This Week On Twitter: Social Media Sizing Cheat Sheet, Tweeting ...

Need a little weekend reading? We?ve compiled our top ten Twitter stories of the week, which includes an update to the ultimate social media sizing cheat sheet, why you should tweet smarter (and not harder), eight best practices for using Twitter for business, a look at the growing impact of social media and the latest mobile social consumer trends.

Here are our top 10 Twitter stories of the week.

1. The Ultimate Social Media Sizing Cheat Sheet [INFOGRAPHIC]

Whether you?re new to the game or a socially savvy marketing veteran, setting up a new Twitter profile or Facebook Page can be a time-consuming process, especially when it comes to working out the sizes of all the images you need to make your channels ? or those of your clients ? stand out from the crowd. And what about the other social platforms, like Pinterest and Google+? Wouldn?t it be great if somebody could put all of this information on a single page?

2. Tweet Smarter, Not Harder [INFOGRAPHIC]

You?ve listened to the hype. You?ve read case study after case study. You?ve seen that little bird logo everywhere. And your brand could certainly use a little push. So, excitedly, you sign up for a Twitter profile for your business. And wait. And wait. And wait.?And nothing happens. Does this sound familiar?

3. 8 Best Practices For Using Twitter For Business [INFOGRAPHIC]

Twitter comes with a pretty steep learning curve, and brands looking to maximise their ROI (return on investment) on the micro-blogging social network need to ensure that they?re on the right path. But where to begin? Well, sharing photos and behind the scenes information about your business is a great start. Make sure you?re listening to your customers and all of the Twitter mentions about your company. Ask questions of your followers. And, perhaps most importantly, establish a clear and consistent brand voice ? how to you want YOUR business to appear on Twitter?

4. The Growing Impact Of Social Media [INFOGRAPHIC]

In just a few years social media has rapidly integrated itself into almost every aspect of our personal and professional lives, and this phenomenal growth has made a huge impact on what we used to do to pass the time. Email, face-to-face socialising and even taking care of household members have all suffered under the wake of platforms such as Facebook, Pinterest and Twitter. Even television has seen a sizeable chunk of its audience move online, and many folks who still prefer to sit in front of the box now do so whilst engaging with like-minded viewers on their smartphone or tablets.

5. Mobile Social Consumer Trends 2012 [INFOGRAPHIC]

Society is more connected than ever before, and, subsequently (and certainly in the West), we have become increasingly reliant on immediacy, with smartphones and other mobile devices giving us 24/7, instant-access to the internet and social media platforms such as Twitter and Facebook. Socially savvy businesses have been quick to catch on, particularly in the restaurant, food and hospitality space. But which brands are leading the way?

6. 45% Of People Have Used Twitter For Flirting (And It?s Almost Always By Direct Message) [STUDY]

A new survey has revealed that almost half (45 percent) of Twitter users have used the micro-blogging social network to date and flirt with other members, and one-in-three confessed to having sent ?sexy? tweets. Direct messages were cited as the most common way of flirting, with 83 percent of those who engaged in such behaviour on Twitter having done so via a suggestive private message.

7. A Short History Of The Hashtag

Hashtags are the quickest and easiest way to search for and find out what Twitter users are currently talking about. They?re also key to productive Twitter engagement ? hashtags put your tweets in front of the people who are interested in them. But how did it all start?

8. What Do CEOs Think Of Social Media? [INFOGRAPHIC]

Did you know that 16 percent of CEOs say that they use social media as the top way that they engage customers? But this is just the very tip of the iceberg ? CEOs expect their use of social media to more than triple in the next five years, rising to 57 percent of all chief execs.

9. View Top Tweets In Google Analytics With Campalyst Plugin

Want to know which tweets (and which Twitterers) generate the most traffic for your site? Now you can ? thanks to this handy Google Analytics tweet plugin from Campalyst.

