Vatnafjöll () is a long, wide

basalt Basalt (; ) is an aphanite, aphanitic (fine-grained) extrusive igneous rock formed from the rapid cooling of low-viscosity lava rich in magnesium and iron (mafic lava) exposed at or very near the planetary surface, surface of a terrestrial ...

fissure vent A fissure vent, also known as a volcanic fissure, eruption fissure or simply a fissure, is a linear volcanic vent through which lava erupts, usually without any explosive eruption, explosive activity. The vent is often a few metres wide an ...

system that is south-east of Hekla,

Iceland Iceland ( is, Ísland; ) is a Nordic island country in the North Atlantic Ocean and in the Arctic Ocean. Iceland is the most sparsely populated country in Europe. Iceland's capital and largest city is Reykjavík, which (along with its s ...

. It includes from the north towards the south the hills of Innri-Vatnafjöll at high, Fremri-Vatnafjöll at and Vatnafjallarani at as the main Vatnafjöll edifice, at a distance of about from Hekla. It is part of the same system as Hekla, and the term Hekla-Vatnafjöll volcanic system has been used to describe it. More than two dozen eruptions have occurred at Vatnafjöll during the Holocene Epoch. Vatnafjöll has not erupted during the last 1100 years. While these eruptions were predominantly effusive some basaltic tephra deposits have been found up to away. A with an epicenter near the main Vatnafjöll edifice occurred on 25th May, 1987, where the transform

South Iceland seismic zone South is one of the cardinal directions or compass points. The direction is the opposite of north and is perpendicular to both east and west. Etymology The word ''south'' comes from Old English ''sūþ'', from earlier Proto-Germanic ''*sunþaz' ...

meets the

East volcanic zone of Iceland East or Orient is one of the four cardinal directions or points of the compass. It is the opposite direction from west and is the direction from which the Sun rises on the Earth. Etymology As in other languages, the word is formed from the fac ...

. Later analysis has suggested that initiation was from strain relief but a subsurface dyke intrusion then occurred over the next 3 days.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Vatnafjoll Active volcanoes East Volcanic Zone of Iceland Fissure vents Hekla Volcanoes of Iceland category:Earthquakes in Iceland

See also

References