Iceland Research Paper

Words: 1286
Pages: 6

Jessica LaPierre
Geology 300
Writing Assignment 1: Reykjavik, Iceland

Reykjavik is the capital and the largest city in Iceland, but the city’s accolades do not stop there. This city is the most active volcanic region on Earth where almost all types of geothermal activity can be found. This city has visible Mid-Atlantic Ridges and is on the Eurasian and North American tectonic plate, which moves east to west that across a hotspot that supplies plenty of volcanic activity. The landscape of this city includes rift valleys, geysers, hot springs, Rhyolite Mountains, columnar basalt formations, lava fields, and lunar-like craters. Reykjavik produces a great amount of basalt and tephra. It is a country with a great amount of glaciers, and some of
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The volcanic activity is linked to the movement of plates. A volcanic eruption in Iceland consists of magma, gas, and rocks that can last anywhere from a couple minuets to hours and even days. Iceland is an earthquake zone with very small earthquakes happening daily. Due to the amount of earthquakes, the shaking of the magma is likely a reason that there are so many volcanic eruptions happening; also the fact that there the country is sitting on plate that is actively spreading a couple centimeters every year is not helping with the volcanic activity and the earthquakes. Iceland is located in a tough spot, and because of how north it is, that causes a very intense climate for humans and the landscape. Iceland experiences very high winds and an extreme amount of precipitation. There are a couple things that come from this sort of extreme weather; one being that there is rapid erosion and movement of material on the coastline. Another thing that comes from Iceland’s extreme weather is that there is a great erosion issue because of how strong the wind blows. The wind often leaves large areas barren like a …show more content…
This eruption is considered to be small, but the consequences that resulted of this were anything but. The eruption sprayed tons and tons of ash into the air and because of the ash more than 100,000 flights had to be cancelled. This caused more than a $7 billion loss in revenue. However, Eyjafjallajokull is a small eruption compared to Bardarbunga, which erupted in August of 2014. This eruption happened under Iceland’s larger glacier, Vatnajokull. In a matter of days, that eruption is said to already have put out more sulfur dioxide than any other volcanic eruption in Iceland within the past couple hundred years. The eruption produces a lava field over half a mile, with the average thickness being about forty-five