10. The Top Internet Retailers On Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest And Google+ [INFOGRAPHIC]

Back in May we looked at a visual from Campalyst that presented a wealth of data on the top 250 internet retailers in social media ? Facebook and Twitter led the way as the social networks of choice. Fast-forward to the present, and Facebook and Twitter are still numero uno amongst internet retailers, commanding a 97 percent and 96 percent presence respectively. YouTube maintains its third place, being used by 90 percent of respondents, while still wet-behind-the-ears Pinterest has leap-frogged Google+.

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Source: http://www.mediabistro.com/alltwitter/top-10-twitter-021212_b32039

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Judge refuses to ban anti-Islam film from YouTube

By Reuters

LOS ANGELES -- An actress who said she was duped into appearing in an anti-Islam film that stoked violent protests against the United States across the Muslim world lost on Friday her second legal bid to force the video off YouTube.

Denying a request by actress Cindy Lee Garcia for a court order requiring the popular online video site to remove the crudely made 13-minute clip, a federal judge found she was unlikely to prevail on her claims of copyright infringement.

U.S. District Judge Michael Fitzgerald of Santa Clara, California, also canceled a December 3 hearing he had previously set for oral arguments over Garcia's request.

Garcia's lawyer, Cris Armenta, told Reuters she planned to appeal the decision.

Actress sues, says she was fooled into acting in anti-Muslim movie

The lawsuit, filed in September, names YouTube and its parent company Google Inc as defendants, along with the film's producer.

A previous motion by Garcia for a temporary restraining order against YouTube's continued posting of the video was rejected by a Los Angeles County Superior Court judge.

Garcia's case was the first known civil litigation stemming from the video, billed as a film trailer, which depicts the Prophet Mohammad as a fool and a sexual deviant. The clip sparked a torrent of anti-American unrest in Egypt, Libya and dozens of other Muslim countries.

A judge denied bail for the alleged producer of an anti-Muslim film that sparked Mideast outrage. He was arrested for violating probation from a bank fraud conviction. KNBC's Beverly White reports.

The outbreak of violence coincided with an attack on U.S. diplomatic facilities in Benghazi in September that killed four Americans, including the U.S. ambassador to Libya.

For many Muslims, any depiction of the prophet is considered blasphemous.

Google has refused to remove the film from YouTube, despite pressure from the White House and others to take it down, though the company has blocked the trailer in Egypt, Libya and other Muslim countries.

Copyright claim
Garcia has accused the purported filmmaker of fraud, libel and unfair business practices.

But her federal lawsuit also asserts a copyright claim to her performance in the video, titled "The Innocence of Muslims," and accuses Google of infringing on that copyright by distributing the video without her approval via YouTube.

US-based anti-Islam filmmaker, 6 others sentenced to death by Egypt court

But in a three-page ruling, the judge questioned the validity of such a claim. He held that even if she could prove a legitimate copyright interest in her film performance, she effectively relinquished her rights to producers of the film.

Fitzgerald also ruled that Garcia failed to show that she would suffer irreparable harm without an injunction.

Protests ignited by a controversial film that ridicules Islam's Prophet Muhammad spread throughout Muslim world.

Garcia's lawsuit identifies Nakoula Basseley Nakoula, 55, an Egyptian-born Coptic Christian living in the Los Angeles area, as the film's producer. His legal name has since been established to be Mark Basseley Youssef and he served time in federal prison for bank fraud.

According to the lawsuit, Youssef operated under the assumed name of Sam Bacile when he misled Garcia and other performers into appearing in an anti-Muslim film they believed was to be an adventure drama called "Desert Warrior." She claims to have since received death threats.

Man behind 'Innocence of Muslims' film sentenced to one year in prison for violating probation

"We hope that worldwide the message has been heard that Ms. Garcia was not complicit and did not voluntarily participate in this heinous piece of hate speech," Garcia's lawyer said in a statement, despite Friday's ruling against her.

Youssef was sent back to jail for a year on November 7 for probation violations stemming from his role in making the video, including his use of an alias in connection with the film.

