Day 4: Iceland (64° 01' N, 16° 41' W)
Our boat reached Iceland today! I’ve always wanted to come here so I’m so glad the Tectonics Cruise is stopping here. Though all the years I’ve dreamed of coming here I never imagined it was located at a very interesting spot in the world of tectonics. It’s actually located at a divergent boundary, meaning that the two plates are moving apart from each other and new crust is being created. When this occurs over land a rift is created and the land mass will eventually break apart and an ocean will be created between them when the surrounding water fills the gap. Iceland is breaking apart at the Mid Atlantic Ridge which is a divergent boundary between the North American and Eurasian Plates. This map of Iceland shows how the rift breaks up Iceland:
New crust is being created at the boundary but eventually the rift will become too deep and wide and the ocean will fill it. We got the chance to walk along the rift while we toured today; this is a picture of some of the people in my group during our rift hike:
Iceland is located in the North Atlantic Ocean and is very volcanically active. It is located over the Iceland hotspot and is one of the most active volcanic regions in the world. Eruptions happen about every five years. The eruption at Laki in 1783 caused a famine which killed almost a quarter of Iceland’s population. The most recent big earthquakes were in 2008 and 2000 thought there were no human fatalities many sheep were killed and injured in both earthquakes. I had a great time here, it totally lived up to my expectations!
Love Ya'll
Nancy
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