This list of volcanoes in Iceland includes active and dormant

volcanic mountains A volcano is a rupture in the crust of a planetary-mass object, such as Earth, that allows hot lava, volcanic ash, and gases to escape from a magma chamber below the surface. On Earth, volcanoes are most often found where tectonic plates are ...

, of which 18 have erupted since human settlement of

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 ...

began around 900 AD. __TOC__

List

Volcanic zones and systems

Iceland has four major volcanic zones surrounding an hypothetical hotspot: * the

Reykjanes Reykjanes () is a small headland on the southwestern tip of the Reykjanes Peninsula in Iceland, giving the main peninsula its name. The region is about from Iceland's international airport. As the name means "smoking peninsula" connected to volc ...

zone (RVZ), subdivided into the Reykjanes Ridge (RR) (the

Mid-Atlantic Ridge The Mid-Atlantic Ridge is a mid-ocean ridge (a divergent or constructive plate boundary) located along the floor of the Atlantic Ocean, and part of the longest mountain range in the world. In the North Atlantic, the ridge separates the North Ame ...

South of Iceland) and the Reykjanes Volcanic Belt (RVB) (on the main island); * the West Volcanic Zone (WVZ); * the East Volcanic Zone (EVZ) (extended to the

Westman Islands Vestmannaeyjar (, sometimes anglicized as Westman Islands) is a municipality and archipelago off the south coast of Iceland. The largest island, Heimaey, has a population of 4,414, most of whom live in the archipelago's main town, Vestmannaeyj ...

, South of the main island); * the North Volcanic Zone (NVZ). The Mid-Iceland Belt (MIB) connects them across central Iceland. In Iceland's East Volcanic Zone (EVZ), the central volcanoes, Vonarskarð and Hágöngur belong to the same volcanic system; this also applies to

Bárðarbunga Bárðarbunga (), is a stratovolcano located under Vatnajökull in Vatnajökull National Park which is Iceland's most extensive glacier. The second highest mountain in Iceland, above sea level, Bárðarbunga is also part of a volcanic system th ...

and Hamarinn, and to

Grímsvötn Grímsvötn (; ''vötn'' = "waters", singular: ) is a volcano with a (partially subglacial) fissure system located in Vatnajökull National Park, Iceland. The volcano itself is completely subglacial and located under the northwestern side of the Va ...

and Þórðarhyrna. North of Iceland, the Mid-Atlantic Ridge is called Kolbeinsey Ridge (KR) and is connected to the North Volcanic Zone via the Tjörnes Fracture Zone (TFZ). Also the South Iceland Seismic Zone (SISZ) is another fracture zone, which connects the East and West Volcanic Zones. Both fracture zones also include their own volcanic systems, smaller than those in the Mid-Iceland Belt. Besides the hotspot area fragmenting the Mid-Atlantic Ridge, there are also two intraplate volcanic belts:

Öræfajökull Öræfajökull (; ' Öræfi glacier' or 'wasteland glacier') is an ice-covered volcano in south-east Iceland. The largest active volcano and the highest peak in Iceland at , it lies within the Vatnajökull National Park and is covered by part of ...

(ÖVB) on the Eurasian plate, and

Snæfellsnes The Snæfellsnes () is a peninsula situated to the west of Borgarfjörður, in western Iceland. The Snæfellsjökull volcano, regarded as one of the symbols of Iceland, can be found in the area. With its height of 1446 m, it is the highest ...

(SVB) on the North American plate. It is proposed that the east-west line going from the Grímsvötn volcano in the Mid-Iceland Belt (MIB) to the

volcanic belt (SVB) shows the movement of the

North American Plate The North American Plate is a tectonic plate covering most of North America, Cuba, the Bahamas, extreme northeastern Asia, and parts of Iceland and the Azores. With an area of , it is the Earth's second largest tectonic plate, behind the Pacific ...

over the Iceland hotspot.

References

* Thor Thordarsson, Armann Hoskuldsson: ''Classic Geology in Europe 3. Iceland.'' Harpenden, Terra, 2002 * https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/earth/doomsday-volcanoes.html {{Reflist

Volcanoes A volcano is a rupture in the crust of a planetary-mass object, such as Earth, that allows hot lava, volcanic ash, and gases to escape from a magma chamber below the surface. On Earth, volcanoes are most often found where tectonic plates a ...

List

Volcanic zones and systems

See also

References