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Source: http://usnews.nbcnews.com/_news/2012/12/01/15590935-judge-denies-actress-request-to-remove-anti-islam-film-from-youtube?lite

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Global clothing firms say Bangladesh must ensure fire safety

DHAKA (Reuters) - International garment firms have demanded fast action to ensure the safety of Bangladeshi textile workers, a week after a plant fire killed more than 100 people, a senior industry official in the country said on Saturday.

Mohammad Shafiul Islam, President of the Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA), said a 19-member buyers' forum was blunt in suggesting it would "lose confidence" in the country's industry unless change came fast.

Rights groups have called on big-brand firms to sign up for a fire safety program.

Islam quoted company officials at the meeting on Friday as saying that while some factories in Bangladesh observed safety regulations, "many of them do not comply with these".

"Now we want to see proper action towards implementation of compliance issues, instead of commitments," he quoted Roger Hubert, Vice-President of Hong Kong-based Li & Fung Ltd, as telling the meeting.

Hubert, he said, pledged financial support for the families of those who died in the fire. Representatives of Li & Fung and other companies present were unavailable for comment.

Last week's fire at Tazreen Fashions, Bangladesh's worst-ever industrial blaze, was blamed by authorities on saboteurs. Police say narrow exits trapped workers inside the nine-storey building, killing 111 people and injuring more than 150.

Three employees have been arrested and police say they are being investigated for suspected negligence.

Several hundred workers demonstrated outside the gutted plant on Saturday demanding what they said was three months in wage arrears. Protesters briefly blocked a highway and other plants in the area stopped work, fearing vandalism.

A senior official from the BGMEA said the association had agreed to pay one month in back wages on behalf of the plant and was trying to settle all outstanding issues.

The fire has drawn attention to global retailers that source clothes from Bangladesh where wages are low - as little as the equivalent of $37 for some workers.

The meeting was attended by representatives of major clothing companies, including H&M, TSS, SEARS, TCHIBO, Global Merchants, GAP Inc, Nike Inc, LEVIS, Kappahl, Carrefour and Primark. No representative of Wal-Mart Stores Inc. was present.

Islam said he told the companies his association would form a task force next week to uphold safety regulations at individual plants.

"We have described the post-fire situation as a crisis in the industry and requested all stakeholders to come forward with a collaborative approach to address the crisis," Islam said.

The association, he said, had been trying to communicate with Walmart. The U.S. retail giant this week said one of its suppliers subcontracted work to the factory without authorization and would no longer be used.

Other retailers, like Gap and Nike, denied any relationship with the workshop.

(Editing by Ron Popeski)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/global-clothes-firms-bangladesh-must-ensure-fire-safety-100206292.html

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NJ train derailment tips tankers, sickens dozens

An official stands by derailed freight train tank cars in Paulsboro, N.J., Friday, Nov. 30, 2012. People in three southern New Jersey towns were told Friday to stay inside after a freight train derailed and several tanker cars carrying hazardous materials toppled from a bridge and into a creek. At least one tanker car may contain vinyl chloride, Gloucester County Emergency Management director J. Thomas Butts told WPVI-TV. (AP Photo/Mel Evans)

An official stands by derailed freight train tank cars in Paulsboro, N.J., Friday, Nov. 30, 2012. People in three southern New Jersey towns were told Friday to stay inside after a freight train derailed and several tanker cars carrying hazardous materials toppled from a bridge and into a creek. At least one tanker car may contain vinyl chloride, Gloucester County Emergency Management director J. Thomas Butts told WPVI-TV. (AP Photo/Mel Evans)

An official stands by derailed freight train tank cars in Paulsboro, N.J., Friday, Nov. 30, 2012. People in three southern New Jersey towns were told Friday to stay inside after a freight train derailed and several tanker cars carrying hazardous materials toppled from a bridge and into a creek. At least one tanker car may contain vinyl chloride, Gloucester County Emergency Management director J. Thomas Butts told WPVI-TV. (AP Photo/Mel Evans)

