This is Isabella reporting live for KWX-7 marine news! I just arrived in Ice-land last night at around 6 p.m. and the hotel was beatiful with an exquisit view of the Northern lights. Surely, its icy as its name may hint but surprisingly there is a lot of greenery to witness as well. Imagine a land of spurting geysers, glaciers, waterfalls and most exciting of all, a land that contains one of the most well known divergent plates in the world.
(I took this one off my new camera I bought special for the trip!)
(http://blog.stylehive.com/images/uploads/062110_ranga9_200.jpg)
After my big healthy breakfast bowl of Wheaties ;), I was ready for are long day of reporting information I collected from Hinrik VanSolovets, the marine-bio specialist in divergent plates.
Firstly, in order to understand my report you must know about a divergent boundary! Divergent boundaries along centers which that are spreading causing the plates to move apart. As the two plates move away from each other, Magma from the mantle underneath the crust rises up into the newly formed space between the plates and solidifies because of the extreme change in temperature. This pile up of solidified magma forms a long chain of mountains on the sea floor, called an oceanic ridge. Here down below, you will see how the oceanic ridge is formed and how the oceanic crust separates.
(https://geology8b-9.wikispaces.com/file/view/d.jpg/88987877/d.jpg)
Now you might wonder, why Iceland? ICELAND because it lies across the Mid-Atlantic Ridge and becomes wider EVERY year! Hinrik VanSolovets' research states that the North American and Eurasian plates don't always move at the same speed because the boundaries being measured may vary but the "average" rate of seperation between the plates is approximately 2.5 centimeters per year. This may not seem like a lot, but this is actually quite a bit of movement! The area we are currently stationed is 64 degrees 44'05.73'' N and 17 degrees 20'53.11'' W so if you want to find us on your handy-danndy G.P.S. go for it!
(http://library.thinkquest.org/17701/high/tectonics/ptdiv.html)
Also, Iceland has a large concentration of volcanoes which are frequently active. The island has approximately 130 volcanoes and over the past 500 years, Iceland's volcanoes have have erupted about 1/3 of the lava output in the entire world! It's most active volcano is called Grímvötn. There are records of harmonic tremor around Grímvötn on October 2nd and 3rd in 2010 indicating a chance of eruption. Also, an increase in magma movement under the mountain occurred and was measured by GPS in the volcano. On November 1st, 2010 there was an inflammation in lake and glacier water suggesting that an eruption could happen in the near future but Hinrik VanSvolovets and his coworkers have been monitoring Grímvötn very closely.
The volcanic eruption of Ice;and's history was Skaftáreldar in 1783 that lasted until 1785. This volcanic eruption was believed to have the most fatalities because the ash and poisonous gasses sickened many livestock, and humans as well.
Hinrik VanSvolovets and other well educated marine-bio specialists feel taht the reason Iceland is such an active island, is because it falls on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge.
More to come next time!
Stay tuned to explore the realm of tectonics,
My name is Isabella and thanks for reading KWX-7 marine news
Great post! It was super informational and I learned a bunch! Great job!
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