Timelapse of the webcam watching the Icelandic lava flow today. Watch for the people that walk along the flow front and the helicopters that fly overhead!
After several weeks of earthquakes indicating magma migration on the Reykjanes peninsula on the southwest corner of Iceland, an eruption has begun with lava at the surface and glow from it visible on this webcam.
Is waiting for a volcano better than watching paint dry?
The Reykjanes Peninsula in Iceland runs off to the southwest side of the island. It’s the point at which the Mid-Atlantic Ridge comes onshore, and it is above the ocean surface because of the interaction between volcanism on that ridge and the nearby Iceland Plume. The rocks, therefore, are recent volcanic rocks, and the peninsula is resurfaced by volcanism every few thousand years.
Our modern thinking behind hotspots is that they are generated by mantle plumes. A huge plume of extra warm mantle rises up to the surface, triggering formation of a large igneous province – a huge pile of igneous rocks somewhere on the surface. That is followed by a long chain of volcanoes, produced by warm mantle continuing to rise up the pipe formed by the plume.
This is the blog homepage of the Facebook group "The Earth Story" (Click here to visit our Facebook group). “The Earth Story” are group of volunteers with backgrounds throughout the Earth Sciences. We cover all Earth sciences - oceanography, climatology, geology, geophysics and much, much more. Our articles combine the latest research, stunning photography, and basic knowledge of geosciences, and are written for everyone!
