Transcript Landforms in Iceland 1 First a little statistics Geographical position

Geographical position:
North
66°32´29´´ N
South
63°23´31´´ N
East
13°30´06´´ W
West
24°32´12´´ W
Geographical Data:
Whole Island: 103100 km²
with fishing area: 758000 km²
Main Island: 102700 km²
Terrain without vegetation
62 %
Cultivated
1.5 %
Grass, moss, etc.
1.3 %
Lakes
2.9 %
Forest
1%
Glacier
12 %
Lava fields
11 %
Inhabitans: > 286000 (2.8 inhabitants per km²)
Hot plume; The ascending
mantle column beneath
Iceland melts in response to
the pressure release
Salt crystals
Historically active volcanoes, fissures related to rifting, geothermal systems, and basic and
intermediate lavas and associated sediments less than 700,000 years old (pink). The younger
volcanism and rifting are confined to the active volcanic zone (northern, western, eastern) and three
off-ridge areas. High-temperature geothermal systems (>200ºC) like Svartsengi and Reykjanes are
associated with the active volcanic zone. Orange and gray indicate progressively older igneous rocks
and associated sediments. Low-temperature geothermal systems (<150ºC) are found on the flanks of
the active volcanic zone in older rocks. The white areas are glaciers and ice caps.
Eyjafjallajökull eruption March-April 2010
The eruption at
Eldgja in ~935 AD
lasted 3-8 years and
produced 19.6 cubic
km of lava, making it
the largest basaltic
flood lava eruption
in historic time. The
fissure was about 30
km long. An
estimated 219 Mt of
SO2 was released to
the atmosphere
during the eruption.