Iceland is a very active volcanic area. There is a great crack running across Iceland from north to south, the Mid-Atlantic Ridge, which keeps Europe and Africa moving further and further away from America: plate tectonics. Through this ridge there is a volcanically active zone that runs through the middle of Iceland and is responsible for many earthquakes and volcanic eruptions in Iceland. Iceland has the most volcanoes and most volcanic activities within Europe.
Askja
Askja is an active volcano, located on the plateau of Iceland. Askja consists of several calderas created by volcanic activities. Askja was a not so well known volcano, until a very violent eruption of this volcano in the year 1875. The ash shower poisoned large parts of the fjords in the east of Iceland and a lot of livestock died during this eruption. After this eruption of the Askja volcano, many Icelanders decided to emigrate to Canada.
Last eruption
The last eruption was in the year 1961. In 2007, the Icelandic population was alarmed by possible volcanic activity from this Icelandic volcano. Many earthquakes had been observed in the area: earthquakes near volcanoes often indicate a possible eruption. The warning was quickly withdrawn.
Bárðarbunga
The Bárðarbunga volcano is the highest point (2009 meters) of the largest glacier in Iceland, and is the second highest volcano in Iceland. The Bárðarbunga volcano is hidden under a thick layer of snow: the ice sheet of the glacier and is located about 27 kilometers northwest of the large lake with the mask of ice ?? Grímsvötn. (These lakes are created by a magma chamber under the ice sheet that melts the ice. The Icelandic Bárðarbunga volcano is an active volcano. The last volcanic eruption of the Bárðarbunga volcano was recently: 1996 and 1998.
Baula
Baula is a conical mountain with a height of 934 meters and is located right on the Icelandic ring road, in the west of Iceland. This mountain was created about 3.5 million years ago because the rock was pushed up from the earth. The Baula is located near the Grábrók, a 10 meter high crater northeast of the Hreðavatn lake.
Bláhnjúkur
The Icelandic volcano Bláhnjúkur is a dead volcano with a height of 940 meters and is located in the south of Iceland. The volcano is blue black in color, due to the many eruptions released lava and volcanic ash. The Bláhnjúkur is located in the area of the Landmannalaugar, a valley in the interior of Iceland where hot and cold springs arise at the foot of the lava field. The hot sulfur source can also be found here. Landmannalaugar is part of a nature reserve Fjallabak, where the famous heat source trekking starts.
Brennisteinsalda
The Icelandic volcano Brennisteinsalda is an active volcano with a height of 855 meters and is located in the south of Iceland in the Landmannalaugar area, the area where hot and cold springs originate at the base of the lava field. This volcano is the most colorful mountain in Iceland and can be found in books and calendars. This volcano is clearly active, observable by the hot sulfur springs on the flanks of the volcano.
Eldborg
The Icelandic volcano Eldborg is a fine example of a volcano with an explosion crater: this volcano first erupted thousands of years ago and again around the colonization period of Iceland: due to the force of the explosion of the volcano, the crater of the volcano exploded.
Eldfell
The Icelandic volcano Eldfell (fire mountain) is a young volcano that formed ash in the year 1973. After light earthquakes, a 3 kilometer long crack formed in the earth from which a huge lava fountain spurted. The lava soon concentrated on just a single place where, after all the volcanic activity, the 200-meter-high volcano Eldfell formed. Eldfell is only a kilometer away from the old volcano Helgafell. About 400 houses of the Icelandic town of Heimaey were lost in this eruption. Excavations have started at the site of the eruption, which is why this is also the ?? Pompei of the north ?? is called.
Esja
Esja is an Icelandic Table Mountain of about 914 meters high, located just north of Reykjavik. The Esja was formed very long ago during volcanic eruptions around the first ice age. Latest eruptions are not known or do not exist.
Eyjafjallajökull, Eyafjalla or Eyjafjoll
The Icelandic volcano Eyjafjallajökull (Island Mountain Glacier) is buried under a cap of ice, a glacier that bears the same name as the volcano: Eyjafjallajökull. To avoid confusion, the volcano is therefore also called Eyafjalla or Eyjafjoll. The peak of the volcano is about 1651 meters high and at the edge of this crater there are three other volcano peaks, namely: Hámundur (1651 meters), Guðnasteinn (1500 meters), and Goðasteinn (1,497 meters). Eyjafjallajökull, Eyafjalla or Eyjafjoll volcano is an active volcano and has often erupted since the Ice Age. The last eruption was from 1821 to 1823. The last eruption was last spring 2010. Airports were closed and planes could not take off because of the ash cloud that spewed this Icelandic volcano. To the day of publication of this article (301110), the last eruption of last spring 2010 is still dormant!
This article is part of the special: Volcanoes in Europe.