Officials work the scene of derailed freight train tank cars in Paulsboro, N.J., Friday, Nov. 30, 2012. People in three southern New Jersey towns were told Friday to stay inside after a freight train derailed and several tanker cars carrying hazardous materials toppled from a bridge and into a creek. At least one tanker car may contain vinyl chloride, Gloucester County Emergency Management director J. Thomas Butts told WPVI-TV. (AP Photo/Mel Evans)

Officials stand by derailed freight train tank cars in Paulsboro, N.J., Friday, Nov. 30, 2012. People in three southern New Jersey towns were told Friday to stay inside after a freight train derailed and several tanker cars carrying hazardous materials toppled from a bridge and into a creek. At least one tanker car may contain vinyl chloride, Gloucester County Emergency Management director J. Thomas Butts told WPVI-TV. (AP Photo/Mel Evans)

Officials stand next to derailed freight train cars in Paulsboro, N.J., Friday, Nov. 30, 2012, after several tanker cars carrying hazardous materials toppled from a bridge and into a creek. At least one tanker car may contain vinyl chloride, Gloucester County Emergency Management director J. Thomas Butts told WPVI-TV. (AP Photo/Mel Evans)

PAULSBORO, N.J. (AP) ? A freight train derailed Friday on a railroad bridge that has had problems before, toppling tanker cars partially into a creek and causing a leak of hazardous gas that was blamed for sickening dozens of people, authorities said.

Members of the National Transportation Safety Board arrived in New Jersey on Friday afternoon to investigate. They will try to determine whether the derailment was caused by a problem with the bridge or if the derailment was to blame for the bridge's partial collapse.

A delicate operation lies ahead, as a huge crane was being brought from New York Harbor to pick up the dangling tanker cars.

The accident happened just after 7 a.m. when a train with two locomotives, 83 freight cars and a caboose made its way from Camden to the industrial town of Paulsboro, just across the river from Philadelphia International Airport.

Cars from a train operated by CSX went off the rails on a swing-style bridge, owned by Conrail, over Mantua Creek.

Seven cars derailed, including two box cars on stable ground and five on the bridge. NTSB chairman Deborah Hersman said four tankers were partially in the creek.

One tanker containing 25,000 gallons of vinyl chloride was sliced open in the accident and some of the gas spewed into the air, while the rest turned into a solid and settled into the bottom of the tanker.

People who live nearby said the air was smoky in the morning. Doug Ricotta was working in his bakery when he heard a loud sound. "Next came a smell, kind of sweet ? not a healthy smell," he said. He stayed in his business and kept baking, though one catering order had to be canceled because roads into and out of town were closed for a few hours.

Breathing vinyl chloride, which is used to make the common plastic PVC, can make people dizzy or sleepy. Breathing very high levels can cause someone to pass out, and breathing extremely high levels can cause death. Most of the vinyl chloride is gone from the body one day after being breathed in.

More than 70 people were treated at Underwood-Memorial Hospital, most complaining of breathing problems, burning eyes or scratchy throats, said spokeswoman Karen Urbaniak. She said 11 arrived by ambulance, and the rest walked in. More than 60 were discharged by late afternoon, and the handful that remained were in stable condition.

Residents of Paulsboro, West Deptford and East Greenwich Township were told to remain indoors early Friday before an all-clear was given. One resident walked through town Friday morning wearing a gas mask.

By late morning, state Department of Environmental Protection spokesman Larry Hajna said that sensors were not detecting the chemical at the site.

Tom Butts, the chief of emergency management for Gloucester County, said it would take at least a day to get the large crane to the site to pick up the damaged cars. The recovery work was expected to take place only during daylight hours and it was not clear how long it would take.

The bridge usually supports at least three major trains each day serving refineries and other customers in an industrial area along the Delaware River. It was rebuilt after it buckled in August 2009 and when nine cars on a coal train detailed. Officials attributed that accident to bridge misalignment.

