the volcano in Eyjafjallajokull, Iceland

A plume of volcanic ash rises six to 11 kilometres (3.8 to 7 miles) into the atmosphere, from a crater under about 656 feet (200 metres) of ice at the Eyjafjallajokull glacier in southern Iceland April 14, 2010. A huge ash cloud from the Icelandic volcano turned the skies of northern Europe into a no-fly zone on Thursday, stranding hundreds of thousands of passengers.