Iceland Living in a plate tectonic boundary

https://grapevine.is/n ews/2021/05/18/lava -knocking-at-your- back-door/ https://www.agu.org/meetings/chapman/2012/bcal l/pdf/Chapman_Outline_of_Geology_of_Iceland.pdf Accessed 1/4/2018

Iceland is oceanic crust; it is the subaerial part of the Iceland Basalt Plateau (IBP) • The IBP • Rises > 3000 m above the sea floor • Covers 350,000 km2 • 30% is above sea level • A 50 – 200 km-wide shelf slopes gently to depths of ~ 400m before dropping into the abyss

• All of the rocks in Iceland are younger than 25 million years • The oldest rocks exposed at the surface in Iceland are 14 – 16 million years old. • Erosion removes ~ 1 million cubic meters/year • Volcanism and sedimentation more than counter-balance that erosion Postglacial_volcanism _in_Iceland.pdf Accessed 4/4/2021 • RR, Reykjanes Ridge; • RVB, Reykjanes Volcanic Belt; SISZ, South Iceland • Seismic Zone; • WVZ, West Volcanic Zone; • MIB, Mid-Iceland Belt; • EVZ, East Volcanic Zone; • NVZ, North Volcanic • Zone; • TFZ, Tjörnes Fracture Zone; KR, Ridge; Mantle Plume • • ÖVB, Öræfi Volcanic Belt; SVB, Snæfellsnes Volcanic Belt Distribution of active volcanic systems among volcanic zones/belts Thordarson, T and A. Hoskuldssom.2014. Classic Geology of Europe 3: Iceland. Dunedin Academic Press Ltd. Pahoehoe/helluhraun lavas form from very fluid magma.

A’a/apalhraun lavas may form from more viscous magmas.

Flows may change from aa to pahoehoe as they cool.

Thordarson, T and A. Hoskuldssom.2014. Classic Geology of Effusive eruptions occur when lava pours out from a fissure or Europe 3: Iceland. cone and flows across the surface as coherent bodies of lava. Dunedin Academic Press Ltd. Tephra range is size from ash to lapilli to bombs and block. They may form flow or fall deposits

Thordarson, T and A. Hoskuldssom.2014. Classic Geology of Explosive eruptions occur when molten magma is fragmented Europe 3: Iceland. as it boils in the volcanic conduit, forming tephra. Dunedin Academic Press Ltd. Thordarson, T and A. Hoskuldssom.2014. Classic Geology of Combination eruptions produce both tephra and lava Europe 3: Iceland. Dunedin Academic Press Ltd. Postglacial_volcanism _in_Iceland.pdf Accessed 4/4/2021

Examples of volcano types in Iceland: (a) Eyjafjallajökull, shield volcano; (b) Hekla, stratovolcano; (c) Öskjuvatn, caldera; (d) Eldborg á Mýrum, spatter cone (photo: Rúrik Haraldsson); (e) Eldfell on Heimaey, scoria cone; (f) Hverfjall at Mývatn, tuff cone (photo: Oddur Sigurðsson); Postglacial_volcanism _in_Iceland.pdf Accessed 4/4/2021

g) Kollóttadyngja, lava shield; (h) Eldgjá, chasm (photo: Oddur Sigurðsson); (i) Laki fissures, mixed cone row; and (j) Vatnaöldur, row of tuff cones and maars (photo: Oddur Sigurðsson).

Eruption began in the early morning on January 23rd, 1973 Eruption stopped in early July.

http://www.earth-of-fire.com/the-museum-eldheimar-on-heimaey-a-must.html Accessed February 2, 2019

Vestmannaeyjar (Westman’s Islands) Heimaey Island

Eldfell volcano

http://www.earth-of-fire.com/the-museum-eldheimar-on-heimaey-a-must.html Accessed February 2, 2019 Lava flow 1- 20 m high at front, ~ 40 m high, moving 3 – 9 m per day.

AA lava flow cover by tephra.

http://www.earth-of-fire.com/the- museum-eldheimar-on-heimaey-a- must.html Accessed February 2, 2019 Cooling the Lava: The Battle to Save Heimaey – HubPages accessed May 15 2021 Daily movement of the lava into in late March 1973.

Cooling operations that began within 15 days finally halted the flow.

https://pubs.usgs.gov/gip /heimaey/heimaey.pdf Accessed May 15 2021 https://pubs .usgs.gov/gi Cooling operations p/heimaey/ began on February 6th, heimaey.pd just 15 days after the f Accessed eruption began. This May 15 2021 process cooled the lava below 1500 o and slowed the flows. Water Over a 5-month period, about 8 million cubic meters of seawater was pumped onto the poured onto the flows converted about 5 million cubic meters of flows in plastic pipes to molten lava into solid rock. At the peak of the effort, 75 men were cool and further slow the working around the clock. flows (31 km of pipes and 43 pumps). https://pubs.usgs. gov/gip/heimaey /heimaey.pdf Accessed May 15 2021 https://pubs.usgs .gov/gip/heimae y/heimaey.pdf Accessed February 2, 2019 https://www.theatlantic.com/photo/2017/01/the-eldfell- https://pubs.usgs.gov/gip/heimaey/he eruption-of-1973/514394/ Accessed May 15 2021 imaey.pdf Accessed February 2, 2019 https://pubs.usgs .gov/gip/heimae y/heimaey.pdf Accessed February 2, 2019 https://pubs.usgs. gov/gip/heimae y/heimaey.pdf Accessed May 15 2021 https://www.t heatlantic.co m/photo/201 7/01/the- eldfell- eruption-of- 1973/514394/ Accessed May 15 2021 https://www.theatlantic.com/photo/2017/01/the-eldfell- eruption-of-1973/514394/ Accessed May 15 2021 https://www.theatlantic.com/pho to/2017/01/the-eldfell-eruption- of-1973/514394/ Accessed May 15 2021 https://pubs.usgs. gov/gip/heimaey /heimaey.pdf Accessed May 15 2021