State Senate President Stephen Sweeney, whose district includes Paulsboro, said he had been told that complaints had been made in recent weeks about noise coming from the bridge and that Conrail was looking into it. But he said he didn't have any details.

At a news conference, Conrail spokesman John Enright said that the company is concerned with safety and cooperating with authorities, but he would not take any questions.

Early in the day, State Assemblyman John Burzichelli, a former mayor of Paulsboro who was serving as spokesman for the town, said he believed that it was a problem with the bridge that caused the accident. But he later backed off that, saying he did not know the cause.

The Federal Railroad Administration doesn't routinely inspect the structural safety of bridges owned by freight railroads, although it does inspect the tracks and can do an inspection if it receives a complaint or if track inspectors notice a problem. The agency last inspected the Paulsboro bridge in January 2010 and found no defects.

The railroads themselves are responsible by law for inspecting their own bridges. The FRA does not know when Conrail last did one.

The NTSB's Hersman says her agency will review bridge safety records and other details, including the mechanical systems on the train and the structural integrity of the bridge. She said inspectors will seek to interview crew on the train and to give them drug and alcohol tests.

Burzichelli said that as long as the bridge is out, factories and refineries in the area will have to rely on shipping materials by barge and truck.

___

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Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/3d281c11a96b4ad082fe88aa0db04305/Article_2012-11-30-Train%20Derailment-Chemicals/id-ee3cf2bd34f54982a8b9b5db452c64c5

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NASA dialed in to smartphone satellites

NASA engineers are chipping away at how best to lower the cost of their satellites ? and one off-the-shelf answer is by using smartphone electronics.

Dialing in on the idea has resulted in the PhoneSat Project, a technology demonstration mission using a trio of tiny CubeSat satellites to be launched next year.

The PhoneSat nanosatellites ? each weighing in at just three pounds (1.4 kilograms) ? will be ejected into Earth orbit during the maiden flight of Orbital Sciences' Antares rocket. The rocket will launch from the Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport , located at NASA?s Wallops Flight Facility in eastern Virginia.

Out-of-the-box
Quite literally out-of-the-box smartphones are imbued with capabilities comparable to a spacecraft's, such as fast processors, multipurpose operating systems, miniature sensors, high-resolution cameras, GPS receivers and several radios.

The three PhoneSats ? Alexander, Graham and Bell ? will be simultaneously deployed from a rocket-mounted dispenser. The latter two are PhoneSat 1.0s; they are battery-powered and make use of Nexus One smartphone technology from HTC Corp. and Google?s Android operating system.

A beta version of PhoneSat 2.0, Alexander is built around an updated Nexus S smartphone made by Samsung Electronics that runs Google?s Android operating system to provide a faster core processor, avionics and gyroscopes. It has solar cells for energy.

The attractive thing about PhoneSat is that it may make people more comfortable with the idea of using something almost directly off the shelf for a space mission, said Andrew Petro, program executive for the Small Spacecraft Technology Program within NASA's Office of the Chief Technologist. ?I?m excited about the potential here,? Petro told Space.com.

Nontraditional
PhoneSat is one of nine space technology programs in the Office of the Chief Technologist, according to Bruce Yost at the NASA Ames Research Center at Moffett Field, Calif.

Ames is home for a small tiger team of engineers that conceived of, constructed and tested PhoneSat, working on the project since early 2011, Yost told Space.com. "We?re exploring the use of nontraditional hardware and systems providers," trolling for technology beyond the traditional aerospace industry, said Yost, who is manager of the Small Spacecraft Technology Program.

PhoneSat engineers kept the total cost of the components to $3,500 for each of the three prototype satellites in the PhoneSat Project. They used only commercial, off-the-shelf hardware and established minimum design and mission objectives for the first flight.

The deployment mechanism is of a size tagged "3U" volume, said Jim Cockrell, PhoneSat 1.0 Project manager, "so it holds three CubeSats ? all three stacked up into the dispenser." (Each PhoneSats is built to standard dimensions? of 10x10x11 centimeters, about 4 inches cubed, or 1U ? for unit, he said.)

