Volcanoes of Iceland
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Iceland has a high concentration of active volcanoes due to unique geological conditions. The island has about 130 volcanic mountains, of which 18 have erupted since the settlement of Iceland. Over the past 500 years, Iceland's volcanoes have erupted a third of the total global lava output.[citation needed] Although the Laki eruption in 1783 had the largest eruption of lava in the last 500 years, the Eldgjá eruption of 934 AD and other Holocene eruptions were even larger.
Geologists explain this high concentration of volcanic activity as being due to a combination of the island's position on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge and a volcanic hotspot underneath the island. The island sits astride the boundary between the Eurasian and North American Plates, and most volcanic activity is concentrated along the plate boundary, which runs across the island from the south-west to the north-east of the island. Some volcanic activity occurs offshore, especially off the southern coast. This includes wholly submerged submarine volcanoes and even newly formed volcanic islands such as Jolnir.
[edit] Notable volcanoes
The most important volcanoes of Iceland are:
In the south west of the island: Hekla, Mýrdalsjökull with Katla, Eldgjá and the Laki craters, Öræfajökull, Snæfellsjökull.
In the north of the country and in the interior: the glacier Vatnajökull with Bárðarbunga, Grímsvötn and Kverkfjöll, Krafla, Askja and Herðubreið.
Also, off the south coast in the Vestmannaeyjar archipelago are the recently-active Surtsey, and Eldfell on Heimaey.
There are also many regions of geothermal activity, such as the Hengill central volcano with Hveragerði, Haukadalur with the well known Geysir, and Hveravellir.
There are many different types of volcanoes in Iceland. The most commonly found types are the composite volcanoes wich spread in vast areas and are usually part of a chain.
