 200 kilometers.

Transatlantic flights had to be rerouted, according to Icelandic aviation officials.

"There are no volcanic tremors, no earthquakes and no ash plume is detected on radars," Roberts told AFP, adding: "We expect to declare an end to the eruption today after an overflight of the area."

The smoke-spewing volcano, which is located in a sparsely populated part of the island, has not caused any damage, though police did temporarily shut down a large national highway.

The eruption, which took place in the same area as a massive eruption in 1998, may have been triggered by the recent draining of the Grimsvotn lake, which unleashed a glacier flood in the area, seismologists said.

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After recent visible tantrums, Mount St. Helens continues this week to quietly build a dome in its central crater with a constant, slow eruption of lava.

Now researchers have a new way to track changes in the size of the dome and the entire mountain with high-powered lasers.

Increased seismic activity at the end of September warned geologists of the creation of a new lava dome. Laser observations made Oct. 14 showed the dome was growing at a rate of seven cubic meters per second (247 cubic feet per second), roughly the volume of a small apartment.