Citizen exploration
Once in Earth orbit, the PhoneSat Project comes alive. Amateur ground stations will receive health and status information as well as images, uploading packets of data onto amateur-run websites.

An early leader in the PhoneSat concept was Jasper Wolfe, technical lead of attitude determination and control, launch vehicle, at NASA Ames. He underscores multiple benefits in the project ? for one, leveraging hardware and software from the non-aerospace industry.

"I see PhoneSat as inspiring a new area of people to get involved in space," Wolfe said. "The actual building of a satellite is something we?re trying to develop and demonstrate as a really cheap and easy thing to do."

The battery-powered PhoneSats will orbit for 10 days or two weeks before re-entering the Earth?s atmosphere, while the solar-paneled PhoneSat 2.0 will have a longer stay in space, said Alberto Guillen Salas, technical lead of communications and electrical design of the PhoneSat Project.

The mission will demonstrate use of small satellites for space commerce, educational activities and citizen exploration ? all well within the reach of ordinary Americans because of the lower-cost, commercially available components involved, said Michael Gazarik, director of NASA?s Space Technology Program at NASA headquarters in Washington.

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Oriol Tintore Gazulla, technical lead of software and mechanical design for the PhoneSat Project at Ames, said next year?s mission is likely to be a forerunner of things to come. "This is a first step. Maybe in the future we could think of going farther ? going to the moon."

Leonard David has been reporting on the space industry for more than five decades. He is a winner of last year's National Space Club Press Award and a past editor-in-chief of the National Space Society's Ad Astra and Space World magazines. He has written for Space.com since 1999.

? 2012 Space.com. All rights reserved. More from Space.com.

Source: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/50026977/ns/technology_and_science-space/

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Silversea Cruises Schedules Call at Banana Coast, Honduras

Silversea Cruises, the luxury cruise brand, says it is the first cruise line to sign on to call at Banana Coast, the newest western Caribbean cruise destination at Trujillo, Honduras. The 296-passenger Silver Cloud is scheduled to call Dec. 17, 2014.

Silversea has been recognized by leading consumer and trade publications as defining the ultra-luxury cruise experience. In the United States Silversea was voted "World's Best" by readers of Cond? Nast Traveler nine times and Travel & Leisure seven times, and was awarded "Best Cruise Line for Luxury Small Ships" by Luxury Travel Advisor in 2011.

"We are pleased to have a high-end brand like Silversea Cruises be the first to commit to call at Banana Coast," said Michael Greve, president of Global Destinations Development, one of the companies partnering in the port project. "It's a testament to how we have carefully created a destination that is culturally and historically appealing to the most sophisticated travelers."

Greve said construction at Banana Coast, which began in August 2011, is now 80 percent complete, and the facility is expected to have a soft opening in January 2013. The port will be open to host ships throughout 2013 and beyond. "We have met with several other cruise lines and have hosted site inspections by cruise line executives," said Greve. "We expect that several lines soon will commit to adding Banana Coast to their itineraries."

Plans for Banana Coast Landing call for construction of a 50,000-square-foot shopping facility and transportation hub on 10 acres of beachfront land. Themed "Where the Rainforest Meets the Sea," the $20 million Banana Coast project currently employs 150 construction workers, engineers and architects. A future phase will see construction of a two-berth, post-Panamax pier.

In March 2012, the developers unveiled an ambitious and diverse shore excursion program designed to offer something for everyone, including cultural, soft-adventure and eco-tour offerings. The tours enable guests to explore the area from land, air and sea. In addition to the signature tour -- Campo del Mar Nature Park & Beach Break -- highlights include a VIP airplane ride to the Mayan ruins at Copan; a snorkeling adventure at a beautiful starfish bank, and kayaking in the pristine Guaimoreto Lagoon. Guests looking to stay on land have the chance to discover the port?s appeal through an exciting mountain ATV ride, a culinary tasting tour or a trolley ride through the colonial town of Trujillo.

