Volcanic Activity
- Volcanic eruptions are far more frequent on convergent tectonic plate boundaries (Cascade Mountain Range & the Andes) than on divergent tectonic place boundaries (Iceland); however, eruptions do occur along divergent boundaries. Recently and eruption broke through the icecap in Iceland.
Iceland’s Eruptions
- Ash and roughly thirty-story-tall lava fountains shoot from a half-mile-long (0.8-kilometer-long) rupture in the icy cap of southern Iceland’s Eyjafjallajokull (pronounced AY-uh-full-ay-ho-kul) volcano early Sunday.
- The geology of Iceland, though, is anything but normal. The volcanic island lies just south of the Arctic Circle atop the Mid-Atlantic Ridge, where two tectonic plates are forever pulling apart. Magma from deep inside Earth rushes upward, filling the gaps and fueling Iceland’s volcanic eruptions, which occur about once every five years.
• When the eruption started on March 21, hundreds of people were evacuated from their homes, due to fears of flooding, which could have occurred, had the volcano’s heat melted too much surrounding glacial ice.
Comparison
- These eruptions tend to be much less violent and destructive than those of strato-volcanoes that form near convergent boundaries.
- 1980 when Mt. St. Helen erupted in the Cascade Mountains, nearly half of the mountain was blown away.
- In Iceland the magma comes up to fill in a gap created by the separating of the two tectonic plates.
Eruptions on Iceland
An incandescent basaltic lava flow winds its way downslope from a vent at Krafla volcano in Iceland in 1984. The flow originated from an 8.5-km-long fissure that was initially active along its entire length. The fissure was produced by rifting along the mostly submarine Mid-Atlantic Ridge where it rises above sea level and cuts across the island of Iceland, forming an accessible natural laboratory for studies of episodic eruptions at this oceanic spreading ridge.
Krafla Volcano – Iceland
Iceland Info.
- Area: 103,000 sq km
- Coastline: 4,970 km
- Terrain: mostly plateau interspersed with mountain peaks, icefields; coast deeply indented by bays and fiords •Land use: –arable land: 0.07% –permanent crops: 0% –other: 99.93% (2005)
- Natural resources: fish, hydropower, geothermal power, diatomite
Demographics
- Population: 306,694 (July 2009 est.)
- Age Structure: 0-14 years: 20.7%
- Population growth rate: 0.741% (2009 est.)
- Urban population: 92% (2008)
- Infant mortality rate: 3.23 deaths/1,000 live births
- Life expectancy at birth: 80.67 years
- Adult literacy: 99%
Economy
- GDP – per capita (PPP): $39,800 (2009 est.) –$42,800 (2008 est.) –$42,600 (2007 est.)
- GDP – real growth rate: -6.3% (2009 est.) –1.3% (2008 est.) –5.5% (2007 est.)
- GDP – composition by sector: –agriculture: 5.2% –industry: 24% –services: 70.8% (2009 est.)
Reykjavik –Capital City
I am not the author of the words nor the photographs. I give thanks to the person who compiled the info about one of the most beautiful places I’ve had the honour to visit, already!
Iceland is simply magical!
Estranged Blog 