https://www.theatlantic.com/ photo/2017/01/the-eldfell- eruption-of-1973/514394/ Accessed May 15 2021 Approximately 2 million cubic meters of tephra have been cleared from within the town. This material has been used to extend the runways at the local airport and as landfill upon which to build new homes.

https://www.theatlantic.com/photo/2017 /01/the-eldfell-eruption-of-1973/514394/ Accessed May 15 2021 https://hubpages.com /education/Cooling- the-Lava-The-Battle- to-Save-Heimaey Accessed February 2, 2019 https://hubpages. com/education/ Cooling-the-Lava- The-Battle-to- Save-Heimaey Accessed February 2, 2019 About 5 meters of tephra lay on top about 100 meters of new lava, resting on the sea floor. Engineers and scientists designed a system to capture the heat to provide heating for the town of Heimaey.

https://pubs.usgs.gov/gip/heim aey/heimaey.pdf Accessed May 15 2021 Cutaway schematic diagram of the subsurface emplacement of concrete pipes above the cooling lava and connection to the heat exchanger on the surface to provide a source of heat for a district-heating system for the town of Vestmannaeyjar. (Modified from Björnsson, 1980, by permission of the author and the publisher, Atlantica and Iceland Review)

https://pubs.usgs.gov/gip /heimaey/heimaey.pdf Accessed May 15 2021 Area around eastern Vestmannaeyjar showing the parts of the new lava field that were cooled over different periods of time and the amount of seawater pumped. Heat extraction areas also shown (modified from Jónsson and Matthíasson, 1974).

https://pubs.usgs. gov/gip/heimaey /heimaey.pdf Accessed May 15 2021 https://pubs.usgs.gov/gip/heimaey/h eimaey.pdf Accessed May 15 2021 Eldfell Helgafell https://icelandmonitor.mbl.is/news/nature_and_travel/2016/03/25/islands_of_iceland_i_vestmannaeyjar/ Accessed February 2, 2019 http://www.earth-of- fire.com/the-museum- eldheimar-on-heimaey-a- must.html Accessed February 2, 2019 https://grapevine.is/news/2021/05/18/lava- knocking-at-your-back-door/ Iceland_Geothermal Accessed May 2021 Iceland_Geothermal Accessed May 15 2021 RLD 07/2017 Krýsuvík RLD 07/2017 RLD 07/2017 RLD 07/2017 Iceland_Geothermal Accessed May 2021 RLD 07/2017 “The original Blue Lagoon was created unintentionally by the condensation outlet water from the power station in Svartsengi. The water was supposed to disappear into the permeable lava field, but sedimentation gradually made the coarse lava field watertight, and the lagoon continued expanding.. It became the most frequented tourist attraction of the country”. https://www.nat.is/blue- lagoon-history/

RLD 07/2017 How Geothermal Energy Revolutionised Icelands Greenhouses_Earth Lab Accessed May 15 2021 How Geothermal Energy Revolutionised Icelands Greenhouses_Earth Lab Accessed May 15 2021 How Geothermal Energy Revolutionised Icelands Greenhouses_Earth Lab Accessed May 15 2021 Iceland is Growing New Forests for the First Time in 1,000 Years Accessed May 15 2021 Iceland is Growing New Forests for the First Time in 1,000 Years Accessed May 15 2021 Iceland is Growing New Rorests for the First Time in 1,000 Years Accessed May 15 2021

Aerial view of part of the Mid Atlantic Ridge at Thingvellir, Iceland. (Source: courtesy ISOR Iceland.) RLD 07/2017 RLD RLD 07/2017 07/2017 RLD 07/2017 RLD 07/2017 Reykjanes Geopark Geosites

Reykjanes UNESCO Global Geopark is an area of 829 square kilometers, 0.85% of Iceland. There the Mid-Atlantic Ridge rises above sea level. Various forms of volcanic activity that has shaped the peninsula for a long time. In the Geopark it’s easy to find geothermal activity and see the shaping of different landscapes, hundreds of different craters, caves and lava fields, a variety of bird life, astonishing cliffs, high geothermal activity, and black sand beaches.

The Geopark and its hiking trails are accessible all year round. Reykjanes Geopark http://www.reykjanesgeopark.is /en GeoCamp Iceland  GeoCamp Iceland is an educational  Placed on the boundaries of two project dedicated to increasing tectonic plates, the region is a knowledge and understanding in natural geologically active area with sciences with practical and active geysers, lava fields and natural learning. We organize and receive beauty. It is a place where you international study groups of secondary are always within the proximity of school and college students, as well as earth’s energy sources and where teacher groups focusing primarily on the elements are constantly geology, geography, natural sciences shaping the landscape. and renewable energy.