Future plan phases include creation of the 100-acre Campo del Mar, which will incorporate an integrated heritage park, river park, wildlife park and nature park -- all easily accessible from Banana Coast Landing.

Source: http://www.offradarcruisenews.com/2012/11/silversea-cruises-schedules-call-at.html

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Chain reaction triggered volcano eruption

The eruptions of Iceland's volcano Eyjafjallaj?kull in 2010 were apparently triggered by a chain reaction of expanding magma chambers that descended into the Earth, a group of researchers now says.

After nearly two centuries of dormancy, Eyjafjallaj?kull (AYA-feeyapla-yurkul) erupted many times over the course of 10 weeks. These outbursts spewed a huge plume of ash that generated extraordinary lightning displays, colored sunsets a fiery red across much of Europe and forced widespread flight cancellations for days.

The eruptions began in 2010 when a fissure opened on the flank of Eyjafjallaj?kull in March, revealing that it was inflating with magma. An explosion then burst from the volcano's summit in April, and three more major explosions from Eyjafjallaj?kull rocked Iceland in May. Analysis of material spewed from the explosions suggests each one involved separate chambers loaded with magma of distinct ages and compositions.

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To learn more about what caused this spate of eruptions, the researchers analyzed swarms of microearthquakes during the outbursts. The data suggests the first explosion was rooted in a magma chamber about 3 miles (5 kilometers) below the surface, while the three later major explosions stemmed from magma chambers at depths of about 7 miles (11.5 km), 12 miles (19 km) and 15 miles (24 km). [ Image Gallery: Iceland Volcano's Fiery Sunsets ]

"Our Icelandic colleagues were quick to add more seismometers to the network close to the volcano when it became obvious from satellite imaging that the volcano was inflating, so the data were much better because of that," said researcher Jon Tarasewicz, a geophysicist at the University of Cambridge in England.

Intriguingly, the researchers found that microearthquakes apparently occurred at greater depths with each outburst. Now researchers suggest this series of eruptions was due to a "decompression wave" that essentially rippled downward, upsetting the volcano's plumbing.

Cascading eruptions
The initial explosion spewed a massive amount of magma and melted about 650 feet (200 meters) of ice. The researchers suggest this relieved a great deal of pressure exerted from Eyjafjallaj?kull's summit on its innards. This drop in pressure from above caused a magma chamber slightly lower down to begin inflating. When this led to an explosion, this liberated magma in another chamber slightly lower down, and created a cascade through successively lower chambers.

"We often think about eruptions as being controlled entirely from below by the supply of fresh magma from below ? that is, the pressure caused by new magma rising buoyantly is what determines whether it erupts or not," Tarasewicz told OurAmazingPlanet. "We don't often consider how that driving force might be affected by changes from above."

"It's novel to have been able to match the deep seismic observations to big changes in the eruption rate at the surface," Tarasewicz continued. "In this case, it seems the volcanic plumbing system at depth responded to changes near the surface, rather than vice versa."

Better understanding, but no predictions
Tarasewicz and his colleagues are now analyzing data from other Icelandic volcanoes such as Krafla and Askja to better understand their plumbing systems as well.

"There are several examples around the world of volcanoes that are thought to have more than one magma chamber, stacked at different depths beneath the volcano," Tarasewicz said. "Understanding the pressure linkage and feedback between different magma storage reservoirs may help us to understand why some volcanoes like Eyjafjallaj?kull have prolonged eruptions with episodic surges in eruption rate."

Although this research could yield insights on the magma underlying a volcano and how it might behave, Tarasewicz cautioned, "we are still not in a position to be able to predict accurately in advance when, or if, a volcano is going to erupt."

The scientists detailed their findings online Oct. 13 in the journal Geophysical Research Letters.

? 2012 OurAmazingPlanet. All rights reserved. More from OurAmazingPlanet.

Source: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/50026630/ns/technology_and_science-science/

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